SIMARUBACEiE. 197 



its properties, as it is an active stimulant, causing more or less general excite- 

 ment, with a tendency to perspiration. It has been much used in domestic 

 practice in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, and with much success ; it 

 is also employed in the relief of flatulence and colic, and externally as a 

 topical stimulant to ulcers. From its great acridity it has been employed 

 as a sialagogue in toothache, and like other powerful irritants, oftentimes 

 with much success. 



It is administered in powder in doses of from ten to twenty grains, but the 

 most common form is in decoction, made by boiling an ounce in three pints 

 of water down to a quart, of which one-half is to be taken in divided doses in 

 twenty-four hours. 



It has been analyzed by Dr. Staples, who found it to consist of a volatile 

 oil, a greenish fixed oil, resin, gum, a colouring matter, and a peculiar crys- 

 tallizable principle, which he calls Xanthoxyline. This substance appears 

 to be identical with that discovered by Chevallier and Pelletan in the bark of 

 another species (the X clava-Herculis), and which they have termed Zan- 

 thopicrite ; both these are closely allied to Piperine, and both, like that sub- 

 stance, probably owe their sensible properties to the presence of volatile oil. 



The other native species, X carolinianum, is identical in its properties 

 with the above, but is more powerfully acrid. In the West Indies, the X. 

 clava-Herculis, or Yellow-wood, is held in high esteem, and is said to cause 

 a profuse salivation if its internal use be persevered in for any length of time; 

 and a Brazilian species, the X. hiemale, is stated by A. St. Hilaire, to be used 

 by the natives as a topical application for the relief of ear-ache. X. cari- 

 bceum is said to be febrifuge; and in China, the root of X. nitidum is consi- 

 dered as sudorific, febrifugal, and emmenagogue. The X. piperitum and 

 avicennce are thought in China and Japan to be antidotes to all poisons. The 

 seeds of X. budrunga smell like lemon-peel, and the unripe capsules of X. 

 rhetsa taste like that of the orange. The X. alatum is used in Nepal by the 

 natives as an aromatic stimulant. 



Ptelea. — Linn. 



Flowers unisexual. Calyx 4 — 5-parted, short. Petals 4 — 5, spreading, longer than the 

 calyx. Male : stamens 4 — 5, longer than the petals, inserted round a receptacle bearing a 

 sterile pistil. Female : stamens 4 — 5, short, abortive. Ovary on a convex receptacle, com- 

 pressed, 2-celled. Fruit compressed, membranous, indehiscent, swelled in the middle, 

 surrounded by a circular wing. 



A small genus of shrubs peculiar to America and India. The native spe- 

 cies, P. trifoliata, is said by Schoapf (Mat. Med. Am.) to be anthelmintic, for 

 which purpose the leaves and young shoots are used in a strong infusion. 

 The fruit is aromatic and bitter, and is stated to be a good substitute for hops. 



Order 33.— SIMARUBACE.E.— Richard. 



Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual. Calyx 4 — 5 sepaled, persistent. Corolla with 

 4 — 5 petals, hypogynous, deciduous, aestivation twisted. Stamens equal or double in 

 number to the petals, placed on a hypogynous disk. Ovary four to five-lobed, containing 

 one suspended ovule in each cell ; style single, filiform, larger at base. Carpels as many 

 as petals, capsular, bivalved, opening inwardly, monospermous. Seeds pendulous, exal- 

 buminous, with two thick cotyledons, and a short superior radicle. 



This order formerly constituted a division of the Rutacese, but was separa- 

 ted by Richard, and has been adopted by most modern botanists. It is com- 



