THE CEYLON ELETTAEIA.
699
Fig. 133.
■ tt ' Large round China cardamom (Guib. MS.) Fit;. 133.—Probably the fruit ofglobosum, Loureiro. On comparing- Professor Guibourt’s specimen (of whichFig. 133 is a drawing) with the fruit of Alpinia nutatis(Wallich's Collect, at the Linn. Soc. House), the two arescarcely distinguishable externally ; the seeds, however,are dissimilar. Capsule thin, round, or oval. Seeds inglobular masses, marked, on the surface opposed to thepericarp, by a linear depression or groove. I have ob-served specimens in the Sloanian Collection, as also ina collection of Chinese medicines at the College of Phy-sicians.
0. Small round China cardamom (Guib. MS.)— Cap-sules, ovate-oblong, obtusely triangular. Seeds have nolinear depression or groove as those of the larger varietyhave; coherent in masses, which are tbree-lobed, notquite globular. In my specimens the epicarp is eroded.Black cardamom, Gtertner.— Capsule larger than the short Malabar cardamoms,
Barge round Cardamom.
®! Fruit.
Globular mass of seeds.
^iriate at its two extremities, and formed, as it were, of two obtusely-triangular
(Q ra . ni ids joined base to base. Pericarp ash-brown, aromatic, but less so than the seedsu ’l>ourt). Seeds angular, brown.
s tat " f* 1 ' Burgess’s collection at the College of Physicians is a capsule (in a badt„ f °f preservation) marked “ Cardamomum majus.” Its size and shape are analogous,, ,ie grain of paradise pod (fig. 125). It has a fibrous tuft (remains of calyx ?) at onetC C,nit - v ’ all, l much split at the other. The seeds are angular, oblong, larger than|, re Se .°f Malabar cardamoms, shining brownish yellow, and have a large concave de-n!j| SSlnn (1'ilum) at one extremity. They have a warm aromatic flavour and an agree-;..'odour, somewhat analogous to that of the oil ol lemon-grass.
b'^’tical with that described by Professor Guibourt (Hist, des Drog.), and with thatu t,lit from India by Professor Boyle.
le Cos'tus arab'icus, which I have found in the wa
Order 19 . Orchid'ea :, R. Brown. —The Orchis Tribe.
Orchides, Jussieu . Orciiidace/e and Vanierack/k, Lindley .
remark able order of gynandrous monocotyledons is, in reference to its dictetical■j.|* ne dicinal properties, of little importance.tn at e tuberous or palmate roots abound in gummy and, at certain times, in farinaceousa tl( | ers > which render them nutritive, emollient, and demulcent. Salep is the preparedl"Hi i r ’®d roots of several orchideous plants, and is sometimes sold in the state ofI'lnnt Indigenous Salep is procured from Orchis mascula, 0. latifolia, and other nativel 7 y,. s °f this order (Dr. Percival, On the Preparation, Culture, and Use of the Orchis Root,'• Oriental Salep is procured from other Orchidece. Professor Boyle states that theili s J’ Cachmere is obtained from a species of Eulophia. The notions of the aphro-c Properties of salep seems to be founded on the doctrine of signatures.
The Vanilla of the shops is the fruit of Vanilla aro-matica, Sw., a native of Peru, Mexico, Jamaica , andCuba. Schiede (Schlechtendal ’s Linntea, Oct. 1829,S. 573) mentions three other Mexican species (V. sativa,V. sylvestris, and V. Pompona) which yield vanilla.Notwithstanding the strong odour of this fruit, no vo-latile oil can be obtained by distillation. (See Bucholz’analysis in Buckner’s Repert. ii.253). The white aci-cular crystals found on the fruit, are a kind of solidvolatile oil. Vanilla is employed in this country forflavouring chocolate, ice-creams, &c. But on the con-tinent it is used as a medicinal agent. Itis an aromaticstimulant; has an exhilarating effect on the mentalfunctions, prevents sleep, increases the energy of themuscular system, and excites the sexual feelings (Sun-delin, Heilmittellehre, ii. 203, 3 te Aufl.) It has beenadministered in asthenic fevers, rheumatism, hysteria,impotence of the male, melancholy, See. The dose of itis from 8 to 12 grains (Vogt ,Pharmak. ii. 600, 2 Aufl.)
Vanilla uromatica.