"-"o ■* ,o' *-' • • * \ <". o^'^' .^■'\.> ,^*^°x. .^r^ ^ ^ /^^ O ' . . » ' .'V K '<'\^ v/»"o y"S^^ • :, RESOURCES OF THE SOXJTHERISr FIELDS AND FORESTS, MEDICAL, ECONOMICAL AND AGRICULTURAL : BEING ALSO A MEDICAL BOTANY OF THE SOUTHERN STATES PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE USEFUL PROPERTIES OF THE TREES, PLANTS, AND SHRUBS. BY FRANCIS PEYRE PORCHER, M. D., IfORMERLV SURGEOX IN CHARGE OF CITY HOSPITALS, CHARLESTON; AND LECTURER ON MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL AND SURGICAL, AND THE OBSTETRIC SOCIETIES, AND THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, AND OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes Angulus ridet, ubi non Hymetto Mella decedunt, viridique certat Bacca Venafro. Ver ubi longum tepidasque preebet Jupiter brumas. Horace, Cartn. vi, Lib. iiT "^tia ^bitioit — llefjiscb anb ITargtlg §ittgtncnttb. Uf- CHARLESTON: WALKER, EVANS & COGSWELL, PRINTERS, Nos. 3 Broad and 109 East Bay Streets. 1869. ** Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by FRANCIS PEYRE PORCH ER, M. D., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District ( Charleston, South Carolina. THIS VOU'ME IS I.VSCRIBEI) TOTHE MEMORY OF f irgittia "£i\0 ^ovcUtv, HO AIDED IN ITS PREPARATION, AND WHO IS ASSOCIATED WITH WHATEVER OF TOIL OB OF PLEASURE, WAS ATTENDANT UPON ITS EXECUTION. PRELIMINARY. MEDICINAL AND USEFUL PLANTS AND TREES OF THE SOUTHERN STATES— INDIGENOUS AND INTRODUCED. The first Edition of this volume was prepared during the late war by direction of the Surgeon-Greneral of the Confederate States, that the Medical Officers, as well as the public, might be supplied with information, which, at the time, was greatly needed. I was released, temporarily, for this purpose, from service in the Field and Hospital. My connection with the last taen- tioned Institutions, as Physician and Surgeon, has extended almost unin- terruptedly over a period of twelve years ; so that my opportunities for experimental investigations in Therapeutics and practical medicine, has been ample. This Edition has been largely added to, and much time and care have been expended in its preparation. It is intended as a Hand-book of scientific and popular knowledge, as regards the medicinal, economical and useful properties of the Trees, Plants and Shrubs found within the limits of the Southern States, whether em- ployed in the arts, for manufacturing purposes, or in domestic economy, to supply a present as well as a future want. Treating specially of our medi- cinal plants, and of the best substitutes for foreign articles of vegetable origin, my aim has been to spare no exertions, compatible with the limits assigned me, to make it applicable as well to the requirements of the Surgeon as of the Planter and Farmer ; and I trust that there will still be no diminu- tion in the desire of every one to possess a source from whence his curiosity may be satisfied on matters pertaining to our useful plants. The Physician in his private practice, the Planter on his estate, or, should the necessity arise, the Regimental Surgeon in the field, may himself collect and apply these substances within his reach, which are frequently quite as valuable as others obtained from abroad, and either impossible to be procured or scarce and costly. In preparing it, I have also had in view the wants of Emigrants and those abroad who wish to be acquainted with respect to the Agricultural capacities of this extended section of country. But information scattered through a variety of sources must needs be first collected, to be available in any practical point of view. I have, therefore, inserted whatever I thought would throw light upon the vegetable productions of the Southern States, to enable every one to use the abundant material within his reach. An excuse will be found for any awkward arrangement of the details, in the difficulty of collating, digesting and reconciling a multiplicity of statements, some of them contradictory, from a variety of authors. I have searched through the various Catalogues VI PKELIMINARY. and systematic works on Botany, and noticed in almost every instance the habitat and precise locality of plants, that each one may be apprised of the proximity of valuable species. Frequent references to one limited section in particular, may be accounted for by the fact that it has been illustrated by the labors of at least three Botanists of distinction, Walter, MacBride and Eavenel. "Whenever citizens of other States have performed a similar work, I have gladly availed myself of it. Catalogues of the trees and plants growing in special localities thus become of great service, as they indicate precisely where valuable species may be procured. Those interested may obtain the localities of many plants found in the Southern States by consulting Elliott's Botany, Darby's, and the recent work by Chapman, of Florida, " The Flora of the Southern United States." Among the Catalogues issued at the South, is one by Dr. Jno. Bachman of " Plants growing in the vicinity of Charleston," published in the Southern Agriculturist; one by Prof. Lewis R. Gibbes of those found in Richland District, S. C; " Plants found in the vicinity of Newbern, N. C," by H. B. Croom ; an unfinished paper by W. Wragg Smith, Esq., published in the Transactions of the Elliott Society of Charleston ; "A Catalogue of Indigenous and Naturalized Plants of North Carolina, by Rev. M. A. Curtis, D. D., 1867;" and "A Medico-Botanical Catalogue of the Plants of St. John's Berkeley, S. C," by the writer. Also my " Sketch of the Medical Botany of South Carolina," published in the Transactions of the Am. Med. Association, vol. ii, 1849. The extensive collection in the Charleston Museum, by my friend, Mr. H. W. Ravenel, and his several publications, might also be consulted with profit. I have availed myself of Dr. Chapman's work in ascertaining the names of plants added by botanists since the time of Walter and Elliott, and not contained in the Catalogues referred to. By the opportune publication of this work, I have been enabled to introduce a large number of plants possessed of valuable properties, medicinal and economical, which are common to Mexico, the West India Islands and the tropical countries. The plants have been arranged after the Natural System, adopting, for the most part, the views of Lindley. The reference to information contained in books* serves the purpose of showing those interested in any Production or Manufacture where fuller details, which are too long to insert, can be procured. It will be seen from inspecting the list of authorities, that the labor of searching through the large number of Medical and other authorities has been very great. My chief object has been utility and the desire to benefit our people, and that future inquirers, being advised of what has been already accomplished, may proceed to more experimental researches. I have not hesitated to draw largely from any quarter, appending the name of the author, whenever I thought the matter applicable to our condition and requirements. Thus, on *"I take this occasion to express my indebtedness to Col. J. B. Moore, of States- burg, S. C, for the use of a vahiable library of agricultural and chemical books, and for many facilities aflforded me in the prosecution of this work. PRELIMINARY. VIl the subject of the Grape, Wine, Sugar, Sorghum, Tannin, Opium, Cotton, Tobacco, Tea, Ramie, Esparto Grass, Flax, Mustard, Castor Oil, Oils, Tur- pentine, Starch, Potash, Soda, Wood for engraving and for domestic pur- poses, Medicinal substances. Agricultural products generally, etc., I have been profuse in my selections from a multiplicity of sources. I have avoided more than a cursory mention of the Cryptogamic plants. Fungi, etc., as the space occupied would be too great. I would refer the reader to my paper in the Transactions of the Am. Med. Association, vol. vii, on " The Medicinal, Dietetic and Poisonous Properties of the Crypto- gamic Plants of the United States," where the subject is treated in exienso, and a description of several hundred useful or poisonous species furnished. The older as well as the more recent works on the Materia Medica, Thera- peutics and Medical Botany — from the Catalogus Plantarum of Johannes Ray and the Dispensatory of Trillerus, to Pereira, Wood, Griffith and Stille— have been consulted. I have been at the pains to search through the former^n order not only to ascertain the virtues once ascribed to our Plants, and to contrast these with the results of later investigations, but also to ex- hibit the mutations that have occurred in the confidence reposed in many of what are at present considered our most approved Therapeutic agents. The frequency with which this takes place warns us not to discard, upon a super- ficial examination, those popularly considered to be of trivial importance. The European authorities have been examined, and from them has been obtained much concerning our Medicinal and Economical plants, which is either not generally known or not alluded to in our Dispensatories, and which might be of essential service to those desirous, not merely of ascer- taining what is already understood, but also more thoroughly of investigating the hidden qualities of others. The investigation necessary for ascertaining and collecting these has unfolded a vast fund of facts relative to the virtues of a large proportion, as it will be observed, of the Plants, both obscure and well known, amongst us. I have availed myself of the 12th Edition of the U. S. Dispensatory, recently issued and carefully revised by its able surviving author. That complete and extensive work, the Dictionnaire de Matiere Medicale et Thera- peutique Generale, by Merat and De Lens, including the Supplementary volume, has been freely translated when necessary. I have also examined the Agricultural Journals, the Patent Office Reports, the "Rural Cyclo- pcedia," edited by Wilson, of Edinburgh ; and have thought it not inadmis- sible to glean from the Journals and Newspapers of the day, which occa- sionally aflTord the earliest information on the economical resources of a country. From these I have been carefully collecting. Many topics are, therefore, appropriately introduced which would hardly have place in a strictly Medical work. Information of this kind is generally referred to under subjects with which it is closely allied. Thus, Potash, Ashes and Soap are classed under Hickory and Oak, ("Carya" and "Quer- cus,") Soda and Soda Soaps under *' Salsola " and " Fucus," Charcoal under Pine and Willow, (" Pinus " and " Salix,") Oils under Bene, (" Sesamum,") viii PRELIMINARY, Starch and Arrowroot under " Maranta " and " Convolvolus," etc., as these Plants are characteristically rich in such products. The Index, however, will contain full references. The mode of action of Medicinal plants infinitely varies ; their selection, consequently, for the several purposes required by the Physician, is not, in my opinion, a matter of mere accident, the result of guesswork or of popular reputation. Each is distinguished by the composition of its principal con- stituents ; these are generally astringent principles, narcotics, stimulating vegetable oils, cooling, refrigerant acids, bitter tonics, cathartics, etc., etc. Some, as the Cinchonacese and the less active anti-periodics, contain princi- T)les still more rarely met with and more obscure in their mode of operation, which have control in warding off the access of malarial attacks. But once in possession of the main active principles furnished by a plant, it is easy to see why it gains credit as a remedy in certain classes of disease. This power it may share in common with many others, and several properties may be combined in various degrees in each, which it is necessary to know, prelim- inary to a judicious application of them. Many Plants, for example, are reputed efficacious in arresting the profluvise, diarrhoeas and discharges from the mucous surfaces generally ; this should excite no surprise when it is suspected or ascertained that they contain tannin simply. In some others, as in the IJva ursi, for example, the tannin is associated with a stimulating diuretic oil, which further adapts it to the relief of chronic renal affections. So with those which experience teaches us produce a cathartic, emetic, nar- cotic, sedative, irritant, or vermifuge action on the human system. It is always in virtue of the well known principles they contain, that they prove serviceable and are preferred, and chemical analysis subsequently reveals precisely what it is upon which their powers depend. The ignorant, whether credulous or incredulous, know only by memory the name of the plant and the disease which it is said to suit — as in the manner of charlatans and herb doctors. Increased attention has, within the past decade, been paid to the produc- tion and manufacture of the Concentrated Preparations, Alkaloids, Resin- oids, solid and fluid Extracts, etc. We are indebted for many of these to the pharmaceutical and chemical skill of Professor Proctor, Dr. Parrish, and other competent investigators, and to the researches and publications of Prof. Geo. B. Wood. (See Am. Journ. Pharm., Journ. Phillad. Col- lege of Pharm., and Am. Pharm. Assoc.) Extensive establishments at the North are engaged in their manufacture, and an immense impulsion has been given to their use among a large and growing class of physicians and practitioners, particxilarly at the North and West. I may remind the reader that the knowledge of the very existence of the Alkaloids commenced with the discovery and separation of Morphia, by Serturner and Seguin, in 1817 ; a modification of the Generic name of the plant from which they are first derived, is usually given to them; sometimes these are indiscriminately terminated by in or ia, but in order to have uni- PRELIMINARY. li fortnity, the highest authorities recommend that the former should always be applied to the Neutral principle, and the latter to the Alkaloids. They are dissolved by water, but sparingly, by acids, alcohol, ether and almost all in benzine and chloroform. Tannic acid precipitates them, and is considered the best antidote for their injurious effects. Dr. Wood refers to the unscientific names used by the so-called Eclectics in givine; such appellations as Hydrastin, Iridin or Irisin to Alkaloids, Oleo-resins, etc., which should be reserved for the pure active principles when they shall have been discovered and separated ; and Parrish objects to " the evils growing out of this system of practice," and to " the multiplicity of these nondescript principles, which while many of them may be valuable medicines, are prepared almost exclusively by a few manufacturers, each pursuing his own process and liable to produce varying results ; while under an imperfect system of nomenclature all are classed together." This is freelj- admitted ; still, even in the impure and comparatively complex state in which^hese products are used by them, they are much less bulky than powders or decoctions of the plants from which they are obtained ; they arc easily administered, and though preparations more scientifically constructed are to be preferred and should be used, it must be allowed that by their means a certain advance has been made and an impulse given to the em- ployment of medicinal agents of vegetable origin, and hence incidentally to Medical Botany. Dr. Parrish also in his Practical Pharmacy sustains views similar to those I have long held : " Injustice to the so-called Eclectic practitioners, it must be admitted that they have been instrumental in introducing to notice some obscure medical plants which possess valuable properties ; it is to be regretted that their dis- position to run into pharmaceutical empiricism should have so long limited their usefulness and damaged their reputation." It is this tendency of the age, as exhibited even by those who are justly considered as irregular and unscientific, coupled with the efforts and capacity of our Pharmaceutical Chemists, that we are indebted for the separation and use of Leptandrin, H5'drastin, Irisin, Apocinin, Podophyllin, Caulophyllin, etc., and a number of others which are being extensively employed both in this country and in Europe; and that the plants from which they are pro- duced have been transferred during a comparatively recent period from the Secondary Lists and from a subordinate position in the Pharmacopoeia and the Dispensatory to the Primary List. To so great an extent are Leptandrin and Podophyllin employed at the North, that they are " leading articles of production with several of the largest manufacturing Pharmaceutists in the United States." The use of our Indigenous Medicinal Plants is indeed extending with rapid strides ; and those unacquainted with or unobservant of what has already and is being done, will be astonished at the progress that twenty years more of careful investigation of them, aided by minute chemical re- search and the experience obtained from clinical observation, will effect. In this latitude, however, strange to say, it is rather regarded as a re- proach for the educated Physician to be at all addicted to Botanical inves- X PRELIMINARY. ligations ; or that he should by any unusual assiduity add to the experience and observation acquired by him in the pursuit of his profession even the outlines of a practical knowledge of either General or Medical Botany, as if it leads necessarily to a blind belief in the potency of drugs ; and so he must fain suffer the penalties attached to his uncalled for and too adventur- ous search in these forbidden fields. Such knowledge, so limited, has not been considered essential or appropriate, as it is everywhere else, even to the teacher of Materia Medica and Therapeutics ; yet when the Therapeut- ist, who is at all informed as a Botanist, hears only the name of a me- dicinal preparation of vegetable origin, or that of an Alkaloid or Kesinoid, he knows and associates immediately therewith the name, relations, charac- ter and properties of the plant from which it is derived, and conversely. In a notice by my distinguished friend, W. Gilmore Simms, Esq., of an Article in De Bow's Review, by the writer, he refers in discursive language to the " resources of the Southern fields and forests, the natural productions in brief of the South — her resources in the woods, and swamps, and fields, the earth and rocks ; for purposes of need, utility, medicine, art, science and mechanics ; hints to the domestic manufacturer ; to the workers in wood and earth; and rock and tree ; and shrub and flower; hints, clues, suggestions which may be turned to the most useful purposes; not merely as exjiedients during the pressure of war and blockade, but continuously, through all time, as aff'ording profit, use, interest and employment to our people." From an inspection of the large amount of material embraced in this volume, it will be seen that our Southern Flora is extraordinarily rich. It is the teeming product of every variety of soil and climate, from Ma- ryland to Florida, from Tennessee to Texas. The Atlantic slopes with their marine growth, the Mountain ridges of the interior, the almost infra-tropi- cal productions of Louisiana and South Florida, with the rich alluvia of the River courses — all contribute to swell the lists and produce a wonderful exuberance of vegetation. The Southern States occupy almost the whole of the Temperate Zone in the Western Hemisphere. Under a genial sun, and enduring neither extremes of heat or cold, they are rich in natural re- sources, and possess a variety of soil and a range of temperature affected by the presence of both sea and mountain. Their geological features are diversified and somewhat peculiar. The land in the Atlantic States at varying distances from the coast rises evenly and insensibly to the height of about two hundred and fifty feet above the gen- eral tide level, forming a vast plain abounding in cypress swamps and pine and oak ridges, and constituting what is known as the Alluvial formations. For the most part, quartzose sands and clays cover the surface from the depth of from ten to twenty-five feet or more. These overlay vast beds of Tertiary marl, the Eocene, Miocene and Post-pliocene sections of which, composing the Limestone regions, crop out and expose their rich fossils in several locali- ties. The earth of the swamps and marshes that skirt the rivers and creeks PRELIMINARY. XI frequently contains a large proportion of peat. Succeeding the above are the Primary formations stretching away to the mountains in the interior. The soil of this portion, derived from the disintegration of the granite, gneiss, clay-slate, and other metamorphic rocks, as they respectively come to the surface, and are subjected to atmospheric influences, presents every variety of fertility and barrenness. The geological features of the Penin- sula of Florida are exceptional. These divisions are distinguished by their characteristic vegetation,* and thus we are presented with geographical and climatic influences, which combine to produce a relation between heat and moisture peculiarly adapted to the production of a variety of species, com- prising many of our most active curative agents. The State of New York, which is said to include an area equal to the whole of Great Britain, accord- ing to Prof. Lee,f out of a Flora of one thousand four hundred and fifty species, contains but one hundred and fifty known to be medicinal. Here, it will be observed, in a space at the South considerably smaller in extent, a much laTt;er proportion exists. My Sketch of the Medical Botany of S. C. embraced a notice of four hundred and ten species, out of about three thou- sand five hundred, possessed of medicinal or economic value ; including, however, among these, some few exotic or introduced. A single circum- scribed locality in the lower section of the same State, but ten miles in diameter, furnishes one and one-third more than the whole of New York. We can readily perceive what the South at large, with an expanse of terri- tory equalling that of Great Britain, France and Germany combined, is capable of producing. Hence, though the South has been swept as by a whirlwind, and, like one of its native pines, scathed and blasted by the lightnings of war, its inherent powers of reproduction are almost limitless. Its seasons of spring and summer are long ; the navigation of its rivers is scarcely ever interrupted, and during the whole year its people may be continuously and industriously occupied. Heretofore, they have been almost exclusively confined to the labors of the field — in the production and preparation of those seven great staple articles of consumption and of export, viz : Cotton, Rice, Sugar, To- *"In short, the Flora of the upper verge of the Tertiary is as distinct from that of the rest of the State as are the two geoln;:;ical systems which meet there from each other." Prof. Tuome3''s Geolog. Rep. of S. C, p. 140. I have i-epeatedly observed similar relations affecting a more limited space. Throughout the States bordering on the ocean at varying distances from the coast, the same geological divisions are found, only differing in breadth and extent, and presenting great similarity as respects soil and vegetation. Thus I have carefully noted the Flora and face of the country prevailing in Fair- field Countv, S. C, and Povrhattan, Va., and have observed a marked resemblance in almost every respect. A narrow strip of Long leaf Pine, for example, is found bor- dering the southeastern extremities of each of these counties. See Report to Elliott Soc. of Charleston. f A Catalogue of the Medic. Plants, Indig. and Exot., growing in the State of New York. By C. A. Lee, Prof. Mat. Med., etc. New York, 1848. XU PRELIMINARY. bacco, Wheat, Corn and Turpentine, whicli though dethroned as " Kings," yet still create or move the commerce of the world and form the wealth of States. Now, however, immense Mills and Manufactories must spring up to consume the raw material of the most important of these products, which is grown at their doors, and which has heretofore been carried elsewhere to be returned to us burdened with the cost of transportation and of the labor and skill expended upon its conversion into fabrics. It will, therefore, be observed how important it is for us to understand the Flora as well as the soil of a country ; and as one at least of our staple commodities has suflered, we must seek to diversify our industries ; and by a more intelligent observation we may discover new products adapted to our wants and capable of being produced here. It will be observed that most of our useful Plants are not indigenous. Many now in the woods may, by careful cultivation, become greatly improved in quality, and tenfold more productive — as has already been done with our wild grapes, apples, cauliflowers, strawberries, etc., etc. Central Botanical Gardens should be established in place of Parks, which may be made useful to the industry of man, and are as important to a State as Geological Surveys. I here introduce a notice of upwards of five hundred substances, possessing every variety of useful quality. Some will be rejected as useless, others may be found upon closer examination to be still more valuable. The most precious of all Textile Fibres and Grains, Silks, Seeds, Fruits, Oils, Gums, Caoutchouc, Kesins, Dyes, Fecula, Albumen, Sugar, Starch, Vegetable Acids and Alkalies, Liquors, Spirit, Burning Fluid, material for making Paper and Cordage, Grasses and Forage Plants, Barks, Medicines, Wood for Tanning and the production of Chemical Agencies, for Timber, Ship- building, Engraving, Furniture, Implements and Utensils of every descrip- tion — all abound in the greatest munificence, and need but the arm of the authorities or the energy and enterprise of the private citizen to be made sources of utility, profit or beauty. Among the Kesources of the South, I had intended to refer to the Phos- phates recently discovered and developed, in one section, at least, which may contribute so materially to improve the production of our Fields. I had prepared a history of them, to be published as an appendix to this volume, but the want of space forbids. There is a subject, however, which the writer has been long reflecting upon, and which he considers one of supreme importance, whether we regard the improvement of our Cultivated Crops, or the Fields and Forests of the country. If successfully carried out, it will reclaim and render fit for tillage vast bodies of lands now lying idle, and greatly improve their sanitary condition. It will also make white labor available during the whole year, and greatly stimulate immigration. I refer to the Drainage of the Marshes and Swamp lands, particularly PRELIMINARY. XIH those near the Cities and along the River courses. This, save in particular instances, cannot now be done by the separate and isolated efforts of planters and farmers, but should be accomplished as a public work by the State. Op- erations could be commenced on the inland Swamps, each of which presents an independent problem to the Civil Engineer. Along our coasts, at a distance of forty miles from the sea, there is a rise of about twenty feet above the general tide level, giving a fall of half a foot to the mile, which is sufficient. In my own experience, these are capable of thorough and per- fect drainage. The Engineer Mills, in his Statistics of S. Carolina, published in 1826, has presented an elaborate scheme of this kind, by which it was proposed that the State should purchase so many slaves, and when the Swamps were drained, the lands so improved and increased in value should be sold to the Farmers and Planters. Enterprises of a similar nature, on an extensive scale, have long since, as is generally known, been successfully prosecuted in Holland and in Belgium. The Harlaem Meer, drained in 1839, was 4,500 acres in extent, with an average depth of thirteen feet. The works were executed by the government at an expense of 151. 5s. per acre. The whole of the bed of the lake has been brought into cultivation, and the government has been partially repaid by the sale of the land. Large tracts of alluvial land have been reclaimed, both in Holland and Belgium. The Campine, in Belgium, has been sub- jected to a system of both drainage and irrigation. Large Bogs in Ireland, the Chat Moss, and the Bogs of Allen have been successfully reclaimed by surface ditches and by auger-holes descending to the pervious strata below. Fens and Morasses in Yorkshire, and in various other counties in England ^ have been transformed from barrenness to fertility, and now yield abun- dant crops of pasturage. In Milan, the system of irrigation is extensively practiced on Meadow land, and near Mantua, as in the time of Virgil, the superabundant water has been reduced within its proper channels, to the great advantage of the State. The operations by the late East India Company have been brilliant in their results, the engineers availing themselves of the huge works of their Indian predecessors. Fifty per cent, has been realized.* The French in Algiers have succeeded in draining and reducing to suc- cessful cultivation the entire plain of the Alemtijo, which was before an unhealthy region, and which now produces abundantly all the tropical fruits, grains, etc., to supply the demands of the mother country. *See, for more practical details, The Rudiments of Hydraulic Engineering, by G. R. Burnell, F. G. S., Civil Engineer ; The Art of Draining Districts and Lands, and Drainage and Sewage of Towns, by Gr. D. Dempsey, C. E.; and Embanking Lands from the Sea, by Jno. Wiggins, F. G. S. J. S. Virtue, London. I insert these references on account of the truth of the maxim : "Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, maxima pars scientiee est." The first thing is to know where to get infor- mation. XIV PRELIMINARY. The writer has seen the picturesque and fertile Valley of the Chiana ia Italy, smiling in peace and plenty, strewn with villas and farmhouses, and intersected by the best constructed roads, always so indicative of wealth and abundance; yet this beautiful Valley, which now supplies all Tuscany with corn, wine and oil, was once a pestilential and almost deserted region, and noted in the earliest times for its insalubrity, as evidenced by the striking allusion made to it by Dante in the Inferno.* This has been accomplished by the skill of Count Fossombroni, who fol- lowed the plan recommended by Torricelli in draining the Maremma by hydraulic engineering. It is known as the system of Colmates, and consists in turning the course of rivers or streams coming from clay-hills, so that they deposit the sand and mud with which they are charged, and thus raises tbe general level and at the same time causing a fall of the stagnant water, converts it into a rich and fertile tract. (Opere Pratiche sopra il Val di Chiana, published at Montepulciano ; a copy of which is in the possession of the writer.) The simplest plans for draining the secondary or inland Swamps, is to run a straight central canal, which removes the obstructions caused by logs and mud flats, and takes off the main body of water. A canal or drain is also cut on each side to receive the water coming in from the surrounding high lands. The underground system with Tiles, generally practiced in England and on the Continent, is only applicable in this country to a limited extent at present. The lands throughout a large portion of the South are quite rich enough for every purpose, and we need not go to the West or elsewhere in quest of better soil. Since emancipation, immigrants from Europe may be employed in these public works now proposed. The cutting down the trees and exposing the surface to the almost constant action of the sun, will subject it to the important agency of evaporation ; the removal of the causes of malaria will be the result; and if complete exemption of the sickly por- tions of the States from its baneful influences and from periodical fevers, by which white labor is made possible, is not secured, the hygienic condition of the whole country will, at least, be improved, and the wealth and happiness of our citizens generally enormously increased. By draining our Swamps, we secure a soil for corn, cane, etc., enriched by the vegetable matter accumulated for centuries, and the higher lands are released for cotton and other crops. Besides, when we drain the Swamps there ensues an interstitial drainage, by a process of molecular absorption incessantly acting, which extends for miles around, affecting the high lands at a much greater distance than many ®Qual dolor fora se degli spedali T)i Valdichiana, tra'l luglio e'l settembre, E di Maremma e di Sardigna i mall FoFsero in una fossa tutti insembre. Canto xxix, and the Paradiso, e. xiii. PRELIMINARY. XV would suppose, rendering them drier, and allowing pines, oaks and other plants to spring up where before only swamp trees and rank grasses grew. Islands and isolated sections of country favorably situated, as, for example, those adjoining Charleston, and embraced between the Cooper and Ashley, the same being true of those lying near other cities, and along our coast, can be drained and made rich and habitable even in the warm months. They will be occupied by Garden Farms which will supply, not only the cities con- tiguous to them, but fill our ships going to the North with fruits, vegetables and produce. Many of us residing on the Coast are aware of what was accomplished in the way of Embankments by our fathers and the earlier settlers of the State. They were built for the most part to aid in the cultivation of rice, but the femains of these immense banks attest the industry and enterprise of our people and are an earnest of what we ourselves may accomplish when fostered and aided by the State. It is true that much of this work was done Tinder the system of primo- geniture, when it was in the power and to the interest of the owner of the soil to make lasting improvements, and by so doing look for the permanent welfare of his descendants. A diiferent organization of labor and capital also enabled the private individual to accomplish more then than now. These considerations, however, furnish arguments in support of the same being done by the State ; which should, when it becomes necessary, perform for its citizens those acts of public utility, the right or the ability to do which depended upon systems and institutions which it has, from reasons of policy or interest, abolished or destroyed, and being deprived of which, they suffer. To carry out the project imperfectly unfolded above, the State or Govern- ment may organize a Drainage Commission or Joint Stock Association, which will make the financial scheme a feasible and successful one, into the details of which I cannot now enter. Its realization is doubtless impossible at present ; but viewed in every light as respects the common welfare, it in- volves enterprises which are to us and to those coming after us of com- manding importance and worthy of the most thoughtful consideration. "When the time arrives for its execution, the wisdom and policy of the step being apparent, it will establish the distinction of any Administration which undertakes it, or the fame of any Statesman who shall have the wit to use his influence successfully to achieve it. Finis coronat opus. WORKS CONSULTED AND ABBRBYIATIONS USED. Catalogus Plantarum Angliaj, cum Observationibus et Experimentis Novis Medicis et Physicis. Londini, 1667. Auct. Johannes Ray. English Physician. By Nicholas Culpepper, gent., " Student in Physic and Astrology." " An Astrologo- Physiological Discourse on Vulgar Herbs," etc. BuUiard, Ilistoire des Plantes Veneneuses de la France, ) 4 vols. P«fis, 1774. J Hortus Amerieanus. By Dr. Barham. Linna3us, Vegetable Mat. Medica. Translated by C. ) Whitlaw. J Demonstrations Elementaire de Botanique. Containing"! dem., veg., phys. properties, and uses of plants. AVith ( much inibrmation concerning the vegetable veterinary j practice, etc. By J. tiillibert. Lyons, 1787. J Plantffi Rariores llibernia Inventa;, etc. With Remarks on the Properties and Uses. By Walter Wade, M. D., M. L. S. Dublin, 1804. Le Medecin Herboriste. Paris, 1802. New Med. Discoveries, 2 vols. London, 1829. By C. ) AVhitlaw. J Am. Herbal, or Materia Medica. With New Medical ) Discoveries. By Samuel Stearns, LL. D. Walpole, 1801. ] Flora Scotica. By John Lightfoot. Edinburg. Indigenous Botany. By Colin Milne, LL. D., and Alex- 1 ander Gordon. London, 179.S. J A New Family Herbal ; or, an Account of Plants and their Properties in Medicine and the Arts. By R. J. Thornton. London, 1810. Lindlej^'s Natural Sj'stem of Botany. With the Uses "1 of Important Species in Medicine, the Arts, and Domestic > Economy. London, 1836. J Medical Botany. By W. Woodville, 4 vols. London, ) 1790. Sec. edition, 1800. J Barton's Med. Botany. W. P. Barton's Flora. Philadelphia, 1823. Rafinesque's Medical Flora. Bigelow's Am. Medical Botany, 4 vols. Boston, 1820. Barton's Collection towards the Formation of a Materia ] Medica. J Medical Botany. With the uses of Important Species "] in Medicine, the Arts, etc. By R. E. Griffith. Philadel- [ phia, 1847. J Illustrations of Medical Botany. By Joseph Carson, ] M. D. With Descriptions, etc. Philadelphia, 1847. J ABBREVIATIOXS. Cat. Plantarum. Gulp. Eng. Phys. Bull Plantes Ven. de France. Bar. Hort. Amer. Linn. Veg. M. Med. Dem. Elem. de Bot. Wade's PI. Rariores. Le Med. Herb. AVhitlaw's New Med. Disc. Steam's Am. Herbal. Fl. Scotica. Milne Ind. Bot. Thornton's Fam. Herb. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. Woodv. Med. Bot. Bart. M. Bot. Bart. Flora. Raf. Med. Fl. Big. Am. Med. Bot. Barton's Collec. Griffith's Med. Bot. Carson's Illust. Med. Bot. erary 1 Sheeut's Flora Carolinceensis ; or, a History, Medical ^ and Economical, of the Vegetable Kingdom. Charleston, \ Shee. Flora Carol. 1806. j Elliott's Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and ) j^jj_ jj^^_ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Georgia. With Medical Notes. Charleston, 1800. J Drayton's View of South Carolina. Charleston, 1802. Drayton's View. Chalmers History of South Carolina. Chalmer's Hist. S. C. Garden's and Lining's Observations, Physical and Lit- | Q^^i\^ and Lin Obs iry. i ' ' Travels in South and North Carolina. By John Law- | Liwson's S C son, Surveyor-General, 1716. J ' United States Dispensatory. By Wood and Bache. ] \-\ ^ t);™ Philadelphia, 1846. 12th Edition, 1868. J lj. o. i^i..p. Thacher's United States Dispensatory. Thaeher's U. S. Disp. American Dispensatory. By R. Coxe. Coxe, Am. Disp. Bergii Materia Medica. E. regno vegetabili, etc. Stock- ] j^gj-o-ii Mat Med holmiaj, 1782. J o > ' • ^ Cullen's Materia Medica. Edinburgh. Cullen, Mat. Med. Lewis' Materia Medica, 2 vols. London, 1791. Le. Mat. Med. Pereira's Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 2 vol- ) Pe. Mat. Med. and umes. j Therap. Practical Dictionary of Materia Medica. By John Bell, f Tj„ii'g p,.oet Diet Philadelphia. ( Eberle's Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 2 vols. Phila- ) ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ delphia, 1834. j Edwards and Vavasseur's Matiere Medicale. Paris, ] Ed. and Vav. Mat. 1836. ]■ Med. Trousseau et Pidoux, Traite de Therapeutique, et de Ma- [ Trous. ct Pid. Mat. ticre Medicale. Paris, 1837. J Med. Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. By H. R. | Frost's Elms. Mat. Frost, Prof. M. M. Medical College of South Carolina. J Med. Chapman's Therapeutics and Materia Medica, 2 vols. ) Chap. Therap. and Philadelphia, 1822. j Mat. Med. Bailed and Garrod's Materia Medica. London, 1846. Ball, k Gar. Mat. Med. Royle's Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Philadelphia, ) ■Rovlc Mat Med 1847. 5 J ' • • Merat and de Lens' Dietionnaire Univ. de Matiere Medi- ) Mer. and de L. Diet, cale. Paris, 1837, tom. vi. \ de M. Med. Supplementary volume to the above. Paris, 1846. K Univ de M Med Watson's Practice of Physic. Second American Edition, j Watson's Practice Philadelphia, 1845. I Physic. Stille's Therapeutics and Materia Medica. Philadelphia, 1862-'6. Statistics of South Carolina. A View of its Natural, Civil and Military History. By Robert Mills, Civil Engineer. Charleston, 1826. Southern Agriculturist. Charleston, 1820-'39. So. Agricult. Matson's Vegetable Practice. 1839. Matson's Veg. Pract. Imp. System Botanical Medicine. By Horton Howard. Imp. Syst. Bot. Med. Pharmacopoeias, Journals, Reviews, Monographs, Inaugural Theses, etc., both American and foreign. The Principles of Agriculture, by' Albert D. Thaer, translated by William Shaw, Esq., member of the council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, etc., and C. W. Johnson, Esq., F. R. S. 4th Edition. New York : Bangs, Brother & Co., 1852. Flora of the Southern United States, containing an abridged description of the flowering plants and ferns of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, arranged according to the natural sj-stem, by A. W. Chapman, M. D. The lems by Daniel, C. Eaton. New York, 1800. Rural Economy, in its relations with chemistry, physics, and meteorology, or chem- istry applied to agriculture, by J. B. Boussingault, member of Institute of France, etc. Translated by (Jeorgo Law, Agriculturalist. New York, C. M. Saxton, 1857. Saxton's Rural Hand Books. New York, 1852. Thornton's Southern Gardener, and Receipt Book. Camden, S. C. Enquire Within ; 3,700 facts. New York, 1857. The Fruit Gardener. Philadelphia, 1847. Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees of America. New York, 1858. The Southern Farmer and Market Gardener, by Prof. F. S. Holmes, Charleston, S.C. The Art of Manufacturing Soaps and Candles. By P. Kurten. Philadelphia, Linsay & Blakiston, 1854-. Industrial Resources of the South and West, by J. D. B. DeBow. New Orleans, 1853. Sorgho and Imphee, the Chinese and African Sugar Canes, by H. S. Olcott. New York, 1857. lire's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines. From the 4th English edition. New York, 1853. Chemistry applied to Agriculture, by Count John Antony Chaptal. Boston, 1835. Chemical Field Lectures, by J. A. Stockhardt. Translated from the German. Cam- bridge, 1853. Parrish, Practical Pharmacy. Philadelphia, 1859. This work contains informa- tion respecting the active principles of plants, oils, acids, etc., with many jiharma- ceutical details. Positive Medical Agents, a Treatise on the new alkaloid, resinoid and concentrated preparations of native and foreign Medical Plants ; by authoritj' of the American Chemical Institute. New York, 1854. The Art of Tanning and Leather Dressing. By Prof. H. Dussouce. Philadelphia and London, 1867. A Muck Manual, by Samuel L. Dana. New York, 1858. The Fruit Garden. A Treatise by P. Barry. New .York, 1857. Practical Treatise on Culture of Grape, by J. Fiskc Allen. New York, 1858. Charlton on Culture of Exotic Grape under Glass. New York, 1853. Elements of Scientific Agriculture, by S. P. Norton, Professor in Yale College, New York, 1854. A Manual of Scientific and Practical Agriculture, for the School and the Farm, by J. L. Campbell, A. M., Professor Physical Science, Washington College, Va. Phila- delphia, 1859. The American Grape Grower's Guide, intended especially for the climate of America. Illustrated by AVilliam Charlton. New York, A. 0. Moore, 1859. For full description of best modes of cultivating the grape. Sorgho and Imphee, the Chinese and African Sugar Canes. Manufacture of sugar syrup, alchohol, wines, beer, cider, vinegar, starch, and dye stuffs, with translations of French Pamphlets, etc., etc., and drawing of machinery, by H. S. Olcott. New York, A. 0. Moore, 1857. Patent Oflice Reports, Agriculture, 1848, '51, '53, '54, '55, '5(5, '57, '58. Rural Chemistr}', by Edward Solly, F. L. S., Honorary Member of Royal Agricul- tural Society, England. Philadelphia, Henry C. Baird, 1852. The Rural Cyclopaedia, or a General Dictionary of Agriculture, and of the Arts, Sciences, Instruments, and Practice necessary to the Farmer, etc. Edited by Rev. Jno. M. Wilson. In four volumes. Edinburgh, 1852, A. Fullarton. General Directions for Collecting and Drying Medicinal Substances, with a list of Indigenous Plants. From the Surgeon-General's office, 1862. Richmond. A pam- phlet. Tobacco Culture. Practical details from the selection and preparation of the Seed and Soil to harvesting, curing, and marketing the crop. Plain Directions, as given by fourteen experienced cultivators. New York, 1867-8. Essays on Cultivation of Flax Seed and Castor Beans. Published by the St. Louis Seed and Oil Co., 1868. A Catalogue of Indigenous and Naturalized Plants of the State of North Carolina, by Rev. M. A. Curtis, D. D. Raleigh, 1867. This contains over a hundred edible Mushrooms, designated by italics. Mr. Curtis will soon publish Illustrations of these Fungi. I have not enumerated the numerous authorities I had examined with reference to the Medicinal and Economical properties of the Cryptogamic Plants, Fungi, and others of this class. The following works, published in England, may be referred to in ease any are desirous of consulting them : Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, Marshall on Planting, Nichols' Planter's Calendar, Ponty's Profitable Planter, Phillips' Shrubbery, Treatise on Planting in the Lil)rary of Useful Knowledge, Loudon's Encyclopasdia of Plants, Accum on the Adulterations of Food, Babbage on the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, Thompson's Veg- etable Chemistry, Knapp's Technology, Willich's Domestic Encyclopaedia. See, also, Treatise by Dr. J. Harris, of Mass., on Insects injurious to Vegetation, and Townsend Glover's papers on same subject in Patent OflRce Reports. ^^®*" Those interested in obtaining foreign seeds, plants, etc., can obtain them by applying to James Carter & Co., and Butler and McCuUoch, of London ; William Thompson, of Iswich, England ; and Vilmorin, Andreux & Cie., Paris, France. Dr. Pai-rish in his " Practical Pharmacy," says that the cultivation of medicinal plants in this country, for sale, as such, is mainly confined to the beautiful valley in Colum- bia, Co., N. Y., where it is pursued by the Shakers and by Tilden & Co. " This dis- trict seems specially adapted to the purpose, and like the celebrated Physic gardens of Mitcham, England, furnishes a great variety and in large quantity." " For an inter- esting account," he adds, "of the Physic gardens of Mitcham, see Am. J. Pharm. v. XXIIL, p. 25 ; for some details in regard to the N. Lebanon gardens, where every kind of medicinal preparation from native and medicinal plants, are prepared on an extensive scale, see the same Journal, v. XXIIL, p. 386." The gathering of the Sumac leaves so extensively and profitably pursued in Va. (1868), and to which I had invited attention as an original suggestion in the first Edi- tion of this Book (see Sumac), is well worthy of imitation as an industrial pursuit by a large number of people residing in other States, and I therefore give prominence to it by the above reference. INTRODUCTION. GENEEAL DIEECTIONS FOR COLLECTING AND DKYING MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING. All leaves, flowers, and herbs should be preferably gathered in clear, dry weather, in the morning, after the dew is exhaled. The roots of medicinal plants, although more advantageously gathered at certain periods, to be hereafter specified, do not lose their medicinal virtues in consequence of being dug in mid- summer. It is probable that most of those imported are thus collected by savages or ignorant persons, when the plant is in full leaf, it being then more easily recognized. Plants, Annual, should be gathered at the time when their vegetation is most vigorous, which is generally from the time they begin to flower until their leaves begin to change. Plants, Biennial, should, in most instances, be gathered in the second season of their growth, and about the time of flowering. EooTS OF Annuals are to be gathered just before the time of flowering. EooTS OF Biennials are to be gathered after the vegetation of the first year has ceased. EooTS OF Perennials are to be gathered in the spring, before vegetation has commenced. Eoots should be washed, and the smaller fibres, unless they are the part employed, should be then separated from the body of the root, which, when of any considerable size, is to be cut in slices previous to being dried. Bulbs are to be gathered after the new bulb is perfected, and before it has begun to vegetate, which is at the time the leaves decay. Those which are to be preserved fresh should be buried in dry sand. Barks, whether of the root, trunk, or branches, should be gathered in the autumn, or early in the spring. The dead epidermis or outer bark, and the decayed parts, should be i-emoved. Of some trees (as the elm) the inner bark only is preserved. Leaves are to be gathered after their full development, before the fading of the flowers. The leaves of biennials do not attain their perfect qualities until the second year. Flowers should, in general, be gathered at the time of their expansion, before or immediately after they have fully opened ; some — as the Eosa Gallica — while in bud. Aromatic Herbs are to be gathered when in flower. Stalks and Twigs should be collected in~autumn. Seeds should be collected at the period of their full maturity. DIRECTIONS rOR DRYING. Medicinal products of the vegetable kingdom (as plants, roots, etc.) should be dried as rapidly as is consistent with their per- fect preservation, but not subjected to extreme heat. Those collected in the warm months and during dry weather may, except in a few instances, be dried by their spontaneous evaporation, in a well ventilated apartment; some — as roots and barks — may be exposed to the direct rays of the sun. In spring and autumn, and in damp, foggy, or rainy weather, a drying-house should be resorted to ; the temperature to range from 70° to 100° F. There should be an aperture above for the escape of warm, moist air. Fibrous Eoots may be dried in the sun, or at a heat of from 65° to 80° F. in the drying-room. Fleshy Eoots should be cut in transverse slices, not exceed- ing half an inch in length, and during the drying process should be stirred several times to prevent their moulding. Bulbs must have the coarse outer membrane peeled off". In other respects they are to be treated like fleshy roots. Barks, Woods and Twigs readily dry, in thin layers, in the open air. Leaves, after separation from the stalks, should be strewed losely over hurdle-frames, and their position changed twice a day, until they become dry. When very succulent, they require more care to prevent their discoloration. For thin, dry leaves, the heat need not exceed 70° F. ; for the succulent, it may gradually be raised to 100° F. Annual Plants and Tops. — If not too juicy, thesemay be tied loosel}^ in small bundles, and strung on lines stretched across the drj'ing-room. Flowers must be dried carcfull}^ and rapidly, so as to pre- serve tlTeir color. Thej^ should be spread loosely on the hurdles, and turned several times by stirring. When flowers or leaves owe their virtues to volatile oils, gi'cater care is necessary. A carefully pressed specimen of the stem, leaf, and flower of each medicinal substance collected, whether it be bark, root, or herb, should be obtained and forwarded with each collection, for the purpose of aiding in its identification. The above is from " General Directions" and List of Plants — a pamphlet issued from Surgeon-General's Office, 1862. Consult, also, XJ. S. Dis- pensatory. The two following papers, contributed by the writer to a Periodical during the war, are introduced befoi'e entering upon the systematic portion of the Work, because they contain information, in a condensed shape, which may be practically useful : brief notice op easily procurable medicinal plants, to be collected by soldiers while in service in any part op the southern states. My attention having been occupied with the subject of the substitutes for imported Medicines, I have thought that if some hints were given the Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons in the field, with respect to the useful properties of a few articles (easily attainable in every part of the country), it would greatly lessen the use of the more expensive medicines. One man detailed from each company, or from a regiment, could obtain a full supply of each substance fresh, for the use of the Surgeon, and this at less trouble and expense than if it was procured by the Medical Purveyors, to be distributed to the regiments. I will mention some of these substances. They are familiar to all, but still without special recommendation, they are likely to escape attention : Sassafras (Laiirus). — Whilst engaged in active duties as Sur- geon to the Holcombe Legion, whenever a soldier suffered from measles, pneumonia, bronchitis, or cold, his companion or nurse was directed to procure the roots and leaves of Sassafras, and a tea made with this supplied that of Flax Seed or G-um Arabic, The leaf of the Sassafras contains a great amount of mucilage. Bene {Sesamum). — The leaves of the Bene may be used in camp dysentery, in colds, coughs, etc., in place of Gum Arabic or Flax Seed. One or two leaves in a tumbler of water imparts their mucilaginous properties. Dogwood {Cormis Florida'). — During the late war, the bark has been employed with great advantage in place of quinine in fe- vers — particularly in cases of low forms of fever, and in dysen- tery, on the river courses, of a tj^hoid character. It is given as a substitute for Peruvian barks. In fact, in almost any case where the Cinchona bark was used. Thoroughwort, Bone-set (Eupatorium perfoUatum). — Thorough- wort, drank hot during the cold stage of fever, and cold as a tonic and antiperiodic, is thought by many physicians to be even superior to the Dogwood, Willow, or Poplar, as a sub- stitute for quinine. It is quite sufficient in the management of many of the malarial fevers that will prevail among troops dur- ing the Avarm months ; and if it does not supply entirely the place of quinine, will certainly lessen the need for its use. These plants can be easily procured in every locality. Tulip Bearing Foplar {Liriodendron) and the Willow bark sup- ply remedies for the fevers met with in camp. The Cold infu- sion is given. Sweet Gum (Liquidamhar Styraciflua) . — The inner bark con- tains an astringent, gwnmy substance. If it is boiled in milk. or a tea made with water, its astringency is so great that it will easily check diarrhoea, and associated with the use of other remedies, dysentery also. The leaf of the gum, Avhen green, I have also ascertained to be powerfully astringent, and to con- tain as large a proportion of tannin as that of any other tree. I believe that the Grum leaf and the leaf of the Myrtle and Blackberry can be used wherever an astringent is required ; cold water takes it up. They can, I think, be also used for tan- ning leather, when green, in place of oak bark. Blackberry Root {JRuhus). — A decoction will check profuse diarrhoeas of any kind. The root of the Chinquapin (Gastanea) is also astringent. Gentian. — Our native tonics are abundant. Several varieties of Gentian, Sabbatia, etc., may be added to those mentioned. The Pipissewa, or Winter Green (Chimaphila), is both an aro- matic tonic and a diuretic, and therefore selected in the conva- lescence from low fevers followed by dropsical symptoms. These, the numerous aromatic plants, etc., are not intended to take the place of other medicines, which can be obtained and are re- quired. It is not intended that a blind or exclusive reliance should be placed in them — but they were recommended to sup- ply a great and pressing need. Holly (Ilex Opaca'). — The bai'k of the holly root chewed, or a tea made with it, yields an excellent bitter demulcent, very use- ful in coughs, colds, etc. The bitter principle is also tonic. The Holly contains bird-lime. Wild Jalap (Podophyllum Peltatiim. — If this can be found it can be used as a laxative in place of rhubarb or jalap, or wherever a purgative is required. Every planter in the South, ern States can produce the opium, mustard, and flax seed that is needed for home use. Swamp Dragon, (Saururus Cernuus), — The roots of this plant, growing abimdantly in the swamps and marshes along the sea- board, boiled and mashed, furnish an easily procurable and high- ly soothing material for poultices — admirably adapted to the wants of large bodies of men in camps, as well as of negroes on our plantations. Potash, pearlash, and soda are easily procurable from the ashes of certain plants. Our Salsola Kali, growing on the sea 10 coast, is rich in soda. Consult Index for references to more de- tailed information. SOUTHERN TREES ADAPTED TO THE PURPOSES OF THE MANUFAC- TURER AND WOOD ENGRAVER. In ansM'cr to an inquirj^ of a correspondent, I gave the names of several Trees growing at the South as probably suited for the purposes of the wood engraver. To these I will now add those noticed by subsequent correspondents, and also call attention to two or three other Trees with wood of great fineness and density of structure, which may be tested as substitutes for the wood heretofore imported from the North; and which are also likely to prove serviceable whenever a wood of hai'd, line grain is required by the manufacturer. Iron Wood, Horn Beam (Ostrya Virginica, Ell. Sk.) — It has often been employed by turners, and wrought into mill-cogs, wheels, etc. The wood is tough and white, and will prove an important acquisition to those interested in machinery, or in the construction of implements, tools, etc. White Beech, {Fagxis sylvatica). — Diffused. This wood is very hard, is capable of receiving a high polish, and should be prized by cabinet makers and turners for manufacturing purposes. Sioeet Birch, Cherry Birch, Mountain Mahogany (Betula lenta, Jjinn.) — Grows in the mountains of South Carolina and G-eorgia, possesses a fine grain, and also susceptible of a beautiful polish. The Red Birch {Betula. nigra) grows in our swamps in the lower country. The Black Birch is said by Lindley to be exceedingly hard. White Oak {Quercus alba). — One of the best of the Oaks, with the Live Oak, likely to be employed wherever great durability is desirable ; these, with the Walnut and Maple, are well known. Dog Wood {Cormis Florida). — Much used on our plantations wherever a wood of firmness of texture is required. Persimmon (JDiospyros Virginiana). — A very hard wood — in the natural family of plants found under what is known as the Ebony tribe. 11 The Holhj (Ilex opaca), the Apple and Pear are very much esteemed by many; perhaps harder than an}^ of those cited. These may be more particularly adapted to the purposes of the wood engraver. The Calico Bush, Ivy Bush, {Kaiinia latifoUa). — Grows in our middle districts. Wood hard and dense. Mountain Laurel, Bay (Rhododendron maximuni) — Found in our mountains ; said to resemble the Kalmia, and quoted by a writer as adapted to the j^urposes of the engraver. Iron Wood. — Another tree named from its supposed firmness (Bumelia Lycioides Ell. Sk.) 1 have collected it in Charleston, and forty miles from the ocean. Yellow Locust Tree, False Acacia (Rohinia pseudoaccacice, L.) — In mountains and in lower districts. The grain is fine and compact ; the wood, on account of its durability, is much used for treenails in ship building. Leather Wood {Lirca palustris). — Grows in Georgia ; is both hard and pliable. Arbor Vitoi (Thuja occidentalis). — Grows in the mountains. The wood said by Michaux to be the most durable whicli our forests produce. The soft woods are : the Cedar, the Cypress, the Black Spruce, or Fir (Finns nigra, Alton), the Finns strobus (growing in the mountains), and the Spruce tree of our low country swamps which might well supply the place of Northern pine. All these, with the Willow (Salix nigra'), are used for the timbers and spars of boats. The last is both soft and durable. Mr. Elliott says, in his Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina, that the wood of the Eed Mulberry (Morus rubra) is preferred in the building of boats to that of any other, except the Red Cedar. The wood of the Black Gum (Nyssa aquatica), particular!}'- the portion near the ground, is peculiarly white, spongy, and light. It has great elasticity, and a specific gravity almost low enough to adapt it, in the opinion of the writer, to be used as a substitute for the bark of the Cork tree. The Sycamore is a very light wood, and the Catalpa also. 12 The Poplar is well known for its qualities of softness and lightness. The Maple less so. The Pride of India is light and durable, and susceptible of polish with a pretty grain under varnish, adapting it to the purposes of the manufacturer. But these do not resist water when submerged, as do the softer woods first mentioned, viz : the Cypress, Cedar, or the Palmetto, which is characteristically soft, porous, and elastic. RESOURCES OP THE mt\txn Jielte antr Jfomb, MEDICAL, ECONOMICAL, AND AGEICULTURAL. Class I. EXOGENS ; OR, DICOTYLEDONOUS FLOWERING PLANTS. Sub-Class I. POLYPETAL^. NATURAL ORDERS. Eanunculace^. (Croio-Foot Tribe.) The plants belonging to this order are generally acrid, caustic, and poisonous. It contains some species, however, which are innocuous. The caustic principle is volatile, and neither acid nor alkaline. CRISPED CLEMATIS; BLUE JESSAMINE, {aematis crispa, Linn.) Not of Ell. Sk., which is the C. cyllndrica, T. and Gray. Grows in damp, rich soils, and in swamps in the low country of South Carolina; vicinit}- of Charleston, Dr. Bachman. Newborn, Croom. J^. C. Curtis. Fl. May. Mer. and de. L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 311; U. S. Disp. 1244; Shec. Flora Carol. 418. This plant is substituted for the C. erecta, mentioned by Storck, and is employed in secondary syphilis, ulcers, porrigo, etc.; given internally, with the pow- dered leaves applied to the sore. It acts also as a diaphoretic and diuretic. Merat says it possesses the properties of the C. vitalba, which is a dangerous vegetable caustic, used as a substi- tute for cantharides, and applied to rheumatic limbs, and in paralysis and gout. The decoction of the root is alterative and purgative ; and is also said to be valuable in Avashing sores and ulcers, in order to change the mode of their vitality, and to u make them cicatrize. Shecut remarks that "the Spanish or blistering flies are very fond of the Clematis crlspa, and it would be well for medical gentlemen in the country to propagate the plant about their residences, in order to secure a constant succession of these valuable insects." See Potato, " Convol- vulus." The American species are deserving of particular attention, and I would invite further investigation of them. The taste of the flower and seed vessel of the Clematis is exceedingly pungent, and the juice irritates the skin, as I have myself experienced. TRAVELLER'S-JOY; LEATHER FLOWER, {Clematis vlonia, L.) Grows in middle and upper districts of South Carolina. Elliott. N. C, Curtis. Fl. July. Shec. Flora Carol. 489 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 86 ; U. S. Disp. 1244. This, and the following, have also a caustic property, and arc emploj^ed internally as diuretics and sudorifics in chronic rheumatism ; and externally, in the treatment of erup- tions, and as vesicants. Shecut says that a yellow^ dye may be extracted from both leaves and branches; the latter are sufti- ciently tough to make withs and fagots. The fibrous shoots may be converted into paper, and the wood is yellow, compact, and odoriferous, furnishing an excellent material for veneering. VIRGIN'S BOWER; TRAVELLER'S-JOY, (Clematis Vir- giniana, Linn.) Grows in rich soils; vicinity of Charleston. N. C. FL July. Wood and Bache, U. S. Disp. 1244 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 80. See C. viorna. WOOD AISTEMONE, {Anemone 7iemorosa, L. Banunculus phrag- mltes.') Mountains of South Carolina. N. C, Fl. April. Bull. Plantes Ven. de France ; Linn. Veg. M. Med. 109 ; Fl. Scotica, 287 ; Chomel, Plantes Usuelles, ii, 376 ; Diet, des Sc. Med. Ixv, 194 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 292 ; U. S. Disp. 1228. It is said to be extremely acrid — even small doses prodvicing a great disturbance of the stomach ; employed as a rubefacient in fevers, gout, and rheumatism, and as a vesicatory in removing corns from the feet. It is reported to have proved a speedy cure for tinea capitis, and the flowers have been used in violent headaches ; Linnaeus says that the plant produces a discharge of urine, attended with dysentery, in cattle which feed on it. It contains a principle called anemonln. 15 Most of the species of Anemone, says Wilson, Eural Cyc, are acrimonious and detersive. " An infusiou of Anemone is said to remove woman's obstructions, and to increase her milk ; the bulbous roots when chewed are said to strengthen the gums and preserve the teeth ; a decoction of the roots is said to cleanse corrosive ulcers, and heal inflammation in the eyes; the flowers, boiled in oil, are said to have the property of thickening the hair, and Anemone ointment is said to be a good eye-salve, and a useful application to ulcers and external inflammations," all which I introduce for what it may be worth. No doubt the oil furnished by it imparts some property to the plant, and, like tannin in all the astringent plants, accounts for the slight medicinal effect which results from their use. An improved knowledge will, one day, determine the exact position in value of the whole vegetable kingdom, but for a while we must be contented with (he publication of much that is vague and uncertain. The unexpected discoveries of Ipecacuanha, Cin- chona, Yeratrum vii'ide, etc., warn us not to discard, upon a superficial examination, all those popularly considered as of trivial importance. T TVFRWO"RT J Hepatica triloba, Chaix. ) G-rows in light * I Anemone hepatica, Linn. J soils, upper dis- tricts, and in Georgia and North Carolina. Collected by Mr. Eavenel at the Eutaw battle-groimd, St. John's, Berkley; sent to me also from Abbeville district. U. S. Disp. 368; Raf Med. Fl. i, 238; Lind. Nat. Syst. 81. A tonic and astringent, supposed by some to possess deobstruent virtues. It has been used to a considerable extent in hemopty- sis and chronic cough ; but Wood says it has fiillen into neglect. OEANGE EOOT; YELLOW ROOT; TUEMERIC; IN- DIAN DYE; GOLDEN SEAL, {Hydrastis Canadensis, W.) GroAvs in rich soils, among the mountains of North and South Carolina and Georgia. Fl. May. Lind. Nat. Syst. 6 ; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 21 ; Yeg. Mat. Med. ii, 17 ; Eaf Med. Fl. i, 251; Griffith, Med. Bot. 82." It has a narcotic smell ; used in this country as a tonic. The I'oot was known to the Indians, from the brilliant yellow color which it yields. This appears to be permanent, and might be applied in the arts. Martin, in the Trans. Phil. Soc. 1783. in his Observations on the 16 Dyes used by the Aborigines, states, from his own experience, that it was found serviceable in coloring silks, wool and linen. With indigo, it yielded a rich green. Griffith mentions it as a powerful bitter tonic, much used in the West as a wash in chronic ophthalmia. In its fresh state, supposed to be narcotic. Tinc- ture, decoction, or powder employed. Dose of powder, thirty to sixty grains. Dr. Norcum, of Edenton, informs me that the in- fusion is used successfully in gonorrhoea. The American Chemical Institute and Tilden & Co., pre- pare from this plant two princijDles, one resinous, Hydras- tina, which is laxative and tonic, given in doses of one to five grains ; the other an alkaloid Hydrastine or Hydras- tina, the latter soluble in alcohol, water and ether, whilst the first is only sparingly soluble. Hydrastine is given in the same doses. In over dose it is said to produce almost identical effects with sulph. of quinine, viz : a sense of tightness, buzzing and ringing in the ears, reducing the pulse and producing sedation. In ordinaty doses it is tonic and astringent and it is claimed to have great power in intermittent fever. It is often prescribed with Podophyllin. This plant yields herherina abundantly, which Dr. Wood thinks should be examined for its antiperiodic properties — U. S. Disp. 12th ed., Am. J. Pharm., April 1861. Am. J. vSc. and Arts Jan. 1862 and July 1863. It is now placed in the primary list U. S. Disp. The following summary of the quali- ties of this plant is given by Dr. Wood : While all admit its tonic properties, it is considered by different practitioners as aperient, alterative in its influence on the mucous membranes, cholagogue, deobsti'uent in reference to the glands generally, diuretic, anti- septic, etc. It has been employed in dyspepsia and other affec- tions requiring tonic treatment, in jaundice and other functional disorders of the liver, as a laxative in constipation and piles, and as an alterative in various diseases of the mucous mem- branes, as catarrh, chronic enteritis, cystorrhoea, lucorrhoea, gon. orrhcea, etc., being used in the latter complaint internally and locally. By some it is used as one'of the best substitutes for quinia in intermittents. As an injection in gonorrhoea Dr. McCann, of Martinsburg, Ohio, made a decoction in the pro- portion of a drachm of the dried root to a pint of water, and in- jected a syringe full three times a day. The plant is used in the form of decoction, infusion tincture and extract. The Eclectics 17 give their hydrastin in doses of three to five grains. See also a vohime entitled "Positive Medical Agents, New York.' MAESH MARYGOLD; COLT FOOT; GROUND IVY, (Caltha palustris, L. Var. parnassifolia, T. & G.) Cedar Swamps, S. C, (Pursh) ; Chap. Flora. The flower buds are pickled for use as a substitute for capers. The juice of the fresh roots is acrid and caustic, but according, to Linnaeus, by drying, grinding and washing the roots, furnish a very palatable bread. A syrup prepared from this plant is a popular remedy for coughs. Dar- Hngton's Flora Cest. The Colt's Foot of the U. S. Disp. is Tussi- lago farfara. CELERY LEAYED CROW FOOT, {Ranunculus sceleratus, L. T. and Gray). Grows in bogs ; abundant around Charleston. New^bern, Croom. Fl. May. Bull. Plantes Ven. de France, 143 ; Dem. Elem de Bot. Light- foot's Fl. Scotica, 295 ; U. S. Disp. 584 ; Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 620, and the Supplem. 1846, 620 ; Dioscorides, lib. vi, c. iv ; Orfila, Toxicol, Gen. ii, 90 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 65 ; Grif- fith, Med. Bot. 84. The juice possesses remax"kable caustic powers, raising a blis- ter if applied topically, and often in doses of two drops exciting fatal inflammation along the whole track of the alimentary canal. vSome, however, say that this property is not constant, as it is of a volatile nature, and is dissipated by heat. According to Merat, the Bedouins use it as a rubefacient, and it is applied in sciatica, forming a substitute for canthai'ides. Annal. Univ. de Med. 1843. It has been administered with success in asthma, icterus, dy- suria, rheumatism, pneumonia and fixed pains. When it acts as a vesicant, it has not the disadvantage of producing strangury. Bigelow says the volatile principle may be collected by distilla- tion and preserved in closely-stopped bottles. Tilebein relates that the distilled water is excessively acrid, and on cooling, de- posits crystals, which are almost insoluble in any menstruum. Precipitates are caused by muriate of tin and acetate of lead. The boiled root may be eaten. Ranunculus repens, Linn. ) Grows in shady woods, and among " nitidus, Ell. Sk. j the mountains. Fl. Aug. U. S. Dis. 584. This has also a rubefacient and epispastic operation. Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 65, Yery similar to the above in its mode of action. 2 18 TALL LARKSPUE; {Delphinium exallatum, Ait.) Mts. of North Carolina and Northward. Dr. Wood says that the seeds have been used, for a similar purpose with those of the Larkspur — a tincture made by mace- rating an ounce of them in a pint of dilute alcohol, being used in doses of ten drops, gradually increased, in eases of spasmodic asthma and dropsy. U. S. Disp. LARKSPUE, N. C. ; {Delphinium consolida, L.) Becoming natu- ralized. The plant has astringent properties, the seeds are acrid, and its flowers yield a fine blue dye. My friend, Dr. Carmichael, of Fredericksburg, Ya., informs nie that the tincture of the plant is destructive to insects, and use- fully applied to the heads of children infested with them. It possesses an active principle called Delphinia. Am. J. Ph. v, i„ and xi, viii. W. Wick obtained aconitic acid from the expressed juice — Journ. de Pharm., Julliet, 1854, and U. S. D., 12th ed. In his Statistics of South Carolina, Mills says that from the ex- pressed juice of the petals with a little alum, a good blue may be obtained. BLACK SNAKEEOOT; COHOSH, (Cimicifuga racemosa, Torrey ; Actcea racemosa, L. & Willd). Grows throughout the Southern States. PI. July. Limiffius, Yeg. Mat. Med. 102 (see Actcea). The root is used in the debility of females attendant upon uterine disorder ; and, in its action, is thought to have a special affinity for this organ. It has also a decided effect upon some nervous affections, espe- cially chorea. See Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. vi, 20, and Dr. Young's notice of it in the Am. Journal Med. Sc. v, 310. "We have administered this medicine in chorea with complete suc- cess, after the failure of purgatives and metallic tonics ; and have also derived the happiest effects from it in cases of convul- sions recurring periodically, and connected with uterine disor- der." Wood, U. S. Disp. The powdered root is employed, a teaspoonful three times a day. It is a stimulating tonic, in- creasing the secretion of the skin, kidnej's and lungs. Merat, in the Diet, de Mat. Med., adds the authority of Dr. Kirkbride in support of the efficacy of this plant in chorea, who advises that a purgative be premised, when it may be given for several days, and then discontinued, to be resumed again ; frictions should at the same time be made upon the surface with the tincture. See the Supplem. 1846, to the Diet. de. M. Med. cit. sup. Dr. Hil- dreth has found this plant, in combination with iodine, very ad- vantageous in the early stages of phthisis. Am. Journal Med. Sc. Oct. 1842. The decoction is the most useful form ; one ounce of the bruised root is boiled in a pint of water, of which a half pint to one pint may be taken during the day. Dr. Physick also had known it to cure cases of chorea ; and Merat and de L., in the 1st vol. of op. cit. p. 67 (See Actcect), say that it partakes of the properties of A. hrachipetala. According to Chapman, it produces tree nausea, with abundant expectoration, succeeded by nervous trembling, vertigo, and a remarkable slowness of the pulse. Dr. Garden administered the tincture for phthisis. Lon- don Med. Journal, li, 245. Dr. N. S. Davis uniformly found it to lessen tke force and frequency of the pulse, to soothe pain and allay irritability. Trans. Am. Med. Assoc. 1, 352. Hildreth had also observed its influence on the circulation. Barton employed it as an astringent, which property it owes to the gallic acid it contains. He also gave it in putrid sore throat. In New Jer- sey, a decoction of the root is said to cure itch ; and in North Carolina, it is given as a drench for cattle, in the disease called murrain. Shec Flora Carol. 91 ; Carson's Illust. Med. Bot. i, p. 9, 1847. See anal, in Am. Journal Pharm. vi, 20, 1843 and xxxiii, 396. According to Mr. Tilghman, it contains gum ; starch ; sugar ; resin ; wax ; tannin ; gallic acid ; salts of potassa ; lime ; magnesia j iron, etc. The ethereal extract contains most of its virtues. The Eclectics prepare from this plant a resin which they call cimicifugin, from a saturated tincture of the root precipitated by water — used in anomalous nervous disorders and puerperal hypochondriasis. Dose, a grain. See, also, Jones, in the Journal de Pharm. x, 670 ; and Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. vi, 14 ; Grriffith, Med. Bot. 92. He remarks that its greatest ef- ficacy has been exhibited in rheumatism, in the form of a tinc- ture ; the power of the root appearing to depend on the volatile oil and bitter resin, both of which are soluble in alcohol, and partially so in water. Dr. Tully, Mat. Med. p. 1358, uses it as an ecbolic to excite the uterine organs. He says : "It never narcotizes the child." Dr. D. A. Morse, of Ohio, in Med. Eep. recommends it as a nervous sedative of great value, and to pro- cure sleep after physical exertion. He often combines it with quinine. Bates in Journ. of Mat. Med,. 18G7, 20 BANEBEERY; WHITE COHOSIL; (Actcea alba, Big.; Actcea pachypoda, Ell.) Eocky Woods, Mts. of South Carolina ; North Carolina. Mr. F. Stearns in his accounts of the Medicinal plants of Mich- igan, speaks of the rhizoma of this plant as being- violently pur- gative. (Proc. of Am. Pharm. Assoc, 1858, j). 240). U. S. Disp. 12th ed. YELLOW EOOT, {Zanthorrihza apiifolia. L'Her.) Upper, and mountainous districts. North Carolina; Fl. April. U. S. Disp. 745 ; Bart. Med. Bot. ii, 203 ; New York Med. Ee- pos. 291; Lind. Nat. Syst. 6; Griffith, Med. Bot. 95 ; Elliott's Bot., Med. note i, 376 ; Stokes, Med. Bot. ii, 194. The bark possesses pure bitter tonic properties, closely analo- gous to those of Colombo and quassia. Dr. P. C. Barton thinks it a more powerful bitter than the former of these. It was given by Dr. Woodhouse in doses of forty grains in dyspepsia ; a de- coction is also employed. The shrub contains a gum and resin, both of which are intensely bitter. Alchohol is the best men- struum. Its tinctorial powers were known to the Indians. It yields plentifully a coloring matter, a drab being imparted by it to wool, and rich yellow to silk; without a mordant it does not affect cotton or linen ; with Prussian blue it strikes a dull olive green color. It yields the alkaloid berberina. TWIN LEAF, (Jeffersonia diphylla. Pers.) Eich shady woods, Tennessee. The decoction of this plant is used by the vegetable practi- tioners and Indian doctors as a diui-etic in dropsy, and as an ex- ternal application to sores, ulcers, etc. To the above meagre outlines published in the first edition of this work, the 12th ed. U. S. Disj). contains the following addi- tional particulars. The plant has been analyzed by Mr. E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati, and found to contain albumen, sugar, lignin, pectin, a fatty and a hard resin, and a peculiar acrid princi- ple resembling polygalic acid, in which it is supposed that the vir- tues of the root reside. The root is said to be emetic in large doses, tonic and expectorant in smaller, and not unlike seneka, as a substitute for which it is sometimes used. (Am. J. Pharm. XXYII). According to Prof Mayer, of New York, the rhizome of the plant contains a small quantity of berberina and another 21 alkaloid which is white, and in large proportion, as may be in- ferred, adds Dr. Wood, from the reactions noticed by Mr. Bentley, of London; the pectin of Mr. Wayne he considers to be saponin. Am. J. Pharm. March, 1863. WILD JALAP; MAY-APPLE; MANDEAKE; WILD LEMON; DUCK WEED, {Podophyllum ijeltatuvi. L.) Diffused in rich woods ; graws in Abbeville and Sumter districts ; collected in St. John's Berkley ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. ; Newbern. I saw it at Porsmouth, Virginia. It should be distinguished from the "may-apple," or may-pop of our corn fields. (See Passi- flora). Fl. March. Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 749 ; Bell's Pract. Diet. ; Drayton's View S, C. 73 ; Royle Mat. Med. 573 ; Frost's Elems. 137 ; Eb. Mat. Med. i, 205 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. i, 514 ; U. S. Disp. 556 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 34 ; Bart. Med. Bot. i, 9 ; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iii, 873 ; Med. Eecord, iii, 332 ; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 193; Zchoepf, M. M. 86; Mer. and de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. v. 207 ; Chap. Mat. Med. and Therap. 209 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 478 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. Bigelow says it is a sure and active cathartic. " We hardly know any native plant that answers better the common purpose of jalap, aloes, and rhubarb." The Shakers prepare an extract, which is much esteemed as a mild cathartic. By the experi- ments of Dr. Burgon, in the Am. Med. Eecorder, it is useful in combination with calomel; ten grains of the latter with twenty of the podophyllum. In bilious affections it usually supersedes the necessity of an emetic previous to a cathartic ; and by this means two desirable effects are produced by one agent. Big. Appendix, iii, 187 ; GriflSth, Med. Bot. 116. It has been recom- mended in drojjsy, from the abundant evacuations which it pro- duces. According to Staples, it contains resin and starch ; and Dr. Hodgson has given the name podophylline to the peculiar substance it contains. See Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm.; Carson's lUust. of Med. Botany, pt. i. An officinal extract is prepared, given in doses of 5 to 15 grains. The leaves are purgative, and sometimes produce nausea in irritable stomachs ; the fruit is eat- able. It was employed by the Cherokees as an anthelmintic ; a few drops poured into the ear are said to restore the power of hearing. The plant has also been found to afford speedy relief 22 in incontinence of urine. Dr. McBride made great use of it dur- ing his practice in St. Jolin's Berkley, S. C; he said that it an- swers all the purposes of officinal jalap, " producing copious liquid discharges with no griping." The powered root is applied as a dressing for ulcers ; it is said to restrain excessive granula- tions, sprinkled over the surface. In a communication to me from Dr. Douglass, of Chester District, S. C, his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, considers the root too drastic as a purge ; he adds that the powdered root, mixed with equal parts of resin, acts as a powerful caustic, and is used by farriers for escharotic pur- poses. I have employed this plant among negroes as a substi- tute for jalap and the ordinary carthartics, and find that it an- swers every purpose, being easily prepared by the person having charge of them. Thirty grains of the root in substance were given, or an infusion of one ounce in a pint of water, of which a wineglassful three times a day is the dose; employing the Pop- lar bark, Liriodendron tidipifera, as a substitute for quinine dur- ing the stage of intermission of all mild cases of intermittent fever. I would invite the particular attention of planters to the extensive use of these medicines upon their plantations. I have caused them to be used on one on which upward of a hundred negroes resided, and I found that dui"ing a jjeriod of seven months, including the warm months of summer, they were used in all cases, and apparently fulfilled every indication. No detailed statement of these could be obtained, as it was administered by one of their own number; but large quantities of them were required. The plant, from the examinations of Mayer, Hodgson, Marsch, and Lewis, is shown to yield berberina and saponin. The resin podophyllm, is purgative in doses of two or three grains, and is largely emploj'ed by some practitioners. See also U. S. Disp.; Journ. Phil. Col. Pharm. 1863, July and iii. 273, Am. J. Ph. XIX. 165, and March, 1863. Dr. Josej)h Parrish (Practical Pharmacy, 2nd edition, page 190), cites Podophyllin as the most popular and widely, known of the whole class of " eclectic concentrated medicines," and he furnishes the processes for its preparation by F. D. Mill & Co., of Cincinnati (see also. Am. J. Pharm. XXIII. 329); according to Dr. Parrish's experiment the roots yield 3| per cent, of Podophyllin. In small doses ^ to 1 grain, it is said to operate as an alternative and chologogue. It is claimed for this remedy 23 that it is a regulator of almost all the secretions, tending to re- store them to normal activity and that it is a complete substitute for mercury even to the extent in some cases of producing ptyalism. Its efficacy is greatly increased by trituration with four to ten times its weight of sugar of milk. Caulophyllin combined with it is said to materially lessen its painful and disa- greeable effects. A compound of Podophjdlin with ten parts of Leptandrin and ten parts of sugar, is much esteemed as an alter- ative in dyspepsia, hepatitis, etc.; see King's Eclectic Disp., Par- rish. Op. cit. The Extract and resin are often used with mercury and other cathartics. Dr. Wood says that in minute doses fre- quently repeated Podophyllum has been thought to diminish the frequency of the pulse and relieve cough, and for these effects has been given in hajmopysis, catarrhs and other pulmonary affections. Op. cit. The soft pulp contained within the rind of the fruit has a very peculiar musky taste, which is relished by many persons. The pulp is squeezed into a wineglass, and wath the addition of a little old Maderia and sugar, it is said to be equal to the golden granadilla of the tropics. Am. Farmer, vol. 14 ; Farmer's Encyc. I have observed in the lower districts of South Caroliua, that the fruit generally drops before it becomes fully matured. I have never been able to find. any ripe seeds. PAPAVEEACE.E. {The Poppy Tribe?) Narcotic properties generally prevail thi'oughout this order. Seeds are universally oily — seldom narcotic. Europe is the principal seat of the papaveracese ; but several species included under it are found in North America, beyond the tropic. Most of them are annuals, the perennials being chiefly natives of mountainous tracts. OPIUM POPPY, (Papaver Somniferuni). Thaer, in his Prin- ciples of Agriculture, in speaking of the cultivation of the poppy as an oil-bearing plant, says : " The color of the flower is unim- portant. The seed is either white or black. Some persons think that the black-seeded variety is more productive, others give the preference to the white in this respect. The white seed is the more agreeable to the taste, as likewise the oil expressed from it. That variety of poppy is preferred whose heads or capsules when ripe assume a slightly bluish tinge. The structure of the cap- sules is of more consequence ; for there is a variety in which the 24 envelope of the capsule dehisces spontaneously when ripe, so that the seed is easily shed; and another, in which the seed re- mains enclosed within the capsules, which must be opened in order to extract it." " The poppy may become one of the most profitable crops, if we have the means of disposing of the seed, or if we knew how to extract the oil. By proper cultivation it may be made to produce from nine to ten bushels of seed per acre, and one bushel yields twenty-four pounds of good oil. This oil, especially the first portion, which is cold-pressed, and mixed in the mill with slices of apple, is doubtless the purest kind of oil for the table, and the most agreeable that is known. It is inferior to none, excepting the finest Nice or Lucca oil. It is preferable to the second-rate oil of those places, and the peculiar taste of olive oil may be imparted to it by the addition of a small quantity of that oil of superfine quality." Principles of Agriculture, 457. ■» The oil of the poppy is bland, and not narcotic. " It is used both for food and light, and is considered a fifth more valuable than that of the colza. The cakes remaining after the expres- sion of the oil are valuable for the fattening of swine ; and the stalks for fuel. The ashes which remain after burning it are of the best kind of manure. If the seed be pressed in a mill used for the colza, or other oil, the greatest attention must be paid to cleaning it. The oil expressed in cold weather is much supe rior in quality to that obtained in warm weather, and the two must not be mixed." " Henry Colman's European Agriculture," vol. ii, 538, Boston, 1849. See his " Eeport on Flemish Agricul- ture, for method of growing the Poj)j)y, Colza, Flax, Hemp, Hop, Mulberry, Beet, Olive, Grape," etc.; also " Thaer's Treatise on Agriculture." See Bene (^Sesamiim) for oils and their expres- sion. In Thornton's Family Herbal a very full and interesting account can be read of the cultivation of poppy in England, with the successful production of opium in considerable quan- tity. Forty pounds were made in one season by one person. Boys and girls were employed in incising the bulbs and gather- ing the gum. A variety of the "common" or "opium poppy" (P. somni- ferum), indigenous to the warm" and temjjerate parts of Europe and Asia, has been introduced, and a brief notice is contained 25 in Patent Office Report, 1855, p. xxi: "It has proved itself sus- ceptible of easy cultivation on very rich soils. It is well adapted to the climate of the Middle and Southern States. The flowers of the 'white poppy' (Papaver s. alba), the variety with which the experiment was made, may be either entirely white or red, or may be fringed with purple, rose or lilac, variegated and edged with the same colors, but never occur blue or yellow, nor mixed with these colors, each petal being generally marked at the bottom with a black or piirple spot. The seeds are black in the plants having purple flowers, and light-colored in those which are white ; although the seeds of the latter, when of spontaneous growth, are sometimes black. The largest heads which are employed for medical or domestic use, are obtained from th» single flowered kind, not only for the purpose of ex- tracting opium, but also on account of the bland, esculent oil that is expressed from the seeds, Avhich are simply emulsive, and contain none of the narcotic principle. For the latter pur- pose, if no other, its culture in this country is worthy of atten- tion. Certainly it is an object worthy of public encouragement, as the annual amount of opium imported into the United States is valued at upward of $407,000." If this was true some years since, how much more essential to us is its production now (1862), when gum opium and morphine are so very difficult to obtain. Mills, in his Statistics of South Carolina, states that opium was extracted from the poppy in South Carolina, and that seven grains were obtained from each plant. Occupied in researches upon these subjects during the month of June (1862), under the order of the Surgeon-General, I was enabled to col- lect, in a few days, more than an ounce of gum opium, appa- rently of very excellent quality, having all the smell and taste of opium (which I have administered to the sick), from speci- mens of the red poppy found growing in a garden near State- burgh, S. C. I have little doubt that all we require could be gathered by ladies and children within the Southern States, if only the slightest attention was paid to cultivating the plants in our gardens. It thrives well, and bears abundantly. It is not generally known that the gum which hardens after incising the capsules is then ready for use, and may be prescribed as gum opium, or laudanum and paregoric may be made fi'om it with alcohol or whiskey. 26 The popp3^, it is said, produces better when planted in the fall. "With my present experience (June, 1863), I would say that this was essential in the climate of South Carolina and Georgia. It should be planted early in Sej)tember ; the plants are not killed during the winter, they thrive in the early spring, and the cap- sules are ready for incision in May. I find that the vitality of the seeds are not destroyed by the manipulations to which the cap- sules are subjected. Several attempts by the writer to obtain the poppy by planting several acres successively in April and May failed, the seeds not getting up. From a " garden square " planted in October, 1862, I obtained in May, 1863, from two gatherings, 5 drachms and 30 grains of gum opium, weighed after the mass had dried one month, of excellent quality judging by the smell and color. The experiment was hardl}^ a fair one, as the second recolte was delayed too long. Twice the amount might have been collected. The land should be rich and finely worked j the seeds were not sown lightly. Mr. Farmer, of Walterboro', S. C, reports through Surgeon Linning (June, 1863), that he also has succeeded in procuring enough for the use of his plantation. The writer has little doubt from the present beginnings that opium will become one of the ordinary stajDles of the country, as the plant thrives well as a volunteer. It should be remembered that poulty eat the young plants with avidity. I quote the following from paper cited above : The successful cultivation of the plant, however, requires the provision of good soil, ap2)ropriate manure, and careful manage- ment. The strength of the juice, according to Dr. Butler, of British India, depends much upon the quantity or moisture of the climate. A deficiency even of dew prevents the proper flow of the j)eculiar, narcotic, milky juice which abounds in every part of the plant, while an excess besides washing off this milk, causes additional mischief by separating the soluble from the insoluble parts of this drug. This not only deteriorates its quality, but increases the quantity of moisture, which must afterward be got rid of The history of the poppy, as well as that of opium — its inspissated juice — are but imperfectly known. The oldest notices of this plant are found in the works of the early Greek physicians, in which mention is also made of the juice ; but opium does not appear to have been so generally 27 employea as in modern times, as the notices respecting it would would have been numerous and clear. In the manufacture of opium in Persia or India, the juice is partially extracted, together with a considerable quantity of mucilage, by decoction. The liquor is strongly pressed out, suffered to settle, clarified with the white of eggs, and evaporated to a due consistence — yield- ing a fifth of the weight of the heads of extract, which possesses the virtues of opium in a very inferior degree, and is often em- ployed to adulterate the genuine opium. The heads of the poppies are gathered as they ripen ; and, as this happens at dif- ferent periods, there are usually three or four gatherings in a year. The milky juice of the poppy in its more perfect state, which is the case only in Avarm climates, is extracted by incis- ions matle in the capsules, and simj)ly evaporated into the con- sistence in which it is known to commerce, under the name of opium. In Turkey, the plants during their growth are carefully wa- tered, and manured if necessary ; the watering being more profuse as the period of flowering approaches, and until the heads are half grown, when the operation is discontinued, and tlie collection of the opium commences. At sunset longitudinal incisions are made upon each half-ripe capsule, not sufficiently deep to penetrate the internal cavity. The night dews favor the exudation of the juice, which is collected in the morning by scraping it from the wounds with a small iron scoop, and dejios- iting the whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked in the sun- shine with a wooden spatula, until it acquires a considerable degree of thickness. It is then formed into cakes by the hands, and placed in earthen pans to be further exsiccated, when it is covered with the leaves of the poppy, or some other plant. In obtaining gum opium, the capsules are cut longitudinally only through the skin, though some advise that it should be done from below upward. I find longitudinal incisions the most economical. This is generally done late in the afternoon, the hardened gum being scraped off early next morning. Boys or girls can easily attend to this. If the capsules are cut only on one side, the same operations may be repeated on the other side, and a fresh supply of opium obtained. A knife with three or four edges, cutting about the twelfth or fourteenth part of an inch, is sometimes used. If the incision is too deep the juice passes within the poppy head. 28 Prof. Alston, of Edinburgh, long ago, says Thornton, ascer- tained that ojDium of good quality could be obtained in Great Britain, " having all the color, consistence, taste, smell, faculties, phenomena," etc., of opium. It has been calculated by Mr. Ball that more than fifty pounds of opium may be collected from one statute acre. Mr. Jones, in 1794, in the County of Middlesex, England, presented twenty-five pounds of opium to the Society of Arts, made by himself, which was ascertained by chemical examination, to be equal to the imported drug. The reader interested in the culture of the poppy, can find in Thorn- ton's New Family Herbal, p. 516, a pretty full statement of the method of culture, the collection of the gum, etc., employed by Mr. Jones. In Love's report to the Society, he says : " Having a tap root, their size will, consequently, be proportioned to the depth of earth they are enabled to penetrate. Hence the ne- cessity of land that will admit of deep jjloughing. The fineness of the surface, too, is very essential. As the seed is small, and the plants on their first coming up so exceedingly tender, the bush harrow should alwa3\s be used after those which are com- monly employed." They should be so cultivated that the gatherer may not disturb the plants in collecting the juice. Mr. Jones is also in favor of autumnal sowing, planting in the month of September, by which means the plants attain suflicient size to endure the cold of winter; these were also found to produce more opium than those planted in March. The scarifications are described, Thornton's Herbal, 517, but any one can devise a knife for the purjiose. In the Proe. of Am. Ph. Assoc, 1866, a specimen of Virginia opium exhibited contained 4 per cent, of morphia and 3.5 per cent, (approximatelj^) of narcotina. Mr. John Commins, of Charleston, has endeavored (1867) to extract the gum more economically from the whole plant, leaves, stalks and capsules, but it has been found impracticable. Papa- ver dubium^ Corn poppy, introduced, grows in lower North Caro- lina, Curtis' Cat. DEVIL'S FIC; PEICKLY POPPY; MEXICAN POPPY; THOPtN APPLE; YELLOW THISTLE, {Arge?none Mexicana, Linn. J). C. Prodrom.) Charleston District, grows around buildings in rich spots ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern, N. C. Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet. Univ. de M. Med. i, 395 ; Journal de Pharmacie xiv, 73 ; Bull. des. Sci. Med. de Mer. viii, 210 ; De 29 Cand. Essai, 116. The oil is said by some to be as active as that of the Croton tigliuni ; see the Supp. to Mer. and do L., 1846-57, In Brazil, the leaves are employed as a cataplasm for driving off ulcers. The infusion is used in Mexico for its marked sudorific powers ; the juice is found serviceable in chronic mala- dies of the skin. In Java, they employ it in inveterate cuta- neous diseases, and as a caustic in chancres. Lind., in his Nat. Syst. Bot. 8, says that the seeds are narcotic, and are smoked with tobacco ; Gardener's Mag. vi, 315. It is administered in the West Indies as a substitute for ipecacuanha, and the juice of the plant is considered by the native doctors of India as a valuable remedy in ophthalmia, either dropped in the eye or nibbed on the tarsus ; it is also considered purgative and deob- struent. • Ainslie, M. Med. Ind, 243 ; Prince Maximil. Travels, 214; Aublet, Hist. Guiane. Merat, in the Supplem., 1846, says that, in Brazil, in the Isle of France, and in India, the oil is regarded as a purgative, not unlike castor oil, but more active — not, however, being attended with griping ; thirty drops were found equivalent to the ounce of castor oil. They applied it in tinea capitis, and as an external application in headache occa- sioned by exposure to the rays of the sun. See Dr. Schort's examination of it. Dr. Muddie asserts that it induces anodyne effects ; so much so, as to relieve, in an instant, the pains of colic. Med. Bot. Soc. London, 1830 ; Griffith's Med. Bot., 129. The plant abounds in a viscid, milky, acid juice, Avhich, exposed to the air, becomes yellow, resembling gamboge. The flowers are said by DeCandolle, Essai, to be employed in Mexico as a hypnotic. A thorough examination of this plant might well repay the labor bestowed upon it. It is, apparently, native, says Chapman, in South Florida. " Its seeds are said to yield a narcotic substance as powerful as opium. A milky, glutinous juice flows from the whole plant ; turns by exposure to the air into a fine bright yellow; and when reduced to the consistence of a firm gum, is not distioguishable from gamboge, and has, we believe, been brought into the market under the name of that drug. It has similar properties to gamboge, both as a medicine and as a pigment ; and it has been administered in very small doses in cases of dropsy, jaundice, cutaneous eruption, and some other diseases." Wilson, Rural Cyc. I collected a large number of the seeds of this plant near 30 Charleston, and experimented with the oil and tincture, but with no definite results. A long paper on the medical proper- ties of the Mexican Poppy can be found in the Charleston Medi- cal Journal, among the extracts. I cannot, at present, cite the volume, but it was during the editorial management of Dr. Cain and myself. The tincture was particularly recommended for the relief of colic and pain. In the 12th Ed. TJ. S. Disp. M. Lepine is quoted as stating that the oil of the seeds has a cathartic property, and may be used in the arts (Journ. de Pharm. Julliet, 1861), and that according to Dr. W. Hamilton, that the seeds unite an anodyne and soporific with the cathartic property. In the hands of Dr. Afliecle, of Jamaica, they have proved useful given in emulsion in flatu- lent colic, in the dose of about 8 grains, repeated every half hour, till three doses were taken. The pain was relieved and the bowels opened. (Pharm. Journ. xii. 642.) PUCCOOK ; BLOODEOOT, (Scmguinaria Canadensis, Linn. Ell. Sk.) Diff'used; vicinity of Charleston ; Abbeville, Richland, and Fairfield Districts ; collected in St. John's, N. C, Fl. March. Drayton's View of S. C. 72 ; Bell's Pract. Diet. 404 ; Eberle, Mat. Med. 95 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 8 ; U. S. Disp. 627 ; Eoyle, Mat. Med. 273; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 722; London Med. Chirurg. Trans, vol. i, Bart. M. Bot. i, 30; Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York, ii, 250 ; New York Med. and Phys. Journal, i. No. 2 ; Am. Journal Med. Sci. N. S. ii, 506 ; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iii, 95 ; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 208 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 75; Schoepf, Mat. Med. 85 ; Barton's Collec. 28; Trans. Lond. Med. Soc. i, 179 ; Thacher's Disp. 331; Cutler, Mem. Am. Acad, i, 455; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 208; Bull, des Sci. Med. Fer. vi, 71 ; Edinb. Med. Journal, vii, 217 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 153 ; Carson's lUust. Med. Bot. i, 18, 1847. The root is narcotic, emetic and purgative in large doses ; stimulant, expectorant, and diaphoretic, tonic in small. Dr. Dana found a found a peculiar principle in it, called sanguinarina (Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York). According to the experiments of Dr. Donney, of Maryland, in his inaugural Thesis, twenty-grain doses of the root induced nausea and vomiting, attended with heat of stomach, acceleration of pulse, and sometimes slight headache ; the leaves are said to be endued with similar powers. " The seeds exert a marked influence on the nervous system, 31 occasioning torpor, languor, disordered vision, and dilatation of pupil." Dr. Bard, of New York, confirms this in his Inaugural Diss. It is an acrid narcotic, producing vomiting, and given in all diseases of the mucous membranes; employed in catarrh, typhoid pneumonia, croup, hooping-cough, and in ari-esting the progress of phthisis, and also in inflammatoiy rheumatism and jaundice. It was known to Schoepf ; and Merat states that it was serviceable in gonorrhoea. Dr. Israel Allen, of New York, says it acts with all the good effects of digitalis, in affections of the lungs — the infusion being preferred in these, as the tincture does not afford the active principle sufficiently strong; he adds, also, that it powerfully promotes diaphoresis in inflammatory rheumatism. Bigelow mentions it as an acrid narcotic, in small doses lessening the frequency of the pulse, somewhat analogous in its operation to that of digitalis — this, however, being its secondary effect. In still smaller doses, it is a stimulating tonic. The powdered root, snuffed up the nose, is powerfully sternuta- tory; it is applied as an escharotic to fungous flesh ; and several polypi, of the soft kind, were cured by it in the hands of Dr. Smith, of Hanover. Mill says in his Statistics of S. C, publish- ed in 1826 : " It is a deobstruent, and excellent in jaundice, old coughs, and bilious habits ; the root powdered and mixed with a small quantity of calomel, and used as a snuff, has cured the polypus in the nose." Dr. Shanks, of Tennessee, also destroyed a gelatinous polypus with sanguinaria, after extraction had twice failed. Am. Journal Med. Sci. Oct., 1842. The decoction has also been used as a wash to ill-conditioned ulcers. Dr. McBride employed this plant to some extent, in his practice in St. John's Berkley, S. C, in jaundice, in doses of two to six grains of the root. He did not trust to it exclusively, but found it most effectual in those cases characterized by torpor of the liver, attended with colic and yellowness of the skin. See his letter to Dr. Bigelow. He gave, too, with success, in hydrotho- rax, the tincture in doses of sixty drops, three times a day, increased until nausea followed its employment. Eberle, in his work on Diseases of Children, p. 97, says that the powdered root is an excellent escharotic in ulceration of the umbilicus. Griffith's Med. Bot. 127. It is observed by some that the seeds are more narcotic than the root, inducing sj-mptoms resembling those produced by stramonium. The dose of the powder as an 32 emetic, x-xx grs. ; as a stimulating expectorant, iii-v grs. ; or an infusion of one-half ounce of the root to one pint of water — dose, a tablespoonful ; of the tincture, it is one-half a drachm ; a larger quantity acts as an emetic. The tincture is made by adding two ounces of the bruised i-oot to one pint of alcohol. Macerate fourteen days. It is expectorant and alterative. Dr. Donney says the leaves are administered in veterinary practice in Maryland, to produce sweating, and to facilitate the shedding of hair in the Spring. Dr. Griffith is- convinced of its efficacy in this resj)ect, and he has also given the fresh root mixed with the food, at intervals, to destroy hots in horses — one or two roots proving sufficient. In a toramunication from Dr. Isaac Branch, of Abbeville District, S. C., he informs me that he has for many years employed the decoction of the root in croup ; he prefers it to any other single remedy ; and, by persisting in it till emesis is produced, he is of the opinion that it prevents the formation of the diphtheritic membrane. Fi-om his own experience, he considers it a specific in the early stages of the disease, preferring, for infants, the infusion to the tincture, as the difficulty of exciting vomiting frequently renders it necessary to give more of the alcohol than would be prudent. He finds it convenient, when called to a case of croup, to add to thirty grains of the powdered, or bruised root, a teacupful of boiling water, allowing it to steep for ten or fifteen minutes over the fire, when it may be given in teaspoonful doses, frequently re- peated, until vomiting is induced ; if the patient is relieved, continue it in doses short of the emetic point, every houror two, increasing it in frequency and amount should the symptoms require it. Dr. B. is of the opinion that it owes its value to three qualities combined: an acrid, an emetic and a deobstruent property — the latter acting on the glandular system. It possesses, also, the peculiar advantage of not producing bad effects by accumulation ; a teacupful not debilitating any more than a smaller quantity, and neither inducing prostration, which, in the disease in question, is an important consideration. If the patient's skin is hot and dry, the addition of a few grains of ipecacuanha is advised. The experience of Dr. Branch cor- roborates that of others respecting the value of the tincture, in doses of ten to fifteen drops, given three or four times a day, as an expectorant in chronic cough. In emetic doses, it proves a 38. useful promoter of expectoration in pneumonia. The decoction of the root, taken in small doses, may be u^ed wherev^er a nauseant and expectorant is required, and will aid in prevent- ing the advance of colds, croup, pneumonia, etc. The juice of the root was used by the Indians as a red pigment, and it has been applied to the arts. Dr. Douney says that the sulph. of alumina will partially fix the color in woolen stuffs, and the murio. sulph. of lead in cotton and linen. The stain, applied to the unbroken skin, is not indelible. Lawson, in his account of Carolina, says, that the Puccoon is Batschia canescens {Jjithos- permum canescens), growing in upper districts. See Pursh's Flora and Groom's Catalogue. The above was contained in my report on Med. Botany of S. C, published in 1849. Since that period, I have used the Tincture of Sanguinaria largely during five years attendance upon the Marine Hospital, and in private practice. I employ no vegetable substance so constantly, as an addition to cough mixtures, and as an alterative and tonic, when I think the functions of the liver not sufficiently active. We must avoid adding too much of the tincture to any mixture, lest it convert it into a nauseant or emetic. I can only say that it has proved a highly satisfactory agent in my hands as a tonic, alterative, and expectorant. (See Boneset, (Eupatorium perfol. latum'), for combinations of that and Sanguinaria in pneumonias and Formulae at the end of this vohtme.) Dr. J. B. Ancrum, of Charleston, informed me in 1867, that he had repeatedl}^ found benefit from the local application of the powdered root to scrofulous ulcers, administering it also internally in doses of a few grains several times a day. From a suggestion made to him by a soldier dui'ing the late war he used it internally with much satisfaction in scurvy, and the powdered root was used in making a gargle, and was also given internally. I have repeatedly employed the tincture with advantage in Jaundice, giving an occasional mercurial at night; thus avoiding the prostration which is so marked a feature of this disease as is often the case when managed exclusively by mercury. In the 12th ed. of the U. S. Disp. 1866, Dr. Mothershead paper (from Wood's Quarterl}^ Eetrosp. 280) is quoted, where he 34 speaks in the strongest terms of its efficacy as an excitant to the liver given in alterative doses. Prof. Wood says in reference to Sanguinaria : The late Dr. Wm. Tully found it in large doses to produce vertigo, dilatation of the pupil, a haggard expression of the face, nausea, dimin- ished frequency and irregularity of the pulse. Prof. E. P. Thomas, of Philadelphia, who experimented with it on himself and others, in medicinal doses, using both the alkaloid and its salts, gave the following statement of its powers : In doses varying "from one-twelfth to one-eighth of a grain it acted as an expectorant without disturbing the stomach. One-sixth or one-fourth of a grain given every two or three hours generally produced nausea and sometimes vomiting. Half a grain in solution, given at intervals of ten minutes, almost invariably vomited after the second or third dose. Under the influence of one-eighth or one-sixth of a grain given every three or four hours, for two days or more, the pulse was generally reduced from five to fifteen beats in the minute. He found no alterative effect, and none of any kind directly upon the liver (Proc. of A. M. Med. Assoc, 1863) U. S. Disp. A fluid extract is prepared, of which the dose as an emetic is from ten to twenty minims. FUMITOEY, (Fimaria officinalis, Linn. Hook. FI. Bo.) Natu- ral, says Elliott, on John's Island, and at Mr. MiddleLon's on Ashley Eiver. Not in Curtis' Cat. This plant received great attention in former times, and was almost universally employed. Pliny speaks of it, lib. 25, c. 13. According to Hoffman and Boerhaave, the juice taken in large doses is diuretic and laxative. Great confidence was placed in its virtues by Cullen. Mat. Med. ii, 77. In the Dem. Elem. de Bot., it is refei'red to as a diuretic and detersive aperient, employed as a purifier of the blood in scrofulous and cutaneous diseases. It was administered in amenorrhoea, loss of appetite, and hj'pochondriacal affections ; Fl. Scotica, 379. Boerhaave frequently prescribed it in jaundice and bilious colics. Thorn- ton, in his Fam. Herb. 628, asserts that he had experienced its value in cutaneous diseases. Its acrimonious property is vola- tile ; hence, it should be given in whey. Mer. and de L. Diet. 35 do M. Med. iii, 310 ; Fl. Med. iv, 153. "A marked bitter, which increases on being dried." A popular depurative remedy, which augments the action of the organs, and therefore useful in the diseases specified. Merat says, it was very generally allowed to be a specific in elephantiasis, acting without any evacuation or appreciable effect. Barbier, M. Med. 381 ; U. S. Disp. 1254. An extract of the expressed juice, or a decoction, throws out upon its surface a copious saline efflorescence. "The plant indeed abounds in saline substances." Griflath, Med. Bot. 118. It is still employed in France ; given in the form of decoction, extract, syrup, or expressed juice. In observing the enormous amount of potash said by Ure to exist io^the ashes of this plant (fourth London edition, 1853), I can now well understand some of the statements made above, which I had published several years since in my report to the American Medical Association. It is another evidence of the light thrown upon any subject by facts gathered from different sources and by independent inquirers. See article "Potash." Wormwood, artemisia, tobacco, corn and rice stalks, etc., contain potash in large proportion. The two first mentioned in enor- mous amount relatively. NELUMBIACE^. {Nelumbo Tribe.) WATEK CINQUEPIN ; POND-NUTS, (Nelumbium luteum, W.) Fla. and northward, not common ; Chap. N. C. The fruit is a nut, the size of a cinquepin, of a sweetish flavor, and edible. It grows abundantly in the Santee canal. NYMPHS ACE^. {The Water Lily Tribe.) This order is generally considered anaphrodisiac, sedative, and narcotic. Their stems are bitter and astringent ; they contain a considerable quanty of fecula, and, after repeated washings, are capable of being used for food. SWEET-SCENTED WATEE-LILT; POND-LILY, (Nym- phcca odorata, Ait. Kew. and Ph.) Diffused in lower country of South Carolina ; N. C. Eoots immersed. Newborn. Fl. April. XJ. S. Disp. 1280; Mat. Yeg. Pract. 201; Thompson's Steam Pract.; Big. Am. Med. Bot. 132 ; Cutler, Am. Trans, i, 456. "An anaphrodisiac." The root possesses a high degree of astrin- gency, containing, according to Dr. Bigelow, tannin and gallic .36 acid. It is a popular remedy in bowel complaints ; and is used as an astringent in gleet, fluor albus, etc. It also forms an excellent demulcent poultice for ulcers. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 643 ; Bull. des. Sci. Med. iii, 74. Ainslie, in bis Mat. Med. Ind. ii, 381, says that, in India, they prepare with it a refreshing liniment for the head. Thompson employed this plant in the steam practice, and Matson recommends it as a gargle in sore throats, CEPHALOTACE^. We insert this order, the properties of which are unknown, merely to introduce the non-medicinal, but very remarkable plant, the VENUS FLY-TKAP, (Dioncea muscipula, Ellis, L.) General C. C. Pinckney informed Mr. Elliott of the only locality of this interesting plant in South Carolina, viz.: on the margin of the Santee Eiver, between Lynch's Ferry and the sea, particularly at Collins' and Bowman's bridges. Newbern. Fl. May. Its leaves possess great sensibility, and are prehensile: closing up and confining insects and any foreign body which comes in contact with it. See Curtis, in Bost. Journal Nat. Hist, i, p. 123, the article " Sarracenia " infra, and authors. "Mir- aculum naturfe ! folia triloba, radicalia, ciliata, sensibilia, conduplicanda, insecta incarceranda. Ellis, Epist. ad Linnoium. Croom's Cat. MAGNOLIACEiE. {The Magnolia Tribe.) This order is characterized by the possession of a bitter tonic taste, and fragrant flowers ; the latter generally producing a decided action upon the nerves. BAY; BEAYER TREE; SWAMP-LAUREL, {Magnolia glauca, L.) Diffused in damp pine lands. Charleston ; New- bern. N. C. Fl. June. Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 67 ; Bart, i, 77 ; U. S. Disp. 442 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 733 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 248 ; Ball and Gar. 189 ; Michaux, N. Am. Sylvia, ii, 8; Kalm's Travels, i, 205; Hum- phries, Med. Comment, xviii ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 193; Marshall's Arbust. 83; Bart. Mat. Med. 46; Price, luaug. Diss. Phil. 1812 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 18 ; Am. Herbal, 200 ; 37 Griffith, Med. Bot, 97. It is a stimulant, aromatic tonic, with considerable diaphoretic powers. The leaves, steeped in brandy, or a decoction of them, are valuable in pectoral affections, recent cold, etc. The tincture, made by macerating the fresh cones and seeds, or bark of root, in brandy, which best extracts its virtues, is much used as a popular remedy in rheumatism, and in intermittent fevers ; and, according to Barton, in inflam- matory gout. Lindley refers to it as a valuable tonic, but it is said to be destitute of tannin or gallic acid. The bark of the root, according to Griffith, was employed by the Indians to fulfil a variety of indications; the warm decoction acts as a gentle laxative, and subsequently as a sudorific, whilst the cold decoction, powder of, or tincture, is tonic. These have proved very beneficial in the hands of regular practitioners in the treatment of remittents of a typhoid character. It is supposed by many residing in the lower portions of South Carolina that this tree prevents the water of bogs and galls from generating malaria. It certainly seems that the water is much clearer in which the bay tree grows.* It is stated in a Journal, 1863, that Mr. Kerr, of Wilmington, N. C, has made good writing ink by boiling in water the bark of the bay or dwarf magnolia. Pillars for staircases of the color of mahogany are made of the red bay, an excellent material for inner work of houses, furni- ture, etc., as I have seen at Col. Singleton's, Clarendon, S. C. Its grain is so fine and bears so good a polish, says Mills in his Statistics of South Carolina, that it is used for catinet purposes. It also dies a beautiful black color. *In that old work on Herbs, entitled the " English Physician," by Nicho- las Culpepper, gentleman, " Student in Physic and Astrology," I have met with a great deal concerning the employment of herbs in medicine ; but, from the absence of Botanical terms, it is impossible to ascertain, in many cases, what species are intended. In order to show the surprisingly super- stitious credence then attached to the influence of Astrology, in determining the virtues of, and the times proper for gathering plants, and also the diversity of qualities attributed to them, I will extract a portion of what Culpepper says of the " Bay Tree :" " Government and Virtues. — That it is a Tree of the Sun, and under the celestial Sign Leo, and resisteth Witch- craft very potently, as also all the evils old Saturn can do to the body of man, and they are not a few ; for it is the speech of one, and I am mistaken if it were not Mezaldus, that neither Witch nor Devil, Thunder nor Light- ning, will hurt a man in the place where a Bay Tree is. Galen said that the leaves or bark do dry and heal very much, and the berries more than the leaves ; the bark of the root is less sharp and hot, but more bitter, and hath some Astrictsion withal, whereby it is efl'ectual to break the stone, and good to open the obstructions of the liver, spleen, and other inward parts, MAGNOLIA, (Magnolia grandijlora, L.) This mafijiiificcnt troc g-rows {ibiuuhuitly along the scu-coast, and in the streets of Charleston. Found sparingly in St. John's Berkley, tbrty-fivo miles from the ocean ; grows in Georgia, also, in North Carolina. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet. dc. M. Med., iv; 193 ; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 734 ; U. S. Disp. 444. The medicinal and chemical properties of these plants are supposed to be identical. See M. glauca. Mr. Proctor, in his analysis, Am. Journal Pharm. xiv. 95, and viii, 85, found iii this species volatile oil, resin, and a crystallizablo principle analogous to the liriodendrine of Prof. Emmett, obtained from the L.tuUpifera gYO\\mg\\i the Southern States (vide L. tulip.) Merat says that in Mexico the seeds are employed with success in paralj^sis. l/oc. cit. sup. CUCUMBER TREE, {Magnolia acuminata, Linn. Mich.) Mountainous districts ; grows in Georgia, also, in North Caro- lina. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 443 ; Mx. N. Am. Sylvia, ii, 12 ; Lind. Nat. Syst 16. Lindley speaks particularly of the cones of this species being employed in the form of a spirituous tincture in rheumatic affections. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 193 ; GrifKth, Med. Bot. 98. Used as a prophylactic in autumnal fevers. which bring the Dropsy, Jaundice, etc. The Berries are very effectual against all poison of venomous creatures, and the sting of Wasps and Bees, as also against tho pcstiK-iui', and other inlVotious diseases, and tlioroforo put into sundry Treacles for tlie purpose. They, likewise, procure women's courses, and seven of tliem given to a woman in Sore Travel of child- birth do cause a speedy delivery, and expel the after-birth, and therefore are not to be ttikcn by such as have not gone their time, lest they procure abortion, or cause labour too soon. They wonderfully help all cold and rheumatic distillations from the Brain to the Eyes, Lungs, or other parts, and being made into an Electuary with Honey, do help the Consumption, Old Coughs, Shortness of Breath, and thin Bheums, as also the Megrim. They mightily expel the wind, and provoke urines, help the mother, and kill' the worms. The Leaves also work the like effects; a bath of the de- coction of the Leaves and Berries is singularly good for women to sit in that are troubled with the mother, or the diseases thereof, or the stopping of their courses, or for the diseases of the bladder, pains in the bowels by wind, and stopping of urine; a decoction, etc., settleth the palate of the mouth in its place. The Oil made of the Berries is very comfortable. All Cold, Griefs of tho Joints, Nerves, Arteries, Stomach, Belly, or AVomb, and helpeth Palsies, Convulsions, Cramps, Aches, Tremblings, and Numb- ness in any part, weariness also, and pains that come by sore travelling. * * * x- Pains in the Ears are also cured by dropping in some of the Oil, or by receiving into the Ears the fume of the decoction of the Berries through a funnel. It takes away the marks of Bruises ; it helpeth also the Itch, Scabs, and Weals in the Skin," etc. Tho wood irt BoA, fino fi;riiiiiod, and miKooptihlo of jt brilliant ])()lirth. It in Honiotinios Hawed into l)oardH, and used in the in- terior of wooden houses. The flowers of most nia<^noIias exluilo a 8tron<^ aromatic fragran(!o; the l)ark of all possesses a coinltination of l)itter and hotly aromatic properties, without astringency, and that of many acts as a powerful medicine, in a similar way to Peruvian l)ark and Winter's l)ark. Wilson's Rural C^c. UMBRELLA TllKK, \ ^mo^^f^ umbrdia, Lam. {Miujnoha tripdala, Linn, and Kll. Sk. l»are, (ii-ows on the seacoast in rich soils; Newborn, N. C. Fl. June. U. 8. Disp. 443. It has a warm, aromatic odor, and is possessed of similar properties with the above. Mx. N. Am. Sylvia, ii, 19; Jjind. Nat. Syst. 16. According to T)e Cand. and Merat, Diet, do M. Med. iv, 193, it acts so powerlully on the nerves as to induce sickness and headache. LON(; LEAVED MAGNOLIA, {ATngnolia rnacrophylla. Mx. and Ell. 8k.) Crows on the mountains of South Carolina and North Carolina. It possesses tho most magnificent foliage and flowers of any of our forest trees ; the former are a foot or two in length ; and the latter one foot in diameter. For its medicinal properties, see M. glauca. See, also, Griffith's Med. Bot. 98, and Ell. 8k, of Bot. of S. C. ANISE SKED TREE, {UUdam Floridanum and parvifiorum). Th(!se plants have tho smell of anise seed, and should bo ex- amined. Griffith says tho bark may bo used as a substitute for cascarilla. TULIP TREB; WHITE WOOD; POPLAR, {Liriodendron tulipifera, L.) Grows in swami)s; diffused. Collected in St. John's, Charleston district ; Columbia; Newborn, North Caro- lina. Kl. June. Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 308; U. 8. Disp. 432; Rush, in Trans. Phil. Coll. Phy. 1798 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 743 ; younger Michaux on Forest Trees of North America; Clayton, Phil. Trans. 8 ; Carey's Am. Museum, 12; Barton's CoUec. Form. Mat. Med. 14; Thachor's U. 8. Disp.; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 107; Barton, i, 92; Ball. Gar. Mat. Med. 190; Mer. and de L. Diet, do M. Med. iv, 130; Annal.de Chimie, Ixxx, 215; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot.; 40 Eogers' Inaug. Diss. 1802. This plant is tonic, diuretic and diaphoretic, and is generally considered one of the most valua- ble of the substitutes for Peruvian bark. It has been employ- ed as a warm sudorific in the treatment of chronic rheumatism and gout ; and Bigelow thinks it valuable as a stomachic. It was administered by Dr. Young and himself, combined with laudanum, in hysteria, and the former says that in all the mate- ria medica be does not know of a more certain, speedy, and effectual remedy for that disease. See his letter to Governor Clayton. " He has never known it to fail in a single case of worms." Am. Museum, xii ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 98. Eafinesque says the seeds are laxative, and the leaves are used as an exter- nal application for headache ; they are washed and applied to the forehead. Merat states that it is useful in phthisis, and he also refers to its vermifuge properties ; employed in relaxed states of the stomach (reldchemens) and in the advanced stages of dysentery ; this is corroborated by Thacher. Anc. Journal de Med. Ixx, 530 ; J. C. Mayer, Mem. on L. tulipifera, in the Mem de I'Acad. de Berlin, 1796 ; Euch. Mem. sur le tulipier, Tilloch's Magazine; Hildebrande, Essai sur un nouveau succedane du quinquina in Ann. de Chim. Ixvi, 201 ; Carminati sur les pro- prietes medicinales de I'ecorce de tulipier. Its analysis, etc., in the Mem. of Eoy. Inst. Lombardy, iii, 4; in the Supplcm. to Mer. Diet. 1846, 436. M. Bouchardat advises, as the most pre- ferable mode of exhibiting it in fevers, the wine made with the bark in equal parts of alcohol, to which he adds of white wine seven or eight times the amount of the alcoholit; infusion. Bull, de Therap. xix, 246 ; S. Cubicre's Hist. Tulip. Paris, 1800 ; see Tract, of Bouchardat in Ann. de Therap. 75, 1841. Dr. J. P.Emmet, in his Analysis in the Phil. J. Pharm. iii, 5, announced the discovery of a new principle in it — liriodendrine. This is solid, brittle and inodorous at 40°, fusible at 180°, and volatile at 270° It is soluble in alcohol, thought to be analo- gous to camphor, and to the principle found in the Magnolia grandifiora, and to consist of a resin and a volatile oil; hence the alcoholic tincture is preferable. The powdered bai-k in syrup is given to children who are liable to convulsions from worms, to pi'omote their expulsion, and to strengthen the tone of the digestive organs. The bark should be pulverized and bottled. I have employed a strong infusion of the bark and root of this 41 plant as an anti-intermittent, among a number of negroes, and am much pleased with its efficacy. See the wild Jalap {Po- dophyllum peltatiwi,) in conjunction with which it was usually given. In Virginia, the decoction of the bark, with that of the Cornus Florida (dogwood) and the Pmios verticillatus, is given to horses aifected with the hots. The poplar bai-k powdered is a valuable remedy as a tonic for hoi'ses. An infusion may be given to a horse, or the bark placed in his trough to be chewed. It gives tone to the digestive organs when they are "off their feed," in veterinary or jockey parlance. This tree I notice in unusual abundance along the line of railroad from Kingville to Columbia, S. C; also in Spartanburg district, S. C, on the banks of streams. Dose of bark xx-xxx grs. It is a stimulant tonic, slightly , diaphoretic. The infusion or decoction is made in the proportion of an ounce to a pint of water; dose one or two fluid ounces. Dose of the saturated tincture a fluid drachm. The wood is durable when not exposed to the weather — it is light, smooth, fine grained, and flexible; employed for various me- chanical purposes — for carving and ornamental work ; for making carriage and door panels, chairs, cabinets, etc. See also Mx. Forest Trees of America. ANONACE.^. (The Papaw Tribe.) The plants of this order generally possess a powerful aromatic taste and smell in all the parts. ") Uvaria triloba, T. and G-ray. PAPAW; CUSTAED APPLE, VAnona triloba, Jjmxx. 3 Asimina triloba, Ell. Sk. Grows in rich soils along streams. I have observed it in Fair- field and Spartanburg districts, South Carolina, and collected it in St. John's ; Mr. Elliott says it is found at Beck's ferry, Sa- vannah river, and North Carolina. Fl. May. Diet, de Mat. Med par Mer and de L. tom. i, 311. The rind of the fruit of the A. triloba of Linn, possesses a very active acid; pulp sometimes employed as a topical application in ul- cers. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 69. "Juice of unripe fruit is a pow- erful and efiicient vermifuge; the powder of the seeds answers the same purpose ; a principal constituent of the juice is fib- rin — a product supposed peculiar to animal substances and to fungi." " The tree has, moreover, the property of rendering the 42 toughest animal substances tender by causing a separation of the muscular fibre — its very vapor even does this ; newly killed meat suspended over the leaves, and even old hogs and poultry, when fed on the leaves and fruit, become ' tender in a few hours!' " Lind. loc. cit. The sap of the Papaw tree, {Carica •pa- paya), which is extracted from the fruit by incision, is white and excessively viscous. In a specimen from the Isle of France, Yauquelin found a matter having the chemical properties of ani- mal albumen, and lastly, fatty matter. Boussingault. This tree can be found in manj" parts of the South and I would in- vite examination into these very curious properties. For an excellent description of the Papaw, see Hooker in the Bot. Magazine, 808. At Pittsburgh, a spirituous liquor has been made fi-oni the fruit. Michaux notices that the celluhir integu- ment of the bark, and particularly that of the roots, exhales in summer a nauseous odor so strong as to occasion sickness if re- spired in confined air. Am. Sylva. UMBELLIFEE.E. {The Umbelliferous Tribe.) This order is nearly related to the Eanunculace{\>, and is gene- rally found in cold countries, and on the mountains of tropical regions. The plants belonging to it are often poisonous, some virulently so ; others are nutritive and wholesome ; of the for- mer, the hemlock is an example ; of the latter, the celery and parsley. PENNY WOET ; WATEE GEASS, {Hydrocotyle umbelldta, L.) Grows in bogs and wet marshes ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern, N. C Fl. May. Mer and de L. Diet. deM. Med. tom. iii, 560. Employed with great efficacy in Brazil against hypochoudriacism. According to one author, the root is so valuable in diseases of the kidney as not to be replaced by any other medicines. It is emetic, diuretic and vulnerary. I see no mention of it in the English or American works. SANICLE ; BLACK SNAKEEOOT, (Sanicula MaryJandica, L.) Diftused, grows in shady spots ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern, N. C. Fl. July. Mer. and de h. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 201. The Indians used it as we do sarsaparilla in syphilis, and also in diseases of the lunjis. 43 In the 12th Ed. U. S. Disp. 1866, the author states that the root has an aromatic taste, and has been used as a domestic remedy in intermittent fever, and that Dr. J. B. Zabriskie has found it highly effectual in chorea. He considers it most efficient in substance, and he gives the powder to children of eight or ten years old, in the dose of half a drachm three times a day. Am. J. Med. S. C. ; N. S. xii, 374. BUTTON SNAKEROOT, {Eryngium aquaticnm, L. K Yuccoefolium of Mx.) Damp pine lands ; diffused ; collected in St. John's ; Charleston ; N. C. Fl. July. Coxe, Am. Disp. 268; Ell. Bot. i, 343; Barton's Collec. i, 3; Frost's Elems. 280; U. S. Disp. 318 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 145 ; Shec. Flora Carol, art. Button snakeroot, 310, 545. The decoction is diaphoretic, expectorant, and sometimes emetic. Elliott says it is preferred by some physicians to the seneka snakeroot. Barton, in his Collections, states that it is allied to the contrayerva of the shops. This plant is possessed of un- doubted diuretic powers, and in combination with the 7m versicolor (blue flag), was much employed by Dr. McBride, of South Carolina, in dropsy. (See I, versic.) Great use is fre- quently made of them in popular practice. Shecut in his Flora Carol. 310, states that the decoction and tincture are given with benefit in pleurisies, colds, and most of the inflammator}'- diseases of the mucous passages. It is also said to act as an escharotic — keeping down fungus flesh, and preventing mortifi- cation. The root, when chewed, sensibly excites a flow of saliva. The £J. aromaticum, au aromatic species, grows in East and South Florida; Baldwin in Chapman's Flora. The E. maratimum, of England, penetrates the soil to the depth of twenty feet. FEVER WEED, {Eryngium foetidum, L.) Elliott is doubtful whether this plant comes within the limits prescribed to us; it has, however, been noticed by writers as a S. C. species, and Michaux found it in Florida. T. and Gray are of the opinion that it is not a native of the United States. Vicinity of Charleston, Bachman ; not in Curtis' Cat. Shec. Flora Carol. 54. ''An admirable febrifuge." Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 145 ; Aublet, i, 284. Rotboll says it is a sedative, alterative, and febrifuge. Sprengel, Hist. de. la Med. v, 467; Lind. Species, PL 336. Not included in Chapman's Flora. 44 ACONITE; MONKS-HOOD; WOLFSBANE; {Aconitum uncinatum, L.) Shady banks of streams among the mountains of the Southern States, and northward ; also, Aconitum reclina- tum, Gray. Mountains of N. C. Most of the Aconites, particulai'ly those with blue flowers, are highly poisonous. This species should be carefully experi- mented with, as it may be made to supply the tincture of aconite and aeonitia for medicinal and chemical purposes. The active principal is " the most virulent poison known, not ex- cepting prusic acid, as prepared by Moison, of London. 1-50 of a grain has endangered life." Wilson's Eural Encyc. Chris- tison states that this species is possessed of an intense acrimony. See also works on Materia Medica. " The 1-100 part of a grain has produced a feeling of numbness, weight, and constriction, which has lasted a whole day." The tincture of aconite is moi'e manageable, and is useful as an external anaesthetic in frontal neuralgia, local pains, etc. The writer has used it largely in this way whilst in charge of the Marine Hospital, Charleston, and with chloroform and glycerine to relieve the itching in prurigo and camp itch (1868). No remedy, save chloroform, equals it when applied locally for the relief of pain. The tincture ma}" be combined with oil and chloroform, as a liniment in rheumatism. See Puff Ball {Lycoperdon), the dust of which is said to be a good anesthetic agent. AM. HEMLOCK; SNAKE-WEED; BEAVER POISON, (Cicuta maculata, L. AYalt. Fl., Carolina). Grows in bogs and inundated laud; collected in St. John's; Charleston; Newbern, N. C. Fl. Aug. U. S. Disp. 1242 ; Barton's Collec. 1846 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med ii, 282 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 125; Schoepf, M. Med. 36; Stockbridge, N. England Journal, iii, 334; Mitchell, Ely, and Muhlenburg, Med. Eepos. xvii, 303; Stearns, Am. Herbal, li2. The leaves, flowers, and seeds are resolvent, powerfully narcotic, sedative, and anodyne. It resembles conium in its effects, and is used as a substitute for it. " It relieves pain from cancer more powerfully than opium;" employed in ill-condi- tioned ulcers, gleets, painful uterine discharges, venereal ulcers, epilepsies, and convulsions ; it promotes perspiration and urine, and, externally applied, disperses hard tumours. It is closely 45 analogous to the European species, the C. virosa; Bigelow says identical with it. The dose of the leaves in powder is one to two grains three times a day, in infusion, or one grain of the extract, increasing it as the system becomes tolerant. This plant has repeatedly occasioned the death of those mistaking it for others. An active emetic, to which an infusion of galls may be added, will generally give relief. The vegetable acids, lemon juice, and vinegar, neutralize its effects ; and strong tea and coffee are the best antidotes for the stupor which follows its employment. Dr. Stearns, in his account of the plants of Michigan (Proc. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 1858, 253) states that Dr. Norton, of Minnesdla, highly recommends it as a specific in nervous and sick headache. By a chemical analysis. Dr. J. B. Young found in the seeds a volatile oil, a principle supposed to be identical with conia, etc. (Am. J. Pharm. xxvii, 294), U. S. Disp. 12th Ed. CELERY, (Apium graveolens). Ex. cult. Milne, Ind. Bot. 420. The fresh roots, observes Dr. Lewis, when produced in their native water soil, are supposed to partake of the ill quality of those of the hemlock kind, and to be particularly hurtful to epileptic and pregnant women. So that we have here a strik- ing evidence of the excellence of the Natural System, as it may be remembered that, in describing the characteristics of this order, this plant was alluded to as forming an exception. PARSLEY, (Apium petroselinum). Ex. cult. Leaves aromatic and slightly diuretic, and used as such. A recent Journal contains the following: Two physicians of Paris have published a very important memoir, the object of which is to make known the immense resources which the healing art may draw from the seed of the Parsley. This common indigenious plant pos- sesses incontestible febrifuge properties ; the decoction of its seeds may be substituted for that of Cinchona, and the active principal which has been drawn from it, and which they desig- nate under the name of Apiol, is equivalent to Quinine in the treatment of local intermittent fevers. The U. S. Disp. 12th Ed. refers to the substances apiin and apiol furnished by the seeds and root of this plant, and also states that the juice of the fresh herb has been employed as a substitute for quinine — and the seeds also, according to M. M. Jozet and 46 Homolle, yield apiol and act on the system very much like quinine producing in tlie dose of about 15 grains cerebral excitation, and in increased doses causing a species of intoxication with giddi- ness, wasted sights and sounds, etc. In temperate latitudes it cured intermittents in the proportion of 86 per cent. It has also been employed as an emraenagogue in dose of four grains morning and evening. (Journ. de Pharm. June, 1861.) It is sometimes given in capsules of gelatin. x>rc A -oaATTT* ) Siuiii nodiflorum, Walt, and Ell. Sk. WATEE PARSNIP, | jj;^iQsciadium of Koch. " Probably introduced; abundant around Charleston." Ell. Thornton's Fam. Herbal, 297; Eay's Cat. Plantarum, 213 ; Diet, de M. Med. It is recommended in cutaneous eruptions. Withering relates the case of a young lad}', who was cured of a very obstinate attack by taking three large spoonfuls of the juice twice a day; "and I have repeatedly seen," says Thorn- ton, "two ounces administered every morning with the greatest advantage." It is not nauseous, and children take it readily, mixed with milk. When it is prepared in this way it is not disagreeable, and does not affect the head, stomach, or bowels. U. S. Disp. 1296. The juice has also been employed in scrofu- lous swellings of the lymphatic glands, and is considered diuretic. Mer. and de L. Diet. 369 ; Bull, des Sc. M. de Ferus. xviii, 420 and xx, 421. FENNEL, (^Fceniculum officinale). Introduced from Europe ; cultivated. The seeds of Fennel are well known ; emploj-ed in flatulent colic for their carminitive and stimulant properties. The oil of fennel is also used for the same purpose, and to correct the taste of medicine. See authors. COW PARSNIP; MASTERWORT, {Heracleum lanatum, Mx.) Mountains of North Carolina. This is an acrid plant, much esteemed by the Indians. Bige- low. Mat. Med. 203, is of the opinion that it is poisonous, and should be used cautiously when gathered from wet places. The root and leaves have an unpleasant and rank odour, and 47 the taste is pungent and acrid. Its qualities are certainly active. . Griffith. The root, in a dried state, is used as a diuretic expec- torant and antispasmodic. It has been greatly employed by Empyrics. Dr. Griffith quotes a paper by Dr. Orue, of Salem, Mass., read to the Massachusetts Medical Society, 1803, in which he reports three out of five cases of epilepsy cured by it. He gave it in large doses both in substance, and in infusion. Dr. Cox, Am. Disp. 326, recommends it as a stomachic and carminative, and in cases of dj'-spepsia accompanied with flatulence and car- dialgia, he used a strong decoction of it with benefit. The leaves are used externally as rubefacients as a cataplasm in ab- scesses, and the seeds are said to be expectorant. Dr. Eichardson, Faun. Bor. Am., says the Northern Indians use a portion of the hollow stem of this plant to imitate the voice of the male deer, to attract the female within gunshot. Griffith. ANGELICA; MASTBEWOET, }iZaTgel!ca'tt'mr^e. ^'"' I have collected it in rich woods in Fairfield district ; also rarely in upper St. John's, Charleston district. Fl. July. Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 469 ; Ed. and Yav. Mat. Med. 276 ; Le. M. Med. i, 85 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. 86 ; U. S. Disp. 98 ; Journal de Pharm. 3e ser. 2 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med, i, 296 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 167. The root is edible, and possesses more aroma than any of our indigenous plants. It is used in spasmodic vomiting, flatulent colics, and nervous headaches ; some say it is powerfully emmenagogue. The vittse of some species are filled with a pungent oil. A candy is sometimes prepared with the roots boiled in sugar. The great fragrance of this root has caused it to be used for many purposes by the confectioner and others ; the tender stalks also are candied. The seeds are cordial, tonic, and carminitive ; and the plant was in repute at one time as a preventive of pestilence to those who bore it about them. " The pulverized I'oot, in doses of a drachm, is said to be very useful in pestilential fevers and diseases of the liver; and a paste of its root and vinegar used to be carried and smelled at by physicians during the prevalence of epidemics, as a preventive of infection." Wilson's Rural Cyc. "Angelica" is stated in some tables to yield more potash even than wormwood or fumitory. See " Chenopodium " and ''Fuma- ria " in this volume. Chapman does not include the A. lucida 48 in his Flora — he has Archangelica hirsuta, T, and G. A. triqidnata, Ell. N. C. Drs. Wood and Griffith refer to Angelica atropur- purea as a native of the South, and Dr. Griffith includes A. lucida, also, as a highly aromatic plant. DILL, (Anethum fcenicuhim, L.) Introd. cult, in South Caro- lina. It is employed in flatulent colic as a carminative and anti- spasmodic. The oil has been given in hiccough. Milne, in his Ind. Bot. 404, says : The herb, boiled in broth, has been used with great success in preventing obesity." See authors. CAEEOT, {Daucns carota, Tourn.) Completely naturalized, says Elliott, in South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina. Collected in St, John's; Charleston. Fl. April. Woodv. Med. Bot. ; Eoyle, Mat. Med., 401. The root and seeds are stimulant, carminative, and eminently diuretic ; em- ployed with great success in strangury, anasarcous swellings of lower extremities, in suppression of urine, and in painful micturi- tion. Eberle on Diseases of Children, 110 ; Am. Herbal, 92 ; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 298. Dr. Chaj)man used a strong infusion in gravel. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 299; Flora Med. ii, 99 ; see Chemical Anal, by Bouillon Lagrange, in the Journal de Pharm. i, 529. Britanet and himself wrote a book on the plant (which may be seen in the New York Hosp. Lib.) The root contains some volatile oil, a large proportion of pectin, a pe- culiar coloring principle called carotin, and sugar. Griffith, Med. Bot. 337. The authors alluded to above contend that the plant acts as a sedative, even topically applied. In the form of a poultice, it calms pain, is antiseptic, and corrects the intolerable fetor arising from internal diseases — as of the ear, for example. Dr. Geo. Wilkes, ophthalmic Surgeon, New York, informs me that he finds it invaluable in this respect. Mem. de Museum, iv, 102 ; Suppl. to Mer. and de L. 1846; Yauquelin upon the Pectic Acid in the Eoot of the Carrot, Journal de Pharm. xv, 340. The essential oil is regarded as emmeuagogue and anti-hysteric. Ancien Journal de Med. xxiv, 68. In Germany, it is considered vermifuge. Crantz, Mat. Med. i, 23. Shecut, in his Flora Carol., alludes to its employment in gravel, and in expelling a species of tape worm. A syrup similar to treacle has been obtained from it, and by distillation, a liquor nearly equal in 49 flavor to brandy. An old Encyclopcedia, in a very favorable notice of the carrot, then not so generally known, gives this statement : " Yarious but unsuccessful attempts have been made to get sugar from carrots — they yielded only a thick syrup similar to treacle. These roots have been lately employed more advan- tageously in distillation. A distiller has obtained from ten pounds of carrots, one quart of 'first runnings' and half a pint of very strong ardent spirits." Much use is made of the seeds of this plant in popiilar prac- tice as a diuretic. For this purpose a drachm of the bruised seeds, which are excitant and carminative, may be taken at once, or an infusion of an ounce of the seeds may be given during the day. Prof. Proctor has made an ointment of the root grated and mixed with lard and wax melted, and slightly evaporated and then strained. It is used in excoriated or ulce- rated surfaces requiring a gentle stimulation. U. S. Disp., 12th Edition. WILD CAKROT, (Baucus pusillus, Mx.) Grows on the Sa- vannah River; collected in St. John's; Charleston. Bach.. X C. Eberle, Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 318; Bell's Pract. Diet. 162. The seeds contain more volatile oil than the other species. It, however, possesses nearly the same properties. Used as a diu- retic in calculous diseases, suppression of urine, etc. ARALIACE^. {The Aralia Tribe.) GINSENG, {Panax quinquefolium, L.) Rich soils in the moun- tains of South Carolina and Virginia, and westward. FI. May. Am. Herbal, 157, by Stearns. In China they drink an infu- sion of the root instead of tea, and it is well known that they have recourse to it as a last resort in all diseases ; Dr. James says, more especially in all cachectic and consumptive cases, and in those arising from debility of any kind. Dr. Healde also alludes to their great confidence in it as a restorative after great fatigue, as an anti-spasmodic in nervous affections, in coma, and as an aphrodisiac ; one hundred and twenty grains of the sliced root are boiled in a quart of water, and two ounces of the decoction, or twenty grains of the root in substance, is employed. Jartoux, in the Phil. Trans, xxviii, 239, states that, after being fatigued by travelling three days, he employed the 4 50 decoction of the leaves internally, and as an application to the feet, and was satisfied of its utility, being completely revived by it. Dr. Wood, in the U. S. Disp. 530, says, it is very little more than a demulcent ; but Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot. 25, thinks that thei-e is no reasonable doubt of the ginseng having an in- vigorating and stimulant power, when fresh. Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 82 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 356, and iv, 176; Flor. Med. iv, 185 ; Kaerapher, Amoen. Academicse, v, 218 ; His- toire du Japon, vi, 218 ; Burmann, Flo. Ind. tab. 29, i ; L'Bncy- clop. Chinoise, Ixcii; Flora Cochine, 806; Lafitteau, Deserip. du Ginseng, Paris, 1718, i, 12. Dr. Sarrazin introduced it into notice in Europe. Trans. Roy. Acad. Sci., Bartram Com. 61, 1741 ; J. P. Bregnius, Diss. Med. de Radice Ginseng, 1700 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 434. Cullen in his Mat. Med. 270, refers to its effi- cacy in increasing virility. See Merat, loc. cit. " J'avoue qu'un individu qui en avait fait usage dans cet derniere intention pendant long temps, n'en obtint absolument aucun resultat." S. Yaillant in Acad, des Sci. 1718; Bourdelin, Hist, de I'Acad. 1797 ; Lafitteau, Mem. concernant la precieuse plante do Gin- seng, Paris, 1788; Kalm. Travels, iii, 114; Osbeck's China, 145; Heberden, Med. Trans, iii, 34; Fothergill, Gent. Mag. xxiv, 209; loc. cit. sup. The Ginseng was an article of importance as an export from Virginia. The root is thought to resemble liquo- rice, and may partially supply the place of that article: see Report from Surgeon-General's office, C. S. A., 1862. THREE LEAVED GINSENG, {Panax trifolium L.) N. C. Ci'oom. This formed an article of considerable trade formerly with the Indians, and it makes an excellent cordial. Mills' Statistics of South Carolina. LIQUORICE, (^Glycyrrhiza glabra.) Exotic. I am uncertain as to the position of this genus in the Natural system ; it should probably be placed near "Robinia." Dr. Wood states, U. S. Disp., that a species G. lepidota grows about St. Louis and along the bank of the Missouri to its source. A friend informs me that it has been a long time planted near Doko, on the Charlotte Railroad, in South Carolina, where it grows luxuriantl}^ This plant is said to be well adapted to the Southern States. It has been grown in Texas. Information as to the best mode of planting and culture can be found in a paper in Patent Office 51 Eep. 1854, p. 359. I append the following practical remarks : "The sooner liquorice is sold the heavier it weighs ; and the greener it is the more virtue it contains. It is sold in three distinct forms, viz : in the roots, in powder, and in its inspissated juice. The first of these needs no explanation. The second is prepared by cutting the small roots into small pieces, drying them in an oven or kiln, and grinding them in a mill. The third kind is prepared by pounding the smaller roots and fragments with cold water for nearly two days ; after which the pulp is to be squeezed, and the juice boiled down in an iron pot to a pitchy consistence, and then rolled or stamped into sticks or cakes, which are sometimes sold under the name of ' Spanish Liquo- rice.' Liquorice roots will keep a year if laid in sand, and stoi'ed in a cool, dry cellar ; and if the sets, or runners, or buds, are cut ready for planting, tied in bundles, and sent by land car- riage, they will keep a fortnight. If packed in sand, and sent by water, they will keep some three or four months, especially the nM)re hardy buds." In the Patent Ofiice Eeports for 1854-55, the cultivation of a number of medical plants is described, par- ticularly those yielding aromatic oils. TOOTHACHE BUSH; ANGELICA TEEE ; PKICKLY ASH; PEICKLY ELDER, (Amlia spinosa, L.) Collected in St. John's; rich soils along fences; Charleston, Florida and North Carolina. Plant often confounded with the JCanthoxylon ; properties somewhat similar. See JC. fraxineiwi, which is the true Prickly Ash. Ell. Bot. 373 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 379 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 100; Shcc. Elora Carol. 191; Frost's Elems. 20; Griffith, Med. Bot. 345. It is a stimulating and very certain diaphoretic, " probably to be preferred to any emetic yet discovered among our native plants." This species is more stimulating than the A. nudicaulis. The infusion of the bark of the root is used in chronic rheumatism and cutaneous eruptions, also employed in lues venerea. Pursh states that a vinous or spirituous infusion of the berries is remarkable for their power in relieving rheumatic pains, and the tincture is also given in Virginia in violent colics. See Dr. Meara's experiments. Merat says, it has been used to allay pain caused by carious teeth. Dose, of the saturated tincture, a tablespoonful three times a day. A decoction is often preferred in rheumatism, 52 made by boiling an ounce of the bark in a quart of water ; taken in divided doses several times a d&y. In South Carolina, this plani is the rattlesnake's master ^ar excellence, according to the negroes ; they rely on it almost exclusively as a remedy for the bite of serpents. I am informed that they use the bark of the fresh root in substance, taken internally, also applying it powdered to the wounded pai't. Dr. Meara advises that the watery infusion, when employed as a diaphoretic, should be made very weak, as it is apt to excite nausea, and cause irritation of the salivary glands. SPIKEISTAED, {Aralia racemosa, L. Mx.) Grows, according to Dr. McBride, in the mountains of South Carolina, Grcorgia and North Carolina. Ell. Bot. Med., note, i, 373. The decoction of the root is much esteemed by those residing in the mountainous districts as a remedy in rheumatism ; no doubt possessed of stimulating pro- perties. Michaux cites it as a sudorific. The root, when boiled, yields a gummj^ substance. A tea, syrup, or tincture, may be made of the roots or berries. It is given in coughs, asthma and diseases of the lungs. Also given as a stimulant in menstrual obstructions ; said to be in high repute among the Indians. See the " Indian Guide to Health." Dr. Sarazzin informs us that it is very useful as a cataplasm in inveterate ulcers ; generally adapted to similar purposes with the A. 7iudicavlis. Mer. and de Li. Diet, de M. Med. i, 376 ; U. S. Disp.; Am. Journal Med. Sci. xix, 117. WILD SAESAPAEILLA ; WILD LIQUOKICE, (Aralia nudicaulis, Mx.) Mountains of South and Noi-th Carolina. Fl. June. Eaf Med. Flora, i, 53; U. S. Disp. 116. A gently stimulating diaphoretic ; thought to be alterative, and used in poj)ular prac- tice in rheumatism, syphilis, and cutaneous affections. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 375. Dr. Meara records the roots as pos- sessing the virtues of sarsaparilla. Mus. Med. Philos. iv. An excit- ant diaphoretic, and eutrophic, like mezereon.guaiac, sarsaparilla, and sassafras. The infusion has been employed with success in zona, and as a tonic in debility of stomach (les reldchemens d'estomac.) Coxe, U. S. Disp. 99 ; Lindley's Nat. Syst.; Griffith Med. Bot. 344 : Phil. Med. Mus. ii, 161. Administered in domes- 53 tic practice, in pulmonary disease, where inflammation does not coexist. DWAEF ELDEK, (Aralia hispida, Mx.) Mountains of North Carolina and northward. Dr. Peck strongly recommends the root as a diuretic in dropsy. He uses it in the form of decoction and finds it pleasanter to the taste and more acceptable to the stomach than most other medi- cines of the same class. Am. J. Med. S. C. xix, 117 ; U. S- Disp., 12th Edition. ' BEEBEEACE^. (The Berberry Tribe.) - AMEEICAN BAEBEEEY, (Berberis vulgaris, Walt. Fl. Carol. Berbens Canadensis, Ph. and Ell.) Grows wild in St. John's, Berke- ley, near Woodlawn, PI.; upper districts of Georgia, South and North Carolina, and northward. Fl. May. Shec. Flora Carol, (see B. vidgaris,) 268 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 30 ; U. S. Disp. 1233, Appendix. The B. vulgaris of Europe, with which this plant is not identical, though differing from it but slightly, if at all, in medicinal properties, has received con- siderable attention. They are used as a domestic remedy in jaundice, and in dysentery and diarrhoea ; it is supposed that the acid is specific. From analysis by Buchner and Herberger, it is shown that the root contains a new principle called berberine, which acts like rhubarb, and with equal promptness and activity. Griffith, Med. Bot. 113 ; Journal de Pharm. 1233 ; Trans. Phil. Soc. 1834 ; Analysis in Journal de Pharm. xxiv, 39 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplement, 1846, 101. From the berries a syrup is obtained which is adapted to putrid fevers, and those of a low type ; a cooling drink is also made with them, and given in similar cases. The root boiled in lye imparts a yellow color to wool. I have observed the remarkable irritability of the stamens in the species growing in South Carolina, which, when touched, instantly spring down upon the stigma, and in this way com- municate their pollen to it. It was said to have a singular eff'ect upon wheat growing near it, turning the ears black for some dis- tance around ; but this, however, is doubted. The berries are acid. The English barberry (B. vidgaris) has attracted much attention ; its fruit is edible, and much discussion has been ex- cited whether or not it produces smut in wheat or corn when planted near it. Experiments touching this peculiarity should 54 be performed with respect to our barberry. For a full state- ment of the merits of the above question, see AVilson's Eural Cyc. Art Barberry. Thaer, in his " Principles of Agriculture," p. 409, says : " One very extraordinary fact is that the barberry bush will produce smut, or something very similar to it, in all corn growing within a considerable distance of it. This is a fact which has been confirmed by numerous observa- tions and experiments in almost all countries. But it has never yet been clearly and satisfactorily ascertained in what manner the barberry produces this effect. My friend Einhoff has made several experiments on the possi- bility of communicating the cecidium (a parasitical fungus) to cereals by cutting branches from the barberry, which were quite covered with it, and shaking them over the corn, or else planting them in the midst of it ; but he never sncceeded in thus producing the disease ; therefore it would seem that it is not the communication of this dust, but the vegetation of the barberry in the vicinity of the cornfield, which engenders the disease. Nor will it attack crops planted near young and new- ly made barberry hedges ; but as these latter grow up, the dis- ease will appear until these hedges are rooted up. As soon as the barberry has been thoroughly extirpated, the evil disap- pears." Thaer considei"S mill or mel-dew a disease of the skin of plants. See this work for information on diseases affecting the cereals — on irrigation, etc. Translated by William Shaw and C. W. Johnson, New York, 1852. It is believed by some in this country that the pokeweed (Phytolacca,) if allowed to die in a cotton field, wilt produce rust. This is quite unlikely. Dr. Wood advises that the active principle berberina be ex- amined for its antipcriodic properties. See Hydrastis, in this volume ; U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. BLUE COHOSH; PAPOOSE ROOT; SQUAW ROOT, (Caulophgllumthalictroides,M.^., JOeonticethalictroides, L.) Moun- tains of South Carolina and northward. Ell. The seeds when roasted are said to form an excellent substi- tute for coffee. The root, which is the part used, is sweetish, somewhat pungent and aromatic, affording a yellow infusion or tincture. See Grriffith, who says that it is much employed by empyrics, who derived a knowledge of it from the Indian. "It is stated to be demulcent, antispasmodic and emmenagogue, 55 and has been administered in rheumatism, dropsy, nervous die- orders," etc. Rafinesque states, adds Griffith, that it is par- ticularly adapted for female disorders, and that the Indian wo- men make use of a tea of the root for some time before their confinement, asserting that it facilites parturition. It is like- wise said to bo an active emmenagogue. Ryddell, Synop. 4, also states that it is "bitter, diuretic and a preparatory partu- rient." Griffith invites an examination of it. A decoction, in- fusion or tincture of the root is employed ; of the two former the proportions are an ounce to a pint of water — dose one or two ounces; the dose of the tincture, made by adding four ounces of the root to a pint of spirits, being one or two tcaspoon- fuls. SARRACENIACE41. The species of this order are exclusively confined to the bogs of this country. Lindley thinks it should also comprehend the Dion'sea, which grows in North and South Carolina, and which also possesses the' power of entrapping insects. See D. mus- cipula. FLY-CATCHERS; SIDE-SADDLE FLOWERS, (Sarrace- nia fiava, L., and van'olaris, M.) Diffused ; grow in bogs > Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. June. See Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 226, where the Diss, of Dr. McBride, of South Carolina, in the 12th vol. Trans. Linna^an Soc, is referred to. I have read this description of one of our native botanists, and allude to it with pleasure. I am informed by several gentlemen of South Carolina, that these plants are used in dyspepsia with great service. The roots are undoubtedly possessed of bitter, tonic and stomachic proper- ties ; and I am credibly assured of a number of cases in which relief has been experienced from them. The taste is disagreea- ble to those using them for the first tijne, but eventually it be- comes pleasant, as I have myself experienced. An infusion might serve as a useful substitute for bitters. In an article on the medicinal and chemical properties of these plants, published by me in the January number (1849) of the Charleston Medical Journal, the attention of the profession is for the first time invited to their reputed value in the treat- ment of dj^'spepsia. Several cases are there detailed, illustrat- 56 ing the employment of the Sarracenia. It is supposed by many to relieve most of the distressing symptoms of this atfection, among which may be cited : gasti-algia, pyrosis, acidity, and the general feeling of malaise so frequently attendant upon it. In some it induces considerable diuresis, and in others soreness of the mouth. In experiments made upon my own person, to ascertain its physiological effects upon a healthy individual, it exhibited a tonic, stimulating influence upon the digestive organs, producing some cerebral disturbance, when persisted in. On one occasion three hundred and twenty grains of the dried root, in the form of pills, were taken during the course of twelve hours. From the examination made for me by Prof. C. TJ. Shepard, it contains besides lignin, coloring matter, and traces of a resinous body, an acid, or an acid salt, and also an astringent property, due neither to^ tannic nor gallic acid, -and a salt of some alkaloid, related perhaps to cinchona, which, should it prove new, may be called sarraceniny I ascertained the existence of starch in some quantity in the cold infusion and in the decoction, not discovered in the boiled alcoholic solution, which, however, contained some gluten. '-In its exhibiting in moderate quantities no very decided nor violent eflects upon the animal economy in disease consists its excellence. And its peculiar action on the stomach, I think, is the result of a happy combination of ele- ments, which renders it appropriate to the relief of an affection like dyspepsia. Its acid prevents or corrects the undue forma- tion of alkalies, or supplies its own deficiency ; the existence of either condition having- been assumed as explaining the true pathology of the disease. Its power of neutralizing or correct- ing acidity was obvious. Its bitter property, which is abund- ant, is tonic and restorative ; its i-esinous portion may supply the proper cathartic stimulus, the too inordinate action of which is corrected by the astringent; and this being neither that of the tannic nor gallic acid found in other vegetable tonics, may be superior. Should dyspepsia be a gastric neuralgia, or con- sist, as Parry thinks, in a condition of hyperaemia ; or as, ac- cording to Wilson Philip, a chronic gastritis, its relief may be accounted for, by a narcotic principle contained in the plant ; the cerebral disturbance, one of its physiological effects upon my own person, giving some color to the suggestion." (See 57 Art. cit. sup.) A bit of the fresh or dried root of either species may be chewed, and the juice swallowed during the day before each meal ; it may be given powdered in the form of pill, with a little rhubarb if necessary; or a tincture may be made by pouring a pint of brandy over several ounces of the root, of which half an ounce, diluted, may be taken three times a day. I have lately had cases reported to me of its marked success in the relief of chronic diarrhcea and dysentery*, and I am pleased to learn that it is noAv widelj' used in other portions of South Carolina and in Georgia, with very general approba- tion. PITCHER PLAXT, (Sarracenia purpurea.) I have speci- mens from Barhamville, S. C, and have collected it in St. John's, S. C, near the State Eoad. It is not near so common as the other species. X. C. Curt. Cat. The following paper was sent to the Surg. General C. S. Army, and was addressed to the Editor of the "Evening Mail," Eng., by Cosmo G. Logic, Surg. Major Eoyal Home Guards (Blue,) and dated Windsor, May 25, (1862:) Some time ago, seeing a paper written by Assistant Surgeon Miles, of the Eoyal Artilk-ry, on the efficacy of the Xorth American plant called the Sarracenia purpurea, or pitcher plant, in the treatment of small-pox among the Indians, my colleague (Mr. Agnis) and myself have given this remed}-, which has been imported into this country by Dr. Miles, to the house of Messrs. Savoy & Moore, a fair trial. And I am happy to say the eleven cases in our hands have recovered under its peculiar influence. This remedy I consider a boon to the public, for this reason : it is so easily managed ; any one can make a decoction or infusion of the root, like tea. An ounce of the root is sliced and infused in a quart of water and allowed to simmer down to a pint, and given in two tablesjjoonful doses every four hours, while the patient is well nourished with beef tea and aiTow root. Four of the cases in my hospital have been severe con- fluent cases, (confluent means where the head, face and neck are swollen into a misshapen mass, and the pustules thickly run- ning into each other ;) they have throughout the disease all been perfectly sensible, have had excellent appetites, been fi-ee from pain, and have never felt weak. The eftects of this medi- cine, which I have carefully watched, seemed to arrest the 58 development of the pustules, killing, as it were, the virus from within, thereby changing the character of the disease, and doing away with the cause of pitting (if I may so express myself to the uninitiated,) and thus avoiding the necessity of gutta percha and India rubber application, or of opening the pustules. In my opinion, all the anticipations of disfigurement from pitting may now be calmed, if this medicine is given from the commencement of the disease. Before leaving this subject I may here caution the public that the useful part of the plant is its root, as recommended by Dr. Miles, and it can only be obtained from Messrs. Savoy & Moore, to whose house alone it has been imported. With the usual kindness of Dr. Gribson, the Director-General, I have been amply supplied with it for the use of my regiment. So much am I impressed with the efficacy of it in small-pox over the old mode of treatment, that I hope to heal' of it in every country gentleman's medicine chest. " It is difficult to conceive how it acquired any reputa- tion in the cure of small-pox, unless from the fact that simple means are the best in the treatment of this disease, as in other eruptive fevers. I do not know that the S. purpurea has ever been experimented with in this country. I was unable to procure any of it in Yii'ginia, in obedience to the wishes of Surgeon- General Moore. Dr. A. Eaoul informs me that this plant has been used in South Carolina to correct vomiting in pregnant women, 1867. He has employed it for this purpose. Prof. Wood, in 12th Ed. U. S. Disp., is inclined to put no confidence in the power of this plant as a remedy in small-pox, and I fully agree with him. He refers to a description of this species in all its relations by Prof. Bentley, in a paper in the Pharm. Journ. for January, 1863. EHIZOPHOEACE^. {Mangrove Tribe.) MANGEOVE, {Rhizophora mangle, L.) This plant is found in South Florida. Chapman. An introduced species is used in India for yielding a black dye. ONAGEACEiE. {The Evening Primrose Tribe.) SOABISH, {(Enothera biennis, Linn.) Grows in dry pastures ; diffused ; collected in Charleston District ; Newbeni. 59 Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iv, 202 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 36 ; V. S. Disp. 1281 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, -iU ■ Griffith, Med. Bot. 304. The root and herb have been employed in cutaneous diseases. Dr. Griffith has used it with success in tetter, apply- ing the decoction to the affected part several times a day, and giving it internally at the same time. He has been successful with it in subsequent trials. Th« plant should be gathered about the flowering season. The young sprigs are mucilagi- nous, and can be eaten as salad. Lindley. The leaves of the QEnothera expand in the evening, and continue open all night. Pursh states that, even of a dark night, it can be seen at some distance, owing, he supposes, to some phosphoric property. The leaves are stated by M. Dussauce, in his Treatise on Tan- ning, Philada., 1867, to be useful in tanning leather. Its roots have a nutty flavor, somewhat similar to those of rampion, and are used in Germany and some parts of France, stewed and raw, ir^ salads, with mustard, oil, salt and pepper, like the common celery The ancients thought the plant possessed the power of allaying intoxication and calming the most ferocious animals. It is doubtful whether this is theCEnothera of the ancients. Wilson's Eural Cyc. It appears to possess some power as an abstergent, and is used in washing clothes. WILLOW-HERB, {Epilobium augxistifolium, T.) Mountains of N. C. and northward. The leaves and root are said to be demulcent, tonic and astringent, and yield their virtues to alcohol. They are used by the "Eclectics," adds Dr. Wood, generally and locally, in decoction infusion or cataplasm, in cases which call for the use of astringent remedies ; U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Jussicea grandijlora, Mich. Grows in bogs; "common around Savannah, and in ponds four miles from Charleston." Dr. J. Bachman informs me that he has seen it in abundance around Charleston for the space of ten miles, from which locality I have specimens. Fl. July. Dr. S. A. Cartwright, of J^atchez, asserts that this plant has the power of preventing the development of malaria in regions peculiarly adapted to its generation. He affirms that it "purifies all stagnant water in which it grows — that of the lakes and bayous inhabited by it being as pure to the sight, taste and smell as if it had just fallen fi'om the clouds" — ascribing to the pi*esence and peculiar 60 "hygienic or health-preserving properties of this plant" the remarkable exemption of the inhabitants of lower Louisiana from "malarious or miasmatic diseases." "The fact," he adds, "that the region of country in which this aquatic plant abounds is exceedingly healthy, can be established beyond cavil or dis- pute ; it nevertheless contains more stagnant water and swamps than any other inhabited district of the same extent in the United States." He is quoted in the notes appended by the American editor, to AYatson's Pract. Physic, p. .465 ; and Dr. Wood, in his late woi-k on the Practice of Physic, also makes use of these assertions as if they were established. Dr. C. must seek for the exemption of this section of country from these diseases in other causes, as this plant is abundant around the cities alluded to above, in situations where it is well known that fevers of malarious origin are continually prevailing, I have recently observed this plant growing profusely around Charles- ton Neck, where intermittent and remittent fevers are noto- riously prevalent. The genus Jussiisa has its 7'oots distended into vegetable swim- ming bladders. The curious can examine the ./. grandiflora to observe this peculiarity, like that in our beautiful Utricularia in- flata, Tt/pha and Nymphma (water lily,) and Sagittaria, also " dis- play mjanads of air chambers in the solid stem." See Wilson, " Aquatic plants." BASTARD LOOSESTRIFE; SEED BOX, (Ludioigia alter- nifolia, Jj.') Grows in Charleston District; Elliott says rare; seven miles from Beaufort, and at Savannah ; collected in St, John's ; North Carolina. Fl. Aug. Merat, in the Diet, de M. Med. iv, 154, says that in America a decoction of the root is employed as an unfailing emetic. MELASTOMACE.E. In this order, a slight degree of astringency is the prevailing characteristic ; though a large one, it does not contain a single unwholesome species. DEER GRASS ; SORREL, (Rhexia glabella, Mx.) Grows in moist pine lands, vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's; North Carolina. Fl. July. The leaves of this plant have a sweetish, acid taste, and are eaten with impunity. Deer are said to be fond of them. 61 MYETACE^. {The Myrtle Tribe.) POMEGEANATE, {Funica granatum.) Cultivated with suc- cess in the Southern States. The bark of the root is a well known astringent ; employed in dysentery and diarrhoea ; one scruple of the powder may be given at a dose, or a decoction may be used if this is too strong, as it acts on the nervous system. Car- son, in his Illust. Med. Bot. i, 1847, states that it has also been employed with success against taenia. The fruit is remarkable for the beauty of the coloration of the pulp around the seed ves- sels, which are packed away in a surpiisingly economical man- ner. This is edible, and forms with water a cooling ascescent drink, grateful in fevers. A correspondent of the " Mercury," "F. J. S.," 1862, says that the rind of the fruit yields a jet black fluid, which writes very smoothly and retains its jett}' hue." LYTHEACE^. {Loosestrife Family:) SWA^TP LOOSESTEIFE, {Nescea verticillata, H. B. H. De- codon verticillatum, Ell.) N. C. Lindley tells us : " It is said to destroy the young of cattle heavy with calf." Dr. Tully says: " If a great amount of testi- mony will decide anything in medicine, Decodon v. is an ecbolic for certain brute animals. This efl:ect is said to bo most fre- quently produced upon ewes, next upon cows, and sometimes upon mares. " HAMAMELACE^. {The Witch-Hazel Tribe.-) This order, remarks Lindley, is found in the northern parts of North America, Japan and China. In my examination of the various authorities on the subject before me, I have frequently been struck with the correspondence prevailing between the species found in South Carolina and those of Japan, and this re- spects only the medical botany of the two ; should the flora of each be compared, a still more universal relation might be estab- lished. Professor Agassiz has noticed something of the same kind existing between the fossil botany and the fauna of each. WITCH-HAZEL, {Hamamelis Virginica, L.) Grows along pine land bays ; collected in St. John's, Charleston District ; vicin- ity of Charleston, Bach.; N. C. 62 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 452; Coxo, Am. Disp. 310; U. S. Disp. 1258; Matson's Yeg. Pract. 201 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 350 ; Eatinesque, Med. Flor. i, 227. It is said to be sedative, as- tringent, tonic and discutient. The bark was a remedy derived from the Indians, who appHed it to painful tumors, using the decoction as a wash in inflammator}^ sweUings, painful hemor- rhoidal affections and ophthalmias. A cataplasm, and a tea of the leaves, as an astringent, were employed in hiematemesis. The steam practitioners also administer it in irritable hemorrhoids, and during the bearing-down pains attending child-birth. No analysis has been made, but as it probably contains sedative and astringent principles, attention is directed to it. The curious reader may consult, besides the paper in Hutton's "Mathema- tics," on the wonderful properties of the witch-hazel in detecting water, a recent one in Patent Office Eeport on Agriculture, p. 16, 1851. This is from Prarie du Chien, by Mr. Alfred Burnson, and contains some remarkable statements of the certainty of finding water by divining rods. Some electrical and telluric influ- ences are hinted at — Credat Judceus! Persons living in the up- per districts of South Carolina assume to use the rod with suc- cess. Dr. James Fountain, of Peokskill, N, Y., speaks highly of the efficacy of the bark in hemorrhage of the lungg and stomach, and also as one of the best applications for external piles, an ointment being prepared from lard, and a decoction of equal parts of this bark, white oak bark and that of the apple tree. He believes the witch-hazel to possess anodyne properties. (N. Y. J. Med. X, 208.) Dr. N. S. Davis in his report (Trans. Am. Med. Assoc, i, 350,) agrees with Dr. Fountain in his estimate of this remed}', which he has cmploj^ed in the form of a decoction, made with one ounce to a pint of water; dose, a wine glass full every three to eight hours in incipient phthisis. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. In the Eichmond Journal for January, 1868, is an article from the Atlanta Med. and Surg. Journ. (1867,) in which Dr. W, W. Durham claims for this plant properties similar to those said by Dr. Phares to be those of the Virhurnum pruni folium, and which tend to confirm opinions expressed above by Prof Davis and othei'S. In reference to its power of preventing abortion or miscarriage, Dr. Durham says: "At one period of my practice 63 the negroes used the cotton root so frequcntl}'^ to produce abortion, that my supply of black haw became exhausted, and having heard of this power of the hazel to affect the purpose for which I used the haw, I resorted to it (the hazel) with per- fect success. Having only used it for the purpose of preventing abortion, from the effects of the cotton root, I cannot speak of it in other cases." He makes a decoction of one pint of the leaves to one pint of water, which is administered freel}'. See also Viburnum jjrunifolium. Dr. Joseph Bates, in an article on the Witch-hazel, published in Tilden's " Journ. of Mat. Med," February, 1868, furnishes an analj^sis of this plant by Dr. A. Lee. (See J. of Mat. Med. 2, p. 200.) The bark contains organic and inorganic matter, allumen gum, extractive, tannin, a particular (bitter) principle, resin, starch, etc. Dr. Lee observes : " The great amount of tannin contained in this plant is worthy of notice; while the sumach contains three hiyadred and twenty-five and geranium one hundred and thirty-six j)arts in seven thousand, the hazel contains no less than four hundred." This is an important statement and deserves attention. In the Boston Med. J. Surg. J., v, 37, p. 348, is an account of the efficacy of this plant in arresting hem- orrhages — the leaves being cliewed and the juice swallowed. Tilden & (^o. prepare a fluid extract which may- be given in doses of one to two drachms. By means of this an infusion or a wash may be made by mixing with water in the proportion of one ounce to a pint. COENACE.E. (7/ie Dogwood Tribe.) DOGWOOD, {Gornus Florida, L.) Well knoAvn ; diffused in rich, shady lands ; Newbern ; Va. Drayton's View S. C. 63 ; Bell's Pract. Diet. 152 ; Barton's Collec. 12; Eberle, Mat. Med. 303; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 438 ; Ell. Bot. i, 208 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 753; U. S. Disp. 277 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 197 ; Am. Journal Pharm. vii, 114; Eoyle, Mat. Med. 422 ; Ball, and Gar. 310 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 436 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 73 ; Shec. Elora Carol. 449; Thacher's Disp. 203; Walker's Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1803; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 49; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. This well known plant possesses tonic and anti-intermittent 64 properties, very nearly allied to those of cinchona ; in periodic fevers, one of the most valuable of our indigenous plants. "Dr. Gregg states that, after employing it for twenty-three j^ears in the treatment of intermittent fevers, he was satisfied that it was not inferior to Peruvian bark.'" Generally given in con- junction with laudanum. It also possesses antiseptic powers. In the recent state, it is leas stimulating than the cinchona bark, but it affects the bowels more ; the dried bark is the preferable form. The fresh bark will sometimes act as a cathartic. It is more stimulating than thoroughwort (Eupatorium,) and, there- fore, is less aj)plicable during the hot stages of fever. According to Dr. Walker's examination, the bark contains extractive mat- ter, gum, resin, tannin and gallic acid ; and Dr. Carpenter announces in it a new principal, cornine. Dr. 8. Jackson also, from experiment, is satisfied that it contains a principle analo- gous to quinia. It has been exhibited by Dr. S. G. Morton in intermittent fever, with success. Griffith, in his Med. Bot. 347, mentions that the infusion of the flowers is useful as a substitute for chamomile tea ; for analysis, see Am. Journ. Pharm. i, 114 ; and Phil. Journal Med. and Phys. Sci. xl. Dose of the dried bark in powder, is twenty to sixty grains ; the decoction is made with one ounce of the root to one pint of water, or the extract may be employed ; alcohol also extracts its virtues. The ripe fruit, infused in brandy, makes an agreeable and useful bitter, which may be a convenient substitute for the article prepared in the shops. Dr. D. C. O'Keeffe, of Geoi'gia, published an article on the C. Florida in the So. Med. and Surg. Journal, Jan- uary, 1849. He gave the extract in doses of ten grains to two drachms, without its producing any disturbance of the stomach, as alleged by some writers. Barton says, in his Collections, that the bark is valuable in a malignant disorder of horses called 3'ellow water. From the gallic acid it contains, a good writing ink may be made, and from the bark of the fibrous roots the Indians extracted a scarlet color. Lindley mentions that the young branches, stripped of their bark;" and rubbed '^ against the teeth, render them extremely white. It is often employed for this purpose by persons living in the country. Where there is need of astringent anti-periodics and tonics, the dogwood bark powdered will be found the best substitute for the Peruvian. Internally and externally, it can be applied fin wherever the cinchona barks were found serviceable. The dog- wood bark and root, in decoction, or in form of cold infusion, is believed by many to be the most efficient substitute for quinine, also in treating malarial fevers ; certainly, it might be used in the cases occurring in camp, to prevent the waste of quinine, as it can be easily and abundantly procured. Dr. Richard Moore, of Sumter County, informs me that he not only finds it efficient in fevers, but particularly useful, with whiskey or alcohol, in low forms of fevers, and dj'sentcry occurring near our river swamps. During convalescence also, where an astringent tonic is re- quired, this plant meets our requirements. See Enpatorium (boneset) and Liriodendron (Poplar.) These, with the black- berry and chinquapin as astringents, the gentians and pipsis- sewa as tonics and tonic diuretics, the sweet gum, sassafras, and bene for their mucilaginous and aromatic properties, and the wild jalap (Podophyllum) as a cathartic, supply the surgeon in camp -during a blockade with easily procurable medicinal plants, which are sufficient for almost every jjurpose. Nitrate and bi-carbonate of potash are most wanted, and with calomel may be procured from abroad. Our supply of opium can be easily reached by planting the poppy, and incising the capsules. Every planter could raise a full supply of opium, mustard and flaxseed. A tonic compound, as advised by the herbalists, is made with the bark of the root of dogwood, Colombo (Frasera,) poplar, each six ounces ; bark of Avild cherry, six ounces ; leaves of thoroughwort, four ounces; cayenne popper, four ounces — sifted and mixed. Dose, a teaspoonful, in warm or cold water, repeated. The berries of the dogwood have also been highly recom- mended — given as a remedy for fever in place of quinine (1862.) The wood is compact, heavy, fine grained and susceptible of a brilliant polish. It is used on our plantations wherever a hard wood is required, as in making wedges, the handles of light tools, mallets, plane stocks, harrow teeth, hames, horse collars, etc. Michaux states that the shoots, when three or four years old, are found proper for the light hoops of small portable casks. In the Middle States the cogs of mill wheels are made of dog- wood. The branches of the tree are disposed nearly in the form of crosses. N. A7n. sylva. Farmer's Encyc. I have used 5 m the dogwood for engraving. See " Amelanchier" in this vol- ume. Dr. Walker makes an excellent ink thus : Half an ounce of dogwood bark, forty grains of sulphate of iron, the same of gumarabic, in sixteen ounces of rain water. Prof Joseph Jones, of Georgia, has also used it with success. See So. Med. and Surg. J., September, 1861. , The Avood of the dogwood, like the willow, (see Salix,) is preferred in making gunpowder. EED WILLOW; SWAMP DOGWOOD, (Cornus sericea, Ph.) Elliott says it grows in the mountains of South Carolina ; sent to me from Abbeville District, by Mr. Eeed ; North Caro- lina. Fl. June. Griffith, Med. Bot. 349. It possesses properties quite similar to those of the C. Florida, but it is more bitter and astringent. Mr. E. informs me that it is employed to a great extent in do- mestic practice in Abbeville. According to B. S. Bai'ton, the bark was considered by the Indians a favorite combination with tobacco for smoking. The young shoots were used to make coarse baskets ; and they extracted a scarlet dye from these and the roots. BLOOD EED DOGWOOD, (Cornus sang uinea, Jj.) Grows, accoi'ding to Elliott, in the valleys among the mountains. Fl. May. Diet, de Med. de Ferus. ii, 737; Mathiole, Comment, ii, 119; Journal de Chim. xxxviii, 174, and xl, 107. See, also, Journal de Pharm. for an account of the oil extracted from it. M. Mu- rion says they afford one-third of their weight of a pure and limpid oil, used for the table and for burning. A case of hydro- phobia was said to have been cured by it. Griffith, Med. Bot. 349. There also exists in this, as in the others, a red color- ing principle, soluble in w^ater alone. Gornus stricta. Growls in swamps near Charleston; Newbern. Shec. Flora Carol. 44^. C. Circinata is not included by Chap- man among the Southern species, though Dr. Wood says that it grows in Virginia. See U. S. Disp. LOEANTHACE^. Bark usually astringent; berries contain a viscid matter; plants possess the power of rooting in the w^ood of others. 67 MISLETOE, ( Viscum verticillatum, L.) • The V. verticillatum of Ell. Sk. is not of that Linn. T. and Gray ; N. A. Flora. Dif- fused ; grown on oaks ; Newbern. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet, de Med. vi, 860 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 50 ; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 456 ; Journal de Med. Ixx, 529 ; Eberle, Dis. of Children, 522. Dr. Bai'ham, in the Hortus Americanus, says that the fruit of the misletoe cures epilepsies, pleurisies, coup de soleil, etc. Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 556 ; employed in pai-alysis. Thorton's Fam. Herb. 333. Fothergill, Dr. Wilson and Gilbert Thompson use it "with great effect in epilepsy." So, also. Dr. Eraser, who published a work on it. Wade's PL Eari- ores, 82. Eberle, "Dis. of Children," alludes to its employment in infantile epilepsy. Some writers refer to the European species ; but this is supposed to be identical with it. The seeds contain a viscid substance resembling bird-lime in appearance, which is insoluble both in water and in alchohol. In Dr. Hunter's edition of Evelyn's Sylvia, it is said to prevent the rot in sheep. Bird- lime wJBs formerly made from the berries of the misletoe of oak, which were first boiled in water, then pounded, and the Avater poured off in order to carry away the seeds and rind. For pro- cess, see "Holly" (^Ilex opaca;) also, Wilson's Eural Gyc, "Bird- lime" and "Bird catching." MISLETOE, (Phoradendron flavescens, Nutt.; Viscum flaves- cens, Pursh.) This is the only specie included by Dr. Chapman in his Flora of the Southern United States. M. Gampert (Ann. de Therap. 1859, 36,) had reported a case in France in which a child three years old was poisoned by eating the berries of the misletoe. Vomiting and prostration were produced, the patient was insensible, with a fixed and somewhat contracted pupil, and coldness of the skin and convulsive movements of the extremities were present ; an emetic brought away a considera- ble quantity of the berries and the child recovered. Prof Wood, in reporting this in the U. S. Disp., 12th Ed., states that Dr. Henry Dye, of Texas, records (Memphis Med. Kecord, iv, 344,) several cases of children poisoned by eating the berries of a species growing on the elm, probably V. flavescens of Ph. The prominent symptoms were vomiting and great thirst, followed by frequent discharges of bloody mucus from the bowels, with tenesmus. One of the children was found in a collapsed state in which death took place. Dr. Dye states, also, that in another <>8 instance, as he had been informed, children had eaten the ber- ries, without anj^ ill effect. CUCUEBITACE^. {The Gourd Tribe.) This order is closely allied to the Passifioracese, and is found in most abundance in hot countries. Most of them are valuable articles of food, but are pervaded by a bitter laxative quality, which in the colocynth gourd becomes an active purgative principle. WATEEMELOX, (Cucumis citrullus.) The juice of the melon by boiling may be converted into a palatable syrup for table use and one of the best substitutes for molasses. From recent ex- periments it has been found that about one pint is yielded by each melon, which may be profitably made during a period of great scarcity in the supply of sugar. No doubt, like the ripe fig, beet and other saccharine substances, it may easily be con- verted into vinegar, and should be added to the vinegar cask. It is well known that the juice is diuretic, and the seeds, by tri- turation, or by being boiled in water, afford a demulcent and diuretic drink, useful in incontinence of urine and in strangury. Almost the same may be said of the pumpkin, which is used as an article of food for man and beast in many of the Southern States. The harder portions of both melon and pumpkin are used in making preserves b}^ our Southern matrons, and brandy was made from the juice during the w^ar. The melon, the celery and the asj^aragus are said to yield mannite. PUMPKIIST, (Cucumis jyepo, W.) Cultivated very successfully at the South. Shec. Flora Carol. 488. The seeds afford an essential oil, which might be made of some value ; when triturated with water, they furnish a cooling and nutritive milk, and when boiled to a jelly, they are said by Bechstein to be a very effica- cious remedy for retention of urine. The fruit is much used on the plantations at the South as an article of food both for men and animals; pies and preserves of an agreeable flavor are made of it. See Stille's Mat. Med. and recent medical works for the singularly useful qualities of the seeds, as recently applied by Johnson, Soule, Jones and others, as a remedy for taj)e-worm. A paste is made from the seeds, in the quantity of about an ounce and a half with as much sugar. The dose of the seeds is about two ounces in emulsion, taken in the morning and followed by castor oil. Boston Med. and Surg. J., U. S. Disp. An oil of the seeds is also used. The fruit when dried is useful as a winter provision for armies. An excellent substitute may be found in the pumpkin, which when cut into slips and dried either in the sun or in a dry room, is said to be little inferior to dried ap- ples. The musk-melon (Cucumis melo} Siud cucumber (C sativus) are also largely cultivated at the South. GOUED ; CALABASH, (C?^cM?'iiYa lagenariajJj.