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COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



the orange, which fruit it much resembles. Though it has 

 long been known in India as a remedy for dysentery and 

 diarrhoea, it was not till about the year 1850 that it began 

 to attract attention as a medicine in Europe. 



Quassia 'Wood (Picrcena excelsa).^A tree of 50 or 60 

 feet high, belonging to the natural order Simarubese. It is 

 common in Jamaica, and is also found in Antigua and St. 

 Vincent's. Quassia wood was originally derived from 

 Quassia amara, a tree botanically allied to that under dis- 



QUASSIA (Picrmta excelsa), 



cussion, and a native of Panama, Venezuela, Guiana, and 

 Northern Brazil; but in 1809 it was supei-seded by the 

 wood of Picrcena excelsa, which is a tree of much larger 

 size, and more abundant. The wood is used as a stomachic 

 and tonic, and is usually seen in the druggists' in the form 

 of chips or turnings. The bitter cups, which were common 

 a few years ago, and which gave a bitter draught by allow- 

 ing water to stand in them for a short time, were turned 

 out of this wood. Quassia has a slightly narcotic effect on 

 the higher animals, but is poisonous to flies. 



