458 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



consist of the embryo (fig. 252), more or less perfect of two species 

 of Nectandra. Two kinds are distinguished, one the large or true 1 

 said to come from Nectandra (?) Puchury major," and the other 

 called bastard or small 3 from N (?) P. minor ; 4 they were formerly 

 used as aromatics. So in the same way we use the leaves of 

 the classic Laurel 5 or Bay in cooking ; and its fruits 6 yield on 

 distillation a mixture of oils used in medicine as an aromatic 

 stimulant. 7 In the North- American Sassafras 8 it is chiefly the 

 wood that is prized as an aromatic sudorific depuratory drug. The 

 bark, however, is said to be more active. 9 Various scents are 

 found in the bark, wood, and fruit of many other Laurels, be- 

 lono-ino* to the genera Jj/dendron, 10 Acrodiclidium, n Nectandra, 1 - Ocotea,™ 



1 Of the same form as tbat of Laurus nobilis, 

 but larger (27 to 45 millimetres by 20). 



2 Nees, Syst., 328.— Meissn., Prodr., 156, 

 n. 30 ; in Mart. FL Bras., Laurac., 265, t. 95. 

 — Puchury, Picheri, Puchyry of the Brazilians. 



3 This is shorter aud broader (20 to 34- mm. 

 by 14 to 20). 



4 Nees, Syst., 336.— Meissn., Prodr., n. 69. 

 Ocotea Puchury minor Maet., FL Bras., 

 Laurac, 2.11, t. 101. — Buchn., Rep., xxxv. 72. 



5 See above, p. 439, figs. 261-263, not. 3.— 

 Guib., op. clt., 38S. — Peeeiea, Elem. Mat. 

 Med., ed. 4, ii. p. i. 463. — Lindl., Fl. Med., 

 340. — Nees & Ebeem., Handb., ii. 416; /'/. 

 Med., t. 132.— Rosenth., op. clt., 236.— H. Bn\, 

 in Diet. Fncycl. des Sc. Medic, ser. 2, ii. 28. 



6 Baccm Lanrece, or B. Laitri Off. (see figs. 

 262, 263). The tree is often cultivated in our 

 gardens, and also in France. 



' The oil of the pericarp is mainly volatile 

 and aromatic, that of the embryo fat and fixed. 

 This mixture enters into the composition of 

 several medicinal unguents, the balm of Fio- 

 ravanti, &c. 



8 See p. 436, figs. 253-255, note 1.— Gnu., 

 loc. cit., 390. — Peeeiea, op. eit., ii. p. i. 462. — 

 Nees & Ebeem., Handb., ii. 418 ; PL Med., 

 t. 131.— Michx., Fl. Bor.-Amer., i. 244; Arhr. 

 For., iii. 173, t, i.— Lindl., Fl. Med., 338.— 

 Rosenth., op. cit., 235. 



9 Guib., loc. cit., 391. This bark is spongy 

 and rust-coloured ; its inner surface is covered 

 with little white crystals. 



10 Rosenth., op. cit., 233. — Maet., FL Bras., 

 Laurac, 318. The seeds of A. Cujumari Nees 

 (Syst., 217; Meissn., Prodr., 94, n. 8i), are 

 used in Brazil as digestive. The Pichurim-beans 

 have been supposed the seeds of A. ? Laurel 

 Nees (Syst., 249; Meissn., Prodr., n. 31; — 

 Ocotea Plchurim H. B. K., Nod. Gen. et Spec, 

 ii. 266). 



11 Rosenth., op. cit., 233. — Maet., loc. cit., 

 317. A. Camara Schoaib. (ex Nees, in Linncea, 



xxi. 500; Meissn., Prodr., 87, 12) has a bitter 

 aromatic wood. Its fruits, split and dried by the 

 Indians of North Brazil, are used in dysentery 

 and other intestinal complaints. (Schomb., 

 Voy., ii. 335.) 



12 Canella do Malo of the Brazilians is N. 

 cirmamomoides Neks (Syst., 307 ; Meissn., 

 Prodr., 167, n. 70 ; — Laurus cinnamomokles 

 .Mi i., ex II. 15. K., Nov. (r ii. et Spec, ii. 169; 

 — ? L. Quixos LAME., Diet., iii. 455). This is 

 also, no doubt, the Cam la of New Granada, or 

 Canelo de los Andaquis, very similar in pro- 

 perties to the Ceylon Cinnamon-tree. N. san- 

 guined Rottb. (in Act. Safn. (1778), 279; PL 

 Sarin., 10; Meissn., Prodr., n. 62; — Laurus 

 samguinea Sw., /•'/. I ml. Oce., ii. 7t>7 (part.); 

 — L. globosa Aubl., (iuian., i. 364? — L. mar- 

 tiniciensis .(acq., Coll., ii. 109, t. 5, fig. 2; — • 

 L. Borbouia /3 Lamk., Diet., iii. 450) furnishes 

 a stimulant aromatic bark, the Maraguanzimmt 

 of the Antilles and Guiana. N.cymbarum Xi;i:s 

 (Syst., 305 ', MEISSN., Prodr., n. 32) is Ocotea 

 cymbarum H. B. K. (Nov. Gen. et Spec, ii. 160) 

 and O. amara M aim. (lSrrii.w, Rep. xxxv. 180). 

 We saw above that to this species was ascribed 

 a so-called Pichurim-bark and Sassafras-wood. 

 It is the Orinoco Sassafras- or Anise-wood, differ- 

 ing from the officinal Sassafras chiefly in the 

 bitter mingled with its aroma. It is also called 

 Pao Sassafras at Para ; it is prized as a tonic, 

 diuretic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogne. A 

 syrup of the same properties is extracted there- 

 from, and is the Siruba of the Indians, the 

 Aceite de Sassafras of the Spaniards (see Bull. 

 Feruss., Jan., 1831, 63 ; Rosenth., op. cit., 

 234j LiNDi... Fl. Med., 336). Von Maetius 

 thinks that it enters into the curare or xcoorara 

 poison of Orinoco. The Canella preto of the 

 Brazilians, a diuretic, emmenagogue, and car- 

 minative bark is ascribed to X. mollis Nees 

 (Syst., 287 ; Meissn., Prodr., a. 8). 



13 O. guianensis Attbl. (Guian., ii. 781, t. 310; 

 — Oreodaphue guianensis Nees ; Meissn., 



