BUCKTHORN. Ill 



like the common tea, and is used as such by the poor of China, 

 who call it Tia ; the Rock Buckthorn {R. Saxatilis,) the berries 

 of which give the yellow dye to morocco leather ; the com- 

 mon Alaternus, (/?. Alaternus,) an ornamental evergreen ; and 

 Rhamnus spina Christi, of which it is supposed the crown of 

 thorns put upon the head of Jesus Christ was composed. 



Qualities and general Uses. — The unripe berries of the 

 common Buckthorn yield a saffron-coloured juice, which is used 

 to stain maps or paper. From the ripe berries sap-green* (vert 

 de vessie, Fr. ; Saftegriin, Ger.) is obtained, nearly equal to 

 that prepared from the Avignon berries ; but if the fruit is 

 gathered late in autumn, the juice is purple. The wood fur- 

 nishes an excellent material for turnery, and the bark affords 

 a yellow and brownish red colour. Goats, sheep, and horses 

 eat the leaves, but cows refuse them. Romberg j- mentions 

 that the flesh of birds which feed on the berries is purgative, 

 but this statement needs to be confirmed. 



The ripe berries contain a green succulent pulp, of an un- 

 pleasant odour, and a bitter, nauseous, and somewhat acrid 

 taste. The aqueous infusion is reddened by nitric and sul- 

 phuric acid, and is rendered black by sulphate of iron. The 

 berries yield a colouring matter, as already mentioned, of a 

 greenish yellow colour, which is found in the fruit of many 

 other rhamnece, and is thought to contain tannin, albumen, 

 acetic acid, sugar, and an azotized substance. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Buckthorn berries have 

 been used medicinally from time immemorial as a drastic pur- 

 gative. They do not operate, however, without producing 

 severe griping, with dryness in the throat, which require con- 

 siderable dilution to obviate ; on which account they are seldom 

 used in modern practice. About twenty of the fresh berries 

 constitute a proper dose, if taken in that form ; which is only 

 proper for very robust subjects. The most convenient as well 

 as pleasant method of taking this medicine is in the form of a 

 syrup prepared from their juice, which has been highly com- 



* This colour may be made by adding twelve ounces of lime-water, and 

 a small quantity of gum arabic, to every pound of the expressed juice, 

 which is to be evaporated to the consistence of an extract, and dried for 

 use. 



-j- Mernoires de I'Acad. des Sc. de Paris, 1712, p. 9. 



