286 MEDICAL BOTANY.* 



sion of the fixed oil, either with water alone, or with salt and water. It is 

 largely prepared for the use of perfumers, confectioners, and cooks, who ge- 

 nerally use what is called essence of almonds, or a solution of 3ij. of the oil 

 in 3vj. of alcohol. A hundred-weight of the bitter almond cake, after the 

 expressed oil has been obtained, is distilled with four hundred gallons of water ; 

 the product varies much in quantity, being from one ounce to three. This 

 oil, as before stated, does not pre-exist in the almond; but is shown by Robi- 

 quet, Liebig, and others, to be formed by the action of water on some of the 

 constituents ; these are the emulsin and amygdalin, the latter of which is a 

 crystalline substance, found in the bitter, but not in the sweet almond. This 

 volatile oil is of a golden-yellow colour, an agreeable smell, and an acrid, 

 bitter taste. It is a most active poison, acting as rapidly, and giving rise to 

 the same symptoms as hydrocyanic acid. The bitter almond itself is poison- 

 ous, although the poisonous principle is not developed until after it has been 

 for some time in the stomach, and has been acted upon by the fluids of that 

 viscus. 



Medical Properties. — Almonds are demulcent and nutritive, but are 

 difficult of digestion where the stomach is weak, on account of the quantity of 

 oil they contain, and when not deprived of their epidermis, are still more 

 liable to disagree; in some persons they induce urticaria, whilst in others a 

 few blanched almonds will relieve heartburn. They are used in medicine 

 for making emulsions, confections, syrups, &c, which have been found useful 

 in irritating coughs, affections of the bladder, &c. Many of the nostrums 

 for eruptions, as Gowland's Lotion, Milk of Roses, &c, consist of corrosive 

 sublimate dissolved in emulsion of almonds, sometimes with the addition of 

 sugar of lead or oxide of bismuth, but generally with the mercurial salt alone. 



The oil of almonds possesses the same properties as the other bland oils ; 

 and, like them, in large doses, acts as a laxative; it is also used in the form 

 of an emulsion, made by the addition of mucilage or yolk of egg in the same 

 cases as that from the almond itself. The volatile oil is seldom used in me- 

 dicine in this country, its principal employment being by perfumers and con- 

 fectioners. The bitter almond has been extolled by some writers as a remedy 

 in intermittent fever; and Dr. Mylius, of Russia, states that he has been emi- 

 nently successful with it. 



A. persica, or Peach, usually considered as derived from Asia, appears to 

 have been cultivated by the Indian tribes in the southern parts of this coun- 

 try at the time of the discovery, as it was found common among them by the 

 earliest travellers ; there is, however, no satisfactory evidence to show that it 

 is a native of America. The fruit is too well known to require notice. The 

 leaves, flowers, and kernels, abound in hydrocyanic acid. The leaves have 

 been used as a vermifuge and purgative, but should be employed with much 

 caution ; the same remark applies to the flowers, which at one time were in 

 much vogue for the same purpose, and are still employed in some parts of 

 Europe as the basis of an anthelmintic syrup. Dr. Christison ( Treat, on Poi- 

 sons, 58,) quotes two cases from Coullon, in which the flowers proved fatal, 

 producing all the symptoms of acro-narcotic poisoning. The kernels are much 

 used as a substitute for bitter almonds, in culinary preparations, and in the 

 manufacture of Noyau ; their shell is said to be febrifuge, and, according to 

 M. Burtin {Mat. Med. Ind. 73) are fully as efficacious as cinchona. 



Prunus. — Linn. 



Calyx urceolatc, 5-parted, deciduous. Petals spreading. Stamens 15 — 20. Ovary 

 glabrous, with 2 pendulous ovules. Drupe ovate or oblong, fleshy, glabrous, usually co- 





