76 
Useful  Plants  of  Algeria. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1891. 
THE  MEDICINAL  AND  OTHER  USEFUL  PLANTS  OF 
ALGERIA. 
By  P.  L.  Simmonds,  F.L.S. 
[  Continued  fro?n  p.  I2.~\ 
Cucurbitace.e  . —  Citrullus  Colocynthis,  Ecballium  Elaterium  and 
Bryonia  dioica  are  common,  but  not  used.  The  seeds  of  Cucurbita 
Pcpo  are  employed  as  a  taenifuge.  Cucumis  sativus  is  used  to  per- 
fume a  cucumber  pomade.  The  fruit  of  Momordica  Balsamina, 
preserved  in  alcohol,  is  employed  as  a  vulnerary  by  the  Spaniards. 
Illecebrace.e. — Paronychia  argentea  is  much  employed  by  the 
Arabs  as  a  tea  infusion;  one  house  exports  650  pounds  annually. 
Other  species  are  also  used,  viz :  P.  nivca,  capitata,  longiseta,  etc. 
Cacte^e. —  Opuntia  Ficus-indica.  The  branches  rasped  are 
mucilaginous  and  employed  as  cataplasms.  The  mucilaginous 
flowers,  slightly  astringent,  are  a  good  remedy  in  diarrhoea.  The 
use  of  the  fruit  by  the  natives  leads  to  frequent  mechanical  consti- 
pation. 
Ficoide.e. — Many  species  of  Mcscmbryantlicmum  were  formerly 
used  in  medicine.  M.  cristallinum,  reputed  febrifuge,  is  found  wild 
and  is  also  cultivated. 
Umbellifer.e. —  Tliapsia  garganica  is  very  widely  spread  over 
the  Tell  and  the  elevated  districts.  The  bark  of  the  root  is  exported 
to  extract  the  resin  used  in  the  manufacture  of  a  revulsive  plaster, 
and  this  resin  is  also  prepared  at  Arba  and  at  Constantine.  The 
Arabs  who  have  received  this  medicine  from  the  Greeks  have 
always  held  it  in  high  honor  as  the  local  name  implies,  Bon-Ncfa, 
H  father  of  health."  It  is  employed  internally  and  externally,  and 
is  believed  to  be  the  silphium  of  the  Greeks.  Tliapsia  villosa  is 
less  active  than  the  preceding. 
Ferula  communis.  This  plant,  very  common  in  Algeria,  near  the 
Moroccan  frontier,  yields  voluminous  tears  of  a  gum  resin  much 
resembling  ammoniac,  and  is  probably  the  product  formerly  sent 
from  Morocco  under  the  name  of  Fushog.  This  product  was 
attributed  to  F.  tingitana,  but  this  plant,  as  well  as  F.  longipes,  vesce- 
ritcnsis  and  tunitana,  only  yield  small  quantities  of  gum  resin.  To 
the  usage  of  the  root  of  F.  communis  in  a  time  of  dearth  as  food 
was  attributed  a  special  cutaneous  disease. 
