50 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 
employed topically. Hence perhaps the effects obtained in the 
treatment of itch and intestinal worms with P. decandra. The root 
and the fruit of P. abyssinica’ are considered a powerful tenifuge in 
the native country of this species. The Petiverias are equally acrid 
andirritant. The leaves of P. alliacea’ (figs. 51, 52) are employed in 
tropical America as depurative sudorifics ; fumigations are made of 
it in the treatment of paralysis. In the Antilles the root is applied 
to decayed teeth; it has the reputation of being a powerful abortive. 
The root of Pipi, attributed to P. {etrandra of Brazil, is used in the 
preparation of baths and lotions for the treatment of paralysis 
attributed to cold and weakness of muscular contractility. The 
strong alliaceous odour of these plants is found in Segwera, which 
in Brazil enters also into the composition of baths administered in 
cases of dropsy and of rheumatic and hemorrhoidal affections. A 
decoction of the leaves and young branches is used topically in the 
treatment of affections of the urinary channels. 
The Phytolaccacee have several industrial uses. The berries of 
the Avinas furnish a rich red dye. The colouring matter of the 
fruit of Phytolacca dioica can be used in the same way. It is said 
that these berries are employed in the South of Europe to colour 
wines, especially those of Oporto, and some other drinks. Their 
juice is used to colour sweetmeats, papers, and several silk, woollen, 
and cotton stuffs. The Indian women use it with safety in painting 
their faces. The leaves enter into the composition of a rose lake, 
and of red ink. TZhelygonum Cynocrambe (figs. 63-65) is rich in 
alkaline salts, as the Glass-worts and the Chenopods (Goosefoot 
family). The wood of Seguiera contains much potassium, and the 
cinders for this reason are used in America in the clarification of 
sugar and in the manufacture of soap. The flexible branches of 

1 Horrm., in Comm. Gett., xii. 28, t, 2.— — Gui, Drog. Simpl. éd. 6, ii. 445.— P, 
P. dodecandra Lnér., Stirp., i. 148, t. 69.— octandra L., Spec., n. 2 (vulg. Guiné, Raiz de 
Pircunia abyssinica Mog., Prodr., 30, n. 4.— Guiné, Herbe aux poules de Guinée, Pipi). 
Fourn., Tenifuges employed in Abyssinia 3 Gom., Obs. Med. Bot. Pl. Bras. (1803), 13. 
(1861), 60 (vulg. Scheblé). It has been thonght —Moa.,Prodr.,10,n.4,—? P. hexaglochin Fiscu. 
that this plant may be the arborescent Sénevé et M EY., Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. (1835), 35. 
spoken of in Scripture [see Frost, in Journ, Se. 4S, floribunda, commonly named the Cipo 
Inst. Roy. (1825), 69], which, according to some d’Alho, is principally employed,  (BENTH., in 
others, is a Salvadora. Trans. Linn. Soc., xviii. 235, n. 4, t. 19;—Moa., 
2 L., Spec., 486, n. 1.—Moa. Prodr.,9,n.1. Prodr., 7, n. 6;—RosENTH. op. cit., 702), 
