517 



dje ^veas'urp of 33ntanj). 



[gali 



biacece, which is thus made to include both 

 Cinchonacece and Galiaceae. Herbs with 

 whorled exstipulate leaves, and angular 

 stems. Calyx superior, the limb obsolete, 

 four to five or six-lobed; corolla gamope- 

 talous, rotate or tubular, regular, divided 

 like the calyx ; stamens equal in number 

 to the corolline lobes and alternate with 

 them. Ovary two-celled, with solitary 

 erect ovules ; styles two ; stigma undi- 

 vided. Fruit two-celled, with two seeds; 

 embryo in the axis of horny albumen. 

 Natives of the northern parts of the north- 

 ern hemisphere, and of high mountains in 

 South America and Australia. The order 

 contains some plants used for dyeing and 

 some having tonic qualities. The horny al- 

 bumen of goose-grass or cleavers (Galium 

 Aparine) has been used as a substitute for 

 coffee. The root of madder (Rubia tincto- 

 rum) is employed as a dye, and supplies the 

 Turkey-red ; that of Rubia cordifolia fur- 

 nishes the dye called munjeet in India. The 

 leaves of woodruff (Asperula odorata) are 

 fragrant when dried. There are ten known 

 genera and about 380 species. Examples : 

 Galium, Rubia, Asperula. [J. H. BJ 



GALIMETA WOOD. The timber of Bu- 

 melia salicifolia. 



GALIXGALE. Cyperus, especially C. lon- 

 gus. 



GALININGTJE. (Fr.) A kind of olive. 



GALINSOGA. A genus of annual South 

 American weeds of the composite family, 

 furnished with opposite ovate three-nerved 

 nettle-like leaves, and small axillary or 

 terminal stalked flower-heads having an 

 involucre of three to five ovate scales, en- 

 closing four or five white or purple ray 

 florets with pistil only, and numerous 

 yellow tubular perfect disk florets; the 

 angled achenes are crowned with a pappus 

 of lacerated chaffy scales, and seated on a 

 conical chaffy receptacle. G. parviflora, a 

 species with smooth leaves, white ray flo- 

 rets, and a habit like that of the annual 

 mercury, is naturalised in many countries, 

 and has lately become a pest in the market 

 gardens around London. [A. A. B.] 



GALIOTE. (Fr.) Geum urbanum. 



GALIPEA. A genus of rutaceous shrubs 

 or small trees, natives of tropical America, 

 the flowers of which have a salver-shaped 

 corolla with spreading acute lobes ; four 

 to seven stamens, somewhat adherent to 

 the petals, sometimes all fertile, but 

 usually only two of them antheriferous ; a 

 cup-shaped disk ; five styles, becoming ul- 

 timately fused intolone, with afourto five- 

 grooved stigma; and five or fewer carpels. 

 The bark of one or more of the species, 

 such as G. officinalis and G. Cusp aria, is | 

 used in medicine as an aromatic or stimu- I 

 lant tonic. Dr. Hancock, who had large i 

 experience of its use in tropical South 

 America, even preferred it to cinchona in | 

 the treatment of fever. In this country it | 

 is but little used, being deemed inferior to ■ 

 other remedies, and possibly from the fact" 

 that a false Angostura bark was at one [ 



time, through inadvertence or cupidity, 

 substituted for the genuine bark. This 

 false bark occasioned several dangerous 

 accidents, which led some of the continen- 

 tal governments to prohibit the use of An- 

 gostura or Cusparia bark. The spurious 

 bark proved to have been really derived 

 from the deadly nux-vomica tree. Tbisnux- 

 vomicabark, it appears, was also sold in 

 Calcutta for the harmless bark of Soymida 

 febrifuga ; and a preparation of the former, 

 to be used instead of quinine by the Indian 

 army, was made under the impression that 

 it was a valuable andharmless remedy. Dr. 

 O'Shaughnessy fortunately discovered the 

 error in time to prevent the dreadful con- 

 sequences which might have ensued from 

 the employment of this preparation. The 

 reader is referred to Pereira's Materia Me- 

 dica (ii. part ii. p. 1915) for full details as to 

 the means, chemical and otherwise, of dis- 

 tinguishing the true from the false Ango- 

 stura barks, the most readily recognisable 

 features of the true bark being, that it oc- 

 curs in pieces which are not so much 

 twisted or bent as the nux-vomica bark, 

 that it has a disagreeable odour which is 

 not noticed in the false bark, and from 

 being lighter is more readily broken or cut 

 It is stated that the natives employ the true 

 Angostura bark to stupefy fishes, in the 

 same way that cinchona bark is said to be 

 used by the Peruvians. [M. T. M.J 



GALIUM. The typical genus of Galiacea, 

 consisting of numerous herbaceous plants, 

 distinguished by having a minute almost 

 obsolete calyx, a four-lobed wheel-shaped 

 almost tubeless corolla, and a fructifica- 

 tion consisting of two seed-vessels, each 

 containing a single dry seed. Upwards of 

 160 species are described, of which fourteen 

 are British. They all agree in having 

 square stems and whorled leaves; and the 

 roots of most afford a purple dye. Some 

 are perennials, others annual. The predo- 

 minating colour of the flowers is white ; 

 and the number of leaves in a whorl varies 

 from four to ten. Of the British species, 

 G. verum, Bedstraw, and G. cruciatum, 

 Cross-wort, are perennial, and bear yellow 

 flowers. , G. Aparine, Goose-grass, derives 

 its English name from the avidity with 

 which the young stems and leaves are 

 eaten by geese ; it is called Cleavers on ac- 

 count of the tenacity with which the fruit 

 adheres to any rough and soft substance. 

 It is a long straggling annual plant, abun- 

 dant in hedges and among bushes, through 

 which it climbs, supporting itself by the 

 hooked prickles with which it is copiously 

 invested. The globular seeds covered with 

 hooked prickles, found on the dress of per- 

 sons who walk through bushy places in 

 autumn, are derived from this plant. G. 

 saxatile is the pretty little species, only a 

 few inches high, which is so frequently 

 seen in heathy places, associated with wild 

 thyme, birds-foot trefoil, and tormentil ; 

 its flowers are of a brilliant white, and are 

 succeeded by reddish fruit which is con- 

 spicuous by its abundance. French, Gaillet; 

 German, Labkraut. [C. A. J.] 



