PURGING CASSIA. 



541 



found to assume this change. It is less purga- 

 tive than the pointed leaved senna, and requires 

 therefore to be given in larger doses. It was 

 employed l)y Dr Wright in Jamaica, where it 

 grows on the sand banks near the sea. 



Senna appears to have been cultivated in 

 England in the time of Parkinson, about the 

 year 1640, and Miller says that by keeping 

 these plants in a hot bed all the summer, they 

 frequently flowered ; but they rarely perfect their 

 seeds in this country. There is little doubt, 

 however, but that senna might be cultivated in 

 some parts of the British colonies in sufficient 

 quantity to supply our wants. The dried senna 

 leaves imported to this country and in common 

 use, have a slightly unpleasant smell and a bit- 

 terish nauseous taste. They impart these vir- 

 tues both to water and proof spirit. The most 

 common mode of using them is in an infusion, 

 by pouring boiling water on the leaves. They 

 should not, however, be subjected to the boiling 

 process, as this dissipates certain volatile parts 

 of the leaves in which their active powers mainly 

 depend. 



Senna was first brought into use by the 

 Arabian physicians Serapion and Mesne, and 

 Achiarius is the first of the Greeks by whom 

 it is noticed, who, however, does not recommend 

 the leaves but the fruit. Mesue likewise seems 

 to prefer the pod to the leaves, as being more 

 powerful, but this is not the case, its purgative 

 quality being certainly less powerful, although 

 it does not cause griping as the leaves some- 

 times do. An infusion of senna, combined with 

 bitter infusion, as gentian or centaury, has 

 its purgative qualities increased. The ' black 

 draught,' so much in use among medical practi- 

 tioners, is a combination of senna and gentian, 

 with the addition of any aromatic, as cardamom 

 or coriander seeds, or the rind of the Seville 

 orange. A strong infusion of senna gripes more 

 than a weaker one; the proper proportion is one 

 dram of senna to four ounces of water. 



The cwnmmi bladder Senna, (Coluntea arbor- 

 escens,) a shrub cultivated in gardens for orna- 

 ment, and which grows spontaneously on the 

 sides of mount Vesuvius, also possesses a purgative 

 quality similar to senna, though in an inferior 

 degree. A double quantity of the leaves of this 

 plant may be substituted for the common senna, 

 with similar results. A dram or two of the 

 seeds excite vomiting. Haller and Ray mention 

 that cattle feed readily on the leaves and twigs 

 of this plant. 



Purging Cassia C^issia fistula). This is a 

 tree belonging to the same natural family, which 

 attains the height of forty feet; producing many 

 spreading branches towards the top, and covered 

 with brownish bark, intersected with many 

 cracks and furrows. The leaves are composed 

 of four or six pairs of pinna;, which arc ovate, 



pointed, and of a pale green colour. The flowers 

 are large, yellow, and placed in spikes upon long 

 peduncles. The pods are cylindrical, pendulous, 

 and from one to two feet in length; they contain 

 numerous hard, compressed seeds, surrounded by 

 a black pulpy matter. 



This tree is a native of Egypt, and of the 

 East and West Indies. It was first introduced 

 into England by Miller, in 1731. The pods of 

 the East India cassia, are of less diameter, 

 smoother, and afford a blacker, sweeter, and 

 more grateful pulp, than those which are brought 

 from the West Indies, South America, or Egypt; 

 and are universally preferred. In Egypt, it is 

 the practice to pluck the cassia pods before they 

 arrive at a state of maturity, and to place them 

 in a house from which the external air is excluded 

 as much as possible; the pods are then laid in 

 strata of half a foot in depth, between which 

 palm leaves are interposed : the two following 

 days the whole is sprinkled with water, in order 

 to promote its fermentation; and the fruit is suf- 

 fered to remain in this situation forty days, when 

 it is sufficiently prepared for keeping. Those 

 pods which are the heaviest, and in which the 

 seeds do not rattle on being shaken, are com- 

 monly the best, and contain the most pulp, 

 which is the part employed in medicine. 



The best pulp is of a shining black colour, and 

 of a sweet taste, with a slight degree of acidity. 

 It is doubtful whether this substance was em- 

 ployed by the ancient Greeks; and it seems first 

 to have been brought into notice by the Arabian 

 physicians. This pulp has been long used as a 

 gentle and mild laxative to children and delicate 

 persons; its operation, however, is so gentle, as 

 in most cases to require the aid of other stronger 

 medicines. An electuary or compound, has 

 therefore long been in use, called " leneti ve elec- 

 tuary." Perhaps, however, a cheaper, and as 

 effectual substitute for the cassia pulp, is to be 

 found in the common damson preserve. 



Castor Oil Plant (ricinus communis, or palma 

 christi). Natural family ewp/iorWacea;/ moncecia, 

 monadelpMa, of Linnseus. This plant, though 

 an annual, and herbaceous in our gardens, 

 becomes a tree in Africa of several years' standing. 

 In Candia it continues many years; and, accord- 

 ing to Belon, requires a ladder to come at the 

 seeds. The root is long, thick, whitish, and 

 sends off many small fibres. The stem is round, 

 thick, jointed, shining, of a purplish red colour 

 towards the top; and rises luxuriantly in thib 

 country to six or ten feet, in warm climates to 

 fifteen and twenty feet in height. The leaves 

 are large, and deeply divided into seven lobes, or 

 pointed, serrated segments; and are of a bluish 

 green colour. The flowers are male and female 

 on the same plant, and are produced on a clus- 

 tered, terminal spike. The male flowers have 

 no corolla, and are placed on the under part of 



