PULYGÂLAOE.^\ 85 



Arabs use the seeds of P. tinctoria ' for tape worm ; the 

 root furnishes a kind of indigo. P. vcncnosa ^ is dreaded by the 

 Javanese. Commerson says his guides were not willing for him to 

 touch this plant ; and having done so he was seized with a tit of 

 sneezing and suffered from headache. P. dii'crsifolia,^ a woody 

 species from the Antilles, is said to have the odour and properties of 

 guaiacum, and is used in the treatment of the same disorders. 

 Several Monninas have similar qualities. In Peru the root of M. 

 pterocarpa * is employed in cases of dysentery. A cold infusion of the 

 bark of M. salicijblia ^ is used to bathe the head and make the hair grow. 

 M. 2)olijstacliija ^ is especially celebrated as an astringent. The women 

 used it like the former to give strength and brilliancy to the hair ; 

 and it is said to be a remedy for dysentery. It is also employed in 

 polishing metals, principally silver plate. By their richness in 

 tannin these plants resemble Ratanliia^ or Rhatany root, which ranks 

 among the best astringent medicines. It is procured from the thick 

 woody knotted roots, red or brown in colour, of several species of 

 Krameria. In this genus,^ the species of which have been unmcasur- 

 ably midtiplied, we have proved that there are but two which 

 furnish the Ratunhia of European commerce. These are: K. Ixima'^ 

 (fig. 123), whose varieties constitute the E. of New Granada 

 or Savauilla and the Andes; and K. triundra^^ (fig. 116-121), 

 yielding the K. of Peru The R. of Texas, produced from K. secun- 

 dijlont.;^^ is not used in France, and but very little in Germany. 



1 Vahl, Symb. Bot. i. 50. — P. bracteosa Forsk. Hayne, Arzii. S, t. l.S. — A. Rich. Elém. éd. 4, 



■^ J. in Foil: Diet. v. 493.— LiNDL. Fl. Med. ii. 537.— Moa. Bot. Méd. 68.— Berg, in Bot. 



126 {Katu-tutun). Zeit. (1856), 763.— Tr. et Pl. in Ann. Se. Nat. 



^Jj. Amccn.ii. liH.—Badiera dirersifoUaDC. ser. 3, xvii. 144.— H. Bn. loc. ct. 20.— X 



Prod,-, i. 334, n. 1. tomentosa A. S. H. Fl. Bras. Mer. ii. li.—K. 



^ R. et Pav. Fl. Per. i. 174. grandifolia Berg, loe. eit. 764. Les K. arida 



^ H. et Pav. o/). cit. i. 172. Berg (foe. <"''•), arijentea Mart, et cmpidata 



"Ruiz, in Lamb. Citichoii. 144, t. 3. — DC. Presl are probably also forms of it. 



Prodr. i. 33.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 127.— Eosenth, w R. et Pav. Fl. Per. i. t. 93.— DC. Prodr. n. 



try;, cit. 789 {Vallhoy Masca). 4.— Rœm. et Sch. Si/st. iii. 45S. — Hayne, Ar-^ii. 



1 GoiB. Drag. Simpl. éd. 6, iii. 658. — viii. 14.— Nees et Ererm. PI. Med. t. 413.— 



Rosenth. op. cit. 789. — Pereira, Elem. Mat. Gum. foe. cit. 659, t. 749.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 



Med. ed. 4, ii. p. ii. 668. — Bender, Treatise on 128. — Stev. et Church. M,d.Bot. ii. t. 72. — 



Ratanhia, Stuttg. (1818). — Cotton, Study of Rosenth. op. cit. 789. — Bekg, loc. cit. 766. — 



the genus Krameria and the roots which it gives Berg et Schm. Parst. iii. f. (nee H. B. K.). 



to medicine (thés. Par. 1868). " Moc. et Sess. ex DC. Prodr. i. 341.— Cott. 



' H. Bn. in Adansonia, x. '22. l"c. cit. 43. — K. Beijrichii Spordi. — K. laiicco- 



5 Lœfl. It. 71.— L. Spec. 177.— Tuss. Fl. la/a Torr. iT\ iMcm. Amer. Lye. N. Tor!c,ii. 16S. 



Ant. i. 113, t. 15.— DC Prodr. i. 341, n. 1.— —A. Gray, PI. Thurh. 301. 



