RHAMNACE^E. ' 217 



This is a large genus, the species of which are either trees or shrubs, some 

 with perennial and others with deciduous leaves, and differing much in the 

 number of male organs, some being tetrandrous and others pentandrous. 

 They are found in all parts of the world, but principally in America and the 

 south of Europe. But one of them has been recognised as officinal. 



R. catharticus, Linn. — Erect, branches thorny at the summit; leaves ovate, serrate; 

 flowers polygamous-dioecious, usually tetrandrous ; berry 4-seeded. 



Linn., Sp. PL 279 ; Woodville, t. 114; Stephenson and Churchill, ii. 119 ; 

 Torrey and Gray, FL, i. 261 ; Lindley, Flor. Med., 167. 



Common Name. — Buckthorn. 



Foreign Names. — Nerprun, Fr. ; Ramuno catartico, It. ; Gemeine Kreuz- 

 dorn, Ger. 



Description. — The Buckthorn is a large shrub, with a dark-brown bark and yellowish 

 wood. The branches are alternate or nearly opposite, spreading, and armed with spines 

 at the extremity. The leaves are simple, entire, smooth, ovate, serrate, and of a bright- 

 green colour. The flowers are small, of a greenish colour, and borne at the extremity 

 of the branches of the former year. They are generally of different sexes on different 

 plants, though sometimes polygamous; the fertile flowers have the rudiments of stamens, 

 narrow petals, and four almost united styles ; the barren ones have an abortive ovary and 

 broader petals. The anthers are small, rounded, and borne on short, subulate filaments, 

 which are inserted in the mouth of the calyx. The berries are globular, about as large 

 as a pea, black when ripe, and containing a green pulp, with four cells, and as many 

 seeds, which are smooth, elliptical, convex on one side and flattened on the other. 



This shrub is a native of many parts of Europe, and has been found in 

 several places in the United States, apparently in a wild state, but probably 

 introduced. It flowers in May and June, and ripens its fruit in September 

 and October. The berries have an unpleasant smell and a disagreeable, 

 bitter taste. They have,' however, long been used in medicine as a pur- 

 gative ; but are more generally employed, at the present day, in the manufac- 

 ture of a pigment, known under the name of Sap Green. This is the in- 

 spissated juice, with the addition of a little alum ; or else it is prepared by 

 adding lime-water and gum arabic to the juice, and evaporating to a proper 

 consistence. 



Medical Properties, fyc. — The juice of the berries is a violent, drastic pur- 

 gative, sometimes causing serious irritation of the bowels, and hence it is 

 now but seldom used. Corvisart, however, thought so highly of the hydra- 

 gogue powers of the syrup, that he habitually employed it in almost all cases 

 of serous affections; and it is still considered of value by some European 

 practitioners as a revulsive, when it is wished to make a powerful impression 

 on the bowels. The drastic qualities of this remedy are much modified by 

 the addition of aromatics and the use of demulcents to sheathe the bowels. 

 It is, however, a remedy that may well be dispensed with, and is not recog- 

 nised by our national Pharmacopoeia. The juice of the berries has been 

 analyzed, and found to contain, in addition to the usual constituents, a pecu- 

 liar purgative principle, somewhat allied to cathartine, but differing in some 

 respects from that substance. The mucilage is also peculiar, as it disappears 

 on fermentation. 



The berries of several other species of Rhamnus are used in the arts. 

 Those of the R. infectorius are known under the name of French Berries, 

 and are largely employed in calico printing. They are also used to give 

 the colour to yellow morocco. The R. alaternus affords a fruit which is 

 employed for the same purposes. Another species, the R. paliurus, is said 

 to be one of the most common shrubs in India, and is supposed by some to 



