THE LOFTY BITTER-WOOD TREE.

1195

in , S m dysentery. The first authentic botanical account of the tree wasV: n l) y Dr. Wright {Trans. Royal Soc. of Edinb. vol. ii. part ii. p. 73).°Tany. Gen. Char. — Flowers unisexual. Calyx small, cup-st a P ec ^> five-toothed or parted. Petals five, longer, spreading. Males:^ ^ens nearly equal to the petals, arranged around a receptacle bearing^ l ts apex five very minute lobes (rudiments of ovaries) or sometimes} Ja . e ' Females: Ovaries five, placed on an even disk, surrounded at theWu \ “ * xn short hairy scales (rudiments of stamens). Styles the sameker, short, distinct at the base ; there united into one, crowned by a°ader five-lobed stigma. Fruit five drupes (Lindley).

Char .—Male flowers decandrous. Stigma five-partite. Leaves6 , 7 % pinnate; leaflets alternate, somewhat stalked, pubescent be-at A (D. C.)

iat Ver ^ tree. Roots long and creeping. Stem thick; bark bitter,Hi e er ? all y w hite, fibrous and tough, externally blackish and furrowed in^ old trees, but smooth and grey, with yellow spots, in the young ones.Will VCS a h cr nate ; leaflets alternate, two to nine on each side, oval, firm,Flowers small, yellowish-white, some male, others female,ec *> in panicles. Fruit of five, ovate, black, smooth capsules, placed

, a fl eshy disk.

on

J) p- al, y OISK.

tjj e fCRiPTioN. —The simaruba bark {cortex simaruba) of the shops, isJ a ) ar k of the root {cortex radicis simaruba ), and is brought fromv er a, e a in bales. It is odourless, but bitter, and occurs in broad, folded,a nd fl Jrous pieces, several feet long, which are externally rough, warty,^ked with transverse ridges. The epidermis is of a greyish orcolour: beneath it the bark is darker, and yellowish-C 11 • On the inner surface the bark is pale yellowish-wliite.^4a° AlI>0SITI0N- —Simaruba bark was analyzed by Morin {Journ. de

? tte resin , an aromatic volatile oil having the odour of benzoin,

a ^ y iii. 57), who found in it the following substances:— Quassite,

resi ‘.. . ’

fibre, ulmin, an ammoniacal salt, malic acid, traces of gallic acid,

of e an d oxalate of lime, oxide of iron, and silica. No notice is taken^^lage, which, according to Pfaff {Syst. d. Mat. Med. ii. 74),p 1 ’fles nearly one-fourtli part of the bark.

. biological Effects. —In small doses simaruba acts like the

Nle

I:

0 f u |j fitter tonics, whose effects have been already described (p. 79).to p rQ fl°ses, however, it causes vomiting and purging, and is said alsole SiS . i . r , riole perspiration and urine. Dr. Wright states, that negroes areD 5 ct °d by it than whites.

Hrr l0t) S f °*s de Rochefort ( Cours Element, de Mat. Med. i. 357) classed itit j s ^ eixiet ics ; and Bichat proposed it as a substitute for ipecacuanha.

Ds^°' Ve '; er , usuall y arranged with the tonics,^iman "

(see

Me Simaruba may be employed in the same cases as other vegeta-

*)) ^ 1 ers (see p. 79 and 896). It has been principally celebratedfly (whence the Germans call it Ruhrrinde, or dysentery-bark)

c °Urs e r 'ght {Account of Quassia Simaruba) and others. It is, of4 Ucl c i ’ 0ll ly applicable in the latter stages of the acute and the asthenicj>. roi *ic forms of the disease. More recently, Dr. O’Brien {Trans, ofa,l( b Queen's College of Phys. Dubl. vol. v. p. 237) has bornewpiq,, !'y t° its good effects, when given in conjunction with opium, in°f diufYi Aysenterj'. It has also been employed in the advanced stagesi( ca. Like other vegetable tonics, it may be substituted in dys-