NOTES ON THE ECONOMIC APPLICATION OF BARKS. 367 



fectly harmless, and used as a febrifuge, while the strychnos bark is of 

 a poisonous nature. Drs. Pereira and Christison discovered, upon 

 examination, the difference between the two barks, but not till it had 

 been employed on the Continent, and its use prohibited on account of 

 the fatal cases which occurred. 



Bignouia chelonoides, L. — A large East Indian tree, the bark of which 

 is tonic, and employed in' Ceylon in fevers and puerperal inflamma- 

 tions. It is rather a thickish bark, the outer surface of a lightish brown 

 colour, the under of a bright yellowish grey. 



Sassafras officinale, Nees. — A tree of North America, sometimes grow- 

 ing to a height of from 30 to 50 feet, but varying much in size, according 

 to the favourable or unfavourable situation in which it is found ; thus, 

 in the northern parts, it is seldom more than a shrub. The flowers, and 

 nearly every part of the plant have a slightly aromatic odour ; but the 

 root and bark are the parts which are employed in medicine, the bark 

 of the root being in greater reputation than that of the trunk or branches. 

 It is considered powerfully sudorific, and is employed in combination 

 with sarsaparilla and guaiacum, in chronic rheumatism and cutaneous 

 diseases, in this country as well as in North America. The root bark is 

 found in commerce in small pieces, the outer surface, or epidermis being 

 of a brownish grey, while the inner side is of a dusky red brown, the 

 bark is of a corky, or spongy, consistence. 



Nectandra Rodioei, Schomb. — A large forest tree of British Guiana, 

 the timber of which is known and much valued under the name of 

 Greenheart. The tree grows to 80 and sometimes even 100 feet in 

 height. The first notice of the valuable qualities of this wood was 

 made by Bancroft, in 1769. Dr. Roder afterwards, in 1834, discovered 

 the chemical properties of the bark, which he proposed as a substitute 

 for cinchona. He also found that the bark and fruit contained an alka- 

 loid, to which he gave the name of Bebeerine, the tree being called the 

 ' ; Bebeeru." An interesting account of this alkaloid and its effects will 

 be found at p. 140, Vol. III. of the Technologist. Its properties are 

 tonic, astringent, and febrifugal. The bark, as it occurs in commerce, is 

 in large pieces of about 1 to 2 feet long, and from 3 to 6 inches broad, 

 and about 4 lines thick. Externally, it is of a dusky greyish colour, 

 the inner surface of a cinnamon brown. 



Daphne mezereum, L. (Mezereon or Spurge Laurel). — This is a well 

 known medicinal agent, though in this country seldom employed alone. 

 It is produced by an indigenous plant, and is collected' for its medicinal 

 properties both in the counties of Kent and Hampshire. It is a bushy 

 shrub 4 to 5 feet high, producing sweet scented pink blossoms in the 

 spring months when destitute of leaves. The earliest authentic notice 

 we have of the plant dates from about 1530. Its properties are sudo- 

 rific and alterative, stimulating, and diuretic, preserved in scrofulous and 

 chronic cutaneous affections, rheumatism, &c., and is frequently used in 

 England as a remedy for toothache. In this country the bark of the 



