88 COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



the natural order Apocynacese. The bark is powerfully 

 bitter, and is used by the natives of India in bowel com- 

 plaints. Under the name of Dita bark it began to attract 

 attention in this country in 1875 as a most valuable anti- 

 periodic and tonic. 



An allied species, A. constricta, a native of Queensland 

 and New South Wales, and known as the Queensland 

 Fever Bark, where it has had a reputation for some time, 

 has also been introduced since 1878, and used as a. tonic and 

 febrifuge. 



Andira araroba. — Under the name of GoA Powder a 

 substance was introduced in 1874 to the notice of pharmacists 

 as a cure for ringworm and other skin diseases. The drug 

 was imported into the London and Liverpool markets from 

 Bahia, and consisted of lumps of a yellowish substance, com- 

 posed partly of powder and partly of pieces of wood. For 

 some time its botanical soui-ce remained unknown ; but in 

 1879 Dr. I. M. de Aguiar published at Bahia a botanical 

 description of the plant under the above name. The active 

 principle of the drug, called Chrysophanic acid, soon 

 obtained for it a reputation in the cure of the diseases 

 referred to, and the drug is still included in the chemists' 

 trade lists. 



Aspidosperma Quehracho-blanco. — A tree, native of the 

 Argentine Republic, and belonging, like the last, to the 

 natural order Apooynace;i?, furnishes the Quebracho-bianco 

 or White Quebracho bark of commerce. It is used in various 

 forms of dyspepsia, bronchitis, phthisis, etc., and was intro- 

 duced to the notice of English pharmacists in 1879. 



Cannabis indica. — The common HempIs well known to 

 be valuable for two distinct economic uses — namely, when 

 grown in cool countries it is valued for its fibre, and when 

 grown in hot countries, for the resin which is secreted 

 all over the plant. In India and other tropical countries 

 this is much used under the names of Bhang, consisting of 



