566 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



employed in gonorrhoea as a substitute for cubebs, and as a masticatory in 

 relaxed uvula, &c. As an external application, in the form of an ointment, 

 it has proved serviceable in tinea capitis. 



Piperine has been highly recommended by several Italian physicians as a 

 febrifuge, and as being milder in its action, and yet more certain and speedy 

 than bark or its alkaloids ; but extended trials with it have shown that it is 

 far inferior to these articles, and that all the virtues it possesses are owing to 

 an admixture with the acrid resin and oil, as when pure it has no influence 

 on the system. The dose of pepper is from five to twenty grains; of piperin 

 one to ten grains. 



Another species, the P. trioicum of India, bears an extremely pungent 

 fruit, said to be superior to the best Black Pepper. Roxburgh says that the 

 leaves of this plant are glaucous; but Dr. Heyne, who succeeded him in the 

 superintendence of the Pepper plantations, seems to think that it is only a 

 variety of P. nigrum, produced by defects in the cultivation. 



Chavica. — Miguel. 



Flowers dioecious. Bracts of the male, like those of the female catkins, shortly-stalked, 

 almost quadrangular, peltate. Sterile flowers: stamens 2, anthers 2-celled. Fertile: style 

 very short or wanting ; in the latter case the 3 — 6 thick stigmas are sessile. Fruit unit- 

 ing with the permanent bracts into a fleshy, fusiform fruit. Seeds almost lenticular, 

 with a scaly, finely-pitted testa, and a mealy albumen, often horny at the outer part. 



This Asiatic genus was separated from Piper by Miquel. The species are 

 much cultivated in many parts of the East Indies, both for their fruit and for 

 the pungent, aromatic leaves of some of the species. The Long Pepper and 

 Cubebs have usually been attributed to two of them ; but it now appears cer- 

 tain that each of these articles are furnished by several closely-allied plants. 



The following are stated by Miquel to afford Long Pepper. 



1. Chavica pepuloides, Miquel. — Young branches, petioles, and peduncles covered with 

 long hairs. Leaves smooth, membranous, with transparent dots ; the lower ovate, 7- 

 nerved, rounded at base, attenuate at apex; the upper unequal, lanceolate, 5-nerved, atte- 

 nuate at apex. Male spikes with short peduncles, slender, with circular bracts ; the 

 female cylindrical, on short peduncles. 



Miquel, Syst. Piper ; Piper pepuloides, Roxburgh. 



2. C. roxburghii, Miquel. — A trailing shrub with dichotomous branches, but erect 

 during the flowering season ; stems at first finely hairy, afterwards smooth. Leaves thick, 

 membranous, at first with fine hair on the veins, afterwards smooth, covered with fine 

 dots. Lower leaves on long petioles, roundish, broadly cordate at base ; upper ones 

 sessile, more or less elongated, unequally cordate at base, embracing the stem. Male 

 catkins filiform, cylindrical, peduncles as long as leaves ; female scarcely half as long, 

 but thicker than the male, peduncles as long as the catkins. 



P. longum, Linn., Sp. PI. 41 (in part); Roxburgh, Fl. Ind. i. 154; 

 Nees, PI. Med. t. 23 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 311. 



These two species are found in a wild state in India, and are cultivated in 

 Bengal. They yield the Long Pepper of India, which consists of the fruit 

 catkins, dried in the sun. The root and thicker parts of the stems are cut 

 into small pieces, and much used in India for medical purposes. 



3. C. officinarum, Miquel. — A climbing shrub, with coriaceous leaves, covered with fine 

 transparent dots, smooth and paler beneath. Lower leaves on long petioles ; 3 — 5-nerved, 

 and ovate-cordate ; upper ones on shorter footstalks, more elongated, base unequal round- 

 ed or attenuated, apex attenuated. Peduncles of catkins longer than petioles. Female 

 catkins short and cylindrical, slenderer towards the apex. 





