LOGANIACEJE. 47X 



Bardsley and others, it is shown to be analogous in its effects to Strychnia, 

 but less intense. 



Several other species of Strychnos have attracted much attention for their 

 poisonous properties ; of these the S. tieute, or Upas, and S. toxifera, or Wou- 

 rali, are the most celebrated. The first of these is a large climbing shrub, found 

 in Java, where it is used as a poison, generally in combination with another 

 Upas, the Antiaris. Although extremely powerful, it is not as rapid in its 

 effects as the Wourali, which is a native of South America, and has been 

 fully noticed by Mr. Waterton {Wanderings), and by Schomburgh (Ann. 

 Nat. Hist. viL 411). 



Among this collection of deadly poisons, there are two species that are 

 endowed with far different powers, S. pseudoquina and the S. potatorum. 

 The former, which is a native of Brazil, and is known under the name of 

 Quina do Campo, is employed as a substitute for Cinchona. It contains 

 neither strychnia nor brucia ; the other, found in several parts of the East 

 Indies, produces a fruit, the pulp of which is eaten, and the seeds very ex- 

 tensively used for the purpose of clearing muddy water, and hence they are 

 called " clearing nuts." The Hindoos never drink well-water if they can 

 procure it from a pond or river, and it is, therefore, always more or less im- 

 pure. One of the seeds of this plant rubbed very hard for a short time on 

 the inside of a vessel containing muddy water, will cause a subsidence of the 

 impurities in a few minutes, leaving the, fluid pure and wholesome. 



Strychnos colubrina is stated by Blume to produce the true Lignum colu- 

 brinum, once so much esteemed in paralysis, and still employed in Java in 

 cases of intermittent fever, and as an anthelmintic, and also externally in dis- 

 eases of the skin (Ainslie, ii. 202). Virey states that an over-dose excites 

 tremors and vomiting, but in small ones it is a useful vermifuge, and has been 

 given with advantage in intermittents (Hist. Nat. Med. 91). According to 

 Roxburgh and Blume, other species also furnish this wood. The S. brachiata 

 bears innoxious fruit, which are eagerly eaten by deer, and those of S. pseudo- 

 quina are esteemed in Brazil. Those of S. innocua, a native of Africa, 

 are said by Caillaud to be acidulous and pleasant, without any dangerous 

 qualities. 



Ignatia. — Linn. 



Calyx 5-toothed, campanulate. Corolla infundibuliform, tube narrow, elongated ; limb 

 5-parted, lobes oblong, obtuse. Stamens 5, inserted at lower part of tube, included ; fila- 

 ments filiform ; anthers connivent. Ovary ovoid. Style filiform ; stigma bipartite, lobes 

 filiform. Fruit with a woody rind, 1 -celled. Seeds numerous, smooth, with obtuse angles. 

 Embryo straight, in the axis of cartilaginous albumen. 



A genus of a single species, with opposite, petiolate, ovate, acute, entire 

 leaves. Flowers in small, axillary panicles, ofa white colour, and withthe odour 

 of the Jasmine. It was included in Strychnos by the elder Linnseus but sepa- 

 rated by his son under the present name. 



I. amara, Linn. — The only species. 



Linn., Suppl. 149; Petiver, Phil. Trans, xxi. t. i. f. 4-6; De Candolle, 

 Prod. ix. 18 ; Flore. Med. iii. 165. 



Common Name. — Bean of St. Ignatius. 



Foreign Na?nes. — Feve St. Ignace, Fr. ; Fava di S. Ignazio, It. 



Description. — A tree with long, cylindrical, glabrous branches, with opposite, almost 

 sessile, ovate, acuminate, entire, glabrous leaves. The flowers are white, odorous, tubular 

 in axillary clusters. The fruit is about the size of an apple, ovoid, and smooth, its rind 



