THE RUE FAMILY. 



451 



It was held in high favour as a medicinal plant by the 

 ancients, being for many ages considered a preventive of 

 contagion, and was called the herb of grace. It has been 

 long cultivated in gardens, and is still often used as a do- 

 mestic medicine in the form of tea ; its repute is due perhaps 

 to its possessing a strong odour rather than to any active me- 

 dicinal principle it contains. It is also used by spirit dealers 

 to impart false flavour to spirits, 



Buku [Diosiua crenulata). This, and other allied species 

 are neat little shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 They have small crenated leaves, full of oil-cells, having a 

 strong fragrant odour, and are imported for medicinal pur- 

 poses. The Hottentots make a powder of the leaves, which 

 they mix with grease, and then daub their bodies, this 

 constituting an important part of their toilet ; Buku steeped 

 in brandy, is also a favourite with them in all complaints. 



Angostura Bark (^Galipea officinalis , or G. Cusparia). A 

 native of North Brazil and Guiana. It is a tall tree with 

 trifoliate leaves, its bark being the true Angostura Bark, the 

 virtues of which are said to be equal to quinine. xA.ngostura 

 Bark Bitters are highly esteemed in the United States. 



Cape Chestnut [Calodendron capense). A beautiful tree, 

 native of the Cape of Good Hope, having broad elliptical 

 leaves, and showy white flowers, followed by round prickly 

 fruit about the size of a walnut, containing shiny black seeds, 

 not unlike imperfect sweet chestnuts. It was introduced 

 into this country in 1789 ; a plant at Kew attained the 

 height of 25 feet, with a diameter of 5 inches. 



Cyminosma ohlongifolia, A tree with simple, oblong, 

 dotted leaves, is, according to A. Cunningham, one of the 

 Yellow woods of Moreton Bay. 



Fraxinella {Dictamnus Fraxinella and D. alhd). Well- 

 known showy plants, natives of the South of Europe and 

 Western Asia. The whole of the plant is covered with glan- 

 dular dots of strong aromatic odour, said to emit a volatile 

 oil, which impregnates the air to that extent that on a light 

 being held close to the plant it is followed by a flash, and 

 G G 2 



