ON  THE  MATERIA  MEDICA  OF  THE  SANDWICH  ISLANDS.  237 
proposed  exporting  it  to  the  United  States,  and  there  manufac- 
turing of  it  some  nostrum — which  might,  no  doubt,  have  become 
as  popular  as  Townsend's  Sarsaparilla  !  Its  medicinal  proper- 
ties are,  perhaps,  allied,  to  those  of  the  Piper  angustifolium,  or 
Matico,  of  which  the  U.  S.  Dispensatory  says : — "  Its  most 
useful  internal  application  is,  probably,  as  an  alterative  stimulant 
to  the  diseased  mucous  membranes."  The  Dispensatory  refers 
to  an  article  by  Mr.  Morson,  on  the  Ava,  in  The  Pharm.  Jour- 
nal and  Transactions,  Vol.  3,  p.  472,  which  I  have  not  been  able 
to  obtain. 
Lime  (calx)  is  readily  prepared  by  the  calcination  of  coral. 
Nitre  (potassse  nitras,)  of  which  J.  G.  Sawkins  remarks,  it  "is 
not  found  pure,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  on  this  group."  ^Agricul- 
tural Report,  Vol.  1,  No.  2.) 
Sulphur,  from  about  the  crater  of  Kilanea. 
Common  Salt  (sodii  chloridum)  is  manufactured  in  consider- 
able quantities  from  the  ocean,  and  is  also  collected  from  the 
salt  lake  of  Alia-pacTcai.  During  the  year  ending  June  30th, 
1851,  5,332^  barrels  of  salt  were  exported.  Mr.  Sawkins 
remarks  of  the  Island  salt,  that  it  is  "  rarely  pure,  on  account 
of  the  sulphurous  gases  of  the  neighboring  active  volcanoes." 
Glauber  s  Salt  (sodae  sulphat.)  is  found  at  Kilanea,  and  has 
been  occasionally  used. 
Sponges  (spongia  officinalis.)  They  are,  however,  a  very 
coarse,  inferior  article. 
The  Sorrel  (rumex  acetosa.) 
Arrow  root  (taeca  oceanica.)  From  July  1st,  1850,  to  June 
30th,  1851,  inclusive,  16,780  pounds  of  prepared  Arrow-root 
were  exported.  I  extract  the  following  from  The  United  States 
Dispensatory  : — "  A  variety  of  Arrow-root  has  been  imported 
from  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It  was  supposed  to  be  procured 
from  the  root  of  Taeca  pinnatifida,  which  grows  abundantly  in 
Tahiti  and  other  islands  of  the  South  Pacific;  but  Mr.  Nuttall, 
during  his  visit  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  found  that  it  was  the 
product  of  another  species  of  Taeca,  which  he  describes  under 
the  name  of  Taeca  oceanica.  {Am.  Journal  of  Pharmacy;  ix., 
305.)  It  is  said  that  a  similar  product  is  obtained  from  Taeca 
pinnatifida,  growing  in  the  East  India  province  of  Arracan." 
The  Sugar  Cane  (saccharum)  is  by  far  the  most  important  of 
the  indigenous  Materia  Medica,  in  a  commercial  aspect.  The 
