312 Medical Botany. 



Medical Botany, &e. By John Stephenson, M.D., and James Mors* 

 Churchill, Esq., Surgeon. In 8vo Numbers, monthly. 3*. 6d, 



No. XXVI. for February, contains 

 104 to 106. — Myristica moschata. Aromatic, or True, Nutmeg Tree. The 

 tree is compared by Rumphius to a common pear tree, with respect to size 

 and appearance. It has, of late years, been cultivated at Batavia, Sumatra, 

 and Pennang, (See Vol. III. p. 2 12., and Encyc. of Plants, art. Myristica.) — 

 Solidago virgaurea. Astringent and tonic in a slight degree. Gerarde says, 

 when it was brought from beyond sea, and sold at 2s. 6d. an ounce, it was 

 believed to have great virtues; but afterwards, being found wild in Hamp- 

 stead Wood, it was thought good for nothing, and no man would give half 

 a crown for a hundred weight of it. — Solidago odora. " Mr. Pursh states 

 that the plant is dried, in some parts of the United States, as an agreeable 

 substitute for tea, and that it has for some time been an article for export, 

 ation to China, where it fetches a high price." We shall be particularly 

 obliged to such gardeners as possess this plant, if they will dry a few of the 

 leaves, make tea of them at least six evenings in succession, and about the 

 same strength as they usually drink the common tea, and send us their 

 opinion of the substitute. — Matonia (in honour of Dr. Maton, the learned 

 physician and naturalist) Cardamomum, the Alpinia Cardamomum of Roxb. 

 (^Encyc. of Plants, p. 4., and Lin. Trans., vol. x. p. 250.) 



No. XXVII. for March, contains 

 100 to 108. — Jmomum grana paradisi, the fruit of which is well known 

 under the name of Grains of Paradise, or Mellegetta Pepper. It is a native 

 of Guinea, about Sierra Leone, whence the seeds have beenlong brought to 

 Europe. " These seeds are much less aromatic and grateful than the lesser 

 cardamomum seeds ; and the taste is extremely hot and acrid, approaching, 

 in this respect, to pepper, with which they agree also in their medicinal 

 properties." — Curcuma Zedoaria ; Scitamineae Canneas. A perennial com- 

 mon in Ceylon and Malabar, with a tuberous, oblong, aromatic root, which 

 is brought over in oblong pieces, about the size of the little finger, and is 

 used as an aromatic and stomachic. — Curciana long's.; Scitamineae. The 

 root is creeping, perennial, fleshy, palmate, and covered with a pale saffron- 

 coloured bark. It is used in the East Indies as a sternutatory, and sent to 

 England for the purpose of dyeing a yellow colour, and for its slightly 

 stimulant and tonic qualities in medicine. " In Eastern countries, besides 

 its use in colouring food, it is considered as cordial and stomachic, and is 

 accounted one of the most effectual remedies in mesenteric obstructions, 

 uterine disorders, and affections of the kidneys and urinary passages, and it 

 is a constant ingredient in curries. It tinges the urine of a deep yellow, 

 after being taken for a short time." — i^iicus vesiculosus, Bladder Fucus, 

 or Bladder Wrack ; A'\gx. From this and other species found on the sea- 

 coast of Scotland kelp is manufactured. Kelp is a very impure carbonate 

 of soda, containing sulphate and muriate of soda, and also sulphuret of 

 soda, with a portion of charcoal. The wrack (varec, Fr.) is collected and 

 dried in July and August. A kiln or basin is formed by digging a round 

 hole in the sand, and surrounding it with a few loose stones. " In the 

 morning a fire is kindled in the pit, generally by means of peat or turf. 

 This fire is generally fed with sea-weed, in such a state of dryness that it 

 will merely burn. In the course of eight or ten hours the furnace is found 

 to be nearly full of melted matter. Iron rakes are then drawn rapidly 

 backward and forward through the mass in the furnace, in order to compact 

 it, or bring it into an equal state of fusion. It is then allowed to cool, 

 when it is broken in pieces, and carried into a store-house to remain till 

 shipped." Soda is obtained from kelp and used by the soap manufacturers ; 

 and also iodine, considered by most chemists to be a simple body, and lately 



