MAGNOLIACE.E. 



99 



L. tulipifera. 



volute as the flower expands. The stamens are numerous, 

 with linear adnate anthers. The fruit consists of numerous 

 long, narrow scales, attached at base to a common receptacle, 

 so as to form an imbricated cone. The upper portion of each 

 scale is winged. 



Fig. 58. 



This magnificent tree is the pride of the American 

 forest, and is remarkable for its great size, its striking 

 foliage, its beautiful flowers, its useful wood, and its 

 medicinal properties. It is found in most parts of the 

 United States, from Canada to Florida, but is most 

 common in Kentucky and Tennessee, sometimes form- 

 ing extensive woods. There are two varieties, one 

 having the side lobes of the leaves acute, and the other 

 obtuse, as well as two varieties in the colour of the 

 wood, one being white, and the other yellow, but it has 

 not been clearly ascertained that the difference in the form of the leaf is at- 

 tended with a change in the colour of the wood. Rafinesque in his Medical 

 Flora attributes the white wood to the acute-lobed variety, and the yellow 

 wood to the obtuse-lobed ; but this opinion is not confirmed by any other 

 writer. The general opinion is, that there is no mode of ascertaining what 

 the colour of the wood is, except by inspection. This wood is much used in 

 the United States for a variety of purposes, as it is light, easily worked, and 

 fine-grained ; when not exposed to the weather, it is very durable. 



Medical uses, §-c. — The bark of the Tulip tree closely resembles that of 

 the Magnolia in its medical properties, but is less aromatic, and more stimu- 

 lant. In warm decoction, it acts as a sudorific, and sometimes as a diuretic. 



It has been most generally employed in the form of powder ; this has been 

 found highly useful as a tonic febrifuge in paroxysmal fevers. It has also 

 been employed with some success in chronic diseases of the stomach and 

 bowels. Dr. Young, in a letter addressed to Governor Clayton of Delaware, 

 in 1792 (Amer. Mus. xii.), states in addition, that he has found it a most effec- 

 tual remedy in hysteria, especially given in combination with a little lauda- 

 num, and also that he has never known it to fail in a single case of worms. 



The best mode of administration, when the stomach will bear it, is in sub- 

 stance in doses of a scruple to two drachms ; it may also be administered in 

 extract, tincture, or decoction. The proper time for collecting the bark is 

 during the winter. 



Rafinesque states that the seeds are laxative, but this is noticed by no other 

 writer, and requires to be confirmed. The leaves are used as external ap- 

 plications for headache, and an ointment prepared from them has obtained 

 some celebrityin ulcers. 



As found in the shops, the bark is a mixture of that of the trunk, branches, 

 and root. The taste is pungent and aromatic, with some bitterness ; that of 

 the root, which should always be preferred, is more powerful than from any 

 other part. 



Several analyses have been made of the bark, the first of which was by 

 Dr. Rogers in 1802 ; this, from the state of organic chemistry at that day, is 

 of little interest, except that he found an acid, which he supposed to be hydro- 

 chloric, but which has not been detected by more recent experimenters. In 

 1832, Dr. J. P. Emmet published the results of his analysis {Phil. Journ. 

 Pkarm. iii. 5), and announced the discovery of a new principle, which he 

 terms Liriodendrine. This is solid, brittle, and inodorous at 40°, fusible at 

 180°, and volatile at 270° F. ; it can be partially sublimed, but never wholly 

 so; it is soluble in alcohol, and is thought by the discoverer to be analogous 



