440 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



zoic acid, Resin, a Balsamic matter, Aromatic extractive, &c, in proportions 

 varying according to the quality of the Benzoin experimented upon. 



Medical Properties. — Benzoin, like the other balsams, is stimulant and 

 expectorant, and also appears to have some influence on the sexual organs. 

 It was formerly much employed in pulmonary diseases, but is now seldom 

 prescribed except in chronic affections of the air passages, either in combi- 

 nation, or in the form of fumigation, being scarcely ever administered alone. 

 It forms a constituent of several officinal preparations, and enters largely into 

 the composition of numerous quack remedies for coughs, and as cosmetics, 

 or vulneraries. Its principal employment is as a fumigating perfume, and 

 for the manufacture of Benzoic acid. 



A fragrant juice of a similar character is produced by other species, as S. 

 ferruginea, aurea, and reticulata, and is used in Brazil as frankincense. 

 (Martius, Jour. Chim. Med., iii. 546.) It is probable that the article ex- 

 amined by M. Bonastre, under the name of Storax de Bogota, was the product 

 of one of these species. {Jour, de Pharm., xvi. 88.) 



Order 69.— SAPOTACEiE.-— Lindley. 



Calyx regular, persistent, 5 or 4 — 8-lobed, valvate or imbricate in aestivation. Corolla 

 monopetalous, hypogynous, regular, deciduous ; segments usually equal in number to 

 those of the calyx, sometimes twice or thrice as many ; aestivation imbricated. Stamens 

 arising from the corolla definite, distinct ; fertile ones equal in number to segments of 

 calyx; anthers usually extrorse; sterile stamens as numerous as, and alternate with, the 

 fertile. Ovary superior, many. celled, each^containing a single ascending or pendulous 

 ovule; style 1; stigma undivided, or sometimes lobed. Fruit fleshy, with several 1- 

 seeded cells, or by abortion with one cell only. Seeds nut-like ; with a bony shining 

 testa, having a large hilum ; embryo erect, large, in a fleshy albumen. 



Trees or shrubs, often abounding in a milky juice, and having alternate, 

 or sometimes almost verticillate leaves, entire, coriaceous, and exstipulate. 

 They are principally natives of the tropics, very few being found in extra- 

 tropical regions. They are more celebrated for their fruit, than for their 

 medicinal or other properties. 



The Chry sophy limn cainito bears the Star Apple, which is much esteemed 

 in the West Indies, and the fruits of C. macrophylhwi, C. macoucou, and C. 

 philippense, are also used as food in their native countries. Those of several 

 species of Achras are in still higher repute ; the A. sapota furnishes a deli- 

 cious product, the Sappodilla Plum, of which there are many varieties ; these, 

 besides their edible qualities, are in some estimation in the treatment of stran- 

 gury. The seeds, pounded and made into an emulsion, are diuretic and pur- 

 gative, and have been recommended in gravel and nephritic colic, but in over- 

 doses cause much pain and even dangerous symptoms. The bark, as well 

 as that of some other species, is tonic and febrifuge, and has been used as a 

 substitute for Cinchona. The Lucuma mammosa bears the fruit called Mar- 

 malade, which resembles the last, but is not so much esteemed. The tree 

 affords a milky juice, which Dr. Descourtilz (Flor. Med. Antill., ii. 144) 

 says is emetic, and caustic, and is used to destroy warts. The leaves of A. 

 dissecta are employed in China, pounded with ginger, as an external appli- 

 cation in paralysis. 



Mimusops elengi, and M. kaJci, yield somewhat astringent fruits, but are 

 much used by the natives of the East Indies ; the bark affords a gum ; the 

 seeds of the first afford an abundance of oil, which is used in painting, and is 

 said to be useful in facilitating parturition. Various species of Bassia are 



