118 
NEW  KIND  OF  MATICO. 
ly  warm  spatula  ;  if  melted  till  very  fluid  the  plaster  will  "  strike 
through  "  the  skin,  which  will  become  brittle:  if  not  melted 
enough  it  may  be  too  thick  and  uneven ;  in  no  case  should  it 
smoke  or  give  off  much  odor  in  being  melted  and  spread,  this 
being  a  sure  indication  of  its  deterioration. — Med.  and  Surg. 
Reporter,  Feb.  6,  IS 64. 
ON  A  NEW  KIND  OF  MATICO,  WITH  SOME  EEMARKS  ON 
OFFICINAL  MATICO. 
By  Proefssoe  Bentley,  M.R.C.S.  Eng.,  F.  L.S.,  etc. 
Professor  of  Materia  lledica  and  Botany  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  "Britain,  etc. 
History— Under  the  name  of  matico,  mateco,  or  matica,  the 
leaves  of  several  plants  are  employed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Central  and  South  America,  for  arresting  both  external  and 
internal  hemorrhages,  and  for  other  purposes.  A  nearly  sim- 
ilar story  is  told  throughout  America,  as  to  the  discovery  of 
the  styptic  property  of  each  kind  of  matico.  It  is  said,  that  a 
,  Spanish  soldier  named  Matico,  when  desperately  wounded, 
dragged  himself  into  the  shade  of  the  plants  near  him,  and  in 
his  agony  plucked  some  of  their  leaves,  and  applied  them  ac- 
cidentally to  his  wound,  when,  to  his  great  surprise  and  delight, 
he  found  in  a  short  time  that  the  bleeding  was  arrested,  and 
the  wound  soon  healed.  From  this  circumstance  Matico  has 
received  the  Spanish  names  of  "  Yerba  soldado,"  and  "  Palo  del 
soldado,"  signifying  "  Soldiers'  herb,"  and  "  Soldiers'  tree." 
Three  plants  have  been  especially  mentioned  by  authors  as 
having  received  the  name  of  Matico,  or  Soldier's  herb,  namely, 
Artanthe  elongata.  Miq. ;  Uupatorium  glutinosum,  Kunth;* 
and  Walteria  glomerata,  Presl.f  The  latter  has  not  as  yet  been 
noticed  in  Materia  Medica  works,  and  I  have  seen  no  speci- 
mens of  it ;  indeed,  was  unacquainted  with  it  until  my  atten- 
tion was  recently  directed  to  this  kind  by  Dr.  Seemann.  Speci- 
mens of  the  two  other  varieties  of  matico  may  be  seen  in  the 
museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  are  now  on  the 
table.    The  first,  namely,  that  which  consists  of  the  leaves  of 
*  Lindley's  '  Medical  and  Economic  Botany,'  p.  227. 
f  Seeman's  '  Botany  of  the  Voyage  of  H.  M.  S.  Herald/  p.  85. 