^ Grows in cornfields and along fences; vicinity of Charleston; Eichland ; collected in St. John's. Fl. May. Linn. Yeg. Mat. Med. 180; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 563; Le. Mat. Med. i, 379 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 492. An infusion has been found useful in inflammation of the urinary passages, and the seeds have been employed in rheumatism, strangury and nephritis. Shec. Flora Carol. 479. " Water, which has lain for some time in the fruit of this plant, becomes violently emetic and cathartic." The shells of the dried fruit are sometimes so capacious as to contain four gallons of water ; convenient receptacles, water-flasks, dippers, milk pans, etc., are made of them. They must first be deprived of their acrid principle by boiling ; moulds for buttons are fashioned out of them, and they are much used for these purposes by the negroes on the plantations. The general reader will recall the " Calebassia Tree, " mentioned in "Paul and Virginia," hence the name given to this vine, no doubt by the negroes, from its resemblance to the tree, a native of the east coast of Africa. CEEEPING CUCUMBEE, {Melothria pendula, L.) Grows in rich, shaded soils ; collected in St. John's, Charleston Dis- trict. N. C. Fl. June. Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 498 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 322 ; GriflSth, Med. Bot. 311. The seeds act as a drastic purgative — half a one is a dose for an adult. Martins states that three or four ^ will act powerfully on a horse. Journal de Chim., loc. cit. sup. CACTACE.E. {The Indian Fig Tribe.) Fruit very simihxr in its properties to that of the currant tribe ; often refreshing, sometimes mucilaginous and insipid. 70 CACTUS; PEICKLY PEAR, (Opuntia vulgaris, Mill. T. and Gray. Cactus opuntia of Ell. Sk.) Grows in dry pastures ; Newbern. Fl. Ma^. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 11. The fruit is said to be eatable ; the leaves cut transversely are applied to tumors as a discutient ; the decoction is mucilaginous, and I am in- formed that it is much used in Alabama as a demulcent drink in pneumonic and pleuritic inflammations. Its cultivation has been recommended on account of the cochineal insect, which is said to feed on it. Mr. Wm. Summer, of South Carolina, con- tributes the following to the list of our "expedients:" To Make Hard Tallow Candles. — To one pound of tallow take five or six leaves of the prickly pear, {Cactus opuntia,) split them, and boil in the tallow, without water, for half an hour or more ; strain and mould the candles. The wicks should have been previously dipped in spirits of turpentine and di-ied. If the tallow at first is boiled in water, and the water changed four or five times, it will be bleached and rendered free from impurities. Then prepare, by frying with prickly pears, to harden it. In this way we have made tallow candles nearly equal to the best adamantine. The prickly pear has been generally used (1862^ for hardening tallow, with satisfactory results. One pound is added to four of tallow ; a larger quantitj^ make the candles too brittle. It takes the place of wax. I have often seen candles which were made hard by this process, and it appears to be a singular property possessed by this plant — and equally singular how it was ever first applied for the purpose. COCHINEAL CACTUS, (Cactus cochinilifer.) Elliott says that it is probable that other species exist, but he does not in- clude this in his sketch of the Bot. of South Carolina. Shecut, however, in his Flora Carol. 319, remarks that "we are indebted to Dr. Garden, of South Carolina, for the discovery of this tree here," well known as the one upon which the cochineal insect feeds. T. and Gray do not include it in their N. A. Fl. The fruit tinges red the urine of those who eat it ; and the leaves rubbed up with hog's hird, are useful as a topical application to prevent mortification. CRUCIFBRiE. {The Cruciferous Tribe.) Lindley states that the universal characteristic of this order is the possession of anti-scorbutic and stimulant qualities, com- bined with an acrid flavor. The species contain a great deal of nitrogen, to which is attributed their animal odor when rotting. PEPPEEGRASS; VIRGINIA CRESS, {Lepidium Virgini- cum, L.) Wet places. JS.C. Common. It is suitable to be used in winter and early spring salads, but is far less in request than some of the other cresses. Sowings should be made in light, dry earth, the beds protected with dry litter during severe winter. Rural Cyc. GOLD OF PLEASURE ; FALSE FLAX, (Camelina sativa, Crantz.) Referred to in Chapman's Botany of Southern States, p. 30, as introduced, growing in cultivated fields. N. Hanover, N. C, Curtis. . Se6 a paper in P. O. Report on Agriculture, 1851, p. 51, on the *' Camelina sativa — a new oil plant." In some parts of the world it is cultivated for its stems, which yield a fibre applica- ble for spinning, and for its oleifcrous seeds. Merat says it is cultivated for this purpose in Flanders. Mr. Wm. Taylor, F. L. S., has recently drawn the attention of agriculturists and others to this as an oil plant, adapted for feeding cattle, and for other purposes. He says that the soil best adapted for its cultivation are those of a light nature, but a crop will never fail on land of the most inferior description. It has been found to flourish this year on sandy soils, where no other vegetable would grow, and independent of the drouth the plants have grown most luxuriantly, yielding a large and certain crop. When gx'own upon land that has been long in tillage and well farmed, the crop will be most abundant. The best time for putting in the seed is as early as possible in the spring months, say from the middle of March or the middle of April to June, and for autumn sowing to August; and the quantity per acre required, fourteen pounds ; and may be either drilled or broadcast, but the drilled method should be preferred. If drilled, the rows must b3 twelve inches apart. As soon as the plants have grown five or six inches high, a hand or horse hoe may be used to cut up the weeds between the rows, and no 72 further culture or expense will be required. If sown early, two crops may be frequently obtained in one year, as it is fit for harvesting in three months after the plant makes its first ap- pearance. Or another important advantage may be obtained : if seed is sown early in March, the crop will be ready to harvest in the beginning of July, and the land fallowed for wheat or spring corn ; also when barlc}^ or small seeds cannoi be sown sufficiently early, this may be put in with great success. It is a plant that may be cultivated after any corn crop, without doing the least injury to the land, and may be sown with all sorts of clover ; the leaves of the gold of pleasure, being particularly small, afford an uninterrupted growth to every plant beneath, it, and the crop being removed early, the clover has time to establish itself The grower of this invaluable production is in all seasons secure of his crop, inasmuch as it is not subject to damage by spring frosts, heavy rains, and drouth, and, above all, the ravages of insects, more particularly the cabbage plant louse, {Aphis bi'assica,) which so frequently destroys rape, turnips and others belonging to the cruciferse order, when coming into blossom. The seed is ripe as soon as the pods change from a green to a gold color. Care must then be taken to cut it off before it becomes too ripe, or much seed may be lost. AVhen cut with a sickle, it is bound up in sheaves and shocked in the same manner as wheat. The process of ripening completed, it is stacked or put in a barn, and threshed like other corn. The expense of these crops cannot be very great, either in the prep- aration and culture of the land or in the management in secur- ing the produce afterward ; but when grown with care and in good season, the produce will mostly be very abundant — as high as thirty-two bushels and upward to the acre. The cultivation of this plant for the seed would repay the farmer ; an abundance of chaff would be produced, which would be of infinite service for horses or for manure. In a grazing country like England, where vast sums are annually expended for foreign oil cake, the gold of pleasure will soon be found an excellent substitute under manufacture, and consequently a grower would find a good remuneration in cultivating the seed. The plant may be considered a valuable production of the earth. A fine oil is produced for burning in lamps, in the manufacture 73 of woollen goods, in the manufacture of soaps for lubricating machinery, and for painters. The oil cake has been found highly nutritious in the fattening of sheep and oxen, as it contains a great portion of mucilage and nitrogenous matter, which, combined together, are found very beneficial in de- veloping fat and lean. From the experiments above related, it is abundantly proved that it does not suffer from the severest frosts, its foliage not being injured. It is not infested by insects, nor does it exhaust the soil. The gold of pleasure has been cultivated by several practical agriculturalists, who highly approve of the new plant. For all these reasons it is hoped that every farmer will avail himself of this valuable discovery as a remunerating rotation crop. Mr. Taylor adds that one acre cultivated with these plants yield thirty-two bushels of seed; from which five hundred and forty pounds of oil are obtained ; so that the Camelina seems to ex- ceed the flax in its produce of seed, oil and cake per acre. The seed is extremely rich in nutriment. I know of no seed superior to it for feeding cattle. The oil obtained by expression is sweet and excellent, especially for purposes of illumination. From the very small quantity of inorganic matter in the seed, it will be evident that the seed cake must be of a very nutritious character, being merely the seed deprived of a portion of its water and oily matter. We have examined some of the oil obtained from the seed of the Camelina sativa, and which has been recently sent to several medical men by Mr. Taylor, under the belief that it possesses valuable medical properties. It is of a j'cUow color, and smells something like linseed oil. Finding it of service in relieving the incessant cough of an animal, Mr. Taylor has extended the use to the human subject, and states that it has cured several persons affected with diseased lungs and asthma. In a brief notice, P. O. Reports, 1850, is the following state- ment : " Camelina sativa, {Miagrum sativum,) an annual from France, produces a finer oil for burning than rape, having a brighter flame, less smoke and scarcely any smell. It succeeds well in light, shallow, dry soils ; and in our Middle and Southern States it would probably produce two crops in a season. Besides the use of the seeds for oil, the stems yield a coarse fibre for making sacks and a rough kind of packing paper, and the whole 74 plant may be employed for thatching. The culture is similar to that for flax." See " Linum " in this volume. GTn^-DTTT^'Tp-n'Q PTTT>«!T? 1 <^^pseUa Bursa-pastoris, Moench and SHEPHERD b r U KbE, ^ rj. ^^^^ q. Thlaspi. Linn, and Ell. Sk. Grows in damp pastures; collected in St. John's; Newbern, Fl. May. Ray's Cat. Plantarum, 47 ; Bergius, Mat. Med. ii, 389 ; Le. Mat. Med. i, 243 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 732. It astringes and constipates ; hence employed in dysentery, diarr- hoea and bloody urine ; the juice placed on a piece of cotton, and inserted in the nostril, will arrest hemorrhage. " Extern€ vulneribus solidandis adhibieter nee sine successu." PI. Scotica, 342 ; Linn. Yeg. M. Med. 128. CRESS, (Sisymbrium nasturtium, L. and Ell. Sk.f^JSrysimum ol Bot.) Nat. in the upper part of South Carolina ; vicinity o; Charleston. Fl. March. Fl. Scotica, 351. The young leaves furnish an agreeable salad the plant was esteemed useful as an anti-scorbutic, and was em ployed in removing obstructions of the liver, viscera, jaundice etc. Thornton's Fam. Herb. 618. The juice acts as a stimulani and diuretic. Haller says : " We have seen patients in a deej decline cured by living almost entirely on these plants." Ac cording to Tournefort, the juice, snuffed up the nose, cured cases of polypus of that organ. See Edinburgh New Disp., Flon Med. iii, 138; Pliny, lib. xix, chap. 8 ; xx, chap. 13. Hoffman anc Cullen spoke highly of it as furnishing a mucilaginous applica tion for the heads of infants affected with eruptions. It was acknowledged to have an effect upon the maladies of the skin eno-orffcment of the abdominal viscera when the blood is de praved, in feeble digestion, etc. U. S. Disp. 1226. This plani is also vaunted in incipient phthsis, in chronic catarrhs, in mala dies of the bladder and kidneys, and in hysterical affections. I contains a very bitter and odoriferous essential oil — the seedi yielding fifty-five per cent, of fixed oil. See De Cand. Phys Veg. i, 298; Journal Gen. de Med. xxviii, 136; Barbier, M Med. 242. Moreau asserts that vertigq and discoloration o the face are produced in those eating this plant; but this is ai effect unnoticed by others. 75 HEDGE MTJSTAED, {Sisymbrium officinale, Fide Gray ; Ery- simum officinale, Lin. and Ell. Sk.) This is not included by Mr. Elliott in his Sketches of the Plants of South Carolina. It was one of the specimens sent to Professor Gray, and determined by him ; collected in St. John's Berkeley; Charleston District; North Carolina. The herb is said to be diuretic and expectorant ; the seeds possess consider- able pungency, and have been recommended in chronic cough, hoarseness and ulceration of the mouth and fauces; the juice of the plant in honey or the seeds in substance may be used. WATER RADISH, (Sisymbrium amphibium, L.) Rare ; roots immersed ; collected on causeway near Brunswick PI., T. W. Peyre's, in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Mer. and de L. Diet, de K. Med. vi, 365. Recommended for tape-worm by Didelot, and in the old works as an anti-scorbutic. Merat saj^s the "young leaves are eatable in the spring; proba- bly possessed of similar properties with the S. nasturtium." WATER CRESS, {Nasturtium officinale, R. Br.) Introduced. Ditches Florida, and northward. Chap. N. C. This plant came into pretty high favor about a century ago as a spring salad ; and it soon obtained preference to all other spring salads on account of its agreeable, warm, bitter taste, and for the sake of its purifying, anti-scorbutic and diuretic properties. It was greedily gathered in all its natural habitats within some miles of London for the supply of the London mar- ket, and eventually became an object of regular, peculiar and somewhat extensive cultivation ; see methods, etc., Wilson's Rural CyclopsBdia. MUSTARD, {Sinapis nigra.') Cultivated throughout the South. Therapeutic virtues well known. Mustard is a hardy annual, cultivated as a small salad for greens, and for the seed, which are extensively employed for medicinal purposes. The demand for the production of this plant, on account of the value of seeds as a local irritant, should induce every planter and farmer to grow it. Enormous quanti- ties are required to supply armies; besides that, it is largely consumed in every household. The white mustard I have seen cultivated on our plantations, and, maturing early in June, is fully equal in strength to the imported article. It is very easily ground or powdered, and used like English mustard. Tlio coinmoii laMc niuslurd in prc^psirod IVoni t.ho flour of (ho Hoi'd. Voy Hiihid, it is howm (liicUly, :iiid iiS(>d liUci comnvon crosH. "S()\V(>Hrly ill (lio Hjiriiiii; in two foot drills, ;iiid tliiii to six iiiclmM. Tlio (T'))) must ho u^iuthorod holbro it is I'ully rijio, on a cloudy day or c^arly in tho nioniinir, to provont tlio Hood f'roiu sliolliiii;- out." Tho "wliito" is usually ^iroforrod for salad, and tho soods aro i^atoii \viioh> as a roiiuMly for iiupaircMl dii;;ostion. Tho loaves of lliis aro liifht od allbrd thirty six pi'r cent, ol' oil, and tlio hhiciv S(^(>d oii;htooii per ooiit. Tho reader iiitiM'osli'd in (li(> cull uro of mustard can tiiid some information in Wilson's liural Cyo. llo quotes ft'om a prize essay by T. C. Hurroii^hes in 7th volume Royal Ag. Soc. Tho field culture of both the white and black mustard is practiced for the production of their seeds, with a view either to the ex- pression of oil from them similar to that of colo and ra]H> and ])oppy, or lo tlu> obtaininj^ of oil cake for tho uso of cattle, or to tlu^ ifriiidiiii;; Ihoin into tho well known eondinuMilal and medi- cinal Hour of mustard, or to several other economical and liharmaceutical purposes. The crop is roapi^d, and tied in sheaves like wheat, and is afterward throHhed out u|)on cloths in tlu> liold in the same manner as (U)le. AVhito mustard is gen- erally laid in handfiils on the shuttle, and not tied up. The black mustard is hardier than tho white. Tho quantity of oil obtained from any given weight of black mustard seeds is greater than that obtained from tho sanio woight of coles; but the oil cake is slightly purgative, and requires to bo given to cattle witJi caution, and is commonly ground and sprinkled on their chalV. Wilson also stales that the Uour of mustard from tho sec>ds of black mustard, is much more ])ungont, and of much liner (iiiality than that from the seeds of wliite mustard. It is slill thi> kind most commonly used in l^'ranco ; but it rocpiiros to bo manufactui'od by a nice mechanical procoHH of removing tlio outer skinH ol" the hcihIh, or cIho it han a irrayiHli or very (hii'k coh)r ; and, in fact., it is nevt^r ho prepared as to he (entirely freed from its <;rayiHhneHH. The Hour of vvhit(5 miiHtard in gen- erally used in Britain in consoquonce of itH fine coloi', and the superior facility of manufacturing it. It in often mixed with the black. Jiural Cyc. The method of depriving the black mimtard need of its envelop I have be(>n unahli) to ohlaiii. Warm water is always the best addition to mustard to elicit the volatile oil. Vinegar lessens its pungency. See 'l^ruusHcau's Experinuuits. Mustard has been highly recommended as a Hub- Htitute for the spring colza and otlmr ])lants, to be used in the ]>roduction of oil. "Both spe(M(!S," white and black, yield oil, Thaiir says in his J*rinc!i[)les of Agriculture, " which is well adapted tor l>urning; and also, when well ))urifiod, for tI»o use of the table. A (piintal of iriUHtard sood yields from thirty-six to thirty-eight pounds of oil. The l)iting acridity of the sec([ existffnot in the oil, but in the integument; and the English mustard, which is celebrated for its strength, is said to be made from cakes from which the oil has ]h\o,u expressed." Among the plants mentioned by Tluusr as valuabh; for tlie oil in their se(Ml, ai'o the oily radish, { /iaphanus chinensis oteiferus,) the sun- tlower, and the common ]H)\)])y, (I'djutvir n()mnij);rum ;) the oil from the white-seedi!(l variety is ])rel'erable on ac(!Ount of its taste. See Thaiir also for descriptions of the cultivation of flaxseed, hemp, hoj)s, madder, beets, etc. Many plants, the seeds of which yield oil, are used in making oil (;ake for agri- cultural purposes, and as food for animals. The sunflower, which yields a large quantity of soiid to the acre, will, it is waid, furnish one galhm of oil to the bushel. Soo "Cotton," " hMax," etc., in this volunu!. 1 obtain the following, on the; (Mdtivation of mustai'd, from the P^armors' Cyclopcjudia: The species oi' si/uipis, generally grown in the kitchen gard(ui for domestic purposes, an; th(! wiiite mustard, (>S'. (iUmi,) and the common or black mustard, (iS. ni(jr ; hut if for HOod, to full tlio (h^ptli of tlio Madcwjf ihc H|)a(l<^ Id early wpriiig and lato in uutunm, tho HJtuatioii HJiodid \)v Hluiltorcd ; and, during tlio height of Hum- niiir, Hliad(!d from tho moridian nun. Por Halading, tho white may l)o Hown throughout tho year; from tho hegiiining of No- vomhor to l.ho Hamo |)(M'io(i in March, in a g(intlo hot-l)od appro- priated for tlie pllr•p()H(^, in one ali'oady employed for Homo othor plant, or in the crornor of a Htove. I^'rom the closo of Kehruary to tho oloHo of April, it may ho Hown in tlui opcMi ground, on a warm Hholtorod border; and from thonee to tln! middle ol Sep- tcunher in a whady one. lioth tlu» white and the hhu^k, for Hoc^d, may ho Hown at tho (doHo of Mandi, in an open c.ompartmont. Kor Halading, it in howii in (hit-hottomcul drillH, about half un iiudi (loop and nix iiHihoH a|)art. Tho H(ted cannot well bo HOwn too thi(d{. Tho mould whi(di eovorn tho drillH nhould bo entirely divoHtod of HtonoH. Water munt b^ given oocaHionally in dry weather, an a duo nupply of moisturo in tho chief indu(!omont to a (piick vegetation. The Kowings ai"e to he performed onco or twice in a fortnight, according t.o tho demand. (/roHH ( //rpi- dium s(ttivnin) in the* almost conslant ac(-ompaniment of thin Halad Ikm'I) ; and, an tlu^ mod(M)f cultivation of v'M'\\ is idiMitical, it in only nec(^HHary to remark, that, as cri^Hs is rat Imm* tardier in vegetating than mustard, it, is necessary for ohtaijiing them both in jxtrl'ect.ion at the same tinu* to sow it live or six days earlier. Itmustlxi cut foi" use whil(» young, and befort^ the rough leavoH ap])oar, otherwise the pungency of the llavor is disa- greeably irKMHiased. if tho top is cut olV, the plants will, in gen( muHl 1)0 thorou/^hly driod bclbro throHhiii<^ and Htorin*^. For forcing, tlio sood is moHt convoniontly Hown in boxow or |)an8, ovon \i' u lio(-l)(id iH upitropriatcd Cor iiic |)iir|)oHO. I'aiiH of rolUui Ian arii to Ixi prcfcrfod to j)otH or box^H ol mould, lint, wliic-liovcsr in (Un|>loy(Ml, liio sriid iiiiihI. \h\ Hown tliicU, and other rcHtrictiotiH attended to, aH lor tho oj)on ^i-ound (tropH. Tho hot-l)c'(i n(H«d only Ix; inod«>rato. Air may bo admittod as abund- antly aH (iiri;umstan(!(!H will allow. CAV\*A\UDACh]M. (The Caper Trihc.) CAPJili TIIKIO, ((!app<(.ris ^Spinom.) This phmt, (•Mltivat(^d in Grooco,thc Ionian IhIoh, Franco, Italy, etc., bus also boon intro- du(!cd into thin country. Tho flowor IhuIh are colbuded and put into Halt and vinegar. See I'atont Offico ileport, 1855, j». Ii85, for a brief noti(!0 of tho cultivation and preparation, in tho Southern StatoH wo havo tlio C. Jcnnaicencis, hu-y, and 6'. ajno' phallopl^ra, L., growing in Houth Florida. It Ih poHHiblo that they may be uH(Mi an Hul)stituteH for the foreign caper. VIOLACE.T^]. {The Violet Tribe.) Roots more or less emetic; a j)r()|)erty vvbicii prevails to a greater extent in the South American Hpecien, whi(!h are genor- aily loHH lierbac(!ouH. VIOLKT, {Viola pedafa, Mich.) Found in the u|»per din- trictH ; Hparingly in tlu; lower; liichland, li. (Jibbes. N. C Fl. May. U. S. I)iH|). 75:{; (iriflitb, Med. Hot. MO. The roots of nearly all the H])eci(!H of thin giMius jjokhoss a nuli'itive aiwl an emc^tic ])rinciplo, called violine, allied to that ol' ipecacuanha, but more uncertain in its operation. This is said to ro])laco tho European ])lant, and, according to Dr. Higelow, is valuabh* as an exi)ecto- rant and demulcent in pectoral allections. FIELD VIOLET, (Viola arveyisis, \). C.) Urinith, Med. Hot. 141. This and the V tricolor, of which it is a variety, liavo rocoivod considei-able attcuition from Euro- ])ean writers, especially tho Gorman. Strack made tliom the subject of a diHcussion in 1770, and since tlu^n the obsiu'vations of Metzer, Cloiiuet and others iiave shown that tlioy are j)os- 80 sessed of much efficacy in the treatment of cutaneous diseases, and especially of that obstinate and unpleasant eruption, crustea lactea. The fresh plant, or its juice, is to be used, as drying destroys its active qualities. Strack states that, when the remedy has been given for some time, the urine becomes ex- tremely fetid, smelling like that of the cat ; op. cit. supra. At^ tention is invited to it. See V. tricolor. WILD PANSY, HEARTSEASE, (^Viola tricolor, Linn.) Cul- tivated in gardens. N. C. Fl. May. Trous. et Pid. Traite de Thcrap. et de Mat. Med. ii, 15 ; U. S. Dis. 743 ; Le Mat. Med. ii, 453 ; Griffith 40 ; Thornton's Fam. Herb, 731. It was formerly considered a valuable remedy in epilepsy, ulcers and scirrhus. See Storck de V. tricolor, Er- lang. 1782. Metzer do crustea lactea infantum, ejusdem que remedio pra)mio coronavit. 1776. Lond. Med. Journal. A handful of the fresh, or one ounce and a half of the dried herb, was boiled in milk, which was taken twice a day ; bread soaked in this was also applied to the affected parts. It was much boasted of as a remed}- in the latter disease ; see Mer. and de L. and the Art. V. arvensis. Bergius, speaking of these two, says that half an ounce in twelve of water produces a consistent and valuable demulcent jelly. HAND-LEAVED VIOLET, ( Viola palmata, Linn.) Collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newborn. Fl. March. Ell. Bpt. 300, Med. Notes. The plant is very mucilaginous. It is employed by negroes for making soup, and is commonly called wild okra. The bruised leaves are^^ used as an emollient application. COMMON BLUE VIOLET, ( Viola cucullata, Ait.) Grows in damp pine lands; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charles- ton. N. C. Fl. May. This plant has been used for making soup during war times. To it may be added the wild okra, the dock and the lamb's quarter. Le. Mat. Med. i, 223. Probably possessed of similar proper- ties with the others ; a decoction is given to children in eruptive diseases. These plants might very conveniently be used in domestic practice, and I would invite attention to their further employment. 81 CYSTACE/E. {Rock Rose Family.) FROST WORT; FROST WEED OR ROSE, (Helianthemum canadense, Mx.) Fla. and N. C, and northward. Dr. Ives, of N. Haven, first recommended it in scrofula, and Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philada., informed Dr. Wood that he had used it with much apparent benefit as an internal remedy in scrofulous affections of the eye. In a pamphlet upon the Fi'Ost- weed by Dr. D. Tyler, published at N. Haven, 1846, it is stated that Ji. corymbosum possesses similar properties. He found both species useful in scrofula, diarrlxjea and secondary syphilis, and locally as a gargle in scarlatina, and a wash in prurigo. The plant has been used in the forms of powder, decoction, tincture and syrup; and may be given freely with impunity. Dr. Tyler, however, has known tlie strong decoction and the extract to produce vomiting. He considers two grains of the lattqj: as a full dose for an adult. The herb has an asti'ingent, slightly aromatic and bitterish taste, and appears to possess tonic and astringent properties. Dr. Wood says that attention has only been attracted recently to it as a medicine. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Dr. Parrish, in his Pract. Pharmacy, p. 231, furnishes a syrup of this plant which he says was much used by Dr. Isaac Par- rish in scrofulous affections of the eyes, and by others in diseases of the scrofulous type. Four ounces of the herb, sixteen ounces of sugar are boiled down with alcohol and water, till the liquid is reduced one-half; given in doses of a fluid drachm three times a day. DROSERACE^. (The Sim Dew Tribe.) Plants generally slightly acid ; acrid and poisonous to cattle. SUN DEW, {Drosera rotundifolia, Linn.) Grows in damp spots in the low country of South Carolina; Richland; col- lected in St. John's ; Newbern. Fl. June. Bull. Plantes Ven de France. Vicat mentions it as an active and corrosive plant ; the liquor which exudes from the hairs destroying warts, corns, etc. Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 334. M. Geoffroi asserts that it is a valuable pectoral, employed in ulcers of the lungs, asthma, etc.; the infusion being generally used. The juice has been recommended in dropsies, diseases of the G H2 kidneys, ophthalmins, etc. Mer. and dc L. Diet, do M. Mod. ii, ()i>(). Shoe, in liiH Flora ('arol. 519, eonfirniB the opinion in rotoroncc to tho corrosive ])roporty of tlio juice, and adds that, witli milk, it iurnislioH a safe a])plication for roniovin<^ Ireckles; any part of it will curdle milk. Kl. Scotica, 109. It is thought to be very injurious to sheep, |)roducing in them consumption or rot. M. Herlace alHrnis (Es([uiss. Hist. Bot. Aug.) that cattle avoid it on account of an insect (Hydra hydatula) which leeds on it. This plant is quite diminutive, and lias heretofore received voiy little attention. I see no mention made of it in our Am. Dispensatories. PASSIFL0EACE7R. (The Passion Flower Tribe.) MAY APPLKS ; MAY POPS; PASSION FLOWERS, {Passi- Jiora liitca and incarnata, L,) (jirovvs in ])astures, passim. Tlu^ IVuit of these beautiful clinibing plants, which should not be confounded with the wild Jalaj), {I^odopkijUuin,) sometimes calK'd may ap[)le and growing in rich woods, contains a sweetish, acid pill]), and is eatable. Several of tho species are employed in medicine; but these have received no attention, being more remarkable on account of tho structure of their flowers. One is quite diminutive. In some jDortions of South Carolina tho wood is used as greens and for making soup. In a paper in Richmond M. Journal, for July, 1867, Dr. I). L. Pharos, of Newtonia, Miss., n^-ommends the May jiop very highly as a remedy for tetanus. He states that in 1838, Dr. \V. B. Jiindsay, of La., had directed his attention to it, and tliat "he used it for thirty years with oxti'aordinary success in all cases of tetanus neonatorum." Dr. L. says it never stupefies, l)ut is serviceable in "all sorts of neuralgic affections. " He also em- ])loys tho aqueous extract of the root as an application for chancres, in irritable piles, for erysipelas and recent l)urns. The eulogy is couched in rather extravagant tox-ms. Tho author directs that tho loaves should bo gathered in May, or before forming fruit ; it is pounded and tho juice expressed through a strong cloth into shallow glass or porcelain dishes to dry as rapidly as possible in tho shade. When dry it is reduced to powdor in a mortar, bottled and closely corked. The dose of this powder is from one to four teaspoonsful, re])eated. F'or external use, the Avhole plant, including the root, may bo boiled 8:{ Ibr an hour, llic oxti-Jict tliUH oUtuiiicd l)oin«^ rurthor l)oiU'(l down to u proper consistonco. 1 may add tliat (Jriltith, in liis Mod. Hot., roCerH to tlio edihlo fruit ol" tho P. (/luiilnimjularis, or (jranadilla, and in speaking of the foroiji^n HpocioH ho says: "In a niodical point of view, thoy ai'o alwo of Homo interest, being poHHosHod of active (piali- tioH capable of fuHlling a variety of indications, though it should he noticed that our information in regard to them in iar from definite, 'fhe onl}' memoir on the subject, dosorving of notice, is that of Dr. liicord Madiana (Journ. do Pharm. xvi, and Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. 1,) on the P. (juadratuj. ; a decoction of the root of this he found to be poisonous, acting like a narcotic; he dis- covored in it a jx'culiar principle whicdi he aeWn passijiorine." Brown, in his Hist, of Jamaica, says a tin(^ture of the flowers of the P. nihra is used as a substitute for laudanum. 1Mie experience, therefore, of Dr. Pharos, with roforonce to our spe- cies, sTiould encourage others to test tluur value. IIYPKUICACK.K. (The Tatmn Trlhc.) The juice of many of the spe(!ics is sliglitly ])urgtttivc and febrifugal. S4\ J'KTEJi'S-AVOirr, {^/''linm. CruxAndrerv^, VV. ' ) A Key nan nmuicanu'., Mx. Collected in j)ine land soils ; St. Jidm's; vicinity of Charles- ton ; Newborn. Fl. July. The infusion of the bruised i-oot and branches of this ])lant was used by an Indian with success in the case of a female, under my observation, with an ulcerated breast, which had re- sisted all <)th(!r att(^mj)ts at relief. I have since seen it employed with entire satistiu^tion on the person of an infimt, having a painful enlargement of the sub-maxillary gland. No further op]»ortunity has boon afforded of ascertaining its properties with certainty; but it seems to be possessed of some ])Ower as a resolvent in discussing tumors, and reducing glandular en- largements; given internally and applied to])ically. The taste is somewhat acrid. 1 wtnild invite further examination. Soe Jlj/pericum perforatum. ST. TOTTN'S-WORT, (JLipcricum perforatum., L.) Sparingly naturalized in tho Southern States. S. and N. C. 84 It was gi'eatly in vogue at one time, and was thought to cure demoniacs. The decoction -svas also given in hysteria and suppressed menstruation. Thornton's Family Herbal, 67. The coloring matter gives a good dye to wool. The plant called St. John's- wort, which I think is Ascyrum cnixandrece, growing abundantly throughout our country, is pojjularly regarded as of great value, bruised and applied in the healing of wounds, and as a discutient. I have known a decoction of the whole plant used successfully as a local appli- cation in prurigo and in "camp itch," lamp oil being also applied alternately with it. I have used it with great satisfac- tion (1868) without the oil. Wilson states that its leaves and flowers are strongly resini- ferous or oleiferous, and emit a powerful odor when rubbed ; it bleeds under very slight compression or wounding, and imparts a blood-red color to any spirituous or oleaginous substance with which it is mixed, and was formerly supposed to possess the power of healing wounds, bruises and contusions. It is the Fuga Dcemonium, he adds, of old herbalists, and was held to influence conjurations and enchantments. It yields a good yellow dye to woven fabrics, from its flowers, and a good red dye from its leaves. The juice of the hypericums are often exceedingly similar to gamboge. Eural Cyc. The plant has a resinous odor, and Dr. Darlington says is believed to produce troublesome sores on horses and horned cattle, especially those which have white feet and noses. The dew which collects on the plant aj^pears to become acrid. Flora Cest. Farmers' Encyc. I found the same impression prevailing in Powhattan County, Va. There it is known to cause blindness in horses and troublesome sores on the legs, particularly in white horses with delicate skins. Dr. John Harvie, of Va., informs me that five of his w^ere made blind by this plant in one season They sometimes recover. The plant proves injurious b}' being eaten with hay, and it gets in contact with the skin or the eye when the animal is browsing. See Ascyrum cnixandrece. I find that Griffith also, in speaking of H. perforatum, says that it is ob- served to exercise " an injurious eff'ect on cattle by inflaming the skin wherever the skin is white, but he is inclined to attri- bute this to a species of Euphorbia growing with it." This opinion was entertained by some persons in Virginia. The ear- 85 lier writers attributed to tlie St. John's-wort great virtues as a febrifuge and anthehnintic. Id this country, adds Dr. Griffith, " it is only used to make an oil or ointment, which is said to be an excellent application in ulcers, the reduction of tumors, etc.; and from some trials with it, we are disposed to think favorably of it. It is made by infusing the flowers in oil or lard until these substances are tinged of a red color. The first of these preparations, though perfectly fluid at first, has a tendency to solidify when kept." It is observed by Cullen, in his Mat. JVIed. 173, " we should not be so audacious as to neglect it, for by the sensible qualities it appears active," "and there are manj^ well vouched testimonies of its virtues, particulai'ly of its diuretic pcnvers." Blair, in Am. Jour. Phar. ii, 23, says its active con- stituents appear to be an acrid, resinous substance in the whole plant, a red oil furnished by the glands on the petals and some tannin. A tincture of the flowers and leaves are used in stom- ach complaints. M. Dussauco, in his Treatise on Tanning, 1867, says tjiat the flowers and flower tops may be used for tanning leather. PI:N^E WEED; ORANGE GKASS, {Hypericum sarothrn, Mich,, T. and G. Sarothra gentiajioides Linn, and Ell. Sk.) Grows in dry pastures; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 226 ; Journal de Med. Ixxx, 360. It is employed as an aperient in inflammatory affec- tions. ACEEACE.E. (The Sycamore Tribe.)' RED MAPLE, (Ace)- rubrum, Linn.) Diffused. Shec. Flora Carol. 80. The wood is much used in the manu- facture of Windsor chairs, gun-stocks, etc. ; the grain is some- times beautifully curled. In a communication received from J. Douglass, M. D., of Chester District, S. C, his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, states that the counti-y people consider a strong decoction of the bark, with white sugar, used as a wash, a safe and certain cure for ordinary ophthalmia. Some of the inhabi- tants of the Western States make sugar by boiling down the sap of the white maple, which, however, like that of the red maple, yields only half the proportion of sugar obtained from the juice of the sugar maple. Farmers Encyc. 86 M. DuHHiiuco ill liiH " Complete Treatise on the art of Tan- ning, " etc., 1867, Htates that the nap or juices of 'maple, beech and oak " furnish tannin. SUGAR MAPLE, {Acer saccharinum, Linn.) Var. Florida- mtm, found in Houtli Florida. Chap. Dittusod, but more abund- ant in the upper districts ; found sparingly at the head waters of Cooper Eivor, St. John's, JJerkeley ; Newbern, N. C. Fl. Feb. Shec. Flora Carol. 90. Pure flake manna has been dis(!ovored in this species. Sugar extracted from it is an article of trade; it is employed medicinally also. The wood is esteemed in the manufacture of saddle-trees. The grain of the wood is fine and close, and when polished it has a silky lustre. The timber of old trees is extensively used in, America for inlaying mahogany, and it possesses, in an eminent degree, the same kind of bird's-eye markings which distinguish the timber of the Norway ma|)le. The wood is heavy and strong, but not durable. The ashes are very rich in alkaline matter, and fur- nish a large proportion of the potash which is imported to Europe from New York and Boston, llural Cyc. I have seen the sugar maple boxed as low down as Middle Virginia, but have never heard of any sugar being made from the tree in States south of Virginia. Maple and sweet gum barks, with copperas, will dye a purple color; maple, red oak bark and cop- peras to fix it, will dye dove color ; niajile, with bark of black walnut, (Juglans nigra^) gives a brown color ; sweet gum, with copperas, yields a color nearly black. See, also, " Quercus, " '^ Ilopea," etc.' See Boussingault's Treatise, " Eural Economy, in its Relation to Chemistiy, Ph^'sics, " etc., p. 125, for valua- ble instruction on cultivation, production, etc., of sugjw from maple, beet, etc. ; also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines, article "Sugar, beet," etc. Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, article "Acer, " which the reader may consult, states that the sap of the maple also contains ammonia, and has, there- fore, all the conditions for forming the nigrogenous components of the branches, leaves and blossoms ; and in proportion as these parts of the tree are developed, it gradually loses its am- monia, and when they are completely formed it ceases to flow. Rural Cyc. Liebig discovered that ammonia was emitted from this juice when mixed with lime. The sugar crystalized spon- 87 taiiooiisly. The Amoricnii practice with the sui>;ar maple iw to boro two augor holes, threo-tbiii'tha of an inch in diamotor, and half an inch deeper than the bark, in an obliquely ascendinjij direction, on the south side of the tree, at the height of about eii;-hteen or twenty inches from the ii-ronnd, in February or JNlarch, while the snow is on the ground, and the cold is still in- tense, and to insert into the holes elder or sumac tubes, partial- ly laid open, eight or ten inches in length anil three-fourths of an inch in dianu^ter, conimunicating at the U>wer end M'ith troughs of two or three gallons in capacity, for the reception of the sap. b\)ur gallons are usually sutticient to yield ono pound of sugar; aiul eight to sixteen gallons are usually ob" tainetl in a season from a single tree — this nuist depend u]>on the locality. Op. cif. I insert the following from the Farmer's Encve. : "In a central situation, lying convenient tt) the trees from whii'h the sap is drawn, a shed i» constructed, called a sugar- camprwhich is destined to shelter the boilers and the ])er' ]>rocess. Fresh sap is adiled from time to time, and the heat is maintained till the liquid is re- 88 ducod to a syrup, after which it is left to cool, and thoi\ strained thi*ough a bhviiket, or other woollen stutY, to separate the re- maining impurities. " Some persons recommend leaving the syrup twelve hour.-* before boiling it for the last time ; others proceed with it im- mediately. In either case the boilers are only half filled, and by an active, steady heat the liquor is rapidly reduced to the proper consistency for being poured into the moulds. The evap- oration is known to have proceeded far enough when, upon rub- bing a drop of the syrup between the fingers, it is perceived to be granular. If it is in danger of boiling over, a bit of lard or of butter is thrown into it, which instantly calms the ebulli- tion. The molasses being drained off from the moulds, the sugar is no longer deliquescent, like the raw sugar of the West Indies. "Maple sugar manufactured in this way is lighter colored, in proportion to the care with which it is made, and the Judgment with which the evaporation is conducted. It is superior to the brown sugar of the colonies, at least to such as is generally used in the United States; its tasto is as pleasant, and it is as good for culinary purposes. When refined, it equals in beauty the finest sugar consumed in Kurope. It is made use of, how- ever, only in the districts where it is made, and there only in the countiy ; from prejudice or taste, imported sugar is used in all the small towns and in the inns. "The sap continues to tlow for six weeks; after which it be- comes less abundant, less rich in saccharine matter, and some- times even incapable of crvstalization. In this case it is con- sumed in the state of molasses, which is superior to that of the islands. At\er three or four days exposure to the sun, maplo sap is converted into vinegar, by the acetous fermentation. The amount of sugar manufactured in a year varies from dif- ferent causes. A cold and dry winter renders the trees more productive than a changeable and huniid season. It is observed that Avhen a frosty night is followed by a dry and brilliant day the sap fiows abundantly ; and two or three gallons are some- times yielded by a single tree in twenty-four hours. Three persons are found sufficient to tend two hundred and fifYy trees, which give one thousand pounds of sugar, or four pounds from each tree. But this product is not uniform, for n\any farmers 89 on (luj Oliio do not (;o!iurioiily oMuiii inoi-o tluiii two ])Ound8 iVoin a truo. TreoH which grow in low and moint 2)laceH afford a greater (juaiility of nap than thoHc wliich occupy riHiiig grouiid.s, 1)11 1 it is li-ss ri(;h in tho saccharino principle. That of inHulat(!3 Anc. Journal do Med. Ixxvi, 53; Detharding, Diss, do Senega, 1749; C. Linn. Diss, upon the Koot of the Senega, Argentorati, 1750; Kielhon, Diss. Frankfort, 1765; Helminth, at Edinbui'gh, 1782; G. Folchi, "Eech. chimico — Therap. sur la racine du polygala du Virginie. " In pneumonia, after bleeding, and in the tyjihoid stage, it is one of our best remedies for promoting expectoration; at an earlier period it is too stimulating. Much use is made of it on the plantations in South Carolina for this purpose. According to Dr. Bree, it is eminently iiseful in the asthma of old people, and in the latter stages of croup. It has been employed successfully in chronic rheumatism, and Dr. Chapman also found it very efficacious in recent cases of amen- orrhea. Frost's Elems. 258; Griffith's Med. Bot. 225; Archer's Med. and Phys. Journal, i, 83 ; Brecon Asthma, 258; Massie's Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1803; Thacher's Disp. 319; N. Eng. Journal, vii, 206. In croup, it is often given in the foi-m of hive syrup; the best form, however, is a decoction made by boiling one ounce of the root in one pint and a half of water, till it is reduced to a pint, the dose of which is a tablespoonful ; thirty grains of the powdered root may be given in substance. This plant is em- ployed by the steam practitioners. See Howard's Syst. of Bot. Med. 343. BLOOD EED POLYGALA, {Polygala sanguinea, L. Nutt.) Grows in flat, pine lands; abundantly near Purysburg; sent to me from Abbeville by Mr. Reed ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. North Carolina. Fl. June. Lind. Nat. Syss. Bot. 86; Barton's Med. Bot. ii, 17. A stimu- lating diaphoretic, similar, it is supposed, in properties to the above. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 424 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 225. Polygala paucifolia, Willd. Grows in the mountains of South and North Carolina. Fl. August. Griffith, Med. Bot. 227. Rafinesque, in his Med. Flora, says it is possessed of active properties ; the root having a sweet, pungent, aromatic taste, similar to that of the -winter green {Gaultheria proeumb.;') he thinks it milder than the P. senega, and, therefore, adapted to cases in which that is inapplicable. Griffith does not agi'ce with him, attributing to it merely tonic and bitter properties. 94 Polygala rubella, Willd. Pblygama, "Walter. Vicinity of Charleston. The whole plant is officinal. In small doses it is tonic, in larger, laxative and diaphoretic. The infusion of the dried plant has been usually employed to impart tone to the digestive organs. (Bigelow.) It appears, adds Dr. Wood, to be closely analagous in medical virtues to the Polygala amara. of Europe, which is used for a similar purpose. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. The fresh root of P. lutea, yellow bachelor's button, growing throughout the Southern States, emits a taste similar to that of the Gaultheria. Krameria lanceolata, Ton: S. Fla. It is highly probable that this might be used as a substitute for the officinal Ehatany which is such an excellent astringent. Griffith. CEDEELACE.E. {Mahogany Tribe.) MAHOGANY, (Swietenia inahagoni, L.) South Florida. Chap. So. Flora. This tree is cut down in August. See description of method pursued in Honduras, Wilson's Rural Cyc. The uses of the wood are so well known as to need no further description. The bark which has the properties of the S. febrifuga, which is employed in the East in intermittent fever in doses of thirty grains, may, it is said, be used as Peruvian bark. I do not know that the tree is " exploited " in Florida. LINACE.E. {The Flax Tribe.) FLAX, L. {Linum usitatissimmn.) Cultivated in the Southern States. It is cultivated here jDrettj^ much on account of the seeds, which are well known for their valuable demulcent properties, and for the linseed oil Avhich the}^ affoi'd. Immediate attention should be paid to raising on a very much larger scale both this plant, the mustard and the castor oil. Flax matures well in this latitude. For much useful information in reference to the economical application of this plant, see Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Sup. 1846, 435. f>5 Among the thread plants may be mentioned Eamie Flax, {Linum usitatissimuvi,) 'Peromnal Flax, {Linum perenne,) Hemp (Cannabis sativa,) Virginian Sillc, (Asclepias syriaca,) Common nettle, ( Urtica dioica,) and the Kosebay willow herb, (Epilohium angus- tifolium.) The three latter are all found growing wild in South Carolina. The Asclepias was planted for the purpose in Ger- many, but is an imperfect substitute for hemp or flax. See A syriaca in this volume. The stem of the hop has also been used for the production of thread. They require further examina- tion. See Thaer's work, "Principles of Agriculture, " p. 461. Hemp seeds also yield oil. The best drying oils, Chaptal states ('"Chemistry applied to Agriculture, " p. 145,) are those of flaxseed, nuts and poppies. Linseed oil will dissolve at boiling temperature one-quarter of its weight of that oxide known in commerce by the name of litharge. It becomes brown in proportion as the oxide is dis- solved ; tvhen saturated with the oxide it thickens by cooling, and it is necessary to render it liquid by heat at the time of using it. Linseed oil saturated with the oxide and applied with a brush to any substance, hardens readily and forms a coating impervious by water, and much resembles gum elastic; linen or silk prepared with it is flexible without being adhesive. A ce- ment of this oil, pi-epared with the oxide and mixed with the refuse or broken fragments of porcelain or well baked potter's ware, is used with great success in uniting the tiles upon roofs, and in cisterns and reservoirs. To form this cement the pul- verized fragments are thoroughly incorporated with the heated oil, and applied by the trowel while in that state. When linseed oil is to be used in painting, one-twentieth, or, at the most, one- tenth of litharge is sufficient to render it drying. With linseed oil and common glue, a water-proof material is made, which may prove of great use in preparing garments for soldiers. Immerse common glue in cold water until it becomes perfectly soft, but yet retaining its original form; after which it is to be dissolved in common i-aw linseed oil, assisted by a gentle heat, until it becomes entirely taken up by the latter ; after which it may be applied to substances for adhesion to each other, in the way common glue is usually applied. It dries al- most immediately, and water will exei't no action upon it. It has more tenacity than common glue, and becomes impervious to water. It may be used also for furniture, and two layers of cloth may be glued together to form a water-proof garment. Glue dissolved in vinegar also makes a very tenacious substance in place of the prepared glues. See plates of machinery for pressing linseed and other oils, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, article "Oils;" also Wilson's Eural Cyc, articles "Flax" and "Lin- seed." The processes are described, with plates. Those inter- ested may find there a full statement of the method of gathering, planting, uses, etc. See, also, " Olea," in this work. Flaxseed intended for planting should not be gathered too quickly. It is sown early in the spring. If raised merely for the seed, it is harvested and threshed like other grain. But when the stalk is used, it is pulled up by a machine as soon as the seed begins to ripen, and bound in small bundles, the seed stripped off by a machine, and the stalks spread out and dew rotted ; it is then sold to the hemp makers for seven or eight dollars per ton. The farmer sells the crop at one dollar per bushel for the seed, which is sent to the oil-mill. Popular Essays on the cultivation of Flaxseed and Castor Oil Beans have been published, 1868, by the St. Louis " Lead and Oil Company." Barnum «& Brothei-, of St. Louis, furnish ma- chiner}'. They say that " farmers can undertake their culture with an almost absolute certainty of obtaining high prices, and of being richly rcAvarded for their labor," and that their cultiva- tion in the Southern States may be made more remunerative than in the Northern States, where, as in that of New York particularly, they have been profitably cultivated for j^ears. On account of the importance of the subject, I introduce the follow- ing from the pamphlet : " Millions are annually paid to foreign nations for flaxseed (or linseed) and castor beans, and for the oil pi'essed from them. It is strange that this country should be the importer of articles which can be so easily produced by our own peoj)le, and which are so perfectly adapted to our soil and climate. We might, with the same propriety, neglect to raise enough wheat or corn for our own consumption, and thus be compelled to depend upon foreign nations for our suppl}^ of these articles ; for we maintain that these crops can be raised at a greater average profit than wheat or corn. "The cultivation of flaxseed is as simple as that of any crop 97 we have. It requires no more labor to raiHe and harvest a crop of it than it does to raise and harvest a crop of oats, barley or wheat. It is less exhausting to the soil than a crop of wheat. The use of mowers in harvesting, leaving the roots in the ground, prevents the crop from being an exhausting one. Flax is a very quick crop. The producer can receive his money within three months after sowing. The following directions, if followed, will enable any farmer to raise a large crop of strictly prime seed : " Selection of Soil. — Almost any dry, rolling, moderately rich land will produce good seed. It is generally thought that flax- seed should be sown on moist, rich land, such as our creek and river bottoms. This opinion prevails because the straw of flax grows more luxuriantly on such land. The best seed, i. e., rich- est in oleaginous matter, is produced upon rather dry, rolling and only moderately fertile soil. The stalks are shorter, branch more, and the bolls fill better. A better quality of seed is also obtaiired in a dry season than in a wet one, i. e., the seed con- tains a better per cent, of oil. The straw does not grow so rank, and the bolls fill with larger, richer seed. "Preparation of the Soil. — The soil should be put in the finest possible tilth for the reception of the seed. One good, deep plowing, and several harrowings, so as to make the surface fine and smooth, will answer. But it is better, when it can be done, to plow the ground deeply in the fall, exposing the sub-soil to the action of the frosts and the atmosphere. In the spring, cross plow the land, and harrow as before recommended. One thing must always be borne in mind in preparing land for flaxseed, and that is, the land must not be worked when wet. If it is, it will be lump}'^, sticky, and in bad condition for a crop. When the soil is dry, it pulverizes freely, and no such consequences follow. It is desirable to have a heavy roller drawn over the field, to crush and thoroughly pulverize any lumps or clods that may be on the surface. The whole cultivation of the crop, and the yield therefrom, depends upon putting the land in proper condition for the seed. A little 6xtra labor and care in this re- spect will yield a rich return. If the sub-soil is a retentive clay, it is better to plow the ground in back furrows or lands, eighteen or twenty feet wide, leaving the furrows between the lands open 7 !>K lor tin; ))iiHHUf4,' a very slight covering is reipiiivd. A h(^avy rain, imnie- diat,(dy a("tei- (he needing, will cover the need suHiciently ; oi', drawing a luuivy roller over the ground will answ(^i- (he name ])urp()se. But, in (hesc^ cases, (he S(nl must have been made viiry mellow and fine belbre sowing the seed. " Quantity of Sixd per Acrr,. — Not, ov<'r liulf ii I)iihIi(^I \H'y ii<;n;, in juiy ciiHo, Hlioiild l)(! Kovvii. \^y iJiiii Howiii/^ tlic hIuIUk will \h'. HtroM^t con- tain within fifteen or twcMity per cent. th(! amount ol' oil that HCcd will when raiwed by thin Mowing. ^^ Flaxaacd with liarUnj. — FlaxHcjod may be ruiscid with Hj)ring barl(!y with the; moHt Hatinfactory rciHultH. A yield ban becMi obtained, varying in difl'ei-ent years, from ten to fifteen buHhelH of f1axMee7 2 50 2 00 The highest prices for the lour years averaging $2 71, and the lowest $2 11 per bushel. The fibre, when properly rotted and broken, is saleable in large quantities in the princi])al cities, at from eight to twelve cents per pound." The reader interested in the ])reparation and cleaning of the fibres flf textile plants, will find a pai)er upon the subject, con- densed from the Singjipore Free Press, in the P. Office Rep. 1854, p. 174. A description of the simplest and most economi- cal modes of cleaning them is given. The Plantain, Agave and Aloe are planted in India, and the fibre exported for twine, paper, etc., bringing from sixty to two hundred dollars j)er ton. I do not know that those plants are used in our West India islands or in Florida for these purposes. The oi-dinary mill used in pressing sugar cane can bo used in cleaning tin; fibre. See article cited, and "IJamie" in this volume. Wilson's Rural Cyc, article " Bleaching," furnishes a practi- cal explanation of the methods of bleaching flax, hc^mp, etc. See, also, Ure's Dictionary. The wild flax (L. Virginianum, L.) grows in Florida and northward. MALVACB.;E. (The Mallow Tribe.) They abound in mucilage, and are totally destitute of all un- wholesome qualities. LOW MALLOWS, (Malva rotundifolia, L.) Natiii-alizcnl ; grows around buildings ; Richland ; vicinity of Charleston ; N. (J. Fl. June. U. S. Disp. 444. A substitute for J/, .sylvcstris, which possesses valuable demulcent pi-operties. Woodv. Med. JJot. 554, torn. 102 197. It is very emolliont, and is employed in catarrhal, dysen- teric and nephritic diseases, and wherever a mucilaginous fluid is required. It is administered in the shape of emollient enemata, and it forms a good suppurative or relaxing cataplasm in external inflammations. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 207. It was highl}' regarded by the ancients. " Pythagore regardait leur usage comme propre a favoriser I'exereise de la pensee!" Hippocrates employed it as we do, for gargles and coUj'ria, as an application to heated and'inflamed parts, as a vehicle for pectoral and anodyne medicines, and for those administered in diseases of the urinarj'' passages. The root, seeds and whole plant are mucilaginous, and are employed in catarrhal, dysenteric and nephritic complaints as an emollient injection, and w^herever an emollient substance is required. U. S. Disp. I have seen it collected in Chai'leston for these purposes. INDIAN MALLOWS; VELVET LEAF, (Abutilon Avi- cennce, Gaartn., T. and G.) (Sida abutilon, Linn, and Ell. Sk.) Grows at Gran by, in Richland District, and in Georgia; vicinity of Charleston. Bach. Newbern. Fl. July. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 96 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 338. The plant is said to be cultivated in China as a substitute for hemp. The flowers are employed as an ingredient in emol- lient applications. Abutilon and Sida. Species of these two genera have been used in medicine. S. abutilon is cultivated in India for the fibre, and somewhat extensively introduced into field culture in Italy- See Rural Cyc, Chap. So. Flora. Our Abntilons should be ex- amined ; several grow in South Carolina and Florida. They all furnish mucilage and may be used as substitutes for the Marsh mallow. MARSH MALLOW, (Hibiscus Moscheutos, L.) Collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbem. Bergius, M. Med. ii, 629. This also is possessed of demulcent properties; a convenient substitute for the above. OKRA, (Hibiscus esculentus.) Introduced from Africa. The fruit and pods aftbrd the well known valuable vegetable 80 largely used in the Southern States in combination with tomatoes in making soup. It is very mucilaginous, and, in- fiiMod in waLcu", Ibrius a suiLiiblo vehicle for iixediciiicH prescribed in diseascH of the mucous passai^es, for eneiuata, etc. The leaves are sometimes employed for preparing emollient poultices. The roots are said to abound in mucilage, of which they yield twice as much as the Althtua root, free from any unpleasant odor. Their powder is perfectly white and superior also to that of the Marsh mallow. See Am. J. Pharm., May, 1860, U. S. Dis., 12th Ed. The parched seeds aftbrd a tolerably good substitute for coffee ; the difference can with difficulty be detected. It has for some time been used for this purpose among the negroes on the plantations of South Carolina. This well-known vegetable contains an enormous amount of albumen — so much, that Chaptal says that in St. Domingo it is employed in clarifying liquors. In Guadeloupe and Martinique they use the bark of the slippery elm for this purpose as white of Ggg elsewhere. It would be a matter of imi)ortance to as- certain whether or not vegetable albumen would be useful in clarifying sugar. In employing albumen for clarifying fluids the following method is adopted, according to the writer just mentioned. I would refer the reader also to Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures. The albumen, generally white of egg, is diluted with water, and then mixed with the liquid which is to be clarified ; the whole is then heated to 65° or 70° Fahr., and stirred carefully so as to distribute the albumen equally among all its particles; by increasing the heat the albumen is made to coagulate, when it rises to the top of the vessel, carrying with it all the particles which render the liquid turbid or cloudy; the thick foam which this produces, when cooled, may be taken off with a skimmer, and the liquid be afterward filtrated, ta remove any remaining particles from it. The same writer says that animal albumen, mixed with quick-lime, finely powdered and spread upon strips of linen, ntakes an excellent lute, to be ap- plied over the joints of vessels for distilling, to prevent loss of gas or vapor. The Bene, (Sesamum indicum,') is another plant cultivated on our plantations, which has a very large amount of mucilage. The okra plant has been recommended to be planted for the fibre as a textile substance. Even the cotton plant, if not al- lowed to come to maturity, and planted closer, like flax and. hemp, might furnish an inner bark suitable for twine or cloth. 104 Tlu> nottlo, {I'rticd dioica,) the Aj)oci/nu)ii ctunuihinum, ntul several spooios ot" Ast'lopias, or silk woihI, may, by improvod cultiva- tion, ijivo a usoliil tibro; see index. Dr. G. C 8baotVor, the author of a paper in P. O. Rep., 373, 1869, on "Vegetable tibro," states that the tibro of the silk or milk-weed (^4. cornuti) "was nearly if not quite as strong as the hoinp." In this article the mode of pn>paring textile tibres is treated of, and also the best materials for paper making. A curious work, by Dr. J. C. Shaotfer, 17(i5, is referred to, in which experiments wore long since performed upon innumerable substances suited to the making of paper. The latest work of consequence has been published by L. Piette, 1838. Piotte gives specimens of good, strong, white paper made from straw. Paper in the Ignited States was also made from wood, sawdust and shavings, in 1828 and 1830. The bai'k of the linden is used in Prussia. (See T^lia.^ The palmetto, agave and yucca of the South furnish a long tibro. When necessary, the intercellular substance may be dissolved out by strong alkalies by the lye from the ashes of plants, etc. For material tor paper making see " Cotton" and " Esparto " Grass. lire's l)ictit)nary of Arts may be consulted with rotoronoo to machinery, etc. COTTON, (Gossypium herbaceum, Linn.) A native of tropical America. The long staple, including the varieties of sea island, black seed and mains, grow best in the K)wor <'ountry, and the short, or green seed, in the upper dis- tricts. Proscott states that the Spaniards found it in Mexico. See "Conquest of Mexico." It was tirst jjlanted in the United. States as an experiment in 1621. It was known in South Caro- lina by a paper which refers to it, dated UUU5. but only seven bags were exported in 1748. Mer and do L. Diet, do M. M(>«i. Supplem. 1846. This was the plant known to the ancients as the Byssus of old writers. Herodotus, t. iii, 134, of Durgor's Ed. ; Chateaubriand, Journal to Jerusalem, 1777. See Revue Medicale, Feb. 1845, 225, for Observations on the Employment of the Cotton Fibre in Dress- ing Wounds; Ann de Chimie, 427, 1845; Binol's Letters on the Cultivation of Cotton in India; C. Delasterie on the G. her- baeea and its Cultivation, Paris, 1808; Lessier sur la Culture du Coton en Franco ; Gerspach, Considerations sur rintluonce des 105 filaturcH du Colon Hur la Hante des ouvrierH, Paris, 1827; Obs. on the Employment ol" Cotton in the Treatment of BlisterH, 18:^0; Srmie JieflectionH by F. T. Saint Ililaire on Woundn, and their Treatment with Cotton, (in French,) Montp. 1830; Hicand, ObH. on the Employment of the Cotton Fibre in Surgery and a Memoir on the different Species cultivated in Naples, op. cit. sup.; Griffith, Med. Bot. 168; Dr. MacFayden (Fl. Jamaica) considers the species only as varieties. Humboldt saw them growing in Central America at an elevation of nine thousand feet. The flowers are emollient like mallows and used for similar purposes; the roots are used in India in diseases of the urinary organs. See Anslie. In Brazil, a decoction of the leaves steeped in vinegar is said to relieve hemicrania. Ac- cording to Martin the seeds, which afford much oil, are emol- lient and are employed in emulsions, injections and diseases of the mucous passages. The oil is afforded by the seeds in suf- ficiently large quantities to be exported. It might be made a useful Article on the plantations, as it does not deprive the seeds of their valuable properties as a manure. When boiled, they furnish an excellent food for cattle, but are poisonous to hogs when eaten in the raw state. Much use is made of the roots in South Carolina in the treatment of asthma — a decoc- tion being employed. It appears to have, moreover, a specific action on the uterine organs. I)r. Ready, of Edgefield District, informs me (1849) that his attention was called to its emmon- agogue properties by an article which appeared in a journal published some years since. (New Orleans Med. Journal.) He has since used it in suppression of the menses, but more par- ticularly in many cases of flooding, with entire success. It seems to produce as active contractions of the uterus as ergot itself. Four ounces of the root or inner bark of the root are in- fused in one pint of boiling water, of which from three to four ounces are taken internally every fifteen minutes. More ex- tended experiments with this remarkable plant, in cases of this description, might furnish very valuable results, and I would invite particular attention to it. Since the appearance of the first edition of this work many articles have been published in the medical journals on the use of the cotton root as an em- menagoguo and parturifacient. Dr. Wood in the 12th Ed. U. S. Disp., 1866, says that the root km; of the cotton plant has been employed by Dr. Bouehelle, of Mississippi, who believes it to be an excellent emmenagogue and not inferior to ergot in promoting uterine contractions. He states that it is habitually and oftectually resorted to by the slaves of the South for producing abortion ; and thinks that it acts in this way without injury to the general health. To as- sist labor he employs a decoction made by boiling four ounces of the inner bark of the root in a quart of water to a pint, and gives a wineglassful every twenty or thirty minutes. (West. Journ. Med. and Surg. Aug. 1840.) Dr. T. J. Shaw, of Ten- nessee, thinks it superior in the treatment of amenorrhoea to any other agent, and equal to ergot as a parturient, while at- tended with less danger. He uses a tincture made by ma- cerating eight ounces of the dried bark of the root in two pounds of diluted alcohol for two weeks, and gives a drachm three or four times a day. (Nashville Journ. Med. and Surg. 1855.) See U. S. Disp. See, also, Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 568 ; Med. and Surg. Journal, xiii, 215 ; U. S. Disp. 357 ; Lond. Med. Gazette, Nov. 8, 1839; West. Journal Med. and Surg. 1840; Royle, Illust. 84 and Mat. Med. 288 ; Mer. and de L. Diet de M. Med. iii, 409 ; Marcgrave's Brazil, 60; Diet, des Sc. Nat. xxxiv, 15. Dr. Bates, Journal of Mat. Medica, May, 1867, furnishes a paper on the medical uses of the plant. The fibre of our great staple is ajiplicable to many purposes in surgery, in dressing burns, preserving the temperature of the extremities in depressed conditions of the system, and also for stuffing and padding in the application of fracture boxes; but it is not, as has been confidently stated, a* substitute for lint in any sense of the term. On account of the oil which it contains, it cannot absorb pus or liquids from wounds, unless it has been previously prepared. This, indeed, is a peculiarity of cotton fibre in its natural state ; water or fluids will roll from it ; the slightest experience or observation would convince any one of this ; and yet it has been extensively distributed as a substance for dressing wounds, which it only tends to render hotter and more inflamed. The plant has also been highly recommended as a substitute for quinine in intermittent fever. I will refer the reader to some of the later volumes of the Charleston Med. Journal and Eeview. It has been used with great confidence by many per- . 1(»7 sons throughout the South and West. See, also, a paper by Dr. Cabell, in the Va. Med. Journal, vol. H. Prof. II. II. Frost, (Charleston Med. Journal, May, 1850,) quotes Dr. W. 11. Davis, of Fairfield Distriet, S. C, who reports that it was used as an anti-periodic agent. A pint of the seeds is boiled in a quart of water to a y)int, and a teacupful of the decoction is given an hour or two before the return of the chill. I introduce the fol- lowing slip from a newspaper (1802) in default of more precise information from the medical authorities who have used it. H. D. Brown, of Copiah County, Mississippi, communicates the following notice of the use of the cotton seed tea as a sub- stitute for quinine : "I beg to make public the following certain and thoroughly tried cure for ague and fever: One pint of cotton seed, two pints of water boiled down to one of tea, taken warm one hour before the expected attack. Many })ersons will doubtless laugh at this simple remedy, but I have tried it effectually, and unhesitatingly say it f« better than quinine, and could I obtain the latter article gratuitously, I would infinitely prefer the cotton seed tea. It will not only cure invariably, but permanently, and it is not at all unpleasant to the taste." Collodion, a solution of gun cotton in ether and alcohol, has been extensively employed in surgical cases, as a covering for wounds, to keep out the air and to assist in the approxima- tion of the edges. It has also been employed in various eruptive diseases, in erysipelas, in burns, in the cure of excoriations and fissures of the nipple, in na'-vus, etc. See medical works. I am informed by planters in South Carolina that they use habitually a decoction of the cotton seed in place of flaxseed, and wherever a mucilaginous tea is required. If it serves fully the pui-jjoses of flaxseed, the fact is highly important, and it should be largely used. The seeds of the black seed cotton, parched and ground, are considered by many as one of the best substitutes for coflf'ee, both in smell and taste. In a paper by G. C. Shaeffer, on the cotton fibre, Patent Office Report, Agriculture, 1854, p, 181, he says: "Still, in the present scarcity of paper making material, it may be well to look to the bark of the cotton plant as a partial supply for the common kinds of paper. Fermentation, or any of the known methods of separating the wood, may be em- lOS pK\V0(l.' It' tho i'(>lU)n is ijsvtlioroil. iho y\:\n\ has Ihoii botMino too womly. SvH», iilsi>, (>ki'u. {lllhisi'us <\^i'ul('iitus.) TownsiMul (Jlovor. ontomolog'st, employed by tho Patont OtHoo, ilosoribos tho divsoasos ijioidont to the cotton phuit in his siu'oossivo papers, in the vi>hnnos of the P. O. Report for lSr>;>-'7, "Oi\ the Inseets trequentiiij; the (''otti>n Phiiit." These pupers I'lMiiain a i;ood ileal ot' intorniiition ou t he eharacter and habits not only ot* inseets int'esting eotton, but many otlier plants, with illustrations on wood, lie deseribes the rust, rot and blii;ht. and ile\ ises methods lor preventing; their spread. The Kny;lish use eotton ilipped in a solution of saltpeter as a moxa ; see '• Ilditintfnts." "(Jun cotton " is aUso a well known explosive ajjent, prepareil by means ot' nitric acid. Or. \Yood. in his notes to the I2th Kd. V. 8. Oisp., IStUi, quotes some interesting tacts t'ri»m a paper by Mr. \Vm. II. AVeathet-by. who resided at the South. (^See Am. J. Pharm., May, ISltl.) He states that the oil is obtained by expression ft\)m the seeds, piwiously deprived o\' their shells. In this state they yield two i^allons ot oil to the bushel. Resides the cruile oil, there are three varieties in the shops at the South more or less puritieii, recoijnizoil as the cl liabU; to injure the animals. It bring** a high pri*^;*; in Eng- land. Millt^ for the preparation of the eake ha%e been es^tab- liHhed in Uhode Inland. Strange that nothing of the kind Imn exi*iU'A at the S^^uth where the Heed can be hfj easily obtained. The great value of the K<;ed a« a manure may nfj-jmut in part for the indifferent;!^} of the planter. The H<;ed Jia« bea»*H';d for dres*^ ing leather and lubricating ma^;hinery, and an an illuminator affords a clear and brilliant light" — an fsofxl as Hji^^rmaceti when refined. Bee, al»^^, a paper on cotton H^;ed oil. .S^juthem Cultiva- t^^r, p. iii, vol. 3. Jle htateh that there are thirty buhhelw of Wicd to every bale of eott^^n ; ea/'h bale will yield at lea>it fifu.-en gallons of crude oil and three hundred and sixty barrels of oil cake. " No difficulty existh in hulling, tempering, or expressing the oil," and the AwZ/^r of Follet and Smith, of Petersburg, is referred t^>; hulling at the rate of a basket of kerrjels in four or five rntnutes. The machinery employed in French Flanders for rape seed, answers perfectly for cotton W:red. Cotton >S'ee/i 0<7. — A good deal has l>een said of late in the Cincinnati and Xew Orleans papers on the subject of cotton seed oil and cake; and if the half of what is published shall turn out to be true, we have reached the beginning of a new era in the cotton culture, not unlike that which marked the invention of the cjMoti gin. Mr. William K. Frai^, of Cincin- nati, has invented and constructfj^l a colt/m w;ed hulier, which en- tirely separates the hull and the little lint that adheres to it from the meat part of the seed. The huller is said Ui be simple in construction, is made entirely of iron, and is easily kept in repair. It requires a two-horse power to drive it and two hands to tend it — one to feed the mill and one to remove the hulls from the w;reen. It will hull and screen one ton, or two thousand pounds per hour, ready for the press — fifty p<.'r cent, of which is kernels or the meats of the seed, from which forty gallons of oil may be obtained. This ma^;hine must be exceed- ingly valuable to prepare seed for all feeding purposes on the farm where no oil is expressed, as the hulls and lint are alto- gether undesirable as food. Hulls and cotton seed and cut straw, or corn stalks, boiled together iri large iron boilers, or steamed in big tubs or vats, will make a superior stock feed. But as a I III j;-alli)n of this oil is chonp :it :i dollar, and onoii^h sihmI to mako forty i;'allons oan ho HiiIUmI in an hour, it is tar hottoi- to t'ooil (ho oako atlor luosl ui' tho oil is lakoii out, stoainod with straw or stalks, than to {\\h\ (his pivrious oil (o livo sloi'k. Al'tor cotton 800ii is hullod, Ji good c-otton pross lor halini;- cloth will press txit most of tho oil in tho kornols. Porhaps thoy may rotpiiro hoatiuiif, as in prossinu; flaxsood. Tho art is very simplo. In- s(oad ol" soiuling ootton sooil to tiistaiU markots, whoro tho |>rodiioor will loso tho oako lor (oodinij; and as a I'oiMilizor, wo oarnosdy ro('on\inonii (o oatdi lai'i;-o )>lan(alii>n (^or whoro (hoir operations aro small, for sovoral to uni(o,) to purohaso a huUinfj; maohino, and, if nooossary, oonstrnt't or buy an t)il pross for lu>mo uso. Aoi'ordinn- to (ho data furnishod hv tho C^inoinnati operators, four (housand pounds oi' oommon oo((on sood will turn out lifty dollars wordi of i)il ; and ovory plantor knows that in oaso ho should wish to mix (ho hulls with tho oako in foodiiiii" it. or as amanuro, ho oan dosoalVor (ho oil is oxprossod. Tho oil is noarly valuoloss as a fortilizor, boinu; nodving hut carbon anil (ho olomoiKs o\' water, while in skilful liands it is worth Slime forty to lifty cents a gallon for making fat hogs, sheep, cows and stoors. but more for burning, and lubricating machinery. At this (imo wo wouUi gladly pny twenty dollars per one thousand pounds for cotton seed cake, to feed cattle, sheep and hi>gs. It is worth more than corn or wheat, pound for pound, to food mules and hogs on a cotton plantation. It con- tains more of tho muscle, sinew and bono lorming n\atter. It has loss stari'h than corn, but is a healthier food than either peas, beans, wheat or maize. If tho hulls wore in (he cake, the result would bo quite ditVoront. In tlaxseod cake tho hull of the seed is not renunod. It is owing to the richness of the clean meats oi' ootton sooil that straw, or coarse forage of some kind, slu>uld bo fed with the cake, except to hogs. t'onsoquont upon the increased amount of cotton raised in the Southern States, ami tho great bulk of tho sood, there had boon several establishments in operation before tho war for oconon^izing tho oil. AtonoinXew Orleans, driven by a thirty- tivo-horse power steampress. five huiulrod gallons of oil and (ivo tons of oil cake a day were jiroparod. It required I'or (ho dav's work, as is sta(ed in tho Southern Farmer and Planter, about til\oen tons of cotton seed to produce this amount of oil ari'l ciikc, (!iu;h ion of H(r(;(J yielding afjoiit forty ^allonn of oil and Hcvcn hundred or eight hundred jtoiindH of cake. The propri(jtor nhipped (jight hundred tons to England, where it waH HHcd hy the farrnorH, wlio arc extenHivc irnporterH of linHeed oil cake, ^riio r;otton Hccd cuke "iH highly OHt(;cmed for fattening cattle arid Hheep." In Mernphin, 'J'enri., it waH also made in very large '|iiuiil,itieH. 'IMie oil. njfined hy a Hccret process, i» made of two fjualiticH — "the hcHt used for illuminating and lu- hricating piirpoH(!H, as well an for cu/'rying leather, etc. The inferior is found to answer tlie puii^ose of soap making equal to palm oil, making Hoap of every quality, even to the most re fined toilet soap." (Jr^tton seed cake might be used as a sub- stitute to a C(;rtain extent for corn for fattening stock. "Cotton seed meal and corn meal, if applied directly to the hay that is fed in fattening animals, instiiad of the latter being fed alone and dry, and the corn unground, would add vastly to the profits of fattening. " Cotton seed cake sold at the mills for about tUfcsamo price that flaxseed cake sold for. lirowno, in his " Field Hook of Manures, " Now York, 185.S, says of the (!Otton seeds : " 'JMicy abound in a mild oil, and are accounted very nutritious (as manures) after the oil is expressed. A bushel of se(;d weighs thirty jiounds, and yields two and a half quarts of oil and twelve and a half j^ounds of fine meal. The oil cake is very brittle and breaks down much more readily than linseed oilcake. Its taste is not unpleasant, and it is stated that it can be employed with success in fattening stock, " In the Patent Office Jteport, 1855, p. 234, are some "Chem- ical Jlescarches on the Seed of the Cotton Plant," by Prof C, T. Jackson. Jn this article a patent is referred to as having been taken out by 1). W. Mesner for "separating the hulls from the cotton seeds," The yield of the unprepared and wooll}- seeds is very small, in comparison with what is obtained from those which have been hulled. Analysis are given of th<; oil, the seed, the cake, etc. Prof, Jackson says: ^^ Separation of the oil: In er bushel 'in gold. The finest quality of this cotton has com- nianded in market as high as seventy to ninety cents in gold before the war, and has sold during the present season at two dollars per lb. in currency. The most prominent selectors of this cotton, beginning with Mr. Kinsey Burden, are Joseph D. Edings, Josej^h J. Pope, Ephraim Seabrook, J. Jenkins Mikell, John F, Townsend, William G. Baynard, William Edings, Theodore Becket, Ephraim Clarke, Owens, Benjamin Godley, William Fripp — the two last confining themselves chiefly to selecting for more productive varieties. This plant requires, on the whole, a nicer cultivation than the uplands. Previous to emancipation the sea island fields were cultivated by "listing" down the old beds of the fallow land into the alleys. This was done exclusively with the hoe. Manures were applied either above or below this list, according to the fancy of the planter, the pressure of the manure in the field at time of "listing, or the character of the soil. This work being carefully done, the land was then bedded, or hilled up with the hoe, either with or without the plow, ac- cording to the wish of the planter, the strength of his laboring * Peter Gaillard on the Saiitee, in Berkeley Parish, S. C, carried the . culture of this cotton to perfection very soon after its introduction. His method has been published. 118 force or team. With the early and further crops, in the mean- time, it usually reqviired from the 1st to 15th February, up to 1st or 18th April, to complete the fields for planting, much of this time being consumed in hauling out and distributing ma- nures on the field. The most approved time of planting was from the 6th to 15th April. The distance in planting was from under one foot to three feet and over, on rows averaging five feet or less apart, accord- ing to strength of soil and manures applied. The plants along the rows range from under one foot to two feet and more, according to strength of soil and growth of cot- ton. The most approved plan of planting consisted of from five to six seeds to the hill. These plants were afterwards thinned down to one or two plants to the hill — the more careful and judicious planters leaving but one stalk. The first working after the plant gets up for eight days or more, is a nice hoeing, when the bunches of young plants "are slacked" by carefully drawing out a portion of the same. The next working is what is called a " hauUng," or hilling up to the cotton, when the plants are reduced to two or three in the hill. Another "hoeing" or "hauling" is then given, when the plants are reduced to a "stand," or the number of stalks deemed proper to the row. The crop is then hoed or hauled, according to condition of the field, to the end of the season, it being deemed advisable to have the two last workings, at least the last, done by " hauling." The plow, in the meantime, is used or not, as the preference of the planter or circumstances may require. These fields were formerly thoroughly and beau- tifully attended with the hoe alone, and checkered with narrow paths a quarter of an acre apart, presented the appearance of a well kept farm garden. The last working was given from the 5th to 20th July. The sea island planters enriched their lands with marsh cane, and usually made their own manures, consisting of composts made of salt weeds or marsh grass, salt muck, leaves, drifted "marsh sedge" or dead marsh grass, washed in heaps on the shores, mixed sparsely with cotton seed strewn on the different layers; the whole drenched with sea water and soiled by cattle, each layer being strewed over with salt muck until the bed was completed. Stable manures were freely used and the fields soiled by running over them shifting pens of cattle. 119 The green salt marsh was also freely used, being cut in the summer and fall for next year's use. This cotton is prepared for market by what is known as the McCarthy Gin, propelled either by steam or horse power. This gin is of more recent use A few years ago the whole sea island crop was ginned out on treddle roller gins. The cultivation now pursued with this variety approximates more nearly the upland method, and with a moderate use of the hoe, the recurrence to manures formerly practiced, and the free use of approved mercantile manures, it is confidently hoped that these once beautiful fields will again gladden our genial shores. See P. O. Eep., 1857, and Tuomey's Geol. of S. C. for analysis of cotton plant, fibre and soil, by Prof C. T. Jackson and C. W. Shepard. The germinating power of some seeds reaches from one to forty years ; that of the cotton may germinate after being kept three years. See paper on vitality of seeds, and then packing for transportation in P. O. Eep., 1857. OSAGE ORANGE ; Bois d'arc, (Madura aurantiaca ;) N. America. Not included by Chapman in his Flora of the Southern United States ; position irregular ; it is allied to the Mulberry morus. From the P. O. Report, 1848, is an article taken from the Prairie Farmer, by Prof J. B. Turner. He says that the osage orange, the favorite hedge plant of the United States, has already become too well known to need any particular description. It grows in the wilds of North America, in regions further north than New York and further south than the Carolinas. It is usually in this country from ten to fifteen feet in height, though, like the English thorn, it is said sometimes to attain in its native soil a height of fifty and even sixty feet. Its utility as a hedge plant is no longer an experiment. Hedges of the rarest beauty and excellence have been growing in Boston, Philadelphia and Cin- cinnati, in Kentucky, Tennessee and Northern Missouri ; and, in short, in all the Middle and Southern States. Some of these hedges have been standing for ten or twelve years; they were planted by gentlemen of wealth and taste around their favorite walks and grounds at a time when the plants sold at the rate of five dollars per thousand. Among all who have written on 120 the subject, no unfavorable account has come to my knowledge. Great losses have been incurred with the seed, as might be ex- pected, but the plant and hedge are universally admired and commended, and it is confidently believed by the best judges that it will double the real value of any farm it surrounds. Eecent writers enumerate thus its many advantages: First, its tenacity of life is scarcely equalled ; it is a native of the prairies and will grow on any soil where common prairie grass will grow. Overflowing the land does not harm it. It will live for weeks and months entirely under water. The dead wood is exceedingly hard and durable, and fresh shoots from the stumps soon supply the place of all which have been killed by fire or cutting. Second, its protection is perfect. It is armed with a very sharp, stout thoi-n under each leaf. Its dense iron branches soon become so interlocked, that no domestic animtiJ, and not even a common bird, can pass through it. Both its thorns and its acrid bitter juice prevent all animals from browsing or feeding on its branches. Its seed is like the orange, and its roots like the hickory, consequently it can never spread into the field, either from the seed or root, but keeps its own place, growing stronger and thicker year by year. It thus perfectly secures orchards, fruit j'ards, stables, sheepfolds and pasture grounds from all thieves, dogs, wolves, etc., and one good gate, well locked, makes a whole farm secure from all intruders of whatever description. It may be trained so high as to afford shelter to stock, and break off the rough prairie winds from all grounds needing such protection. Plants may also be prepared so that it can be set in the open prairie without fence with perfect success. See, also, in Patent Office Keport, 1854, p. 419, an article on the best mode of cultivating the osage orange for hedges, and the volume for 1855, p. 315, on ''Live fences." The insects which feed on it are described, viz: a "chinch-bug," and the mole known as the gopher in southern Illinois. In Illinois contractors set and tend the hedge at one dollar a mile, till a good fence is produced. The juice of the osage orange, says Wilson, is exceedingly abundant, and flows freely from incisions, and quickly separates into a feculant matter, and a supernatant, clear liquid. The wood is uncommonly fine and elastic, and is used by the American Indians for making their bows. It seems well adapted to many purposes of turners. It 121 18 said to equal fustic as a yellow dye stuff, and may be much more easily produced. Eural Cyclopoedia. The Cherokee rose forms a most valuable hedge plant. A writer praises highly the "cabbage tree." See, also, Crab apple, (Cratcegus,) and Wild Orange, (Cerasus Carolin.,) in this volume. TILIACEtE. {The Linden Tribe.) They all have a mucilaginous, wholesome juice. T TTiTT,! mTiT:^r< n K oa TT[Tr\r\r\ 1 TiUa Americana, Linn.. T. LIME TREE; BASS WOOD, ^^^^^ ^.^.^ ^/^^^.^^^ ^r^,,,^ and Ell. Sk. An ornamental tree, found in the mountaiirvallcys from Florida to North Carolina; Ncwbern. Ell. "Bot. 22. The bark, when macerated, forms a strong cordage, used for domestic purposes. The wood is white and soft, and is used by carriage and cabinet-makers. The inner bark of the European linden, (jT. Europea,) forms a strong cordage. Doubtless our American species are also thus distinguished. Mills, in his Statistics of S. C, states that the inner bark of the Tilia Americana, macerated in water, may be made into ropes and fishing nets, and is a good application to burns. The plants or branches may be steeped in water for three months, dried and stripped ; for every purpose of cordage on the plantation or garden, this material will be found useful. It forms throjughout England the material for " bass," and is used by the horticulturist. The flowers of our American Tilia, sent to me from Pendleton District, S. C, I find quite as useful as the imported " TiUeul,'' a material for quieting, anti-spasmodic teas, which I have repeatedly seen prescribeci in France. It is particularly grateful and soothing to lying-in women : quieting nervous excitement, and pleasant to the taste. I would particu- larly recommend a larger use of these flowers in the Southern States. It can be used wherever a tea is required. The above remarks apply to T. pubescens also, which is indigenous. The wood of the T. Americana is white and soft. In the Northern States, where the tulip poplar does not grow, it is used for carved woi'k for the panels of carriage bodies and the seats of Windsor chairs. It is, however, apt to split, and is not con- sidered equal to poplar for such and other useful purposes. IST. Am. Sylva. 122 " Honej'-dow " is ijjenorally found most abundant on the Lirao, Sycamore and Booch trees. I have noticed it on the Cotton plant, and at times it covers the leaves of the Potato, Rye, Wheat, etc. It is, by some, supposed to be connected with the potato disease, thouiijh it abounds in swampy places. He^-wood says " it is owing to an excess of carbon in the plants," which could only occur in dry weather, when the other ingredients could not be furnished for it to combine with. I insert here an ex- tract from the Analectic Mag., Thilad., 1815 : "My design in this essa}' is to give a brief statement of certain facts relative to the appearance of the honey-dew in Carolina, which appear to militate against the received theories of its formation ; together with a concise view of the opinions of ancient and modern writers Avith regard to this peculiar substance. '• The production of honey-ilew is influenced b}' the season of the year, evidently by the state of the atmosphere. In Carolina it most frequently appears in the month of May or June, during a long absence of rain, and after a succession of wann days, alternating with cool nights. Early in the morning it is found on the leaves of plants, grapes, etc., of the consistency of diluted hono}', transparent, and resembling in taste the syrup of refined sugar ; the viscidity of it increases with the heat of the sun ; and about ton or eleven o'clock it ceases to be fluid, giving to the leaves a shining and glossy appearance. Situations, also, appear to influence the production of the honey-dew. I have observed it in the greatest abundance near the margin of stag- nant marshes, ponds and savannahs. In the District of Marion, South Carolina, is a morass extending fifteen or sixteen miles in length, and one or two in breadth ; it contains no ti-ees of con- siderable magnitude, except the cypress and a few perennial shrubs, but abounds with annual succulent aquatic plants and grapes. Xear the edge of this morass, during the season and state of the atmosphere alluded to, the honey-dew is produced in such quantities as to moisten every shrub, and to cover the grass. Horses, which fei d at large in the vicinity of the morass, may be found at eight or nine o'clock in the morning with their manes and tails agglutinated to a mass with this substance. The particles of pine leaves and grasses carbonated by the fires 12'/, vthich HometimeH ravage exUjnwve tractw of country in March and April, are frequently ob»erved cemented with large maHMeH, and in HituationH whero, apj^arently, the honey-dew could not have droj>[M;d from overnhadowing treen. Swarrnn of becK in- habit alrnoHt every excavated tree; and from their honey the jK>or inhahitantH of thJH hlcrilc I'cgion dcrivo no inconhiderable wupport. " Fenega, in bin hiHtory of California, sayHthat Father Piccola ol>«erveH that in the rnonthw of April, May and June, there fallH with the dew a kind of manna, which bccomcH intipishatcd on the leaven of trecH. He adds that he tauten] it, and, though not 80 whit<} aH HUgar, it had all the Hweetncf»H of it." CAMELLIK.