292 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



Common Names. — Quince Tree ; Common Quince. . 



Foreign Names. — Coignassier, Fr.; Melacotogna, It.; Quittenkorner, Ger. 



The Quince tree is a native of the countries along the Danube, Greece, &c. 

 It derives its generic name from Cydon in the island of Crete. It was 

 known to the ancients, and was used by Hippocrates as an astringent in 

 dysentery; this was, probably, the fruit of the wild plant, which is very 

 austere; the Romans cultivated it, and termed it malum cotoneum, from its 

 downy covering. It was one of the first of the foreign fruits introduced into 

 England. There are several varieties, but they are far from being as nume- 

 rous as might have been expected, where a plant has been so long cultivated. 

 This may have arisen from the fact, that it is seldom propagated by seed, 

 but by layers, suckers or cuttings. The finest is said to be the Portugal or 

 oblong quince. The tree flourishes best in a moist soil, but the fruit is not 

 as fine as when it grows in a dry situation. 



In a raw state, the fruit is not eatable; but when cooked or preserved, it 

 is highly grateful. The expressed juice, in small quantities, is somewhat 

 astringent, and has been recommended to allay nausea and vomiting. The 

 only officinal part at present is the seeds ; these are inodorous, nearly insipid, 

 and abound with a mucilage which they yield to water. One drachm affords 

 nearly six ounces of a nearly colourless mucilaginous infusion, about as con- 

 sistent as the white of an egg. This mucilage is peculiar, and has received 

 the name of ' cydonin ; its properties approach nearer to bassorin than to any 

 other of the gums, but differs from it by solubility in water. 



Medical Properties. — The mucilage is a demulcent, and has been used in 

 gonorrhoea, in dysentery, in aphthous affections and excoriations of the mouth 

 and fauces, in which latter cases it is usually combined with borax and 

 honey. It has also been used with some success as a collyrium in inflam- 

 mations of the eyes. It is very pleasant and seldom offends the stomach, 

 but is not equal to that from the pith of sassafras ; it is also very apt to 

 spoil and become mouldy in a short time, and, therefore, should be pre- 

 pared only as it is wanted. It is also used by ladies' hair-dressers to give a 

 consistence and smoothness to braids. 



Pyrus. — Linn. 



Calyx tube urceolate, superior ; limb 5-lobed. Petals 5, rounded, larger than the 

 calyx, with short claws. Stamens 20, arising- from the rim of the calyx, shorter than 

 the corolla. Anthers 2-lobed, oblong-. Ovary inferior ; styles 2 — 3 to 5, filiform, about 

 the length of the stamens; stigmas simple, bluntish. Pome rounded, or somewhat ob- 

 long, umbilicated, fleshy, with as many cartilaginous or membranous cells as there are 

 styles. Seeds 2 in each cell, testa chartaceous or cartilaginous. 



This important genus is composed of middle-sized trees, with simple or 

 pinnate, alternate leaves.- The flowers are mostly corymbose and terminal, 

 rarely solitary, and of a white or rose colour. The fruit is generally eat- 

 able. The species are natives of the temperate regions of the northern 

 hemisphere. Botanists are by no means in unison as regards the limits of 

 the genus ; some with Lindlcy (Linn. Trans, xiii. 97) considering it com- 

 posed of Pyrus and Sorbus, Linn., whilst others are of opinion that it should 

 be divided into several distinct genera. As Lindley's view of the subject 

 has been adopted by Torrey and Gray (Fl. N. Am. i. 470), it will now be fol- 

 lowed, though it is highly probable, that what they regard as sections are 

 entitled to rank as genera. 



Sec. 1. Malvs. — Leaves simple, not glandular; cymes simple; petals spreading, flat; 

 styles 3 — 5, united at base; pome usually globose or depressed, umbilicate at base; cells 

 cartilaginous. • 



