Medical Botany. q*j 



consist of little else. — Jristolochia serpentaria ; ^ristolochise. This plant 

 produces what is called the snake-root of North America, which is sup- 

 posed to have a power of arresting the effects of the venomous bites 

 of serpents. In this country it is used as a tonic and diaphoretic. — 

 Gavdnia Gamblgia, Gamboge Mangostan ; Guttlferge. " Although the 

 gamboge of the materia medica is principally obtained from the Stalag- 

 mitis cambogioidesy hereafter described, yet there is some reason to believe 

 that the Garcinia Cambogia of Linnaeus, and several other plants of the 

 natural order of the Guttiferse, yield a substance very nearly, if not entirely, 

 similar to that of the shops. This tree is a native of Malabar, growing 

 in the forests of Travancore, where it is known to the natives by the 

 name Ghorhaiiidi ; flowering in March, and ripening its fruits in June 

 and July." It is to be found in our stoves, though the *Stalagmitis cmn- 

 bogioides, a tree of Siam and Ceylon, belonging to the same order, and which 

 furnishes the true gamboge, is not. This gum is obtained by incisions 

 made in the trunk, and in those roots exposed to the sun. It is a violent 

 purgative, and prescribed in dropsical affections. — Coffea arabica. The 

 mode of drying and preparing the berries of this tree is given in our 

 JEncyclopcedia of Plants. " From experiments made chiefly by Cadet 

 (Ann. de C/iim., Iviii. 226.), it appears that coffee contains an aromatic prin- 

 ciple, a little oil, gallic acid, mucilage, extractive, and bitter principle. The 

 result of Cadet's experiments on sixty-four parts of coffee was as fol- 

 lows : — 



Gum - - - 8-0 Albumen - - - 0-14- 



Resin - - TO Fibrous and insoluble 



Extract and bitter principle rO matter - - 45"03 



Gallic acid - - 3'03 Loss _ _ _ 6-86 



" As a general palliative, strong coffee is often serviceable in various kinds 

 of headache ; and where its own sedative power is unavailing, it forms one 

 of the best vehicles for the administration of laudanum. It diminishes in 

 some degree the hj'pnotic power of the latter, but counteracts its distress- 

 ing secondary effects. When laudanum is intermixed with strong coffee for 

 the cure of many modifications of headache, tranquillity and ease are pro- 

 duced, though there may be no sleep ; when laudanum, on the contrary, is 

 taken alone, sleep will, perhaps, follow, but is mostly succeeded by nausea, 

 and a return of pain. Hence, the Turks and Arabians make strong coffee 

 their common vehicle for opium, from its tendency to counteract the 

 narcotic principle of the latter ; and, on the same account, it is plentifully 

 administered after the stomach has been evacuated of its contents, in cases 

 of poisoning by opium.' 



Nos. XL VII. and XL VIII. for November and December, which conclude 

 Vol. III. and last, contain 

 183 to 185. — Cinchona Condaminea ; i?ubiacea2, A lofty tree of New 

 Granada and other parts of South Amei'ica, exuding, when wounded, a 

 yellow astringent juice. The leaves are ovate lanceolate ; the flowers are 

 small, tubular, and white. — C. oblongifolia is a spreading much branched 

 tree from Peru and Chile, in general appearance resembling the above. — 

 C. cordifolia is distinguished by its heart leaves. All the species of 

 the genus Cinchona vary much in their leaves, according to the altitude 

 at which they grow. The bark appears to be taken from several species 

 and varieties : the origin of the use of this bark as a febrifuge is unknown. 

 The truth of the story so often quoted respecting the Countess Chinchon, 

 vice-queen of Peru, who is supposed to have been cured by the plant, and 

 after whom it is named by Linnaeus, is very doubtful. " In Loxa there is 

 no document to be found that can elucidate the history of the discovery^ of 

 the Cinchona : an old tradition, however, is current there, that the Jesuits, 



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