^-:. TFA FJ^ANT, (T/iea viridis.) The introduction of the Tea plant \x\U) the Bouthern States \h ho important that I will, at any rate, endeavor U) give all Huitable references to sourcen of infor- mation *>r;oncerning itH culture, preparation, etc. See a pretty full account of the hiHtory of its production in the United States in F. O. Report, 1855, p. 42. The best mode of growing the plant, drying and preparing the leaves, is also described. For some account of the experiment in the cultivation of foreign tea in South Carolina, by Dr. Junius Smith, see P. O. ii<;port, 1848, p. 108, and 1859, p. G. See, also, vol. for 1857, p. Un, for article on "Practicability of the Tea Culture in the United States," A description is given of the varieties of soil and climate a^Japted to the growth of tea, its cultivation and preparation, with a notice of the plants set out in Washington. This communication should be read by any one who proposes entering upon the business of raising tea plants ; also, vol. 1859, p. 5, et. .Herj., containing successful experiments in Brazil. See litjd-root. New Jersey tea tree, (Ceanothm Americanus,) as a substitute. Among our indigenous plants, the Gardenia, ( G . pufjescens and lasianthuH, growing from Florida to North Carolina,^ belong to "the same natural family, Camelliese, an the tea plant, and they should be experimented with. Our Linden true, ( Tili.a Ameri- cana j the flowers of which are used in making an anti-spas- modic tea, is closely related to Gardenia and Thea ; so the botanical relationship and the natural properties are again sub- 124 stantiated. See Tilia. It is said that a pleasant tea can be inade likewise from the Holly, (JLlex opaca.) The introduction of both coffee and tea into Brazil was at first very )w, biit was subsequently successful. A writer in the "Country Gentleman" makes this state- ment : "A few days ago 1 drank a cup of real American tea, from the Chinese tea plant, of which Dr. J. P. Barrett, near New Market, S. C, has a fine shrub, about four feet high, which has borne fruit during several years. By its side was a thrifty specimen of the Olea fragrans, or Chinese olive, with which the tea is scented." I have seen plants of the Then growing out in the open air, near Stateburg, South Carolina, which bore seeds abundantly and were verj' flourishing. The seeds, at first sweet to the taste, soon prove nauseous and pungent, to a great degree. It was some time before I recovered from their disagreeable effects. In the cultivation of the tea in China, "the lower slopes of the hills are preferred, at 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. In India, from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. The best description of soil for the tea ]>lantis a light loam, well mixed with sand, and en- riched with vegetable matter, moderately moist, but neither wet nor sour. Sloping or undulating land of this kind, on which good crops of millet or Indian corn may be produced, is likely to be suitable. Any aspect will do, but east or west is preferred. The tea plant will not flourish in a wet or stagnant soil. When produced from seeds, the tea plant first flowers in the second j^ear. The usual period of flowering is in November, and the seeds ripen the next autumn. The ground is prepared for planting by being dug or trenched in the usual ways. Manure is rarely used in tea culture in China; but where the land is poor, stable-litter and sewage of all kinds are sometimes applied indiscriminately, in moderate quantities, and a top dressing of rich loam is considered valuable. The best time to apply manure is in the spring, before the plants begin to grow, or during mild weather in winter. When the plant is about eighteen inches high the leading shoots are pinched off, and the shrub is forced to throw out laterals. Naturally, it has a ten- denc3- to grow tall and straggling, with few side shoots. * * * As the leaves used in making tea are produced yearly at the ends of the shoot';, the object of this system of treatment is ap- parent. A small crop of leaves may be gathered the thii-d year after ))huitiiig. In the eighth or tenth year, the product may be considered at its maximum. AI)Out ten pounds to an acre is produced in China the third year, sometimes three hun- dred pounds in the tenth year." Art. cit. sup. A valuable but lengthy article on the cultivation of this plant has recently (1866; appeared in the Southern Cultivator, a standard agricultural journal published in Athens, Ga., from which I make the following extracts: " In March, 1860, I received fifty plants from the Patent Office. I kept them in pots until February, 1861. They were then planted, out five feet each way in a loose, sandy soil. They grew off very finely; in April, 1862, I made a small quantity of tea, and from that time to the present (1866) I have supplied my family with five or six pounds of tea yearly from fifty plants. The largest amount of tea produced in China, is raised in the lands lying between twenty-eight and thirty-five north latitude. " That the plant will grow and flourish as well or even better (although an exotic) through the whole of the States bordering the Atlantic and Grulf, from North Carolina to Texas, I have not the least doubt. All the lands of Middle Georgia and the Carolinas, which are now considered of little value for corn or cotton, can be made available, and grow tea to great advantage. In Middle Georgia and other regions the cultivation of cotton will decrease from this time onward. The truth of this fact is patent to all observers. "As before stated, I planted out tea plants in 1861. At the present time (1866) they are from six to seven feet high, each plant covering a space of seven or eight feet in diameter — so interlocking that it is with difficulty you can get between them. To estimate the quantity which one acre of land planted in tea would make, I selected a medium sized plant, and collected the leaves from it. The yield was one-fourth of a pound of tea. The number of plants to an acre, standing five feet each Avay, is one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, which will make four hundred and forty-one pounds to the acre. Can we cul- tivate any plant that will compare with this? At fifty cents per pound it would make two hundred and twenty dollars per acre. Another very great advantage it has over all other crops is, that neither cold or heat, dry or wet, hail or winds, or insects 12(> injure it. Whoever heard of a failure of the tea crop of China or Japan ? Of the quality of the tea I have made, I can only say that connoisseurs have assured me that they prefer it to the imported. Age gives flavor to coftoe — so with tea. Some that is two years old I find higher flavored than that recently made." MELIACE^. {^The Bead Tree Tribe.) Bitter, astringent and tonic properties characterize the species of this order. Some of them are active and dangerous. PEIDE OF INDIA; CHINA BEERY; PRIDE OF AMERICA, (Melia Azedarach, Linn.) Nat.; diffused ; grows in the streets of Charleston and North Carolina. Fl. May. Chap. Thorap. ii, 70; Ell. Bot. 475; Mer. and de L. Diet. deM. Mod. iv, 290; U. S. Disp. 135; Royle, Mat. Med. 308; Bell's Prac. Diet. 87 ; Eberle, Mat. Med. 207 ; Frost's Elems. pt. 1; Archives Generales de Med. xvii, 112; Lind. Nat. Syst. 102; Coxe, Am. Disp. 128. Barton considered it our most active an- thelmintic. It is also a febrifuge, adapted to verminous fevers, where no worms are voided. Diet, des Dx'ogues, par Chevallier, iii, 27. Tournon relates a case where a little girl was thrown into convulsions by eating three of the seeds. Merat also mentions cases. Journal Gen. de Med. xlviii, 25; Gazette de Sante, Mars, 1824. I have frequently seen them eaten by children in South Carolina, with no bad eftect, though destruc- tive, it is said, to hogs. As an anthelmintic, four ounces of the bark of the fresh root are boiled in one pint of water, till it becomes of the consistence of coftee, of which from one ounce to half an ounce may be given every two hours; it may be drunk sweetened, and should be followed by a cathartic. The dried berries, in spirits, have also been employed against ascarides tape-worm, and verminous maladies generally. According to Thacher, the pulp of the berry, stewed in lard, is used advan- tageously as an ointment in scald head. The decoction of the leaves is regarded as astringent and stomachic, and Dr. Skyston says he uses it with success in hysteria. This plant is employed in Java and Persia. See Rev. Medicale, iv, 82. The tree is planted around stables, in order that horses, b}^ eating the berries, may be prevented from having "bots." The leaves and berries of the Pride of India, packed with dried fruits, will 127 preserve them from insects, and will prevent moths in clothes. The loaves of the cedar arc also useful for the same purpose. See Pmc/i for mode of preventing injury from wornls, where what I consider to be a very important suggestion is made. It is much valued in South (Jurolina as a shade tree, growing equally well in dry pine land residences, and in cities; during the expansion of the flowers, however, it gives out a disagreeable odor. It is easily blown down, and is not long lived. The wood is beauti- fully grained, and adapted for table covers, drawers, etc., never being injured by worms. A tea of the berries affects the eye- sight, f am told. A solution or decoction made with the berries of the Pride of India, (to a half bushel of the berries put into a barrel add fifteen gallons of water, and let them soak one or two days,) and sprinkled with a water-pot over the plant, will, in most cases, prevent the depredation of the black grub, or cutworm. The elder (^Samhucus canadensis) is also said to be excellent, used ir»» the same way. F. S. Holmes' So. Farmer. The oil from flaxseed (Linum) will also destroy all kinds of animals infesting quadrupeds, when rubbed into the skin. A soap is made from the berries of the Pride of India, which is called " Poor man's soap." The foUowjig was published in the Columbus (Ga.) Sun 1863: China Berries for Horse and Cow Feed. — The writer has fed China berries to horses and cows for the past two seasons, and can perceive no bad effects from them — on the contrary, horses under this feed seem to improve better than whop fed on corn alone. In these times of scarcity and high prices it is worth while to give this feed a trial. In my opinion a bushel of China berries are nearly, if not quite, equal to a bushel of corn. The crop is very abundant, and now, before the winter rains, is the time to gather them. I give my horses a half a bucket full of the berries, with a small feed of corn, three times a day, and I boil the seed with peas or other feed for my cows. Horses are particularly fond of the berries. AUEANTIACE.E. (The Orange Tribe.) SWEET ORANGE, (Citrus aurantimn, W.) This well known tree is cultivated in Charleston, and grows abundantly in Beau- ■ l:i.s Ibrt District, on the soacoiist; very productive in Florida, ami coast of Georgia. I will condense the followinuc from Griffith : In every part of the "Western States the orange tree is liable to be injured by frosts, and hence earinot be considered as a certain crop ; where this is not the case it is a most prolific plant, and the quantity borne by a single tree is sometimes enormous ; thus it is said that 20,000 have been gathered from one in St. Michael's, exclu- sive of those unlit for use, which may l)e calculated at 10,000 more. The orange contains a large quantity of saccharine matter and mucilage united to an agreeable acid, and hence is whole- some, cooling and refreshing to the sick, especially in febrile and inflammatory eomjilaints, but should be used cautiously, as it is apt to disorder the stomach and bowels. The juice of this fruit contains citric and malic acids, the super citrate of lime, mucilage, sugar and water. The rind of the sweet orange is also used as a substitute for that of the bitter species, which is the true officinal article ; it yields by distillation a fragrant essential oil. The immature fruit is also employed for the pur- pose of making issue peas ; for this purpose they are turned smooth by a lathe ; they have an aromatic odor and a bitter taste, and are also employed to flavor certain cor(ftals. Accord- ing to Lebreton, they are composed of volatile oil, sulphur, fatty matter, a peculiar principle called hesperidin, bitter astringent matter, some traces of acids, vegetable and mineral salts, etc. The leaves have been employed by some practitioners as a remedy in many nervous disorders, and are said to have proved beneficial in epilepsy and chorea. They are aromatic and feebly bitter, and contain a fragrant volatile oil, which is pro- cured on distillation, principall}' employed by perfumers. The flowers are much more celebrated as remedial agents, in sub- stance, but moi'c especially in their distilled water. Orange flower water, as it is termed, has a very agreeable odor, but less powerful than that of the flowers themselves, and is in general use in Europe as an anti-spasmodic, and is considered to possess much power; its use in this countiy is limited, but is becoming more extended ; although not endowed with the active qualities ascribed to it. it forms a very pleasant drink to 12U the sick, and exorcises a sootliing iufluence when the nervous sj'stem is unduly excited. An essential oil is obtained from the flowers, known as the oil of Neroli, much used as a perfume and in the manufacture of cologne and other scented waters for the toilet. See, also, Eisso's elaborate work referred to by Grifiith. The young shoots are regularly knotted and ai'e much used in the manufactui'e of walking canes. To obtain the fragrant essences from the fresh rinds of lemons, oramjes, etc., the rinds are rubbed against large lumps of loaf sugar until the yellow rind is completely absorbed. Those parts of the sugar which are impregnated with the essence, are, from time to time, to be cut away with a knife, and put into an earthen dish. The whole being thus taken off, the sugared essence is to be closely pressed, and put by in pots, where it is to bo squeezed down hai'd, have a bladder over the paper by which it is covered, and tied tightly up. It is at any time fit for use, and will keep for many years. Exactly in the same banner may be obtained and preserved, at the proper seasons, from the fresh roots, the essences of the rinds of bitter or sweet oranges, lemons or limes, bergamots, etc., some of which are often unattainable in a fresh state at any price. Thornton's Herbal, p. 659. By this simple means those who have, or can obtain lemons, may preserve the essence for. the preparation of cooling acidulous drinks at any time. Wine may also be made from the orange. Thornton, in his medical work, gives the method as follows: Put twelve pounds of pow- dered sugar, with the whites of eight or ten eggs, well beaten, into six gallons of spring water, boil them three quarters of an hour ; when cold, put into it six spoonsful of j-east and the juice of twelve lemons, which, being pared, must stand, with two pounds of w^hite sugar, in a tankard, and in the morning skim off the top, and then put it into the water ; add the juice and rinds of fifty oranges, but not the white or pithy parts of the rinds; lot it work all together two days and two nights ; then add two quarts of Rhenish or white wine, and put it into a vessel. In P. O. Rep., 1859, p. 106, is a communication on the pro- ducts of the Ionian islands and Italy. The following may be useful to those in Florida who raise the lemon in quantity : At Agrami, "the most considerable, and sometimes the most valu- 130 able portion of the fruit is Scarito, or that rejected as unfit for exportation, from which the essential oil contained in the rind, and the juice, or citric acid, in the pulp, are extracted. The essential oil is expressed by the hand, in a room from which the air is carefully excluded, as, owing to its highly volatile nature, the oil produced would be greatly diminished by cur- rents of air. The skin cut from three sides of the lemon is pressed between the thumb and finger, and ten or twelve ounces may be expressed in a long day by an expert workman. The oil thus expressed is put into large receivers, whence (after remaining some days to deposit the extraneous matter that comes off with the oil) it is transferred to copper bottles for exportation." " The juice, or citric acid, is obtained by submitting the pulp to a powerful press, which, though rustic in construction, is efiicient. This is worked during the season night and day. The quantity of juice produced from one press during twentj^- four hours averages 126 gallons. * * Lemon juice intended for exportation is put into well seasoned oak casks, and filled to the bung, so as entirel}- to exclude tbe air. When of a good quality, and the filling of the cask is completed, the article may be kept in a collar or cold place for any reasonable time." Lemon juice, used for calico printing, was afterward boiled down, or evaporated, in leaden pans, over steam, to a certain consis- tency — the citric acid and mucilage only remaining in a highly concentrated stage. Consult Mulberry (Morus rubra) in this volume. See P. O. Eep., 1858, p. 257, for Mr. Glover's report on the insects feeding upon it, and a history of the tree in Florida. See, also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, article Citric Acid. To pi'event attacks of the ''scale," an insect, hot water or steam is the best remed3^ The Persian powder (see P. O. Rep., 1857, p. 129,) is also advised (Pyrethrum cancasicnm) — allied to the ox- ej^ed daisy {Ghrysanthevium leucanthemum) growing in the Southern States. LEMON, {Citrus limonum, Risso.) Dr. Grifiith gives the fol- lowing account of the properties of the Lemon : "The juice and rind are officinal. The rind has an aromatic and bitter taste, and an agreeable, fragrant odor ; these proper- ties are owing to the presence of a volatile oil and of a bitter principle. It is an aromatic stimulant, pi-incipally employed, 131 however, as a mere flavoring ingredient, being seldom or never administered alone. The volatile oil, oil of lemons, although carminative and diaphoretic, is more used as a perfume and to mask the taste of nauseous medicines, than as a remedial agent; some success has attended its employment as an external stimu- lant, especially in chronic inflammations of the eye. " The juice owes its sourness to the presence of the citi'ic acid it contains in combination with mucilage, exti-active matter, some sugar and water. Scheele was the first chemist who ob- tained this acid in a pui'e state. The process he devised is the same now employed, that of saturating the juice with chalk, and decomposing the citrate of lime thus formed by means of sul- phuric acid, when the vegetable acid is set free, and may be purified and crystallized. Citric acid thus obtained is extremely acid, but not as agreeable as the juice itself; it is, therefore, but seldom used in medicine when the latter can be procured. It is, however, largely employed in the arts. " Lemon juice, as being one of the most grateful of the acids, is much used in the formation of refreshing drinks in febrile com- plaints, and also in the preparation of eff'ervescing draughts. A mixtureof this made with one scruple of the carbonate of potash, dissolved in an ounce of water and half an ounce of lemon juice, taken in a state of effervescence, is advantageously employed to lessen fever, to check vomiting, and to diminish morbid irrita- bility of the stomach. But the juice appears to possess proper- ties of a higher order. Whytt found that given in half ounce doses it allayed the paroxysms of hysteria, and relieved palpi- tation of the heart. As a preventive to scurvy, this article is well known. The crystallized citric acid has been substituted for it, though it is not equal to the juice itself. In the West Indies and South America a cataplasm of the pulp mixed with common salt, is a usual remedy for the bites of venomous reptiles." I may refer, also, to the use of lemon juice, with olive oil, in the West Indies, in the treatment of j^ellow fever, and in large doses, as recommended by B. Jones and others in acute rheumatism. LIME, (Citrus acida.) Cultivated in warmer regions of Southern States. This is largely used in the preparation of citric acid. It is more aciil than the Leiuou. The C. decumaria, or Sluvdcloek, and C. heujantia, or Bergamot, are also cultivated. The former possesses a rind sm)erior to that of the Bitter Ahnoiul for ine- dieiiuU purposes, and tlio hitter the well known oil employed in perfumery. The rinds of all are n&ed in making preserves. BrrTEU ORANGE; SEVILLE ORANGE, (Citrus vulcjaris, Eisso.) Cultivated. The fruit is too bitter to be eaten. The leaves, flowers, etc., are used for the same purpose as those of the sweet Orange, but the volatile oils are said to be of a tiner quality. The rind is the officinal corttw (Uirdntii of the Pharmaoopooias, though that of the Orange is generally substituted for it in our shops. See Griffith, V. S. Disp., and authors. CITRON, (Citrus Medica, Risso.) Cultivated. This resembles the Lemon very closely. The fruit attains a great size. The rind is used to make a preserve; oil of Citron and oil of Cednvt are obtained from it, which are essential in comjiositit)n with oil of Lemon, and used in pert^unery. See Griffith, U. S. Disp., and authors. EIIAMNACEiE. (Tke Buckthorn Tribe.) NEW JERSEY TEA TRKE; RED-HOOT, i^Ceanothus Amcricanus, L.) Two varieties exist in the Southern States. Ditfused in dry pine barrens ; Richland; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 108; Ferrein, Mat. Med. iii, 338; U. S. Disp. 1240 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 291 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 165; Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, 1835. See, also, the supplement to Mer. de L. Diet, de M. Med. 1846, 155. This plant possesses a considerable degree of astringency, and has been used in gonorrheal discharges. It is applied by the Cherokee doctors as a wash in cancer, and may be used wher- ever an astringent is likely to be useful. The Indians employed it in lues venerea, preferring it to lobelia; if the case was violent, the root of the blackberry (Rtibus villosiis) was mixed with it. Stearns' Am. Herbal, 97. Referi'ing to its anti-syphilitie powers, Ferrein says : "EUe guerit aussi en moins de quinze jours, les veneriens los plus inveteres." It is not now supposed to be endowed with an)^ very decided virtue in this respect. Dr. Hubbard prescribes it with advantage in the aphthous affections of infants, in malignant dysentery and in other maladies depen- dent upon debility; he usually combines with it a little borax. See Journal de l^harm. xxiii, 354. Mr. Tuomey, State Geologist, informs me that much use is made of it in domestic practice in Chesterfield District. An infusion of the leaves was employed during the war of independence as a substitute for tea. I have experimented with the leaves, and obtained a liquor somewhat resembling common tea, both in color and taste. It imparts to wool a fine, persistent, cinnamon, nankeen color. The above was included in my report on the Medical Botany of South Carolina, published in 1849. Since the beginning of the recent war I called the attention of our citizens to this plant as a substitute for foreign tea, in a brief communication, having again collected and used it, and induced others to do the same. I quote from this article: "Without any desire to exaggerate, I commend the substitute. It grows abundantly in our high pine ridgetf The tea, prepared from this shrub, drawn as common tea, is certainly a good substitute for indifferent black tea. Properly dried and prepared, it is aromatic and not unpleasant. I am glad to report it as an article to be used in war times in place of a high-priced commodity, which, in every respect, it resembles, if it does not equal." Dr. John Bachman, also, at a later period (1802) directed attention to the plant, stating that he had used it for two months in his own family. The leaves should be carefull}' dried in the shade. CAROLINA BUCJ<:TII0RN, (Frangola Caroliniana, Gray.) MillH, in his Statistics of South Carolina, states of Rhammus Carolinianus, that a purgative syrup is prepared from the berries; and of R. frangula, (Blackberry bearing alder,) that the bark dyes a yellow colf)r, and that from a quarter to half an ounce of the inner bark boiled in small beer is a sharp purge; used as a certain purgative in constipation of the bowels of cattle. CELASTRACEi5i:. STAFF TREE, (Celastrus scandens, L.) Mountains of N. C. and northward. Acridity characterizes the order, but the seeds yield an oil which is useful for a variety of purposes. The bark of this plant has considerable reputation in domestic practice as an KM omotit', ilisvuliont and jiiiti-syphilitic; it also ap]>oars to possess 8omo narcotic powers, lliddol, in his Syn. Fl., slates that it is iisoii by the Thonisonians as a stinuilatiiii;" diuretic, and con- sidereil capable of reniovinsj; hepatic obstructions, (iritlith. EUPnOllBIACE.E. C-^hc Euphorlnum Trihc.) Tho general property, accordini<; to Jussicu, is an excitant principle, residing principally in the milky secretion, and pro- portioned in its strength to the abundance of the latter. 1U)X, t^liiixus sempi'rvirenfi.) Fjx.; cultivated in gardens. Bergii, JNlat. MeU. ii, TIH) ; Ed. and Vav. Alat. Med. 51U ; Le. i, L'14; CTrilHths Med. Hot. tUVJ. The leaves have been atKrmed to bo violentlj'' purgative, and are employed as a substitute for guaiacuni. I>cni. KUmu. de Hotanique, iii, 434; Hull. Plantes Yen. de France. A fetid oil is obtained from it, and the wood is prized by engravers for thoir blocks. Tho timber-bearing box tree is planted in England from the seeds to great protit. Besides being ornamental, its timber is very valuable. It attains a great height in Turkey and Asia Minor, and the wood is used by tho engraver, and for tho manu- facture of combs and musical and mathematical instruments. It will grow on poor lands. One species of tho garden box is always dwarlish. BALSAM BEARING CROTON, (Oroton halsamifenim.) Willd. South Florida. This plant, C. nuimtimum, Walt., and several other species, natives of the Southern States, should be examined on account of their alliance with C. tii/lium, which produces croton oil. Cascarilla bark, and a dye, are obtained from the genus Croton, The resin known as lac is obtained from C. laceiferum. CASTOH OIL PLANT ; CASTOR BKAN ; PALM A ClIRIS- TI, ( fiicin us comm uuis.) Ex ; grows luxuriantly in rich spots. This valuable plant thrives so well in the Southern States that it might be made a source of pi'otit. On some of tho plantations tho seeds are boiled, and the supernatant oil given as a cathartic. It might with groat advantage bo more generally used. See medical authors passim. It is believed by some that one variety of the castor oil bean hulls itself spontaneous!}'. I remember no distinction of this kind mentioned in Pereira's lengthy description of the plant. i;{5 Mr. W. Tonoy, a writer in the Southern Field unci Fireside, Hnyn "there are several varieties, all yielding castor oil, but only one kind which is self-hulling, and this is the true, genuine oil-hean." If this is so, I am not aware of it. I have only seen a large and a small seed variety, and no writer refers, so far as i.arn aware, to any other distinction. lie says that, for the common varieties, »omo machinery, like the cotton seedhuUer, is necessary to decorticate them. J have heen applied to to ascertain the relative value of the small and large-seeded variety. Pereira states that the oil is equally good and abundant in each. See, also, the Dictionnairc do Mat. Medicule. It is being planted extensively by planters for homo use in the Southern States, As it is important that this plant should be largely grown, on account of its great value and enormous consumption, I will bo at the trouble to insert some of the practical information at my disposal. A brief paper can be found in the Patent Office Report, 1855, p. 27. The writer says that the Palma (Jhristi "has proved itself well adapted to the soil and climate of the Middle and Southern States, and were its culture extended for the manu- facture of castor oil, there is no doubt it would be profitable under improved methods of extracting it, and we should no longer be dependent upon other nations for a supply. At j)reserit we annually import an amount of this article ex- ceeding in value 8;j(),000." Although an annual herbaceous plant in the gardens of the cooler parts of Europe and the United States, within the trop- ics, and the warm climates adjacent thereto, the Palma Christi becomes a tree of several years standing, often having a woody trunk of the size of a man's body, and fifteen or twenty feet high. This plant thrives best in a light, sandy loam, although it may be cultivated with success in almost any soil tolerable fertile, or in any climate or soil where Indian corn will thrive. In the cooler parts of the Union it may be planted in hills two feet by three apart, two seeds in a place, as early in the spring as the warmth of the ground and the season will admit ; but in the South, where the season is longer, and the plant assumes the character of a tree, the hills should be six or seven feet in one direction, and three and a half feet in the other, receiving 18G one seed to a hill, covered to the depth of two inches. The culture is so simple, that it only requires to keep the plants free from weeds, with a small, flat hill to each. The only difficulty to contend with is, that in saving or harvesting the beans, the outward coats, as they become dry and elastic, fly off the plants to a considerable distance, causing the seeds to di'op to the ground. In order to prevent this, it has been recommended to cut off" the branches from the plants as soon as the pods begin to explode, and spread them on the floor of a close room ; and after the beans and their shells have parted, to separate the husks from the seeds with a fanning-mill, as with wheat, or try the common riddle and a draught of air. The oil is obtained both by decoction and expression. The former method is per- formed by freeing the seeds from their husks, which are gathered upon their turning brown, and when beginning to burst open are first bruised in a mortar, afterwards tied up in a linen bag, and then thrown into a large pot with a sufficient quantity of water, and boiled until the oil has risen to the sur- face, when it is carefully skimmed off, strained, and preserved for use. In extensive operations, a mill should be provided, moved by the agency of animal power, water or steam, for bruising the seeds; and the other apparatus used in obtaining the oil should be of appropriate dimensions. The oil thus ob- tained, however, has the disadvantage of becoming rancid sooner than that pi'ocured by expression. The best mode, therefore, is to subject the seeds to a powerful hydraulic press, in a similar manner to that in which the oil is extracted from almonds and cotton seeds. The seeds yield about one-quarter of their weight in oil. The reader interested in the varieties, mode of pressure, etc., of castor oil seeds, may consult with profit Merat and DeLens, Diet, de Mat. Med., Pereira's Mat. Med., the U. S. Disp., and in addition the material included in this paper; also, Ure's Diet, of Arts, article "Oils," and Wilson's Kural Cyc. I introduce the following, from an Essay on the Cultivation of Castor Beans, published, 1868, by the St. Louis Lead and Oil Company : " The cultivation of the Castor Bean is attracting considerable attention at the present time. Heretofore it has been cultivated chiefly for the Oil for medicinal purposes, but it is now coming 137 largely into demand for other uses. It is being used quite ex- tensively for lubricating, and as an excellent oil for the hair. For medicinal purposes its use is almost universal. ^'Selection of tSoil. — Almost any soil that will produce wheat or corn, will answer for the castor bean. When it can be had, a sandy loam is preferable. The soil should be dry. Wet, heavy soils are not adapted to its successful culture. "One important fact in connection with the culture of castor beans is, that it is one of the most fertilizing crops raised. In this respect it surpasses even clover. Many fanners say, for fertilizing purposes, a crop raised upon land is worth several dollars per acre to the land, on account of the additional fer- tility gained by it. We have heard of landholders offering the free use of land to be planted with castor beans. " Preparation of the Soil. — The ground should be put in good condition for the seed as for other crops. One thorough plow- ing, and three or four harrowings, with a heavy harrow, will be a sufficient preparation. Fall plowing is undoubtedly de- sirable, as it more fully exposes the particles of the soil to the influence of the frosts and the atmosphere, thereby pulver- izing it, and preparing it better for the seed. Where a fall plowing has been bestowed upon the land, and another cross- plowing in the spring, thorough harrowing will put it in ex- cellent condition for a heavy crop. If the soil is inclined to be wet, it should be thrown into back furrows or lands, fifteen or twenty feet in width, and the dead furrows between these lands should be kept open for draining off all surface water. This is not more necessary for the castor bean than for many other farm crops, where the land is inclined to be wet. " Planting the Seed. — The ground is now laid off in rows, five or six feet apart each way, except that between every sixth and seventh row, a distance of about eight feet between the rows is left one way, to admit a horse and wagon or slide to pass, to take the beans when gathered. Hot water, somewhat below the boiling point, should be poured over the seeds, and they should remain in this water twenty-four hours before being planted. The temperature of the water will, of course, be gradually reduced to the temperature of the atmosphere. Applying the hot water once will be sufficient. If planted with- out this preparation, they are a great while in germinating, 138 many of them not making their appearance for three or four weeks. With this preparation they will soon germinate and come up regularly. Some farmers put in each hill one-half of those which have hot water poured over them, and one-half of those which have not ; so that if the cutworms destroy the first that come up, a stand may be obtained from the others, which will come up a week or two later. Good, sound, plump seed should be selected for planting. A half bushel will plant eight or ten acres. Eight or ten seeds should be dropped in each hill. But one, or at most, two plants are to be left in a hill. As the cut- worm is quite destructive to the plants, this number of seeds is recommended, so as to be certain of an even stand. Of course, replanting can be done; but it is better to avoid it, if possible, by planting plenty of seed. The seed should be planted as soon as all danger of fi'ost is over. The plants are as easily destroyed by frost as our common bean, and, therefore, planting should be delayed till after the first of May. ^^ After Culture. — The cultivation of the plants consists in destroying the weeds and grass, and keeping the soil open and mellow. These objects are chiefly attained by using the horse and cultivator, or small plow, working between the rows both ways. It is also necessary to work among the plants with hoes, going over them two or three times, cutting the weeds away from the plants that cannot be reached with the plow or culti- vator, and drawing a little mellow earth to the plants, gradu- ally reducing the number to one plant in a hill, though two are occasionally left. One strong, vigorous plant, however, will produce better seeds than two, and as great a quantity. After the plant is two feet high, it is capable of taking care of itself, and grows rapidly. After heavy rains, however, it is still ad- visable to work between the rows with the horse cultivator, breaking up the crust that has formed on the surfiice of the ground, and opening and loosening the soil to derive a greater benefit from the atmosphere. It will be seen that the cultiva- tion is as simple as that of Indian corn, or of the common navy bean. ^^ Harvesting the Crop. — About the first day of August the beans begin to ripen. They are produced in pods or husks, on spikes about eighteen inches long, and should be gathered as soon as the pods begin to turn brown, to prevent loss by their 139 popping out on the field, as the beans when ripe pop or burst from the pod quite a distance. They are gathered by cutting off the entire spike. Kach plant has a number of these, and they are produced and ripen in succession till frost. Of course, only those exhibiting brown pods should be cut. These spikes are then thrown into a wagon or on a slide, passing through the broad rows, and hauled away to the ^^Bry Yard. — Which is made on a piece of land near the bean field, sloping to the south, so as to get as much heat as possible from the sun to ripen the beans and cause them to burst from the husks. Then roll the ground down hard and make a fence around the yard b}^ placing boards up against rails laid on crotched sticks or posts ; though the fence is not necessary if the yard is made large enough to leave a space outside the beans of twelve or fifteen feet, as many of the beans Avill pop that distance; and if the fence is not built, or the space left, many of the beans will be lost in the grass or field beyond the yard. * " The spikes are occasionally turned over and exposed to the sun, until all the seeds have left the husks, when the old spikes are taken away and a new supply added. The same process is gone thi'ough with the entire crop. Great care should be taken to prevent the beans getting wet. Dirty beans command but a small price, and sprouted beans are nearly worthless. When rain is anticipated, rake the spikes into a heap and cover them with straw or plank; sweep tbe beans up; clean them with a fanning mill, sack them up and store in a dry place. Do not attempt to pop them out in p>ots over the fire, as it renders them almost ivorthless. "After the beans begin to i-ipen, the field should be gone over once or twice a week till frost. In hot, dry weather, they ripen more rapidly than in cool, wet weather. Children can perform this work, and a large family of children cannot be more profitably employed than in taking care of a crop of castor beans. The work is all light. With a steady horse children might do all the work. "Farmers who raise but a few acres of castor beans will not, of course, go to the expense of fitting up a dry house, as the yard answers the purpose ; but farmers who raise fifty acres or more will save labor and expense by having a dry house for popping out the beans on the following plan : 140 ^^ Dry House. — A common log hut or frame building may be converted into a convenient castor bean dry house by making it tight and constructing in it a drying floor, composed of narrow strips of board, carefully laid one-fourth of an inch apart, except those parts which are immediately over the stove and pipe, which should be laid close. This floor should be as near the ground as possible, but not so low as to impair the value of the building as a barn or place of storage. A window for taking in beans is made in one side of the house, two or three feet above the drying floor, and a similar opening in the first story would be very convenient. A large stove, for burning coal or wood, is set up near the front door, and the pipe, after passing to the rear under the drying floor and up through an opening in the same, returns again to the front, and is carried out through the roof. " With a large wood stove, having a pipe of proper size, the heat- ing power may be increased by carrying the pipe entirely around the building, three or four feet from the walls, before it passes up through the floor, and again to the rear, before going out through the roof. A damper should be placed in the pipe near the upper end to save heat and fuel. " The opening in the floor through which the pipe passes, is three feet square, and is protected by a boxing or curb to keep the beans from falling through. The space about the stove is pro- tected by a similar guard, and should be at least six feet square, as the front door opens into this area. "The beans on the spikes, as they are cut from the plant, are thrown through the Avindow upon the drying floor ; and as the bolls open the beans are stirred and fall through upon the ground floor, ready to be fanned and sacked for shipping. The hulls and spikes will make good fuel. " Frosted Beans — Are worth from one-half to two-thirds the price of good beans, but must never be mixed with them when sent to market, as a very few frosted beans in a lot of good will reduce the value very much, from the inability to separate them economical!}^. " Yield^ Price, etc. — The yield will depend much upon the culture bestowed upon the crop, upon the season, and the care exercised in gathering and ripening the seeds. From fifteen to twentj'-five bushels to the acre is an average yield. Some culti- vators will raise more, others less. Farmers will do well to pay 141 attention to this crop, for which a certain demand exists, and at remunerating cash prices. It will pay better than raising corn, potatoes, wheat, barley, or almost any other farm pro- duce. It is not a difficult crop to get tO market — can be taken by team, or sent by river or railroad, with more profit than most crops, as the value is greater for the same quantity. "Castor beans have also proved a profitable crop. The market price, however, has fluctuated considerably. The crop of 1865 was totally unequal to supply the demaud for oil, and prices reached the extraordinary figure of $5 00 per bushel. This stimulated the production and importation of foreign oil and beans to such an exteut that the crop and importations the succeeding year (1866) proved more than sufficient to supply the demand, and a small surplus was carried over to the next season. At the commencement of the harvest of 1866, the market opened at $3 50 to $4 00 per bushel, rapidly declining, however, as the extent of the crop was developed, until at one time 8£rtes were made at$l 50 per bushel, and advanced later in the season to $2 00 and $2 25. Importers of foreign oil suffered heavy losses; and whei-e their stocks were still " in bond," thvy were forced to ship to Europe for a market. Prices in 1867 showed remarkable regularity, ranging from $2 00 to $2 40, with great steadiness during the season. "For medicinal purposes only, the demand for castor oil would undoubtedly be limited; but it is the best lubricator known, and at competing prices with lard oil would, doubtless, super- sede it in all cases where required for heavy bearings, and the demand would be nearly unlimited. " Flaxseed or Castor Beans, for seed, can be procured at the market price, which to-day is $2 25 for Flaxseed, and $2 40 for Castor Beans. "In more southern latitudes, circumstances would probably render it necessar}' to deviate from these instructions in regard to times of planting, harvesting, etc., etc., which any intelligent planter would at once discover. It is thought they are suffi- ciently explicit to enable any one to successfully attempt their culture." The Oil may be extracted from the seeds, (see U. S. Disp.,) in three ways: by decoction, expression and by the agency of alcohol. 142 The process? by decoction consists in bruising the seeds, pre- viously deprived of their busies, and then boiling them in water. The oil rising to the surftxce is skimmed or strained off, and afterwards again boiled with a small quantity of water, to dissipate the acrid principle. To increase the product, it is said that the seeds are sometimes toasted. The oil is thus rendered brownish and acrid, and the same result takes place in the second boiling if care is not taken to suspend the process soon after the water is evaporated. Hence the color of the West India oil, where this method is pursued. " The oil obtained in this country is by expression. The following, as we have been informed, are the outlines of the process usually employed by those who prepare it on a large scale. The seeds having been thoroughly cleaned from the dust and fragments of the capsules with which they are mixed, are conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are submitted to a gentle heat, insuflScient to scorch or decompose them, and not greater than can be readily borne by the hand. The object of this step is to render the oil sufficiently liquid for easy expression. The seeds ai'e then introduced into a powerful screw-press. A whitish, oily liquid is thus obtained, which is transferred to clean iron boilers, supplied with a considerable quantity of water. The mixture is boiled for some time, and the impurities being skimmed off as they rise to the surface, a clear oil is at length left upon the top of the water — the mucilage and starch having been dissolved by this liquid, and the albumen coagulated by the heat. The latter ingredient foi'ms a whitish layer between the oil and water. The clear oil is now cai*efully removed, and the process is completed by boiling it with a minute proportion of water, and continuing the application of heat till aqueous vapor ceases to rise, and till a small portion of the liquid, taken out in a vial, preserves a perfect transparency when it cools. The effect of this last operation is to clarify the oil, and to render it less irritating, by driving off the acrid, volatile matter. But much care is requisite not to push the heat too far, as the oil then acquires a brownish hue, and an acrid, peppery taste. After the completion of the process, the oil is put into barrels, and is thus sent into market. There is i*eason, however, to believe that much of the American oil is prepared by merely allowing it to stand for some time after expression, and then, drawing off 143 the supernatant liquid. One bushel of good seeds yields five or six quarts, or about twenty-five per cent, of the best oil. If it is not very carefully prepared, it is apt to deposit a sediment upon standing; and the apothecary frequently finds it necessary to filter it through a coarse paper before dispensing it. Perhaps this may be owing to the plan just alluded to, of purifying the oil by rest and decantation." U. S.Disp. The American castor oil, says Wood and Bache, is also prepared by mere expression, rest and decantation. See Bene, (" >SesamM?/i,") and Grroundnut, {'■'•Arachis") for oils and method of expression. The beaten beans may be used as a purgative, but an over- dose is sure to act powerfully as a cathartic, and often as an emetic. I have known cases of poisoning in children from eating the seeds. I may add, also, that to purify the oil of mucilage, which will render it rancid, it should be boiled in a little water; the mucilage being insoluble in the water, may be skimmed off. Any water remaining with the oil should 1)e evaporated, taking care not to burn or over-heat the oil in the process. Soubeiran considers that all processes in which heat is employed are objectionable, as a quantity of fatty acids is produced, which renders the oil acrid ; only too high a temperature should be avoided. Pereira says that in England the oil is expressed either by Bramah's hydraulic press, or by a common screw-press, in a room artificially heated. It is purified by rest, decantation and filtration. It is bleached by exposure to light on the tops of houses. In Calcutta it is prepared as follows, Pereira adds: The fruit is shelled by women, the seeds are crushed between rollers, then placed in hempen cloths, and pressed in the ordinary screw or hydraulic press. The oil thus procured is afterward heated with water in a tin boiler until the water boils, by which the mucilage or albumen is separated as a scum. The oil is then strained through flannel and put into canisters. The small seed variety is supposed to yield the most oil. Beans of ricinus are said by Boussingault to be about four times more rich in oil than either flaxseed, olives, or sunflower seed. He says that sixty-two pounds of oil can be procured in one hundred of the castor oil bean. It is stated that in Jamaica castor oil is often obtained by simply bruising the seeds in a mortar, and boiling them in bags under water — the oil rises to in tho surthoe, is skiiuinod otV. slrainod ami l>otllod t'ov use. Tltis was tho plan used on tho plantations in South Carolina during;- tiie war of iudopoudonce. It would not do for oporations on u large scale. See, also, Encyc. Britannica, art. "Kioiuus." Tho oil is oonsidorod good for illununating pur[H>sos. A writor in tho Southorn Cultivator, p. 2i>, vol. 7, rotors to tho disoovory of a process for separating stearine from tho puro oil in tho soods, and making tho formor into candles. Tho Calco loft after tho expression of castor oil is very ad- vantageously applied to land as a manure for wheat and other crops. An interesting eommunioation upon this suhjeet may be found in the tirst volume of tho Farmer's Register, from T. G. Peachy, Esq., of AVilliamsburg, Ya., tho results of wliose experiiuouts show the great value of the article. lu one ex- periment ho applied from tifty to sixty bushels per acre on seven and a half acres of land sown with ten bushels of wheat, and the product was twenty-six bushels of wheat per acre. In this case the land was so poor that not over five bushels could be expoeted from it without dressing. Ho recommends about forty bushels as an ordinary dressing. Mr. Peachy does not think the common impression correct, that the chief efficacy of the cake resides in the portion of oil which it retains. His press, he says, •• is a very powerful one, and leaves a very small portion of oil in the cake. There is, moreover, other refuse matter in such an establishment as ours, which contains a vast doai more oil than tho cake, which I have used as ma- nure, anil boon uniformly disappointed in its etfects. Accident has enabled mo, 1 think, to solve tho ditHculty, and to declare my belief that tho fertilizing qualities of the oil cake reside chit'fiy in the farina it contains. Some time last year, a vessel laden with flour was stranded near Jamestown, and the flour ruined. Mr. John Mann, who owns a farm in tho neighbor- hood, took two or three of the barrels and top-dressed a small portion of his wheat with it. I was not an eye-witness of its effects; but I was informed that it produced as groat an in- crease of that portion of his crop as my oil cake would have done. " Bj' experiment, I tind that fifty bushels of the cake will weigh 1,800 pounds; and of this quantity 1 have discovered that ton-eighteenths is farina or flour — equal to rive barrels of flour. 'J'Ik! cotton h(!0(J, I tliirik, contaioH rfior<; fariiiii, in jifo- j)oriion to tlio oil, tiiari the cantor boan, and, i believe, would ]>ioduco jiH great an effect after being deprived of its oil an it would do in itH original Htate," 'J'lie leavcK of tbe f-awtor oil applied to the breaHt of nurning women are rej>orted to be (jalactaS'. CaroUniana of Walt.) It grows in Georgia and northward ; and I have little doubt is rich in soda, and may be made of great use to us in the pro- duction of this most important product. The barillas, Ure says, "always contain a small propoi-tion of potash, to which their peculiar value, in making a less brittle or more plastic hard soap than the fictitious sodas, may, with great probability, be ascribed." The following is the method of preparing soda from the Sal- sola: "Of manufactured soda, the vai'iety most anciently known is barilla, the incinerated ash of the Salsola soda. This plant is cultivated with great care by the Spaniards, especially in the vicinity of Alicant. The seed is sown in light, low soils, which are embanked toward the seashore, and furnished with sluices for admitting an occasional overflow of salt water. When the plants are ripe, the crop is cut doAvn and dried; the seeds are rubbed out, and preserved; the rest of the plant is burned in rude furnaces, at a temperature just sufficient to cause the ashes to enter into a state of seraifusion, so as to concrete on cooling into cellular masses, moderately compact," etc. "Another mode of manufacturing crude soda is by burning sea-w^eed into kelp." Ure. Crude soda, and the soda ash of commerce, are made altogether by the decomposition of sea salt. I am not aware whether our native Salsola kali grows in abundance upon the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia. See "Corn" {Zeamays) for economical mode of making soda from corn-cobs. Also, article " Kelp," in this volume. Directions for making " Home-made " Soda. — The Eichmond Dispatch publishes the following: "The preparation more closely resembles saleratus than soda, and is a comparatively pure article for making bread. It is more valuable in view of the scarcity and high price of soda in our drug stores. After making a strong lye from ashes, boiling down to dryness and burning till white, take the residue and add its own weight of cold water, set in a cool place for several days, say a week, 1(50 stirring frequently; then strain tlu-ough a tine cloth, and boil down again to dr^^ness, stirring frequently, and, fin all}', cork up the powder so obtained in a bottle. These operations should all be conducted in an iron vessel, not in glass or stoneware." I insert the following from a journal of the day, hoping that they may prove useful : " Soap Receipts. — In times of war and blockade, when people are thrown almost entirely upon their own resources, every item looking to domestic economy and home production should be carefully observed. Our people have passed through a try- ing ordeal, but they have learned lessons which will be of prac- tical utility in after times. Habits of economy, and elements of self-reliance, which have been pushed aside by the pressure of an extravagant sentiment, by an iiycreasing love for easy and' luxurious living, are now, from the influences of necessity, being resumed, while they are found to embody all of practical utility which they possessed in days of yore." Looking to the general principle of domestic economy and home effort, I annex the following receipts for making soap, which I find in the Wilmington Journal. One of these has been patented at the North. If tried, they will, no doubt, be found valuable: '^Family Soap. — Take six quarts of soft water, six pounds of bar soap, one-quarter of a pound of sal-soda, three teaspoonsful spirits turpentine, one and a half teaspoonsful hartshorn, one teaspoonful of camphor, two teaspoonsful of salt. Cut the soap up line, boil the water, and add all the ingredients, and boil thirty minutes; take off, and pour into shallow vessels to cool and harden. ^^Another. — Five pounds bar soap, four pounds sal-soda, two ounces borax, and one ounce hartshorn. Dissolve in twenty- two quarts of soft water, and boil fifteen or twenty minutes. ^^ Jelly Soap. — After pouring out of the vessel the above soaps, pour in Avater enough to wash off the sides and bottom, and boil twenty minutes. Then pour off to cool, and you have ex- cellent jelly soap for washing clothes, etc. " Soft Soap. — Take ten pounds potash well pulverized, fifteen pounds grease, and three buckets boiling water. Mix, and stir potash and water together until dissolved. Then, add the grease, stirring well ; put all into a barrel, and every morning lf)l add two buckets cold water, stirring it well each time, until the barrel is nearly full, or mixed to the consistency of soft soap." Consult Hickory, (Carya,) for manufactui-e of potash and pot- ash soap from ashes. SPUEREY, {Spergula arvensis. "Walt.; Linn.) Grows in cultivated lands, lower country of South Carolina; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in 8t. John's. Mer. and de L. Diet. de. M. Med. vi, 497 : " Cows which feed on it give milk of a richer quality, and in larger quantities." The seeds of a variety of this plant growing in Germany con- tinue green during fall and winter, are far superior to pasture grasses, and yield an oil suitable for lamps upon expression. They are also ground up with rye, and used for making bread. Poultry eat spurrey in any form, and are thought to become very prolific of eggs when fed upon it. Eural Cyclopoedia, and Thaer's Agricultural Chemistry. CHICKWEED; STITCHWORT, {Stellaria media, Smith.) Introduced. Yards and gardens. The herbage is greedily devoured by hogs, and is said to be nutritive, and suitable for being boiled and eaten in the manner of spinach. It has the reputation, when boiled in vinegar and salt, of possessing virtue to cleanse eruptions of the hands and limbs. The flowers serve, in some degree, as a natural barome- ter, for when rain is approaching ihoy remain closed, and in dry weather they are regularly open from about nine o'clock in the morning till noon. Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia. X ANTHOX YL A CEiE. The species belonging to this order are generally aromatic and pungent. ^ Americanum, T. and Gray. PRICKLY ASH; TOOTH- [fraxineum, Willd. ACHE BUSH, {Xnnthoxijlum.) \ramiflorwn, Mich. J Clava Herculis, Linn. Barham's Hortus Americanus. The scraped root is applied to ulcers in order to heal them. The plant possesses stimu- lating powers, and is a "powerful sudorific and diaphoretic;" remarkable, according to Barton, for its extraordinary property of exciting salivation, whether applied immediately to the gums, or taken internally. It is reported to have been used success- 11 162 fully in paralysis of the muscles of the mouth, and in rheumatic affections. Also, in low forms of fever ; the tincture of the berries being sometimes employed as a carminative in doses of ten to thirty drops, increasing the quantity when its stimulating effect is desired. Dr. King, of Cincinnati, states that it was beneficially employed in cholera in teaspoonful doses. See Dr. Bates' article ; Tildeu's J. Mat. Med., April, 1867. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 179; Journal Gen. de Med. xl, 226. Dr. Gillespie asserts that it is a good tonic and febrifuge. Accord- ing to Cam, the Indians employed the decoction as an injection in gonorrhoea : "Voyage to Canada." It has been given in syphilis as a substitute for guaiacum, and also for mezereon. See Anc. Journal de Med. ii, 314. A peculiar principle, xantho- picrite, is afforded by it. U. S. Disp. Its acrimony is imparted to boiling water, and to alcohol. According to Dr. Staples, besides fibrous substances, it contains volatile oil, a greenish, fixed oil, resin, gum, coloring matter, and a peculiar crystalliza- ble principle, which he calls xanthoxylin. The latter is given in doses of two to six grains. Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. i, 165. It is stimulating ; producing, when swallowed, a sense of heat in the stomach, arterial excitement, and a tendency to diapho- resis. It enjoys considerable reputation in chronic rheumatism. Dose of powder from ten grains to half a drachm. It has been tried by many with advantage in this disease. Barton's Collec. i, 25, 52 ; Thacher's Disp. sub. A. spinosa ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 162. A fluid extract is also prepared and given in doses of fifteen to forty-five drops. (Tilden's Jour. Mat. Med.) In rheu- matism an infusion is given, made of one ounce of the bark to one quart of boiling water; one pint to be administered in divided doses during the twenty-four hours. Rep. from Sur- geon-Gen. Office, 1862. It should not be confounded with Aralia spinosa, sometimes called prickly ash. X. Carolinianum, Lam. and T. and G. JC. tricarptwi, Ell. Sk. This species is supposed to be possessed of similar properties with the above. It is the Prickly Ash of the Southern States. T. and G. Chapman, in his Flora of the Southern States, does not in- clude X. Americanum among our Southern plants, but what is said of the medicinal properties of X. Americanum, applies to this plant. 163 These plants have the reputation in America of bein^ power- fully sudorific and diaphoretic, and excite copious salivation, not only when made to act directly on the mouth, but when taken internally, and have been found highly efficacious in para- lysis of the muscles of the mouth. Rural Cyc. This may ac- count for their utility in toothache. I have ascertained (1868) that the decoction of this plant is extensively used by physicians in South Carolina as a remedy in dropsy. In a letter from a medical friend, he reports to me an aggravated case which recovered under its use. A saturated tincture of the berries or root made with whiskey is also given. HOP TREE, (Ptelea trifoliata, L.) Fla. and northward. Chap. N. C. A small genus of shrubs peculiar to America and India. This species is said by Schoepf, Mat. Med. Am., to be anthelmin- tic, a string infusion of the leaves and young shoots being used. The fruit is aromatic and bitter, and is stated to be a good sub- stitute for hops. SIMARUBACE.E. (Quassia Family.) ALIANTHUS, (Alianthus glandulosa.) Cultivated. M. Hetel, of Toulon, France, has ascertained that the pow- dered bark, in doses of seven to thirty grains, are very eflScient in the expulsion of the tape-worm. The volatile oil obtained from it is so powerful that persons exposed to the vapors in preparing the extracts, are liable to be seized with vertigo, cold sweats and vomiting. The resin is purgative. The tree also assumed great importance in an economical point of view; its leaves having been found to be suitable food for a species of silk worm, {Bombyx Cinthia,) imported from China. (Journ. de Pharm. Mars. 1859.) U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Some suppose that the emanations from the leaves cause fever. QUASSIA, (Simaruba glauca, D. C.) South Florida. A large tree. Chap. This species of quassia, though not the officinal, should be examined for any bitter tonic properties it may contain and for quassin. 16i GEEANIACE^. {The Geranium Tribe.) Characterized by an astringeBt principle, and an aromatic or resinous flavor. CRANESBILL; CROWFOOT; ALUM ROOT, {Geranium maculatum, Linn.) Diff'used. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 137 ; Coxe. Am. Disp. 304; Eberle, Mat. Med. i, 382; Bell's Pract. Diet. 218; Big. Am. Med. Bot. 189; Thacher's Am. Disp. 224; TJ. S. Disp. 350; Royle, Mat. Med. 73 ; Bart. M. Bot. i, 140; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 751; Am. Journal Pbarm. iv, 190; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. i, 171; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med, 135 ; Schoepf, Mat. Med. 107 ; Barton's Col- lec. 7; Cutler, Mem. Am. Acad, i, 469; Mer. and de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. iii, 369; Journal Pharm. xiii, 287. It is a powerful astringent, adapted to passive hemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, and cholera infantum. It is injected with advantage in cases of gleet and leucorrhoea, and is used as a wash for old ulcers. Bigelow speaks of it as a very powerful astringent, very similar to kino and catechu, and a useful substitute for the more ex])eD- sive articles. It forms an excellent local application in sore throats and ulcerations of the mouth, and is adapted to the treatment of such discharges as continue from debility after the removal of their exciting causes. Coldcn and Schoepf also speak highly of the root in dj^sentery; and Dr. B. S. Barton, in cholera infantum, used the decoction, in milk. Eberle was suc- cessful with it, in his treatment of aphthous affections of the mouth, and of ulcerations of the fauces and tonsils. Griffith, Med. Bot. 209. The absence of unpleasant taste and other of- fensive qualities, remarks Dr. Wood, rendei-s it peculiarly ser- viceable in the cases of infants and persons of very delicate stomachs. By Staple's examination. Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. i, 171, it contains tannin, gallic acid, mucilage, a small propor- tion of amadin, and red coloring matter; from the bark, a small quantity of resin and a peculiar crystallizable principle. Dose of the powdered root in substance, is twenty to thirty grains, one to two ounces of the tincture, and ten to fifteen grains of the extract. The decoction is made by boiling one ounce of the root in one pint of water, the dose of which is one to two tablespoonsful. The extract is said to be the best form ; alcohol and proof spirits, however, readily dissolve the active 165 principle, and the tincture keeps best. The resinoid Geranin, as prepared by the Am. Chem. Institute, is given in doses of five grains to an adult, or one grain every hour, to arrest intes- tinal discharges. They use a solution of this powder in hema- turia and as awash in apthous sore throat; as a wash to the eye and in ointments where astringents are required. Dose of Tilden's extract, three to fifteen grains, ZYGOPHYLLACE^. (Bea7i Caper Tribe.) Guaiacum sanctum, L. S. Fla. Chap. This possesses the same properties as the G. officinale, Lignuni- vitae or Guaiacum, but in a minor degree. The wood is paler and lighter, and is seldom imported, unless mixed with the true Lignum-vita), and as an adulteration of it; may be distinguished by the smaller size of the billets, and the less decided green tint of the heart wood. Grifiith. The uses of Lignum-vitae and thefqualities of Guaiac as a medicine, its action on the kid- neys in araenorrhoea, and in rheumatism and gout, are well known. BALSAMINACE.^. (The Balsam Tribe.) According to De Cand., the species are diuretic. They are chiefly remarkable for the elastic force with which the valves of the fruit separate at maturity, expelling the seeds. Lind. TOUCH-ME-NOT; JEWEL WEED, {Impatiens pallida, Nutt.; T. and G. Noli me tangere, Ell. Sk.) Grows in inundated swamps; vicinity of Charleston; collected in St. John's. Fl. July. Bull Plantes Ven de France, 166: "The whole plant is very acrid, and is used as a cataplasm." Elem de Bot. iii, 58. Six grains of the dried leaves will produce nausea. The U. S. Disp., 1264, speaks of it as a dangerous plant, possessed of acrid properties; when taken internally, acting as an emetic, cathar- tic and diuretic. OXALIDACE^. (The Sorrel Tribe.) Leaves generally acid. WHITE WOOD-SOEREL, (Oica^zs acetosella, L.) Mountains of North Carolina and northward. Chap. UH5 'Vhc plnnt is t\ vorv ngrooablo ami \Yholosomo sahut, aiul pos- sesses i-etViiijerant, anti-seorbutie, ami anti-septie pn^perties. The juiee eoagulates milk, ami preoipiiates liino tVotn solmii>n. When boiled in milk, it ixives olV its aeidulousness to the whey ; and either this whey, or the expivssed juioe oi' tl>e plant, miu'h diluted with water, may be used as a gvUHl retVii;eiaut diink in levers. KuralCye. The herb is powert'uUy and n\ost aiiiveably aeid, making a retreshini:: and wholesome eonsorve with tino suixar; its tlavor resembles ureen tea. Dr. Wood states that it owes its aeidity to bino.ralate of potassa, whieh is sometimes sepanited for use, and sold under the name of salt of sornl ; the piveess of makimx whieh is furnished by him. It is sometimes ealled essential salt oC lemons, and is used lor removing iivn mold and ink stains. This and other speeies are refrigerant ; and he also adds that their inliision or u Avhey made with them in milk, may be used as a pleasant drink in tebrile and intlammatory diseases, and the fresh plant eaten raw is useful in seurvy. U. S. IMsp., 12th Kd. riKrLK AVOOP-SORUKL. yOxalis violacea, L.-) Cirows in rieh soils; vieiuity of Oharloston ; ooUeeted in St. John's. N. C. Fl. May. U. S. Oisp. tU5. It eontains the oxalate ol' potash, whieh im- pai'ts to it its pleasant, aeid taste. Oxalis corniculata, L. O.valis furcaUi, Kll. Sk. A'ieinity oi Charleston ; similar in jnvperties to the Ox. violacea. ROSACE.E. (The Bose Tiihe.) ^«one ot' the s}HH'ies are unwholesome; they are generally characterized by the possession oi' an astringent principle. The sub-order. A>ni/ijdal(iv, are better known for yielding Prus- sie or hydroeyauie acid. Potentilla, (canadensis.^ Grows in meadows, in lower and upper disti'icts; St. John's, South Carolina. Dr. Kiehard Moore, o{' Sumter District, South Carolina, in- forms me that this plant, on account of its bitter, mucilaginous qualities, has been found, by repeated experiment, to be a most etlieient and usetul remedy in the treatment of chi>>nie colds, threatening phthisis. The decoction is used, lie refei-s to the plant as the F. reptans (?). 1(37 JUNEBP:RRY; high bush blackberry, (Rubusvlllo- sus, Aii.) Diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charles- ton ; Xewbern. F\. May. Eberlc, Mat. Med. i, 386 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 453 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 1.34; Royle, Mat. Med. 374; U. S. Disp. 603^; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 267; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 160; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 474 ; Thacher's U. S. Disp. 341 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 144 ; Barton's CoUec. ii, 157 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 270. Bigelow considers it a powerful astringent, and is satisfied of its efficacy, administered both internally and externally, in a variety of cases admitting of relief from this class of remedies. Dr. Chapman also speaks highly of it in the declining stage of dysentery, after the symptoms of active inflammation are re- moved ; he asserts that nothing in his hands had done so much to check the inordinate discharges in cholera infantum — two or three doses sufficing to bind up the bowels. The decoction is made q£ one ounce of the root in a pint and a half of water, boiled down to one pint, of which the dose for a child is two or three teaspoonsful ; for an adult, a wineglassful several times a day; orange peal may be added. Dose of the powdered root, twenty or thirty grains. No analysis has j^et been made I have little doubt, from my own examinations, (see Liquidambar,) that the astringency is owing to tannin. I have frequently used a tea made of the roots of the Blackbeny to check the diarrhoea of teething children, and in refractory cases of dysen- tery, after mercurials and other treatment had been employed, and have always been pleased with the result. I consider it one of the most useful of our astringents. Dr. Sneed, of Ga., (So. Med. Surg. J, 1867,) maintains that its usefulness in disorders of the bowels, does not depend princi- pally upon the tannic acid it contains, but that its most power- ful effect, in these instances, are attributable to the bitter, stimulant, or tonic properties, distinct from its astringent effects. He avers hat a small quantity of the fluid extract taken into the stomach increases the appetite. lie also uses the bark of the root grated in water in diarrhfjeas. Tilden's Journ. Mat. Med. Aug. 1867. I have known cases of chronic diarrhoea and dysentery which recovered after using a strong tea of blackberry root, which had resisted other and persistent efforts for their relief; and I 168 have had cases of similar benefit folloM'ing its employment, de- tailed to me by others. In the old work on " Herbs," by Nicholas Culpepper, gentle- man, "Student in Physic and Astrology," the author observes of one of the genus Riibus : " Either the decoction or powder of the root being taken, is good to break, or drive forth gravel, and the stone in the reins and kidneys." " The berries, and the flowers, are a powerful remedy against the poison of the most venomous serpents." P. 48. I have noticed a yelloio fruited variety in Fairfield District, S. C, at Aiken's place near Winnsboro'. I received the following communication from Eev. M. A. Cur- tis, in answer to inquiries on the subject : "The White Blackberries, so-called, generally of a dirty amber color, are occasionally mot with in different States, from New York to Carolina. The 'New Eochelle' of the gardens, is of this kind. One found in North Carolina is coming into culti- vation. Its only advantage is that it makes a prettier jelly than the black." LOW BUSH DEWBERRY ; CREEPING BLACKBERRY, (^Riibus trivialis, Mich.) Diffused ; vicinity of Charleston ; col- lected in St. John's; Newborn. Fl. April. Watson's Pract. Physic, 820; U. S. Disp. 603; Pe Mat. Med. and Thcraj). ii, 543 ; Roylo Mat. Med. 375 ; Chap, on Dis. of Thorac. and Abdom. Viscera, 279 ; British and For. Med. Re- view, January 31, 1845; Ball, and Car. Mat. Med. 268. This is, no doubt, ])Ossessed of astringent pi-operties similar to the above; a decoction of the root is said to be a safe, sure and speedy cure for dysonter}' — a remedy derived from the Oneida Indians. As Blackberry wine is much used as a substitute for more costly foreign wines, I will introduce the following receipe for making it, communicated by Mrs. Summer, of South Carolina, which was said to have been introduced from Virginia by the Rev. Richard Johnson. Blackberry wine, as well as cordial made from the wild cherry, is a pleasantly stimulating beverage, useful as a cordial, capable of being medicated and very ser- viceable in families, as well as in camps and hospitals. It can easily be made with whiskey, or this may be omitted. It is only strange that so useful and pleasant a drink, and one HJ'J within Iho reach of every one, should, until recently, have been 80 little made : " To every three pints of berries, add one quart of water ; suffer it to stand twenty -four hours, strain through a colander, then through a jelly-bag, and to every gallon of the juice add three pounds of good brown sugar, the whites of thi'ee eggs beaten to a froth, and stirred in the juice; a little spice, with two dozen cloves, beaten together, and one nutmeg grated, should be put in a small linen bag and droi)ped in. After all are mixed, put it in a stone jug, filled up, and kept full with some of the same juice, reserved for that purpose, until it is done working, which will be in two or three weeks, Cork it tightly, and keep it in a cold place for three or four months, then pour it off into bottles, with a little loaf sugar in each bottle; cork and seal close. If the wine is kept for twelve months, it will be still better." It is not easy to over-value the great utility of so mild an alcoholic drink, combining slightly astringent vegetable properties and which may be placed within the reach of almost every one. 1 have seen this wine of such an agreeable flavor and taste as to be preferred to more valued wines. Cheap, good wines are certainly the greatest boon that could be conferred on any country. Sec "Grape," Vitis, and " Apple," Pyrus. The following is an approved method of making Blackberry ivine, in vogue in St. John's Berkeley, South Carolina. I insert it in a work of this kind for its general utility, and as it forms an appi'oved liquor which "cheers but not inebriates." Black- berries, six quarts ; boiling water, two quarts; brown sugar, two pounds. The whites of six eggs frothed, added when the jug is nearly full. Mash the berries, pour in the water — let it remain twenty-foui" hours. Sti'ain through a hair sieve and add the sugar. Leave the jug open for two weeks, until fermen- tation ceases — a glass of alcohol may then be added. An addi- tional pound of sugar would probably secure the wine from the acetous fermentation. The following modification is considered the most sure means of securing a good result: To every three quarts of berries well mashed add one quart of boiling water — some prefer to add no water ; allow it to remain twenty-four hours ; strain through a hair seive ; to every gallon add two pounds of brown sugar — to every five gallons add the white of four eggs well beaten ; l.O tUl iho juj;; koop s^otno of tho {uvpurntiiMi niul julvl to tho jujj ovorv nvorniui;- utuil tonjuMitsvtion vH^asos. tl\vM\ jul^l ono glass of aUH^hol. ov>rk up (ijjhily until tho month ot' Mjuvh. koopinjj it in aiHH^ plaoo. Tho noxt is vorv sit»»plo, it* jj>^oii. fiUiK'li^ny \ViH<\ — Tho t'ollowinji- is said to bo an oxoollont ivoipo txM* tho ma»>utj»otm\^ of suporior wino fri>m hlaokborrios: Moasuw tho Ivrrios wml hruiso thorn, to ovorv jjallon addinij ono tpjj»rt of boilinii' wator; lot tho twixtiuv staml twonty-lour hours, stirrinv: oooasiottally ; thon strain otV tho liquor into a oask. to ovorv jjallon addiiig two pounds of suijar; tH>rk tiijht atul lot stand till tollowinj* t.>otobor. and you will havo wino ivady tv^r uso, without aj\y t\irthor strainiuii- or boilinj:^. A ov>rr\*spondont in tho Mobilo Uoijistor givos tho t*olIowiui;- mothiHi of makinji' blaokborry ooniial: "(\>»\fi".i//\»r v^ii"AHf.<,< in th<- .lr«»y. — To alloviaio tho svitVorinsjs and porhaps shvo tho livos of tnany of v>ur soKlioi-s. whoso siok- noss may bo ti*aovHl to tho uso of unwholosonto wator itt linu>- stot\o ri^ii-iv>tts, 1 rvH-onmtond tho uso t>f blaokborrv ootxlial. Tho toUowinii" is a i:>>vHl tvoipo : Hruiso tho borrios auvl strain tho juioo thnnigh a baij ; to oaoh quart of tho jui».H> allow a half pound of loal suijar, a hoapv\l tO{ispovM»t\il of powdorod oin- x\an\ott. tho Sivmo of powdoivd oK>vos and a iirjittHi nutmoij; boil thoso inj;r\\iionts t\t\oiM» or twonty minutws skimminn' thonv woll. Whot\ o<.>ol. stir into oaoh quart a half pita of brandy ; thon bottlo atui ivrk woll. lit oaso bmutdy and loaf suijar oatiuot bo had. substituto ijvH>d whiskoy ami suijar houso mo- lassos. " (\>w/H>M« supply soldiors in oamp, oithor as a tvn\ody in mild oasos of diarrhoea or as a vohiolo tor modioinos. fo two quarts of tbo juioo of blaokborrios, add half an ounoo oaoh of ointtanuMi. allspioo and nutmo>;^. anvi otto vjuartor of an ounoo of olovos. woll pulvorir.od. Boil thom t«.>- ijothor for t\t\oon to twonty minutos in a prv^sorvo pan or kottK\ to l:^^t tho stnM\ijth of tho vspioos; strain thnniiih a piooo of tlamtol, thon add loaf supir to mako vorv swoot, atul whilo still hQt add to ovory two quai'ts of tho juioo onopittt of bnutvly. Tho doso of this tor an adult is about two tablospoot)st\il n^ poatod. t.^no-titVh portiot\ of tho mixtutv is bratidy.' Tho tollowing substituto tor tho spiood syrup of Uhubarb, is 171 H'lvo.tt by \)r. I'arriHfi, (I'nii-i, |'harfnfu;y p. 2'{0,; nH*'A in tli<5 — boil tli<; rootn anrj thH an'J strain, tb';n {kJ'I iJxj migor, rorm a f-ynip jju'J again hirairi, tb<;fi a'Jd VnsUcM bran'Jy, kix flui'J ouucMr., oil ol r;lov<;n aii'i oil of cinnafnon, of <;a''b four dropH, 1)om<; for a ';liil'J of two y<;ar»< ol'l a l';at^poori- ful — a tabU;Ki)OOfj for an adult, U> be r(rpr*at<;fi. Tb<5 blacl di'',inal. l''rofi» fn;'|in;nt, trials, I know of no n-rn';dy [i/v diarrbo;a and dyH<;rit'A:UfM from make it, cruHh a quart of fully ripe bla^^kberricH with a pound of the b(!Ht loaf-Mugar; put it over a gentle fire and ojtoli it until thiek ; then [»ut to it a gill of the bext fourth-proof brandy; Ktir it awhile over the fire, Htrain, then put in pots. " liLacMarry Hyrup. — Make a Himple nyrup of a fiound of Mugar to eaeh pint of wat«5r ; boil it until it Ih rieh and thiek; then add to it an many [>intM of the expreHHed juiee of ripe blaek- b<;rrieH aH there are poundM of Hugar; put half a nutmeg grated to each quart of tho syrui); lot it biMl fiftoon or twenty ininutos, thoi\ mid to it halt' a i::ill of t'oiirtli j)n>ot" In-andy tor oaoh i\ni\v{ ot' synii>; sot it by to booomo i-oKi ; thon botllo it tor uso. A tablospoontui tor a ohiUi, or a winoi;lass tor ai\ ailult, isrt lioso. '' Jihickherry Cordial Mt'dicatt'd, — It is 1*00011111101111011 as a do- liijhttul bovoraijo. aiul a romody tor iliarrluva ov ordinary disoaso oi' tho bowols : "To halt' a bushel of blaokberries, well niasluHl, add a quarter of i\ pound of allspioe, two ounoes of cinnamon, two ounoes of cloves; pulverize well, mix and boil slowly until properly done; then strain or squee/.e the juice throUi;-h homespun or tlanuel and add to each pint of the juice one pound of loafsui;ju'j boil ai:;ain tor some tiino, take it otf. and while cooliiijj add half a i^allon oi' bosi brauvly. Kor an adult, half ounce to an ounce; for a child, a leaspoonful or more, aocordiiii;- to aije." Jilackberry Jelly is made by wasliiuij;; tho berries, to each pound addiuix a half pound oi' sugar, place on a stove and sinnnor. pour otV the juice which is to bo boiled down to a jelly, tho seeds being thus excluded. The leaves of the blackberry and raspberry carefully dried are rooonunoiuloil as substitutes \\iv foreign tea. Upini experiment, 1 tind tho tea drawn from tlioin agreeable and pleasant, and perhaps slightly stimulating or soilative, as the case may bo, but the fwrh taste is rather too prominent. YllUJlXIAX, OU Wll.n UASPBKRKY. ^h'nhus (VC/We/j- talis, liinn.) tJrows in the upper districts; ct>lloctotl in St. John's ; Newborn. Mor and do T-. Oict. tie M. Mod. vi, KU. Properties iilontical with tho above. It is thought to be a specific in dysentery. ST R AW R E U R V. {FYagaria vesca, Ex.) Cult. Flore Mod. iii. 169; Griffith Mod. r>ot. 277. Gosnor speaks of the good otYocts ot' the fruit in calculous disorders, and Lin- nanis extolls its ettteacy in gout, having, ho Sftys, piwentoil paroxysms of it in himself by partaking of this fruit very t'rooly. They are also supposed to possess vormit'ugo properties, and to be useful in phthisis. Tho leaves are astringent, and are recon\mondod in bowel complaints ; and tho roots are much used in Kurope as diuretics; frequently given in dysuria. in int'usion. made with an ounce to tho pint ot' water. Op. ivY. IT.', Iijill<;rnttrid, in Imh work on Hporrnutorrhoia, p. JilO, HtatoH that Hl,rawbe procured — f>win;i^ douhtleHK to the n(;n\\> liaH a fin<; flavor, liural Cyc. 'I'liin plant iH well known, and it« economical value and appli- cation require no deHcri|jt,ion. TheuHcofthe fruit ofteri aclH hen(;ficially upon dyMj>epticH, who are hencfitcd fjy acidn. '"J'he old Carolina Htrawhcrry Ih a well known and mucli CKtcemed variety. The pulf) in colored and juic}-, and haw a fine vinouH flavor." \iy pinching off all the firnt flowerH of early hloorn vari\jj;(;\()W in dyH[>epHia, and debility of the vincera; em- |)loyed, alMO, with hucccmh in leucorrlujea and chronic hemorr- hai^cH. It iH not HiippoHcd, however, to be jiOHHCHHed of much power; one drachm of the jractice, it Ih given in the Hhape of a weak decoction, an tea. A(;UI.M()\V; FKVKRKKW; COCKLE lilJKR, (Ayrimonia I'/upatona, Ij.j DiffuKcd in cultivated lafidn ; Newbern. Fl. July. Parr'H Med. Did. Art A. Kup.; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 76: Le. Mat. Med. i, 1251; il<.»yle. Mat, Med. 002; IIoffman'H ObH. PhyH. Chim. i; ObH. i; Ell. Hot. Med. Notew, i, 403, note; IJ. S. hiHp. Hf); Fd. and Vav. Mat. Med. i, 281 ; Hall and Car. Mat. Med. 4;il ; liergii, .Mat. Med. 287; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. j, 63; Woodv. Med. liot. ; Ann. de Chim. Ixxxi, 332; iVxo, Am. Oisp, K^ ; Sluv, Klorj* Oan^l. iH> ; Horn, KUm»\ vlo Ivm. orrh»^\>ix viinrrhvvrt Uniiwrha^rt snul ijimvMThvvn, :u>U juv Ulj;l»ly rvHHMumoiulovi as a vioolv>itnun\( i»» v^hst»'uotivM\s of tho sploou, juul in d\5H\»4s^vs rtrisinj* t\\MU torpor of tho livor. as d»v|v«»y, jaundioo. otv\ Tho rvHUs auvi K^avos huvo boot\ tvmtxvl otUoaoious in iuvol- untjirv \i\soh»rijv^ of urino ^^onurxViis,^ Kiev's OjU, Ph^nturum; Auk llorKnU by J. Stonrns, 85>; l.iiihttlHH's Kl. Sootioa. It is styptic ; it str\M>4iihons tho toi^o of tho stomaoh. and it has Khmi ompU\Yv\l in ohrvMuo liiarrluwn, Tho p^«nt^ di^J\^sto^i in whoy. atK^rvls a vory j»ratot\il viiot drink, Siv l.inn;ous Voj;\ M, Movl. SS. Tho Invlians usv\i it in intonnittont t'ovor. Oolonol 8t\H- Kxrn, of IVudloton Distriot^ S^ 0., wrilos n\o wo»l that ho has known tho plattt. IhmKhI in milk, jjivon suooosst\jUy in snjiko hitxvs »wd ii\jurio* arisinij tWm tho stings of spidors. Tho doso i^* tho iM»Nv\ior is ivno draohm; of tho int\ision of six v>unoos of rvvt in ono quart of UMlinjj wator. tho iloso is vn»o oxinoo. In jvpular pnu'tivv. tho U^avivii ar\^ appliod :is a ojvtaplastii to «.vn« tusions and tWsh wounds. It isus^ni by tho stoam praotitionor^. 800 Uowarvi's Imp. Syst. IVt, Mini. ^S4. Tho loaviv* and stalks iwjv^rt a lHnu»tit\d and ponuanont j;^>ld ov^lor to animal wool, proviously imprv\4jt\ati\l with a woak sv^lution of bismuth, and tho floxrors aroomployovi by taunors t\>rourinij sot^ and dolioato skins. I havo v^btaiuoii a dolioato yollow dyo tV\>m tho loavos ^^lS^»i^ which ntiijht bo usot\»l in ivloriuij kid ijlovos, morvXHH) skins, oto, ; alum should Iv usoii to tix tho ^vlor. v'^/Mnrvi trifx^uiUi tinJ ^f^nhuw*. Soo li illonia. HAIUMIAOK: STKKIM.K lU'SU. v^>^Ar\^ hm^HU\<.K l.inn.> l^rvnvs in tho uppor districts, anvl in GiK^rgia: Newborn. Fl. July. r. S. Pisp. t»S- ; Kat. Mod. Fl. ii. 5U. .\ valuaMo tonic and *stHugvn\t ; administorvHl in diarrhiva, chv^lcni intantum. and olhor t^>mplai«ts whcr\^ miHiicin*,^ uf this class arx> indicHtoil. AWxHi s»ys it is peculiarly adaptvsi. by its tonic ^x-kwors. to cases of debility, as it vioos not disajjiw with tho stonxach; but it should W a^^>idod duriivjj tho oxistonci^ of int\an\n\atorv action or tVbrilo excitement. It was empK\vovi by the Indians, and brvnvijht to the notiw of thepr\>tVssion by Or. (^^jjswell. of Oonu. Or. Ivvvj is wf thooj^uiou thai the r\H>t is the least valuable pv^r- J 75 (irtyutf^ t/> M^a/i'* 'Hn^h, »t in (^jv»»j^^^j#« in thw\ hIa'^*^ (/f 'lymuUiry and (UnrrUn^, having virtiU'M AilrihiiU'A Uf it urmlo'^onn U* ih'ff^. '/f qitUiinh. Ht-M, al«//, Jonrtinl \ju\v. i<;w Vork M<;^i, lUi^M/n. OAhrnif ^/p, frU,j The frxtra'.'t »aid t/; b\t a/idition U^ tho mAUjrin lafAUsA, Griffith, M<^J. iJot. 28^). From ftvis to fif\Ae*;u grainn of thN INK-BA liK, ' iifiiro'.a f/pulijol.vi^ Linn.; <^iTOw» along stream*. S. and \. G. <'jirittii\t H ShA. liot, 282. Thi« i« not w^ a>«.tringent a^j the »V. f.f/fMrUoM., though Jiafinfc»»que Offe'i. Flora; ••.ayji it i» i>f/m*smt;d of NJmilar properties. It han an unplea^tant o- tation, or aM a eataplaitm to nU^an &tnl tuition. The Hee^ift are iixUirwaWy hitlei-, and are Jiaid to ^^ U/nic, The hark nt;\tArAUi% in thin layer«, \hmom the name. INDIAN Fif ySIC, ' 25''"''''^ fn/''-''^^'^^, >'ntt. (irown in the rjp[K;r diritrictw; alj>i-*p. 'i.^. It Ih a mild emetic a/^y^rding to «*/^me writer*; largely employed a« a ^uhntitute for i[>*y;actianha. Bigelow thinks it ij» not a certain emetic, but Zollickoffer, Barton, Eherle and Grif- fith unite in t<5«tifying t/^ itJ* value; the latter entirely di.Hprove* Baume'H unfavorable ref^^rt. In small (U/Hea it act* a* a gentle tonic, (:Hp4J:'\ii\ly in torj/ul cooditionn of the HUjinnalu Accord- 17H ing to Mer. and de L. Diet, de Med. 509, (seo Spircea trifol.,) its properties partake also of a stimulating character. Coxe, Am. Disp. 305 ; Carson's Illust. Med. Bot. pt. 1st, 40, 1847. Shreeves (Ex. in the Am. Journal Pharm. vii) found in it starch, gum, resin, wax, fatty matter, red coloring matter, and a peculiar principle, soluble in alcohol and dilute acids, but insoluble in water and ether. According to the statement of Dr. Staples, it contains no emetine. It may be conveniently given as an emetic, by boiling the root and giving one or two ounces of the decoction at a dose till vomiting is induced. "The tincture of the root is an infallible remedj^ for milk sickness. "Cherokee Doctor." The dose of the powdered root is thirty grains, per- sisted in till vomiting takes place ; two to four grains act as a tonic, and sometimes as a sudorific. The infusion will occa- sionally produce hyperemesis and catharsis. Lind. Nat. Syst. 144 ; Frost's Elems. 80 ; Inaug. Diss, of Dr. De La Motta, of Charleston, published in Philadelphia; Schoepf, M. Med. 80; Bart. M. Med. 26; Griffith's Med. Bot. 283 ; Griffith, in Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iv, 177. AMEEICAN IPECAC, j f ^.^^^^"^ stipulacea, Nutt. ' j Spircea, of Mich. Grows on the Saluda mountains ; N. C. Fl. July. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 144. It is emetic and probably tonic, and is possessed of properties similar to those of the S. trifol.^ though it is said to be more certain in its effects, and not to have been deteriorated by cultivation. U. S. Disp. 853 ; Grif- fith's Med. Bot. 284. COCKSPUR THORN ; HAW, {Crcetagus cms galli.) Grows in swamps. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 460. Dr. Darlington re- gards it as one of the best thorn plants for hedges ; it is much used in Delaware. Fl. Cestrica. It is better than the Washing- ton thorn, G. cordata. These and the species of Pear, Pyrus, should be examined for the alkaloids propylamin and secalina. See Sorhus acuparia. CRAB- APPLE, {Pyrus coronaria, Linn.) Newbern. Fl. May. It is not employed medicinally. The fruit is very acid to the taste, and is often made into preserves. The acid juice is known under ihe name verjuice, and has been applied to sprains and bruises. Phloridzine has been obtained from this genus — said 177 to have succeeded in intermittente where quiriia had no eifect. Dungl. New Remedies. Ten to fifteen grains may be given dis- solved in a little ammonia and water. Mills, in his Statistics of S. C, says that the fruit makes the finest cider; that the leaves afl'ord a j-ellow dye, and tiiat the acid juice of the fruit id used in recent sprains, and as an astringent and repellant. The bark, with that of the white hickory, gives a yellow dye. Alum must be used as a mordant. The yarn should first be boiled with soap and water, then wz'ung out and boiled in the prep ai'at ion. APPLE, {Pyrus malus.) Cultivated. The apple, pear, (P. communis,) and quince, (P. cydonia,) grow very well in the South- ern States in districts removed from the seacoast. The pulp sui'rounding the seeds of the latter is often dissolved in water and used as a mucilage. See authors. Perry from pears is made very much like cider. Hitt's method^f keeping pears and apples is described by Wilson in his Rural Cyc. Art. " Fruit storing." Having prepared a num- ber of earthenware jars, and a quantity of drj'^ moss, (diff'erent species of Hypnum and SpJuignum,') he placed a layer of moss and of pears alternately, till the jar was filled ; a plug was then inserted and sealed around with melted rosin. These jars were sunk in dry sand to the depth of a foot — preferring a deep cellar for keeping them to any fruit room. Millar's plan is also described. After sweating and wiping, in which operation great care must be taken not to bruise the fruit, the pears are packed in close baskets, having some wheat straw in the bottom and around the sides, to prevent bruising, and a lining of thick, soft paper, to hinder the musty flavor of the straw from infect- ing the fruit. Only one kind of fruit is put in each basket. A covering of paper and straw is fixed on the top, and the basket is then deposited in a dry room, secure against the access of frost; and the less air is let into the room the better the fruit will keep. Some preserve apples and pears in glazed earthen- ware jars, with tops, by placing dried sand between each layer of fruit — the jars to be kept in a dry, airy situation, secure . from frost. The gum exuding from the apricot tree dissolved in water acts as a substitute for gum arabic as an adhesive agent; see, also, Bletia aphylla. I find that from the wild orange, in boil. 12 178 ing water, acts admirably as a glue for paper. The wood of the pear and apple is very hard, and will probably supply some of our best material for wood engraving ; see Amelanchier, with which it is closely related. The pear and apple are employed to make wooden type for mammoth letters. The apple is the best material for plane stocks, as it becomes harder and nioi*e polished the more it is used. The bug, or plant louse, which in the shape of a hoary cov- ering destroys the apple tree, is generally an a'phis or an erio- soma ; see Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia, a full account; also, papers on the "Insects destructive to Trees," in the Patent Office Eeport on Agriculture. In these the remedies are given. " The best of the methods, as to at once cheapness, cleanliness and efficiency, are syringing with soap suds and tobacco water, minutely brushing with spirits of turpentine, blushing with a mixture of soap lees and one of oil of turpentine, and brushing with brown, impure, pjToligenous acid." Wilson. Sec " peach," "pear," mode of keeping, etc. Planting apricots near by will divert the insects to their fruit. Turning hogs in orchards, which consume the fallen fruit, is one of the means of destroy- ing the larvffi, which produces the fly of the next season. A species of wine is made from apple cider by adding sugar and alcohol. Cider may be kept by digging under ground dry cellars, and covering from the sun. Vinegar made from cider is of the best quality. It is easily made in a warm place by adding a little mother of vinegar to the sour cider in a barrel. It is ready for use in a few weeks. The strength and purity of vinegar, as determined by the framers of the United States Pharmacopoeia, is as follows: "One fluid ounce is saturated by about thirty grains of crj'stallized bicarb, of potassa. It afl'ords no precipitate with solution of chloride of barium, and is not colored by sulphohydric acid." Good cider is deemed a pleasant, wholesome liquor during the heats of summer; and Mr. Knight has asserted, and also eminent medical men, that strong, astringent ciders have been found to produce nearly the same eff'ect in cases of putrid fever as Port wine. The unferraented juice of the apple consists of water and a peculiar acid called malic acid, combined with the saccharine principle. Where a just proportion of the latter is wanting, 179 the liquor will be poor and watery, without body, rcvy difficult to preserve and manage. In the process of fermentation, the saccharine principle is in part converted to alcohol. Where the proportion of the saccharine principle is wanting, the de- ficiency must be supplied either by the addition of a saccharine substance before fermentation, or b}^ the addition of alcohol after fermentation ; for every one must know that all good wine or cider contains it, elaborated by fermentation, either in the cask or in the reservoirs at the distillery. The best and cheapest kind is the neutral spirit — a highly rectified and taste- less spirit, obtained from New England rum. Some, however, object to any addition of either sugar or alcohol to supply defi- ciencies, forgetful that these substances are the very elements of which all wine, cider, and vinous liquors are composed. The strength of the cider depends on the specific gravity of the juice on expression: this may be easily ascertained by weighing, or by the hydrometer. Newark, in New Jersey, is reputed one of the most famous places in America for its cider. The cider apple most celebrated there is the Harrison apple, a native fruit ; and cider made from this fruit, when fined and fit for bottling, frequently brings ten dollars per barrel, according to Mr. Coxe. This and the Hughs' Virginia Crab are the two most celebrated cider apples of America. Old trees, growing in dry soils, produce, it is said, the best cider. A good cider apple is saccharine and astringent. To make good cider, the first requisite is suitable fruit; it is equally necessary that the fruit should be not merely mellow, but thoroughly mature^ rotten apples being excluded ; and ripe, if possible, at the suitable period, or about the first of Novem- ber, or from the first to the middle, after the excessive heat of the season is past, and while sufficient warmth yet remains to enable the fermentation to progress slowly, as it ought. The fruit should be gathered by hand, or shaken from the tree in dry weather, when it is at perfect maturity ; and the ground should be covei'cd with coarse cloths or Russia mats beneath, to prevent bruising, and consequent rottenness, before the grinding commences. Unripe fruit should be laid in large masses, protected from dew« and rain, to sweat and hurry on its maturity, when the suitable time for making approaches. The eai'licr fruits should be laid in thin layers on stagings, to pre- 180 serve them to the suitable period for making, protected alike from rain and dews, and where they may be benefited by cur- rents of cool, dry air. Each variety should be kept separate, that those ripening at the same period should be ground to- gether. In grinding, the most perfect machiner}' should be used to reduce the whole fruit, skin and seeds, to a fine pulp. This should, if possible, be performed in cool weather. The late Joseph Cooper, of New Jersey, has observed emphatically, that " the longer a cheese lies after being ground, before j^ressing, the better for the cider, provided it escapes fermentation until the pressing is completed;" and he further observes, " that a sour apple, after being bruised on one side, becomes rich and sweet after it has changed to a brown color, while it yet retains its acid taste on the opposite side." When the pomace united to the juice is thus suffered for a time to remain, it undergoes a chemical change; the saccharine principle is developed; it will be found rich and sweet. Sugar is in this case produced by the pro- longed union of the bruised pulp and juice, which could never have been formed in that quantity had they been sooner sepa- rated. Mr. Jonathan Eice, of Marlborough, who made the pi'emium cider so much admired at Concord, Massachusetts, appears so sensible of the important effects of mature or fully ripe fruit, that, provided this is the case, he is willing even to forego the disadvantage of having a portion of it quite rotten. Let me observe, that this rottenness must be the effect, in part, of bruises by improper modes of gathering, or by improper mix- tures of ripe and unripe fruit. He always chooses coo! weather for the operation of grinding ; and instead of suffering the pomace to remain but twenty-four hours or forty-eight hours at most before pressing, as others have directed, he suffers it to remain from a week to ten days, provided the weather will admit, stirring the mass daily till it is put to the press. See his com- munication in vol. vii, p. 123, IST. E. Fai-mer. The first fermentation in cider is termed the vinous; in this the sugar is decomposed, and loses its sweetness, and is con- verted into alcohol ; if the fermentation goes on too rapidly, the cider is injured ; a portion of alcohol passes off with the carbonic acid. 181 The design of frequent rackings is principally to restrain the fermentation ; but it seems to be generally acknowledged that it weakens the liquor. It is not generally practiced, although the finest cider is often produced by this mode. Various other modes are adopted with the view of restraining fermentation — one of which is the following : After a few gallons of cider are jiourcd into the hogshead into which the cider is to be placed when racked off, a rag six inches long, previously dipped in melted brimstone, is attached by a wire to a very long, tapering bung ; on the match being lighted, the bung is loosely inserted; after this is consumed, the cask is rolled or tumbled till the liquor has imbibed the gas, and then filled with the liquid. This checks the fermentation ; yet the French writers assure us that the effect of much sulphuring must necessarily render such liquors unwholesome. Black oxide of manganese has a similar effect ; the crude oxide 13 rendered friable by being repeatedly heated red hot, and as often suddenly cooled by immersion in cold water. When finely pulverized, it is exposed for a while to the atmos- phere, till it has imbibed again the oxygen which had been expelled by fire. An ounce of powder is deemed sufficient for a barrel. If the cider is desired to be very sweet, it must be added before fermentation, otherwise not till afterward. Mr. Knight, from his long experience and observation in a country (Herefordshire, England,) famous for its cider, has lately, in a letter to the Hon. John Lowell, stated that the acetous fer- mentation generally takes place during the progress of the vinous, and that the liquor from the commencement is imbibing oxygen at its surface. He highly recommends that new char- coal, in a finely pulverized state, be added to the liquor as it comes from the press, in the proportion of eight pounds to the hogshead, to be intimately incorporated; "this makes the liquor at first as black as ink, but it finally becomes remarkably fine." Dr. Darwin has recommended that the liquor, as soon as the pulp has risen, should be placed in a cool situation, in casks of remarkable strength, and the liquor closely confined from the beginning. The experiment has been tried with good success; the fermentation goes on slowly, and an excellent cider is gen- erally the result. ib2 A handful of well powdered cla}' to a barrel is said to check the fermentation. This is stated by J)r. Mease. Ami with the view of preventing the escape of the carbonic acid, and to pre- vent the liquid from imbibing oxygen from the atmosphere, a pint of olive oil has been recommended to each hogshead. The excellent cider exhibited by Mr. Eice was prepared by adding two gallons of New England rum to each barrel when first made. In February or March it was racked oif in c1ei\r weather, and two quarts more of New England rum added to each barrel. Cider well fermented may be frozen down to any requisite degree of strength. In freezing the watery parts are separated, and freeze first, and the stronger parts are drawn off from the centre. I finish by adding the following general rules — they will answer for all general purposes ; they are the conclusions from what is previously" stated : 1. Grather the fruit according to the foregoing rules ; let it be thoroughly ripe when ground, which should be about the middle of November. 