52 MEDICINAL PLANTS 



grene and mortification. The Tinctoria, (black oak,) contains most 

 tannin and gallic acid ; is exported largely for tinctorial purposes, un- 

 der the name of Quercitron. Internally it is more irritating than the 

 former, but preferable for external use, from its greater astringency. — 

 The other species named can be substituted for this and the preceding, 

 or for each other. 



Fagus* Ferruginea, Ait., (Beech). A narcotic principle, called 

 fagine, is found in the husks of this species of Beech, and we have 

 but one whose properties have not yet been fully tested. 



Castane.vj- Vesca, Michx., (Chesnut). Valuable for its nuts ; and 

 bark for tanning ; contains gallic acid and tannin. 



Myricace^e, L. C. Richard. — (The Gale Tribe.) 



Myrica:): Cerifera, Linn., (Bayberry Wax Myrtle). The fruit fur- 

 nishes a wax chiefly of that peculiar ingredient of beeswax called My. 

 ricin, which is obtained by boiling the berries in water, when it sepa- 

 rates and is skimmed from the surface ; used for candles, and as the 

 basis of a kind of soa^) ; to purify, melt and strain, and cast into cakes, 

 when it is of a pale, greyish green color ; consisting of cerin 87, and 

 myricin 12 percent. Used in dysentery. The bark of the root is acrid 

 and astringent, and in large doses emetic; a popular remedy in jaundice. 

 (Amer. Jour. Med. Science, 4, 313.) 



Compto>-ia§ Asplenifolia, Ait., (Sweet Fern). A popular rem- 

 edy in dysentery and diarrhoea ; it is tonic and astringent, and possesses 

 a resinous spicy odor. 



Betulace^e, L. C. Rich. — (The Birch Tribe.) 



Betula|| Lenta, Linn., (Cherry Birch, Black Birch). B. Excelsa, 

 Ait., (Yellow Birch.) The fruit of these species is remarkable for its 

 aromatic flavor, resembling that of the Gaultheria Pracumbens ; a tea 

 of it makes a very agreeable diaphoretic stimulating drink. The oil 

 obtained from distilling the bark, is identical with that of the Gaulthe- 

 ria, (Am. Jour. Phar. xv. 243.) All the species afford a saccharine 

 liqour ; we have 6 species of birch. * 



AlxcsIT Serrulata, Willd., (Common Alder). A very useful alter- 



* From the Greek phago. to eat, because the nuts were used as food. 



t From Castanea, in Thessaly, celebrated for its chesnut tree. 



t From the Greek myro, to flow, because found on the banks of rivers. 



§ In honor of Henry Compton, Bishop of London. 



|| From batu, the Celtic name for the birch. 



1 From the Celtic words, al, rear, and lau, the bank of a river. 



