10i>8

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MED1CA.

The substance calledFig. 200.

Eucalyptus resinifera.

Other Medicinal Myrtaceee.

o f £uca-

Botany Bay Kino is the astringent inspissated j uic . e an( j Va#lyptus resinifera or Iron Bark, a native of Austral 1 ® B j aDiemen’s Land. This tree, we are told (White, ^'"ieldsVoyage to New South Wales , p.231, 1790), sometime^ . m .on incision sixty gallons of juice. Botany B&y K frofl 1ported in boxes. That which I have met with M ^ asseS ,Van Diemen’s Island . It occurs in irregular °d our ;f S t re seW'many of which are in the form of tears, some” ^ aS ,|,cbling those of cherry-tree gum in form, and as la B j tre ou>,tears of Senegal gum. The purer piecesalmost black in the mass, but transparent, and of piece*'

ruby-red in small and thin fragments. Some of j; l(r0 od

however, are opaque and dull, from the intermixtureand other impurities. When chewed it sticks to g(fe ]is,and has an astringent taste. Digested in cold « ':r r and> ld Ibecomes soft and gelatinous (like red-currant jell}), a jpitate*a red liquid which reddens litmus, and yields o'

with lime water, gelatin, acetate of lead, sesquic a Jded*iron, and, if caustic potash or ammonia be previous y (arta rwith the chloride of calcium. Alcohol and erne g„tsDyoccasion no precipitate. Digested in rectified spirit' ^ iBay kino becomes gelatinous, as with water, and / ot hiu^similar red solution, from which water precipitates j ; w tebut which reddens litmus, and deposits a copious p r jrpiiiiwhen potash, ammonia, or lime-water is dropped in^these and other experiments, I infer that BotanV #consists principally of pectin and tannic acid■ 1* ^ S »J*

used in diarrhoea (White, op. cit.) Ainslie (Mat- * na t jj C re i*it is the only kind employed in India ; but I suspecsome error in this statement.

Order 55. Lythracea?, Lindley. —The Loosestrife Tri® e '

Salicarle, Jussieu.— Lythrarie.®, Decandolle.

Essential Character. —Sepals definite in number, coherent beyond the ml< ?hl e 'sin use !free, tubular or campanulate; lobes valvate, or distant in aestivation; . , er ted 01being sometimes lengthened into conical lobes or external teeth. Petals go0 ie-the upper part of the tube of the calyx, between the lobes, various in num ^ cg ly*times none, generally very caducous. Stamens inserted into the tube of onie tim® sbelow the petals; equal, double, triple, or quadruple the number of petals, s ugua ll/fewer. Anthers oval, bilocular, aduate. Ovary free ; style filiform ; :Tofcapitate. Capsule membranous, covered or surrounded bv the cal}* > „,o-iiiS 0

' " ' - ■ ' : slender m»rg. t j, e

Ca¥

membranous, covered or surrounded

four carpels; while young generally (always ?) two-celled by the slender th e

the carpels being inflexed; but when ripe one-celled by the disappear 30 adissepimenta, either dehiscing longitudinally, or more rarely and irr fg u '^/prese°‘’circumscisstle dehiscence. Placenta central, adnate to the disseniment « hen .*'i. tb e .

e. Placenta central, adnate to the dissepiment " n ' a |. .. .or free, thick, either compressed-cylindrical or obscurely trigonal or te . tr “*-V e base °[apex with some threads, conveyers of the seminal aura, continuous with 1 turn e<>the style. Seeds many, small, exalbuminous; embryo straight; radiotowards the hilum ; cotyledons flat, foliaceous. (D. C.) iac<H c .

Properties. —Variable. Except Lythrum Salicaria, which is astringent, ‘be diure tie.properties of few species are well known. Nesaea salicifolia is said fo 0diaphoretic, and purgative.