Medical Botany. 81 



to be possessed of many virtues. Boerhaave reckons it as the first of 

 aperient diuretic roots, and it has been recommended in gonorrhoea and 

 visceral obstructions, particularly of the gall-bladder and liver. Menstrual 

 suppressions are reported to be removed by it, and quartan agues are like- 

 wise stated to have yielded to it. To crown its other virtues, it is much 

 esteemed for its supposed, aphrodisiac qualities ; and at Colchester, where 

 the candied root is prepared, considerable quantities of it are still sold, we 

 are informed, in consequence of Her Majesty Queen Charlotte being pre- 

 sented with a box of it, as she passed through that town on her first arrival 

 in England. It is now little used by medical practitioners ; but while we 

 are taught to believe by respectable authorities that two grains, and even 

 one, of blue pill for a dose, can act beneficially on the system, we see no 

 reason why this root, and many others, should be destitute of all virtue, 

 when properly administered and judiciously persevered in, even though their 

 direct effects on the system manifest themselves in no very evident manner. 

 The E. campestris, or Field Eryngo, with deeply divided leaves, which 

 grows naturally in our meadows and pastures adjoining the sea, is said to pos- 

 sess the same qualities and medical properties, and is preferred on the Con- 

 tinent." — Geoffrdya inermis ; Legumindsae. The smooth Geoffroya, Bas- 

 tard Cabbage tree, or Worm Bark tree, is a native of Jamaica and Mar- 

 tinique : it is lofty, with white wood, which is so tough as to be preferred 

 beyond all others for the shafts of carriages. The bark is used as a worm 

 powder in the West Indies ; but, though included in our Materia Medica, is 

 very seldom prescribed. 



No. XXXVIT. for January, 1830, contains 

 145 to 148. — Dorstema Contrayerva ; C/rticeae. A perennial from 

 South America and the West Indies, with fusiform, compact, rugose, 

 knotty roots, which have an agreeable aromatic smell, and a rough, bit- 

 terish, warm, acrid taste. It has been considered stimulant, sudorific, and 

 tonic, but is now little employed — iythrum Salicaria. Astringent and 

 tonic, but little used. — Boswelhas (by Dr.. Roxburgh, in memory of the 

 late Dr. John Boswell of Edinburgh) serrata; Nat. Ord. ikfelise. A 

 lofty tree of central India, which produces the gum Olibanum of com- 

 merce. This substance distils from incisions made in the bark of the tree 

 during the summer months. It is the frankincense of the ancients, the thus 

 of the Romans, and the libanos of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. " In 

 the early ages, it was much used as incense in sacrifices ; and, in modern 

 times, the Greek and Romish churches still retain the use of frankincense 

 in some of their ceremonies." When heated, it burns brilliantly, and dif- 

 fuses an agreeable odour, and is chiefly employed as a perfume in the rooms 

 of the sick. — Saccharum officinarum. The Chinese date the cultivation 

 of the sugar-cane from the most remote antiquity. Dr. Roxburgh considers 

 the species cultivated in China as distinct from that grown in the East and 

 West Indies, and has named it sinense. It is believed to be indigenous in 

 the south-east of Asia. Marco Polo found abundance of sugar in Bengal in 

 1250. About the close of the 13th century, its cultivation was extended 

 to Arabia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. From Africa it migrated to Spain ; by the 

 Spaniards it was taken to the Canary Islands, in the 15th century ; and, 

 by the Portuguese, from Sicily to Madeira. In the beginning of the 1 6th 

 century, the sugar-cane was conveyed by the Spaniards to the West India 

 Islands and the Brazils. " It is a remarkable fact, that the su^ar-cane in 

 the West Indies never perfects its seeds, the plant being propagated always 

 by cuttings from the roots. Dr. Roxburgh, who resided many years in India, 

 never saw the seed of this plant." There are several varieties : that chiefly 

 grown in the West Indies is called the country cane ; it is propagated by cut- 

 tings, and requires a rich soil. The cuttings are taken near the top of the 

 Vol. VI. — No. 24. g 



