120 



NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



the same properties, but is less used among us, except in rural 

 districts. In Germany, the bark of the stems and of the roots is 

 used as a vesicant. The taste, at first sweetish, speedily becomes 

 extremely acrid. It produces vomiting, active purgation and 

 inflammation of the urinary passages. Bois-gentil has been em- 

 ployed in the treatment of chronic cutaneous affections, paralysis 

 of the organs of deglutition, and locally against dental decay. The 

 workmen who pulverise this bark and that of Gar ou find much 

 difficulty in protecting their eyes and respiratory passages from 

 the penetration of this irritant powder. Persons who have taken this 

 bark internally are often affected by a perspiration in the head and 

 neck, after which remains a burning sensation in the throat. Laureola, 1 

 and Daphne collina, 2 alpina, 3 pontica,* altaica, 5 Cneorum, 6 olcoides,' 7 

 Bholua, 8 have, in various degrees, similar properties. The same is 

 said of Dirca pahcstris 9 (fig. 79-80), employed as a purgative by 

 the North Americans, of Lagetta lintearia, of Wikstroemia indica, 10 

 of Daphnopsis Swarisii n and tinifolia, 12 of Thjmclœa Tartonraira^ 

 and of many species of Gnidia. 1 * The action of the fruits and seeds 



1 D. Laureola L. Spec. 356. — Blackw. Serb. 

 t. 62.— Jacq. Fl. Austr.ii. 49, t. 183.— Hér. et 

 Del. Diet. Mat. Méd. ii. 584.— Hayne, Arz. 

 Gew. iii. t. 44. — Guib. op. cit. ii. 386. — Gren. 

 et Godr. Fl. de Fr. iii. 57.— Caz. PI. Méd. Lid. 

 éd. 3, 366.— Rev. in Fl. Méd. du XIXe Siècle, i. 

 449. — Rosenth. op. cit. 240. — L>. major Lamk. 

 Fl. Fr. iii. 221.— Thymelœa Laureola Scop. Fl. 

 Carniol. i. 276 (Laurier- Epurge, L. des Bois, 

 Auriole, Lauréole Mâle). 



2 Sm. Spicil. ii. t. 18. — Meissn. Prodr. xiv. 

 535, n. 15.— Bot. Mag. t. 428. 



3 L. Spec. 356.— D. Candida Wittm.— Thy- 

 melma Candida Scop. Fl. Cam. ed. 2, i. 277. 



4 L. Spec. 357.— Andr. Bot. Pepos. t. 73.— 

 Bot. Mag. t. 1282. We are assured that the 

 poisonous honey of Asia Minor is collected 

 partly from this plant. 



* Pall. Fl. Poss. i. 53, t. 35.— Lodd. Bot. 

 Cab. t. 399.— Bol. Mag. t. 1875. 



6 L. Spec. 357.— Jacq. Fl. Austr. v. 12, t. 

 426.— Curt, in Bot. Mag. t. 313.— Bull. Serb. 

 t. 121.— Mér. et Del. loc. cit. 580.— D. odo- 

 rata Lamk. Fl. Fr. iii. 222.— L). Verloti Gren. 

 et Godr. Fl. de Fr. iii. 59 (P. Fausse-Chamêléc). 



7 Schrel. Pec. i. 13, t. 7.— P. caucasica Bieb ? 

 — D. Jasmiiiea Sibth. et Sm. Fl. Grccc. t. 358. 



8 Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 68 (Bholu Swa). 

 D. Gcnkwa (Sieb. et Zucc. Fl. Jap. i. 137, t. 

 75) is also used for blistering in Japan; the 

 bark is used. The flowers are administered 



internally as febrifuge, hydragogue and ver- 

 micide. 



9 See p. 130, note 9. Bigel. Med. Bot. ii. t. 

 37. — LrNDL. Fl. Med. 325. — Rosenth. op. eit. 

 240 (Bois de cuir, B. de plomb). 



10 C. A. Met. Bull. Pëtersb. iv. n. 4.— 

 Meissn. Prodr. 643, n. 1. — W. Forsteri Dcne. 

 in Jttcquem. Vog. Bot. 146.— W. nutans Benth. 

 Sooh. Journ. (1853), 195.— Daphne indica L. 

 Spec.ôll. — P.fœtida L. F. Suppl. 223. — Forst. 

 Prodr. n. 168. — Capura Purpurata L. Mantiss. 

 225 (Ooo, Oao, Avan-o-ao in the Sandwich Isles). 



11 Meissn. Prodr. 522, n. 9. — Daphne occi- 

 dentalis Sw. Prodr. 63. 



12 Meissn. Prodr. n. 14. — Daphne tinifolia 

 Sw. Prodr. G3.—Kordman>tia tinifolia Fisch. 

 et Mev. (Mahot). 



13 All. Fl. Pedem. i. 133.— Meissn. Prodr. 

 656, n. 16. — Daphne Tartonraira L. Spec. 356. 

 —DC. Fl. Fr. iii. 357.— Mkr. et Del. Pict. 

 Mat. Méd. ii. 587. — D. Candicans Lamk. — 

 Passerina Tartonraira Schhad. iV. Journ. iv. p. 

 i. 89. — Gren et Godr. Fl. de Fr. i. 63. — 

 Clilamydanthus Tartonraira C. A. Mey. — Sana- 

 inunda argentea latifolia angustifolia Barrel 

 (Trintanelle, T. Malherbe, Gros-Retombet). 



14 Notably G. pinifolia L. simplex L. and 

 imberbis Dryand. species from the Cape. 67. 

 odari/rra Lour, from Cochin China, yields a 

 kind of tar which serves to calk ships. 



