CHAPTER XXVI 



THE POMEGRANATE 



Punica Granatum 



THE pomegranate was for very long considered, like 

 the guava, a member of the Myrtle Family, now 

 more commonly reckoned of the Lythraceee or Loosestrife 

 Family, and the guava is in reality its namesake since 

 "Psidium" was derived from the Greek for "Psidion," 

 or Pomegranate. "Punicum malum," by which the an- 

 cients also designated the latter, indicates a Carthaginian 

 residence and nether the fig, the grape nor olive was a 

 greater favourite from its beauty, medicinal value, or as a 

 food accessory (although the pomegranate has not the 

 solid elements which would enable subsistence upon that 

 alone as with the others just named) in those earlier 

 centuries of the world. 



The rind, flowers and root are all astringent. The rind 

 has not infrequently been recommended in decoction 

 or powdered form: valued as a gargle in sore throat, 

 and also as of use in dysentery and intermittent 

 fevers. Commercially it has served in tanjiing leather, 

 as have the flowers as a dye. Each part seems to partake 

 of the qualities of the others, as, for instance, the bark of the 

 tree also has been noted as a dye and the flowers for medi- 

 cine. The ancient Asiatics and Europeans, the negroes 

 of the West Indies and Mohammedan physicians of India 

 seem all to have recognised the value of the root bark as 

 a vermifuge. 



The seeds have demulcent qualities but are very ob- 

 jectionable where the fruit is used as a food accessory (as 



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