738 ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

piles (i. e. piles without hemorrhage) and prolapsus ani. The op' 1 ! 1 ''diminishes the pain which the galls might otherwise occasion, where t ^hemorrhoidal tumors are very sensible. From 5ss. to 5i- of camphorfrequently added to this ointment.

Other Medicinal Cupuliferee.

Quercus tinctoria, or the Black Oak, is a native of America . Its bark, calledcitron, is used by dyers. In the United States it is employed medicinally, but isaid to be disposed to irritate the bowels. . 0 f

Quercus Suber, or the Cork Oak, is a native of the northern parts of Africa , auuthe southern parts of Europe, particularly of France, Spain, and Portugal . . j

Although no medicinal agent is obta'j jFig. 147. from it, yet the important pharmaceut^

uses of its cortical portion must be my e* cfor noticing it.

The substance, which we call cork, c0 j9stitutes that part of the bark of the 9 ue [lierSuber which is commonly termed (in 0 ..trees) the cellular envelope, the rete /a''sum, or medulla externa, and is orig 11 ' 3 | ]Csituated between the cortical layers andcuticle ; but, owing to the drying and cra t |,eing of the latter, the cork forms usual!'most external portion of the stem.envelope falls naturally every eight or ^years, but for commercial purposes is US ^ 0 J.

tb e

removed one or two years before this p er *.

That season of the year is selected ' v ^ en 0 d,bark adheres the most firmly to tbein order that the cork may be raised ”.| )£rout endangering the separation of the ^Quercus Suber. from the alburnum. By this precauti 011 ’.^

trees are not at all injured by the cor ^process; nay, they are said to be more healthy and vigorous than when the co ^allowed to accumulate on their stems. The trees yield these crops from the age 0to 150 years. j

To remove the cork, an incision is made from the top to the bottom of the tree,a transverse circular incision at each extremity; the cork is then stripped 0 .^ptsflatten it, a number of layers are piled up in a pit of water, and loaded withto keep them down. Subsequently they are dried, and in that state exported- 5)supply is principally derived from Spain and Portugal . To close the transverse P°cork is charred.

The physical properties of cork are too well known to need description. Itscharacter is elasticity. In this respect it is similar to the wood of Anona l )alu \\,ejcalled cork wood. When thin slices of cork are examined by the microscope*present a cellular appearance. . pi

When cork has been deprived of all its soluble matters by successive digest!®" ,dwater and alcohol, it differs but little from ordinary cork; it is, however, then te \, cl i'Suberin. This suberin is analogous in its nature to lignin; but, as it yields 3 P ^liar substance ( suberic acid, composed of (J8 H 6 03), when treated by nitric ac ' l 9,,ui3been regarded as a distinct principle. Raspail contends that suberin is only 1 «undeprived of some of its foreign matters, such as wax, resin, &c. wb’^

By distilling suberate of lime, Bossingault obtained an oleaginous substance*has been denominated suberone. hda< tCe ’

The soluble principles of cork are gallic acid, some gallates, resin, a waxy-like su e ls

- 7 • - '-— *i-~ --r -- 1 —.:— —I, Musing T

colouring matter, &c.; hence the impropriety of employing cork in closingcontaining chalybeate liquids, as the iron is in part absorbed by the cork. a ppl * c '(Oork was formerly employed in medicine. Reduced to powder, it w as A,et°as a styptic: hung about the necks of nurses, it was thought to possess the P