2. Lot the pomace remain from two to four days, according to the state of the weather, stirring it ever}" day till it is put to the press. 3. If the liquor is deficient in the saccharine prin- ciple, the defect may be remedied in the beginning by the addi- tion of saccharine substances or alcohol. 4. Let the liquor be immediately placed in a cool cellar, in remarkably strong, tight, sweet casks ; after the pulp has all overflown, confine the liquor down b}' driving the bung hard, and by sealing; a vent must be left, and the spile carefull}" drawn at times, but only when absolutely necessary to prevent the cask from bursting. The charcoal, as recommended by Mr. Knight, deserves trial. Fresh and sweet pomace, directly from the press and boiled or steamed, and mixed with a small portion of meal, is a valuable article of food, or for fattening horses, cattle and swine. Sour casks are purified by pouring in a small quantity of hot water and adding unslacked lime; bung up the cask and con- tinue shaking it till the lime is slacked. Soda and chloride of lime are good for purifj'ing. When casks are emptied to be laid by, let them be thoroughly rinsed with water and drained, then pour into each a pint of cheap alcohol, shake the cask and bung it tight, and it will remain sweet for years. Musty casks should be condemned to other uses. Cider should not be bottled till perfectly fine, otherwise it may burst the bottles. 183 The bottles should bo strong and filled to the bottom of the neck. After standing an hour, they should be corked with velvet corks. The lower end of the cork is held for an instant in hot water, and it is then instantly after driven down with a mallet. The bottles must be either sealed or laid on their sides ill boxes, or in the bottom of a cellar and covered with layers of sand. Most of the above information relative to cider making is de- rived from the American Orchardist, by W. Kenrick, of Boston, Massachusetts, whose list of apple and other nursery trees com- prehends almost every kind desirable for any purpose. The reader will find very explicit instructions for the manu- facture of cider ill the Penny Cyclopcjcdia, vol. vii, p. 161; in the Lib. of Useful Know.; British Husb. vol. ii, p. 364; Low's Pract. Agr. p. 879 ; Croker, On the Art of Making and Man- aging Cider; in the (^uart. Journal of Agr. vol. viii, p. 332, by Mr. Tanvers; and in Baxter's Agr. Lib. p. 135, by Andrew Crosse, Esq., of Somerset. The following instructions for making cider are by a Devonshire lady : Gather the fruit when ripe ; let it remain in a heap till the apples begin to get damp, then grind them in a mill, (similar to a malt mill ;) take the pulp and put it into a large press like a cheese press, only on a much larger scale ; place a layer of reed in the bottom of the vat and a layer of pulp alternately until the vat is full. The vat is square, and the ends of the reed must be allowed to turn over every layer of pulp, so as to keep it from being pressed out at the sides. The layers of pulp must be five or six inches thick. When you have finished making your cheese, press it as hard as you can, and let it remain three or four hours ; then cut down the corners of it, and lay them on the top with a reed as before; then press it again and allow it to remain for another three or four hours; Repeat this process as long as necessary, or until the cheese is quite dry. It takes seven bags of apples for one hogshead of cidei', and the vat ought to be large enough to make from three to four hogsheads at a time. The best sort of apple to make mild cider is the hard bitter-sweet. Any sort of sour apple will do to make the harsh cider. The liquor must be strained through a fine sieve into a large vessel, and allowed to ferment for three or four days, taking off the scum as it rises; then rack it. and put it into casks stopped down quite close. 184 Before the cider is pat into the cask, a match is made of new linen, and attached to a wire, is lighted and put into the cask and the bung is put in to keep the wire from falling into it. After a few minutes the match is removed and the cider poured into the cask while yet full of the smoke. A person would require three or four years experience before he would be qualified to superintend the making of sweet or mild cider. Much depends on the yeai-, or rather on the ripening of the apples ; it should be the second, not the first falling ; and the " green bitter-sweet," and the " pocket-apple," are the best for making it. After pounding, isinglass and brimstone are used to sweeten and fine it, and many other in- gredients. The sweet cider, above described, is distinct from the other two kinds of cider, (the harsh and mild.) Cider, according to Brande, contains about nine eight-sevenths parts per cent, of alcohol. It is a wholesome beverage for those who use much bodily exercise. Willich's Dom. Enc; McCulloch's Com. Diet. The Sumter Watchman, 1863, recommends a jelly made from cider : Boil cider to the consistency of syrup, and let it cool — no sugar need be added — said to be excellent for convalescents. Under this genus, I insert the following from Chaptal's Chem- istry Applied to Agriculture, as the subject of the manufacture of Liquors from fruits, grain, etc., is important in the pi-esent exigency of high duties, etc.: " Good water is undoubtedly the most wholesome drink; but man has almost everywhere con- tracted the habit of using fermented liquors, and this habit has created in hira a want of them ; so that if he be deprived of their use, he loses his strength and energy, and becomes less able to work. The best fermented drink is wine ; but excepting the wine countries, where the low price of ordinary wine renders the use of it common, the laborer has seldom the means of procuring it daily. It is, therefore, necessary that its place should elsewhere be supplied by such other liquors as will pro- duce nearly the same effect, and this is done by the fermen- tation of grains, fruits, milk, the sap of trees, etc., from the product of which there is formed in Europe a great variety of liquors; some of these have become very important articles of consumption and of commerce. The peasants, in the greater part of our districts, have acquired the habit of preparing their 185 liquors from the fermentation of most of these substances ; and as the only object I have in view is to furnish information in regard to extending and perfecting the^^e processes, 1 shall confine myself to pointing out such methods as are easily exe- cuted, and which require the employment of such substances only as are everywhere in the hands of the agriculturist: " All mucilaginous fruits, all fleshy stone fruits, excepting those which yield oil, all grains which contain gluten, sugar, or starch, are capable of undergoing the spiritous or alcoholic fer- mentation. " The expressed juice of saccharine fruits may be made to ferment by exposure to a sufficient degree of heat. The method most commonly pursued is that of crushing or grinding the fruits, and thus fermenting the pulp with the juice ; in this manner are treated apples, pears, grapes, cherries, etc. " For such fruits as are not very juicy, but contain, however, some sugar and mucilage, and for such as can be made to keep better by being dried, some water is employed to mix and dissolve the fermentable principles. In this class of fruits may be placed those of the service tree, the cornelian cherry, the medlar, the mulberry, the privet, the juniper, the Neapolitan medlar, the thorn apple, the wild plum, etc., and with them the dried fruits of the plum and fig tree, and some of the other trees and shrubs before mentioned. "To produce the development of the saccharine principle in bread corns by germination, they must be moistened with water; the spiritous fermentation is afterward excited in them by immersing them in water containing the yeast of beer, or leaven made of wheat flour. The operation of germination may even be suppressed by mixing the meal with a portion of leaven and of lukewarm water. This dough may be allowed to ferment for twenty-four hours, and may then be gradually diluted with water; fermentation will take place in a few hours and will go on regularly during two or three days. As di- rections for the manufacture of cider, perry and beer for general consumption are much less necessary here than those for pro- curing for farmers, (or soldiers, I add.) wholesome liquors at a trifling expense, I shall confine mj' observations to this object. Grapes furnish the best liquor, and that in the greatest quantity • but when this is drunk clear, it serves but little purpose for 186 quenelnno- thirst ; when mado use of in large qiiautities, it im- pairs the strength. The liquor called jt><(/»e^fg, which is manu- factured by our farmers, supplies advantageously the place of wine, serving as a tonic, and at the same time quenching thirst. Piquctte is made from the pressed and fermented mash of red gi'apes, by means of water filtrated through it till it acquires, in some degree, the color and appearance of wine ; it is, even in this state, a better drink than water, inasmuch as it is slightly tonic ; its good qualities may, however, be much increased by fermentation. Piqiiette can be kept but a short time unchanged, and. from this tendency to sour, it is necessarj' that it should be made only in such quantities as are immediately wanted, and that the manufacture of it should be continued at intervals throughout the year. For tliis purpose the pressed mash of red grapes is put into a cask, care being taken to crowd it in till the cask is completely full, after which it is hermetically closed, so as to exclude air and moisture, and set in a cool, dry place. When the piquettc is to be prepared for use, the head is taken out of the cask, and water is thrown upon the mash until the whole mass is moistened with it, and the water stands upon the top ; fermentation soon takes place, as becomes evident by the light foam which arises ; it is comjilcted by the end of the fourth or fifth day ; from this time the liquor may be drawn off for daily use — the place of the portion removed being supplied by an equal quantity' of water thrown in upon the top of the mash. In this manner a cask of mash, of the capacity of sixty- six gallons, ma}' furnish about four gallons of drink per diem, and will continue to yield it for about twenty days. "As the mash of white grapes cannot be made to ferment with the juice, this last is separated and put into casks to fer- ment by itself, and the piquefte is then made by adding to the mash the necessarj' quantity of water. This liquor is more spiritous than that made from red grapes, and keeps better; it is, therefore, reserved for use during the latter part of the summer. If instead of throwing pure water upon the mash as is every- where done, this liquid should first be slightly SAveetened and heated, and then receive the addition of a little yeast, piquette of a very superior quality would be obtained. In the absence of 3'east or leaven, the scum which arises upon wine, especially white wine, during fermentation, may be used for the same 187 purj)08c ; this foam or scum may be dried, and thus preserved for use without undergoing any change. " Well made piqitetfe is a very wholesome drink for country people, for its tonic properties, as well as its power of quenching thirst ; it is far preferable, as a daily drink, to wine ; but this resource is only local, as in most countries that are most fruitful in grapes, if the harvest fall short, there can be but little piquette made ; it is necessary then to be able to supply its place from some other source, and this is done bj" the fermen- tation of certain fruits. " Apples and Pears, as being the fruits that are most abund- antly produced, are the most valuable for the purpose of manu- facturing Liquors. A mixture of the two produces a more wholesome article of drink than does either treated separately. The juices of plums and other fruits may likewise be added, as their astringency renders the liquor more tonic. Excellent liquor *aay be produced, both from apples and pears, by fol- lowing the well known method of making cider, which consists in grinding the fruit with a millstone and fei-men ting the pulp and juice together; but upon farms, where we seldom find the means of preserving liquors unchanged, it is necessary that the processes be simple, and such as can be made use of for pre- paring them as they are needed. I shall, therefore, recommend the following method : Begin to collect the apples and pears which fall from the trees toward the end of August, and con- tinue to do so till they have arrived at maturity; cut them in pieces as fast as they arc gathered; dry them first in the sun and afterward in an oven from which the bread has been drawn. If the fruit be well dried in this manner, though it may grow dark colored, it may be kept unchanged for several years. When drink is to be prepared from these dried fruits, put about sixty pounds of them into a cask, which contain sixty-six gallons ; fill the cask with water, and allow it to remain four or five days; after which, draw off the fermented liquor for use. The liquor thus prepared is very agreeable to the taste ; when put into bottles it ferments so as to throw out the cork as frothing Champagne wine does. Though wholesome and agreeable, it may become still more conducive to health by mixing with the apples and pears one-twentieth of the dried berries of the service tree, Amelanchier canadensis, (Aronia botrya- 188 pium, Ell. Sk., which grows in the Cai'olinas,) and one-thirtieth of juniper berries; from these the liquor acquires a slightly bitter taste, and the flavor of the juniper berries, which is very- refreshing, and it is besides rendered tonic and auti-putrescent. The use of this drink is one of the surest means that can be taken by the husbandman for preserving himself from those diseases to which he is liable in autumn, and for the attacks of which he is preparing the way during the greatest heats of summer. 'After the spiritous portions of the liquor have been drawn off, very agreeahie piquette may be made from the pulp which remains in the cask; for this purpose it is only necessary to crush the fruit, which is already soft, and to add to it as much lukewarm water, to which a small quantity of yeast has been added, as will fill the cask, fermentation commencing in a short time, and terminating in three or four days. To flavor this liquor and render it slightly tonic, there may be added to it before fermentation a handful of vervain, three or four pounds of elder berries, and of juniper berries. " Cherries, and particularly the small bitter cherries, when ground and afterward fermented in a cask, in the same manner as the mash of grapes, and then pressed to separate the juice from the pulp, furnish a liquor containing much spirit. The wine made from cherries, when distilled, affords an excellent liquor, which, although not exactly the same as the good Kirschivasser of the Black Forest, is yet a valuable drink, and is sold in commerce under the same name. " The berries of the Service tree, dried in an oven, and put into a cask in the proportion of about sixteen or eighteen pounds of fruit to twenty -six and a half gallons of water, furnish, after four or five days fermentation, a very good drink. Plums and figs, dried either by the sun or in an oven, may be made use of for the same purpose. In order to render the liquor more wholesome or more agreeable, several kinds may be mixed together, and thus the defects of one kind may be compensated for by the good qualities of the other. . A few handfuls of the red fruit of the bird-catcher service tree coun- teract the flat, sweetish taste of certain other fruits. " In our farming districts the berries of the Juniper are care- fully collected and fermented, in the proportion of about thirty 189 pounds of berries to thirty-eight and a half gallons of water. The drink procured from these is one of the most wholesome possible, but it requires a little use to reconcile one to the odor and flavor of it; those, however, who drink it, prefer it after a short time to any other liquor. The juice of the juniper con- tributes so much to health that I cannot too strongly recommend its being mixed, in greater or less quantities, Avith all fruits which are to be subjected to fermentation ; its flavor alone will disguise the taste of such liquors as, without being unwhole- some, are flat, sickish or otherwise unpleasant. Count Chaptal probably refers here to the juniper growing in Holland, from which gin is procured. Our common red cedar, growing in South Carolina, QJuniperus Virginiana,) is closely related to the European juniper, and the berries, perhaps, may be used in flavoring drinks and the leaves employed in place of savin. See Juniperus. " Thd* rinds of Oranges or Lemons, aromatic plants, Angelica roots, (grow in South Carolina,) Peach leaves, etc., may likewise be mixed with any of these fruits which are naturally too sweet and thus serve to raise the flavor of the fermented liquor, and render it more strengthening and efl[icacious in preventing the attack of disease. " I do not doubt but that by the application of the true princii)le8 of science, and by employing only those products which nature yields us abundantly and without expense, we can procure for the husbandman a variety of drinks more healthy, more agreeable, and better adapted for quenching thirst than the weak and imperfectly fermt^nted wines made from green grapes. "I have limited myself to pointing out the simplest methods in which such articles as are within the reach of every peasant may be made use of; if such liquors as are more spiritous be wished, they can be obtained by dissolving from four to six pounds of the coarsest kinds of sugar in from five and a half to ten and a half gallons of warm water, and throwing the solution upon the mash when the cask is filled with it, supposing the cask to contain sixty-six gallons. To this may be added any number of pounds of raisins. "Liquors suitable for drinking may likewise be manufactured from the sap of several kinds of trees. In Germany, Holland 1})0 and soiuo parts of Prussia, as soon as tho roturnini;; warmth of sprinij bogins to oauso tho aseont of tho sap. holos two or throo inehosdoop aro boi-od with a ginilot in tho trunks of tho Birch troos; through tho straws which aro introduced into tho gimk>t holos thoro tiows out a dear, swoot juico, which after having boon forniontod for a foM' days, bocomos a sprightly liquor, that is drank by tho inhabitants of those countries with much pleas- ure. It is thought by them to be very serviceable in counter- acting atVe^'tions of the kidneys, stomach, etc. A single tree will furnish a quantity o( drink sutHcieut to last throe or four per- sons ft week. The natives of the Coromandel coast fabricate their cdloir from the sap of the cocoanut tree. The savages of America prepare their (7(/i'(/ from the juico of tho maize, and the drink of the negroes of Congo is made from the juice of the palm tree. "It cannot bo doubted that the sap of all those trees which attbrd a saccharine substance can bo made to yield & spiritous liquor, but I mention only these few as instances, because our own wants may bo abundantly supplied trom our fruits and grain. • "The fermentation of Rye and Barley has atforded, from time immemorial, a liquor which has supplied tho place of wine for tho use of the common people in nearly all those countries in which tho vine cannot bo made to flourish ; in those where wine is made abuudautl}', the use of Beer is still very extensive, both on account of tho nutritive qualities whieh it possesses in a high degree, and its power of quenching thirst. Though boor may be brewed upon so small a scale as to supply tho wants of a single family, I shall enter into no explanation of the process. In Russia a wholesome drink (.ailed (juds.-^ is made. One-tenth part of the rye to be employed in its manufacture is stooped in water till it becomes soft ; it is then spread thinly upon planks in a place warm enough to produce germination, audit is there sprinkled occasionally with warm water. The remainder of the rvo, after having been ground, is mixed with the germinated grain, and tho whole is diluted with two gallons and a half of boiling water; the vessel is then set into an oven, from which broad has just been drawn, or exposed to an equivalent degree of heat, during twoDty-tbur or thirty houi-s; if tho vessel be put into an oven which it is necessary to heat every day. it may 191 be removed dui-ing baking, arid returned again after the bread Im taken out. After thi.s firHt operation, tiie fermented .subHtanee in diluted by mixing with it two and a half gallons of water at the t<;mperature of 12'^ or 15^, (W of the Centigrade, 53'^ to 59'^ ; if of iteaumur, to from 59'^ to fj'/^.) This mixture is Htirred for half an hour, and then allowed to .settle. Ah .soon as a de- posit is formed and the liquor beeome.s clear, it is then thrown into a cask, where fermentation lakes place; this is completed in a few days, when the cask is removed into a cellar, and the quasa soon becomes clear. It is in this state that it is drank by the peasants; but it is much improved by being drawn off in jugs as soon as it has formed its deposit in the cask, and bottled, after having been preserved in these vessels till it has become clear. The liquor prepared in this manner has a vinous and sharp flavor, which is not unpleasant. The color of it is not very precise, being of a yellowish white. The imperfections of quass rrWght easily be remedied by adding wild apples, or pears, orjunij>er berries, to the fermented substances. The fermented liquor might be racked off several times from its lees, and clari- fied by the same process which we use for wine. The different deposits which are formed during the manufacture of quass are entirely of malt, and afford a nourishing and fattening food for animals." The reader is referred to same authority for other methods of manufacturing drinks, beverages, etc., from articles furnished on our farms. On the subject of fermentation, Chaptal gives the following hints which may avail us in our experiments upon the produc- tion of wine. It seems to me that they convey some doctrines similar to those brought forward by Professor WilliaJu Hume, of South Carolina, in his ingenious essay: " Generally speaking, the French Grapes, when ripe, contain such proportions of sugar and the vegeto-animal principles as are well adapted for producing the vinous fermentation; but when the summer is cold or damp the proportion of sugar is less, and the predominance of the mucilage (\i is from this mu- cilage that vinegar is formed; renders the liquor weak. In this case the s/aall quantity of alcohol v)hich is developed is not sufficient to preserve the wine frdm spontaneous decomposition, and at the return of heat a new fermentation lakes place, the product of which is vinegar. This evil may be easily obviated by artificial 192 means ; it is only necessary to add to the liquor such a quantity of sugar as would naturally have been found in it under usual circumstances." Professor Hume advises the addition of alco- hol, I believe, to preserve the wine from the acetic fermontation. See, also, " Treatise on Rural Chemistry," by Ed. Solly. F. R. S. From Lond. ed. Philada. 1852 ; articles on manufacture of wine, brandy, etc., from fruits and vegetables. Several articles on manufacture of wine can be found in Patent Office Reports. See " Grape." A harvest drink is made by adding ten gallons of water to half a gallon of molasses, a quart of vinegar, and four ounces of ginger. Let the water be fresh from the spring or well; stir the whole well together, and a refreshing drink is obtained. PEAR, (Pyrus coiiununis.) Fruit trees, particular!}^ the pear, were formally introduced into hedge-rows. It was objected that depredations would be made upon the hedge. Gerard, who wrote on the subject three hundred years ago said: "The poore will breake downe our hedges, and wee have the least part of the fruit. Forward, in the name of God; grafte, set, plant, and nourish up trees in every corner of 3'our ground. The labor is small, the cost is nothing, the commodity is great; yourselves shall have plenty, the poore shall have somewhat in time of Avant to relieve their necessity, and God shall rewarde your goode mindes and dilli- gence." See paper on " Best trees for hedges," in Pat. Office Reports, 1854, p. 416. To manufacture perry, cider, etc., con- sult Wilson's Rural Cyc.; Ure's Dictionary of Arts, etc.; see, also, "Apple." Dr. John Lindley has written a most instructive article on Fecundation inplants, phj'siological principles, and methods upon which fruits are produced. See his " Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden," and a condensation in Patent Office Reports, 1856, p. 244. He saj'S that some fruits of excellent qualities are bad bearers, and recommends the following modes of remedying these defects : 1st, by ringing the hark ; 2d, by bending branches downward; 3d, by training; 4th, by the use of ditferent kinds of stocks. All these practices are intended to produce the same effects by different ways: "Physiologist's know that whatever tends to cause a rapid diffusion of the sap and secretions of any plant, causes also the formation of leaf buds instead of flower 193 buds ; and that whatever on the contrary tends to cause an accumulation of sap and secretions, has the effect of producing flower buds in abundance ;" so that a flower bud is often only a contracted branch. By arresting the motions of the fluids and secretions in a tree, we promote the production of flower buds. See, also, same volume, for mode of preservation and transpor- tation of seeds, with the longevity of seeds, their utility and germinative powers. A long list is given of the length of time which seeds can be preserved. MOUNTAIN-ASH; MT. SUMACH, {Pyrus Americana, D. C. Sorbus microcarpa, Ph., acuparia, Mx.) Highest moun- tains of North Carolina. Fruit acid. This plant yields malic acid. I insert the following from Ure's Dictionary, (Farmer's Encyclopcedia :) Malic acid. This vegetable acid exists in the juices of many fruits and plants, alone, or associated with the citric, tartaric, and oxalic acids ; and occasionally combined with potash or lime. Unripe apples, pears, sloes, barberries, the berries of the mountain-ash, elder-berries, currants, goose-berries, strawber- ries, raspberries, bilberries, bramble-berries, whortleberries, cherries, ananas, aff'ord malic acid ; the house-leek and purslane contain the malate of lime. The acid may be obtained most conveniently from the juice of the berries of the mountain-ash, or barberiies. This must be clarified by mixing with white of egg, and heating the mix- ture to ebullition ; then filtering — digesting the clear liquor with carbonate of lead till it becomes neutral ; and evaporating the saline solution till crystals of malate of lead be obtained. These are to be washed with cold water, and purified by re- crystallization. On dissolving the white salt in water, and passing a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen through the solu- tion, the lead will be all separated in the form of a sulphuret, and the liquor, after filtration and evaporation, will yield yel- low, granular crystals, or cauliflower concretions, of malic acid, which may be blanched by redissolution and digestion with bone-black, and recrystallization. Malic acid has no smell, but a very sour taste, deliquesces by absorption of moisture from the air, is soluble in alcohol, fuses at 150° Fahr., is decomposed at a heat of 348°, and affords by distillation a peculiar acid — the pyromalic. It consists, in 100 13 194 , parts, of 41.47 carbon, 3.51 hydrogen, and 55.02 oxygen ; having nearly the same composition as citric acid. A crude malic acid might be economically extracted from the fruit of the moiintain- ash, (Sorbiis acuparia,) applicable to many purposes ; but it has not hitherto been manufactured upon a great scale. Dem. Elem de Bot. 655. The flowers are purgative. The oil from the young branches is caustic, and is employed against ring- worm. M. Dussauce says that the leaves are used for tanning leather. The bark, says Eafinesqtie, smells and tastes like cherry bark, but more astringent; is anti-septic, and contains prussic acid, used like cinchona in fevers and other diseases. This plant, Pyrus communis, and species of CraUegus, yield an alka- loid called secalina or propylaynin, considered by Dr. Awenarius, of St. Petersburg, to be a true specific for rheumatic affections, acute and chronic. He adds twenty-four drops of propylarain to six ounces of mint water with two drachms of sugar, and gives doses of a tablespoonful every two hours. Parrish, Pract. Pharm. and Proctor in Proc. Am. Pharm. Assoc. 1857 ; Am. J. Pharm. xxxi, 125 and 222. WILD CURRANT; SHADE TREE; SERVICE TREE, (^AmelancTiier canadensis, L. Aronia botryapium, of Ell. Sk.) Upper country ; Sarrazins PI., St. John's, S. C; woods Fla. to Miss., Chapman ; Newbei*n, Croom's Catalogue. Upon examining with a sharp instrument the specimens of various Southern woods, deposited in the museum of the Elliott Society by Professor L. R. Gibbes, Dr. A. M. Foster, and W. Wragg Smith, Esq., I was struck with the singular weight, density and fineness of this wood. I think I can confidently recommend it as one of the best to be experimented with by the wood engraver. It is also, it will be observed, closely allied to the apple, pear, etc., which are all hard. From my brief examination of the excellent and useful collection above referred to, I would arrange the hard woods as follows, those just cited taking the first rank : next in order. Dogwood, Far- cleberry, {Vaccinium arboreiini,) Redberry, (Azalea nudiflora,) and Kalmia latifolia. The Holly (Ilex opaca) I find to be quite hard when well dried. The beech, (Fagus sylvatica,) the horn- beam, (Ostrya Virginica,) indigenous plants, have all been recom- mended lor the purposes of the engraver. While engaged in completing a number of wood engravings 195 for my Prize Essay for the South Carolina Medical Association, I used a piece of well seasoned dogwood, and obtained a very ^ood impression from coarse figures cut with the graver's tools. I find that none, so far experimented with, equal the boxwood, but I have not yet fully tested the woods put to season. See Kalmia, etc. See apple, {Pyriis malus,') for stimulating beverages made from the fruit of the service tree. Pninus Virginiana. See Cerasus. Several South Carolina species furnish fruit, which is eatable, and often employed for various domestic purposes. WILD CHEERY, | p^^^^^^ Virginiana, Ell. Sk. Diffused in upper and lower districts ; Newbern. Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 576; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. x, 197, and xiv, 27 ; Bberle, Mat. Med. 300 ; Bell's Pract. Dicf. 389 ; Pe. Mat. Med. arfd Therap. ii, 538; Le Mat. Med. ii, 487; Phil. Trans. 418, and Michaux, N. Am. Sylva, ii, 205 ; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 273; CuUen, Mat. Med. 288; Lind. ^^'at. Syst. Bot. 147; Woodv. Med. Bot.; Grriffith, Med. Bot. 288; Carson's lUust. Med. Bot. pt. 1. This is, undoubtedly, one of the most valuable of our indigenous plants. The bark unites with a tonic power the property of calming irritation and diminishing nervous excitability, " adapted to cases where the digestive powers are impaired, and with general and local iiTitation existing at the same time." It is peculiarly suited to the hectic fever attend- ing scrofula and consumption, owing to the reduction of excita- bility which it induces, it is supposed, by the hydrocyanic acid contained in it. Bberle states that the cold infusion had the effect of reducing his pulse from seventy-five to fifty strokes in the minute. In a case of hypertrophy with increased action of the heart, I tried the infusion of this plant, taken in large quantities, according to Dr. Eberle's plan, but without very satisfactory results. It was persisted in for three weeks ; the patient, a gentleman aged twenty-five, of nervous temperament, drinking several ounces of it three times a day. The force of the circulation was at first diminished ; but the abatement was not progressive; the individual was not made any worse by it. Tincture of digitalis had been likewise used with no beneficial effects. Dr. Wood speaks of the employment of the wild cherry 196 in the general debility following inflammatory fever. It is valuable, also, in dyspepsia, attended with neuralgic symptoms. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 159 ; Bull des Sci. Med. xi, 303. The bark is indicated whenever a tonic is necessary, from impairment of the constitution b}" syphilis, dyspepsia, pulmonary or lumbar abscess, etc. I am informed by a correspondent that he finds equal parts of this bark, rhubarb, and the gum exuding from the peach tree, {Amygdalus communis,') which like- wise aflbrds Prussic acid, when combined with brandy and white sugar, an excellent remedy in dysentery and diarrhoea; one ounce of each is added to one pint of brand}-, with a suffi- cient quantity of white sugar, a tablespoonful of which is taken every half hour. The sensible, as well as the medicinal prop- erties of this plant, are impaired by boiling ; cold water ex- tracts its virtues best. The inner bark is officinal. The bark of all parts of the tree is used, but that from the root is most active. The bark is stronger, if collected from the root in autumn, and it deteriorates by keeping. It is tonic, sedative, expectorant. The officinal infusion is thus made : liark bruised, half an ounce to one pint of cold water; macerate for twenty- four hours. Dose, two or three fluid ounces three or four times a day. To make the officinal syrup : Take of wdld cherr}' bark, in coarse powder, five ounces; sugar, refined, two pounds; water sufficient to moisten the bark thoroughly. Let it stand for twenty-four hours in a close vessel ; then transfer it to a per- colator, and pour cold water upon it gradually until a pint of filtered liquor is obtained. To this add the sugar, in a bottle, and agitate occasionally until it is dissolved. Dose one-half fluid ounce. By Proctor's anal}'si8, it contains starch, resin, tannin, gallic acid, fatty matter, lignin, salts of lime potassa and iron, and a volatile oil associated with hydrocyanic acid. This proved fatal to a cat in less than five minutes. See Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. vi, 8 ; Am. Journal Pharm. x, 197. The leaves, also, are sedative and anti-spasmodic; used in coughs, angina pec- toris, etc. The dose of the powdered root is from twenty grains to one drachm. The infusion is the most convenient form. A syrup is also made ; beside several secret preparations. The method of making -^ Chen-y" cordial by the Southern matrons in the lower country of South Carolina, is as follows : Fill the vessel with cherries, (not washed, if gathered clean,) 197 and cover with whiskey. After several weeks pour off all the clear liquor and press the cherries through a sieve. Put into the juice thus pressed out five pints of brown sugar, and boil with syrup enough to sweeten the whole. Pour five pints of water on the thick part ; boil and strain to make the syrup with the sugar. " Blackberry cordial " is made in the same way; or it can be stewed, strained, sweetened and whiskey added. In the above, the sugar is to be boiled in the water which is obtained from the thick part as directed. Plum cordial is thus made in S. C. : Fill the vessel with plums after sticking each one. Pour whiskey enough to cover them. After six weeks preserve the plums in half their weight of. sugar. Put all together and shake the jug well. The common wild plum is used. The gum which exudes from the red cherry, the plum and peach, is used in place of gum arable in increasing the brilliancy of starch and in sealing envelopes. The wood of this tree is highly valuable, being compact, fine grained and brilliant, and not liable to warp when perfectly seasoned. When chosen near the ramifications of the trunk, it rivals mahogany in the beauty of its curls. Farmer's Encyc. "WTT D OP^IVPF 1 ^'S^'^'^ws Cr/ro^iniana, Mich. ' ) Prunus Caroliniana, L., Ell. Sk. Fl. March. This is one of the most ornamental of our indigenous ever- green trees, and is planted around dwelling houses. The berries, bark and leaves possess in a high degree the taste character- izing the genus. It deserves an analysis. This tree, the flowers of which are much frequented by bees, grows abundantly on the seacoast of our States, and is certainly one of the most beautiful and manageable evergreens that we possess. It can be cut into any shape, and is of a most attrac- tive green color. It forms an impervious hedge and grows rapidly. The black, oval berries contain an abundance of Prussic acid, as does the whole tree ; but I do not know of any use to which it is applied. Dr. Thompson has found great use from Prussic acid, largely diluted, as a local application in im- petigo. He used the infusions of bayberry ; no doubt the infusions of the wild orange would be equally useful. In the Patent Office Eeports, Agriculture, 1854, '55, p. 37G, are papers 198 on "Live fences," or the planting and management of quick-set hedges. In this the reader will find a most full and satisfactory- account of the desirable plants for hedges, both American and European. This is not the place for a full description of these plants and shrubs ; but I will at any rate give a list of some of them, and refer the reader to the article. All are of course not adapted to our climate. The English sloe, or black thorn, (Pninus spinosa,) the hawthorn, {Cratcegns oxyacantha,) and the buck- thorn, {Rhamnus catharticus,) have been planted in this country with indifferent success on account of the intense heat of our Southern sun. " The ' Washington Thorn,' (C. cordata,) grow- ing in mountains of Georgia, was also brought into notice as a hedge plant toward the close of the last century, and was sub- sequently employed for that purpose in various sections of the Union ; but owing to improper management, and the tendency to disarm itself of its spines after a certain age, it has been discontinued. Similar results have attended the adoption of other species of thorny trees and shrubs in this country, with the exception of the ' Osage orange,' the ' Spanish bayonet,' (^Yucca,) and the 'Cherokee rose.'" These are natives of this continent. See article for modes of management, planting, etc., of hedges, with illustrations on wood. The Arbor Vit(v, (^TJuija occidental is,) one of our native plants, growing only in the highest mountains, is said to be " indigenous, and to grow abundantly on the banks of the Hudson, making the finest orna- mental hedge known to this climate." The hoUj' (Ilex opacn) and the hemlock spruce (Abies canadensis) should be mentioned ; also the willow box, (Buxus sempervirens ;) prickly ash, (Xan- thoxylum fraxineum ;) honey locust, (Gleditschia tiiacanthus) — all these are either natives or are cultivated in the Southern States. See Willow and Osage Orange. PEACH, (Amygdalus.) The peach produces abundantly in the Southern States. The root, leaves and kernels are sometimes employed in medicine, and in seasoning drinks, condiments, etc., being indebted for any virtues which the}" possess to the hydrocyanic acid contained in them. A tea of the leaves is a favorite domestic palliative in whooping-cough, and in most pectoral affections. A tea or syrup made with either the bark, leaves or flowers, will act freely as a purge. Dose for a child, a teaspoonful repeated every half hour till it operates. A syrup 199 may be made by adding honey. The leaves are astringent and stj'^ptic, and used in domestic practice to arrest bleeding — em- ployed powdered as a snutf in the nose in epistaxis, to stop bleeding. The kernel, which is said to yield as much amygdalin as bitter almonds, is used in seasoning, and in making the cor- dial known as ratifia; also in adding to tonics. The leaves are used in seasoning creams in imitation of vanilla bean. The liquor known as peach brandy is distilled from the fruit. The leaves put in layers with cotton, and boiling water poured over, will dye yellow. The cotton or thread should first be boiled in a solution of alum. The leaves of artichoke (Cynara) also dye a yellow color ; see " Rhus." Fumigation with tobacco smoke, sy»i-inging with tobacco water, and washing with strong lime water, are requisite for destroying aphides whenever these exist in such swarms as to make a copious discharge of honey-dew. Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia, Art. Aphis. Drymg Peaches. — Several modes of affecting this are pursued. When done in-doors, furnaces should be placed in the cellar, from which the heated air may rise into the building suitably provided with shelves, etc. In some of the Southern States, says Mr. Kenrick, the pro- cess is facilitated by a previous scalding. This is effected by immersing baskets of the fruit a few minutes in kettles of boil- ing water. The}' are afterward halved, the stones separated, and being laid with the skins downward, the drying is effected in the sun in three days of good weather. They then may be stored in boxes. In France, as we are informed, peaches and other fruits are thus dried whole: The peaches or other fruits, being pared, are boiled for a few minutes in a syrup consisting of one pound of sugar dissolved in three quarts of water, and after being drained, by being laid singly on board-dishes, they are placed in the oven after the bread is taken out, and when sufficiently dry they are packed in boxes. The following is the mode of drying practiced by Mr. Thomas Bellangee, of Egg Harbor, New Jersey: He has a small house provided with a stove, and drawers in the sides of the house lathed at their bottoms, with void intervals. The peaches should be ripe, and cut in two, not peeled, and laid in a single layer on the laths, with their skins downward, to save the juice. On shoving in the drawer, they 200 arc soon dried by the hot air prodiiood by the stove. In this way great quantities may successively, in a single season, bo prepared, with a very little expense, in the preparation of the building and in fuel. The following may be adopted for preserving peaches in cans, by which they keep well and retain the flavor: Add half a pound of sugar to each pound of peaches. The sugar is put into a preserving kettle, with half a pint of water to every pound of sugar, heated, and the surface skimmed. Into this syrup the peaches, after being pared, are placed and boiled ten minutes. The peaches are then put into the cans while hot and immediately sealed up. 1 publish, for the tirst time, in this edition, a suggestion do- rived from the observation of Mr. John Commins, a gentle- man of much practical ex}ierience, which, if it proves to be be true upon further trial, will be of the very greatest advan- tage to the whole country, as it will enable us to add largely to the production of our fruit trees. This a method to prevent the immense destruction b}' insects of the fruit of the peach. It consists in interspersing by planting among the trees alter- nately China berry or Pride of India trees, {Alelia azederavh.) The gentleman who communicated the observation to mo has noticed that peach trees shaded by this tree were never in- fested by the aphis. Their preventive etifect may depend upon the roots, or more probably upon the berries of the China tree covering the ground and proving deleterious to the worm which attacks the peach. The experiment is one easily made as the Pride of India is readily propagated and grows rapidly. Some persons adopt the plan of boring a hole in fruit trees and inserting calomel, w^hich is said to bo successful. The gum which exudes from the peach, plum or cherry, answers ihe purpose of gum arable in increasing the brilliancy of starch ; also in sealing envelopes. Peach leaves are used as a substitute for hops in making yeast biscuits for bread, and the leaves are often dried and powdered to flavor tobacco, to increase its bulk, and to diminish its strength. The leaves are cited by M. Dussauce in his Treatise on Tanning, Philada., 1867, as among those employed for Tanning Leather. BUFFALO- BEE JIY TEEE, {Shepardia magnoides, N.) Mo. Nuttall. I do not know the family of the plant. 201 The fruit, resembling currants, of a fine scarlet color and growing in clusters, have a rich taste, and are considered valuable for making into tarts and preserves. Farmer's Ency- clopoedia. LUGUMINOSyi^: OR FABACE^. {The Bean Tribe.) The sub-orders are distinguished by nutritive, purgative and astringent properties. YELL(JWW00D, (Cladrastis tinctoria, Jtaf., VirgUia lutea, Mx.) Ilill-sides, Tennessee and Kentuck3^ The wood is yellow and dyes a beautiful saffron color. JAMAICA DOGWOOD, {Piscidia erythrina, L.) 8. Florida. Chap. The piscidia is said to be used in America for stupefying fish, which are taken as readily by this means as with nux vomica. Wilson's Kural Cyclopaedia. It yields a highly narcotic and diaphort;tic tincture. Griffith. The powdered bark relieves toothache. To the above, which was contained in the first edition of this work, I add the following from the 12th Ed. of the U. S. Disp.: Dr. Wm. Hamilton, of Plymouth, England, in a communication to the rharm. Journ. iv, Aug., 1844, speaks of this plant as a powerful narcotic, capable of producing sleep and relieving pain in an extraordinary manner. When a resident of the West Indies he had observed its eff'ects as a narcotic in taking fish of the largest kind. He was induced to try it as an anodyne in tooth- ache, and he found a saturated tincture exceedingly efficacious, not only affording relief when taken internally, but uniformly curing the pain when introduced upon a dossil of cotton into the carious tooth. The bark of the root to be effectual, should be gathered during the period of inflorescence in April. When chewed, it has an unpleasant acrimony like mezereon. It yields its virtues to alcohol, but not to water. He prepared the tinc- ture by macerating an ounce of the bark in coarse powder, in four fluid ounces of rectified spirit, for twenty-four hours, and then filtered it. The dose is a fluid drachm. He first tried it on himself, when laboring under severe toothache, taking the quantity mentioned in cold water on going to bed. He first felt a violent sensation of heat internally, which gradually ex- tended to the surface, and was followed by profuse perspiration 202 with profound sleep for twelve hours. On awaking he was quite free from pain, and without the unpleasant sensations which follow a dose of opium. Erythrina herbacea. Grows in woods ; seeds scarlet. Dr. J. H. Mellichamp writes me that he has heard from an excellent source "of remarkable cures in tertiary sj-philis, hav- ing been effected with a decoction of the root of this plant." WILD INDIGO; HOESE-FLY WEED, (Baptisia tinctoria, Ell. Sk.) Grows in rich, shaded lands ; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's; Newbern. Fl. July. Barton's Med. Bot. ii, 57; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 153. Its virtues reside in the cortical part of the root. In large doses, it operates violently as an emetic, cathartic and sub-astringent anti-septic. It is said to have proved useful in scarlatina, typhus fever, and the condition attendant upon mortification and gan- grene. Dr. Comstock found it useful in the latter state, used both externally and internall}'. Eclectic Kepert. vi ; U. S. Disp. 1231. It was employed by Dr. C. not only in existing, but as a prophylactic in threatening mortification and gangrene. Dr. Thacher speaks highly of its efiicac}' as an external applica- tion to obstinate and painful ulcers, and Eberle, (Diseases of Children, p. 98,) used a decoction with advantage in the aggra- vated cases of ulcerated umbilicus, so frequently met with in infants. It may be employed topically, in the form of a cata- plasm. The young shoots ma}^ be eaten as asparagus ; but after they assume a green color, they act as a drastic purgative. Gi'iffith, Med. Bot. 232. The decoction, made with one ounce of the recent root to one pint of boiling water, is given in doses of a tablespoonful every three or four hours. Dr. Stevens, of Ceres, Penn., has emploj-ed a decoction of the root advantage- ously in epidemic dysentery. N. Y. Journ. Med. iv, 358. The ointment, prepared by simmering the fresh root in lard, is ap- plied to ulcers and burns. Darlington in his Fl. Cestrica, says it yields a blue color of an inferior quality. See Indigo, {Indi- gofera amorpha.') The fresh plant attached to the harness of horses keeps off flies — much used in Virginia for this purpose. There is no gum exuding from it and the odor is not pungent, but it seems to prove hostile to them. I have noticed that they will not remain upon the plants. £. leucophcea, Nutt. B. bracteata, Muhl. Cat. Grows in dry ^soils ; found in Georgia also. Fl. April. 203 Sent to me from Abbeville District by Mr. Reed, by whom I am informed that a decoction of the leaves and branches is considered stimulant and astringent, and was used by Dr. Branch, of that district, with great satisfaction in all cases of mercurial salivation. YELLOW CLOVEE; LUCERN; NONESUCH, {Medicago lupuli7ia, L.) Introduced. Waste places Florida and westward. It has been planted extensively as a clover, but is not so valuable as other species — the M. sativa, for example. See "Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia for a long article on "Clover" and " Lucern." MELILOT; SWEET CLOVEE, (MeUlotus officinalis, Ph.) Completely nat. says Elliott, around Charleston. N. C. Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 37. The infusion of the flowers is emollient and anodyne, and is employed in inflammation of the intestines, retention of urine, tympanites, etc. Am. Herbal 222; T^. S. Diap. 1275. It is thought to be possessed of verj'- little efficacy in medicine, but is used as a local application, in the fo)'m of decoction or cataplasm, in inflammatory diseases. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 153 ; Journal de Pharm. xxi, 152. A principle called coumarin exists abundantly in the flowers of the melilotus, and it j)osscsses an odor which is attributed to the presence of benzoic acid. See Vogel's Anal. Nouv. Journal de Med. viii, 270 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 293 ; Flore Med. iv, 229 ; Aubulet, Voyage, ii, 454 ; Haller, Hist. Stirp. Helv. 362. The flowers are employed in flatulent colic, and in rheu- matism, and the decoction for fomentations. Wilson states that it is used in making the famous Gruyere, or Schabzieger cheese, and is the cause of its peculiar flavor — the flower and the seeds in a dried state being bruised or ground and mixed with the curd before pressing. Any mixture of the seeds with bread corn renders the latter very disagreeable. Melilot, Wilson adds, was long used in making a blister plaster which bore its name, and acquired from it a gi'een color and a disgusting smell, and was of exceedingly little value. Eural Cyc. EED CLOVER, (Tn/o/iMm^rflfense,L.) Vicinity of Charles- ton ; Newbern. Dem Elem. de Bot. ii, 36. All the species contain a mucous, nutritive principle. In Ireland, when food is scarce, the pow- dered flowers are mixed with bread, and are esteemed whole- 20i some and nutritious. Fl. Scotica, of Lightfoot. Some are said to produce vertigo and tj^mpanites in cattle which feed on them. EABBIT-POOT; FIELD CLOVBE, {Trifolium arvense, Linn.) " Grows sparingly in the upper districts." Collected in St. John's, Charleston District; Newbern. Fl. April. Wade's PI. Rarioros, 56. Dickerson observes that the dried plant is highly aromatic, and retains its odor. It has been used in dj'sentery. Withering, 636 ; Fl. Scotica, 406. WILD BUFFALO CLOVER, (Trifolium reflexum.) Upper districts; vicinity of Charleston; collected in St. John's; N. C. It affects very sensibly the salivary glands. I have noticed horses in Virginia violently salivated from eating this or other plants. WHITE CLOVER, (Trifolium repeyis, L.) Vicinity of Charleston; collected in St. John's ; JSTewbern. Fl. May. Ell. Bott. ii, 201. This also affects the salivary glands, some- times producing complete salivation. Fl. Scotica, 404, Its leaves are a good rustic hygrometer, as they are always rlvod juid \voll mixod in tho dyo. ul'lor whioh inuuorso tho uui wool, yaiii, or oloth in tho dyo, mul prooood nooovilim; to tho dothuio dirootions lor osvoh ooUm". Hv inixino" ditVoroi\t b:»rks. roots, suid Kmwos to- y,othor in tho s:uno vivo :i vnrioty ot' sluuios ot" ililVoront oohu'.s :iro obtaiuoil by thosv^ who :uv sUiUoil in t ho art ot' proparin;:; domoslio dyo.^. Tho toUow iny; nan\od troos aro nnuh usihI lioro for dyoinn' wool and ootton: Sassafras, (^7.^J//•|^<.^ Tho bark and roots aro usod tor dyoino- woi\<(i\l a pornianont and boauiit'nl yolUnv and oran^o ooU>r. I'so a oopjuM- boilor anil tivo ounoos oi' alinn to i>no pou»\d of wool or worst od yarn. Kahnia, {^iUhjusti folia,) or dwart" laurol, liyos cotton a lino drab color Uso a ooppor boilor. Tho loavos ai\d twin's ot" tho K a I inia and abont ono tablospoonttd of oopporas to throo ji'allons ot' dyo. Si'ald tho ootton »»iatorial in tho dyo t'or twoniy nunutos, thon rin.so in cold wator and hany; to dry in tho air. ^Villow•. (^»\vj/«'.r I'ttpiratii f) Tho bark dyos wool and linon u doop bhio blrtok. and dyos ootton a ilark slato ooh>r. Uso an iron boilor. For blaok. tluvo ounoos ot oopporas to t'our gallons ot' dyo; t'or slato ooKm", ono ounoo ot' oopporas is suthoiont. Hoil in tho dyo tor twonty numiios, rinso in oold wator anil hatii:; to dry. Tho dyo may bo dooponovl by a ropotitii>n ot' tho samo proooss in t'rosh dyo. l\od Oivk, \^Qfurcus sinuo^iii.) Tho baik and roota dyo a tino shado ot' ohooolato brow n. Tso an iron boilor and two ounoos vU' oopporas to t'our gallons ot dyo. Hoil twonty minutos in tlto dyo and rinso in oold wator. This dyos ootton. Tho Spanish (.hik dyos ai\othor shado of brown. Whito «.>ak. {^Qucivus iilba.^ Tho bark dyos ootton load color. Uso an iron boilor; two ounoos of oopporas to t'our i;allons of dyo; scald in tho dyo twonty n\inutos an*l rinso with cold wator. O.'ik bark will not dyo w v>ol. rino bark, ^^all tho variotios tound in our woods.") dyos cotton slato color; oonibinod with tho Kahnia, it dyos dovo color. For oaoh oolor, put ono ounoo ot" copperas to t'our gallons of dyo, and boil in it t'or twonty minutos. Kinso tho slato oolor in oold w ator and tho dovo color in oold lyo. Swoot (ium bark dyos ootton dovo oolor. Iso a ooppor boilor; 217 rt H])i>\K-.rtiH to l,lir<;runc,urple a»id wool hIack ; when UHcd without hoilin;^ the. leaveH dye wool fawn «;olor. The \rrcA'.u HhellH of the full ^rown nutH dye filack, with coppcraH. What in dyed hIack muHt he ririHcd iri cohJ water; the cotton fo he dy';d purple muHt ho rinHed in ly(;. 'I'he fawn, hrown, and root color rniiHt he rinned in cohl water, 'riie pro|)ortion of copperas UHcd for hIack \h two ounciJH to four ^allonH of dye; for the other HhadcH, uho much IcHrt coppcraH. To make a cold dye for wool, fill a tuh with alternate layerH of walnut loavoH and wool, then pour on water till all \n cAjvcrcA. The next day tak(5 out the wool ari'l dry it in the Hiin, then ro {)lac(5 it in anotlnir tuh with alternate layerH of frcKh walnut leaveH. Strain off the water from the old walnut IcaveH and pour it over the wool and frcHh walnut leav(!H ; let it remain again till the next day. lie[M!at thin proccHH for one week, add- ing as much wat(!r, from day to day, an to make the dye Hufll- cient to cover the wool and freHh leav(;H. This in a fine, j)crma- nont /aM;n colored dye. 218 Madder dyes loool red. Mix four quarts of wheat bran with four gallons of water, and set it to ferment. When it is quite sour, strain off the water and dissolve in it a lump of alum the size of a fowl's egg. Set the liquid on the fire in a copper kettle, and just before it boils mix well into it a half pound of fresh madder for every pound of wool. Then put into the dye the wet wool or worsted stuff to be dyed, and let it remain im- mersed in the dye for an hour, turning and pressing it frequently; during which hour the dye must be kept very hot, but must not boil, lest the color should be tarnished. When the wool is taken from the dye pot, it must be rinsed immediately in cold strong lye, or in lime water, and then dried. Spanish brown is used for dyeing cotton red. Put a pound of Spanish bi'own, powdered, into a little bag, and rub it out in a gallon of hot water till the bag is completely emptied of its contents. Then put the cotton yarn into the painted water, and rub the color into the yarn till all the coloring matter is transferred from the water to the yarn. After which, put two tablespoonsful of linseed oil into the water and boil the yarn in it for fifteen minutes, then hang the yarn to dry. If linseed oil cannot be obtained, boil the painted yarn in new milk for fifteen minutes. Solferino pink. Cut a piece out of the end of a pumpkin large enough to admit the hand, take out all the seeds and leave the strings in. Mash pokeberries into pulp and fill the cavity of the pumpkin with them, stir them up well with the strings and put the worsted yarn into the mixture, then cover it up close with the piece of pumpkin that was cut out. The next day take out'the yarn and dry it in the air; when dry, put the yarn back into the pumpkin as before, and cover it up again till next day. Eepeat this process every day till the desired shade of pink is obtained, then rinse the worsted out in cold, strong vinegar, and dry it for use. It will take a week to dye the deepest shade of pink. Glyceria tomentosa Grows in pine lands. Fl. June. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 387. In Pondicherry, this is given to horses in place of oats. Mem. du Museum, vi, 326. TUEKEYPEA; GOAT'S EUE; CATGUT, (Tephrosia Vir- giniayia, Ph.) Vicinity of Charleston ; IST. C; grows in dry soils. Fl. July. 219 Lindlej's Med. Flora, 244 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 238. The roots were used by Indians, and are now employed in popular prac- tice as a vermifuge ; a decoction is said to act as powerfulh' and as efficiently as the pink root, (Spigelia.') Attention is invited to it. Dr. Wood, in the 12th Ed. U. S. Disp., quotes from the Am. J. Pharm., xxviii, 218, an account of the experience of Dr. B. O. Jones, of Atlanta, Ga., with this plant. He used it with advan- tage as a mild, stimulating tonic and laxative, and he found it especially useful in typhoid fever. He prepares it by boiling eight ounces of the plant with two of Rumex acutus, in four quarts of water to a quart, and straining; adding, when the preparation is to be kept, an equal bulk of diluted alcohol or brandy, and half its weight of sugar, and macerating for several days. The dose is one or two tablespoonsful. BASTARD INDIGO, (Amorphafruticosa, L.) Florida, S. and N. Carolina, and Mississippi. This was formerly used in Carolina as an indigo plant, and continues to be extensively cultivated in Britain as an ornamen- tal shrub. Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia. YELLOW LOCUST TREE; LOCUST; FALSE ACACIA, {Rohinia pseudacacia, L.) Grows in the mountains of N. and S. Carolina; vicinity of Charleston; collected in lower St. John's Berkeley, near Ward's plantation; Newbern. Fl. May. Dem. Elem. de Bot. The flowers are aromatic and emollient. An anti-spasmodic syrup is prepared from ihem; and Gendrin states that when given to infants, it produces sleep, vomiting, and sometimes slight convulsive movements; he relates a case where it was swallowed by boys, in whom acro-narcotic effects were induced. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 101 ; Desfont, Traite des Arbres, ii, 304; Ann. d'Hort. ix, 168; Ann. Clin, de Mont, xxiv, 68. Dr. Wood, in the 12th Ed. U. S. Disp., states that the bark of the root is said to be tonic, and in large doses, emetic and pur- gative, and he reports from the Ann. de Therap. 1860, p. 64, three cases of poisoning, in children, from eating the root; they all recovered; the symptoms were like those produced by an overdose of Belladonna. One of them who happened to be laboring under intermittent fever at the time, had no return of the paroxysm. He adds, "these facts render caution advisable 220 in the use of the root, yet are also well calculated to stimulate inquiry." Mills states that "the best bows of the Indians were made of this tree." The inner bark is fibrous, and may be spun into cordage; the wood is of a fine, compact grain, and is used for manufacturing purposes. Mem. sur la Eobinia, Mem. de la Soc. d'Agricult. 1786 ; Francois, Letters on the Eobinia, Paris, 1803 Griffith, in his Med. Bot. 239, says that it has not received sufficient attention, for "every part is endowed with some good qualit3^'' On account of its durability, the wood is much used for tree- nails in ship-building ; the leaves, prepared in the same manner as those of the indigo, may bo employed as a substitute ; they afford an excellent nourishment for cattle, either in the fresh or in the dried state. Willich, Domestic Encyc. i, x. Grossier (Desc. de la Chine) says that they are used by the Chinese to produce the beautiful yellow color so remarkable in their silks. It is prepared by roasting half a pound of the half expanded flowers in a copper pan over a gentle fire, and stirring them continually ; after turning yellow, water is poured over, and it is boiled till it acquires a deep color. It is then strained, and half an ounce of alum, and the same quantity of shell lime are added, when the dye is fit for use. It is possible that this author may have confounded this plant with the R. flava. Merat says the flowers furnish a palatable dish when fried. The seeds are somewhat acrid, but afford a large quantity of oil on expression. By infusion in water, they become perfectly mild, and contain an excellent farina. This tree, both the leaves and flowers of which are beautiful, has attracted great attention in England, and its seeds are largelj^ imported, to be planted as a hedge and ornamental plant, and for various purposes. Almost a mania prevailed upon the subject. "No other tree grows more rapidly than this, excepting some species of the willow and the poplar." A sucker at Chiswick grew twenty feet in one season, with a cir- cumference of three inches. When the tree is felled suckers spring from the trunk in gi'cat profusion. Large quantities are exported to Liverpool for fastening bolts in ship-building. C. W. Johnson and others write of it thus : " The wheelwright and the coach-builder have employed it for axle-trees of carriages; the turner has used it for various pur- 221 poses of bis art, and has been delighted with its smooth texture and beautifully delicate straw color; fence-makers have used it for rail fencing and have found it to stand wet and dry near the ground betterthan any other timber in common use, and to be as durable as cedar ; landscape gardeners have planted it for a combination of ornament and utility. * * Farmers might try it for the formation of hedges, and were they to transplant it from the nursery when it has a height of about four feet, they would find it forming a hedge quite equal in compactness, strength, economy and manageableness, to hedges consisting of tried and approved plants, and a hedge available as a fence far earlier than any other, and capable of being raised to any de- sirable elevation. The flowers of the acacia tree are used in St. Domingo for making a distilled liquor, and its roots, and leaves, and juices contain a considerable proportion of sugar." Wilson's Encyc. Eural. The plants are easily propagated by pouring boiling water over the beans in the fall ; let them re- main twenty-four hours and plant. They grow six or seven feet the first season. The following highly interesting account of this tree, and the mode of cultivating it in the United States, is given by Dr. S. Ackerly : " The cultivation of the locust tree on Long Island, and in other parts of the State of New York, has been attended to with considerable profit to the agricultural interest, but not with that earnestness which the importance of the subject de- mands. This may have arisen from the difficulty of propa- gating it by transplanting, or not understanding how to raise it from the seed. * * * * * * "The locust is a tree of quick growth, the wood of which is hard, durable, and principally used in ship building. To a country situated like the United States, with an extensive line of seacoast, penetrated by numerous bays and giving rise to many great rivers, whose banks are covered with forests of ex- traordinary growth, whose soil is fertile, rich and variegated, and whose climate is agreeably diversified by a gradation of tem- perature ; to such a country, inhabited by an industrious and enterprising people, commerce, both foreign and domestic, must constitute one of the principal employments. As long as the country possesses the necessary timber for ship-building, and the other advantages which our situation aflPords, the gov- ernment will continue to be formidable to all other ]x)wors. ^Ye have within ourselves four materials necessary for the com- pletion of strong and durable naval structures. These are the live-oak, locust, cedar and pine, which can be abundantl}^ supplied. The former is best for the lower timbers of a ship, while the locust and cedar form the upper-works of the frame. The pine supplies the timber for decks, masts and spars. A vessel built of live-oak, locust and cedar, will last longer than if constructed of any other wood. Naval architecture has arrived in this place, and other parts of the United States, to as great per- fection, perhaps, as in any other country on the globe. Our ' fir-built frigates' have been compared with the British oak, and stood the test ; and in sailing, nothing has equalled the fleet- ness of some of our sharp vessels. The preservation and culti- vation of these necessary articles in ship-building is a matter of serious consideration. It might not be amiss to suggest to the Congress of the United States to prohibit the exportation o them. The pine forests appear almost inexhaustible, and the will be so in all probability for many generations to come ; but the stately cedars of Mobile and the lofty forests of Georgia, where the live-oak is of a sturdy growth, begin to disappear before the axe of the woodsman. The locust, a native of Vir- ginia and Maryland, is in such demand for foreign and domestic consumption that it is called for before it can attain its full irrowth. It has been cultivated as far eastward as lihode Island, but begins to depreciate in quality in that State. Insects attack it there, which are not so plentifull}' found in this State, nor its native situations. These give the timber a worm-eaten appearance and render it less useful. The locust has been ex- tensivelj'' cultivated in the southern parts of the State of New York, but the call for it luis been so great that few trees have attained any size before they were wanted for use. Hence they arc in great demand, and of read}' sale, and no ground can be appropriated for any kind of timber with so much advantage as locust. Beside its application to ship-building, it is exten- sively used for fencing; and for posts, no timber will last longer, in or out of the ground. On Long Island, where wood is scarce and fencing timber in great demand, the locust becomes of much local importance from this circumstance alone, inde- 223 pendent of its great consumption in tliiH city among Hhip- builders. In naval KtriictureB it in not exclusively applied to the interior or frame. In many placeH where Htrength is wanting, locust timber will bear a strain which would break oak of the same size. Thus an oak tiller has been known to break near the head of the rudder in a gale of wind, which has never hap- pened with a locust one. Tillers for large sea vessels are now uniformly made of locust in New York. It is the best timber also for pins or tree-nails, (con)monly called trunnels,) and pre- ferable to the best of oak. The tree gencrail}' grows straight, with few or no large limbs, and the fibres of the wood are straight and parallel, which makes it split well for making tree- nails, with little or no loss of substance. These are made in considerable quantities for exportation. "The locust tree does not bear transplanting well in this part of our country, but this in all probability arises from the custom of cutting off the roots when taken up lor that purpose. Most of the roots of the locust are long, cylindrical and run horizon- tally not far under the surface. In transplanting, so few of the roots arc left to the body of the tree removed that little or no support is given to the top, and it consequently dies. If care was taken not to destroy so much of the roots a much larger proportion of those transplanted would live and thrive. So great has been the difficulty in raising the locust in this way that another method of propagating ii has been generally re- sorted to. Whenever a large tree was cut down for use, the ground for some distance around was plowed, by which ope- ration the roots near the surface were broken and forced up. From these roots suckers would shoot up, and the ground soon become covered with a grove of young trees. These, if pro- tected from cattle by being fenced in, would grow most rapidly, and the roots continuing to extend, new shoots would arise, and in the course of a few years a thrifty young forest of locust trees be produced. The leaves of the locust are. so agreeable to horses and cattle that the young trees must be protected from their approach. When growing in groves they shoot up straight and slender, as if striving to out-top each other, to receive the most benefit from the rays of a genial sun. " Another difficulty has arisen in propagating the locust from inability to raise it from the seed. The seed does not always 224 come to perfection in this part of the State of New York, and if it does, it will not sprout, unless prepared before planting. The method best adapted to this purpose was proposed by Dr. Samuel Bard ; but it is not generally known, or if known, is not usually attended to. When this shall be well understood and practiced, the locust will be easily propagated, and then, instead of raising groves of them, the waste ground along fences and places where the Lombardy poplar encumbers the earth will be selected to transplant them, as by having them separated and single there will be an economy in using the soil, the trees will grow much better, and the timber be stronger. On account of its rapidity of growth and its use in making cross-ties on railroads, I would suggest that it be planted along railroad embankments for this purpose, EOSE ACACIA, (Robinia hispida ; also, Va. rosea.) Moun- tains of Georgia and North Carolina. Chapman. Wilson speaks of it as a "remarkably beautiful shrub." Its shoots of each year, or newest and freshest twigs, cany the flowers; so that its old wood may be annually pruned away to any extent which the taste of the cultivator or the situation of the plants may require. The flowers are large, odorless, and of a beautiful rose color. See, also, nearlj' all the English and Scotch authorities. " Dr. Bard's method of preparing the seeds was to pour boil- ing water on them, and let it stand and cool. The hard, outer coat would thus be softened, and if the seed swelled by this operation, it might be planted, and would soon come up." CLAMMY LOCUST, (Eobinia viscosa, Vent.) Grows among the mountains of S. and N. C, and in Georgia. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 101. The young branches afford an abundant, glossy exudation, secreted by little super- ficial glands, wiiich is dissolved by ether ; Vauquelin considers it a peculiar product : An. de Chim. xxvii, 223. Chevalier, however, doubts it: Diet, des Drogues, iii, 15. JAPAN CLOVER; WILD CLOVER, {Lespedeza striata, Hooker and Arnott.) Introduced ; Miss, to N. C. This plant has recently (1868) attracted great attention as a new forage plant, springing up everywhere and attracting uni- versal inquiry from farmers and phmters in eveiy portion of the Southern countrj^. I have received letters from a number of 225 persons asking for information concerning it, as it seemed to take the place of other plants, and was greedily eaten by horses, cattle and Iiogs. It causes slight salivation in the former. It grows abundantly on waste lands, under pine saplings, and drives out joint, nut and Bermuda grasses. It is a mistake to suppose, however, that it is of recent introduction, as my friend, Mr. H. "W. liavenel, of Aiken, S. C, had noticed it in St. John's Berkeley, S. C, many years since, and I had sent him specimens from Fairfield District, S. C, fifteen years ago. Mr. R. having ascertained that it was a Lespedeza has recently obtained the specific name from Prof Gray, and the former, in an article written in the Aiken Press, first proposed the name Japan Clover for it, as it is a native of that distant country. Dr. Jno. Bachman has also made it the subject of a communica- tion in the Charleston Courier. It covers the earth as with a carpet of green ; it is highly nourishing and has proved a great acquisition to our people. The seed is not winged, and it must be rapidly propagated through the instrumentality of animals. See, also. Dr. L. E. Berckman's paper before the Agricult. Club of Augusta, Ca., 1866. I introduce the following slip as a specimen of numerous notices concerning the plant. It is from the Laurensville (S. C.) Herald : " Wild Clover. — A new grass, which is generally called in this section by the name of Wild Clover, is springing up luxuriantly all over this district, and, we see from our exchanges, all over the Southern States. It grows almost everywhere, and seems to take hold even on the washed and galled parts of land, as if it would redeem both the looks and fertility of the country. It appears to be a dwarf clover, is very thick set, and covers the earth with a beautiful carpet of green. We have heard that a single root sends out as. many as six hundred branches. It is much relished by cattle, and is said to be exterminating the Bermuda, Joint, Sedge, and all other grasses. We see that it is attracting much attention in Middle Georgia." A friend in Orangeburg writes: "The plant grows best on a rich clay soil, but does well on sandy lands — and even in the shade, up to the roots of trees, but is not seen on lands worked within a year or two. It sometimes grows to two feet high. The St. Matthew's planters (where it abounds) speak of it as a 15 226 blessing, as fodder has been scarce, and it puts out very earl}', and cattle and horses are fond of it ; although, like Clover, it salivates them at first. I have a lawn with a number of mules and cattle feeding on it ; but like rye they do not appear to destroy it." Mr. Eavenel has published an article on this plant in " The Land we Love," 1868, January and February, I have exam- ined the roots, which are long and fibrous, and which penetrate and flourish even in sandy roads and in yards. The seed should be gathered for sale. DOLLAE-PLANT, {Rhyncosia tomentosa ?) Diff'used in dry pine lands. This plant, receiving its name probably from the shape of the leaf, is reputed, in the neighborhood of Aiken, S. C, and elsewhere, to be a valuable agent in arresting troublesome diarrhoea. A tea is given several times a day. Several cases have come to my knowledge where it was successfully em- ployed — no doubt on account of the tannin contained in it, as is evident from the taste. TAEE, {Vicia sativa, Linn. Walter.) Grows abundantly around Charleston. N. C. Fl. June. In England, a decoction of the seeds in water is used as a sudorific in small-pox and measles. The seeds are a good food for pigeons. Fl. Scotica, 396 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 892. GAEDEN BEAN, (Ficia/a6a.) Cultivated. Pisum sativum. Pea. Great use is made of the varieties of the pea on our planta- tions in South Carolina, as articles of food for men and animals. The species called the cow-pea is most in use. I have been unable to find any accurate botanical description of this very valuable plant. It seems, however, from my examination, to be included under the genus Vicia. A soup made of the cow-pea, which is a very common dish at the South, is much used by nursing women to increase the amount of milk, as it is believed to be endowed with some special virtues as a galactagogue. It failed completely in a case where I had it used most assiduously. See, also, castor oil plant. 227 David Dickson, one of the most successful planters in (xoorgia, in his letters, republished in So. Cultivator for January, 1869, says that the chief thing added to the soil by a clover crop, are carbon and ammonia. " In the South the cow-pea will answer the same end, if sown early, manured with two hundred pounds of Peruvian Guano, and turned under from the Ist of July to the Ist of August ; then at the same time seeded again with peas, using one hundred pounds guano. Peed off with hogs and beef cattle, which will generally pay for all expenses, and leave the land twenty dollars better. * * All acknowledge the importance of turning under green crops. The only thing lost by their drying is their ammonia." '' The farmers of the North- ern States are improving their lands almost entirely by in- creasing their supplies of ammonia, growing hay, clover, oats and rye, and keeping stock to eat these crops annually ; not gaining, but losing phosphates and gaining nitrogen — making the land rich, and the land making the owner rich. Ammonia is the foundation of English agriculture. Ammonia from the atmosphere, ammonia from Peruvian Guano, ammonia from the turnip, hay and clover, etc., returning merely the bone earth to the soil, which has been extracted by ammonia, which last is constantly increasing in its relative amount." Amjyhicarpa monoica. Grows in rich lands. Fl. July. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 322. The subterranean pod is culti- vated as a vegetable. GROUNDNUT; PINDAR; PEANUT; GOOBERNUT, (Arachis hypogma.) Brought by the negroes from Africa. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med.; Supplem. 53, 1846. The fruit preserves its germinative powers for forty years. Boudich Excurs. 392. Large quantities are exported from Senegal on account of the oil which is expressed ft-om them, and which is much valued. Ermandel "on the cultivation of the groundnut, and its employment as a substitute for coffee," Journal de la Litter. Etrang. ix, 169 ; Du Buc, Mem. on the use of A. hypog., and an examination of its oil, (in French ;) see Journal de Pharm. viii, 231 ; Rivoli, Lettre sur I'Arachis hypogaea, Milan, 1807 ; Donmen, Notice sur I'Arachis, Montpellier, 1838. Ac- cording to the analysis of Pagen and Henry, it is very difficult for the oil to become rancid. Journal de Chim. Med. i, 435 ; 228 Ann. de Hist. Nat. iv, 206 ; Gurnin, Mem. sur I'Arachis, Bib- lioth. Physice Econ. i, 145 ; Tessier, Mem. sur I'Arachis, Avig- non. The seeds, parched and ground, can with difficulty be distinguished trom coifee, as I have myself experienced. In some portions of South Carolina it is employed as a substitute. The okra (Hibiscus esmlentus) sei'ves the same purpose. In a letter from Mr. W. G. Simms, dated Woodlands, 1863, he writes as follows : " You speak of the groundnut as a substitute for coffee. But as coffee it is a very inferior thing to its use as chocolate. The manufacture of chocolate cakes out of the groundnut alone and without a particle of cocoa, is an immense and most profitable part of jSTorthern manufacture. We make it in my family of a quality not inferior to any you buy. To prepare it for the table it is beaten in a mortar. At the North, I have been told that the hulls are ground up with the nut, and I do not doubt that this is an improvement as "qualifying the exceeding richness of the nut, which I have usually found too rich prepared as choco- late in our way." The groundnut and bene make rich and nutritious soup, and act as substitutes for meat. They are often parched, and beaten up with sugar, and served as a condiment or dessert. The groundnut is cultivated to some extent in the Southern States, and great, use is made of it on the plantations as an article of food, and for various domestic purposes ; it is exported with profit, but troublesome to prepare. I am not aware of any use being made in the Carolinas of the oil which it affords on ex- pression. The authorities cited above will afford much valuable information. The above was published in my report on Med. Botany of S., 1849. Since the war it is largely emploj^ed. The superintend- ent of the Rockfish Factory in North Carolina, writes that he has " used the peanut oil by the side of the sperm, and that it works fully as well." The N. C. Advertiser publishes the following: "The vine, when the pea is removed, makes an excellent forage for cattle, said to be equal to the best Northern hay. From the nut is expressed a valuable oil. During the war this oil was exten- sively used in our machine shops, and its lubricatory properties are pronounced by competent authority to be superior to those 229 of whale oil, for the reason that it does not gum at all. One quality of the oil is extensively employed in the composi- tion of medicines ; another is used for burning purposes, and possesses the virtue of not smoking, while a third makes a really excellent salad condiment. Such, and so varied and important, are the uses to which this simple product can be devoted — uses which the uninformed, who have, perhaps, re- garded it only in the light of an indigestible bulb, would never suspect to proceed from its cultivation." The oil was expressed by screw pressure by parties near Manning, S. C. Mr. Dyson obtained three quarts of oil from a bushel of the nuts. Dr. Wood states that it is a non-drying oil and will not do for painting, but is used for various purposes in the arts, for lubricating machinery and in the manufacture of. woollen cloth; and would serve, adds Dr. Wood, for burning in lamps, giving even a better light than sperm oil. Am. J. Pharm., July, 1860. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. SWEET LOCUST; HONEY LOCUST, {Gleditschia triaf:an- thus, L.) Diffused. As far west as Mississippi ; 1 have seen it in the lower and upper districts of South Carolina ; N. C. Beer is sometimes made by fermenting the sweet pods while fresh. The pores of the wood are very open. When perfectly seasoned, the wood is extremely hard. It is far inferior to the black walnut, or wild cherry for cabinet-making. Hedges of it are rendered impenetrable by its long thorns. Michaux, in Farmer's Encyc. Mills' Statistics of S. C. WILD SENNA, (Cassia Marylandica, Jj.) Grows along the banks of rivers ; vicinity of Charleston ; N. C. Fl. July. Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 135; Griffith's Med. Bot. 261. It is said to be as safe and as certain in its operation as the imported senna, but more apt to gripe ; this may be corrected by infusing fennel seed or some other aromatic with the leaves. It is pre- pared in large quantities by the Shakers, and is generally col- lected after the seeds ripen ; one ounce of the leaves is added to one pint of hot water, of which the dose is one to three ounces, repeated, I have specimens of the leaves of the offi- cinal senna, which is cultivated successfully by Mr. W. Lucas, of South Carolitia, for use on his plantation. He says that it does not appear to degenerate. 230 STYPTIC WEED ; FLOEIDA COFFEE, (Cassia occidentalis, L. Cassia Caroliniana, Walt.) Common around old buildings ; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; N. C. It is be- coming a pest to the farmer. Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 130; Marcgrave, in his Hist, of Brazil, mentions it as a remedy in the poison of ven- omous animals and in strangury. In the Supplem. to Merat, p. 150, 1846, properties are ascribed to it similar to those of the C. hirsuta, which is diuretic, acting on the lymphatic system, and employed in obstructions, debility, dropsy caused by derange- ment of the digestive organs, and as a vermifuge also ; forty grains, parched like coffee, are used. It is useful as an applica- tion, in the form of a decoction of the leaves, in itch, erysipela- tous eruptions, irritation and inflammation of the rectum. The negroes apply the leaves, smeared with grease, as a dressing for sores. Griffith, Med. Bot. 262; Bouditch, Exper. 392; Cher- noviz. Form. 222. Once thought lo be very valuable as a sub- stitute for coffee; roots said to be injurious to hogs. GOLDEN CASSIA, (Cassia chamaicrista, L.) Diffused in dry, sandy soils ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc; Shec. Flora Carol. 390 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 129. The leaves are said to be purga- tive. It grows in abundance in South Carolina and elsewhere and should be examined. It is emploj^ed in poi'tions of the country for the recovery of worn-out lands ; those that are sandy being particularly benefited by it. See Greenway's ac- count of its domestic uses. Op. ant. cit. Cassia tora, L. Diffused in cultivated soils ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. Sept. Supplem. to Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 1846,150; Ainslie's Mat. Med. Ind. ii, 405. Used in India. EEDBUD; JUDAS TEEE, {Cercis canadensis, Ij.) Swamps vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's; N. C. Fl. March. Shec, Flora Carol. 380. " The wood is of great value for mechanical purposes, as it polishes exceedingly well, and is ad- mirably veined with black and green." Mills, in his Statistics of S. C, states that the blossoms are used as a salad. Pithecolobium ungiiis-cati, Benth. Inga U7iquis-cati, Willd. S. Fla. Chap. Said to be a good remedy in urinary complaints 231 and obstruction of the liver and spleen ; a decoction of the bark is very astringent. Macfadyen. ci-oTVTOTrrTT7-o T7-TTVT-C1 ] SchninJiia cinqustata, T, and G. SENSITIVE VINE, | Schrankia uncinata, Ell. Sk. Grows in pine lands ; N. and S. C. Fl. July. The leaves of this plant possess a remarkable degree of sen- sibility or irritability, closing up immediately upon contact with any surface. I have repeated upon this plant, and in a measure verified the experiments with chloroform and sulphuric ether upon the Mimosa sensitiva, made by Prof. Marcet, of Geneva, in illustration of the relations existing between animal and vege- table irritability.* After trying a number of substances, in- cluding the tinctures of opium, capsicum and camphor, and the solutions of tartar emetic, sulp. morphine, and hyd. potash, without producing any impi'ession, I ascertained that the two anaesthetic agents alone, when placed on the main petiole of the leaves, had, in about five minutes, their influence gradually extended to those above, causing the leaflets to contract seriatim. Though sensibility to impressions was impaired by each suc- cessive attempt, yet it was never entirely lost. The result of my observations differed from those of Prof. Marcet, but agreed with De Candollo in his analogous experiments with nitric and sulp. acids, in its not disclosing any impressions transmitted downward, or at any rate beyond the junction of the branch experimented on with the main limb of the plant. A drop of the oil of aniseed placed on a leaf-stalf seemed to have the effect of arresting the transit of any influence beyond it; hence, we may be led to suspect that the impression is conveyed by organs of sensation or of contractility or irritability, arranged not far from the surface. In the examination I was assisted by Dr. Bene Eavenel. In sensitive plants. Mimosa, for example, the movements of the leaves, says Mr. C, Mackensie, quoted by Wilson, have their origin in certain enlargements situated at the articulation of the leaflets with the petiole, and of the petiole with the stem. If by a longitudinal section the lower half of this swelling be removed, the petiole will remain depressed, having lost the power of elevating itself. If the superior half be removed, the *Read before the Soc. de Phys. et d'Hist Nat., Oct. 19th, 1840. See, also, Sill. Journal, July, 1849. 232 petiole will remain constantly elevated, having lost the power of depressing itself. These facts prove that the motions of the petiole depend on the alternate turgescence of the upper and lower half of the enlargement, situated at the point of articula- tion, and that contractility is not the principle of these mo- tions. The irritation of a burning lens, for example, is felt either above or below. This interior movement, M, Dutrochet found, was transmitted equally well, even though a ring of bark has been removed ; that it is transmissible even though the bark and pith be removed, so that nothing remains to commu- nicate between the two parts of the skin except the woody fibres and vessels; that it is transmissible even when the two parts communicate merely by a shred of bark ; and that it may be transmitted even when the communication exists by the pith only ; but that it is not transmissible when the communication exists only by the cortical parench3^ma. From these very in- teresting experiments, it results that the interior movement produced by irritation is propagated by the ligneous fibres and the vessels. The propagation is more rapid in the petioles than in the body of the stem, the rapidity having been computed. Absence of light during a certain time completely destroys the irritability of the plant. The return of the sun's influence readily restores the plant to its irritable state. " It appears, therefore, that it is by the action of light that the vital proper- ties of vegetables are supported as it is by the action of oxygen that those of animals are preserved ; consequently, etiolation is to the former what asphyxia is to the latter." Eural Cyc. M. M. Bert and Blondeau have been experimenting on the contractions of the Sensitive Plant, as I see by a paper sent me by Prof Gray, of Boston, (1868.) M. Blondeau experimented on plants with the induced gal- vanic current of a Euhnkorff's coil. He submitted three plants to the influence of the electric current. The first was operated on for five minutes ; the plant when left to itself seemed pros- trated, but after a while (a quarter of an hour) the leaves opened and it seemed to recover itself. The second was acted on for ten minutes. This specimen was prostrated for an hour, after which it slowly recovered. The third specimen was gal- vanized for twenty-five minutes, but it never recovered, and in twenty-four hours it had the appearance of a plant struck by 233 lightning. A fourth plant was etherized, and then exposed to the current. Strange to say the latter bad not any effect, the leaves remained straight and open ; thus proving, says M. Blon- deau, that the mode of contraction of the leaves of the senitive plant is in some vfnj allied to the muscular contraction of ani- mals. CALYCANTHAaE. {The Carolina Allspice Tribe.) Flowers aromatic and fragrant. SWEET SHEUB. {Calycarithus Floridus, Linn.) Specimens from Aiken : I have observed it growing wild in Fairtield Dis- trict, S. C. Fl. May. One of the most aromatic and sweet scented of our indigenous plants; cultivated on tliis account in gardens. Dr. Jno. Douglass, of Chester District, S. C, sends me a communication rom his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, who says he has fre- quently*used it with satisfaction, as an anti-spasmodic tonic, in the cure of chronic agues. A strong decoction of the seed or bark of the root is given. The wood is strongly camphorated, especially the root, and Mr. Nuttall thinks will probably pro- duce this drug as abundantly as the Laurus camphora. The seeds seldom mature. MYKTACB^. {The Myrtle Tribe.) Eugenia^ Micheli. Allspice family. Several species of this genus are found in South Florida. See Chapman's Southern Flora. The oil from the berries should bo examined, as they are closely i-elated to the clove bearing trees, Caryophilus. The timber of most ^^^^enias is useful and good. Like the myrtles, their bark abounds in tannin, their soft parts contain a more volatile oil, and the fruit of some, though ren- dered somewhat disagreeable by the aroma of the oil, are edible. Wilson's Eural Cyc. SAXIFRAGACE^. {The Saxifrage Tribe.) De Cand. considers the whole order as more or less astrin- gent. HEUCHERA. Heuchera Villosa, Mx. Heuchera caulescens, Pursh. Moun- tains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The roots are ex- tremoly iiatringont, and wore used as styptics and in apthous sore mouth. Rafincsquo Med. Flor. Properties same as those of Jl. Americana. ALUM-ROOT, (IfeMchera Americana, L.) Grows in damp soils; Richland; collected in St. John's; Charleston District; found also in (Jeorgia; Newhern. Coxo's Am. Disp^ 112 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 163 ; U. S. Disp. 390 ; Barton's Collec; Mich. Flora Boreal. Americana, i, 171. "A powerful astringent." The powder was employed by the aborigines in wounds and cancerous ulcers. Bart. M. Bot. ii, 159 ; Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 490. It is also admin- istered as a substitute for Colocynth. It is used in decoction, tincture or syrup, wherever an astringent is required — as in diarrhoea, piles, menorrhagia, etc., etc. These plants may serve the purposes of Rhatany, Kino and Catechu. Hydrangea arborescens, L., Hydratu/ea vulgaris, Mx., Hydrangea cordata. Ph. Florida to Mississippi and northward. Dr. S. W. Butler, of Burlington, New Jersey, introduced this plant into notice through the New Jersey Medical Report. He states that his father whilst on a mission to the Cherokees, learned of them (he merits of this plant in the treatment of gravel and stono, and has himself emploved it foi' many years in an extensive practice among a people peculiarly subject to those complaints. He considers it a most valuable medicine, jiossessed, perhaps, of speciric properties. Dr. Parrish, in his Practical Pharm. in noticing the above, has modified Dr. B.'s formula for its preparation thus: Hydrangea, sixteen ounces; water, six pints or sulticient, boil the root in successive portions, mix theni and evaporate to half a pint ; mix this with two pints of honey and evaporate to two pints. In the summer season push the evaporation somewhat further and add a half a pint of l)randy. The dose of this tluid extract is a teaspoonful twice or three times a day. Dr. P. says he has prepared it for several j'ears and has dispensed it under the direction of several practitioners to numerous patients, and with general satisfactory results, in irritable conditions of the urethra, though its value as a specific remedy requires confirmation. Op. cit. 205. In the 12th Ed. U. S. Disp. an analysis by Mr. Laidley, of Richmond, Ya., is referred to, (Am. J. Pharm. xxiv, 20.) Drs. Atlee, Horslcy and Monkun, are also said to have confirmed the opinion of its utility "in sabulous or gravelly deposits." N. J. Med. Eeport, September, 1854, October, 1854, and March, 1855. In overdose it occasions vertigo and oppression of the chest. U. S. Disp. BTJRSEEACEiE. {The Torchwood Tribe.) TORCHWOOD, {Amyris Floridana, Nutt.) South Florida. Chapman. Nearly all the species afford fine materials in both their resin and their wood for fragrant incense and delightful pastiles. AVilson's Rural Cye. Our species should be examined. A South American species yields a gum which makes one of the best of known varnishes. Frankincense is said to be got fi'ora the Pinus tceda. The Bursera gummifera, Jacq. of Florida, also yields a balsam called Chibou resin. ANACARDIACE^. {The Cashew Tribe.) Trees abounding in a resinous, sometimes acrid, highly poisonous juice, are the ordinary representatives of this order. POISON OAK, (BMis toxicodendron, T. & Gray ; Rhus radi- cans of authors.) Diffused; common in pine lands; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Trous. et. Pid. Mat. Med. i, 524; Bell's Pract. Diet. 453; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 116 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 603; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 345 ; U. S. Disp. 718 ; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 241; Royle, Mat. Med. 341 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 248; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 78 ; Orfila, Toxicologic Gen. i, 45 ; Ann. de Chim. XXXV, 186 ; An. Journal de Med. Ixxx, 136; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 117; Ell. Bot. 363; Alibert, Elems. de Therap. i, 452; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 20 ; Du Fresnoi, quoted in Ann. of Med. V, 182, and 483 ; Med. and Phys. Journal, i, 308 ; vii, 273; and x,486; Duncan's Disp. 294; Bu'l. Plantes Ven. de France, 146. It produces in those who come into its vicinity an erysipela- tous inflammation. It is stimulant and narcotic, employed in paralysis and herpes ; of the former disease, seventeen cases are reported by one physician to have been successfully treated with it. The juice which exudes on plucking the stem makes a good indelible ink. It is dissolved by ether. Bigelow thinks it is composed of a resin and an essential oil. Pui*ging with neutral 2at) siilts, (ho iiso t>l' opium, blood-letting utul cold applications of ttcetjito of load arc oinployod in caso of poisoiiiiii«; from those plants. Tho hruisod loaves of tho Collinsonid c'The process is this: It is well known to every tanner that the most important thing in making good leather is to have it pivperly colored, and that it is not crisped or parched on the grain in the ' handlers.' " The shoemae leaf is put into a vat which is intended tor a " handler," and then the vat is tilled with clean, fresh water, and when it has stood UTitil the strength is entirely out of the leaf, the skin or stock is taken from tho"fttnY,'' rinsed in the "pool," and then placed in the -handler." The stock is then turned or handled as in other processes, until the grain is properly colored. It is then taken through the regular pro- cess of tanning, and when it is scoured it is perfectly white. The stock should be tanned with white oak, or some other kind of mild bark. "The advantage of the sumach is this: That the stock comes out fair and good, while in other processes the grain has to be made white by acids, which injures the stock very much. Tanners intending to make fair leather would do well to make a note ot' this information." See " Sweet Gum " (^Zi"(/M/(/(;//i')(;r) for my examination ot' this, the sumach and other /t*art>\ as substitutes for oak bark. 24] Sumach hcrrian in layerw with wool and boiled will dyo hiaek 'wUhout coppc/rdH. Vifiegar and ruwty iron will often fix colorH without the aid of copperaH. Sumac herrieK ground up are used for flavoring tobacco. The powdered leaves are Home- times mixed with tobacco to dimininh the strength. The writer liaH often uHcd them in tliiw way. In Danville, Va., the peach leaf Ih often em[>loyed aluo to flavor tobacco. POISON SUMACIL; SWAMP SUMACH; POISOX EL- DIOR, (Rhus vernix, L., Ell. Sk., Rhus venenata, D, C.) Grows in the upper districts and in Greorgia; collected in St. John's; vicinity oi' Charleston. Fl. June. Mer. and de L, Dict.de M. Med. vi, 82 ; Lindley, Phil. 