108 MELALEUCA MINOR 



It is clear, therefore, that the green colour is natural to the oil, 

 but it seems probable that this colour is lost by keeping, and that 

 it is contaminated by copper in order to make the green colour 

 permanent ; for whatever may have been the case formerly, it is 

 certain that traces of copper may be usually found in the cajuput 

 oil that is now imported. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Cajuput oil is a diffusible stimu- 

 lant, antispasmodic and diaphoretic when administered internally ; 

 and externally applied it is rubefacient. It is highly esteemed 

 by the Malays and other Eastern races ; but it is not much used 

 in this country. It is, however, generally regarded as an effica- 

 cious remedy in flatulent colic, hysteria, and painful spasmodic 

 affections of the bowels. As a diffusible stimulant it has likewise 

 proved useful in cases marked by depression of the vital powers, 

 as in low fevers and paralytic affections. In cholera it has been 

 much vaunted as a remedy, but on insufficient grounds. It has 

 also been successfully employed in chronic rheumatism, &c. 

 Externally applied, when mixed with olive oil, it is very service- 

 able in chronic rheumatism, gouty affections, and in neuralgic and 

 other painful diseases. 



Per. Mat. Med., by B. & B,., p. 796; Pharmacographia, p. 247; 

 U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 593; Trans. Royal Soc. Edin., 

 vol. xii, p. 360 ; Gmelin's Chemistry, vol. xiv, p. 514 ; Histed, 

 in Pharm. Journ., vol. ii, 3rd ser., p. 804 ; Guibourt, Hist, des 

 Drog., vol. iii (1869), p. 278. 





DESCRIPTION OF PLATE. 



Drawn from specimens in the British Museum Herbarium collected by 

 Christopher Smith in Amboyna, 1. A small branch with leaves, buds, and 

 flowers. 2. Vertical section of flower, the upper part of stamens removed. 

 3. A staminal bundle. 4. Transverse section of ovary. 5. Fruit. 6. Vertical 

 section of the same. 7. A seed. 8. Old fruit; the growth of the terminal 

 bud has continued the branch. (2-7 enlarged,) 



