628 



CONIFERS. 



Uses — Savin is a powerful uterine stimulant, producing in over- 

 doses very serious effects. It is but rarely administered internally. 

 An ointment of savin, which from the chlorophyll it contains is of a 

 fine sfreen colour, is used as a stimulatinor dressing- for blisters. 



Substitutes — There are several species of juniper which have a con" 

 siderable resemblance to savin; and one of them, commonly grown in 

 gardens and shrubberies, is sometimes mistaken for it. This is Juniperufi 

 mrginiana L., the Red Cedar or Savin of North America. In its native 

 country it is a tree, attaining a height of 50 feet or more, but in Britain 

 it is seldom more than a large shrub, of loose spreading growth, very 

 different from the low, compact habit of savin.^ The foliage is of two 

 sorts, consisting either of minute, scale-like, rhomboid leaves like those 

 of savin, more rarely of elongated, sharp, divergent leaves a quarter of 

 an inch in length, resembling those of common Juniper. Both forms 

 often occur on the same branch. The plant is much less rich in essential 

 oil than true savin,- for which it is sometimes substituted in the United 

 States. 



The foliage of Juniperus phoenicea L., a Mediterranean species, has 

 some resemblance to savin for which it is said to be sometimes sub- 

 stituted,^ but it is quite destitute of the peculiar odour of the latter. 

 The specific name of the former alludes to its red fruit, from <{}olvikio^, 

 purple. 



^ We have examined numerous herbarium 

 specimens (wild) of J. virginiann and J. 

 Sahina, but except difference of stature 

 and habit, can observe scarcely any cha- 

 racters for separating them as species. The 

 fruit stalk in J. virrjiniana is often pendu- 

 lous as in /. Sabina. Each plant has two 

 forms, — arboreous and fruticose. 



.^ This we ascertained by distilling under 

 precisely similar conditions 6 lbs. G oz. of 

 the fresh shoots of each of the two plants, 

 Junipprus Sabina and J. virglniana: the 

 first gave 9 drachms of essential oil, the 



second only ^ a drachm. The latter was 

 of a distinct and more feeble odour, and a 

 different dextrogyre power. In America 

 the oil of J. virglniana is known as '' Cedar 

 Oil," and used as a taenifuge. It contains 

 a crystallizable oxygenated portion. This 

 oil however is afforded by the wood. Red 

 Cedar wood from Florida is stated by 

 Messrs. Schimmel & Co. (see p. 306) to 

 afford as much as 4 to 5 per cent, of that 

 oil. 



3 Bonplandia, x. (1862) 55. 



