AMY 



ANA 



sists of four oblong 1 , concave, and. spread- 

 ing- petals ; the stamina have awl-shaped, 

 erect filaments ; anthers oblong 1 , erect, of 

 the length of the corolla; the pistillum 

 has a germ, superior, ovate, style thick- 

 ish, of the length of the stamens, and stig- 

 ma four-cornered ; the pericarpium is a 

 drupaceous and roundish berry ; and the 

 seed is a round, shining nut. There are 

 thirteen species, of which we shall notice 

 A. sylvatica, with leaves ternate, crinate, 

 and "acute. This is an erect, leafy shrub, 

 from t\vo to fifteen feet high, according to 

 the soil and situation, abounding with a 

 turpentine of a strong disagreeable smell; 

 it is found plentifully about Carthagena, 

 in woods near the sea, and flowers in Au- 

 gust. A. maritima, small, shrubby, sweet 

 wood, with leaves ternate, crenulated and 

 obtuse. This is a dwarf shrub, yielding 

 a juice like that of the former, but more 

 agreeable, and smelling like rue : the ber- 

 ry is of the size of black pepper, black 

 when ripe, inclosing a globular, brittle 

 nut, in which is a white kernel. Swartz 

 doubts whether the preceding be a dis- 

 tinct species from this. It grows in very 

 barren coppices, in a calcareous rocky 

 Soil, both near the sea, and on the interi- 

 or mountains of Jamaica, Hispaniola, and 

 Cuba, and flowers from June to Septem- 

 ber. A. gileadensis, balsam of Gilead 

 tree, with leaves ternate, quite entire, and 

 peduncles one-flowered and lateral. This 

 species is a shrub with purplish branches, 

 having protuberant buds loaded with bal- 

 samic rosin ; the flowers proceed from the 

 same buds by threes ; the bracte minute, 

 and slightly bifid. It has been doubted 

 whether this be a distinct species in itself. 

 A. ambrosiaca, with leaves pinnate and 

 petiolate, and panicles crowded and axil- 

 lary. This is a tree, with a trunk thirty 

 feet high, branching at the top, with 

 branchlets leafy and flowery : leaves al- 

 ternate, with two or three opposite, ovate 

 leaflets on each side, ending in long points, 

 smooth, entire, on short petioles, gibbous 

 at the base ; flowers yellowish white, 

 axillary, and corymbed; perianth very 

 small and four-toothed ; petals lanceolate, 

 spreading at the tip : filaments filiform, 

 half as long as the calyx, inserted into the 

 tube ; germ superior, subglobose, style 

 cylindrical ; stigma capitated, depressed, 

 and four-cornered; fruit ovate, oblique, 

 four-celled, resembling that of the laurel, 

 the nucleus involved in a brittle covering, 

 four-celled, with four stones wrapped up 

 in a viscid red pulp, having a balsamic 

 smell and taste, hardening into a grey 

 rosin, and used for burning as a perfume. 



The whole tree is sweet-scented, and 

 yields a very odoriferous balsam from the 

 wounded trunk or branches, which is 

 used in the dysentery ; the dose is one 

 dram in red wine ; it is also used in hou- 

 ses and churches for burning as a per- 

 fume. It grows in the woods of Guiana, 

 and by the sea-shore; flowering and fruit- 

 ing in September. A. balsamifera, sweet 

 amyris, white candle-wood, or rose-wood, 

 with leaves two-paired. This grows to a 

 considerable size, and is one of the most 

 valuable trees in the island of Jamaica ; 

 the wood is white, and of a curled grain 

 when young, but grows of a dirty cloud- 

 ed ash colour with age, bearing a fine 

 polish, and having a pleasant smell ; it is 

 heavy, and much esteemed among cabi- 

 net-makers. All the parts of this tree 

 are full of warm aromatic particles, and 

 may be used in baths and fomentations ; 

 the berries are oblong, and have the taste 

 of the balsam copaiba. An infusion of the 

 leaves has a pleasant flavour, is highly ce- 

 phalic, strengthens the nerves, and is par- 

 ticularly restorative to weak eyes. In 

 Jamaica there are several species of amy- 

 ris, the leaves and bark of which yield a 

 fine balsamic juice ; and if the body were 

 tapped at the proper season, a thick 

 liquor would transude, resembling that of 

 the Gilead balsam, to which the taste of 

 the bark and wood of the smaller branch- 

 es bears a very exact relation. Dr. 

 Wright apprehends that this wood, by 

 distillation, would yield a perfume equal 

 to the oleum rhodii. 



ANA, among physicians, denotes an 

 equal quantity of the ingredients which 

 immediately precede it in prescriptions : 

 it is written by abbreviation a or a a ; 

 thus, g, thur. mijrth. alum, a a, ^ j : that 

 is, take frankincense, myrrh, and allum, 

 each a scruple. 



ANA, in matters of literature, a Latin 

 termination, added to the titles of several 

 books in other languages. 



They are collections of the conversa- 

 tion and memorable sayings of men of wit 

 and learning; the scaligeriana was the 

 first book that appeared with a title in 

 ana, and was afterwards followed by the 

 Perroniana, Thuuna, Nudxana, Menagi- 

 ana, and even by Arlequiniana, in ridicule 

 of all books in ana. The Menagiana are 

 accounted the best. 



ANA, among occult philosophers, a 

 term used to denote the human mind ; 

 from whence some will have anasaptu, u 

 daemon invoked by sick persons, to be 

 derived. 



