QUERCUS INFECTORIA. 
267 
proportion of tannin afforded by any quantity of bark, varies accord- 
ing to the age and size of the tree, and also on the season at which 
it is barked.* 
Medical Properties and Uses. Oak bark is a very power- 
ful astringent, and has been given with good effect in alvine fluxes* 
haemorrhages, and other immoderate evacuations. It has been given 
with some advantage in intermittents, and we are told that in many 
instances it has effected a cure ; but later experience has proved 
that it is in many respects inferior to cinchona, and cannot be 
depended upon. It has also been strongly recommended as a tonic 
in the weak state of infants suffering under the malignant coryza.f 
Oak bark has been chiefly employed as a local application, in ttie 
form of gargle, or lotion, to relaxations of the uvula, slight tumefac- 
tion of the mucous membrane of the fauces, procidentia recti et 
uteri, &c. 
Off. The Bark. 
Off. Pp. Decoctum Quercus, L. 
— —♦i 
QUERCUS INFECTORIA. 
Oriental Gall Oak.^ 
For Class, Order, Nat. Ord., and Gen. Char. 
see preceding Article. 
Spec. Char. Leaves ovate-oblong, deeply toothed, decido 
ous. Fruit sessile, elongated. 
The Quercus Infectoria§ is a native of Asia Minor, and is to 
be met with from the Bosphorus as far as Syria, and from the coast 
* PhiL Trans. 
+ Underwood on the Diseases of Children. 
+ Fig. a. represents the insect which produces the gall, magnified ; its natural si: 
being about a quarter of an inch long. b. The larva, c. Another «ort of gall, wbi< 
we are told by Olivier is produced by a different insect: this sort of gall is mu. 
larger than the other, and of a soft and spongy texture. 
§ Olivier appears to have been the first who ascertained this species to be the oi 
which produces the galls of commerce— Vide Olivier s Travels, p. 41. 
