368 NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC APPLICATION OP BARKS. 



and branches, though, that from the root is considered to he the most 

 active. It is found in trade, in pieces of various sizes, of a reddish 

 brown colour, rather brittle, showing a reddish grey fracture. It has a 

 pleasant aromatic and bitter taste. 



Prinos verticillatus, Lin. — The black alder of North America, where it 

 grows abundantly in damp, moist places, or swamps, all through the 

 States. It is a shrub, growing 8 to 10 feet high. The bark occurs in 

 pieces of irregular length, more or less quilled. The under surface of a 

 dingy or greenish white. It has a bitterish and astringent taste ; is used 

 in the United States as a remedy in diarrhoea, intermittent fever, &c, 

 and is likewise considered useful in cutaneous diseases, both for internal 

 and external application. 



Cornus florida, L. — Also a North American tree, where it is called 

 Dogwood. It grows to a height of about 15 to 20 feet. The bark is 

 obtained from all parts of the tree, the most valued being that from 

 the root which appears in commerce in various sized pieces, partially 

 rolled. Of a reddish grey colour, and very brittle, having a bitter 

 astringent and somewhat aromatic taste. Its uses in American practice 

 have been chiefly as a tonic, and as a substitute for cinchona bark. 

 Two other species of this genus C. sericea, Herit., and C. clrcinata, 

 Herit., -furnish barks having similar properties, though not used in prac- 

 tice to the extent of the former species. 



Clirysophyllum buranhetm, Riedd. — A Brazilian tree, growing in the 

 neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro. The bark is known as Monesia Bark, 

 and was introduced into France at the early part of the present cen- 

 tury, where it has been employed, as well as in Germany, in cases of 

 atonic diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, &c, though it has now fallen into disuse. 

 The Brazilians still use it for like purposes. It has an astringent bitter 

 taste, in colour of a lightish dusky brown, very thick and heavy, in 

 pieces of various sizes and shapes. 



Ardisia paniculala, Roxb. — An East Indian shrub, growing 10 or 12 

 feet high, producing a bark having tonic and astringent properties, 

 which is used in Ceylon in fevers and bowel complaints, and for exter- 

 nal application in the cure of ulcers, &c. The bark is rather thin, of 

 a greyish brown colour, in pieces of various sizes. 



Slrychnos nux vomica, L. — A native of Coromandel, Ceylon, 

 and other parts of the East Indies, growing to a moderate sized 

 tree, with a rather short, crooked stem. This bark was formerly con- 

 founded with Angostura Bark, but is now generally known as False 

 Angostura. Its appearance is greatly altered by age, the young bark 

 being of an ashy grey colour, and somewhat resembling true angostura. 

 At a more advanced age, it becomes partially covered with a soft, 

 spongy surface, of a rusty appearance. It is found in pieces of an irre- 

 gular size, hard and close, with an exceedingly bitter taste. This bark 

 has been sold in the shops in Calcutta under the name of " Rohun," 

 the true "Rohun" being the bark of Soymida febrifvga, which is per- 



