QUASSIA. 231 



sugar and milk or water added to make a pint is given 

 in three doses every two hours, and a few hours after 

 the last dose, a dose of Castor Oil is given. The ordinary 

 infusion i ounce to a pint has also been used in 

 urinary complaints, scalding of urine, and gonorrhoea. 



Distinctive character The seeds are broadly ovate, 

 nearly i inch long, whitish, with a shallow groove and 

 flat ridge around the margin. The hilum is near the 

 pointed end. Cotyledons flat, white, oily, with a short, 

 conical radicle. Taste, nutty. Inodorous. 



QUASSIA. Picraena excelsa, Lindl. 



N.O. Simavubacea. 



Syn. Bitter Wood, Bitter Ash, Quassia aniara, Linn. 

 Part used Wood. 



Action Tonic, bitter, anthelmintic. The wood is 

 generally sold in small chips, but cups turned out of 

 the log may be obtained. They are sold as Bitter Cups, 

 and water standing in them for a short time acquires 

 the bitterness of the wood. It is especially useful in 

 the treatment of dyspepsia and debility of the digestive 

 apparatus. For worms it is also a valuable remedy. 

 The infusion of i ounce of chips in a pint of cold water 

 is taken in wineglassful doses. 



Preparations Fluid extract : Dose, 15-30 drops. 

 Tincture B.P. and U.S. P. : Dose, -1 drachm. Powd. 

 extract U.S. P. : Dose, i grain. Cone, solut. B.P. : 

 Dose, drachm. Solid extract : Dose, $-2 grains. 



Distinctive character The wood is usually sold in 

 yellowish white chips about i inch wide, and 1-4 inches 

 long, and %-fa inch thick. Taste, very bitter. Odour, 

 none. Some samples of a yellowish colour contain 

 starch, and the infusion made with boiling water would 

 then not keep well. These are possibly derived from 

 Quassia amara or Surinam Quassia, which differs in con- 



