516 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



and abounding in a bland, inodorous oil, closely resembling that of the olive, 

 and used for similar purposes. The seeds are much employed in many parts 

 of Asia and Africa, as well as by the negroes in our Southern States, and in 

 the West Indies, as an article of food, prepared in a variety of different modes. 



The oil is inodorous, of a bland, sweetish taste, and will keep a long time 

 without becoming rancid. It is much employed in Asiatic countries as an 

 article of food, instead of olive oil ; the seeds furnish a very large quantity of 

 it ; Mr. Morel ( Trans. Phil. Soc. 1) says that a hundred weight will produce 

 ninety pounds of the oil, but other writers do not attribute as large a propor- 

 tion to them. 



The leaves abound in a gummy matter, which they give out to water, so 

 as to form a rich, bland mucilage. One or two of the fresh leaves stirred in 

 half a pint of water, will render it sufficiently viscid. 



Medical Properties. — The oil is principally employed as an article of food, 

 but is also used medicinally. In the East it is in much repute as a softener 

 and beautifier of the skin, and as an application to furfuraceous eruptions. 

 Administered internally, in somewhat large doses, it acts as a laxative ; and 

 Ainslie {Mat. Ind. ii. 256) says that in India it is considered as emmena- 

 gogue, and capable of causing abortion; this is also stated by Prosper Albinus 

 (Plant. Egypt. 98). It has been employed, both alone and in emulsion, with 

 some benefit, in dysentery and other bowel affections. The mucilage of the 

 leaves is much used in the bowel complaints of children, and forms an emol- 

 lient application in ophthalmia, diseases- of the skin, dec, but is not at all 

 superior to that of the Slippery -elm or of the pith of Sassafras. 



Order 80.— BIGNONIACE^.— R. Brown. 



Calyx 5-parted, 2-parted, or bilabiate, often spathaceous. Corolla with an expanded 

 throat, and a more or less irregular 5-lobed or bilabiate limb. Stamens 5, of which one, 

 and often three, are abortive ; when four are fertile, they are didynamous. Ovary 2- 

 celled, with the placentae in the axis ; the base surrounded by a fleshy ring or disk. Cap- 

 sule woody or coriaceous, pod-like, 2-valved, many-seeded. Seeds winged, destitute of 

 albumen ; embryo straight, foliaceous. 



The species are trees, shrubs, or rarely herbs ; often twining or climbing. 

 The leaves are opposite, seldom alternate ; compound, or sometimes simple, 

 exstipulate. The largest proportion of them are found within the tropics, but 

 some extend much further north and south. They are principally noted 

 for the beauty of their flowers, but some of them are possessed of medicinal 

 powers. Catalpa cordifolia is said to have a vermifuge bark, and emetic 

 wood. A decoction of the pods has been recommended in pectoral complaints; 

 and the dried seeds, smoked like tobacco, have proved useful in asthma ; the 

 leaves are emollient and somewhat anodyne, and have proved beneficial in 

 local pains, used as a cataplasm. Several species of Bignonia have been 

 employed, some of which appear to possess active properties. B. antisy- 

 philitica of Brazil is considered in that country as one of the most effectual 

 remedies in syphilitic swellings of a malignant character (Martins). B. 

 chica affords a red colouring matter, which dyes cotton of an orange red. 

 The bark of B. leucoxylon is esteemed an antidote to the poison of the Man- 

 chineel (Flor. Med. Antill. iii. 244). The branches of B. echinata are said 

 to be used to adulterate Sarsaparilla. Tecoma impetiginosa abounds in tan- 

 nin, and its bark is employed in decoction as a fomentation in debility of the 

 limbs. T. ipe has similar qualities, and is used in Brazil to form a gargle in 

 aphthous affections of the mouth and fauces. The root of T. stans is diu- 



