214 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



stroyed, by steeping in some alkali, before the first of these animals will taste 

 them. They have been used in this way, and also by permitting them to 

 germinate, which, as with barley, developes a saccharine matter, to some 

 extent in Europe as a food for cattle, and it is said, that mixed with the pro- 

 vender of cows, they increase the quantity of milk. They contain a sapona- 

 ceous principle, which has been taken advantage of in the fulling of stuffs 

 and cloths. A paste has also been made from them, which is said to be pre- 

 ferable to any other, as not only possessing great tenacity, but likewise from 

 the circumstance that no moths or vermin will attack any thing cemented 

 with it. The fruit has also been applied to a variety of other purposes ; but 

 the most valuable of all its uses is the formation of starch, which is superior 

 to that from any of the cerealia. 



In a medicinal point of view, this tree is also deserving of attention, as, 

 from numerous trials made with the bark, it appears that it is possessed of 

 powerful febrifuge properties. A notice of this was given in a paper read 

 before the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, in 1720, by the president, 

 Bon ; but the attention of the profession was not attracted towards it until 

 about 1733, when Zanichelli, an apothecary of Venice, published a full 

 account of its virtues. It was, in consequence, experimented upon by nume- 

 rous practitioners, and generally with much success, though by some its 

 curative powers were wholly denied. It, however, was almost forgotten, 

 when, at the commencement of this century, the French government directed 

 the medical men of France to examine and report on its real value as a febri- 

 fuge. This was done, but the reports were of the most contradictory cha- 

 racter; and it is evident, from a review of them, that, although the Horse- 

 chestnut bark is capable of removing the paroxysms of intermittent fever, it is 

 far inferior, not only to cinchona, but also to many other of the bitter tonics. 

 It was at one time thought that it was analogous in composition to the Peru- 

 vian bark ; but the analysis of Pelletier and Caventou shows that it contains 

 a reddish astringent matter, a greenish oil, a yellow colouring substance, an 

 acid, &c, but no trace of any alkaloid. (See Dunglison, New Remedies, 

 351.) 



The American species are numerous, and all but one belong to the section 

 Pavia, having an unarmed fruit. They are known in the Western States, 

 where they grow in great abundance, under the name of Buck-eye, from a 

 supposed resemblance between the nut to the eye of the deer. The roots of 

 several of them are saponaceous, and used to cleanse woollen stuffs. They, 

 as well as the branches and leaves, are somewhat narcotic ; and the fresh 

 fruit, macerated in water and made into a paste, will stupify fish. In some 

 experiments made on the nuts of the small Buck-eye (JE. pavia) by Dr. 

 Woodhouse, he found that the starch is superior to that from wheat ; that it 

 is readily procured, and keeps for a great length of time j and also, that the 

 water of the fresh washings of the flour is narcotic and poisonous. Dr. 

 McDowell, of Danville, tried the powder of the rind in some cases, and 

 states that ten grains of it were equivalent to three grains of opium. A 

 strong decoction of the bark has been recommended as a lotion to gangre- 

 nous ulcers. 



