138 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



employed in Brazil in internal pains, and that of C. tinctoria in amenorrhoea, 

 and as a yellow dye. The Helianthemum vulgare was at one time used as 

 a vulnerary, and in the treatment of phthisis, and Kramer states that he has 

 seen cures effected by it. The H. canadense is also employed by empirics 

 in this country in scrofulous complaints, both internally in decoction, and ex- 

 ternally as cataplasms. 



Cistus. — Linn. 



Calyx regular. Corolla with 5 equal petals. Stamens numerous. Style simple. Cap- 

 sule 5-celled, many-seeded. 



C. creticus, Linn. — Sepals lanceolate ; leaves ovate, spathulate, rugose, without sti- 

 pules. 



Linn. Syst. Veg. 497 ; Richard, Elem. d'Hist. Mat. Med. ii. 743 ; De Can- 

 dolle, Prod. i. 264 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. 131. 

 Common names. — Rock rose ; Rose of Crete. 

 Foreign names. — Ciste de Crete, Ft. Cisto, Ladano, It. Cisten, Ger. 



Description. — A small shrub, with di- 

 varicate, pubescent branches, furnished 

 with ovate, somewhat spathulate leaves, 

 which are waved at their edges, and pu- 

 bescent on both surfaces ; they are sup- 

 ported on a broad and membranaceous 

 petiole. The flowers are pedunculate, 

 large, of a beautiful rose colour, and are 

 generally in threes at the end of the 

 branches. As in all the other species, 

 they last but one day. The calyx has 

 five ovate-lanceolate, pubescent sepals 

 much smaller than the petals, and per- 

 sistent. The stamens are numerous, 

 of a golden colour. The pericarp is a 

 globose, pubescent capsule, almost co. 

 vered by the calyx, and opening by five 

 valves. 



It is a native of Syria, and of 

 many of the islands of the Medi- 

 terranean Archipelago, growing in 

 dry and stony situations, and cul-. 

 tivated elsewhere for the beauty of 

 its flowers. From it and other 

 species of the genus, a resinous 

 substance is collected, known un- 

 der the name of Ladanum. This 

 is a natural exudation from the 

 plant, and is obtained for use in a 

 variety of modes. In former times, 

 it is stated by Dioscorides, it was 

 collected by combing the beards of 

 goats which had browsed upon 

 the plant. At present, the usual 

 plan is to beat or brush the bushes 

 by means of a kind of rake, formed 

 of a double row of leathern thongs ; to these the resin adheres, and is after- 



