THE 
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
OCTOBER, 1848. 
ART. LIV. — ON QUASSIA AMARA, Linnms. 
By J. Carson, M. D., &c. 
[With a Plate) 
The Quassia amara belongs to the family Simarube^, 
Richard. SiMAiiUBACEiE, Lindley. 
The Essential Characters of this family are: — Flowers 
hermaphrodite, or bv abortion unisexual. Calyx four or 
five-parted, persistent, imbricate (\n aestivation. Petals 
equal in number to, or alternate with, but longer than the 
divisions of the calyx ; aestivation twisted, deciduous. 
Stamens equal in number, or twice as many as the petals, 
inserted on a hypogynous disk, free. Ovary, with the 
lobes as numerous as the petals ; style one, filiform, 
enlarged at base. Carpels as many as the petals, articulat- 
ed on the axis, capsule bivalved, dehiscing inwardly, mo- 
nospermous. Seeds ex-albuminous, pendulous ; cotyledons 
two, thick ; radicle short, superior. Trees or shrubs, leaves 
alternate, pinnate without stipules. (De Candolle.) 
It is a small family, and a remarkable analogy exists 
between all the members of it. A principle, bitter and 
tonic, has been detected in them, upon which their medical 
properties depend; this is the same in all, and has, from the 
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