ON  THE  MATERIA  MEDICA   OF  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS.  235 
that  their  tropical  productions  should  be  increased  and  encouraged,  so  as  to 
become  to  the  Pacific  States  what  Cuba  and  the  Bahamas  at  present  are  to 
the  Atlantic  region — a  perennial  fruit  garden  and  salubrious  resort  for 
the  invalid. —  Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy.] 
The  Arum  esculentum  is  a  plant  very  nearly  allied  to  the 
arum  maculatum  and  arum  triphyllum  in  all  its  external  habits 
and  properties,  and  probably,  like  them,  possesses  a  "property 
of  stimulating  the  secretions,  particularly  those  of  the  skin  and 
lungs."  (U.  S.  Dispensatory.)  It  is  the  principal  article  of  diet 
among  the  Hawaiians.  The  heat  of  the  oven  dispels  its  peculiar 
acrid  principle  and  renders  it  a  very  nutritious  and  valuable 
article  of  diet,  had  in  great  esteem  by  foreigners,  but  especially 
by  the  natives.  The  acridity  is  probably  reduced  by  cultivation, 
but  a  very  considerable  portion  of  it  is  still  retained.  Says  Dr. 
Chapin  : — "  It  is,  when  raw,  very  styptic  and  acrid,  and  the  skin 
of  the  root  is  used  by  the  natives  in  the  cure  of  dysenteries  and 
intestinal  hemorrhages." 
The  Cucurbita  lagenaria,  or  gourd,  is  used  as  a  purgative.  It 
is,  in  its  medical  properties,  allied  to  several  of  the  cucurbitacse, 
particularly  to  the  cucumis  colocynthis.  "  The  pulp  of  the  root 
is  used,"  says  Dr.  Chapin,  "and  in  large  doses  it  is  terribly 
drastic.  The  inordinate  doses  given  by  the  natives  sometimes 
produce  dysentery,  rapidly  fatal."  Dr.  Judd  relates  the  case 
of  a  woman  purged  to  death  with  this  article  by  a  native  physi- 
cian, for  an  imagined  disease.  "  About  four  feet  of  the  green 
running  vine  of  the  bitter  calabash,  or  gourd,  thirty-two  feet  0/ 
the  hollow  stems  which  support  the  leaves,  and  about  one  ounce 
of  the  dry  pulp,  next  the  shell,  of  the  dried  gourd,  were  pounded 
together  on  a  board  and  the  juice  mixed  with  about  three  pints 
of  water."  "It  is  used  by  them  successfully  in  dropsies.  I 
once  knew  a  native,  with  abdominal  dropsy,  cured  by  one  of  his 
own  physicians  with  this  article,  after  he  had  been  treated  un- 
successfully by  foreign  skill."    (Dr.  Chapin.) 
A  variety  of  Ipomea  is  mentioned  by  Dr,  Chapin.  "  The 
roots  are  used  by  the  natives  as  an  emetico-cathartic.  I  tried  it 
somewhat,  and  found  it  had  efficacy ;  but  the  doses  requisite  were 
so  large  and  the  trouble  of  preparing  it  such,  I  abandoned  it." 
I  am  utterly  unable  to  give  the  specific  title.  It  is  questionable 
whether  its  medical  powers  have  been  fully  ascertained. 
The  Aleurites  triloba,  or  candle-nut,  is  one  of  the  articles  of 
