1160

ELEMENTS OF MATE1UA MEDICA.

2. Extractum Hjematoxyli, L. E. D. (Logwood, powdered [chips,.®.; raspings,®.], lb.ijss. [lb.j. E.]; Boiling [distilled,

Cong. ij. [a gallon , E.\ Macerate for twenty-four hours, then boil do'to a gallon [Oiv. E.~), and strain the liquor while hot; lastly, evap°r j g[in the vapour-bath, E.] to a proper consistence).—“ For preparing 1 ^extract the logwood should not be powdered, but rasped, and it s ^ t0l | f pbe so far evaporated as to become brittle and pulverulent when fOOne cwt. of the wood yields about twenty lbs. of extract” (Brande, “of Pharm.) —Astringent. Employed in old diarrhoeas, dysenteries;Dose, grs. x. to 5ss. By keeping extract of logwood becomes eX f C |jj eingly hard, and pills made of it are said to have passed througnbowels undissolved. It is employed, I am informed, to colour snutf'

the

Tamarin'dus in'dica, Linn. L. E.— Common Tamarind-Tree.

Tamarin'dus ind'icus, D.

Sex. Syst. Monadelphia, Triandria.

(Leguminis pulpa, L. U .—Pulp of the pods, E.)

History.— The tamarind does not appear to have been known 1° ^ r(Jancient Greeks ; at least no mention is made of it in their writings- ^are indebted for its introduction to the Arabians, who probably detheir knowledge of it from the Hindus. Mesue, Avicenna , andare the earliest writers who mention it. It is said to have dert'e >name from Tamar (which, in Arabic , signifies dates or fruit), andin reference to its Indian origin. . re »

Botany. Gen. Char. — Calyx tubular at the base; limb bilabia ^ eefflexed; upper lip three-partite; lower broad, two-toothed. Petals ~ nl

alternating with the segments of the upper lip of the calyx; two oovate, the middle one cucullate. Stamens nine or ten; seven verj ^and sterile, the others (two or three) longer, monadelphous, u e( },

anthers. Style subulate. Legume stalked, linear, more or less cislightly compressed, one-celled, three to twelve-seeded, the sal j atpulpy. Seeds compressed, bluntly four-angled, obliquely trunca - rthe hilum.— Trees. Leaves abruptly pinnated; leaflets many 1Flowers racemose (Wight and Amott). jjjgli.

Sp. Char. — The only species. — Tree, thirty to forty feet - r>Branches spreading. Leaves alternate; leaflets twelve to fU'teeti j.^jsmall, oblong, obtuse, entire, smooth. Petals deciduous, yellow ,with red.

II aS ^ ,s ’

There are two varieties, considered by Gartner , Roxburgh, and Dccandol e,tinct species. The only difference between them is in the pod. jed,

a. Orientalis. T. indica, Decandolle. East Indian Tamarind. — Legume eloi B

six or more times longer than broad, six- to twelve-seeded. . ,_ Jjeg utne

0. Occidentalis. T. occidentals, Decandolle. West Indian Tamarind. •abbreviated, scarcely three times longer than broad, one- to lour seeded.

Hab .—East and West Indies . . tat 119 '

Preservation of the Fruit. —The usual mode of preserving^rinds in the West Indies is, to remove the shell or epicarp from filingfruit, and to place layers of the shelled fruit in a cask, and P° lir p c ttcfwater over them. But Dr. Wright {Med. Plants of Jamaica ) a

method is, to put alternate layers of tamarinds and powdered su a