130 C A LYCI FLORAE. 



a dusky orange. Calycine lobes oblong, obtuse, puberu- 

 lous. Petals 5, obovato-rotund, slightly clawed, puberu- 

 lous with minute capitate hairs, alternating with the divi- 

 sions of the calyx. Lamellae sickle-shaped, attached to 

 the petals as far the centre of the limb, then curved over 

 the anthers. Stamens 5, connected, at the base, corres- 

 ponding and opposite to the petals : filaments pellucid, 

 bearing the anthers on the under surface, of their club- 

 shaped termination. 9 Flowers solitary, axillary, short- 

 ly peduncled. Calyx, petals, and lamellae as in the male 

 flowers. Styles 3 : stigmata subreniform. Fruit globose, 

 size of an apple, of a russet colour, hard, many-seeded : 

 seeds large, orbicular, flattened, scabrous. 



Barham, an old writer on the plants of Jamaica, men- 

 tions that he found this plant in that part of St. Thomas in 

 the Vale which was known in his time by the name of 

 the Sixteen-mile- Walk. The fruit, he adds, is like a green 

 calabash, only it has a circular black line round it, and 

 two or three warts or little knobs. The inside of the shell 

 is full of white flattish beans, inclosed in a white membran- 

 aceous substance. The nuts or beans are full of oil, and 

 excessively bitter. They are ten or twelve in number, 

 and are so close and compressed, that when 1 have taken 

 them out, I never could place them so again, as to make 

 the shell contain them." 



It has often been remarked, that when any vegetable 

 production is more than usually nauseous and unpleasant 

 to the taste, popular opinion immediately concludes that 

 it must pos ess medicinal properties. This is, I believe, 

 the case with the Antidote Cacoon, which has, for no good 

 or sufficient reason, been established in the domestic Phar- 

 macopeia of the West Indies as a most valuable plant. It 

 has been regarded also with favor by the French Colo- 

 nists, having received from them the names of" Liane 

 contre-poison," and " Liane epileptique." The Spanish 

 physicians we are told, employ it with success, in the form 

 of emulsion, for intermittent fever, and as a counter-poison. 

 The Bucaniers esteemed it so highly, that they never ven- 

 tured on an expedition without taking with them a supply 

 of this fruit (Poupee Desportes III. 54). 



Of the medicinal properties of these seeds I cannot 

 speak from my own experience. Dr. William Wright in 

 his Memoirs states, " I am far from agreeing that it is of 

 use for pains or weakness of the stomach. On the con- 

 trary I find the disorder rapidly to advance under its use, 



