306 



MEDICAL BOTANY. 



open and infused in sweet oil, which is exposed to the sun for a few days, 

 until it becomes red, and then preserved for use ; dropped on cotton, and ap- 

 plied to a wound, it is considered as a vulnerary almost equal to the balsam 

 of Mecca. It is used in the same way in Europe and this country. Dr. Des- 

 courtilz (Flor. Med. Antill. iii. 62) states that it is acrid and poisonous, but 

 that an extract from it has been found of benefit in dropsies as a hydragogue 

 purgative. In Manilla a decoction of the plant is used as an emetic. Rafi- 

 nesque (Med. Flor. ii. 245) says that the root is useful in jaundice and liver 

 complaints, and that the powder is emetic. 



Several other species are also active. The leaves of M. charantia, which 

 are bitter, and of a strong odour, are vermifuge, and are also employed in 

 decoction in Jamaica to promote the lochial discharge. (Browne, Jam.) The 

 root of M. dioica is recommended by Hindoo physicians in the form of an 

 electuary, in bleeding piles, and bowel complaints. (Ainslie, ii. 274.) 



Citrullus. — Necker. 



Corolla persistent, 5-parted, sub-rotate. Anthers tridelphous, bilocular. Style trifid. 

 Stigma obcordate, convex. Fruit a fleshy or dry and fibrous, many.seeded peponida. 



This genus is very variable in its properties, especially as regards the fruit, 

 in some species being edible, as in the Watermelon, whilst in others it is 

 acrid, poisonous, and purgative, as in the Colocynth, &c. It is probable that 

 the roots and stems of all the species are endowed with active properties. 



C. colocynthis, Linn. — Leaves many-lobed ; petioles as long as the lamina. Fruit 

 globose, smooth, bitter. 



Cucumis colocynthis^ Linn., Sp. PI. 1092 ; Woodville, iii. 175 ; Stephen- 

 son and Churchill, iii. 138 ; Citrullus colocy?ithis i Royle, 396. 

 Common Names. — Colocynth ; Bitter Cucumber. 

 Foreign Names. — Coloquinte, Fr.; Coloquintida, It.; Koloquinthen, Ger. 



Description. — Root annual, whitish. Stems 

 Fig. 150. herbaceous, trailing, angular, branched, rough 



with short hairs. The leaves are on long pe- 

 tioles of a triangular form, deeply and ob- 

 tusely sinuated, of a bright green on the upper 

 surface, paler, and clothed with whitish hairs 

 beneath. The flowers are solitary, axillary, 

 and of a yellow colour. The calyx of the male 

 flower is bell-shaped. The corolla is monope- 

 talous, campanulate, divided at the margin 

 into five pointed segments. The stamens are 

 three, short, distinct; two are bifid at the 

 apex, or rather have two anthers. The female 

 flower is like the male, but the filaments are 

 destitute of anthers. The ovary is inferior, 

 large, with a very short cylindrical style, 

 furnished with three thick stigmas. The 

 fruit is a round pepo, the size and colour of 

 an orange, and smooth on the outside when 

 ripe ; the rind is thin but solid ; internally it 

 is trilocular, each cell containing numerous 

 ovate acute, compressed seeds, enveloped by 

 a white spongy pulp. 



This plant is a native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, Japan, India, Nubia, Syria, 

 &c, and is cultivated in Spain and 

 Italy. It is supposed to be the gourd 

 alluded to in the Old Testament (2 



