- 46 - 
Willd. Sp. PI. V. 2, p. 569. Simaruba excelsa. DeCand. 
in Ann. du Mus. v. 17, p. 424; Prodr. v. 1, p. 733; Unchte 
Q,\iassie, Non. Triv. ¥illd. Quassia Polygama. Trans. P.oy. Soc. 
Edin. V. 3. p. 205 t. 6. 
"Class, Decandria. Ord. Monogynia. 
"Nat. Ord. Gruinales, Linn, Magnolias, Juss. Simarubeae, 
Rich, de Cand. 
"Gen. Char. Calyx, five-leaved. Petals, five. Nectary, 
composed of five scales. Drapes, five, distant, "bivalved, 
placed on a fleshy recept8.cle. 
"Spec. Char. Flowers, polygamous. Stamens, five. Leaves, 
pinnate. Leaflets, opposite, petioled; common stalk naked." 
This tree has also "been known as Picrania amara , 
Xyl epic ru m, Xylopia glabra , bitter-wood or bitter a.sh. 
[The chemical properties of the bitter substance quassine, 
which is obtained from a watery infusion of the quassia wood, 
are briefly discussed. 
WRIGHT, W. (126) 
A BOTANICAL AND ODICAL ACCOUNT OF THE QUASSIA SIMAKJBA, 
OR A THEE Vrril.'H PRODUCES THE CORTEX SII-IARUBA. Roy. Soc. 
Edinb. Trans. 2: 73-81. 1790. 
The first knowledge of cortex simaruba was in 1713 when 
dePorchartrain sent to France the bark of a tree, called by 
the natives simarouba, which they used successfully in 
dysentery. In 1741 Geoffrey says of this bark "Est cortex 
radicis arboris ignotae, in Guiana nascentis, et ab incolis 
simarouba nuncupatae." In 1772 the author discovered in 
Jamaica the tree which produced the bark and sent specimens 
of fruit and root-bark to Hope in 1773, with a botanical 
account of the tree. The following year specimens and 
description were also sent to Fothergill, who forwarded them 
to Linnaeus. 
The tree is common in all woodlands in Jamaica. It 
is very tall. The trunk of old trees is black and a 
little furrowed, of young ones smooth and gray. The inside 
bark of t runic and branches is white, fibrous, tough, and 
slightly bitter. The wood is hard and useful for buildings. 
It has no sensible bitter taste. The branches are alternate 
and spreading. The leaves are numerous and alternate, 
smooth, shining, deep green on the upper side, and white on 
the under side. The flowers are yellow and placed on 
spikes. The fruit- is an oval, black, smooth, shining drupe. 