'J'ran«. vi, Abndg. 507; Sherard, do. 508; Kalm's Travels, i, 77 ; Mar- shall's w\bstract, l'>0 ; Cutler, Am. Acad. 427; liig. Am. Med. Hot. i, 80; Hart. Coll. 24; Thatcher's Disp. 321; see Big. E. vernix; Nouv. Journal de Med. xv, 43 ; U. S. Disp. 718. This also gijies out a poisonous exhalation ; some are even affected by the atmosphere around it. It is thought to be identical with one in Japan, which furnishes a fine varnish much used in that country. l)v. liigelow ascertained that the juice, which flows in large quantities from our tree when wounded in the spring, affords a brilliant, glossy, black varnish. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1840, 028. See Thunberg's Voyage, vi, 15, for a notice of the oil extracted from the seeds. Lind. Nat. Syst. 168; Jjinn. Veg. M. Med. 50. It is styptic and astringent and the resin is used as an ointment in piles. Higelow, in his examination of the juice referred to above, believes that it consists of a resin and an essential oil. He first boiled it till the volatile oil had escaped ; the remainder being reduced almost to the state of a resin, was applied warm as a varnish. J>r. Pierson reports an interesting case of poisoning from this plant; and it is said that some individuals have been injuriously affected by the fumes from the wood of this and the Ehus radi- cans, accidentally burnt on the fire. A swarm of bees was poisoned by alighting on one of these trees. New York Medical Kepos. WINC-RIH MOUNTAIN SUMACH; COMMON SUMACH, ( Rhus eopfiUi.na, Linn. Walt.) Diffused. Vicinity of Charleston ; Florida and Mississippi and northward ; collected in St. John's; Newbern. Fl.July. 10 242 Ell. Bot. 302 ; Ed. and Yav. Mat. Med. 136. A wash is ap- plied to ring-worms. The root is used by the Chippeway In- dians as an anti-venereal. The excrescences on the leaves are powdered and made into an ointment as an application to hemorrhoids. Griffith, Med. Bot. It does not atford copal. The leaves were mixed with tobacco and used by the Indians for smoking. The sumach is said to form an ingredient in the manufacture of " Killickinick " tobacco ; since the war the leaves dried have been much used by soldiers in camp to render tobacco milder and increase its bulk. The berries are quite sour, and afford, with water, a cooling drink. Wilson asserts in the Eural Cyc. that the R. copallina does contain copal. " The resin from this shrub exists in smooth brittle, translucent, roundish, small masses; has litttle ta»te and scarcely any odor; is fusible by heat, inflammable by ignition insoluble in water, very sparingly soluble in alcohol, and fully soluble in sulphuric ether and some essential oils. It is the characteristic ingredient of the well known copal varnish, an article requiring operose and careful manufacture, but dis- tinguished for the brilliancy, durability, hardness and resistance of its exquisite polish." Consult '■^ Liquidambar" for detail of experiments. By my experiments the leaves of the Rhus contain more tannin than either the sweet gum, myrtle, or any of the fifteen or twenty that I examined by reagents. I am also con- vinced that the excrescences abundant on the Rhus glabra (or smooth sumach) would furnish an excellent material for the supply o? tannin. Upon drying and examining them, I find the tannin in a highly concentrated state. They would be suitably used wherever an astringent is required in medicine, and should be added with the leaves to the tan-vat. See article " Quercus tinctoria" in this volume, for trees furnishing tannin and gallic acid. DWARF SUMACH, (Rhus pumila, Mich. Ph.) Upper dis- tricts ; Newbern, Fl. August. U. S. Disp. 719 ; Mx. Flora Americana. According to Pursh, it is the most poisonous of the species. STAGHOEN SUMACH, (Rhus typhiana, Walt. Flora Carol.) S. and North Carolina. Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 82; see Analysis, in Journal de Chim. Med. iv, 511. Lassaigne says that this con- 243 tains malic acid. The incised bark yields resin. It is employed in preparing morocco leather. See R. vernix, etc. Rhus metopiiim, L. A tree fifteen to twenty feet high. South Fla. Chap. This, which is also a West India species, furnishes a gum known as "Doctor's gum," which, in large doses is emeto-ca- thartic, and is said in smaller ones to be a useful remedy in dis- orders of the bowels and respiratory organs. A spoonful of the fresh juice is mixed with two ounces of boiling water; the dose is a teaspoonful given occasionally, (Jam. Phj's. Jour.) Des- courtilz, (Fl. Med. Antill., ii., 49,) states that the bark is an excellent astringent. Griffith. The Rhus aromatica grows in West Florida and Mississippi and northward, is aromatic but not poisonous and should be examined. Our R. cotinoides, Nutt., which Buckley found in the interior of Alabama, may approximate in qualities to the R. coifnus of Europe " which furnishes most of the sumach of commerce," and the wood of which is the basis of a bright yellow dye, Rhvs coriaria. This species of sumach is [exotic, and is the principal plant cultivated in Sicily for export. I insert the following, in case it shall be found expedient to "exploit" or plant for tannin our wild sumachs which arc found so abund- antly in rank meadows throughout the South ; particularly abundant, I have observed, in the Dismal Swamp, Va. I think it is sufficiently abundant there to supply almost any amount for the purposes of the tanner or dyer. " In the best sumach one hundred grains of the leaf should give thirty to thirt3'-five grains of pure tannin. The proper adaptation of the land can be ascertained by testing the leaves with sulphuric ether. ' Use as much sulphuric ether as will dissolve the sumach, or pass it through the sumach till it runs clear, then draw off the ether by heat, and the deposit will be pure tannin.' A rough test for tannin is prepared with a solu- tion of sulphate of iron, or may depend upon its coagulation of albumen. "The sumach is thus cultivated near Palermo: The soil is prepared as for potatoes, with furrows from two to two and a half feet apart, in which in January or February are placed the young suckers two and a half feet apart. In August of the 244 first year the leaves on the lower part of the branches are drawn off with the thumb and finger, leaving a tuft on the top. In October the whole head is taken off, or sometimes broken, and left hanging by the bark till dry. The second year, in June, the branches are stripped of I'ipe leaves ; and in August, as soon as the whole plant is mature, it is cut with a sickle down to six inches. It is then spread out and dried thoroughly on each side till entirely cured. The June gathering is omitted in many cases when the plants are not strong. After being dried the branches are put upon a floor and threshed, when the leaves will separate from the wood, which is of no value except for fuel. The leaves are then ground between two millstones, one of which is on edge, and revolving around a centre. We visited a mill driven by steam-power, which threw out the pow- dered sumach in large quantities. The air was filled with fine particles of dust, which covered our clothing and entered the lungs. It is not injurious, however, for although it seemed suffocating, the workmen will sleep three or four hours success- ively in it ; and are always remarkably healthy. They were particularly exempt from cholera. The leaves are readily re- duced to powder while the stems are not. These last are then separated by sifting, and the pure sumach is placed in bags of one hundred and sixt^'-three pounds for shipment. Two thou- sand pounds of ground sumach to an acre is considered a good crop." This corroborates my own suggestion regarding the employ- ment of leaves for the supply of tannin. See article Tannin and Sweet Gum, {Liguidambar,') for my comparative experiments upon the leaves of gum, myrtle, etc., for tannin. Both these trees grow abundantly everywhere, and will easily supply a large amount of tannin, to bo used as I suggest — in place of oak bark. Most of the plants containing tannin will furnish a black dye, with iron. " The basis of black dyes for all organic fibres is the tannogallate of iron ; but the modes of application vary with the nature of the fabric, whether silk, wool, or cotton. The finest blacks are obtained by a combination of colors ; thus, a rich black is imparted to wool by grounding it with a deep, indigo blue, then passing it through logwood, galls, or sumach, and finally through a bath of these, with copperas and verdi- 245 gris, or immediately through the latter." "Wilson's Eural Cyc. See, also, [Jre's Diet, of Arts, article " Calico Dyeing." Any of our plants containing either tannin or coloring principles can be used as dyes, with alum or iron ; vinegar also adds to the intensity of the color. There is a paper by John M. Marston, on the cultivation of the sumach in Sicily, in Patent Office Reports, 1851, p. 60. I believe that the great abundance of sumach in Virginia, would supply for a long time all we would require — besides, it grows abundantly in our savannas, and among myrtles throughout the country. Mr. Marston thinks that the superiority of the Sicilian sumach lies in the mode of cultivating it — "all the leaves are the production of the young sprouts that spring up from the stump every year." The middle Southern States he thinks adapted to its growth. "The export of sumach to the United States last year was 65,000 bags." I quote as follows from the letter : " Sumach is an article of commerce to the Sicilians of great importance, as it is also with the Americans. And, it is my opinion that this article, so valuable for manufacturing pur- poses, for tanning, etc., can be produced in the United States in sufficient quantity to supply the world, if the mode of its cul- ture be understood, and proper attention be paid to it. "I have no idea that it is the same kind that grows in the United States, which there runs to the size of trees. In Sicily they plant the roots or small plants from two to three feet apart ; rows about four, so that the plow or harrow can save the hand labor of the hoe. They hoe it two or three times before the rains finish in May, and gather it in July and August. The leaves are the only parts made use of. After being sepa- rated from the twigs by threshing, (or, in this country, both ways — by threshing and treading off with oxen and horses,) the leaves are then ground to the state of fineness in which you see it in the United States, being passed through sieves or bolting-cloths of sufficient fineness, and put into bags of one hundred and sixty pounds each. The proper season for plant- ing the roots or plants is in November, December and January. When the season is rainy, the plants take root better. The root or stump is cut off from four to six inches above ground. The scions or sprouts spring up four to six out of each root; 246 and when at maturity, which in this island is in July or August, they are all cut off at the stumps, and laid in small handfuls to dry, say for a day or two. Do not spread them out much, as the sun will turn the leaves yellow, and great care must be taken that no rain falls on them. Perhaps, in this country, it may answer to plant nearer together than would be advisable in America, on account of the greater heat of the sun here, and thus shade the ground better. The leaves are ground in mills mostly by horse-power; but water or steam-power would be much cheaper and better. The perpendicular running stones weigh nearly three thousand pounds; they run double or single round an upi'ight shaft. The nether or foundation stone is heavier, and one-third greater in diameter than the running stones. The grinding surface of these latter is slightly rough, being occasionally touched with the pick or cold-chisel. Hard granite stones answer; here they use a volcanic stone, which is as hard as marble. There follows round the running stones a little piece of wood that keeps the leaves always under the stones. When ground fine enough, it is sifted or bolted in a large, tight room, with a door to enter and fill the bags. In Sicily the article is more or less adulterated with spurious stuff, such as other kinds of leaves, and an article called bucca, which resembles the juniper bush of New England ; this has no value in itself I believe the first year they do not cut off the sprouts. In the second and following years, a curious freak of nature produces a single plant a foot or so distant from the original root ; and this little plant it is which they usually make use of to transplant. Now, the plow or harrow would prevent these from growing, as they would be in the track, and this ma}^ be the reason why they hoe it. Still, I think the j)low or harrow must be used in our country, and some way or other contrived to save these little plants if wanted." The above was printed in the first edition of this volume. It will be observed that I had called attention to the exploita- tion of the sumach, as above, in the first edition of this work, printed in 1863, and also to the great abundance of the plants. I hope that my suggestions have been productive of good. It is now become an extensive business throughout the State of Yirginia, giving employment to many persons, and in time I hope that a large number of our population may derive profita- 247 ble employment from the same, and by cultivating or collecting medicinal plants, when depots for their purchase in small quan- tities shall be established in the large cities. Dr. H. Baer, of Charleston, in a communication made to me requesting a series of popular articles upon these subjects, 1868, states : " I see that Virginia exports a large amount of sumach, and by some of my last circulars from Liverpool, I see it quoted at 8s. per cwt." The analysis was as follows: Vege table matter 83. 10 Tannin 15.50 Sand 1.40 The following letter, which I find in the Norfolk Journal, will, no doubt, interest all dealers in sumach. It is fi*om Alex. S. Macrae, merchant of Liverpool, and is dated Sept., 1868: "1 have to-day received a sample of Philadelphia brand American sumach — a very superior quality. Our first chemical analysis make it : Tannin 20.80 Sand 0.75 Vegetable fibre 78.45 100.00 " The best sumachs in this market average 16 a 20 per cent. of tannin, and sell at £13 a £24 per ton. I, therefore, make the value of the Philadelphia £16 per ton, at which price there should be a handsome remuneration. " If, as you say, sumach leaves are to be had in Virginia for the gathering, what a trade has been neglected, which at once may be developed." I see it stated that Fredericksburg has received one thousand tons this season ; and a merchant of Fauquier County paid out last year $5,000 for sumach, a commodity which any person seems licensed to gather free of charge by merely requesting the privilege from landowners. The Norfolk Virginian, (1868,) says of the "sumach trade:" " This new item of interest to our industrial classes is now attracting much attention in this State, throughout the entire length and breadth of which it flourishes in profusion in a wild state. The material is used largely for the essential principle of tannin, which it contains, and factories for its extraction have 248 been established in this State and elsewhere. Our attention has been particularly called to the establishment of Messrs. Chisinan and Crocker, in Hampton, who have gone into the business on a large scale, and from whose circular we make the following extracts, for the guidance of those who may wish to engage in its collection : ' Sumach must be of a good color, free from stems, dirt and berries.' * * * * 'It should be gathered from Ist July until frost, after which it will turn red, and then it will be worthless. It should be cured as much as possible under shelter, or in the shade, to preserve its color and strength — carefully threshed (and not cut) on a plank floor, or sheet, to keep it free from dirt and sand. The sticks, stems and berries should be carefully raked and picked out before sending to market." They also give the following direction for gathering and cur- ing the product : " Gather as you would fodder of this year's growth, except the blossoms and berries; dry it under shelter ; stir it as you would hay; be careful it does not heat; do not dry it in the sun — both will soil it; when dry put it in bulk. AYhen dry, windy days set in, then lay it in beds as you would wheat or oats, thresh it with a flail, when the leaves and stems will break up fine; take out the large stems and throw them away; all the fine is called threshed sumach. Be careful not to have an}'- sand on the floor before threshing. There is no weight in the large stems, being mostly pith and no strength; to bring them to market will only reduce the price of your sumach, and when you gather the large stems you have to wait that much longer for your sumach to cure. The strength of the sumach is in the leaf and leaf stem. " With these instructions a large class of the population in the surrounding country can spend their leisure time in light but very remunerative employment, at no cost beyond the labor of gathering." VITACE.E, (Vine Tribe.) Vitis bipinnata, T. and G. {Ampelopsis, Mx.) Margins of swamps, Florida and northward ; abundant, bearing black ber- ries in bunches. Attracted by the sweetish taste and the purplish black hue 24'J of the berries of this plant, which is closely related to the grape, I succeeded (1862) in extracting a beautiful dark purple by the following process : The berries were mashed in a mortar, vinegar was added, with a small quantity of powdered alum. The mixture was then boiled, and the yarn, or other material^ previously wrung out of water, put in while hot. The color of articles dyed is said to be fixed more firmly by subsequently dipping them when thoroughly dried in boiling salt and water. Vitis, Grape. Dr. Fair, of Columbia, S. C, informs me that the root of the winter grape (F. cordifolia) is powerfully diur- etic. He had used it in several cases. See Pereira's Mat. Med. and Griifith's Med. Bot. for much information concerning the grape, wine, etc. My friend, the late Major John Leeonte, in a paper on the " American Grape Vines of the Atlantic States," expresses the opinion^, that a grape adapted to the production of wine in the Southern States would be ill adapted to the Northern States, which are colder, and less humid, and dry. "Thus, the Scup- pernong grape can never perfectly ripen north of Virginia, and the fox grapes of the North will scarcely grow in the lower parts of Carolina and Georgia ; the Isabella, or Catawba varie- ties of this last, which were originally brought from the upper regions of South Carolina, do not flourish in the low country, and will scarcely live in lower Georgia." To remedy the want of the sweet principle in a grape, nothing more is necessary than to boil down the must, before fermentation, until it is con- siderably reduced. Major Leeonte considers it quite possible to make wine that will keep without alcohol ; also, that our American grapes do not require the pruning adopted in Europe. See, also. Patent Ofiice Eeports, 228, 1857, for a critical account of the species of grape growing in the Atlantic States, and Chapman's Flora of the Southern United States, under genus "Vitis," for grapes exclusively Southern. " Bland's Grape," V. palmata, so highly praised by Major Leeonte, as being equal to any variety of the European grape, which he says grows in the mountains of North Carolina, is not included by Chapman as a native. It is the V. Virgiyiiana of Poiret. Dr. A. P. Wylie, of Chester, S, C, has been for several years engaged very successfully in the cross-breeding of the diff'erent species of grape. The varieties 250 he has obtained by hybridizing possess as high flavor as the best foreign grapes, (1868.) A writer recommends the use of natural caves as wine cellars. Drs. Gall and Petiol's " method of wine making, according to the modern principles adopted in Germany and France," is published in Patent OflSce Eeports, 1859, p. 95. The same volume also describes the construction of cellars and vats, etc. Governor Hammond, of S. C, has had a large cellar built for wines, sugar cane juice, etc. These seem to me essential. A correspondent says that foreign grapes must be laid in straw during the winter. H. W. Eavenel, also of Aiken, S. C, who has been investi- gating the native grape with his known ability as a botanist, in a paper published in Patent Office Reports, 1857, and in his essay on the "Glii'ssification and nomenclature of Fruits," before the S. C. Agricult. Soc, gives an enumeration of our four American species of grapes so far studied, growing west of the Mississippi. Under these, viz : V. labrusca, L., fox grape, V. cestivalis, Mx., summer grape, V. cordifolia, Mx., winter or frost grape, V. Vuljnna, L., bull grape, or BuUace, he classes the varieties which have proceeded from them, and to which all the others can be reduced;. this also is the opinion of the best botan- ists of the day. Dr. Chapman has added another, the V. cari- haca, of D. C.; confined to lower F'la. The V. rupestris of Scheele is found in Texas. Mr. Ravenel makes a statement which is instructive: "All the species of American grapes are dicecia polygamous ; that is, some of the vines bear staminate or barren flowers only, and are forever sterile; others bear perfect flowers, and are fruitful. All the species of the Eastern hemisphere are hermaphrodite ; that is, every vine bears perfect flowers, containing stamens and pistils in the same corolla, and are fruitful. In the absence of other evidence, this fact would be conclusive of the parentage of an unknown seedling, whether it be of exotic or indigenous origin." The varieties of foreign grapes are referred to a single species, V. vinifera, L. Professor C. T. Jackson, in a communication in Patent Office Eeports, p. 42, 1859, remarks, in reference to the preservative power of sugar in making wine, as follows : " We must find out the proportion of saccharine or alcohol- 251 producing matter in the American grapes, for if they will not produce alcohol in sufficient proportions to keep the wine from souring, we should have to add saccharine matter in some form to make a sound wine." In many portions of the country, it is found necessary to add sugar to wine. Jackson says that those grapes "which contain less than 15 per cent, of saccharine matter will require sugar or alcoholic spirit to be added to them, in oi'der to make a wine that will keep." See, also, notice of Prof W"m. Hume's paper, further on, and Patent Office Ee- ports, 1859, p. 59, for proportions of acids and sugar in Ameri- can grapes, cultivation, preparing wine, gathering grapes, ap- paratus, and making of wine in detail, p. 55, et seq. See a paper with full description and mode of cultivation of wine, with manufacture of wine near Cincinnati, in Patent Office Eeports, 1848, pp. 6-14. The value and amount of yield per acre is also given in this paper. I will extract a portion of it : Selecting and preparing the ground. — A hill-side with a southern aspect is preferred. If the declivity is gentle, it can be drained by sodded, concave avenues; but if too steep for that, it must be benched or terraced, which is more expensive. In the autumn or winter, dig or trench the ground with the spade all over two feet deep, turning the surface under. The ground will be mellowed by the frosts of winter. Planting. — Lay off the ground in rows three by six feet ; put down a stick, twelve or fifteen inches long, where each vine is to grow. The avenues should be ten feet wide, dividing the vinej^ard into squares of one hundred and twenty feet. Plant at each stick two cuttings, separated six or eight inches at the bottom of the hole, but joined at the top. Throw a spadeful of rich, vegetable mould into each hole, and let the top ej-e of the cutting be even with the surface of the ground, and if the mat- ter is dry, cover with half an inch of light earth. The cuttings should be prepared for planting by burying them in the earth immediately after pruned from the vines in the spring. By the latter end of March, or early in April, which is the right time for planting, the buds will be swelled so as to make them strike root with great certainty. Cut off close to the joint at the lower bud, and about an inch in all above the upper. Pruning. — The first year after planting cut the vine down to a single eye, (some leave two,) the second leave two or three, 252 and the third three or four. After the first year, a stake, six and a half or seven feet long, must be driven firmly down by each plant, to which the vines must be kept neatly tied with willow or straw as they grow. Late in February, or early in March, is the right time for spring pruning in this climate. Summer pruning consists in breaking off the lateral sprouts and shoots so as to leave two strong and thrifty canes or vines — one of which is to bear fruit the ensuing season, the other to be cut down in spring pruning to a spur to produce new shoots. These may be let run to the top of the stakes, and trained from one to the other, until the wood is matured, say in August or September, when the green ends may be broken off. One of these vines is selected next spring for bearing fruit, and cut down from four to six joints, and bent over and fastened to the stake in the form of a bow. The other is cut away, as well as the fruit-bearing wood of the last 3'ear, leaving spurs to throw out new wood for the next, and thus keeping the vine down to within one and a half to two feet of the ground. Nip off the ends of the fruit-bearing branches two or three joints beyond the branches of grapes, but do not take off any leaves. If both the cuttings grow, take one up, or cut it off under ground, as but one vine should be left to each stake. Culture. — The vineyard must be kept perfectly clean from weeds and grass, and hoed under two or three times during the season. Keep the grass in the avenues around down close. About every third year put in manure by a trench the width of a spade, and three or four inches deep, just above and near each row ; fill in with two or three inches of manure, and cover it up with earth. Wine making. — Gather the grapes vvhen very ripe ; pick off the unsound and unripe berries. The bunches are tl)en washed in a washing tub, or passed through a small mill, breaking the skin, but not the seed, and thrown into the press, and the screw applied until the skins and seeds are pressed dry. Fermentation. — This process is very simple. The juice is put into clean casks in a cool cellar, and the casks filled within about four or five inches of the bung, and the bung put on loosely. The gas escapes, but the wine does not run over. In two to four weeks, generally, the fermentation ceases and the wine clears; then fill up the casks and tighten the bungs. In 253 February or March rack off into clean casks. In the spring a moderate fermentation will again take place; after that the wine fines itself and is ready for bottling or barrelling. Use no brandy or sugar if the grapes are sound and well ripened. Keep bunged or corked tight, and in a cool cellar, and the wine will improve by age for many years. A paper on " North Carolina Grapes," p. 48, may be consulted in Patent Office Report on Agriculture, 1851. It gives an account of wine made from the wild fox grape, and others, and discusses some of the native varieties. Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life, vol. 2, Chap- tal's Chemistry, in its relations with Agriculture, chapter on "Fermentation," Uro's Dictionary of Arts, article, AVine, "Fer- mentation," etc., may be consulted for information as to the pro- cesses of wine making. See DeBow's Review and DeBow's "Industrial Eesources of the South and West," in three volumes, for articles on cultivation of grape aud wine making at the South ; also. Patent Office Reports, 1859, p. 72, for a very full and detailed account of cultivation of grape, manufacture of wine, construction of vats and cellars, by Dr. Weber, of Wash- ington. I regret that I cannot condense this article. In Missouri and Ohio it is found that the Catawba grape, a native of the Atlantic seacoast, is liable to rot, and to be al-. fected by mildew. A writer in Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 453, recommends several hardier varieties, viz: The Halifax, (wine mild and spicy,) Worton's Virginia seedling^ (wine fiei-y and aromatic,) the Rockhouse Indian, which is said to produce a wine not inferior to the best Burgundy. The writer gives some di- rections about the culture, and adds: "In the place of putting the 'bung loosely' on your casks during fermentation, put on the bung-hole first a grape leaf, and upon that a small bag filled with fine and not quite dry sand. In good cellars and large casks your wine will, and must not clear in less than six or eight weeks. Rack off in March, then again in midsummer, and again just before the time of the next harvest. Before every racking, have your cask well sulphurated. Then j'our juice is real wine and may be bottled; it will keep as long as you please and improve considerably for a series of years." I introduce the above, as it peems to contain some practical di- rections. The " rot " in grapes is caused by an excess of moistui-e about 254 tho roots, and moist and damp weather. Vineyai'ds located upon " stiff, cold, clayey sub-soils, which unavoidably retain the excess of moisture and produce injurious effects, can be ob- viated by thorough draining, or by selecting soil which is warmer, lighter and richer in the ingredient most favorable. to the vine." The " mildew" is often a most serious cause of disease in grapes, extending over entire sections of country, as almost to discourage the cultivation. It is considered to be a parasitic fungus. See a paper on this subject in Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 311, by J. F. Allen, of Massachusetts. In the New England States the presence or absence of this fungus depends upon the condition of the weather, and the progress in maturity of the vine in August and July. There the fungus appears during foggy weather, resembling a white mould. In Reports for 1853, p. 311, an engraved illustration is given of this mildew fungus. " When a grape becomes affected by it, the fruit will either dry or crack open, unless checked or destroyed before it makes much progress. The so-called disease is a living plant, most rapid in its growth and wonderful in its powers of reproduction and multiplication. When a vine has once been infected by it, the seeds or sporules in countless millions lie waiting a favorable atmospheric change to spring into life ; and when this does occur, so rapid is their growth that in one day the under side of the leaf will be almost covered." The plan of dusting the leaves with sulphur is impracticable. The writer says he has found a wash quite effectual in destroying this fungus, and it can bo applied on a large scale with the garden engine ; on a smaller, by tbe syringe or the nose of a watering-pot. " To prepare this wash, take one peck of lime, not slacked, and one pound of sulphur; put them together in a barrel, and pour hot water over them sufficient to slake the lime; pour on this three gallons of soft water, and stir the mix lure well to- gether. In twenty -four hours it will have settled and become perfectly clear. This should be drawn off as clear as possible. Half a pint of this mixture added to three gallons of water will be sufficiently strong, and may be applied over the fruit when mildew first appears. It can be repeated every few days, if occasion requires. The first application I have found would kill the most of it; a second and third are all that I have ever found necessary for the season. The fruit and foliage have 255 ripened fully on the European varieties. The American or na- tive varieties are less subject to the attacks of this fungus than the European. There is also a difference in these, the Catawba and Isabella being more attacked than some other kinds. That this mildew or fungus requires a peculiar condition of the at- mosphere to allow of its vegetating is a hopeful fact for the people of the European grape growing regions. A series of seasons unpropitious to its gi-owth, may destroy millions of sporules or seed vessels deposited upon their vineyards." I have seen grapes attacked with a disease, an apparent black- ening or rot of the internal portion of the fruit, which had never been attacked until the arbor was covered over, and thus the requisite amount of light was diminished. In this case, they become diseased from too much shade and moisture, and the remedy is plain ; but in some cases this occurs under a full supply of light. The IT. S. Commission to the Paris Exposition, in thoir report published in P. O. Rep. for 1867, state that the application of sulphur to the leaves is the best remedy for diseases affecting the vine. Wilson in his Rural Cyc. furnishes from several sources recipes in his article on " Wine," for making '• Wine from the leaves, tender shoots, and tendrils of the vine; if judiciously prepared, it is so excellent that Mr. MacCuUoch compared it to ' white her- mitage.'" See, also, MacCuUoch's Treatise on Wine Making Excellent wine is also prepared from the unripe berries, loc. cit., where the method is given. It is as follows: The claret vine leaves, as he observes, will produce a red color, and this tree could be cultivated for the express purpose. Having repeatedly prepared red and white leaf wine, we can with the greatest con- fidence oflPer a few abbreviated extracts from Mr. MacCuUoch's book, previously observing that the specific gravity of the liquor must here also be taken as the criterion of strength; the pro- portions are calculated for ten gallons of wine. The leaves should not have attained their full growth, and must be plucked with their stems. On forty or fifty pounds of such leaves, seven or eight gallons of boiling water are poured, in which they are to infuse for twenty -four hours; the liquor being then strained off, the leaves are to be forcibl}' pressed. A gallon more water is to be added, and the leaves again are to be pi'essed. A screw wine-press with hair bags, is very useful in the process. Sugar, 256 varying from twenty-five pounds to thirty pounds, is then to be added to the mixed liquors; the quantity is to be made up to ten gallons and a half. Such are the essentials of Mr. MacCul- loch's directions. We need only add, continues the editor, that if a fermenting, lively wine be contemplated, the manufacture must be conducted as in the process for Champagne, and the smaller of the two proportions of the leaves, etc., is to be em- ployed. The specific gravity of the must should be 1.110 to 1.115. The fermentation must be carried on for a short time in the open vessel, or till the gravity be reduced to 1.090 ; and the barrel will require to be filled, and be kept full, in order to carry off the froth and leaven that rise to the top of the liquor. But we apprehend tbat grape leaves are better qualified to produce a dry wine, and, therefore, the larger proportion of leaves, etc., should be employed, and sugar to the extent that will raise the gravity to 1.120. In this case, the fermentation must be con- ducted in the manner already stated for the production of a dry wine from green grapes ; and when perfected, and the wine be- comes bright, it is to be fined and racked off during clear and cold weather, then returned to a clean and sweet cask, and bunged close. A second fining and racking may be required. Grape wine made from the green berries, we have found deli- cious in flavor, and quite fit for the table in two years or less. But the liquor obtained from the leaves contains a quantity of vegetable extract which conveys a flavor that time alone can subdue; hence, we recommend, the author adds, that it be al- ways retained two years in the cask, and be bottled iu the second winter. It ought also to remain during one entire year in the bottles. Wilson's Eural Cj^c. art. " Wine." The following brief statement of the mode of making wine, by J. S. Reid, of Fayette County, Ind., appears so simple, that I quote it here. (See P. O. Rep. 1855, p. 308:) " The mode adopted by me of making wine is as follows : From the 1st to the 15th of October, I continue pulling the grapes, always selecting the ripest ones first, and after mashing them in a tub made for the purpose, subject them to a small press made in the form of a cider-press. The barrels into which the juice is put are well washed with cold water, dried and fumigated with sulphur before the must is put into them. I then place over the bung-hole a piece of tin or sheet-iron per- 257 forated with small holes. The must is then allowed to ferment slowly for about three weeks, until the scum caused by the fer- mentation apparently ceases. The barrels are then filled and bunged tight until spring, when I rack the wine off into clear casks, washed out with cold water and juniper berries, and fu- migated with sulphur as before, to destroy any bad flavor. It is then ready for market; but during this time the casks re- quire to be frequently examined, and filled up, keeping them always full to the bung." The reader can find in the Patent Ofiice Eeports of 1855, p. 304, a brief statement by D. Ponce, of Hancock County, Ga., of the method of making Champagne wine in France. Dr. Wm. Hume, Professor in the State Military Academy of South Carolina, read a paper before the South Carolina Medical Association, on the '• Manufacture of "Wines in the South," and delivered a series of Lectures before the Aiken Vine Growing and Hort. Society, which have been revised and published in DoBow's Review, March and April, 1862. In these well written articles he gives the results of experiments, containing an expo- sition of a plan to obviate the disabilities of climate opposed to the manufacture of wine in South Carolina, etc. In brief, Pi'of Hume advises that the two qualities of sweet- ness and acidity in wines (which vary in different varieties and at different seasons) should be ascertained and considered by the wine maker. The latest date compatible with the full and perfect maturation of the grape should be selected forgathering, so that they should be as little acid and contain as much sugar as possible. Cellars should be consti'ucted in order to prevent acidity during the fermentation, and if necessary alcohol, brandy, or whiskej'^ should be added, to preserve the preparation from turning sour, and also to procure different varieties of wine. I would refer the reader to the articles for an agreeable and forcible exposition of the author's views. He rejects the idea that it is useless or improper to modify the juice of the grape by alcohol under its various forms. Many wines are to a certain extent factitious, but not adulterated. The writer says : "I have clearly shown that the purely manufactured wines of Aiken are either too acid or too weak in spirit — that these defects proceed from immaturity of the grape and from the 17 258 high temperature of the must during fermentation. The high temperature induces two evils which are injurious to wine, viz : the loss of alcohol by its conversion into acetic acid, and its loss by more rapid evaporation during the exposure of fermenta- tion." Cool cellars are certainly one obvious desideratum. The addition of alcohol to wine as a preservative agent has been re- ferred to by writers: "The object and intention of adding alcohol to recent grape juice is to preserve it through the months of August, September and October unchanged by fermentation. During the month of November the cool weather is sufficiently established and continues in Aiken to conduct the vinous fer- mentation without the apprehension of the acetic ; hence wine, not vinegar, can then be made," (Hume.) The reader can find a good account of fermentation and the rationale of manufacture of various liquors in Solly's Eural Chemistry, p. 164, et seq. Drs, Gall and Petiol also refer to the process of " ameliorating " the wine made from the wild grapes by the free addition of sugar dissolved in water, adding also tartaric acid if the acid is deficient. The husks or pomace which remains is again treated with sugar, water or acid as long as any wine extract remains, and so an enormous amount of wine is made at small cost. In this process the grapes are mashed, not pressed. See details, P, O. Eep., 1859, p. 97. Tables for calculating the acid and sugar are described. I regret not being able to give this method in full. In connection with Prof, Hume's project of adding alcohol to wine, I extract the following from an article on the " G-rape and Wine Culture in California," P, O, Eep., 1858, p. 342. "An- gelica is a sweet wine, which is never allowed to ferment. It is made by adding brandy to white wine, which is the first and purest juice that runs from the press, in the ratio of one to three, as it comes from the press. It is thus kept from fermentation, mid always remains sweet. It is immediately put into close casks and drawn off as soon as it is clear, which is generally within four or five weeks. The casks for Angelica wine have to be prepared with great care by sulphuring. " Aguadiente " (brandy) only can be used in making Angelica, as it has the true grape flavor, which most other brandies have not. This brandy is distilled from wine made from leaves or from the pomace (skins of the grapes) of the pressed grapes. It takes about five gallons of 259 wine to make one of aguadiente." By this it will also be seen that the shape in which the alcohol is added is material. Let us compare the following with our difficulties here in South Carolina and Georgia, Italics are my own. Matthew Keller, of Los Angelos, Cal., says : " The manufacture of wine, in a suitable climate, is simple and may be done by any one of ordi- nary intelligence. But when the climate and soil are not adapted- to the nature of the grape, then, indeed, it becomes a complicated art. One of the most essential things to be observed in its manu- facture is the proper regulation of temperature, particularly during the phenomenon of the first fermentation ; and to this the least attention is paid. If the must is too cool, the fermen- tation is slow, and apt to sour; while if there is too much heat, it will soon go into the acetous state. Much which abounds in saccharine matter, and is deficient in ferment, requires a higher degree of temperatui-e than that which has these substances in opposite proportions. The strongest must, even when it con- tains much ferment, can support a higher temperature than the weak, because the great quantity of alcohol which is developed retards the action of the ferment and prevents the tendency to pass to the acetous fermentation. The best general temperature is between 62° and 64° Fahrenheit, There is little difficulty in maintaining the temperature in a cellar, but it may be observed that the act of fermentation elevates the temperature. To arrive at that which is the most convenient, it is necessary to pay at- tention to the temperature of the grapes at the time of mashing them: if picked early in the morning or at noon, it varies many degrees. To obviate this, they may be picked a day in advance, or they should be cooled in a large vat, and vice versa. These few facts comprehend all that is necessary to make wine, but they are subject to many variations and much detail, like most other processes of manufacture." The necessity for the display of judgment, and the value of experience in modifying pro- cesses, is true of the manufacture of indigo, of sugar from the different variety of canes, etc, No rigid rules adapted to every climate can be depended upon. That vats should be essential, I myself, without experience, felt sure from seeing their neces- sity in keeping porter and ale in Charleston, or cider in the upper country. We do not manufacture any of them in Charles- ton, but in order to bottle or keep them under favorable cir- cumstances, a cool cellar is essential. 260 The writer quoted above gives the method of making wine in Los Angelos, as follows: "The grapes are deprived of their stems by hand ; they are then mashed between wooden or iron rollers ; some tread them out in the ancient style. A portion of the juice runs into a cooling-vat, without pressing; the crushed grapes are put into a screw-press and forced out rapidly, all the result being must for white wine. As the grapes are black, and the coloring matter exists only in the skin, and requires in some degree the presence of alcohol to dissolve it, if the pressing be done quickly the wine will be white; but if slowly, or if the grapes come broken from the vineyai'd, the must will show color; for as soon as the fruit is broken, and the juice comes in contact with the air, fermentation commences, and simultaneous with it, the presence of alcohol, in a greater or less degree, which extracts the coloring matter. The must is then trans- ferred into the fermenting tuns, and the first active fermenta- tion goes on, according to circumstances, for from four to ten days. The mashed grapes are put into vats to ferment, from which results red wine. This is in part distilled into brandy. Some persons distil red wine with the "marc" into brandy im- mediately after fermentation, but if left to pass a secondary fermentation it would yield moi-e alcohol. The wine is racked off in January and February, again in March and April, and for the third time in September. It should be taken off the lees after the first fermentation subsides, when the wine has settled; for it cannot gain anything by being allowed to stand on the lees longer than is absolutely necessary. The proportions of saccharine matter and ferment in our grapes are well balanced, therefore there is no extraordinary art in making wine ; as it will make itself with common care, and without the addition of any extraneous substance. The purest and finest wines in the world are made from the juice of the grape alone (?) More capital is needed to make proper cellars, procure necessary ma- terials, and to enable us to hold our wines till they have age, when they would compare favorably with the best. See, also, P. O. Eep., 1859, p. 94, et seq.; also an extended account of grape culture and wine manufacture, with wood-cuts of presses, etc., in Eeport 1856, p. 408, by J. A. Warder, M. D., of Ohio. The diseases affecting the grape are also described. I obtain the following from the Southern Field and Fireside : Although this subject has been widely discussed, and hun- 2G1 dreds of methods recommended, still I see no satisfactory article written which has treated this question as to our Southern grapes and climate. Almost all the writers have confined them- selves to the Northern and Western wines and their modes of production, leaving out the idea that Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina had more resources for wine producing than all the North and "West combined, not speaking of the im- mensely superior quality of its products. I trust that the fol- lowing hints may be of service to some beginners, and be auxiliary to many masters in the art. There exist a large number of varieties of wine, differing among themselves by the color, perfume, taste, consistence, etc., and often many such varieties are produced by the same grape. Often those varieties of wine depend upon many circum- stances — such as difference in soil and sub-soil, exposure, mode of cultivation, climatic influence, degree of maturity of the fruit when "pressed, and above all, by the mode of making the wine. The first process is the gathering of the grapes, and this should be one of the most careful. The grapes should be thoroughly ripe, and the best signs of maturity are these: The stem of the clusters changes to brown, the berries become soft, and when the bloom is removed the skin is smooth and nearly transparent, the flavor is vinous sweet, and the seeds free from the pulp and dry. At this point the grapes should be gathered. If gathered sooner the wine will be of an inferior quality, and apt to form vinegar ; if later, the wine will be less in quantity and syrup- like. When the grapes have attained the right period of ma- turity, select a dry, clear day, and do not begin the gathering until the dew is well evaporated, and the grapes perfectly dry. Use sharp knives or scissors, and remove all green and decayed berries from the branches, and put them in clean wooden pails; then, if the press is some distance from the vineyard, put them in wooden tubs, which must not be too large, so as not to be difficult to handle, and transport by wagon. Now it is necessary to give some remark upon the process to be followed according to the mode of wine to be produced, and to the variety of grape employed. Our native grapes of the Lahrusca or fox type are mostly cultivated in this section of the country, and the wine they produce is of the Hock or Rhine wine order. The great value of that wine consists in its delicate aroma, or bouquet, and 262 to attain it must be an essential object in its making To this class belong the Catawba, Isabella, Diana, Delaware, etc., etc., the former of which being most generally cultivated. I will describe the process in its best manufacture. When the grapes are gathered they must be mashed between wooden rollers. The juice is received in a clean cask or vat, but the hulls, seeds or stems are carefully avoided to come into contact with the juice. After the whole is mashed it is pressed. The juice which runs out at the time of mashing should be kept separate from the juice which comes from the pressing, as the former will make a wine much more delicate than the latter. The pressed juice will be of a marked color. The casks or vats should be of as large size as consistent with the quantity of the crops. They should be made of the best white oak, with strong iron hoops. The greatest cleanliness is necessary. Wash the casks well, and further fumigate them by burning a wick of sulphur, and keeping the bung closed. Avoid sulphuring too much, as it will give a bad flavor to the wine if done to excess. Fill the cask full, then close it with a tight bung, in the centre of which is fitted a siphon, the lower end of which rests in a vessel filled with water. The juice of the Catawba, as well as that of all the grapes of that class, should never be fermented upon the hulls, as it then loses its delicate flavor, and only pro- duces a harsh wine — neither a hock nor a claret. The above method is also applicable to the juice of any grapes of which a white or jiale wine is desired. Juice thus treated should be left in the cask until the following spring, after the blossoming of the vine, at which period it will undergo a slight fermenta- tion. It can then be drawn off" in clean casks of i-equired size for market, or in bottles ; but it will be to its advantage to leave the wine in casks for two or three years before bottling. The process of making red wine is different — the grapes being mashed, with hulls, seeds, etc., in a fermenting-vat, (a cask having one head taken out will answer for a small vintage.) A faucet is put at about eight or twelve inches from the bottom ; usually a bunch of cuttings is placed in the interior to keep it free from the seeds, etc., in drawing off", leaving a space five or six inches between the must and the lid, which is well fastened, and has also a valve for the evaporation of the gas. This may be also arranged with a siphon, as in the manipulation of the 263 white wine, the end of which siphon must rest in water. In a few houi-8 after the must has been put in the vat the liquid Avill commence to ferment, the gas will be thrown off in large quantities, and bring upon the surface the stems, hulls and seeds, which form what the French term chapeau, (hat.) This mass is often very consistent. As soon as the chapeau shows signs of going to pieces is the time to draw off the wine from the vat. The residuum is then pressed, and generally makes a wine containing much tannin, and not as delicate as the wine first drawn. The latter wine is kept separate, or mixed with the other wine, as desired. As soon as the wine is drawn in clean casks put the bung in lightly for a few days, then bung it tight., A still easier method is to put a false bottom in the fei-- menting-vat, which is made from well seasoned wood, and holes bored all over. This false bottom is put upon the hulls to pre- vent their rising. Its position must bo regulated by the amount of p»mace in the vat, and kept steady by sticks. The vat is covered as before with a tight head and siphon, and the period of the drawing off the wine is visible when the fermentation ceases. In general, the fermentation will last from eight to twelve days. This method is applicable to all the colored grapes of the aestivalis, or summer grape type — such as Lenoir, Clinton, Jacques, etc. The cellar should be dry, and of an even temperature of about fifty to sixty degrees. After the young red wine is put into the cellar it will undergo a light fermenta- tion. The casks have to be filled occasionally, and kept full to the bung. As soon as dissolution of the sugar and the other constituents of the wine has taken place, the undissolved matter will settle at the bottom, and is called lees. When the wine becomes quiet and settled, it is time to draw it off in clean casks. In the above remarks I have endeavored to compress the wine making to a small compass, by which it will be seen that it is far less complicated than presumed. I give the different wines obtained from our native grapes. Yarieties belonging to the Vitis labrusca, or fox grape : Catawba. — A light colored hock, often equal to the celebrated Ehine wines. Diana. — Also a light colored wine, much more delicate than Catawba. litii Delaware. — From Bmiill expcrimcntH yields a wine of the muscatel class, remarkably rich, and very often makes a beauti- ful, sparkling wine. Isabella. — MukcH a wine of a pale red color, if fermented upon the juice, and a darker wine of a claret order if fermented \x\)0\\ the hulls. JIartford prolific and Concord. — A dark, harsh wine. These varieties are not well calculated for wine. Varieties belonging to Vitis aestivalis, or summer grape : Clinton. — Makes a high-bodiod wine of the claret order. This variety iy destined to bo relied upon as our red wino grape at no distant period. Jacques. — Gives a very dark wino of the Burgundy order. Its juice can be niunipulated us for white wines — there being a large amount of coloring matter in the juice. Lenoir with Clinton. — Will give a delicate claret or port. Warren. — Makes a wine of the Madeira class. Pauline. — Somewhat similar to above, Taylor or Ballet. — A white variety of the Clinton, and doubt- less will soon be our standing, or white wine variety. > Tke ticuppernong. — A v*uiiiiji-ot^ Vitis ooMif^Ua. Yields a wino of the muscat order, but unfortunately sugar and alcohol are too generally added, and thereby a good wino is spoiled. Many other varieties of our native grajjcs will soon be ex- perimented upon as to the wino making qualities; but with tho above list wo can obtain almost all the classes and colors of wine that are imported in this country. The Commissioners to the Paris Exposition recommend (P. O. lleport, 18G7,) the introduction into this country of a coarse but very productive grape called in Franco " En Eegat." It yields a ver}^ cheap wine. In Spartanburg District, S. C, they make out of the garden grape a very pleasant wine, which is the pure juice of tho grape, by the following 8im])le process: Squeeze the grapes through a bag; to each gallon of juice put one pound of sugar, (more may be added ;) sot it away in jars or casks for two or three days, occasionally skimming off all the supernatant froth, scum, etc. Then strain into a cask, adding some honey and brandy. A gallon of brandy may be 265 added to twelve i^ulIoiiH of juice. TIiIh wine \h Raid to (iqiuil the beHt quality. Very good wine is also made by adding Hugar and brand}' to apple cider, A correspondent of the Southern Field and Fireside writes as follows: " Cultivation of Grapes. — Growing Scu]>pernpng grapes in the South is easy, pleasant and very valuable. My plan is this : In February take the vines that you have rooted the previous year, and set them in some place where you want them, say in rows ten feet each way, with'some convenient place for them to spread their branches on, and soon orcct a good arbor to each one, and if they are well treated they will soon cover the whole field. The best land ibr this vino is light, sandy toil, and the best manure is grass or weeds, hoed up when green and put under the arbor; also, rotten wood, such as old boards, rails, sti(!ks, etc., piled under the vines. It is also good to have a pen aroufid the roots filled with all the scrap leather, old ehoes, bones, bi'ickbats, etc. When the vines begin to grow they must be pruned every spring, for the tendrils will rap around the branches, and when the branches grow large, die or break oil" it will injure the vine very much; but when they get old a large vineyard would require a great deal of labor, so this part generally receives but little attention when the vineyard is old. This grape is not only useful to preserve and pleasant to eat, but the most delicious wine can be made from them. When they are full}' rij)o gather them, and they can be ground in a gridder, or if that is not convenient, mash them in a trough; then press them well, putting three-quarters of a pound or a pound of sugar to the gallon ; in this every one is to be governed by his own taste. When well sweetened, put it in casks and draw it off from one to another, until it is purified ; then bung it very tightly to prevent evaporation, nud set it in a barn or cellar six or twelve months; it is then good enough for anybody to drink." Wine Farming and Making. — Mr. R. Buchanan, of Ohio, who is one of the most eminent vine-growers of this country, thinks that " wine farming will, in a few years, become simjilified, and almost as easily understood as corn farming. There is no mys- tery in it. Experience alone must teach the proper position and soil; the right distances apart for the vines; the most ju- 266 dicious methods of spring and summer pruning; and as for cul- tivation, keep the ground clean with the plow or cultivator, like corn. Certain rules are given in books for vineyard cul- ture, as pursued in the Ohio valley. These are the European systems, adapted to our own country. It will be safe to follow these rules, untilby experimenting we can find better. There is more room for progress in this branch of agriculture than in almost any other. " Making the wine is as simple as making cider. The great bunches are out from the vines, and all unsound or unripe berries picked off the bunch and thrown into a bucket, to make — with the addition of sugar — vinegar, or an inferior wine. The perfect grapes of each day's cutting are taken to the wine- house, and in the evening, after being mashed in a barrel with a beetle — stem and berries — or passed through wooden rollers in a small mill, are put on the press and the juice extracted. About one-third runs off without any pressure. The outer edges of the pomace are cut off for eight or ten inches after the first pressing, separated with the hands, and thrown on top, when the power of the screw is applied, and another pressing made. This is repeated two or three times. The juice from the last pressing being very dark and astringent, is put with the inferior wine. The other is put in large casks filled about five-sixths full, to ferment and make the good wine. No sugar or brandy should be added to the best Catawba juice, or must, as it makes a better wine without, and is strong enough to keep well. One end of the siphon is placed in the bung-hole of the cask; the other being crooked over, rests in a bucket of water. "The fermentation commences in a day or two, and the car- bonic acid escaj^es through the water. In ten or fourteen days, the siphon may be removed, the casks filled up, and the bung driven in lightly ; in a month tightly. In midsummer the wine is drawn off into another cask, and the lees of the wine, with the pomace of the grapes, are used to make brandy. "The wine will be clear and pleasant to drink in a month or two after the first fermentation ceases. The second fermenta- tion occurs in the spring, about the time of the blossoming of the grapes ; this is but slight, and it will be merely necessary to loosen the bungs ; when it is over, the wine will be clear in two or three months, and safe to bottle, but that operation had 267 better be deferred until November. And this is the whole process of making still wine — the wine for general use; and, being a natural product of tlie pure juice of the grape, it is more wholesome than anj^ mixed or artificial wine, however showy and high-priced it may be. "Let the grapes be well ripened; the press, casks, and all vessels perfectly clean, and then keep the air from the new wine, by having the casks constantly bung-full, and there is no danger of its spoiling. This is the whole secret. "It is presumed that no one will go into wine farming largely at first; but take the precaution to test, by the cultivation of a few acres, the capabilities of the soil, position and climate, and the kind of grapes best suited to it." I am induced to give place to the following article by Mr. P. J. Berkmans, of Augusta, Ga. As it treats of the Cultivation of the Grape at the South, and is written by a man of practical exp'Srience, (from the Trans, of the Richmond Co., Ga., Agricult. Club, 1867.) 1 will condense some of the information contained in the first portion. He states : 1st. That there is still a lack of information on the peculiar culture of the grape, and in regard to the selection of varieties for the Southern States. 2d. The countiy, by its natural productions, seems to be em- phatically the home of the grape, and he urges upon us the cultivation of the native varieties, the employment of the for- eign having been repeatedly found not adapted to vineyard cul- ture. Foreign grapes utterly fail after one or two seasons of fruiting; the seedlings also are not better than their parents. 3d. He advises the planting of only a few but well tried varieties. . "Since the advent of the Catawba, which gave the start tor \- American grape growing and wine making, and which for'i' * many years, with the Isabella, made up the list of the then wine grapes, vine culture has made immense progress, as well in the application of sound principles in its culture, as by the pro- duction of numberless new varieties, some of which are now fairly rivalling in quality many of the good European varieties. A few years more of this steady march of improvement, and America will have no need to ask any grapes from Europe or Asia. *'lt is truo thut tho iniltivntioii of tho grupo l»ns jiot boon viM-v ivmuuorHtivo s«iiu'o ISiU ; but rv>pvM'(s tK>n» almost ovorv soot ion of tlio iH>untrv suv moro fsivorublo, niui ijivo us tho hojH» thrtt tho poriod ot" doony. whioh hsis boot» so tUtnl to vino oulturv\ has 5»t last ivaohovl its limit, auvi that a mivmo tavorahlo orn is oinniuonoinii'. "Whilo on this topio v»t" vlooay a tow words aro roijuiivd. Various jvasons l\avo boon givon as to tho oauso oC dooay. ^'oithor wot nor dry woathor. oUl or youuj; vinos, soils too poivus vu* too ivtoniivo, K>n4j or short pruniuii', thorough oulti- valion or ontiiv nogloot, had anything to do with tho ijrnt't^U oauso ot" dooay. Ono or tho othor ot" tho abv>vo n\ay oauso par- tial dooay, but it oannot intluonoo tho grapo on>p thivuglumt tho tvuntry. A soil jvtontivo ot" humidity will, by itsolt", bo oonduoivo to dooay in tho t"ruit ; a)ii>thor, of too ariil a natu»v. will fail to supply tho ivquisito sa|> to tho vino w hon mv>st ntvdod. and by oithor oauso tho grapo orop will t"ail. Still wo havo soon, during tho past t'our yoai*s. tho ivvorso of what wo oould oxpoot. For instanoo, grapos would rot in a st>il whioh all vignonnjs would soloot for tho sito ot" a vinoyard ; and pivduoo sound fruit in a low soil undorlayod with stitV pipo olay. This is oontrary to all past oxjh rionoo. •• Souio y oars tho ivt would oommonoo upon tho ai»|Hr being impaired by previous oxoossive oivps. NVhonovor a wii\e is allowed to overbear itself it sol- vlom roouponttos atterwaixis, even if the supply of nutrin\ont is uiore abuiulant than is genentlly tho ease. Wo should bo satis- fied with a modorato orop of t"ruit ; wo oan oxpoot this t"or a long period of years ; but if tl\o vine is allowed to produoe in one year thive times as muoh tVuit as it should naturally pw- duoe, it is to the detriment of its futuiv fertility and vigv>r. "Overbearing, at tirst or seoond pnuiuotion. is one of tho givai oausos of the early exhaustion of our vinoyanis. The laiui used tor a vineyani is generally impoverished by pn>viou8 eroppings. The vino tii\ds in it a t"ow riMnaining oi>nstituonts requisite to its givwth and prvnluotion of tViiit ; being a roni- ciuk;>" feeder, it absorbs those ntpidly and in a short tin\o. A year or two of hoavv i>roduoinir of t"ruit oxhausts tho soil of 2«a iiutritiv<$ tiUsmcMtM ; atui iUn r'tuh^ finding uo U)nfi;«r n im^npSy » r<;turn a n<;w xupply ^/f noumbm4;nt t/> iti« w'/H. 'Hi*? UifnUiHt'.y Uf (fvarU^Af hit^mUi \ni oAttx^^iiA ', l>ut b//ir friin';h<5*«. in <^rly i^pring? Jt in <;MM;ntiai V^ rhinos*-, ou^Amlf of >ie brancbe* a«( it'X/n ai» tb. Iarg<;r, th<; t^tiaViiy improved, tb* weight of the fruit a»» large in the end a« if ail the hraneheo were l^t, and th« yim; wijl n//t exbaiMt it» mueh. By overstraining nature fail>«; and it i* ea*ier for a vine t/.» perfect a do//<:n hunehen than U^ attempt t/^ do »>^> fi^r douhle that nurr*- l/er. Our iineMt n\Hi*nuniU» of fruits, nueh a« pean», p<:a/;he«, '^^n aJ» they sip\t*'.nr. ^Mt Ih a wrong jioliey t/i desire U^ enjoy to^> (»r>on ; FfMirujL Ijtidf. >^hould he the rn/^tto of the fniit grower. To revert t/^ the huhjeet of de'-ay, the main eauwj u'jijm*} to he purely ^ dir/t/xtk,* ami can he c/ttinmn/i ft an epidemic in man, or apix^Mfiy io ani' nmln ; it will make il« appearan'^e huddenly. and often a« »u/J- denly ceaw;. 'J'hi*i wa* the i;xp*iruiut^'. of French vine gr*iwer», although the cAitkntcUir <, and jM;rhap>» lie vinite^J again hy the rot, after a long or mUorUsr time, But one tbiog i» eerUuo, that the d<^,ay thi« year wan le«»» destructive than at any period fein^;e l''.*/Z, the year of it*» fir<»t app«raranc<;. " (^lan the grajMj he cultivate^! here with a fkir prf/^^th^^ of profit? i"* a 'jue*ition that i>» firwt mtkfA hy new Ujginnerfc, It can he nitHWinA lit the affirmative, provide^! the right varieties l>e \>\nuUA. " The Coruujfd ha*> hr luau'h wine graj>e. Thiu i« true for th'/w; t»<;ction», hut not for the Southern HinUm. We have a ii^n\>^: indigenou* to the country, which i* more deserv- ing that appeUatirin fir^r un ; one that will thrive on a n>eky hill a« well a»j in a rich hottom ; never iailing to proer)iong. Its capacity of production is fabulous when compared to other vineyard varieties. Vines planted six years ago upon land that would not produce ten bushels of corn to the acre, in average years, have produced one and a half bushels of fruit each, and this is the fourth crop. They were planted without regard to the arbor training, under which mode the Scuppernong attains its largest size, but simply trained upon a wire trellis four feet high ; the distance twenty feet in the row. What will an acre produce at this rate, and what will it produce, if properly trained, and planted in a rich soil ? " Instances of a single vine covering one acre of ground are numerous, and sixty barrels of wine its product in a single sea- son. These are exceptions which vine growers must not all expect to realize; but they are merely given as an evidence of its wonderful fertility. Its culture is the simplest of all modes, and the outlay required to establish an acre is insignificant, as compared with the prices of the new varieties. Enough of the former to plant an acre can be procured for the price of a half dozen new comers. " The next best wine grape is the CJinipn, whose merits are now sufficiently known to give it its rank among the great wine grapes of the country. It is of Northern origin, but imj) roves as it is brought southward. It is very prolific and makes a heavy bodied claret. Other varieties are coming into notice, and bid fair to make valuable additions to this class of grape : such are the " Tree Seedling," etc. " Our good table grapes are becoming numerous. First comes Delaware, which seem to thrive everj-where South. Isabella bids fair to even excel the Delaware ; its quality is superior l;o any of its class ; so far it has not decayed, although,, from the short time of its introduction South, we cannot form a decided opinion as to its ultimate behavior; still, two years' fruiting, during which it bore perfectly sound crops, and this during a period when many other varieties, of like recent introduction, decayed, is a fair beginning and likely to end well. Hartford Prolific is as yet our best very early grape. As a profitable market fruit it stands first in order. The bunches and berries are large, of fine appearance, fair quality, and stands carrying to 271 market better than any other variety. It is not so liable to drop its berries as in Northern States. Its earliness will always make it command a high price. Miles is better in quality, fully, if not a little earlier, but not so fine in appearance. " Concord will long remain as one of our good grapes. Its skin is rather too thin to stand carrying to distant markets ; but it is very prolific, of fine qualit}^ and will doubtless make a good wine, although no experiments have as yet been tried upon a large scale. " Ontario, or Union Village, when well grown, rivals in size the Black Hamburg. It is a splendid looking grape, of good quality, and has decayed less than many of the heretofore con- sidered reliable grapes. When the Warren and Black July find a suitable soil and situation, no grape can compare with either in the peculiar texture of the fruit. The vinous flavor of these varieties belongs only to the type of sz«2IBer grape, ( FiYiS rps- tivalif,) from which they originate, and they are all well de- scribed by Downing, when he calls them 'bags of wine.' Other varieties have their merits; but they alone have given more satisfaction generally than others ; and we must be satisfied with them, especiall}^ if we expect to derive profit from grape growing ; and, until better varieties are produced, we must take them, as they combine variety enough to satisfy the most fastidious taste. " Hybridizing has been much experimented with of late ; but ver}'^ few of the so-called hybrids are really so ; they are, in most instances, true natives of either the Lahnisca or ^stivalis type. To Dr. Wylie, of Chester, S. C, belongs the credit of having achieved the best results. The thanks of all American grape growers should be given him for his efforts in improving our native varieties bj'' scientific and patient labors, and the fruits of these labors will, at no distant day, largely benefit the country. His experiments have been, by taking the native species as the female, and using the pollen of the foreign varieties as males. The offsprings show more foreign char- acters than native ones ; proving that the experiments were successful. By this process he has produced Delawares with the most exquisite flavor of the Muscats. Clintons as large as Concords, and with a Muscat or Chasselas flavor. By cross im- pregnation, taking his hybrid varieties as male, he has pro- 272 duced from the wild Halifax a most exquisite wine grape ; and the most pleasant feature with his hybrids, is that they have not been in the least subject to decay, although he states that the ground in which they are planted is not a suitable one for a vineyard. " The best soil for a vineyard is a dry calcareous loam, one con- taining natural salts and a proportionate quantity of vegetable matter. It is futile to expect a heavy grape crop upon soil too poor to be used for the cultivation of corn. " The different varieties of grapes will make different wines. Nearly all the varieties belonging to the Fox grape {Vitis La- brusca) will make a Hock. They are better suited to the pro- duction of white wines than red ones, when used by themselves. The Catawba, the Venango, etc., give a rough wine, when fer- mented upon the skins. The Concord, from its thinness of skin, contains less acid matter, and will, therefore, make a pala- table red wine. The Labruscas should have a portion of ^sti- valis mixed with them, when a red wine is desired. For in- stance Catawba and Isabella, with a third; Clinton, Warren or Black July, will give a superior red wine. The ^Estivalis class are more akin to the French wine grapes. The Clinton will give a fine Claret ; Ohio, or Jacques, something more resembling a Burgundy; Pauline, Warren and Black July will produce wines varying from a Sauterne to a Madeira. Scuppernong will make a delicious Muscatel. Enough for all tastes ; and it is to be hoped that, as we have the elements of success in our hands, we shall no longer allow them to remain unproductive." The objection to the Scuppernong as a wine grape is that the fruit produces almost singly and not in bunches, and hence is diffi- cult to gather. This, as well as other grapes, grow remarkably well in our common pine land when cleared and prepared — favored possibly by the characteristics of the soil combined with the protection afforded by the pine forest. I hope that in a few years grape culture will be regarded as an industrial resource by those residing in these comparatively sterile regions, and that it will yield employment and profit to our people. Mr. S. McDowel, of N. C, directed attention to the "Belt of no frost, or Thermal Belt," on the slopes of the Southern Alle- ghanies. It is a vernal zone which exhibits itself upon our mountain sides, commencina: about three hundred feet vertical 273 height above the valleys and traversing them, he says in his letter, in a perfectly horizontal line throughout their entire length, like a vast green ribbon on a black ground. Its breadth is four hundred feet. Here there is no frost, " and the most tender of our native grapes has not failed to produce abundant crops in twenty-six consecutive years." These should be selected for grape culture as the low valleys are unsuited to it. See the philosophy of the subject as described by him, in P. O. Eep., 1867, p. 29. MUSCADINE ; BULL ACE, ( Vltis vulpina, L.) A wine may be made from this grape. Two pecks of the mashed grapes are added to one gallon of boiling water ; allow it to ferment thirty- six hours ; add a little sugar to each gallon and lay it aside. It must not be sealed closely at first. AM. IVY ; VIEGINIAN CREEPER, (Ampelopsis quinquefo- lia, Mx.) Fla. and northward. Used by the " Ecletics " Dr. Wood states, as an alterative, tonic, and expectorant. The bark and the twigs are the parts employed. Dr. McCall has recently in the Memphis Med. Jour, recommended a decoction or infusion of the bark in dropsy. He believes it to act rather by stimulating absorption than as a diuretic. (Penins. and Independ. Med. J., June, 1858.) See U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. The " Ivy," (Hedera helix,) an exotic, which by its tendrils clings to and covers the walls of brick houses, has been exten- sively and successfully used at the South during the late war to restore the color of silk dresses — a strong decoction of the leaves, as I" am informed, is employed. It owes this property of imparting lustre and freshness to silk no doubt to the resin- ous ivy gum which it contains, a principal constituent of which is bassorin. CORYLACE^. (The Nut Tribe.) Properties well known. The seeds oily, and generally eat- able; the bark astringent, and often containing coloring matter. IRONWOOD ; HORNBEAM, {Ostrya Virginica, Willd., Ell. Sk. Ostrya carpinus, Mich.) Richland ; Newbern. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 619; Shec. Flora Carol. 355. Its leaves afford a grateful food to cattle. The wood is tough and 18 274 white, and burns like a candle. I have suggested this (article in De Bow's Eeview) as a substitute for wood employed by en gravers. It is emploj'ed by turners, and wrought into mill- cogs, wheels, etc. A permanent yellow color is imparted to yarn by the inner bark. The birch hornbeam, (C. betulus,) growing in England, is very much used as a hedge plant, and is said to '• afford a more uni- form temperature of shade than a brick wall." Our species "is the most elegant of all the hornbeams of Britain." Wilson, "The sap of the hornbeam {Caiyinus sylvestris) is obtained in the months of April and May. At this period it is colorless, and clear as water ; its taste is slightly saccharine ; its odor resembles that of whey ; it reddens turnsole paper. The sap of this tree contains water in very large quantity, sugars, ex- tractive matter, (probably azotized,) and free acetic acid, ace- tate of lime, and acetate of potash in very small quantities. This sap, left to itself, presents in succession all the phenomena of the vinous and then of the acetous fermentation." Vauque- lin's Annales de Chimie t. xxxi, p. 20, first series; Boussin- gault's Eural Economy, p. 67, Law's edition, 1857. BEAKED HAZELNUT, {Corylus rostrata, Ait.) Grows on the mountains. Fl. March. Griifith, Med. Bot., 585 ; Duhamel's Mem. Am. Journal Pharm. Dr. Heubener, of Bethlehem, has employed the short, rigid hairs of the involucre as a substitute for those of mucuna, and has found them equally anthelmintic. I have collected this plant in fruit on Tiger River, near Reid- ville, S. C. The hairs are extremely fine, and pierce the skin with facility. I have little doubt with respect to their acting in a similar way with mucuna. HAZELNUT, {Corylus Americana, Walt.) Rich soils; along the margin of woods and thickets. West Florida and north- ward. Chapman. N. C. Edible. I have seen the hazelnut growing wild near Summerville, S. C, in Laurens Pistrict, and in Powbattan County, Va. Our American hazelnut is said to be preferred to the filbert. Wilson says that the oil which is obtained from hazelnuts by pressure is little inferior to that of almonds ; and under the name of nutoil is often preferred by painters, on account of its drying more readily than any other of the same quality. Chemists 275 employ it as the basis of fragrant oils, artificially prepared, because it easily combines with and retains odors. This oil is found serviceable in obstinate coughs. If nuts be put into earthen pots and well closed, and afterward buried eighteen inches or two feet in the earth, they may be kept sound through the winter. In many parts of England hazels (C. avellana) are planted in coppices and hedge-rows, to be cut down periodically for charcoal, poles, fishing-rods, etc. Being extremely tough and flexible, the branches ai*e used for making hurdles, crates, and springles to fasten down thatch. They are formed into spars, handles for implements of husbandry, and when split are bent into hoops for casks. Charcoal made from hazel is much in request for forges ; and when prepared in a particular man- ner, is used by painters and engravers to draw their outlines. The roots are used by cabinet-makers for veneering ; and in Italy the chips of hazel are put into turbid wine for the purpose of fining it. Eural Cyc. Our species will doubtless answer for all these purposes. Hemp-seed oil also is used by painters. In the countries where yeast is scarce, they twist the slender branches of hazel together, and steep them in ale yeast during its fermentation ; they are then hung up to dry, and at the next brewing are put into the wort instead of yeast. Farmer's Encyc. WHITE BEECH, {Fagus Sylvatka, Fagus V. Americana, L.) Eich, shaded swamps. Kichland; collected in St. John's ; New- bern. Fl. March. Shec. Flora. Carol. 559 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 585 ; Fl. Scotica, ii, 583 ; Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 175. The bark is astringent, and has been used, according to Dr. Farnhara, in intermittent fever; but it is not possessed of any decided powers. The fruit pro- duces vertigo and headache in the human species. It is ob- served, in the Fl. Scotica, that "the fat of hogs, which feed on them, is soft, and will boil away." The seeds yield an oil little inferior to olive oil, and fit, also, for burning. The pulp re- maining after expression may be converted into flour, similar in taste and color to wheat, but sweeter. A narcotic principle, called fagine, has been found in the husks. The young leaves are sometimes used by the common people as a potherb. The wood is valuable to cabinet-makers and turners, for manufac- turing purposes — being capable of receiving a high polish. 276 Every kind of implement, plane stocks, tool handles, may be made of this wood, which resists great pressure. In England the beech is extensively used for umbrella handles. See Dick- ens' Household Words. Liebig states that the ashes of the beech contains a larger proportion of phosphate of lime than those of any other tree. See his Agricultural Chemistry. It is observed in South Carolina that the lands on which it grows are not usually suited for cotton ; and we may, perhaps, attri- bute it to their depriving the soil of this, so necessary a con- stituent in the maturation of that plant. In the lower country of South Carolina, the beech is one of the most magnificent of our forest trees. Chapman only includes in his work F. feru- ginea, Ait. By distilling, says Ure, beech tar {F. sylvatica) to dryness with other processes, ^arajs/iwe is obtained. "It would form admirable candles," the author adds, while referring to the pro- duction of paraphine as an article of commerce from peat. I insert this here (1862) as deposits of peat ai'e found within the Southern States. The ashes of peat, also, are worth something as manure. They usually, Norton states, contain five or six per cent, of potash and soda, and considerable quantities of lime, magnesia, iron, etc. Soot, a substance somewhat allied, contains a large quantity of ammonia, and is useful as a ma- nure, so much so that when laid on heaps of grass the plants are destroyed. Michaux says that our beech bears a strict analogy with the European beech. The beech should be felled in the summer when the sap is in full circulation ; cut at this season it is very desirable. In the Fagus sylvestris, white beech, "the duramen or perfect wood, bears a remarkably small pro- portion to its alburnum. The bark of old trees is used by tan- ners as a substitute for oak bark." In England beech wood is employed for many purjjoses — the nuts or mast being given to hogs. See, also, Eural Cyc. The wood of the red beech is stronger, tougher, and more compact than that of the white. In the State of Maine, and in the British provinces, where oaks are rare, it is employed with the sugar maple and yellow birch for the lower part of the frames of vessels. The beech is in- corruptible when constantly in the water. The ashes of both species of beech yield a very large proportion of potash. Mi- chaux, who describes the process of extracting the oil, says 277 that it equals one-sixth of the nuts used. The quality of the oil depends upon the care with which it is made, and upon the purity of the vessel in which it is prepared. It should be twice drawn off during the first three months, without disturbing the dregs, and the third time at the end of six months. It arrives at perfection onl}' when it becomes limpid several months after its extraction. It improves by age, lasts unimpaired for ten years, and may be preserved longer than any other oil. The manner of making beechnut-oil most commonly pursued in the districts of the Western States where the tree abounds, is some- what different from that described in Michaux's Sylva. Instead of resorting to the rather tedious process of gathering the nuts, and pressing them through screw-presses, the farmers turn out their hogs immediately after the first frost, who secrete the oil under their skin. Unless they be fed some time before killing, upon Indian corn, the bacon has little solid consistency, becomes liquW upon the slightest application of heat, and keeps that state, resembling in that respect the lard of hogs fed upon acorn mast. The nuts are only plentiful every third or fourth year. I have observed that the beech growing in the swamps of S. Carolina mature a very scanty supply of nuts. I obtain the following from a journal, (1862:) Beech Tree Leaves. — The leaves of the beech trees, collected at autumn, in dry weather, form an admirable article for filling beds. The smell is grateful and wholesome ; they do not harbor vermin, are very elastic, and may be replenished annually without cost. CHINQUAPIN, (Castanea piwiila, W.) Diffused in upper and lower country ; sometimes attaining a height of thirty feet; vicinity of Charleston ; St. John's; JSTewbern. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 189. The bark has been used in intermittent fever, but is probably possessed of very little value. The fruit is eatable. The wood is finer grained, more compact, heavier and even more durable than that of the chestnut, and is ad- mirably adapted for fence-posts — lasting in the ground more than forty years. Farmer's Encyc. The bloom of this tree and of the persimmon is said to destroy hogs. See following. CHESTNUT, (Castanea vesca, L.) Fairfield District, Florida and northward. In South Carolina only found in upper dis- tricts ; one of our noblest trees. 278 The fruit of this tree and the chinquapin (C. ptimila') are well known. Eaten either raw or boiled. The roots contain an as- tringent principle ; that of the chinquapin boiled in milk is much used in the diarrhoea of teething children. I would advise a tea made of this to be used extemporaneously in diarrhoea by- soldiers in camp. The late Dr. Nelson Burgess, of Sumter District, S. C, informed me that at the recommendation of Dr. Jones, he has used the decoction of the root and bark of the chinquapin frequently as a substitute for quinine in intermittent and remittent fever, and with decidedly satisfactory results. I mention this hoping that it will be examined by others. I can have no clue to the reasons of its utility, regarding it here- tofore simply as an astringent. Hot water is poured over the root and bark, and a large quantity taken during the twenty- four hours. Dr. J. S. Unzicker, of Cincinnati, reports the use of a decoc- tion of the leaves of the chestnut in hooping cough. He says that he has given it in about thirty cases, in all of which it gave decided relief in two weeks. He uses a decoction made with three to four drachms of the leaves in a pint of water given ad libitum. Caulophyllin, in doses of one-fourth to four grains, has also been much used recently in this disease and in asthma. Boston Med. and vSurg. J., Jan., 1868. See, also. Bates in Tilden's J. Mat. Med. Sept., 1868, article containing a history of the Blue Cohosh, (Caulophyllum.) The bark of both trees contains tannin, and may be used in tanning leather. In Italy, chestnuts are baked as bread, and there and elsewhere are i^lanted as food for hogs. Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, says that coppices of chestnut afford an excellent produce every ten or twelve years, for hop-poles, hoops and all kinds of elastic props and handles. "The wood of young chestnuts serves better for gate-posts or for any other purposes which involve constant contact with the ground than any other kind of wood, except yew or larch. It is lauded as a good succedaneum for the coarser kinds of mahogany in the making of furniture." It ranks nearly equal with oak. " Cask staves of chestnut possess the double recommendation of not. being liable to shrink and of not imparting a foreign color to liquors which the casks may contain. The wood of the chestnut, though brittle, is very durable in weather. I am informed that 279 fence-rails made of it will last over twenty years. The trees can easily be raised from the seed. BLACK OAK; QUERCITEON OAK, {Quercus tinctoria, Bartram.) Upper districts ; rare in lower; collected in Charles- ton District; St. John's; J^orth Carolina. Fl. April. Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 194 ; Am. Med. Record, iii, 363 ; Barton's Essay to Form. Mat. Med.; Alibert, Nouv. Elems. de Therap. i, 93 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 590 ; Edinb. Med. Journal, 72 ; U. S. Disp. 581 ; Mich. N. Am. Sylva, i, 91 ; Journal de Pharm. et de Chim. v, 251 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 559 : Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 396 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 585 ; Am. Herbal, 153. The bark, a powerful and valuable astringent, is also possessed of purgative properties, in which respect it has an advantage not met with in the Q. falcata. They have both been efficacious in leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea, chronic hysteria, diarrhoea, rheumatism, pulmonary consumption, tabes mesen- terica, cynanche tonsillaris and asthma. Oak-balls produced by these ''re also powerful astringents, and are employed in many cases requiring such remedies — as in diarrhoea, dysentery and hemorrhage; also, in mild cases of intermittent fever. The dose of the powder is forty grains. The powder of this, or of the bark, mixed with hog's lard, is a very simple and effectual remedy in painful hemorrhoids and a decoction is serviceable as a fomentation for prolapsus uteri and ani, and for defluctions from those parts. According to Dr. Cullen, it is applicable in relaxations or impaired conditions of the mucous membranes, on account of its tonic, constringing effect, and as a gargle in inflammation of the fauces, prolapsus uvulae, etc. Mr. Lizars has used it with " wonderful success " in the cure of reducible hernia. It is applied topically in mortification, and to ill-con- ditioned ulcers. Marasmic and scrofulous childen are bathed with great advantage in a bath made of the bark. Although this species acts slightly on the bowels, it contains more tannin and gallic acid than the Q. alba and Q. falcata ; hence it is better suited to cases requiring an external astringent. Quercitron is obtained from this and the Q. falcata (which see) indiscrimi- nately, and is sent to Europe in large quantities to be employed in dyeing wool and silk of a yellow color. The bark is a well known and important dyestuff, and is much employed in dyeing wool, silk and paper-hangings. It is said 280 by Dr. Bancroft, who introduced it into notice, to be equal in power to ten times its weight of woad. With a basis of alumina, a decoction of the bark gives a bright yellow dye ; with oxide of tin, it gives a variety of tints from pale lemon to deep orange ; and with oxide of iron, it yields a drab color. The cellular in- tegument of the bark is what contains the coloring matter. Wilson's -Rural Cyc. " Oak-galls put into a solution of vitriol in water give it a purple color, which as it grows stronger becomes black." Infusions of oak-galls (tannin) are excellent tests of iron. Gallic acid is also yielded by the gall-nuts, and by oak bark. The principal barks which are known to yield it are those of the oak, willow, plum tree, the poplar, the elm, the mountain ash, the birch, the elder, the sycamore, the beech and the cherry tree. But it by no means, adds Wilson, follows the proportions of tannin. It is readily, but very slowly obtained from a cold, long-kept and eventually evaporated decoction of galls, or of the tanniniferous barks. Wilson's Rural Cyc. and medical authors. The best season for felling timber is undoubtedly midwinter, the next being midsummer, when the sap is chiefly confined to the young shoots, the circumference of the soft wood and the bark. The worst time for felling timber is the spring, just before the development of the buds, when the tree is fullest of sap. Where much value is attached to the soft or outer wood, felling ought to take place when there is least sap in the tree. In general, all the soft woods, such as the elm, lime, poplar, willow, should be felled during winter; hard woods, like the oak, beech, ash, etc., when the trunks are of large size and valued chiefly for their heart- wood, may be felled at any time. When the bark, however, is to be taken into consideration, as in the oak, the tree should be felled in spring, as then the bark contains four times the quantity of astringent matter to that felled in winter. Brande's Dictionary of Science ; Farmer's Encyclopoedia. All oak bark for the tanner ought at latest to be removed from the tree before the third week of June, " when the sap has begun to rise and before the leaf is completely developed ;" and every ton of it, says Wilson, which is removed after the first of July, is not only impoverished in tannin, but weighs two hundred weight less than if it had been removed before 281 the end of May. Other trees may in England be peeled earlier. The reader interested in procuring barks should read the article, Eural Cyc, " Barking." The best methods of col- lecting and storing are described. The instruments used in collecting bark are a mallet to beat the bark and a wedge, both made of ash, to insert beneath the loosened bark. The wedge is spatula-shaped. Slight wetting does not injure bark. It is dried in dry, open air, upon supports, so that water will not collect upon it. The bark should be frequently turned. When it is sufficiently dry to avoid fermentation, it should be carried to a dry-house or shade, or stacked in the same manner as ha}'^ — in stacks not so large as to incur the risk of fermentation. In the Farmer's Bncyc. the plan of removing bark is described. It is stated that tannic acid most abounds when the buds are opening, and least in winter, and in cold springs. Four or five pounds of good oak bark of average quality are required to form one pound of leather. The bark separates from the tree more, easily during spring. See Am. Farmer's Cyclopoedia. See article '" Leather," in Wilson's Eural Cyc, for mode of preparing the varieties of leather, tanning kidskins for French gloves, etc.; also '• Rhus," in this volume. The editor of the Southern Field and Fireside, April, 1862, states in answer to inquiries " that the bark of the black poplar is used in England for tanning, but not, we believe, in this country. It has probably about half the strength of black oak bark. Blackberry briars, roots and stems washed clean (this it will be observed confirms my own observations) supply a good deal of the tanning principle ; and our common broomsedge, or straw, has been largely employed in the manufacture of leather in European nations where timber barks are insufficient to meet the public wants. Sumach is exported largely from Sicily for tanning goat and sheepskins. Oak leaves, fennel and May-weed abound in tannic acid, and we intend experimenting with the bai'k of old field pine for making leather. That it contains tan we know; but whether it will be profitable to peel and use it has yet to be determined. Larch is much used in Great Britain and hemlock at the North." From a useful communication in the Southern Field and Fireside, October 19, 1861, it is stated that oak bark has sold in the District of Columbia at ten dollars a cord for years ; and 282 that " several million dollars worth of sumach (^Rhus) is an- nually imported from the south of Europe into the United States for tanning purposes." The Ehus grows abundantly in the Southern States, as well as many other plants containing tannin. I have noticed, in traversing that part of the Dismal Swamp near Norolk, Va., that the Rhus is the most character- istic growth. See Sumach. It could be procured in any amount. The writer of the article just referred to calls attention to the great amount of goatskins and morocco manufactured and ex- ported from France and England, where tannin is scarce, to this country, where the materials for producing it are abundant, at least in the Southern States. I quote from the writer in the Southern Field and Fireside as follows, and also refer the reader to my own examination of several of the plants growing in St. John's Berkeley, S. C, October, 1862. for the relative amount of tannin in plants. See " Z/iquidambar," in this volume: " But such is the demand for leather one may well use oak and chestnut bark hewed oif at any time in the year- Sumach, fennel and pine bark are much used in Europe. Whether any of our common pine barks contain tan enough to warrfint their use has, we believe, never been tested. Larch bark is much used in Scotland, although only half the strength of oak. Mon- teath, of Stirling, applied chemical tests to the infusion of dif- ferent barks with the following results: Oak (coppice) contains most tannic acid ; ash and hornbeam next ; Spanish chestnut third ; willow fourth ; birch, beech and larch fifth ; spruce and silver firs sixth ; mountain ash and broom seventh ; and next Scottish pine, bramble or briars, laburnum, and the sawdust of oak timber." My examinations were made before I saw this paper. Dr. Daniel Lee in the papers published in the Southern Field and Fireside, from which I have drawn largely, earnestly ad- vises us to be more economical with regard to our supply of barks for tanning. "It is poor economy," he says, "for the South to destroy nearly all its valuable tan-bark in clearing oak land, cutting rail limber and firewood, and thereby deprive our children and grandchildren of the power to manufacture their own leather. The time has come when this error must be cor- rected, or serious injury will be the consequence. To send a million dollars worth of hides to the Noi'th, have them tanned, 283 and the leather made into shoes, boots, saddles and harness for Southern consumption, is to pay about eight or nine million dollars for the support of that Northern economy which never wastes the bark that grows on oak or hemlock trees, and that industry which turns this bark into gold." I know this criticism is partly just; still, the planter at the South cannot often turn to the storing away or sale of all the oak or other bark on his place when he is compelled to clear new land, and can scarcely accomplish that properly ; whereas at the North the farmer is compelled to every expedient to add to his resources. I have endeavored, in the examination made by me to show that the leaves of many of our native trees — such as the sweet gum, myrtle, etc., ai*e rich in tannin, and being easily procured may be substituted for barks, which are difficult to prepare. Mr. Jno. Commins, of Charleston, informs me (1867) that he employed myrtle and other leaves extensively and profitably in tanTiing leather during the late war, but whether it was original with him, or the result of my "suggestion and publication, I do not know. Tanners in the State of New York, Dr. Lee states, save tan-bark enough to manufacture three times as much leather as the four millions of people in that State consume. " Leather is largely exported from New York and Massa- chusetts to England, the Southern States, and the great prairie West." He condemns " the habit of felling oak trees when the bark will not peel." See " Quercus,^' " BMs," " Myrica," and '^ Jjiquidambar,'^ for notice of plants suitable for tanning leather ; also Wilson's Eural Cyc, art. "Currying," for method of pre- paring and dressing leather, and Ure's Dictionary of Arts. " Method of tanning. — For doing a small business hot water and hot ooze ma}' be best run upon the bark to extract all its tannic acid in a short time ; but in a large way either a copper heater should pass through the leech holding bark, or it should be boiled by steam. A copper pan is sometimes used, set on an arch, for heating ooze. A mill for working hides operates pre- cisely like a fulling-mill in scouring and fulling cloth. When dry and weighty, Spanish hides are tanned. Hide-mills have heavy hammers, which are elevated eight or ten inches by a revolving wheel, and fall with an oblique stroke on the hides, that causes them to turn like cloth in a fulling-mill. Any hori- zontal staff will work a hide-mill, and a horse-power will drive 284 the shaft. Our friend, Prof. Kutherford, has constructed a horse-power for fifty dollars on his farm (which joins that of the writer) that would drive a hide-mill as easily as it now threshes wheat, and cuts hay and straw for horses. As this is a cheap and valuable power for farm use, it has been our pur- pose to describe it, which we shall yet do. " Any mechanic, by seeing the model of a hide-mill, could easily make one. It needs no cast iron double crank like a fulling-mill. The whole aifair can be made of wood. Our tan- ning in the South is many years behind the progress of the age." The reader interested in this subject may consult with advantage lire's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures ; also an excellent article on tanning and leather, in Nicholson's Ency- clopoedia. I am induced to insert, in connection with the subject of materials for tanning, a communication entire upon the subject from the pen of Dr. Daniel Lee, in the Southern Field and Fire- side, November 30, 1861. It contains practical instruction on the subject of manufacture of leather on a small scale by farmers and planters : "It will be better for several farmers, having from five to ten hides each, to unite in the purchase of a bark-mill for grinding tan-bark, and in constructing a few vats for their common use, than for one to be at the whole expense for so small a business as his own alone. The most primitive way of tanning is in troughs dug out of large trees like pine and poplar; but mo- lasses and bacon hogsheads will form the cheapest tan-vats for the farmer's use. Dig out the earth two-thirds the depth of the hogsheads ; pound moist clay over the bottom on which the hogsheads are to stand. Three or four will do for the tanning part of leather-making. Let them not come within six inches of each other, so that moist clay may be pounded closely around each hogshead to within three inches of the top. If bark cannot be ground, it should be broken or cut fine with an axe, so as to fill two of the hogsheads. Heat clear spring or rain-water boiling hot in large pots or kettles, till the bark in both hogsheads is covered with it. Let the bark steep and soak a week or more, while the raw hides are prepared for the ooze and tanning. One hogshead will do for this, but two are better. They ought to stand some yards fi*om the bark-vats, 285 because lime spattering into the ooze injures it. Surround these with clay like the hogsheads used for tanning. "After the horns, tail and dew-claws are removed from a green hide, it is split into two halves or sides, from the tail to the nose on the pate. If the hide is dry, it must soak and soften first. After it is split it goes upon the beam, and the operative scrapes and tears off all the flesh, and part of the fascia or membrane which covers the flesh side of every skin. It is now ready for the lime. A half bushel of recently slaked lime, or some less of quick lime, will do for a hogshead nearly full of water. The lime and water should be well stirred with a clean hoe or " plunge " before putting sides or skins into the same. They should be often moved about in the lime water by a lever some seven or eight feet long, and hauled out once a day with an iron or wooden hook such as tanners use. As soon as the hair will slip, sides should be worked over the beam and rinsed In the soak, or water hogshead, to remove the hair and all the lime. The hogshead used as a soak, washed clean, is now to serve as a hen-dung vat or bait. It ferments, and is ripe for use in one or two days, after soaking in a half hogs- head or more of water. Much pains and care are used in work- ing sides and skins out of the bait, as they go from this into the tan ooze. They will soon taint and spoil in warm weather. Worked and washed clean, the sides and skins are next handled two or three times a day in tan ooze until they are evenlj' col- ored, and get a handsome, fine grain. The handling is done in this wise : Place three or four pieces of plank four feet long down as a platform, so as to slope over the hogshead, and let ooze from the leather, when lifted out of it upon the plank, run back into the hogshead, and not waste upon the ground. Short pieces of scantling or sticks of clean wood lie on three sides of the plank, over which the edges of the two sides laid down extend, and thus form a sort of trough open only at the end that lies over the edge of the hogshead. All the sides are drawn up separate from the liquor with a hook, and spread by hand on the platform, and are thrown back into the ooze again. If the latter is weak, it is half or more pumped out, and fresh, strong ooze is pumped in. The two hogsheads of bark, with boiling hot water, will keep up the strength as fast as ten or twelve sides can possibly absorb it, after starting with two 286 hogsheads of good ooze. You cannot heat old ooze in an iron vessel, as it would spoil it ; but you may, perhaps, obtain a copper still, in which tan ooze may be heated without the least injury to the liquor or the still. The heated ooze is put on the bark, as it is much better than water, where it is allowed to become about as cool as the atmosphere. "As the tanning advances, skins and hides require less hand- ling. We should hang them across sticks an inch or less in di- ameter, in and under the ooze. The ends of these sticks or rods should rest on a light frame in the hogshead, and four inches or more below the top. Allowing two inches for each stick and side, fifteen sides would occupy thirty inches in width in the hogshead. Batts and butts hang down near the bottom of the hogshead, where the ooze is strongest. A small hand-pump should be put frequently by the side of the leather and of the hogshead, to lift the ooze at the bottom to the top. Sides are handled a week or too before suspending them separately in ooze. "As pumping is easier, and less wasteful than dipping, we will state the way in which a cheap and good pump can be made : Its whole length should be some six feet, and the material, plank, not over an inch thick. The open space on the inside for the ascent of ooze or water should be about three inches square. Two strips of plank thj'ee inches wide, and two five inches, the latter lying on the former on both sides, will form an aperture in the centre of three inches square. The plank ought to be closely jointed, and either painted or covered with tar or melted pitch to make all the joints water-tight. Of course the nailing should be close and perfect. A box of half- inch plank comes up two inches inside from the bottom of the pump for the leather valve to rest upon. " One side of the valve is very simple, but not easy to describe. Imagine a funnel made of thin, flanky sole-leather, four inches in diameter across the top, and as many deep down to the neck, and that its centre is nailed or tied fast to a rod that is to serve as a piston in the pump. The weight of water or other liquid to be raised in pumping can set this pliable leather cup to adapt itself to the square shape of the aperture in the pump; and to prevent this cup or funnel falling back in lifting ooze or water, three narrow strips of leather, sewed to the top of the funnel 287 on three sides, (one on each,) are nailed witla small nails to the piston-rod above, say six inches from the funnel. A small but strong wooden pin passes through the end of the rod which, held in the hand, enables one to lift easily all the liquid in the pump. The discharge from the pump is made in the usual way, a foot or more below the top of it. Any one who can use a plane can make a pump of this kind take ooze from the bottom of one vat, tub or hogshead filled with bark or leather, and put it expeditiously into another, where all stand on a level or nearly so. A thin case keeps the tan-bark or leather from filling the little space required by the pump, which is put into the vat or hogshead, and taken out as often as needed. Any blacksmith can make the beaming-knives used by tanners, but not those used by curriers in finishing leather. The former are curved, and often have small teeth to tear up the tough membrane under the skin. All-tan bark should be clean and dry, for dirt and earth IJlaeken leather. Careless persons often get clay and mud into tan-vats, than which nothing is more injurious. Few arts demand equal neatness in their operatives With the most im- proved apparatus and good bark, the labor of tanning is small. An expert will work one hundred grown hides into the bark or ooze in a month, for which we generally paid twenty dollars; and the labor of tanning two hundred sides was abouD the same after they came to the bark. "If a farmer can get his hides tanned and curried for half of the leather they will make, it is probably better than to attempt to tan them himself. Let him improve his pastures by cultiva- ting the best grasses, and raise more fat cattle for home con- sumption, and thus have three or four hides for the tanner where he has one now. This will call first-class tanneries into existence that will give a pound of good sole-leather for a pound of dry hide, or nearly that. Every farmer ought to spare all the tan-bark he can ; for we speak advisedly when we say that the Southern States are even now short of oak bark if they are to manufacture all the leather which they consume in saddles, bridles, harness, saddle-bags, buggy and carriage trimmings, caps, hat-linings, book-bindings, shoes and boots. It has been the misfortune of the Cotton States to underrate all other indus- tries but that of producing their great staple. H<.-nce the scarcity of good mechanics and artisans. Hence we make no 288 effort to diversify our agriculture, and thereby meet many pub- lic wants, while resting our land from the scourge of eternal plowing. That system of husbandry which accumulates the elements of crops and fertility in every acre cultivated, is still a myth to most planters. Southern nationality will expose, and happily correct many errors. We shall learn to make as much cotton and corn on two acres as we now do on six, and at the same time we shall produce tenfold more of the necessaries and comforts of civilized life. Our dependence on foreign industry and skill for so much of what we consume encourages the world to believe that our subjugation is only a question of time. Since the mechanical trades are necessary to our happiness, we should encourage our sons to become scientific mechanics, as well as farmers, lawyers, doctors, and priests and soldiers." On account of the importance of the subject I insert here the following directions for " Tanning on the Plantations" by T. Affleck, from the Am. Agriculturist, also republished in the Southern Cultivator, vol. i, p. 198, the paper by J. S. Whitten, and one in vol. vi, p. 177: " Tanning leather for the use of the plantation is an item of good management that should not be overlooked by any planter. Nor would it be as much overlooked as it is if the simplicity of the process was generally known — that process, I mean, that will suffice for making leather for home use. The tanner by profession, in order to prepare an article that will command a good price in market, and have a merchantable appearance, puts the hides and skins through a greater number of manipulations, and that he may work to better advantage, has his arrange- ments on a more extensive scale. "The vats, tools, and implements really needed are few and simple. Four vats will generally be found all-sufficient; one for 21, pool of fresh water, and for baiting ; one for liming ; another for coloring ; and a fourth for tanning. The best size, in the clear, is seven feet long, four and a half feet wide, and five feet deep. They should be placed so as to be easily and conveniently filled with water from a spring, running stream, or cistern. Dig the holes nine feet by six and a half and six ; if the foundation is clay, the depth need not be over five feet. Form a stiff bed of clay mortar in the bottom on which to lay the floor, and on it erect the sides and ends of the vat, of plank of almost any kind. 289 sufficiently thick to resist the pressure from without — two inches will be thick enough. When this is done, and the whole nailed fast, fill in the vacant space all round with well tempered clay mortar, ramming it effectually. It is on this, and not the planks, that dependence is placed for rendering the vat perfect. When well made a vat will be good for a long lifetime — the ooze preventing the decay of any but the top round of plank. Such a vat will hold fifteen large beef hides, (thirty sides,) besides a number of small skins. " The material used for tanning is the bark of the red or black oak, stripped when the sap flows in the spring, stocked and dried, of which about four pounds are supposed to be necessary to produce one pound of leather. There is an article occasion- ally used called "catechu," which is an extract made from the wood of a mimosa tree, a native of India, half a pound of which answers the same purpose. Galls, willow bark, the bark of the SpanislT chestnut, and common elm, as also sumach, are all used by the tanner. It has been recently found that the root of the palmetto answers an equally good purpose with the best oak bark. " Bark has to be ground as wanted ; or if the quantity needed is small, and it is not thought advisable to incur the expense of a bark mill, (from $10 to $18,) it may be pounded in a large mortar, or beat up on a block. ' It will require one-third more of pounded than of ground bark to afford equally strong ooze, which is the infusion of bark. "The principal tools requisite are a flushing-knife, currier's knife, a brush like a stiff horse-brush and a fleshing-beam. The fleshing-beam is made by splitting in two a hard wood stick of about a foot in diameter; inserting two stout legs, some thirty inches long, in one end on the split side, so that the other end rests on the ground, with the round side up, the elevated end being high enough to reach the workman's waist. A fleshing- knife may be made by bending an old drawing-knife to suit the round of the fleshing-beam. " The skins of bulls, oxen, cows and horses are called hides; those of calves, deer, sheep, etc., are known as skins. " Fresh and dried hides receive the same treatment, except in the washing process. Those that are salted and drj'-, (and no hide should be di-ied with less than from two to four quarts 19 290 of Bait being rubbed on the flesh side — dried without salt, it is extremely difficult to soften them ;) require to be steeped, beaten and rubbed several times alternately, to bring them to a condition sufficiently soft for tanning. " Green or fresh hides must be soaked in pure water from twelve to twenty-four hours, to extract all the blood, etc., and soften the extraneous, fleshy matter, which must then be re- moved — throwing one hide at a lime on the fleshing-beam, grain or hair side down, and scraping or shaving it off with the flesh- ing-knife, which must be somewhat dull or the skin ie apt to be cut. They are then put in the liming-vat, which is supplied with strong lime water by filling the vat a little over half full of water, and adding thereto four bushels of unslaked (or of air-slaked) lime, or at the rate of two-thirds of a bushel of lime to the barrel of water. This will suffice for fifteen hides; each time that they are removed and a fresh lot of hides put in, add another bushel of lime, which will keep up the strength for a twelvemonth. Before using stir the lime well up, and while it is thus mixed with the water j)ut in the hides evenly, so that the lime will settle on every part of them. They are to remain here from ten to fifteen days, or for three or four days after the hair will rub ofl" with the finger completel}- and with ease. While in the liming-vat they must be moved up and down ever}'- other morning, to expose them to the air, and to the equal action of the lime. Being now ready for unhairing, cut each hide in two by slitting them along the centre of the back with a knife, forming them into sides. Throw ten or twelve of these sides on the fleshing-beam, and strip the hair off with the knife ; and as they are unhaired, throw each one into the vat of fresh water to bait or soak. When the lot of sides and skins in hand have all been unhaired and thoroughly washed, throw them again, and at once, on the fleshing-beam, with the grain or hair side up, and work them over (rub and press them) with the knife until all the gummy or mucilaginous matter is worked out. This should bo repeated two or three times during ten or twelve days, being each time baited anew in fresh water. And this working over must only be done when the sides feel soft and smooth to the touch ; as they will at times from some Un- explained cause, feel rough, at which time they must not be worked over. While they are thus boiling they must not be 291 neglected, or they will soon spoil. Tanners are in the practice of adding one thousandth part of sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) to the last bait, which has the effect of swelling the pores and distending the fibres, and thus rendering the skins more suscep- tible to the action of the ooze. Forty-eight hours generally suffices for this last baiting. " In the meantime, some good, strong ooze should be prepared for the first tanning process, called coloring. Fill a vat a little more than half full of water, and add bark, in the proportion of one and one-half bushels of ground, or two bushels of pounded bark to the barrel of water, which will bring the vat up to about two-thirds full. When the bark has soaked from four to five days, the sides are put in and allowed to remain fifteen da3's ; during which they must be once well and carefully fleshed and worked over, and must be drawn up and down every morn- ing, for the first week at least, and the bark well plunged or stirred up, to have them color evenly. ''After this, the vat being now two-thirds full of this same ooze, after drawing out the hides lay a good coating of fresh bark, of say an inch thick, on top of the water, on which it will float ; lay on this a side, spread out evenly, and if it has to be lapped over in any part lay on more bark until it is all well coated, taking care to place those hides at the bottom of the vat now that were at the top last time. On this side lay an inch- coating of bark, and on that another side, and so on, with alter- nate layers of bark, until the vat is full, or the sides all laid away. " In this, which is called the first bark, the sides must lie four weeks. They are then drawn out, and the spent bark taken out with a skimmer or drainer. The sides are then replaced as before, with alternate layers of fresh bark, in the same ooze, which has acquired some additional strength, notwithstanding the amount of tannin and extractive matter contained in the bark that has become intimately combined with the animal fibre of the hide. In this second bark they remain six weeks undisturbed, when they receive a third bark in the same wa}^, in which they are left another six or eight weeks. Three barks will suffice to tan deer, hog, calf and other small skins ; four barks will make good sole-leather, but five are preferable. •'The tanning process being completed, sole-leather is taken 292 out of the vat, rinsed effectually, and dried in the shade, hang- ing the sides up by two of their corners to joists, where they may remain until wanted. Those sides intended for upper and harness leather, (which are those of cows, etc., the largest and thickest bullock hides being used for sole-leather,) as also deer, hog and other small skins, being thoroughly rinsed, are spread out on a strong table, with the grain or hair side up, and scoured with a stiff brush, like a very stiff horse-brush, occa- sionally throwing on pure water, until all the ooze is scoured out. Tanners use the edge of a stone, made smooth, to assist in rubbing out the ooze, and all the water that can possibly be rubbed out. They also use what they call a slicker, being a dull edge of copper of about six or seven inches long set in a piece of wood, to serve as a handle. " After they are all served thus, and rubbed as dry as possi- ble, the table is cleaned off and the skins thrown back upon it grain side up, and are rubbed with tanner's oil (codfish oil) as long a.s the leather will receive it. Harness leather must be completely saturated. As they are oiled fold them up and lay them aside. When they are all gone over lay one on the table at a time, flesh side up, and with a rag rub on all the dubbing that the leather will absorb. Thin hides require but a small quantity ; harness leather must have a heav}^ coating. "Dubbing, which consists of equal parts of tar and tallow, melted together and well mixed, must be made the day pre- vious to being used. Lard may be used in place of tallow; but will require a lesser proportion of it. Each side of leather is then hung up by two corners to joists, there to remain until perfectly dry, or until wanted. "If iron or steel touches a hide during the process of tanning when in the least wet, or even moist, it will discolor it, forming an indelible black mark. " To blacken harness or other leather, take the skin when completely dried, and if any greasy spots appear, showing that more oil or dubbing has been applied than the leather could absorb, wet the spots with a little strong ooze, and scrub them out with the brush. Then apply a coat of copperas (sulphate of iron) dissolved in ooze, until the leather has a good color all over. After this, when dry, put on another good coat of oil. The leather may then be smoothed off with a rounding edge of polished steel, or glass, or stone." 2ti3 The following is from the Southern Cultivator: "Having tanned my hides for a number of years, and be- lieving it to my interest, I suppose it will be profitable to others who have many raw hides. "I have succeeded well, and think my leather firmer, and more valuable for negro shoes and the coarse harness on my farm than tan-yard leather. My plan is a much cheaper one than Mr. Affleck's. " I tan from ten to fifteen hides a year, of various sizes. I have two vats five by seven feet, four feet deep, sunk in the ground near a falling branch, so constructed at the boUom that I can draw a plug and wash and empty them. I begin in March ; soak my hides ten days in running water. Two or three times I take them out and give them a good rubbing or washing. They are then ready for the lime, as we call it. I then put them in one of my vats and divide equallj'' among them from three and one-half to five bushels of good ashes and two or three quarts of lime, and cover the whole in water. The lye had better be strong, and if you err, err on that side. Every few days I take them up, or rather stir them up and mix them again, so that all parts shall be equally acted on by the lye and the atmosphere, in the top and the bottom of the vat. If your lye is right, in ten or twelve days your hides will be thickened to two or three times their first thickness — feel more like a sheet of jelly than anything else — and the hair will slip easily. Then slip off the hair, and with a drawing-knife or a curry in g-knife scrape off the loose flesh and cellular matter on the other side, and as much of the lye as you can, without bruising the hide ; and then put them back into fresh and clean water. Every other day take them up and give them a good rubbing or scouring, for ten days. They are then ready for the bark ; and by that time you can slip the bark off your oak trees, and have it ready for the hides. I never grind my bark. I take it from the tree, and with a drawing-knife take off the rough on the outside, and just beat it enough to cause it to lie flat in the vat. In my other vat I do all my tanning, and commence with a layer of bark, then of leather, and so on ; and so lay it in the vat that every part of each side of the leather shall lie against bark; and when I am done, I immerse this entirely in water. "The first j'ear you had better boil an ooze in kettles or pots 2y-t and use that instead of water, and afterward always preserve your old ooze to use next year instead of water. I let this lie until the first of August, and put in a second bark precisely as the first, and let it lie until some time in October or November, when my leather is fully tanned, if these directions have been followed. "When the leather is well tanned it presents a yellow, spongy appearance, through and through ; otherwise you will see a white or hard streak in the centre. When I take it up I scour the ooze well out of all. That I intend for sole-leather I straighten and dry; that for upper leather I wash well, then grease well with the cheapest oil I have, and after drying eight or ten days I moisten it, curry off the spongy, soft part from the flesh side, and when moist, beat it or break it over some rough surface until it is comparatively soft, and the grain side is all puckered up or wrinkled into small wrinkles. Then, when my leather is thoroughly dried and shrunk, it is fit for use." "We have been reading some accounts of a new business which we think may become immensely profitable in Virginia. It is the extracting of the astringent or tanning properties of the oak bark for the production of leather. The information we have convinces us that the business will yield very large profits. An article we have before us on the subject from a Georgia paper says : " Five-sixths of the leather made in the United States is pro- duced in the New England and Middle States. In the prosecu- tion of this business, Boston and its immediate vicinity alone are said to consume about four hundred thousand cords of crude bark annually, and the enormous consumption which this fact illustrates, is very rapidly exhausting all the accessible sources of supply of the crude material, and raising its value, as the distance from which it must be brought and the difficulties of gathering it increase. "These facts suggested the idea of inventing machinery to ex- tract and condense the tanning properties of the bark in the original forest; so that a cord of bark is reduced to a single barrel of forty-five gallons. This extract is worth in the North- ern cities ten cents a pound or a dollar per gallon — the gallon weighing ten pounds — and the whole barrel, therefore, worth forty-five dollars'; and the demand for it in Europe and America can hardly be met by any probable supply. The manufacture 295 of this bark extract, commencing during the war when the for- ests of the South were inaccessible, has been confined principally to the hemlock forests of the North and East, which produce one thousand barrels daily — about four-fifths of which go to Europe and the remainder is used principally by the tanners of Boston. " The machinery for manufacturing this extract is very heavy and effective, and costs from eight to nine thousand dollars. It is driven by a twenty -five horse power steam engine. The bark in slabs, as stripped from the tree, is first soaked in a tank, with water kept at a temperature of one hundred and seventy de- grees by steam. It is then passed between iron rollers, which compress it to the thinness of wrapping paper, crushing everj'- fibre and air and water cell in the bark. In this condition it falls into another tank, where it is broken up and beaten, and agitated in warm water by paddle wheels driven at a velocity of one hundred revolutions a minute, and thereafter treated until the water has attained the point of saturation. At this density it is carried to a condenser and further reduced to the desired point of strength for barreling and shipment. " If all these figures and data are correct, evidently there is an excellent chance for profit from the oak forests of the South. More than this — in the spring of the year the tannic acid has been found by experiments to be much stronger in the young oak leaves than in the bark, and we see no reason why they, too, might not be brought into requisition for the manufacture of this concentrated tanning extract." A letter from a gentleman in New York familiar with the business says: "The tanning properties of a cord of oak bark reduced to the consistency of ten pounds to the gallon, which makes it imperishable weighs four hundred and fifty pounds. This is worth in Philadelphia ten cents per pound, and in New York and Boston it commands a ready sale at twelve and a half cents, while in London and Liverpool it sells at fourteen cents in gold per pound. The demand abroad for American oak ex- tract will for many years exceed our ability to supply, while that for home consumption will test our utmost enersry to meet. Oak extract at ten cents per pound, when bark can be had at five dollars per cord, will yield to the manufacturer a net profit of twenty-five dollars per cord ; and as one machine is capable 29(3 of making two pounds per hour, or forty-eight pounds every twenty-four hours, it is easy to compete the returns which may be realized by running it for a single year. These figures raaj'" seem incredible to your people, but I challenge any one to show wherein they are incorrect." "Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia, article " Charcoal," furnishes a table of the proportions, color and quality of charcoal furnished by "various trees ; also methods of preparing it at the iron-works, with the mode of making lampblack. The willow, alder and dogwood are employed for preparing charcoal for the manu- facture of gunpowder. See Salix, ^^ Finns." SPANISH OAK, {Quercus falcata, Mx.) According to Elliot, common on the seacoast; collected but sparingly in St. John's; Eichland ; grows also in Georgia ; vicinity of Charleston ; New- bern. Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 493 ; U. S. Disp. 581 ; Bart. Essay on the M. Med.; Alibert, Nouv. Elems. de Therap. 193; Phil. Med. Mus. 11 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 586 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 170. This is possessed of the astringent qualities characterizing the genus ; it has not, however, the purgative property found in the Q. tinctoria. It is employed as an astringent wash for gangrene. A decoction is administered with great success in dysentery, pulmonary and uterine hem- orrhage, and some have said, in intermittent fever. See Q. tinc- toria and alba. In domestic practice, where an easily obtained and efficient astringent is required, this, and the more common species, the Q. rubra, are of no little value. They are used to a large extent on the plantations at the South. This and many other oaks produce an excrescence called gall nuts, or oak-galls. These contain tannin and are used for making ink. In a letter from a gentleman residing in Flat Rock, N. C, I am informed that he obtains the greatest relief in piles by the application of the fresh oak-gall rubbed up with mercurial ointment. He found it better than any application he had ever used. They are used when fresh. WHITE OAK, {Quercus alba, L.) Diffused; St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 582 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 659 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 586. The bark is officinal, and is generally used in similar cases with the above, with the exceptions before mentioned. 297 By some it is preferred to the others on account of its not act- ing on the bowels. The decoction is sometimes employed as an injection in leucorrhoea and gonorrhoea. The bark contains tan- nin, gallic acid, and bitter extractive, the former predominating. The bark is officinal, the young bark being preferable. The whiter bark, and the delicate and finely lobed leaves, with the general neat appearance of the tree, serve to distinguish this from the other varieties of the oak, than which it is more acceptable to the stomach. All, however, are valuable for external application. It is astringent and somewhat tonic. Powder: dose, from one-half drachm to one drachm. Extract: dose, half that of the powder. Decoction : bark bruised, one ounce ; water, three half-pints ; boil to one pint. Dose, one wineglassful. Surg. McLauglin and others of Lynchburg, re- port through the Surgeon-General's office C. S. A. a favorable notice of the decoctions and syrups of the Quercus alba and Hubiis villosus in chronic diarrhoea, stating that the tinctures of R. V. and of Ooniiis Florida make an excellent astringent tonic. This is one of the most valuable of our forest trees, and it is largely employed for manufacturing purposes, and in the do- mestic economy of the plantations in the Southern vStates. The wood is hard and durable. The following I obtain from a jour- nal, (1868:) A Charleston letter to a Northern paper says : "A singular flowing back of one of the great currents of trade is indicated by the fact that during the present month eight large vessels have cleared at this port, loaded with lumber fo"r Maine. This is ' carrying coals to Newcastle,' yet the white oak of South Carolina is superior for ship timbers to any tree in the forests of Maine, while the roots of the yellow pine are far better than those of the tamarack for ships' knees, both in shape and dura- bility." The following table is the result of the experiments of Bar- low upon the "Absolute strength of different kinds of wood drawn in the direction of their fibres." Wilson's Eural Cyc. on the strength of materials may be consulted. Article from Een- wick's Elements of Mechanics : 298 Boxwood 20,000 lbs. Ash 17,000 Teak 15,000 Norway Fir 12,000 Beech 11,000 Canada Fir 11,000 Kussia Fir 10,700 Pitch Pine 10,400 " Absolute cohesive strength of wood drawn in a direction at right angles to the fibres :" English Oak 10,000 lbs. Am. .White Pine 9,900 Pear Tree 9,800 Mahogany 800 Elm 5,800 Cast-steel was 140,000 And Gold 80,000 Teak 818 lbs Am. Whate Pine 757 Norway Fir 648 Beech 615 English Oak 598 The following table gives the "respective strength of various substances:" Canada Oak 588 lbs. Pitch Pine 588 Elm 609 Ash 369 Metals. Wroiight-iron, Swedish. ..22,000 lbs " English 18,000 Cast-iron 16,000 Wood. Teak 4,900 lbs. Ash 4,050 Canada Oak 3,500 English Oak 3,360 Pitch Pine 3,250 Beech 3,100 Norway Fir 2,950 Am. White Pine 2,200 Elm 1,013 English oak resisted a greater amount of pressure, by Ron- nie's experiments, than many other kinds of wood; three times as much as elm, for example. See, also, article "Timber," in Rural Cyc, for method of preserving, relative strength, etc. In England the shipwright considers that three years are re- quired thoroughly to season timber. Timber is best preserved by immersion in water for six months, and the exposure to shade for another six months. The white oak cleaves and splits readily, and is used in making plantation baskets. I have seen it used in place of cane in making chair seats. The white oak lasts longer in weather than hickory. White Oak Baling. — White oak slats, basket fashion, take the place of gunny bagging, and hoops of the same wood take the place of rope. With machinery for cutting the slats, two hands can get out enough for one bale in twenty minutes. 299 I will introduce under the genera " Quercus" and " Carya," what I have thought useful on the subject of ashes, pearlashes, potash, soap, etc. Information is required on these invaluable substances. For processes, see lire's Dictionary of Arts. For " soda," see " Salsola,'' in this volume. "A cement for cisterns, as hard as marble, and impenetrable by water forever," is made of wood ashes two parts, clay three parts, sand one part, mixed with oil — all ingredients easily ob- tained." "Concentrated Lye" is a very pure preparation of caustic soda, or soda ash purified. The following is the method of making hard soap with this substance, which is preferable to potash or any of its preparations; it is also very economical: " One half box of concentrated lye, four pounds of grease, one pound of rosin, five gallons of water. Boil all together until the soap is made — a point easily determined ; then add a half pintt)f salt dissolved in a quart of water, boil a few minutes longer, and pour oft" into tubs to harden. This will yield about thirty pounds of excellent hard soap, at a cost of about two and a half cents per pound." The following general deduction, which is instructive, is made in Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia, art. "Ashes:" "Trees, in a gen- eral way, make a plentiful yield of potash, somewhat in the degree of their hardness, their heaviness and the closeness of their texture; and the chief of them may upon this principle be distributed into four classes — first, the oak, the ash, the yew, the beech, the chestnut, the pear, the crab, the blackthorn and the broom ; second, the elm, maple, hornbeam and white-thorn third, the pines and firs; and fourth, the birch, alder, poplar, hazel and willow. When six loads of the ashes of the first class are sufficient for an acre of land, ten or twelve loads of the ashes of the fourth class may be required." It will thus be seen what room there is for selection in using trees for ashes or for the production of potash. For further information on pot- ash, ashes, soaps, hickory, consult " Carya" in this volume. Table of mean results of experiments of Messrs. Kerwan, Yauquelin and Pertues, upon ten thousand parts of each plant — amount of potash in each — (Chaptal:) 300 Elm 39 of potash. Oak 15 " Beech 12 " Yine 55 " Poplar 7 " Thistles 53 " Fern 62 of potash. Cow Thistle 196 " Wormwood 730 " Vetches 275 " Beans 200 " Fumitory 890 " In selecting plants to burn for potash, which can be done on any plantation, those which are thus seen to yield most should be chosen. " G-rasses, leaves, the stalks of French beans, of peas, melons, gourds, cabbages, artichokes, potatoes, maize and garget, are very rich in this alkali." Thistles, nettles, broom- heath, brambles, ferns, should all be collected. The fumitory and wormwood (exceedingly rich in potash) are both grown in the Southern States. The plants are first dried and then burned and the ashes leached, which should be repeated. Hot water is better than cold. The potash can easily be extracted from the lye by evaporation. "The process," says Chaptal, " may be commenced in a copper boiler, into which a very fine stream of the lye should flow to replace that which evaporates; when the liquor has acquired the consistency of honey it should be put into iron boilers to complete the operation. As the sub- stance thickens, care must be taken to remove that portion of it which adheres to the sides, and to stir the whole carefully with iron spatulas. When the substance congeals and becomes solid upon being exposed to the air, it is poured into casks and and thrown into commerce, under the name of salts. The whole process is simple, and may be conducted upon our farms without any- difficulty." Pearlash may be procured from the potash by calcination. See treatises on the Arts. The following observations may be found useful to the soap manufacturer, even if he be a planter or farmer, which I quote from Thornton's Family Herbal: In the large manufactories the lye for making soap should be made no stronger than to float a new laid egg when the workmen begin to form the mix- ture. The oil or tallow is first boiled with a weak lye until the whole is formed into a saponaceous compound. It is then kept boiling with a stronger lye until it acquires a considerable con- sistence, and seems to be separating from the fluid below. This separation is a very material part of the operation, and to effect it completely a quantity of common salt is added ; the materials 301 are coDtinually boiled for three or four hours, and then the fire is withdrawn. The soap will now be found united at the top of the liquor, or what is called the waste lye, which is of no further use, and is therefore drawn off. The soap is now melted for the last time with a lye, or even with water. It is then al- lowed to cool, and afterward cast into wooden frames. The last melting is important, as giving compactness. A solution of sulphate of iron will mottle soap by dispersing it before the soap hardens thi'oughout the mass. A most economical mode of washing, which has been em- ployed by farmez-s, which reduces the labor of days to that of a few hours, might bo adopted in armies. The washing of an entire regiment, when in garrison or in cities, might be done syste- matically and collectively with far less exposure and loss of time. I obtain the method from some of the journals: On^the night preceding the day intended to be set apart for washing, the clothes, white and colored, coarse and fine, are put in tubs of clear water, where they remain all night. A large size vessel, the larger the better, is half tilled with water, which is raised to the boiling point. To one containing sixty gallons put two teaspoonsful of sal soda, one quart of soft soap, and one quart of lime water, made by pouring three gallons of water on one quart of lime the night previous, so that it may have had time to settle, and in proportion if smaller vessels are used ; stir the water and ingredients well together, when the clothes are put in, and boiled rapidly for an hour; they are then taken out and rinsed well. The same lime water maj' be kept until it is all consumed. The receipts for making the soap is as follo-ws: The ingredients for one hundred pounds do not cost more than one dollar and fifty cents. Take six pounds of potash, four pounds of lard, one-fourth pound of rosin; beat up the rosin, mix all together well and set aside for five days ; then put the whole in a ten gallon cask of warm water, and stir twice a day for ten days; at the expiration of which time, or sooner, you will have one hundred pounds of excellent soap. Strong lye water or concentrated lye may perhaps take the place of the potash. A gill of alcohol added to a gallon of soft soap, applied to clothes in the usual way, and soaked several hours before washing, fur- nishes an economical method. Lye from wood ashes added to tallow, eight ounces to two 302 pounds, melted over afire, it is said, greatly increases the hard- ness of the candles made from it. EBD OAK, (^Quercus rubra.) Diffused ; grows in great abun- dance ; St. John's ; Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. April. U. S. Disp.; Griffith, Med. Bot. 587. Employed like the others as an astringent ; as a drying astringent powder it may be used in place of the Cinchona bark. It is easily obtained and con- veniently prescribed. I have myself found the bark of the tree of some service among negroes, in several cases where a tonic astringent injection was required, using it in cases of prolapsus uteri, where the organ became chafed and painful from exposure. The decoction of the bark, with sulphate of copper, is employed on the plantations to dye woollens of a green or black color, and for tanning leather. Hickory bark, with copperas, fur- nishes an olive color; maple gives a purple dye, the tea leaf (Hopea tinctoria) a yellow, and white oak a brown. Walnut leaves or roots, without copperas, repeatedly boiled, yield a black dye. Blacksmith's dust maybe used in place of copperas. The wood is not so durable as that of the Q.alba, but it is much used for domestic purposes. The following methods of making ink were furnished to Dr. Bachman by Mr. E. Euffin ; only native plants are required : Three different modes to make good Ink. — No. 1. Take one measure (or one handful of each half pint of ink intended to be made) of maple bark and as much of pine leaves, both fresh and previously and separately chopped to pieces of not more than half an inch long. Put them into an iron vessel and add two measures of water. Measure the then depth of the water and mark the height of surface on a pointed stick thrust to the bottom. Then add six more measures of water, (making eight in all.) Boil very slowly (or simmer) until three-fourths of the fluid has evaporated, which may be known by its then surface reaching the mark on the measuring stick. Then remove the vessel from the fire, and add, for every half pint of remaining fluid, one teaspoonful of copperas, as much sugar and a table- spoonful of vinegar — stir and let stand from twelve to twenty- four hours. Then strain the fluid (ink) from the solid refuse through a coarse cloth and bottle for use. No. 2. — First, make a strong infusion of the inner bark of red oak, by standing in water tvventj'-four hours, a handful of 303 chopped bark for each half pint of water. (Or, otherwise, make a decoction, by boiling an hour and evaporating to the same quantit}^ of water.) Decant the fluid and add about a tea- spoonful of copperas for every half pint of fluid and keep for the use next to be directed. Take of ripe elder berries four measures, in a washbasin. Mash them well in the hands. Put the mixture of pulp and fluid juice into an iron vessel. Measure the depth of the whole mass, as dii-ected for No. 1. Then add one measure of the before prepared infusion of red oak bark, and boil very slowly until evaporation has reduced the quantity of fluid to what it was at first of the mashed elder berries alone. Remove the pot from the fire. Put in a teaspoonful of copperas for every expected half pint of fluid, and let the mixture stand for twelve or twenty- four hours. Then strain through a coarse cloth, using strong pressure. Bottle the fluid for use. NcT. 3. — Fill an iron pot half full of white oak bark, (coarse or fine,) one-fourth full of red oak bark, and one-fourth full of maple bark. Fill the pot with water and boil slowly and for a long time. A teaspoonful of copperas will set it. Strain and bottle for use. To dye a Blue Color without Indigo. — Make a strong dye of red oak bark, another of maple bark, and have in a third vessel a weak copperas water, and in a fourth vessel a weak lye. Wet the cotton thoroughly in each vessel of dye and rinse it out in the order in which they are mentioned, having each fluid gis hot as the hand can bear, repeating the process until the color is sufficiently deej). By making the thread a deep copperas color first and then going through the process you can have a good black. Quercus montana, Willd. Rocky soils in the Alleghany Moun- tains of South Carolina. Used as a substitute for the above. LIVEOAK, (Quercus virens^ Alton.) Grows abundantly on the seacoast, for the space of sixty miles from the ocean ; New- bern. Fl. June. U. S. Disp. 581; Eberle, Mat. Med. i, 376. This tree is of quick growth, and attains a large size in South Carolina. Its great value for manufacturing purposes, ship-building, etc., is well known. It is often exported for these purjjoses, to great advantage. Its branches extend out to some distance, and it 304 affords one of our most venerable, magnificent, and ornamental shade trees, suited for avenues. The acorns are edible. Density of Wood. — I introduce the following under this species. Count Chaptal, in his Chemistry applied to Agricul- ture, makes the following remarks: "Soil, exposure, climate and season modify in a remarkable manner the fibre of vegeta- bles of the same kind. Vegetables raised in a dry and arid soil have a much harder and more compact texture than those of the same kind raised in a moist and rich soil; they have more perfume, contain a greater quantity of volatile oil, are decom- posed with more difiiculty, and during the combustion give out a much more intense heat. Every one knows that thickets having a southern exposure yield better fuel than those which lie toward the north ; the wood is more solid, and after having been cut, it will resist for a longer time the action of air and water. This fact was observed by Pliny, in regard to the woods of the Appenines." The difference between the hardness of trees growing in swamps and highlands is, I believe, referred to by Boussingault. The locality and the season of the year should have an influ- ence upon the tree, upon its structure, and secretions, and they should be considered, in reference to the growth of timber for ships, implements, etc. The best time for cutting wood is in the end of the winter, when the texture is hardened and con- densed by the cold. Boussingault, in his work on Sciei^tific Agriculture, describes a French method of preserving timber, superior to the Kyanized, by the absorption of the salts of iron. I would refer the curious reader to a paper, giving a most re- markable account of the enormous size and height of the trees, and the vegetable wonders of California, in Patent Office Re- ports, p. 4, 1851, by Wm. A. Williams. Trees sixty -eight feet in circumference, and three hundred and eighty feet in height, without a branch for two hundred and sixty feet ; vegetables relatively large. See Boussingault's work for similar state- ments. The general reader will find interesting references to such matters in Prof. O. W. Holmes' book, the *' Philosopher at the Breakfast Table;" also, paper in Patent Ofiice Reports on Agriculture, p. 655, 1851, by Thomas Eubank, Commissioner, containing extracts from writings of M. M. Naudin and Lecoq, (report to the French Academy,) on the taming of plants by 305 cultivation ; they "taraed every individual species of the fierce family of thistles," converting them into a savory vegetable. It is well known, says a writer in the Patent Ofiice Eeports, 1852, p. 257, that the most valuable timber is that which has attained its growth with most light and air. The wagon- maker takes care to combine toughness and durability by selecting his wood from trees of second growth, or from trees of first growth that from infancy have stood alone, or far apart, I have ascertained, in conversation with machinists and wood- cutters, that they separate many species of useful trees into two varieties, and make careful selection in cutting for the shop. SWAMP CHESTNUT OAK, (Quercus prinus, L.) Vicinity of Charleston; Newbern. This may be used medicinally as a substitute for the Q. alba. CHESTNUT OAK, (Quercus castanea, W.) S. and N. C. This is said to be the best for tanning as it gives a bright appearance to the leather. The wood is soft and easy to split. COEK TREE, (Quercus suber.) Exotic. The Patent Office has distributed for years past seeds and plants of the cork tree. See Reports, 1854, p. 32, for mode of culture and gathering of cork; and article on "Properties and Uses of Cork Tree." Patent Office Reports, 1858, p. 335. Quercus. For method of raising acorn-bearing oaks, for feeding of hogs, varieties, etc., see Wilson's Rural Cyclop., art. "Acorn," "Oak." In some portions of England hogs are raised almost entirely upon acorns, and with but a limited supply of grain just before killing. " The farmers of Gloucestershire bestow nearly as much care upon the fruit of their oak trees as upon the produce of their orchards ; they seldom sell their acorns, yet usually estimate their value at from Is. 6d. to 2s. per bushel," etc. Wilson. See, also, Boutcher's "thoroughly practical" Treatise on Forest Trees. See Boussingault's Agricultural Chemistry, and Wilson's Rural Cyc, for method of preserving timber. BETULACEiE. (The Birch Tribe.) Bark astringent ; sometimes employed as a febrifuge. SWEET BIRCH; BLACK BIRCH; CHERRY BIRCH, (Betula lenta, L.) Mountain mahogany. Mountain ridges of S. and N. Carolina. 20 306 U. S. Disp. 1233. The bark and leaves possess a very aro- matic flavor. An infusion of them is useful as an agreeable, gently stimulant, and diaphoretic drink. The oil, obtained by distillation from the bark, has been shown by Proctor to be similar to that of the Gaultheria procumbens. (See index.) It also affords a saccharine liquor. Am. Journal Pharm. xv, 243 ; Ell. Bot. ii, 617. The wood, possessing a fine grain, which is susceptible of a beautiful polish, is much used by cabinet- makers. It would be adapted to the fine work on railroad cars. Is the handsomest of the species, and has the finest timber. " The timber, when fresh cut, has a rosy tint, and afterward deepens in color by exposure. It has a fine, close grain, and is susceptible of a very high polish. It is used for sofas, arm- chairs, the frames of coach panels, and various other purposes." Wilson ; Michaux's Travels, etc. " The Sap of the Birch tree reddens turnsole intensely. It is colorless, and has a sweet taste. The water which forms u greater pai't of it holds in solution sugar, extractive matter, acetate of lime, acetate of alumina, and acetate of potash. When properly concentrated by evaporation, it ferments on the addition of yeast, and then yields alcohol on distillation. The presence of the acetate of alumina may appear extraordinary in the sap for this reason, that alumina has not yet been dis- covered in the ashes of the birch tree." Boussingault's Eural Econ. p. 65, ed. 1857. EED BIECH, (Betula nigra, Linn. B. rubra, Mx.) Vicinity of Charleston ; collected on the Santee Eiver, St. John's Berke- ley; Newbern. Fl. March. Ind. Bot. Dr. Green states that a strong decoction of the bark cured cases of putrid sore throat. It is useful also in pleurisy. Lindley says that the black birch of North America is one of the hardest and most valuable we possess. This might suit the purposes of the engi'aver, and in the construc- tion of any implements requiring wood of firm texture. We have also the j^ellow and the cherry birch. The shoots and the twigs of the B. lanulosa, or B. nigra, said by Wilson to grow in the Carolinas, are used for hoops, and " made into excellent street brooms." Its wood is compact, nearly white, and streaked longitudinally, and useful for various ecoi^gmical purposes. Consult " Alnus serrulata," 307 ALDER, (Alnus serrulata, Aiton.) Grows along rivulets, Charleston District; Richland; Newbern. Fl. April. U. S. Disp. 1224. The bark is astringent. N. Y. Journal Med. V. 7, 8. It had for a long time been neglected ; but in the article referi'ed to the decoction is spoken highly of as an altera- tive and astringent in scrofula and cutaneous diseases, and it is said to have been very successful in haematuria ; in these affec- tions producing beneficial results where all other means had failed. Shec, in his Flora Carol., spoke of the alder tags as being of great service on account of their alterative powers ; a decoction of the leaves has also been used to suppress hemorr- hage, and they have been found effectual in relieving dyspepsia and bowel complaints. An astringent decoction may be made of the bark, leaves, or tags — acting also as a diuretic. A tinc- ture may also be used. Poultices made of them are used as a local ajiplication to tumors, sprains, swellings, etc. The leaves arc applied externally to wounds and ulcers. The inner bark of the root is emetic, and it has been given in intermittents. It is used by tanners and dyers; the shoots, cut in March, will impart a cinnamon color to cloths and flannels. The black alder is used to color flannels : " Take the bark, boil it well, then skim or strain it well ; wet the cloth in a pretty strong lye and dip it into the alder liquor; let it remain till cool enough to wring, and it gives an indelible orange color." The wood does not absorb water easily, and is employed in making posts, and any structure liable to be submerged. The English Alnus (J.. glutinosa)- is planted along the side of water-courses, rivulets and sand-banks, to prevent the encroachment of water by the hardening and binding influence of the roots upon the soil, and also as a border to conceal unsightly or boggy lands. The wood is suited for pipes, pump-trees, and all kinds of subaque- ous wood-work, " where it will harden like a very stone," says an old writer ; now superseded, says Wilson, "for even these purposes by the Kyanized wood of more close grained trees." The wood of this is also used for various purposes of the turner, for the cogs of wheels, etc, "Charcoal made of its timber has long been highly valued for the manufacture of gun- powder." Wilson's Rural Cyclopoedia, art. Alnus. I do not know how closely our A. serrulata and A. viridis resemble the English tree. The bark of alders is astringent, and is used by 308 tanners and dyers; see Wilson. It is, in other words, rich in tannin. The birch, {Betula 7iigra, L.,) in fact all of our species, no doubt, contain a certain proportion of the gummy, oily sub- stance peculiar to the B. alba of England. The flowers of the latter are highly odoriferous, and the oil is collected. Tlie bark is also used by the tanner. Kussia skins are said to be tanned with it, hence the peculiar odor. Our species of birch may no doubt be used for similar purposes. I have little doubt, in con- sideration of the possession of an astringent and oily, resinous principle, that a tincture of the catkins would serve as an ex- cellent astringent, stimulating diuretic, to be used in gleet, gon- orrhoea, and in chronic diseases of the genito-urinary apparatus. Birch wine is also made in England from the sap of the birch. The papery sheets of birch bark were used as a writing material. URTICACE.E. {The Nettle Tribe?) DWARF STINGING NETTLE, {Urtica wens, L.) Intro- duced. Grows around Beaufort; collected in Fairfield District; Ell. says at St. Mary's, Georgia; vicinity of Charleston ; N. C. Fl. February. Murray's App. Med. iv, 592 ; Bull. Plantes, Ven. de France, 170. It causes an excessive discharge of urine, and Serapion said that thirty grains of it would purge. In the Supplement to the Diet, de Mat. Med. by Mer. and de L., 1846, p. 719, we have an account of the remarkable haemostatic virtues of this and the U. dioica, also found in South Carolina. It had origi- nally obtained some favor in this respect, and was used by Sydenham, but had for a long time fallen into disrepute. It has been reserved for M. Guinestet to restore the public confi- dence in it; and it is now spoken favorably of by Chomel, Lange and Desbois. Guinestet advises it in hemorrhage, and reports five cases of uterine hemorrhage in which bleeding was in- stantly arrested; two to four ounces of the juice were given, taken internally and in the form of injection. It has also been successfully employed in spitting of blood and epistaxis, and cases of two months duration were cured. The objections of others who were not &o successful have been satisfactorily an- swered, its pretended therapeutic action being denied by Drs. Kasciakewies and Fiard, who report a case of poisoning from 309 the internal use of two ounces of the concentrated decoction. The supporters have produced well sustained arguments de- stroying the force of these statements ; and Merat himself speaks favorably of it in an official report made to the Academy, and published in the Bull, de Therap.; he furnishes a case of nasal hemorrhage, occurring in a girl who was giving birth to a child, and who was at the same time flooding, both of which he suc- ceeded in arresting with the juice of this plant, when every- thing else had failed. Many others have used it with very favorable results in this and in leucorrhcea. " Sperons," adds the author of the Diet, de M. Med., " que I'experience con- firmera cos heureux resultats." See Amusat's, Chevalier's and Merat's Eapport " sur I'emploi du sue d'ortie corame antihem- orragique," made in 1846, in the Bull, de I'Acad. Eoyale de Med. ix, 1015. Dr. Menicucci, of Kome, introduces into the vagina a sponge soaked in the juice ; and it may be at the same time administered internally. See Abeilhe Medicale, Mai, 1846. M. Guinestet attributes its haemostatic virtues to a constituent which coagulates milk in the same way that poisons do. See a letter of Merat, relating a case of uterine hemorrhage existing for two months, which was cured by the juice of the U. dioica (in French.) Idem, x, 364, 1845; Mer. and de L. vi, 875; Jour- nal de Med. vi, 492. By analysis, it contains a carbonate, am- monia, chlorophyl, mucus, black coloring matter, gallic acid, tannin and nitrate of potash, less abundant than in the U. dioica, (which see.) Induced by these notices to test it myself, I succeeded in ob- taining a quantity of the U. wens from Fairfield District, S. C. Assisted by Dr. E. A. Kinloch, of Charleston, I proceeded to ex- pose and divide the right common carotid arteries of two sheep, upon the bleeding orifices of which was applied lint covered with a sponge soaked in the cold infusion and the decoction respect- ively. The results were as follows : the first died from im- proper manipulation ; in the second, the bleeding ceased en- tirely — the animal was killed, however, a short time afterward. The juice of the plant seemed to have some effect in coagula- ting fresh blood poured out into the hand. Upon giving the cold infusion, made with two ounces of the plant to a pint of water, in doses of a wincglassful four times a day, to a patient affected with chronic hsematuria, who had used tannin, gallic 310 acid, and the infusion of buchu ineffectually, she confessed having derived decided relief from it, but complained of its having brought out an eruption over the body. The experi- ments in both cases are obviously too meagre to enable me to pronounce positively as to the amount of power the plant possesses. Dr. W. B. Johnson, of Marion, Ala., has found this plant very eflficacious in uterine hemorrhage. U. S. Disp. from N. O. Med. and Surg. J. vi, 452. The irritant effect of the nettle applied to the skin is said to be owing to the presence of free formic acid in the sharp hairs. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed., from Am. J. Pharm. xxii, 181. Celsus employed the Urtica in para- lysis. De Ke Medica, 1. iii, 27 ; Bull. des. Sei. Med. ix, 77. Flag- ellation with the branches, which, it is well known, contain stings which produce great irritation, followed by inflammation, has been recommended for bringing out cutaneous and febrile eruptions, as in scarlatina, in apoplexy, in insensibility of organs, in poisoning by opium, in chronic rheumatism, and in fact where- ever a powerful external stimulating revulsive is required. For this purpose it has even been employed in the algid period of incurable cholera morbus. Dr. Marchand, Seance de I'Acad. Koy. de Med. ii, July, 1832 ; J. Stevoght, Diss, de Urtica, 1707 ; J. Francus, Tractatus Singularis de Urtica Urente, etc. Dilleng, 1726. Both this and the U. dioica are found in the Southern States, and I would invite further and particular examination into properties which are of so valuable a description. I observe no notice of these experiments in the American works. The minute structure of the sting is said to be very curious. COMMON OE EED DEAD NETTLE, {^Urtica dioica, L.) Grows along roads and fences ; vicinit}^ of Charleston. Fl. Aug. Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 338. It is applied extensively as a stimulating and anti-septic astringent and detersive, the herb and seed being used ; the decoction is also alluded to in this work as being used in hemorrhage, bloody urine, etc. Urtica- tion with this also was employed in rheumatism, paralysis, etc. (Sec U. urens.) The root is advised in jaundice and nephritic diseases. Fl. Scotica, 57. A rennet was made with a strong decoction. One quart of salt was added to three pints of the decoction, and boiled for use, a spoonful of which was suffi- cient to coagulate a large quantity of milk. Stearns,- in the Am. Herbal. 136, refers to its use in jaundice, nephritic disorders, and 311 in hemorrhage. "The juice snuffed up the nose stops bleeding, and a leaf put on the tongue, and pressed against the roof of the mouth, will answer the same purpose." Thornton's Fam. Herbal. Linnaeus, in his Veg. Mat. Med. 511, alludes to its em- ployment in hemorrhage ; it was considered lithontripic and em- menagogue, and adapted to those in whom the hemorrhagic diathesis prevailed; all of which opinions I quote, as coming from old authors. "Steel dipped in the juice becomes more flexible." The seeds produce an oil, which, taken in moderate quantities, excites the system, especially ^Hes plaisirs de I'arnour." Twenty or thirty grains of these induce vomiting, and a few of them, taken daily, are said to reduce excessive corpulency. Mer. and de L. Diet. de. M. Med. vi, 613. By Salladin's analysis, in Journal de Chim. Med. vi, 492, the plant contains nitrate of lime, hydrochlorate of soda, phosph. potash, acetate of lime, lig- neous matter, with silicate and oxalate of iron. Pallas, Voyage, i, 700; Gmelin, Flora Siberica, ii; Mathiole, Comm. 560. It is said that animals which feed on the plant become both fatter and stronger. Mem. de Hserlem, xxvi. The stalks have a fibre like hemp, and have been employed for making cordage ; the root boiled in alum will dye a yellow color. See Hooke's Mi- croscop. Bissrxxit, 12, and Guettard, Mem. de I'Acad. des Sci. de Paris, 1751, 350, for a description of the structure of the sting, and the Petersburg Journal, 1778, 370, for a notice of the value of the stalks in making ropes and paper. The U. S. Disp., 1303, barely notices the plant. Late experiments may have escaped the attention of its indefatigable authors. The nettle plants are known to be closely allied to those bear- ing textile fibres, and indeed thread can be made from all the netiles. Experiments may be made in the Southern States upon the yield of fibre from the Urtica urens and dioica, which grows spontaneously. Boiling in alkaline solutions and lime water is used in the preparation of such plants. See next article, Eamie; also, ^'Apocyniim." The common nettle, remarks Mr. Lawson, who ranks it with flax, hemp, cotton, phormium and other fibre-yielding economical plants, has been long known as affording a large proportion of fibre, which has not only been made into ropes and cordage, but also into sewing thread and beautiful white linen-like cloth of superior quality. The fibre, he adds, is easily separated from 312 other parts of the stalk, without their undergoing the processes of watering and bleaching, although by such the labor necessary for that purpose is considerably lessened. Like those of many other common plants, the superior merits of this generally ac- counted troublesome weed have hitherto been much over- looked—quoted by Wilson in Eural Cyc. It is stated that the roots possess astringent and diuretic properties, and have been found serviceable in poultices for tumors and decoctions for other complaints. The leaves, chopped up with meal or with boiled potatoes, are used for feeding ducklings, young turkeys and full grown poultry, especially in winter, and are said to pro- mote the laying of eggs. Nettles are sometimes boiled and eaten in the manner of greens. Laborers use the young tops of nettles as a pleasant, nourishing and mildly aperient potherb, either in soups or in accompaniment with salt beef or pork. Eural Cyc. In China they use the Neilgherry Nettle called, also, "vegeta- ble wool," Urtica heterophylla, in the manufacture of coarse, stiff fabrics. It possesses a bright stiffness like coarse mohair, and is capable of being dyed. The bark of the young wood steeped in water, renders easy the separation of the fibre. P. O. Eep. Agricult., 1867. EAMIE, CHINA GEASS, (Boehmeria tenacissima, Boehmeria nivea.) This, sometimes spoken of as a Mexican plant, is a native of China and Japan, and belongs to the Nettle family, (order Urticacece,) which has markedly strong fibres. It has been highly recommended as a substitute for Cotton, and successfully used in the manufacture of cambrics and other fine stuffs. No mention of it is made by Merat, Grifiith or other writers whom I have consulted. Some years since a new substitute for cotton was thus referred to by a Paris correspondent: "Great excitement prevails in those manufacturing districts of France where cotton is most used, on account of the discovery of a substitute for it. This is the China grass or white Urtica, (nettle weed,) which maj^ be cultivated cheaply in all parts of France. The experiments with this new textile fibre have been going on for a year or more under the direction of a competent committee appointed by the Chumber of Commerce of Eouen. And this committee. 313 with the weed, the raw fibre, and various specimens of woven and colored and uncolored clothes in hand, have shown to the Chamber, beyond all question, that the substitute is a genuine one in every point. They declare, without reservation, that none of the qualities of cotton are wanting." I obtain the following from one of the journals of the day : " The Mexican plant, which is spoken of of late, as possibly a rival to the cotton plant, is slowly making itself known to the world of commerce. In New Orleans the Ramie fibre is begin- ning to become an article of trade, and a demand for the fibre is also springing up in the West. Of the merits of Ramie, it is stated to be as good as linen cambric or silk." Another journal, (1868,) mentions that " at an agricultural fair recently held in Alabama, it was one of the special features of the exhibition. Its fibres are said to be much finer and stronger than the best flax; that they are as fine as sea island cotton, and that, after cleansing, they become very soft and white, and take colors as readily as the finest wool or silk. Several articles of clothing made from this fabric were exhibited at the fair referred to, and were particularly noticed for the strength and beauty of the material. Its cultivation has been successful on a number of plantations in Alabama. "Since its introduction into the United States in March, 1867, the Ramie has excited much interest among European manufacturers. The supply from the East is entirely inadequate to fill the demand, and unequal to the fibre here produced in quality; thej' are, therefore, very desirous of seeing it success- fully cultivated in some country where the yield will bo large and regular. The soil and climate of the Southern States are particularly adapted for the cultivation of Ramie* which requires a loose, sandy soil and temperate climate. In any of the Cotton States Ramie can be harvested at least three times a year; each harvest or cutting will produce between nine and twelve hun- dred pounds, making an average annual crop of about three thousand pounds of crude unprepared fibre, worth at present in Europe ten cents specie per pound; in preparing the fibre for manufacturing purposes it loses about one-half, and increases in value to sixty-five cents per pound. The fibre, when prepared for the spinner, is beautifully white, soft and glossy, closely re- sembling floss silk in appearance; it is much stronger than the 314 best flax, and readily receives the most difficult dyes without in- jury to its strength or lustre," Mr. F. T. Knapp, who has an extensive plantation of it in St. Bernard's Parish, La., thinks it best in its propagation : " To bed up the earth in beds of about five or six feet width, and to mat- lay the stalks, when mature, in two rows, a foot apart, and to save the roots for sale. The stalks are laid longitudinally, lap- ping one another part of the way, and, by having two rows, if some miss in one row, the probability is that others will come up in the other row, so as to make it continuous in the beds. When these plants come up and mature, the first growth reach- ing about two and a half feet, he will layer them down, and thus have the whole bed grow up thick and high, like that we have just described. "Of the productiveness of the Eamie there can be no doubt, nor of its thorough security and safety in this climate and as far north as Tennessee. The fibre can be cleansed and prepared as readily as that of hemp or linen, and as it is equal to the latter in fineness, and far superior to it in lustre, almost equalling silk, there can be no doubt that it will soon take the lead of cotton in the world's market." I obtain a recent account of the Cultivation, etc., of this plant: The Ramie Plant. — The ramie, standing single, is inclined to make many side-shoots or laterals, which is especially the case the first season. As soon as it has been once or twice cut down, close to or rather about one inch under the ground, and the roots have become stronger, a large number of ratoons will sprout from the roots and bulbouns, and few or no side-shoots will show themselves. The shoots or ratoons from the roots will stand close and push each other up. These close standing shoots contain the best fibre ; they are hollow, almost as much so as cane. As soon as the fibre has the proper strength the stem begins to color a little darker near the ground. The size which the plants reach in a certain time varies according to richness and kind of soil, as well as weather and mode of culti- vation. As a general rule it may be said as soon as the stems have reached a little more than four feet, the fibre will be of good quality, but does not get hurt if left uncut till it reaches eight to ten feet in length. Culture. — It cannot be too much recommended to have the 315 piece of land intended for the ramie deeply cultivated ; sub- soiled to fourteen inches would not be too deep, and this is the most laborious work in the whole cultivation. The first year weeds have to be cut out, but this will give but little trouble. The second year the plant will have so many ratoons that other plants will have no room to vegetate. From this time the culti- vation will give very little trouble, except one plowing be- tween the rows early in the spring and after each cutting, and manure over the fields during the winter season. The field ought to be laid x)ff in pieces of about twenty rows in width, and a passage left for a cart or wagon. The rows ought to be about four feet apart, and the plants in the rows half that dis- tance. When the field is ready for planting, a furrow is made every four feet, about three to four inches deep, and in these furrows the plants are placed, with little more care than negroes plant sweet potatoes. The furrows ought to be made so that the rain will not stand too long, yet all heavy washing ought to be prevented. Eooted plants as well as layers ought to be covered with earth nearly to the top; roots ought to be covered with earth two or three inches deep. In case some plants or roots should not grow, the vacancies should be filled as soon as possible, and always the best plants taken for this purpose, so as to get an even growing field. As soon as the plants have reached seven to eight inches in height, they should be topped (as in the nursery) to force out side-shoots. When these latter are grown to about five or six inches in length, the plant has a kind of bushy appearance; then the plant is hilled nearly to the top. It is now left to grow until it has reached nearly the height of three feet, when it is cut down even with the ground, or better, one inch below. The fibre of this first growth can be used, but is not perfect yet, because the roots and bulbs are not lai'ge enough, and there are as yet too many side-shoots. A few days after this cutting, a great many ratoons will make their appearance on the surface. The whole work now consists in keeping out all weeds. The second growth will be, under similar circumstances, a great deal more rapid than the first was and can be cut when about four feet high ; each growth will have fewer side-shoots and soon they will disappear alto- gether. The planting in the field ought to be done in the spring but can be continued until the beginning of September. Those 316 which are planted late should be covered in winter with straw or leaves, because they are too young and tender to resist se- vere frosts. Those planted early in spring and summer do not need any protection, as they will make roots eighteen to twenty- four inches deep. All refuse matter falling off in cleaning the fibre ought to be fed or cured and put in the barn for winter use. All the manure coming from the plant ought to be care- fully gathered and put back on the field. In this way, such a field will give a rich return for many years without need of being replanted. The experience in regard to soil is yet limited, but it is certain that a rich sandy loam suits the plant very well. The plant can be grown so far north as the earth does not freeze more than four inches deep in winter. The best por- tions of this country will be the southern part of Texas, and the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Caro- lina and Florida. Use of the Ramie. — The ramie is useful in two ways. It con- tains, first, a silk-like fibre of uncommon strength and fineness; and, second, the refuse furnishes an excellent food for stock, which in quantity compai'es favorably with clover. The fibre will not only replace the cotton, but is bound to be a strong rival to flax. In strength its fibre is nearest to silk, and as soon as there is a little more experience and intelligence brought into requisition, by the cultivation and manufacture of the tex- tile, it will be found to be the best substitute for silk. Suppose this plant to have none of this useful fibre, its culti- vation would be of immense value as food for stock, in a great many portions of the South. Another most important point in introducing the ramie here, is its easy cultivation. The first year it requires no more work than sweet potatoes, and then the main work is in harvesting. The quantity of fibre will be more and the price double that of cotton. In case a field should be plowed up after a series of years for some other purpose, then the roots and bulbs will make ex- cellent food for hogs, or can be manufactured into a durable dye. The fences have to be kept in good order, because if cows and hogs are once accustomed to it, they will break down a poor fence to get to it. During the winter cows can be turned into ramie fields, but hogs and horses should be kept out. So far 317 this plant has no destructive enemies. The so-called nettle worm makes its appearance some seasons, but never hurts the fibre ; it is satisfied with the lower leaves of the plant, and is in this wa}' harmless. Besides, if they were as destructive as the cotton worm they could not injure the crop very much, as each cutting is matured in a very short period of time. The plants attain a height of twelve feet and grow very thickly together. I have examined specimens of the fibre which were several feet in length — white, glossy and fine. In the Patent Office Rep., 244, 1855, is an account of its value for manufacturing purposes, with a reference to Dr. J. F. Royle and Dr. Roxburgh's Treatises on the Oriental Fibres. Dr. Royle says that the China grass cloth is made from this plant and that the fibre has sold in England at from £80 to £120 a ton. In an article in P. O. Rep. Agricult., 1867, it is stated that the B. cq/idicans is also used. The plants have been raised in Washington from the seeds, which should be protected from the sun. LOW NETTLE, (Pitcea pumila, Gray. Urtica piimila, L.) Grows in wet soils, vicinity of Charleston; Richland; Fla. Fl. Sept. Griffith, Med. Bot., 572. This is quite smooth ; is said to be an excellent application to inflamed parts, and to relieve the eruption caused by the Rhus. Griffith invites further investi- gation. PELTITORY, {Parietaria Pennsylvanica, Muhl.) Growing in the upper districts of S. and N. C; with P. debilis, Forst, and P. Floridana, Nutt, growing in Fla., should be examined for the possession of sulphur, as some species are said to contain more sulphur than any other plants, Planche, Journ. de Pharm. viii, 367; Griffith. HEMP, {Cannabis sativa.') Ex. Nat. Cultivated in the upper districts. The value of this plant for manufacturing purposes, for making ropes and cordage, is well known. It may become a most important question whether or not we can raise it in the Atlantic States with as much profit as in Kentucky, or to repay the labor bestowed upon it. I have not been able to ascertain whether the juice of the plant, as cultivated here, possesses the 318 intoxicating properties of the East India species, (C. Indica,) though it has been asserted that "water in which it is soaked becomes violently poisonous." See a paper in Patent Office Reports, 1848, p. 574, from the Louisville Journal, containing a full description of varieties, mode of production, and prepara- tion of hemp. Count Chaptal says, in his Chemistry applied to Agriculture, that M. Proust had determined, after numerous experiments, that the stalk of hemp furnished the best charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder — better than the willow. From the seeds is extracted an oil, generally emplo^^ed by painters. The fine oil obtained from the seeds is peculiarly adapted for burning in chambers, as it is perfectly limpid, and possesses no smell. The Russians and Poles, even of the higher class, bruise or roast the seeds, mix them with salt, and eat them on bread. It expels vermin from plantations of cabbages if planted on the borders of fields ; if planted with that vege- table, no caterpillar will infest it. Willich's Dom. Enc. The seeds may be sown in April or May, from two to three bushels per acre, either broadcast, and hoeing out the plants to a dis- tance of sixteen or seventeen inches, or by the drill, at a dis- tance of thirt}' inches. In the autumn the plants are pulled, the male plants first, and the female plants six or seven weeks afterward, when they have ripened their seed. Thus there are two harvests of the hemp crop. The male plants are readily known by their faded flowers, and yellowish color. They are then tied in small bundles and carried to the pool, where they are to be steeped. Hemp, like flax, poisons the water in which it is steeped. The same process is followed when the female plants are pulled ; only these, before they are steeped, have their seeds beaten out. The process of steeping commonly lasts four or five daj'S, and is continued until the outside coat of the hemp readil}' sepa- rates. It is then carefully and evenly spread on some grass turf, where it remains for three or four weeks, being turned over about twice every week, by which the decomposition of the woody part of the stem is materially accelerated. It is next carried to the barn, where it is bruised by the brake, a machine constructed for the purpose ; it is then bound up into bundles, and carried to market. (Low's Prac. Agr. p. 348.) There is a paper on a species of African hemp by Mr. A. Hunter, 319 (Trans. High. Soc. vol. iii, p. 87;) others on the cultivation of- hemp in America, by Mr. W. Tonge, (Ann. of Agr. vol. xxiii, p. 1 ;) in Italy, (ibid. vol. xvi, p. 439, and vol. ii, p. 216,) and in Catalonia. (Ibid. vol. viii, p. 243.) It seems that 100 parts of Indian hemp-seed yield 20 to 25 per cent, of oil. (Cora. Agr. Asiat. Soc. 1838, p. 69.) See flax. Among our native substitutes for hemp are the Apocynum cannabinum ; the Canada Golden Rod, {Solidago canadensis,) L., {S. procera, of Ell.;) the Sunflower (Helianthus) affords single filaments, which are said to be as thick and as strong as small packthread ; also our JEsclepias Syriaca, Urtica dioica and Yucca filamentosa or \)C2iV-gYSi^&. See these plants. Elliott eays that bear-grass possesses the strongest fibre of any vegetable whatsoever. Its roots are extensive, and bear transplanting. See Prep, of Hemp, Farmer's Encyc. See, also, files of the Kentucky Farmer. Paper is made of waste hemp, whitened. The seeds afford an oil, which, boiled in milk, is recommended against coughs, and is also said to be useful in incontinence of urine. In India an intoxicating liquor is made from the leaves, resembling opium in its eff'ects. HOP, (Humulus hqouliis, L.) Grows in the mountains of South Carolina (Dr. McBride) and on the Mississippi, and gen- erally cultivated in Southern States, Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 185 ; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. i, 348, and ii, 455; Eb. M. Med. ii, 55; U. S. Disp. 374; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 163; Freake, Med. Phys. Joui-nal, xiii, 432; Thompson's Lond. Disp. 200; Bigsby, Lond. Med. Repos. v, 97; Bryorly's Inaug. Diss. Phil. An. 1803 ; Ives in Silliman's Jour- nal, ii, 302; Thornton's Fam. Herbal. 820. This plant is cer- tainly possessed of some narcotic power. According to Dr. Latham, an infusion of it is a good substitute for laudanum. It is employed in doses of one and a half drachms in allaying the distressing symptoms of phthisis. It augments the secretions, removes pain and irritability, and induces sleep. Dr. Maton, Fell. Roy. Soc. Coll. Phys., says that large doses produce head- ache. It is thought to be a specific in removing asthmatic pains, without increasing the secretions. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 544; Pliny, lib. xxi, c. 15; Flore Med. iv, 196. It is given with good eff'ect as a stomachic, in inappetency and weakness of the digestive organs. Mat. Med. Indica. 120; Bull. 320 des. Sci. Med. xvi, 145 ; Journal des Sci. Med. xli, 376 ; Edinb. Journal, iv, 23 ; Diss. Medici de Humuli medici viribus medicis, Edinb. 1803; Bromelius, "Lupulogia," Stockholm, 1687; Obs. of Freake on the Hop, Lond. Lupulin, obtained from it, is said to diminish the force of the pulse. See Journal de Chim. Med. ii, 527; Journal de Pharm. viii, 228 and 330. In the Supplem. to M. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 184:6, a case is reported of a girl being poisoned by tbe hop. Rev. Scientifique, Mars, 1845 ; Journal de Pharm. Mars, 1842. Much use is made of the hop poultice in allaying pain, applied over the part. Its domestic value in preparing the liquor known as yeast is obvious, as well as for other purposes where fermentation is to be established in the manufacture of many alcoholic drinks and malt liquors. The medicinal properties of the hop are said to depend upon the Inpulin, a peculiar resinous secretion contained in the glands, which is obtained by threshing and sifting the strobiles. By analysis it consists of volatile oil, bitter principle, or lupulin, resin, etc.; when administered internally, this has all the good effects of the hop; given in pill, in doses of six to ten grains, or in tincture in those of a half to one drachm ; and it may also be added to poultices, ointments, etc. Ives' Experiments; Grif- tifth, Med. Bot. 574. The tincture of lupulin is said to be pref- erable; dose, one to two fluid drachms. The uses of the hop pillow and the tincture of hops, as sedatives and mild narcot- ics, are well known ; but for the medicinal application consult the various works on the Materia Medica. The Patent Office Eep. 280, 1857, contains a very full treatise on the hop, condensed from various sources — an analysis of the plant, the best mode of cultivation, gathering, etc. As the raising of the hop is of great importance, I would refer culti- vators to this article. It is said to be one of the very most exhausting among cultivated plants, both in respect to the or- ganic and mineral constituents which it extracts from the soil; so that valleys containing the debris of the surrounding country should be selected. See, also, Wilson's Rural Cyc, art. " Hop," " Beer," " Ale." His account of cultivation, diseases, etc., of the hop is full and instructive. The stem of the hop contains a fibre like hemp, which is used in making a strong white cloth in Sweden, though it requires long steeping to separate the fibre. The hop plant is rich in tannin, and has been used for 321 tanning: the ash yields 25. of potash, 15. of lime, magnesia, salt, etc. The suckers of the hop are said to form an agreeable vegetable for the table when dressed like asparagus. Honey- dew is frequent on hop plants from the perforations of the aphis. It is said to be veiy abundant on cotton plants. An article also on the cultivation of the hop can be found in Patent Office Eeports, 1854, p. 354. I quote from the paper mentioned above as follows, as I con- sider information on this topic important : The hop is a perennial plant of easy cultivation, and will grow in any part of the Western States. Its domestic uses are so obvious, that no farm or garden should be without one or more roots. It requires a rich, deep, mellow soil, with a dry, pervious, or rocky sub-soil. The exposure in a Northern climate should be toward the south, as on the slope of a hill, or in any well sheltered valley. It may be propagated by seeds, or by divisions of the roots ; but it is more usual to plant the young shoots which rise from the bottom of the stems of old plants. These are laid down in the earth till they strike, when they are cut off and planted in a nursery bed. Care must be taken to have only one sort of hops in the same plat or field, in order that they may all ripen at the same time. The ground having been prepared for planting, it is divided by parallel lines six feet apart, and short sticks are inserted into the ground along the lines at seven feet distance from each other, and so as to alternate the rows, as is frequently done with fruit trees and other plants, in what is called the " Quincunx form." By this method every plant will be just seven feet from each of its neighbors, although the rows will be only six feet apart, and consequentl}^ about one-eighth of land will be actually saved, as indicated in the diagram below: ***** At each stick a hole may be dug two feet square and two feet deep, and lightly filled with the earth dug out, mixed with a compost prepared with well rotted dung, lime and muck. Fresh dung should never be applied to hops. Three plants are next placed in the middle of this hole six inches asunder, forming an equilateral triangle. A watering with liquid manure will greatly 21 322 assist their taking root, and they will soon begin to show "vines." Sticks three or four feet loog are then stuck in the middle of the three plants and the vines are tied to them with twine or bass, till they lay hold and twine around them. During their growth the ground should be well hoed and forked up around the roots, and some of the fine mould thrown around the stems. In favorable seasons a few hops may be picked from these young plants in autumn, but in general there is nothing the first year. Late in autumn the ground may be carefully dug with a spade, and the earth turned toward the plants, to remain during the winter. Early in spring the second year the hillocks around the plants should be opened, and the roots examined. The last year's shoots are then cut oif within an inch of the main stem, and all the suckers quite close to it. The latter forms an agree- able vegetable for the table when dressed like asparagus. The earth is next pressed round the roots, and the parts covered so as to exclude the air. A pole about twelve feet long is then firmly stuck into the ground near the plants; to this the vines are led, and tied as they shoot, until they have taken hold of it. If by accident a vine leaves the pole it should be carefully brought back to it, and tied until it takes new hold. Mr. J. J. Bennett, of New York, says : "The manner in which I cultivate hops is as follows : After plowing the ground in- tended for hops, I use about ten loads of leached ashes per acre for a top-dressing, after which it should be well harrowed. The rows should be eight feet apart and the hills seven feet apart. In setting, a line is used with marks indicating the distance be- tween the hills. After the line is drawn, small sticks are set to each mark. Eoots ai'e to be cut, two joints on each piece, three pieces to the hill; cover about two inches. The ground may be planted with corn the first year, as the hops will not run until the second. It should be sown the first of May in drills three and one-half feet apart ; sow with seed-drill. The first year corn may be raised ; plant one foot from the teasel row. I weed them twice the first year ; the second year they are to be culti- vated and hoed twice. The first of August I cut such as are ripe, which will be known by the shedding of the blossoms. I cut at four diff'erent times, the stems to be about four inches long. They are to be spread on shelves about eight inches deep, one tier above another, Thei'e should be a good circulation of 323 air, that they may cure well. I paid for cultivating five acres forty-two dollars ; paid for harvesting eighty-five dollars." See a full description of hops, mode of cultivation, preparations, adulterations, etc., in Johnson's Chemistry of Common Life, vol. ii, p. 36 ; also Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures, articles "Hop," "Ale," "Beer," etc. Consult Pereira's Mat. Medica, Chaptal's Chemistry applied to Agriculture, Boussin- gault's Treatise on Agriculture in its relations with Chemistry, andThaer's Agriculture for mode of planting, preparation, etc. See, also, Phillips' History of Cultivated Yegetables. The great importance of cultivating this plant on a large scale for manufacture of yeast should be impressed upon the people. The mode of making hop Beer is as follows : For a half barrel of beer, take half a pound of hops, and half a gallon of molasses. The latter must be poured by itself into the casks. Boil ^he hops, adding to them a teacupful of powdered ginger in about a pailful and a half of water; that is, a quantitj^ suf- ficient to extract the virtue of the hops. When sufficiently brewed, put it up warm into the cask, shaking it well in order to mix it with the molasses. Then fill it up with water quite up to the bung, which must be left open, to allow it to work. You must be careful to keep it constantly filled up with water whenever it works over. When sufficiently worked it may be bottled, adding a spoonful of molasses to each bottle. Thorn- ton's Southern Gardener. Ale and beer can be made in the Southern States, though not with the same advantage as in colder climates. Though without practical experience, I am forced to the conviction that the de- sideratum is cool cellars. In the rural districts what are called dry cellars are constructed in the clay, just above the water- bearing stratum, the top enclosed or covered with a closed house. The temperature of these cellai's is quite low, and they are used in keeping milk, butter, melons, cider, etc. I think their tem- perature would allow the manufacture and preservation of either wine, ale or beer. Ale has been made near Charleston, at Mount Pleasant ; but to prevent fermentation, cellars are re- quired. The reader interested in the subject can find a descrip- tion of the English method of making malt liquors in Ure's Dic- tionary of Arts and Manufactures, in Wilson's Eural Cyclo- poedia, (art. "Ale,") in Solly's Rural Chemistry, p. 178, see art. :v>4 "Fermentation and Distillation;" also Thornton's Family Herbal. ''Mentha," p. 565, Child, on Brewing, and Corabriine's Theory and Practice of Brewing. In England they use Gen- tiana lutea, purpurea and rubra as substitutes for hops. Consult this volume, art. "Persimmon," {^JDiospyros,) "Sassafras," {Lau- rus,) " Blackberry " and "Cherry," (Cerasus,) "Apple," {Pyrus,) for liquors. MULBERRY, (Morus alba, L.) Nat. Diffused ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. March. Bell's Pract. Diet. 319 ; U. S. Disp. 463 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. The root is bitter and very astringent, and is useful in relaxed states of the bowels, diarrbcea, etc. