107 



pomegranates in blue, purple and scarlet, alternating with bells of gold". 

 The promegranate was one of the three fruits brought to Moses by the 

 men that he sent to spy out the land of promise. Many othtr passages 

 scattered throughout the Bible refer to our plant, and testify to the 

 esteem in which the tree and the fruit (then called rimmon) were held 

 in ancient times. The fruit and seed of the pomegranate are mentioned 

 in the "Arabian Nights. 



Pomegranates were represented on Carthaginian and Phenician 

 medals and on the reverse of the coins of the island of Rhodes. In, 

 Greek mythology the pomegranate is very conspicuous and symbolizes 

 fecundity and abundance. The fruit was dedicated to Juno, a deity 

 always represented in sculptures as holding a pomegranate. 



The Greek authors, e. g., Theophrastus, describe the pomegranate 

 under the names of roa" and "roa side" ; also Dioscorides, who quite 

 explicitly sets forth the medicinal properties of the different parts of 

 the plant. Among Eoman authors who describe the pomegranate and 

 its uses are Cato Censorius, Pliny, Celsus, and others. Subsequent 

 writers, for example the Arabians, in the ninth century, also refer to 

 ^he pomegranate, but seem to have mainly reiterated the substance of 

 the writings of their Greek and Poman predecessors. Of the writers 

 of the middla ages may be mentioned Tragus and J. Bauhinus, the 

 atter giving a most detailed compilation of that which was known 

 before his time on the subject of the pomegranate, incluaing the myths 

 with which it -s coDnected. It was not until the present century, how- 

 ever, that the literature of the pomegranate was enriched by the study 

 ©f its chemical aspects. 



CONSTITUENTS AND PROPERTIES. 



The bark of the root, according to Wackenroder (1824), contains 22 

 per cent (according to a later authority, in 1880, 20 per cent) of a taa- 

 nic acid,, subsequently termed punicotannic acid. The astringency of 

 the root is due to this principle and the aqueous infusion yields a dark- 

 blue colour or precipitate with ferric salts. In 1878 and 1880 Tanret 

 discovered several alkaloids in the root-bark, the most prominent of 

 which he called pelletierine. This has been shown to possess the 

 anthelmintic properties of the root. The amount of alkaloids in the 

 root-bark seem to vary according to the variety of flowers, the white- 

 flowering variety, occurring in Java, yielding as high as 3.75 per cent 

 of hydrochlorids of total alkaloids. The bark also contains mannite 

 and a yellow colouring matter. A yellow stain is produced if the inner 

 surface of the root-bark is moistened with water and rubbed on paper. 



Ihe rind of the fruit also contains a considerable amount of tannc 

 acid, about 19 per cent. It is stated that the rind of the fruit of the 

 wild pomegranate is more astringent than that of the cultivated. 



Pomegranate flowers called balaustion by Dioscorides, also are rick 

 in tannic acid, have a bitterish and astringent taste, but no odour. They 

 colour the saliva violet-red. 



USES. 



lor Tanning. — Pliny mentions that the rind of the sour variety of 

 pomegranate was used as a tanning material. * 



* Hence the name " malicorium," from cerium, Latin for leather^ 

 Another (fficial name cf the rind has been cortex psidii. 



