SOME MEDICINAL WILDINGS 



rum. This peculiar aromatic quality of the leaf is 

 diagnostic of the tree, but has the unpleasant effect 

 of causing headache in some persons if inhaled too 

 freely. The cause is a volatile oil resident in the 

 leaf, which is popularly believed to be of medicinal 

 value in several ways. A decoction of the fresh 

 foliage is sometimes used as a disinfectant wash,* 

 or, applied to the scalp, for headache. As a head- 

 ache remedy, on the homeopathic principle, the 

 Indians were accustomed to place a portion of a leaf 

 in the nostril. A bath of hot water in which a 

 quantity of the leaves has been thrown, followed 

 by a thorough rubbing of the body, is a prescribed 

 remedy for rheumatism said to have been efficacious 

 in some cases. The aromatic vapor arising from 

 the leaves boiling in water and allowed to circulate 

 through the house was a preventive measure em- 

 ployed with faith by some people upon the Pacific 

 Coast during the recent Spanish Influenza epidemic. 

 The leaves appear to be also valuable for driving 

 fleas away. 



4 Chesnut states that the oil of the leaf has an effect upon the 

 skin comparable to that of camphor and menthol. I am indebted 

 to his monograph, already quoted, for some of the facts given in 

 this paragraph. 



209 



