POLYQALAOE^. 85 



Arabs use tlie seeds of P. tinctorial for tape worm; tlie 



root fiirnish.es a kind of indigo, P. venenosa"^ is dreaded by the 



Javanese. Commeeson says bis guides were not willing for him to 



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



sneezing and suffered from headache. P. diversifolia^ 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. salicifolia * is used to bathe the head and make the hair grow. 



M. polystachya ^ 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 Ratanhia^ or Rhatany root, which ranks 



among the best astringent medidines. 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 unmeasur- 



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



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



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



or SavanUla and the Andes; and .ff". triandra'^^ (fig. 116-121), 



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



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



' Vahl, 8ymb. Sot. i. 50. — F. bracteosa Pobsk. Hayne, Ann. 8, t. 13. — A. Rich. Mdm. ed. i, 



2 J. in Poir. Diet. v. 493.— Lindi. Fl. Med. ii. 537. — Moa. Bot. MH. 68.— Beeo, in Bot. 

 126 {Katu-tutim). Zeit. (1856), 763.— Tn. et Pl. in Ann. Sc. Nat. 



3 L. Amcen. ii. 140. — Sadiera diversifoUa DC. s&. 3, xvii. 144. — H. Bn. loo. e 't. 20.— K. 

 Prodr. i. 334, n. 1. tomentosa A. S. H. M. Bras. Mer. ii. 74. — K. 



* K. et Pav. Fl. Per. i. 174. grandifolia Beeg, loc. cit. 764. Les K. arida 



' R. et Pay. op. cit. i. 172. Berg {loc. cit.), argentea Maet. et 



' Euiz, in Lamb. Cinchon. 144, t. 3. — ^DC. Pkesl are probably also forma of it. 



Prodr. i. 33.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 127.— Kosenth, u E. et Pat. Fl. Per. i- 1. 93.— DC. Prodr. n. 



op. cit. 789 {Vallhoy Masca). 4.— EcEM. et Sch. Syst. iii. 458. — Hatsne, Arzn. 



1 GuiB. Brog. Simpl. ed. 6, iii. 668. — viii. 14. — Nees et Ebekm. PI. Med. t. 413. — 



EoSBNTH. qp. cit. 789. — Pebeira, Ulem. Mat. GuiB. loo. cit. 659, t. 749.— Lindl. Fl. Med. 



Med. ed. 4, ii. p. ii. 668. — Bendek, Treatise on 128. — Stev. et Church. Mtd. Bot. ii. t. 72. — 



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



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



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



8 H. Bn. in Adansonia, x. 22. loo. cit. 43. — X. Beyrichii Spordl. — K. Imceo- 



' LcEEL. It. 71.— L. Spec. VJI. — Ttjss. Fl. lata Torr. in Mem. Amer. Lye. N. York, n. 168. 



Ant. i. 113, t. 16.— DO. Prodr. i. 341, n. 1.— —A. Gray, PI. Thurb. 301. 