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 186. It contains 7nyroxyJ)C acid Avith lime. Turner, 640. See analysis in the Joarnal de Chim. Med. x, 676. The bark is a purgative vermifuge, but is more important on account of" the leaves being the favorite food of the silk-woi-m." That this plant is easily cultivated in the Southern States may some day make it a source of great profit in the production of silk. The mania may again be revived, under auspices which may deprive the term of the slight suspicion of reproach which is attached to its objects. Mir. and de L. Diet, de M. Med., Supplem. 1846, 496; Griffith, Med. Bot. 579. As " this is the species upon which the silk-ivorm feeds," the following brief directions concerning the manufacture of Silk, from the Eural Cyc, may be useful; and as the production of the raw silk is in the power of almost any one, if the females of numerous families throughout the Southern States would devote their leism-e to it, the aggregate amount of silk produced would contribute still further to render us independent as a people. After the worm has enveloped itself in the cocoon, seven or eight days are allowed to elapse before the balls are gathered. The next process is to destroy the life of the chrysalides, which is done either by exposui-e to the sun, or by the heat of an oven, or of steam. The cocoons are next separated from the floss, or loose, downy substance which envelopes the compact balls, and are then ready to be reeled. For this purpose they are thrown into a boiler of hot water for the purpose of dissolving the gum, and being gently pressed with a brush, to which the threads adhere, the reeler is thus enabled to disengage them. The ends of four or more of the threads thus cleared are passed 325 through holes in an iron bar, after which two of these compound tlireads are twisted together, and made fast to the reel. The length of reeled silk obtained from a single cocoon varies from three hundred to six hundred yards; and it has been estimated that twelve pounds of cocoons, the produce of the labors of two thousand eight hundred worms, which have consumed one hundred and fifty-two pounds of mulberry leaves, give one pound of reeled silk, which may be converted into sixteen yards of gros de Naples. Those cocoons' which have been perforated cannot be reeled, but must be spun on account of the breaks in the thread. The produce of these balls when worked is called fleuret. The raw silk, before it can be used in weaving, must be twisted or thrown, and may be converted into singles, tram, or organzine. The first is produced merely by twisting the raw silk to give more firmnews to its texture. Tram is formed by twist- ing together, but not very closely, two or more threads of raw silk, and usually constitutes the weft or shoot of manufactured goods. Organzine is principally used in the warp, and is formed by twisting first each individual thread, and then two or more of the threads thus twisted, with the throwing-mill. The silk when thrown is called hard silk, and must be boiled in order to discharge the gum, which otherwise renders it harsh to the touch and unfit to receive the dye. After boiling about four hours in soaped water, it is washed in clear water to discharge the soap, and is seen to have acquired that glossiness and soft- ness of texture which forms its principal characteristic. The yarn is now ready for weaving. Kural Cyc. I saw in Italy the manufacture of silk going on in most of the large towns, and many in the country prepare raw silk for the manufacturer and weaver. The successful rearing of silk-worms, remarks Wilson, is a distinct art, and requires peculiar attention. They are subject to a variety of maladies. In many places it is usual to import the eggs from some district that has acquired reputation for their production. These are packed like grain, and are chosen in the same manner. The eggs are in many places hatched by the heat of the human body. The silk is contained in the form of a fluid resembling varnish, in long, cylindrical sacks many times the length of the animal, and capable of being unfolded by immersion in water. This fluid is easily forced out, and 326 advantage is sometimos taken of this circumstance to procure threads much coarser than usual, which are extremely strong and impervious to water. Eural Cyc. At the agricultural meetings in South Carolina and Georgia, articles of home-made silk are occasionally presented. A correspondent from Sumter, S. C, furnishes the following: " In South Carolina silk growing was successfully and pro- fitably executed. The mother of the celebrated Pinckneys car- ried to England some silk produced on her plantation in South Carolina, and it was there woven into tissues, and the gowns made of it were presented by her to the mother of young George the Third, and to the Earl of Chesterfield. As early as the year 1660, the silk-worms of Virginia furnished the corona- tion robe of Charles the Second. The mulberry was indige- nous in the colony, and the success of silk industry was fully established, until it yielded to the tobacco plant, very probably because the latter was found more profitable under the unskilled and careless labor of the imported Africans. In 1732, ma- chinery, eggs and trees were introduced into Georgia ; and in 1735, Queen Caroline, of England, wore on a great State occa- sion, a beautiful robe of Georgia silk. In 1749, that colony exported large quantities of cocoons, and one large silk estab- ment erected in Savannah, received and used annually during the years 1758 to 1766, from ten to twenty thousand pounds of cocoons. The war withdrew the fostering care of the parent government, and reduced the demand for export, and the re- turn of peace found the silk business suspended by cotton culture. " In Cowdin's recent report to the Department of State, (Cow- din, U. S. Commissioner to Paris P]xposition,) it is said that * silk husbandry and manufacturing had almost ceased to exist in the United States at the commencement of this century.' Since then they have not kept pace with the advance in kin- dred pursuits. Nevertheless, they have always been prosecuted to an encouraging extent in various parts of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As, for example, Mansfield, already referred to, has done a large business in sew- ing silks, and produced in 1839 five tons of the raw material. Washington, Penn., always kept up the business. It was intro- duced into the State Prison, at Auburn, N. Y., in 1841 ; and, the 327 first year, the product of sewing silk was about $13,000. It was steadily increasing in tlie country when, some twenty-five years ago, its growth was checked by a disastrous speculative furor in the Morus multicaulis shrub, which, for a few years, raged throughout the Union like an epidemic. " The reaction fell heavily upon the whole business, covering it temporaril}'- with odium and ridicule. It has since been slowly recovering from this season of delusion and folly. "In 1840, the product of silk raised in the United States was estimated at about sixty thousand pounds, valued at §250, 000. In 1844, it had increased to about four hundred thousand pounds, worth §1,500,000. By the census of 1860, when the effects of the speculative mania alluded to had culminated, the annual product was reported at only fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-three pounds. Then it began to revive ; and by the census report of 1860, it appears that the manufacture of sew- ing silks was carried on extensively in Connecticut, New Jer- sey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York — the States being named in the order of the value of their products. The annual production in these States, including tram, organzine, etc., was placed at upwards of $5,000,000. Eibbons were made to a small extent, as were also silk stuffs. But, aside from sewin<£ silks, the chief silk manufacture consisted of ladies' dress trimmings, coach laces, etc., of which the cities of Philadelphia and New York are reported as producing about $2,300,000. " Since 1860, the business in all its departments has made steady progress ; and the current period is more favorable than any previous one for its energetic prosecution. Our country is specially fitted for silk culture. The experiments in Georgia and South Carolina proved that their soil and climate were pe- culiarly suited to it. May we not hope that after the lapse of eighty-five years it will be resumed." From an Essay on the Culture and Manufacture of Silk. By H. P. Byram, Brandenburg, Meade County, Ky. — Experience of past ages has fully proved that the climate of the United States is as well adapted to the nature and habits of the silk- worm and the production of silk, as that of any other country. Several varieties of the mulberry are indigenous in our soil, and those generally used in the native country of the silk- worm succeed equally well in our own soil and climate. Hence, from 328 the nature and habits of American people, we must soon be- come the greatest silk growing nation on the earth. The first step towai'd the production of silk is to secure a supply of siiitable food for the silk-worm. Having tried all the varieties introduced into our country, I find the Morus imtlticaulis and the Canton varieties, all things considered, most suitable for that purpose. Propagation of the ATulherry. — Although the experience of some years past has rendered this subject familiar to many, yet those now most likely to engage in the legitimate business of silk growing may be less acquainted with the propagation of the tree. I shall give some brief directions on the subject': Almost any soil that is high and dry, and that will mature Indian corn, is suitable for the mulberry. That, however, which is inclined to be light or sandy is the best. The Morus midticaulis may be propagated by cuttings or layers, (or a good variety may be raised from the seed.) Cuttings may be of one or more buds, planted perpendicularly in a light, mellow bed of good soil. They should be planted when the spring has fully opened, or about the usual time of planting corn. They may be planted in the rows, about twelve inches apart, and the rows at a sulhcient distance to admit of thorough cultivation with a plow or cultivator. The ground should bo kept mellow until past midsummer. Select a suitable piece of ground for a permanent orchard. It would be well if broken up in the fall, and again plowed in the spring, and, if followed with the sub-soil plow, it would be advantageous. After a thorough harrowing it should be laid off in rows, each Mvay eight feet by four, with the plow. The trees at one year old from the nursery should be taken up, the tops cut off near the roots, and one planted in each of the squares or hills. Having tried various methods of planting and different distances, I prefer those here given, This will admit the free use of the plow and cultivator both ways. In latitudes north of 38° or 40°, where land is dear, they may be planted much nearer. If a sufficient quantity of cuttings fi'om old trees cannot at once be procured, the trees from the nursery should be taken up in the fall and buried in a cellar, or upon the north side of a bank or hill, in alternate laj'ers of trees and earth, and the whole protected by a shed from the rains of 329 winter, as the plants seldom sufficiently mature the first season from the cuttings to withstand the winters of a Northern cli- mate, particularly that portion above the ground. South of 38° of latitude these precautions may not be necessary. The Canton mulberry is a more hard}^ kind, resembling in some degree the varieties known as the common Italian, pro- ducing a large, full, thick leaf This variety is propagated from seed and from layers, but does not readily strike root from cuttings. In 1838 I procured a quantity of this seed from Canton, which produced a variety of plants. Those producing the greatest quantity of fruit yield an inferior leaf They are now propagating this variety very extensively at the silk growing establishment at Economy, Pennsylvania, which, in connection with the Morus multicaulis, constitute the principal food used at this establishment. The^ fruit should be gathered when fully ripe, and the seed washed out and dried. If south of the 39th parallel of lati- tude, they may be planted the same season. North of this, they should be planted in the following spring, in a bed of rich earth prepared as for beets or onions, and planted in drills about eighteen inches apart. The young plants should be thinned to the distance of from one to three inches from each other. They should be well cultivated, when they will attain the height of three or four feet the first season. In the fall, in a Northern climate, the young trees should be taken up and protected during the winter, as directed for the Morus multicaulis. [This is not necessary in the Southern States.] In the following spring the branches may be taken oif near the main stem, the top shortened, and the whole tree planted, completely covering the roots and main stem from one to two inches deep. In this way two or more trees may be produced from each plant. If a full supply can be procured, the roots of the young plants may at once be removed to the orchard. They may be allowed to stand much nearer than the multicaulis, leaving only sufficient room for cultivation. When seed is re- quired it would be well to plant out a portion from the seed-bed at once, as standards for this purpose, always selecting those bearing/M7^ heart-shaped leaves. The leaves of the white Italian produces a good, heavy cocoon, and should always be used in the last age of the worms when other larger-leaved varieties cannot be obtained. 330 Cultivation. — The mulberry orchard should be annually culti- vated. The ground kept mellow and free from weeds until the middle of July. The fields should be divided into three equal parts, and after the second season from planting, one-third each year should be cut down near the ground. This will cause a more vigorous growth, and an abundant crop of foliage. Feeding apartments. — Various plans have been proposed and adopted for cocooneries, or feeding-sheds, for the silk-worms, none of which, I think, are without objection, except a perfect laboratory, so constructed as to be able to fully control the at- mosphere and temperature within. This, however, would be too expensive, and require too much skill and judgment for general adoption. Open or shed-feeding has been employed with success of late years, and for general use may be the most successful for family establishments. This, however, confines the whole business, particularly in the Northern States, to one or two crops in the season. South of Ohio more can be success- fully fed. These sheds may be cheaply made by setting some durable posts in the ground, say fi*om six to eight feet high, with a roof of shingles or boards. The roof should project two feet over the sides. There should be some temporary protection to the ends and sides of the shed ; perhaps the best and cheapest can be made of strong cotton cloth, (Osnaburg ;) three or four widths should be sewed together, with small rods across the bottom, which will answer as weights, and also as rollers, which, by the aid of a pulley, may be rolled or let down at pleasure. The width of the sheds must be governed by the size of the hurdles or feeding-trays used. The width that I have adopted is from eighteen to twenty feet. The length according to the extent of the feeding contemplated. Where it is designed to carry on an extensive business, a building should be constructed expressly for the purpose. It should be on an elevated situation, convenient to the mulberry orchard. There should be a cellar under the building. Any material commonly used for building may be employed. If of wood, weather-boai'ded and plastered. It would be well to fill up the space between the two with tan-bark or unburnt brick, or something of the kind, which will render the temperature more uniform. The width of the building should be twenty or twenty-eight feet — the former admitting of two, and the latter 331 of three double ranges of hurdles or trays of suitable size; the length suited to the extent of the business designed. It should be two stories high, and so constructed as to be thoroughly ventilated. There should be two double doors in each end, with doors, windows and ventilators in the sides. The windows should extend to near the tops of the rooms. There should be sliding ventilators near the floor. The windows may be filled with oiled paper or cloth, which will admit the light and ex- clude the sun. It would also be important to have under each tier of hurdles, through the floor, two planks of ten inches width each, hung with hinges, that they may be raised at pleasure by a pulley. Also an upright ventilator on the roof, fitted with blinds, through which a constant draft may be kept up. In one end of the building, in each of the two doors, there should be a ventilating wheel made of thin boards (plank) much after the form of the wheels applied to the sterns of our steam-propellers. These wheels should be about two feet in diameter. They should be put in motion for a few minutes every hour, or oftener in still weather. Both may be made to turn'by one crank, connecting each by bands and whirls to the main shaft. An air-furnace, such as is now employed in heating churches and other buildings, should be constructed in the cellar, and so arranged as to draw from the feeding-rooms all the air neces- sary to supply the furnace. The air, when heated in the cham- ber, should be conveyed through the whole length of the rooms, in a square pipe with openings at short distances from each other, which should increase in size as they recede from the furnace. These openings may be so connected as to be all closed at once, or a valve applied at the air-chamber may be used to cut off the communication of heated air when the tem- perature is sufficiently high in the rooms, suffering the hot air to escape outside of the building. In the last ages of the worms the furnace will be found of great benefit, even when the heat is not required in the rooms, for the purpose of drawing off and consuming the impure air of the cocoonery. At Economy, they not onl}'' make use of air furnaces, but in an adjoining building they have a large air-pump constantly in operation, connected with the cocoonery by a pipe with small 3S2 openings through the length of the building. This pump is kept in motion by a steam engine. With good eggs, when proper means have been employed for their preservation, and the feeding apartments thoroughly ven- tilated, I do not know of a single instance where the worms have proved unhealthy. From the conviction that proper regard had not generally been paid to the ventilation of cocoon- eries, in the summer of 1842 I commenced a series of experi- ments, by which I ascertained that the silk-worm during its last age consumed nearly its own weight of leaves daily ; and that the amount of exhalations or imperceptible perspiration given off in proportion to the quantity of food consumed, was about equal to that ascertained to escape from a healthy man. I found from the most careful experiments, that the weight of one hundred thousand silk-worms, about five days before their time of winding, was four hundred and fifty-eight pounds, and that they would consume daily three hundred and seventy- two pounds of leaves,* and that their increased weight in twenty-four hours from the food consumed was forty-six pounds, and that the enormous amount of two hundred and six pounds was given off in the same time, in the form of exhalations or imperceptible perspiration alone. This, then, I think, fully ex- plains the cause of disease complained of by many, and estab- tablishes the importance of ventilation in every possible form. In one corner of the building there should be a hatching- room, with which the furnace below should be connected, so as to receive a greater or lesser degree of heat, as may be required, without reference to the temperature of the feeding-rooms. Fixtures. — In fitting up the hurdles or feeding shelves for a building of twenty feet wide, it will require a double range of posts, two and a half or three inches square, on each side of the centre of the room, running lengthwise, and the length of the shelves apart in the ranges, and each two corresponding posts, crosswise of the ranges, about the width of the two shelves apart. On each double range across the posts are nailed strips, one inch or more in width and about fifteen inches' *Had these worms been fed in the ordinary manner they would have consumed many more leaves in the same time. But to preserve the greatest possible accuracy, through the whole experiment they were fed rather spar- ingly- 333 apart, on which the trays or hurdles rest, which may be drawn out or slid in as may be found necessary in feeding. The aisles or passages of a building of the above width will be four feet each, allowing two feet for the width of each single hurdle. The hurdles that I have used for many years are of twine net-work. A frame is first made five feet long and two feet wide, of boards seven-eighths of an inch thick, and one and a half inches wide. There should be two braces across the frame at equal distances of five-eighths by seven-eighths of an inch square. On a line, about half an inch from the inner edge of the frame, are driven tacks nearly down to their heads, at such distances as will make the meshes of the net about three-quar- ters of an inch square. Good hemp or flax twine is passed around these tacks, forming a net by passing the filling double over and under the warp, or that part of the twine that runs lengthiyise. This twine should be somewhat smaller than that running lengthwise. On a damp day the twine becomes tight; 1 then give the netting two good coats of shellac varnish. This cements the whole together and renders it firm and durable. The varnish is made by dissolving a quantity of gum shellac in alcohol in a tin covered vessel, and placed near the fire. It should be reduced, when used, to the consistency of paint. Another set of frames is made in the same way and of the same size, and covered with strong cotton or tow cloth; this is secured with small tacks. Upon these the net frames rest, which serve to catch the litter that falls through from the worms. Hurdles made and supported in this manner admit of a more free circulation of air, and the litter is less liable to mould or ferment, and can be removed and cleaned at pleasure. With this kind of hurdle and screen I make use of winding-frames, constructed in the following manner : a light frame is made of boards one and a half inches wide, and the length of the hur- dles, and two feet and four inches wide; this is filled crosswise with thin laths about one inch apart in the clear. The manner of using these will be hereafter explained. They answer the twofold purpose of winding-frames and mounting-ladders. The care and expense required in fitting up a house on this plan may prevent its general adoption. The most common method that has been heretofore employed is permanent shelves; but the labor required to keep the worms properly cleaned renders this plan objectionable. 334 At Economy, Penn., the rearing of the silk-worm is now carried on to a great extent, and more successfully than in any other part of the United States, or perhaps the world. Their houses are two stories high. The worms are fed on small trays about eighteen or twenty inches wide, and about three feet long. They are supported in the same manner as the hurdles above described, and are about six inches apart. When the worms are about ready to wind, they are transferred to the upper story, to permanent shelves about sixteen inches apart, where they form their cocoons in bunches of straw placed up- right between the shelves. The worms are cleaned at least once after every moulting, and after the last, every day. For this purpose they have nets woven or knit of cotton twine, something larger than the size of the trays, with meshes of various sizes suited to the age of the worms. For the last age they are about three-quarters of an inch square. They are used without frames. When it is required to remove the worms from their litter, the nets are laid lightly over them, and then plentifully fed. When the worms have arisen upon the fresh leaves, they are removed by two persons taking hold of the four corners of the net and transferring them to clean trays, held and carried off by a third person. One hundred thousand are changed in this manner in two hours. Description of the Silk-worm. — It will be necessary for the in- experienced culturist to have some knowledge of the forms, changes and appearances of the silk-worm before he entei"S upon the duties of his interesting charge. The silk-worm is a species of caterpillar, whose life is one continual succession of changes, which in due time becomes a moth or winged insect, like others of the genus. The time occupied in going through its ditferent forms of existence varies in different countries — governed by climate, temperature and the quality and quantity of the food upon which it is fed, and the nature of the particu- lar variety of the insect. The worm changes or casts its skin (of the common varieties) four times before it attains its full growth. These changes are called moultings, and the periods intervening between the several moultings are termed ages. When it is first hatched it is of a blackish color, which afterward becomes lighter, varying almost daily to different shades, and in different varieties through every age, to the close of the last, or near the time of :{35 spinning, when it assumes a grayish yellow, semi-transparent appearance. Having tried all the varieties that have been introduced into the United States, those I consider the best are known as the Chinese Imperial, producing a large, salmon-colored, peanut- shaped cocoon; and a kind called the Peanut, producing a mixture of white and salmon-colored cocoons. This variety produces a larger and more firm cocoon than any of that name that I have seen. Time of hatching. — Rearing. — When the leaves of the mulberry have put forth to the size of about an inch in diameter, it may be generally inferred that the proper time for hatching the worm has arrived. The papers or cloths containing the eggs should then be brought out and placed in the hatching-room, upon a table or trays made for the purpose. When artificial means4ire emploj'ed, the temperature should be gradnaUy raised until the time of hatching, which will be in about ten daj's, to 75° or 80° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. But few worms will make their appearance on the first day, but on the second and third the most will come out; should there be a few remaining on the fourth day, they may be thrown away, as they do not always produce strong and healthy worms. When the worms begin to make their appearance, young mulbeny leaves cut into narrow strips should be laid over them, to which they will readily attach themselves; these should be carefully removed, and placed compactly upon a cloth screen or tray prepared for them, and other leaves placed upon the eggs for the worms that still remain, which should be passed otf as before. A singular fact will be observed, that all the worms will hatch between sunrise and before noon of each day. Care should be taken to keep the worms of each day's hatching by themselves, as it is of the greatest importance to have the moultings and changes of all the worms as simultaneous as possible. It is also important that the worms that have been transferred to the trays should not be fed until the hatching for the day is completed, so that all may be fed equally. Young and tender leaves should be se- lected to feed the worms with; these should be cut with a sharp knife into pieces not, exceeding a quarter of an inch square, and evenly sifted over them. They should bo fed in this way six or eight times in twenty -four hours, as nearly as possible at regular and stated periods. oob It will be impossible to lay down any definite rules for the quantity of leaves necessaty for a given number of worms for each succeeding day through every age. After a little acquaint- ance with their nature and habits, the intelligence and judg- ment of the attendant will be the best guide ; they should, how- ever, have as much as they ;svill eat, but after a few days care should be taken not to give them more than they will generally consume, as this will increase the accumulation of litter, which will endanger the health of the worms. In the last age they eat voraciously, when they should be well supplied. A quantity of leaves should always be on hand in case of wet weather. When the average range of the thermometer is between 70° and 80° the several moultings will take place near the fifth, ninth, fifteenth and twenty-second days after hatching. It may be known when the worms are about to east their skins, as they cease to eat, and remain stationary, with their heads raised, and occasionally shaking them. This operation will be more dis- tinctly observed as they increase in size through their succeed- ing ages. Assuming the above temperature as the standard, the quantity of leaves for the first three days of this (the first) age must be gradually increased at each feeding, after which they will require less at each succeeding meal until the time of moult- ing arrives, when for about twenty -four hours they eat nothing. But as it is seldom the case that all cast their skins at one and the same time, some will still be disposed to eat, when a few leaves must be cut fine and sparingly scattered over them, so that those that remain torpid may be disturbed as little as possible. They must now be carefully fed in this way until it is discovered that some have moulted, when the feeding must cease altogether until the most of them have recovered. This rule must me particularly regarded through all the succeeding moultings, otherwise some of the worms will be far in advance of others ; and this want of uniformity will increase through- out each succeeding age, and to the period of winding, which will not only result in great inconvenience in gathering the cocoons, but will materially injure the worms, and consequently lessen the crop of silk. When the greatest portion of the worms have moulted, and ap- pear active, leaves a little wilted are laid over them, by which they are passed to clean trays. If any still remain that have moulted, they must be transferred in the same manner, by 337 laying more leaves upon them. The remnant of worms that have not changed their skins should be left upon the litter and added to those of the next day's moulting. By closely regarding these rules throughout the several ages, the worms will gen- erally all commence the formation of their cocoons about the same period. After having gone through and furnished all the worms with a quantity of leaves, it is well to go over a second time, and add more where they seem to require it. Yery young and tender leaves must be given to the worms in the first age, after which older ones can be given as they advance in age until after the last moulting, when they should be fed upon sound, full-grown leaves. After the second moulting the leaves, where large crops are fed, may be cut by running them twice through a common rotary hay or straw-cutter, of Hovey's, or one of a similar malcQ. The worms will frequently heap together and become too thick, as they increase in size. When they are fed the leaves must be spread, and the space enlarged, or they may be removed by leaves or twigs of the mulberry to places unoccupied. If they are permitted to be crowded, disease is apt to follow and the whole crop is endangered. It will sometimes be observed, when the light falls more directly on one side of the hurdle than the other, that the worms will incline to leave that side aud become crowded on the opposite, when the hurdle should be turned around. Up to the last moulting it is best to feed the worms entirely upon the leaves of the multicoulis, after which the Canton or white Italian should be used if a full supply can be obtained — the former being consumed with greater avidity, and the accu- mulation of litter is consequent!}- less. The Canton and Italian produce the heaviest cocoon, while the multicaulis yields a finer and stronger fibre. In pursuing this course the advantages of both are in some degree secured. The worms should bo removed from their litter immediately after each moulting, and in their fourth age the hurdles should be cleaned a second time, and after the last moulting they should be removed at least every second day. Where nets ai'e not used in the last ages, the worms are changed by laying over them the small branches of the mulberry. Eecently branch- 22 3;{s foedinjx, as it is termed, has been introduced with some success, and with great economy of time ; in the hist ages of the worms care shouhi bo taken to hvy the branches as evenly as possible, especially where it is designed to use the twine hurdles, other- wise it will be ditlieult for the worms to ascend through the netting. "When the worms are about to spin they present something of a yellowish appearance; they ivfuse to eat, and wander about in pursuit of a hiding-place, and throw out tibres of silk upon the leaves. The hurdles should now be thoroughly cleaned for tho last time, and something prepared for them to form their co- coons in. Various plans have been proposed for this purpose. The lath frames, before described, 1 prefer. They are used by resting the back edge of the frame upon the hurdle, where tho two n\eet in the double range, and raising the tront edge up to the underside of the hurdle above, which is held to its place by two small wii'o hooks attached to the edge of the hurdle. A covering of paper or cloth ehould be applied to the lath frames. In using the hurdles and screens 1 remove the screen tVom under tho hurdle, turning the underside up, and letting it down di- rectly upon the winding-frame. This atfords double the room for the worms to wind in. Lath frames of this description have advantages that no other fixtures for winding possess that I have ever seen tried. The frame resting upon the backside of each hurdle renders this side more dark, which places the worms instinctivel}' seek when they meet with tho ends of tho laths, and immediately ascend to convenient places for the formation of their cocoons. From these frames the cocoons are gathered with great facility and free from litter and dirt, and when they arc required they are put up wnth great expedition. "Where branch-feeding has been adopted by some, no other accommodation has been provided for the winding of the worms than that atlbrded them by the branches from which they have fed. This is decidedly objectionable, as the worms are always disposed to rise until their course is obstructed above. When this is not the case they wander about for hours upon the tops of the branches, and only descend after their strength becomes exhausted, and the result is the production of a crop of loose, inferior cocoons. !^ext to lath frames, small bunches of straw at^brd the best accommodatioo for this purpose. Eye straw is •t'Xi preferred. Take a Hmall buneh, about the Kize of the little fin- gci', and with wome Htrorig twin*; tic it firmly about half an inch from th(! butt of the straw ; cut the bunch off about half an incli longer than the diHtancc between the hurdles. They are tliuH placed upright with their butt-ends downward, with their tops spreading out, interlacing each other, and pressing against the hurdles above. Th<;y Khould be thickly set in double rows about sixteen inches apart across the hurdles. These may be preserved for a number of years. After most of the worms have arisen, the few remaining may be removed to hurdles by themselves. In three or four days the cocoons may bo gathered. While gathering, those designed for eggs should be selected. Those of firm and fine texture, with round, hard ends, are the best. The smaller co- coons most generally produce the male, and those larger and morH (o iIiohc to wl)i<;li oil of pirnoiilo i< a))|tlicisp. "'I'Ue northern nations fornnjrly eni[doyed this plant in place of hops, and it is still in use for that purpose in som(i of the western isles; unless it is boiled a long time it is rej»orteod prii'o, and n\ay also bo jnuMliod and oonvortod into vinoijar. In I'iJigland, ohaivoal is proparoil in two ditVoront ways. In ono, billots of wooil aro lorniod into a hoap, whioh is oovorod with turf, and a low small oponii\i:;s oidy loll Cov tho admission of tho air roquisito to maintain it in a stato i>f low oombustion at\or it is liijchtod. Whon tho wholo hoap is on tiro, tiio holos aro stoj^pod, and at\or iho mass has oooloil tho rosiduo is ohar- vox\\. This is substantially tho mothod adoptod on our planta- tatioMs. in thoothor modo, tho wood is distillod in iron oylin- dovs, in whioh oaso tho products aro pyndii;noous aoitls and on\pyroumatio oil ; and what romains in tho rotort is oharooal. Tho quantity of tho distillod products, as woU as o\' tho oharooal, do[>omls i>n tho kintl ot" W(>od omployotl, Ono hundred parts of driod oak yields of pyrolignoous aoid, 43. parts ; carbonate of potassa, 4.5 parts; ompyroumatic oil, 9.06 ]iarts; charcoal, 2l».2 ]>arts. Farmers Encyc. I'ros Oict. of Arts and Rural Cyc. Soo, jilso, ^' Qut'iYUs" and '' J*inus," in this voluino. Fivo hundred cords willow was contracted for, to bodolivoroil on tho lino of tho canal, at tho govoriunont powder factory, at Auixusta, Cia.. duriuij tho recent war. " Tho willow may bo of any size, tho smaller branches boinu; proterred ; tho larger sticks must bo split into ]Kirts not larger than tho arm. It must bo cut into uniform lengths ot" throe feet, and each cord will mea- sure tourteen toot long, three toot high and three foot broad, cimtaining ono hundred and iweniy-six cubic feet. Tho bark must bo carefully pooled otV at tho time ol' cutting.'' Purification of Witter hi/ C/uirohU. — The reader is referred to Chaptal's "Chemistry applioil to Agriculture" for much that is practical in tho domestic economy of our plantations in tho South on tho ittanutacturo of wine, brandy, etc. In his chapter on the 'moans of preparing wholesome drinks for tho wso of country people," he gives tho following mothod for rendering im- pure water pure. It would be found of great service at the pres- ent time, and our generals in tho tiold might thus, at little cost, ]Mirify water for the use of their camps, for want of which sim- ple expoiiient, moves, possibly disastrous, have ot\en to be made in face of an enemy. " The water ntado use of is often muddy, or lijiH u bad Hrri(;ll, <;ithf;r of wliif,}i faults rnay be corroctod f^y filtering it tbrough charcoal ; tbc proce«H may be performed in the fbllowin;^ rtianner: plae*; a lar^e eaHk uiin-^Ui, in the coolest Hitualion you fully su])plied with the spice bush for making a fragrant, aromatic, diaphoretic tea. This, and a tea prepared from the sassafras, I used entirely as a substitute for gum arable and flaxseed in colds, coughs, pneumonias, etc. Soldiers may supply themselves with these, as they move camp, in any locality. POND SPICE, (Laurus, Walter. Tetranthera geniculata, Nees.) Grows around ponds; vicinit}' of Charleston ; Newbern ; Da. This, also, is aromatic. A species growing in China af- fords much tallow. AEISTOLOCIIIACEiE. (The Birthicort Tribe.) ■ SEKPBNTAKIA; SNAKEROOT, (Aristolochia serpentaria, L.) Diff'used. Kichland; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. June. Bell's Pract. Diet. Mat. Med. 420; Trous, et Pid. Mat. Med. i, 336 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med.- 249 ; Eberle, Mat. Med. i, 280 ; Le. Mat. Med. i, 163 ; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 520 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 532; U. S- Disp. 658; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. i, 231; Journal de Pharmacie, vi, 365 ; Journal de Chim. Med. vii, 493 ; Sydenham, Peechey's Trans. 4th edition, 33 ; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 375; Cullen, Mat. Med. ii, 85; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 765; Mer. and de L. Diet de M. Med. i, 415 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 82 ; Murray, Apparat. Med. i, 348 ; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 411; Lind. on Hot Climates, 104, 254; Shec. Flora Carol. 203; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 206; Bart. M. Bot. 251; Woodv. 394 Med. Bot.; Griffith's Med. Bot. 829 ; Linn. Veg. M. Med. 166 ; Bull Plantes Ven de France, 83; Thornton's Fara. Herb. This plant, which yields a volatile oil, camphor, malate and phospi>ate of lime, is well known as a tonic, diuretic and diaphoretic, of great value in the low stages of fever, and in tj^phus, after re- mittent, in chlorosis, and in atonic affections of the intestinal canal ; indicated where we wish to stimulate and excite at the same time a free diaphoresis and diuresis. It is also useful in promoting the cutaneous excretions in exanthematous diseases, where the eruptions are tardy. Dr. Chapman recommended it in " bilious pleurisy." The infusion is serviceable in restraining vomiting; much use is made of this plant among the negi'oes in the South, particularly in the low stages of pneumonia, to which they are particularly liable. I have repeatedly observed the good effects of both this and the senega snakeroot, {Polygala senega,) in this affection. The dose of the powdered root is ten to thirty grains; of the infusion, of one ounce to one pint of boiling water, two ounces may be taken as often as occasion re- quires. Its effects are increased by combining it with camphor. Dr. Thornton, (Fara. Herb. cit. sup.,) used it in typhus fever ; two drachms of the tincture, combined with ten grains of the powder and five drachms of the tiuctm-e of opium, may be given every hour. It is said to add ranch to the efficacy of bark ; and it forms an ingredient of Huxam's Tr. of bark. Several vegetable infusions surpass even sea salt in anti-septic power. Sir John Pringle says that several bitters, such as ser- ))entaria, chamomile, or Peruvian bark, exceed salt, he inferred, one hundred and twenty times — " flesh remaining long untainted when immersed in their infusions ; camphor is more powerful than anything else." Wilson's Kural Cyclop. This anti-septic power of certain vegetable substances should be compared with their medicinal effects when prescribed internally. All the arti- cles just mentioned are, it will be remembered, employed in ty- phoid and low fevers. Araong vegetable products, vinegar is also anti-septic, and in the latter stages of low forms of fever, dysentery, etc., is highly useful. Among the astringents pos- sessed of anti-septic properties, the tannin may be the potent agent, on account of its affinity for albumen and gelatine. Artstolochla hastata. Eich, shaded soils. Fl. June. 395 U. S. Disp. 658; Am. Journal Pharm. xiv, 121. It is said to be similar in properties to the A. serpentaria. DUTCHMAN'S PIPE, {Aristolochia sipho.) Shec. Fl. Carol. 205. Similar in properties to the others. Aristolochia tomentosa, Sims. Fla. to JVIts. of N. C. Similar in properties to the other species. WILD GINGER; COLT'S FOOT; CANADA SNAKE- EOOT, (Asarum Canadensis, L.) Eich soil ; collected in St. John's. Fl. April. U. S. Disp. 125 ; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 243 ; Frost's Elems. 220 ; Med. Journal Pharm. x, 186 ; Diet. Univ. des Drogues Simples, Ann. 1733 ; Cullen Mat. Med. ii, 473, 553 ; Mer. and de L. Diet de M. Med. i, 463 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 149 ; Schoepf, Mat. Med. 72, in op. cit. ; Barton's Collection, 26, 48; Coxe, Am. Disp, 368; Liud. Nat. Syst. Bot. 206 ; Griffith's Med. But. 527. An aromatic, stimulant tonic and diaphoretic, "ap- plicable in similar cases with serpentaria.'^ It is employed in cases requiring a medicine of this class, and is used in cholic "where no inflammation exists. It is valuable in colds, coughs and female obstructions as a warm, diffusible stimulant and dia- phoretic; sometimes combined with snakeroot and puccoon root, {Sang ulnar ia.) Dr. Firth gave it with benefit in the tetanus of children arising from cold. The leaves, dried and powdered, have poAverful errhine properties. They were once considered actively emetic, (Shec. Fl. Carol. 219 ;) but this has been denied by Bigelow and Barton, op. cit. Dr. J. R. Black, of Indiana, has ascribed active diuretic properties to it, and has used it with extraordinary success in two cases of dropsy, con- nected with albuminous urine. He used a decoction made by boiling four ounces of the root in two pints of water for thirty minutes, and gave two tablespoon sful every four hours. N. Y. Journal Med. xxxii, 289; U.S. Disp., 12th Ed. The root is often used as a substitute for ginger, to which it is said to be fully equal. According to Bigelow's examination, it contains a pun- gent, volatile oil, and a resin which communicate to alcohol the virtues of the plant, fecula, a gum, mucus, etc., op. cit. 153, 1. By the Anal, of Mr. Rushton, quoted in Griffith's work from the Am. Journal Pharm. x, 81, and more recently of Mr. Proctor, ibid, xii, 177, it is shown that the active principle is an aromatic essential oil, and that it contains neither asarin nor camphor. 396 This plant may be given either in powder, tincture or infu- sion ; dose of the powder, thirty grains. It may be boiled in milk and drunk freely. A syrup may also be made. HEAET SNAKEKOOT, {Asaru7n Virginicum.) Grows in rocky soils. Fl. July. Shec. Flora Carol. 218; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 219; "a stimulating diaphoretic, fully equal to the Arist. Serp." Proba- bly possessed of similar properties to the other. Milne, in his Ind. Bot. 73, alludes to this species as one of the strongest of the vegetable errhines — the roots and leaves being used. "The fresh leaves applied to the nostrils speedily terminate attacks of slight cold by the discharge which they induce." Those who snuff find it a valuable addition to tobacco — the dried leaves being powdered and mixed with it. The decoction and infusion of this were considered emetic, and great relief was said to have been afforded by it in periodical headaches, vertigo, etc.; one scruple of the fresh or one drachm of the dried root and leaves was employed as an emetic and cathartic. Asa}-um arifolium, Mich. Grows in shaded, rich soils ; col- lected in St. John's Berkeley, near Whitehall PL; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. May. Shec. Flora Carol. 217. This, no doubt, partakes of the prop- erties of the others, if it is not identical; Linnaeus proposes it as a substitute for ipecac ; and Dr. Cutler says that the powdered root, in moderate doses, acts as a gentle emetic, one and a half drachm given in substance. The "tincture possesses both emetic and cathartic virtues." This, like the farmer, is a very powerful sternutatory ; when the powdered leaves are used, the discharge from the nose will sometimes last for three days, hence it has been applied in this way with great advantage in stubborn disorders of the head, palsies, etc. "A case in which there was paralysis of the mouth and tongue was cured by one application of it." AMAEANTACEiE. (The Amaranth .Tribe.) The leaves of many of the species are wholesome and mucila- ginous. FORTY-KNOT, (Achyranthes repens, Ell.) Diffused; grows in tlic streets of Charleston. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 311. It is possessed of well marked 397 diuretic properties, and is employed in ischury and dysury, and in the gravelly complaints of old persons. In Fairtield District, S. C, it has lately been employed with decided success in several cases of dropsy, but sharing the fate of all other diuretics in being sometimes inefficient in cases depending upon organic changes, or produced by causes other than those connected with the circulation. It is given in decoction — a handful of the herb to a pint of water — of which a wineglassful is taken three times a day. I have used this plant as a diureticin the City Hospi- tal, Charleston, under my care 1867, and find it to be possessed of decidedly diuretic properties. SALTWOET, (Salsola kali.) Sandy shores; Georgia and northward. Among the plants used in procuring soda in Spain, are " the different species of Salsola, Salicornia, and Batis maritima. The ZosterM maritima is burnt in some places on the borders of the Baltic. In this country (Scotland, see Thornton's Fam. Her- bal.) we burn the various species of fuci, and in France they burn the Chenopodium maritimum. In order to obtain it the carbonate must be treated like potash of commerce, with lime and ardent spirits as described before." Within the limits of the Southern States we have all the above plants, save C. mari- timum. Little doubt, however, exists in my mind that our several species of worm seed, {Chenopodium,') will be found to contain potash or soda in large amount. Some plants, " which in their native soil yield only potash, afford also soda if they are cultivated in the neighborhood of the sea." " The soda is more or less pure according to the nature of the particular plant from which it is obtained," (Thornton.) The species of Salicornia are found on the coast of Florida and northward. Batis maritima, L. "Salt marshes, Apalachicola, and north- ward." Zostera marina, L. West Florida and northward. (Chapman's So. Flora.) See ^^ Sapindus" and " Saponaiia," in this volume, p. 159, where the salsola has been treated of in connection with the "soap wort." Wilson says also of the Salsola kali that it is the best of our native plants for yielding "kelp, barilla, potash and soda, and was formerly collected in considerable quantities on our western coasts, and burned to yield soda for the manufacture of glass, and for other purposes. It grows freely from seed, and does 398 not require any great nicety of management, yet never has, been carefully cultivated." Rural Cyc. See, also, " Fiicus," in this volume, for method of prepai'ing barilla and soda from sea weeds. I introduce the following brief process for the manufacture of soda, as we have several plants in the Southern States which furnish it: Far the best mode now adopted is to procure it from sea water, but this may not always be attainable. " For the manufacture of soda, the marine plants are gathered at the season when their vegetation has terminated, and they are left to dry. A pit four feet square and three feet deep is dug in the earth ; this is heated with split wood, and the saline plants are afterward thrown gradually in. Combustion is continued dur- ing seven or eight days ; the ashes become fused in the pit, and remain in this state till the end of the process, when the com- bustion is completed; the whole is allowed to cool, and then the block of soda is divided into large pieces for the market." " In order that soda may possess all the requisite strength, it is necessary to separate it from the carbonic acid with which it is always united, and by which its properties are weakened. This is easily done by mixing quick-lime with a solution of soda ; the acid has so strong an affinity for lime as to quit the soda to combine with it. The lye procured from this mixture is caustic, and leaves a burning impression upon the tongue ; the soda thus purified acts more readily upon the bodies with which it com- bines. This mode of preparation is indispensable when soda is to be employed with oil in the manufacture of hard soap ; it is useless when it is to be combined at a strong heat with earthy bodies, as is the case in glass works." Ohaptal also copies from M. DeSaussure's Treatise on Vegetation a very extensive table, giving the constituents of a great many plants, trees, etc., which the reader may consult. Among the plants used in preparing soda on the Mediten-anean are the Salicornia Europea, the Sal- sola tragus, the Statics limonium, the Atriplex j^ojiulacoides, the Salsola kali. "We have growing in South Carolina and Georgia the Salsola kali, and the Stgtice Carolinana, Walt., which should be tested, the Atriplex hastata, and the two species of Salicornia, mentioned above, which also grow on our coast. To show the alliance of the natural families in physical resemblances and natural properties, I find Chenopodium, Atriplex, Salicornia and 399 Salsola all in one tribe, and each rich in potash or soda. The fumitory (Famaria) is one of the plants richer in potash than the wormwood, {Ghenopodium.) GLASSWOET, (Salico)-nia herbacea, L.) Salt marshes along the coast of Georgia and Carolina. We have two species of this genus, which is celebrated, com- mercially, for the production of alkaline salts. Wilson states of S. herbacea that the whole plant abounds in saline juices, and possesses a saline taste ; and that it was formerly burned in common with the richly alkaline fuel in the manufacture of kelp ; that it is greedily eaten by sheep and cattle, and that it is sometimes gathered and used as a substitute for rock samphire in Scotland. See " Salsola." CHENOPODIACB.E. (The Goose-foot Tribe.) Some are wholesome, others possess an essential oil, which is tonic and anti-spasmodic. The beet and spinach, cultivated in the Southern States, belong to this order. JAGGED S^A-OHACH., (Atriplexlaciniata, L.) Grows along salt streams. Fl. July. Shec. Flora Carol. 247. The expressed juice, in doses of four to eight grains, is said to act as a powerful purgative. Accord- ing to Schoepf, it is used as a substitute for gamboge in dropsy and asthma. JEEUSALEM OAK; WOUMSE^D, (Chenopodiim anthel- minticum, L.) Diffused ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Linnteus, Veg. M. Med.; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 274; Ebcrle, Mat. Med. 218 ; Ell. Bot. i, 331 ; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 71; Drayton's View of South Carolina, 65; Frost's Eleras. Mat. Met. 191 ; U. .S. Disp. 206 ; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 183 ; Am. Journal Pharm. v, 180 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 183 ; Griffiih's Med. Bot. 538. It is well known as "one of our most efficient indigenous anthelmintics," adapted to the expulsion of lumbrici in children. Eberle employed the oil of the seeds with success in these cases, after every other remedy had failed. The dose to a child under five years is two drops ; to an adult thirty drops, given on sugar grated in water. The expressed juice may he used, or a decoction of the leaves in milk, a wineglassful at a dose, for the oil impregnates the whole plant. The dose of the 400 seed, for a child two years old, is from one to two scruples, mixed with syrup or bruised in castor oil. The distilled water may also be used. These plants are much employed on the plantations in South Carolina and Georgia for their anthelmin- tic properties, the seeds being collected in the fall. Dr. Wood states that the plant is cultivated in Maryland. The wormwood, (Artemisia,) of which there is a species (A. caudata) growing in West Florida and northward, is said to be rich in potash. This plant should also be examined for the active principle santonine, and for an essential oil. The Chenopo- dium, of which we have several species, although not belonging to the same natural family, is perhaps equally rich in potash. The " wormwood is highly recommended to be converted into charcoal, to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder." See " Salix." In fact, all the Chenojpodiums are also rich in alkaline salts, potash, etc., and may be used for its manufacture. The Persian insect powder, a species o£ Pyrethrum, (or Persian cham- omile,) destroys insects with great certainty. I think it likely that some of the plants just mentioned, the milfoil, (^Achillea millefolium,) the tansy, (Tanacetum vulgare,) or ox-eye daisy, {Leucanthemum vulgare, L.,) all growing in the Southern States, may possibly be found to answer the purpose of destroying insects, caterpillars, etc., on plants and animals. They contain a pungent oil. There is a notice of the Pyrethrum (roseum, jJur- piireum and carneum) in Patent Office Eeports, 1857, 129. See, also, Dasistoma for plant hostile to insects. I have several times stated that the allied Artemisia, worm- wood, was exceedingly rich in potash. The natural affinities are here borne out, for the family Chenipodiaceoi contains many plants furnishing soda in large proportion. Such are Salsola, Salicornia, Atriplex and salt-marsh Chenopodiums ; a notice of species of all these genera is included in this volume. They should receive the attention of the nitre manufacturers, Nitrate of potash " is found in the common horseradish, in the nettle, and the sunflower." Farmer's Bncyc. JERUSALEM OAK OF SOME, {Chenopodium botrys, Ph.) Grows near Columbia. Fl. August. U. S. Disp. 206 ; Le. Mat. Med. 235 ; Ed. and Yav. Mat. Med. 304 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 181 ; Mer. and de L. Pict. de M. Med. ii, 225 ; Shec. Flora. Carol. 388 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. 250. The 401 juice of this is also carminative, pectoi*al, emmenagogiie and vermifuge ; the essential oil is anti-spasmodic, tonic and vermi- fuge. An infusion, as a tea, is resolutive and expectorant, and is useful in flatulent colic, spasmodic cough, humoral asthma, and in hysteria. The expressed juice of this species is given in doses of a tablespoonful, in molasses, to children affected with worms, or the seeds are reduced to a powder, and made into an electuary with syrup. See Milne, Ind. Bot. 76; Linn. Vcg. M. Med. 41. " It is asserted ," observes Shec. Flora. Carol. 389, "that the whole seeds produce worms in the stomach, and if a parcel be baked in a loaf of bread they will generate worms. Such is the belief; what credit may be due to it, I leave to the determination of those who either have, or may hereafter, put it to the trial !" Chenopodium amhrosioides, Ph. Vicinity of Charleston ; grows in Georgia, according to Pursh ; Newbern. Fl. July. Lind. JSTat. Syst, Bot. The essential oil of this is also tonic and anti-spasmodic. U. S. Disp. 206. Plenk reports five cases of chorea cured by the infusion made with two drachms to one ounce of water, of which a cup full is to be taken morning and night. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 222. M. Mack used it, with equal success, in the hospital at Vienna, in this and in other nervous affections; see, also, the supplement to the work last mentioned, 1846, p. 165. It is employed by M. Martins in the "injection of the mucous membrane of the lungs." MM. Rilliet and Barthez used it in the chorea of infants particularly, Ann. des Sci. Nat. xii, 220 ; Bouchardat, Ann. de Therap. 1844; Gazette de Med. de Saltzburg, Bill Med. xii, 516. It is found, by chemical analysis, to possess various products, the most im- portant of which are gluten and a volatile oil. Bull, des Sc. Med. de Ferus, vii, 225. The infusion emits a very strong, aromatic odor, and is used in parts of this country in the place of tea. LAMB'S QUARTER, {Chenopodium album, L.) Richland ; vicinity, of Charleston ; N. C. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 223 ; Phys. Med. Trans., Calcutta, ii, 40. It is a sedative and diuretic; used in hemor- rhoids. Chevallier remarks the singular fact that the C. vulva- ria, a foreign species, exhales pure ammonia during its whole existence. This is the only observation on record of a gaseous 26 402 exhalation of azote by perfect vegetables, and the facility with which this principle is abandoned b}^ ammonia may, perhaps, explain the presence of azotic products in the vegetable king- dom. Ann. des Sci. Nat. i, 444 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 209. It might be interesting to observe whether anything of this kind takes place in our species. The above was printed by me in 1849. Worm-seed plant is said to be very rich in potash- — and wormwood has been planted for the manufacture of glass^ — if so, the note on the subject of the C. vulvaria exhaling^ ammonia is corroborated by the above observation. I have learned, June, 1862, that an enterprise was set on foot several years since near Columbia, S. C, to cultivate the wormwood on a large scale for the production of potash. See "Poke weed." The sugar-maple is very rich in potash, probably the other maples also. See Sahola, Quercus, Zea, Phytolacca, etc., in this volume. The young shoots of the Lamb's quarter have been used for making soup. SANTALACEiE. OIL NUT, {Pyrularia oJeifera, Gray. Hamiltonia oleifera, Muhl.) Mts. Ga. and northward. The nut of this plant affords a great deal of oil, which should be examined. PHYTOLACCACEyE. {The Virginia Poke Tribe.) POKE WEED ; JEW POKE, {Phytolacca decandra, L.) Dif- fused in rich spots; Newbern. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 537; Big. Am. Med. Bot. 135; Bell's Pract. Diet. 355; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 213; Am. Journal Pharm. xv, 169; Mm-- ray's App. Med. iv, 335 ; Kalm, Travels in N. Am. p. 197 ; Graf- fenreid, Mem. Berne, iii, 185 ; Schoepf, M. Med. 71 ; Browne, Hist. Jamaica, 232 ; Amsen. Acad, iv ; Miller's Diet., art. Phyt. Dec; Sprogel, Diss. Cirven. 24; Beckman, Com. 1764, 9; Alli- oni. Flora Ped. ii, 132 ; Franklin's Works, i ; Cutler, M6m. Am. Acad, i, 447; Eush, i, 259; Thacher's U. S. Disp. 300; Shultz's Inaug. Diss. N. Am. Journal, vi; Journal de Med. de Corvisart Leroux, xvi, 137 ; Ann. de Chim. Ixii, 71 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 298; Coxe, Am. Dis. 486 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 210. The juice of the leaves or berries, inspissated in the sun 403 to the consistence of an extract, will, it is said, discuss hard tumors if applied to the part, " and destroy cancers by eating them out by the roots !" (Am. Herbal, by J. Stearos.) Mixed with brandy, it is extolled in the cure of rheumatism, easing pain and producing discharge of the cutaneous and urinary secretions. One ounce of the dried root infused in a pint of wine is said to act kindly as an emetic, in doses of two table- spoonsful. Bigelow also was of the opinion that it resembled ipecacuanha in its mode of operation ; but later experimenters give an unfavorable report, as it is sometimes uncertain, acting too powerfully by accumulation. The pulverized root is also emetic in doses of one to two drachms. " The tincture of the ripe berries seems to have acquired a well-founded reputation as a remed}^ in chronic and sj'philitic rheumatism, and for allaying 83'philitic pains." By some thought to be more useful than guuiac. The decoction has been used in scrofula also. A spirit distilled from the berries killed a dog in a few moments by its violent emetic effect; and, according to De Candolle, it is a powerful purgative. The French and Portuguese mixed it with their wine, to give it color, and this was prohibited by royal ordinance of Louis XIV, "on pain of death, as it injured the flavor!" Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 210; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. states that two spoonsful of the juice of the old plant, which is acrid, will purge violently ; applied externally, it will irritate the skin, and it is used in the cure of sanious ulcers, cutaneous eruptions, itch and hemorrhoids ; for the latter affec- tion, an infusion is injected per rectum. Drs. Jones and Kol- lock, of Georgia, assure us (adds Merat) that they cure syphilis with it, in all its stages, without the use of mercury. Dr. Minge, of Norfolk, Va., I am informed, has found a tincture very bene- ficial in secondary syphilis, made with an ounce of the bruised root added to a pint of equal parts of whiskey and water — a dessert spoonful of which is given three times a day and grad- ually increased. Dr. Eush relates that several students of Yale College were severely purged from eating the flesh of pigeons which had fed on the berries. From the analysis in Annal. de Chimie, Ixii. 71, it is shown to contain an enormous quantity of potash, 42 in 100 parts, and it is proposed to cultivate it for the manufacture of this article. From later examinations of Dr. E. Donnelly, (Am. Jour. Pharm. ix, 168,) it appears to contain gum 404 resin 262, starch 20, potash 2, a small quantity of fixed oil and 66.5 of woodj^ fibre. According to the U. S. Disp., it is also somewhat narcotic, and, as an emetic, is considered very slow- in its operation, sometimes not acting for several hours, and then frequently upon the bowels ; but the vomiting produced by it is not attended with pain or spasm. In over doses, its effects are quite dangerous. As an alterative, the dose is from one to five grains ; as an emetic, ten to thirty grains of the pow- dered root. Dr. Grifiith has also used it with success in syphi- litic rheumatism, (Med. Bot. 535.) In the supplement to the Diet. Univ. de M. Med. 1846, 557, it is said to have been used with good effect in paralysis of the intestines. Precis des Tra- vaux de I'Acad. de Eouen,- 188, 1838; Comptes Rendus Heb- dom. des Sci. iv, 12, January, 1837. The ointment, prepared by mixing one drachm of the powdered root or leaves with one ounce of lard, has been applied with advantage in diseases affect- ing the scalp, as psora, tinea capitis, etc. Dr. Bigelow was suc- cessful with it, and Dr. Haynard cured cases in which sulphur had failed. A gentleman informs me that he has frequently Been the sores of secondary syphilis heal up by the application of a strong decoction of the roots. Dr. Braconnot considers the yellow liquor produced by the juice of the beri'ies one of the most delicate tests of the presence of acids. Dr. Shultz pro- cured from a half bushel of the berries six pints of spirits, sufficiently strong to take fire and burn with readiness; if this is correct, it might be used as a local application in place of alcohol. The root of the plant should be dug in autumn, sliced, dried and kept in close-stopped bottles. Dr. J. H. Claiborne, of Petersbui'g, Va., reports in the Con- federate S. Med. J. March, 1864, the successful use in camp itch of a decoction of this plant and the Broom sedge or broom straw, (Eupatorium ?) He uses the strong decoction of the former as a bath, followed by the application of soap and water. If it causes pain the decoction of the broom straw is substituted. He has also used the saturated tincture of the berries of P. de- candra in teaspoonful doses, three times a da}', as a laxative and alterative. Dr. K. Moore, of Sumter District, S. C, informs me that the berries of the poke in alcohol or whiskey, a dessert spoonful re- peatedly given, has been found one of the most cflScicnt remedies 405 wc possess in rheumatism. Dr. Ballard, of the same district, has used it with satisfactory results for fifty years. It is very generally employed in this way by many. The root is com- monly used, applied externally, to cure mange in dogs. The root should be dug late in autumn, or during the winter, and the powder kept in close-stopped bottles, as it deteriorates. Afriendin Powhattan County, Va., informs me that they use the decoction of the poke root applied externally to cure fistulae, and sores often occurring on the legs of horses which are very difficult to heal. The following was very generally used in the hog cholera which prevailed so extensively during the years '63-4: " Equal proportions of pine tops and poke root boiled down to a strong tea. A tablespoonful of copperas and a half pint of salt are added to every five gallons of the tea given in- ternally." Dr. G. S. Fenner has found it highly useful as an in- ternal i^med}^ in granular conjunctivitis, especially in preventing the relapses to which the affection is so liable. A saturated tinc- ture of the berries may be given in rheumatic cases in the doses of a fluid drachm three times a day. Dr. Fenner uses a saturated decoction, of which he gives a wineglassful every two or three hours. Dr. H. E. Carey, of Ohio, has cured three cases of sj^cosis and one of favus by the local use of a decoction of the root. (Va. Med. Journal, Aug., 1856,) U. S. Disp. See Stethoscope March, 1856, for case of poisoning caused in a woman by eating a double handful of the berries. There was free purgation fol- lowed by coma and prostration — death did not result until after the sixth day. An excellent crimson dye is thus prepared, (Thornton's So. Gardener :) to two gallons of the juice of pokeberries, when they are quite ripe, add half a gallon of strong vinegar made of the wild crab-apple, (ordinary vinegar will do, as the writer has seen,) to dye one pound of wool, which must be washed very clean with hard soap ; the wool when wrung dry is to be put into the vinegar and pokeberry juice and simmered in a copper vessel for one hour, then take out the wool and let it drip awhile, and spread it in the sun. The vessel must be free from grease of any kind. The writer has seen articles dyed successfully with this plant. The "Solferino" color is obtained from it; see p. 218. With alum to fix the color, I have used the juice of the pokeberry as -lOli a rod ink. Tho directiona to iho printer for this volume were written with this ; before iiddina; uliun I found that the red color was fugitive. The berries boiled with sugar for a few minutes so as not to burn, "vvith the aildition of a little alcohol and alum, make an excellent red ink and may also be used to color cus- tards, creams, etc. Tho young shoots of tho poke are often used as a spinach. The juice of tho leaf of the garden Tanya makes an indelible ilark brown dye. I would suggest that tho addition of nitrate of .ower with those, and resembling rhubarb in its mode of oporaticni. It has boon used with success as an alterative in itch and syphilis; the powdered root with milk, or as an ointment, or the expressed juice is ap- plied externally in scabies, ring-worm and in eruptive diseases. Dr. N.S.Davis, " is satisfied from his experiments and ob- servations that the chief value of dockroot " consists in its alte- rative and gently laxative qualities, no doubt on account of the saline constituents of this genus. As an alterative ho osteonis it to be "fully equal to tho far-famed sarsaparilla." It might prove a useful drink in scrofulous habits. Dr. J. H. Salisbury has published a paper upon this plant N. Y. J. ALod., March, 1855. The petioles contain nearly one per cent, of oxalic acid. The root yields its virtues to water and alcohol, but is injured by long boiling. U. S. Disp. It is recommended as a dontritice, especially where the gums are spongy. It is supposed that our species possess all tho virtues of the ofticinal; two ounces of the fresh root, or one ounce of the dried may be boiled in a pint of water, of which two ounces can be taken at a dose. SOKREL; SHEEP'S SOKREL, ^Ihonex acctoseUa, Walt. Flora Carol.) Abundant in sandy ])asturos ; collected in St. John's; Kichland; Newborn. Fl. Juno. 407 U. S. Dinp. fi05; Po. Mat. Med. ii, 279; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Mod. 530; IJcr^ni, Mat. Mod.i, 300; Griflith Med. liot. 546. Thm in alHO coriHidorcd one of the most valuable of the HpocicH. It is refrigerant and diuretic, and in cnnployed an an article of diet in Hcorbutic cotnplaintH ; the young shootH may be eaten aH a salad ; but it iH said to prove injurious in large quantities, on account of the oxalic acid exiHting in it. The bruiHod plant is often ap- plied to hores, and it is thought to be very active in allaying in- llammation — doubtless owing to its saline constituents. IHants containing Vegetahle Acids. — The acids vary during the several stages of vegetation — these are the oxalic, citric, rnalic, tartaric, gallic, acetic, Prussic, etc. Oxalic acid has been found by M. J>ey(^ux free in the hulls of the chickpea, and it has been extracted from the expressed juice of the plant; also found in the stalks and leaves of sorrel, and in the juice of all the varie- ties of»rhubarb, (Chaptal.) It is used in detecting the presence oi" lime, and its power of dissolving rapidly the oxide of iron makes it useful in stainpinrj cotton dotkn. "In this process the whole fabric is covered with a mordant of iron, which is after- ward removed by means of this acid combined with gum — so that the color applied adheres firmly only to those parts where the mordant has not been destroyed." It is also used in re- trioving ink spots from cloth. When under the tuition of M. liobin, in Paris, I have frequently examined the peculiar crys- tals in the several i>lants put under the microscopjj. The astringency of the root of the dock is due to tannic acid, and the acidulousncss of the leaves to tartaric acid and the bin- oxalate of potash. This is almost destroyed by drying, Wilson observes of the limnex acefosa, the "common dock " of England, which is closely related to our Ji. acetosclla, that it has been celebrated from very ancient times for its cooling, anti- scorbutic, diuretic and gratefully esculent projjcrties. The ex- pressed juice of its leaves, or a decoction of them in whey, affords a useful drink in cases of inflammatory fever, and the leaves themselves, eaten freely as a salad, cool the blood, and act as either a cure or a preventive of scurvy. It is also much used as a salad, and as a season for soups, broths, etc. Itural (Jyc. Now that we know the comj)osition of the juices of the sorrel we can well understand to what to ascribe its cooling and diuretic properties. There is an Italian proverb which says 408 that tho " sorrel always grows with the thistle " — the leaves of the first being particularly grateful when applied over parts irri- tated by the stings of the last. Our plant is not so useful as the English one. Mills, in his Statistics of S. C, states of tho narrow leaved dock " that the roots give to cloth, previously bleached, from a straw to a pretty fine olive and deep green color. The salt of lemon is prepared from the juice of the sorrel, dock or common sorrel. COMMON DOCK, (^Ru77iex obtitsifolms, L. Jiumex divaricatus, Ell.) Diftuscd; around buildings; introduced. "A decoction of its root is highly efficacious in obstinate cases of the kind of skin diseases called ichthyosis, and when taken in large quantity — as well, indeed, as the decoction of any of the fusiform dockroots — it acts as a purgative, in tho same manner as the poAvderor the tincture of Turkey rhubarb." Wilson's Rural Cyc. According to Eiegel, this plant contains a peculiar principle called 7-umicin. The leaves of most of the species are edible when young, and are occasionally used as spinach. They are somewhat laxative, and form an excellent diet in scorbutic cases. TJ. S. Disp. Our various species of Bumtw may, upon examination, be found to be capable of sup- plying the place of cathartics, when difficult to be obtained. DRAGON'S BLOOD, {Rumex sanguineKS, Walt.) Flora Carol. Grows around Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Dem. Elem. de Bot. 240. The root is astringent, stomachic and *ccoprotic. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 65. This and the seeds are used in dysentery and in wounds ; referred to in Mer. and do L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 136, as a mild astringent. Journal de Med. xxiii, 415. Dr. Wood, in the TJ. S. Disp. 606, says that it may be used indiscriminate!}' with the officinal. Ji^oncx Britannicus, Walt. Swamps and along streams. Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 606. P. persicaria, L. Introduced. Fla. and northward. The leaves are very acrid and pungent, and will vesicate the skin when ap- plied in a fresh state. It was considered by eminent authorities to be an admirable astringent, vulnerary' and febrifuge ; and Baglivi states that it is a specific in diseases of the kidneys and bladder — seldom prescribed. Griffith. The flowers and flower 409 tops may be used for tanning. Sco M, Dussaueo's Treatise on Tanning, 1867. WATER PEPPER; SMAPTWEED ; BITIXG KNOT WEED, (Polygonum hydropiperoidcs, Mx. Polygonum mite, Ph.) Grows in damp, rich soils; collected in St. John's, where it grows abundantly, observed in Charleston; Piichland ; Newborn. El. July. The P. acre of Kunth is P. punctatum of Ell. Sk. p:b. Mat. Med i, 441 ; U. S. Disp. 559; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 128; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 193; Ogier, in So. Journal Med. and Pharm. 1846 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 433. In the Bull. Plantes Ven. de France, 140, the young leaves are said to ease the pain of gout, and the decoction is used with great suc- cess for dissipating old ulcers. Dera. Elem. de Bot. iii, 267. The expressed juice is an excellent diuretic and is applied to putrid ulcers^ "aqua hujus stillatltia efficax est ad comminuendum calcu- him etiam vesicae." See Ray's Catalogus Plantarum, 230. This plant is, however, more remarkable for its power in amenorr- hoja. Eberle asserts that he employed it in twenty cases, and was never more successful. Dr. Ogier, of Charleston, S. C, has published cases in the journal alluded to above, confirming its value. One to two ounces of the strong infusion are given two or three times a day, or a tincture may be used. The juice of this plant is very acrid and caustic to the taste, and it is said to blister the skin. A friend informs me that he has repeat- edly found an ointment made with the leaves give immediate relief when applied to piles in an irritable and painful condition. Dr. Wilcox, of Elmira, N. Y., reports in the Am. J. Med. Sc. N. S. xvi, 248, that he derived advantage from using a decoction of the dried leaves, made in the proportion of an ounce to the pint, and applied locally in mercurial salivation and the sore mouth of nursing children. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. It is stated in the Flora Scotica, 207, that it is found a convenient and use- ful application for driving off flies from wounds, occurring on cattle for instance ; the decoction will dye a yellow color. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 71; Boyle, de Util. Philosoph. Nat. pt. ii, 69. This plant should be selected with care, as it differs but slightly from the P. mite and others, which possess no value. It may be distinguished by its burning taste, by the sharp, pellucid leaves and simple flower-stalk, with the stamens and pistil of 410 equal length. The stipules are long, truncated and fringed, with the margin and niidi-ib of the leaves slightly scabrous. A writer from Manchester, S. C, 1862, recommends the use of this plant in camp dysentery, thus : " Draw a strong tea and use instead of water, with or without sugar, hot or cold, as the patient may prefer. It may be drunk freely, having no un- pleasant effect. It may bo gathered and dried in the shade or used fresh. I am informed that this plant stupefies fish. KNOTGRASS, (PoJygomim avicidare, L.) Diff'used ; grows in pastures and yards; Richland; collected in St. John's; ob- served in the streets of Charleston; Newbern. Fl. July. Lind. Nat. Syst. 211 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M.Med, v, 440; TJ. S. Disp. 558. According to the Encyclopoedia the root is powert^illy astringent, and is used in diarrhtva and in uterine hemorrhage. Dem.de Bot. iii, 268; Linn. Yeg. M. Med. 72; Am. Herbal. 164. It is stated in the Supplem. to the Diet, do M. Mtki. 1846, 578, that Dr. Bourgoies announced, in 1840, that this plant was an excellent febrifuge, and was used in middle Africa and Algeria as a substitute for quinine, and furthermore, that the assertion was not doubted. Dr. Levat. Perroton, of Lyons, gives it as an excellent remedy for chronic diarrhcva, using a strong decoction for a month or more; he reports nine cases cured which bad resisted other plans of treatment. See Revue Medicale, Nov., 1845; Flor. Med. ii, 107. It has also been administered in hematemesis. This plant had some repu- tation in these diseases in former times. It was said to bo emetic and purgative, useful in hernia, and in arresting the vomiting of blood, and was regarded as an excellent vulnerary in moderating fluxes, diarrhiva and dysentery. CJritfith, in his Med. Bot. 546, observes that the emetic property so unusual in this genus is thought by De Candole to reside in the testa. Thunberg, in his " Voyage," mentions that in Japan the}' ob- tain a color from it similar to that from indigo. As the leaves of F. hispidum are said b}- Humboldt to be substituted in S. America for tobacco, the leaves of some of our species should bo tested with this view. Polyyoniun poUjgama, Vent, and Malt. Polygonum parvifolia, Mx. Grows in sandy pine barrens; Richland District. Big. Am. Med. Hot. iii, 12!) ; U. S. Disp. 558. In small doses it ill iH tonic ; in lar^e laxative and diaphoretic. Bigclow says tlio infuHion is uhcIuI in imparting tone to the digcHtive organs. Polygonum, convolvulus and scandens, L. Grow in dry soil and puHtu res ; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fi. August. Griffith's Med. Bot. 517. " Tho seeds closely resemble buck- wheat, afid may be substituted for them." BUCK WHEAT, (Polygonum fogopyrurn.) Cultivated in the Southern States. JllIUBAIiB, (Rheum palmatum Sind ern/jdii.) Ex. I insert this plant and Beta here, I hope correctly, being un- able at this time to assure myself of their place in the Natural system. The cultivation of rhubarb, rosemary, sage, rue, cham- omile and many other medicinal plants, is briefly described in the Patent Office Reports, 1854. See, also, seven articles in the " Bath papers, vol. 1," giving an account of the mode of culture in England. The superiority of foreign rhubarb is by some as- cribed to a better mode of drying. Rural Cyc. See a paper translated by E. G. Smith, in Patent OflSce Reports, 1848, p. 604, for varieties, mode of cultivation and relative value, also, med- ical authors. In Patent Office Reports, 1855, p. 25, is an ai-ticle on the culti- vation of the medicinal rhubarb, (H. palmatum.) " In the middle and cooler parts of the United States the seeds may be sown in March in a gentle hot-bed, and when the roots are an eighth of an inch in diameter they may be carefully drawn up, preserving the tap-root, and planted in a fine, rich and deep soil," etc., etc. In the Middle and Southern States, if planted in the spring, they thrive in the open air. They should be shaded from very hot weather, and continually watered. They are, however, in- jured by a superabundance of moisture. In the month of Au- gust, or before, the seed -stalks should be cut off, which ought always to be done on the withering of the radical leaves and *^he crowns of the plants should then be covered with mould in the form of a hillock. The largest specimens of this drug have generally been allowed to grow six or seven years. The roots are then very large, sometimes weighing from thirty to fifty pounds. The Chinese take up their rhubarb in winter, as they then contain the entii'e juice and virtue of the plant. They are •U2 cut transvorsoly into piooos of modorato size, unci this should not bo dehvyod. Those are thon phu'oil on long tablos or boards, and turned throo or four tiiuos a day, in order that the yellow, viscid juice may incorporate with the substance of the root. They are thon hung up to dry, exposed to the air and wind, but sheltered from the sun. Thus in about two months the roots are completely cured. Much loss in weight occurs in drying. Those interested in the culture of rhubarb will tind an excel- lent account of the success with which it was raised in Kiighmd, ofgootl quality, in Thornton's Family Herbal. Consult Pereira's Materia Medica, and other treatises on the subject. The impor- tation of rhubarb into the Confetlerate States during the war was enormous, and it comnnindoii a very high price. The greatest ditterence exists in the quality of the roots. Turkey rhubarb imported from l?ussia is the best. I will state in pass- ing that the Keport for lSr)5 also contains notices of the best mode of cultivating many other medicinal plants — such as the rhatany, gall-nut oak, Iceland moss, liquorice, quassia, senna, gum arabic, etc. BEET; MANGEL-WUKZEIi, {Beta vuhjaris.) Introduced. Vinajdr having been quite important to us in the recent war, I inserted the following n\ethod which will enable us to supply the place of imju^rtod vinegar: The juice of one bushel of beet, which is easily obtained, will make from tive to six gallons of vinegar, equal to the best made of elder wine. Wash and grate the beets and express the juice in a cheese-press, or in any other way which a little Ingenuity can suggest; put the liquor iuto a baiTcl, cover the bung with gau7,e and sot it in the sun and in tifteen or twenty days it will be fit for use. The best vinegar is thus made. Boston Cultivator. The saccharine matter of course soon takes on the acid fermentation. So the ripe fig, the skins, etc., added to vinegar, increases largely the amount, and large quantities can thus bo easily made with the retuse or over-ripe tigs, which are read}* to be converted into vinegar. The juice of the watermelon can no doubt bo as easily converted into vinegar or boiled down into a syrup like molasses. The following is the ordinary process of extracting Su(jar from the beet: the roots are ivduced to a pulp by pressing them between two rough cylinders. The pulp is then put into 4Vi ba^H, aii'l the Hap it contairiH Ih prcHHcd out, 'J'hc lif^iior in then Ijoilc'l, and the t-uccAnirlwa mattor pfccipitatcd hy quick-lirnc. 'I'hc lifjiior Ih now poured off, and to the reKiduuni \h added a Holution of Hulphuric aeid, and again hoiied. The lime united with the aeid in got rid of by Ktraining, and the liquor iw then gently evaporated, or left to granulate .slowly, after whieh it in ready for undergoing tlie eommon proeeHH of refining raw Hugars. The Freneh manufacturerH have acquired ho much ex- perience, addH WilHon, that from every one hundred poundb of beet they exti-aet twelve poundH of Hugar in the short npace of twelve hourH. The .Silenian or white beet iH said to be the most profitable. "^J'he reader interchted in preparation of sugar from cane or beet may consult JiouHsingault'H Jtural ChemJBtry, Law'w Ed. 12.'>, 1857, Ure'H Diet, of ArtH and ManufafHures, VVil.son'H Rural Cjclopoidia, and Chaptal'H Chemistry applied to Agri- culture. In France the Hame land from which the beet ban been cut is planted in wheat with advantage to the latter. Ah the cultivation of the beet may be undertaken at no dis- tant day, I inHert this brief plan by a correspondent of the Southern Field and Fireside: I will give you my plan of plant- ing and culture of beets. In the first j)laee I have ray ground broken up deeply ; then I have the ground covered over with Htable manure; have it plowed in tolerably deep; level the ground with a hoe or rake; hen-house manure is scattered over the ground ; hoe it in deep with a grubbing-hoe ; level it again ; lay off the rows eighteen inclies apart, and the hills one foot apart; and then they will grow without any trouble. In cul- tivating them I have the grass and weeds cut up between the rows. 1 have raised beets on the above plan that weighed five and six pounds apiece. It has been observed that beets containing sugar frequently underwent a change during winter, by whieli the sugar entirely disappeared, and "was replaced by salfprdre." Chaptal. HV^A.-(iliAVE, ( Coccoloba uvi/era,JiiC(i.) South Florida, along the coast. Chapman. This and 6'. Flori'lana furnish an as- tringent gum resin similar to kino, called Jamaica-Kino. M. Uussauce, in his "Treatise on the Arts of Tanning, Currying and Leather Dressing," Philada. and London, 1867, states that the >S'. American. Caraccas or Columbia kino is derived from 414 this plant whicli also grows in S. Anierica. The juices or sap of the boot, maple and oak also afford tannin. C. Floridana also grows in Florida. The fruit of some, though very astringent, is eaten by the natives; and the wood of the tallest and bulkiest is used as timber. Wilson's Rural Cye. MENISPEEMACE.E. (TAe Cocculus Tribe.) MOON-SEED; YELLOW PARILLA ; YELLOW SARSA- PARILLA, {Meimpcrmum Canadense, L.) Ell. never saw it, but thinks that it grows in the mountains. Dr. Gray determines a specimen sent from St. John's, Charleston District, by U. W. Ravenel, Esq., to be this. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 1275. It is said to be much used in Virginia by physicians ; an^ in domestic practice, as a substitute for sursa- parilla, in scrofulous and cutaneous affections. Ryddel, in his Synops. West. States, says that the roots are tonic, alterative and diuretic. Griffith, Med. Bot. 103. It is also employed by the vegetable practitioners. See Howard's Imp. Syst. Bot. Med. 334. Said to be laxative and tonic, and used in debility and in giving tone to the stomach and nervous s^'stom. It is closely allied to Columbo. Mr. Maisch has determined that berherina and a colorless alkaloid are among its constituents. Am. J. Pharm., July, 18G3; U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. PYROLACEiE. {The Winter-green Tribe.) SPOTTED WINTER-GREEN, (Chimaphila maculata, Pursh ; Pijrola maculata, Linn.) Shaded soils; diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. i, 313; Eberle, Mat. Med, ii, 321 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 505 ; Eat. Man, Bot. 240 ; Bell's Pract, Diet. 128; Mitchell's Inaug. Thesis, 1803; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 320; Pc. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 380; U. S. Disp. 208 ; Bart, Collec, ii, 21 ; Lind, Nat, Syst. Bot. 219; U. S. Disp. 207; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 281. See C. umbellata. "Every part of the plant is possessed of considerable activity ;" and it is very valuable as a diuretic in dropsy. See Mitchell's Thesis, and Dr. Summerville's paper in Lond. Med, Chirurg, Trans, vol. V. It is particularly useful in those cases attended with disor- dered digestion and general debility, for in these its tonic prop- 415 orticH and general acceptability to the stomach prove liighly useful auxiliaricH to its diuretic powers. It has been Huccess- fully administered in ascites, in dysuria and ischuria, gravel, stangnry, Iia;tnaturia, acute rheumatism, and in various inter- mittent disorders. The Indians considered it of universal efficacy; but emplo^'cd it particularly in nephritic, scrofulous and rheumatic disorders. Dr. Wood, in the U. S. Disp., states that it does prove of benefit in obstinate, ill-conditioned ulcers, and cutaneous eruptions supposed to be connected with a strumous diathesis : used both internal!}'' and locally as a wash. The decoction and watery extract are employed. A popular prejudice has existed against this plant; it has received the name of poison pipsissewa; and Mitchell considered it inert; but its resemblance to the winter-green, Griffith thinks, should make us question the correctness of this opinion. L^ times of war when there is need for tonics aind diuretics, in dropsy, or swelling following low and protracted fevers among our soldiers, no plant will be found more serviceable than the pipsissewa. It is aromatic, tonic and diuretic. It can be easily collected in shady woods, in almost every part of our Southern country. The black alder {Alnus serrulata) is also an astringent diuretic. The catkins or flowerets, dissolved in whiskey, is a domestic remedy in South Carolina — relied on by many, Dr. E. Moore infoj'ms me, in gonorrhea in place of copaiba. Pills of pine gum are given together with it. PIPSISSEWA; WINTEK-GIIEEN ; GROUND HOLLY, (^Chimaphila umbellatn, Nutt.) North Carolina and northward. Both the C. umbeUata and macxdata are used. Dr. Thompson says of the P. umbeUata: "It is diuretic and tonic. It has been given successfully in ascites, after digitalis and other diur- etics had failed ; and has also proved serviceable in acute rheu- matism and intermittents. It produces an agreeable sensation in the stomach soon after it is swallowed; increases the appe- tite, and acts powerfully on the kidneys." The whole plant is decocted. One of these plants may be used extemporaneously among troops for its combined tonic and diuretic properties, associated with astringency. Its uses consequently are obvious in the convalescence from fevers. It can be found in high woods near 416 almost every locality where a regiment is pitched. See '' Eupa- toriuvi,^' "Persimmon," "Dogwood," etc. In a pamphlet issued from the Surgeon-General's office it is stated that the C. maculata "is not to be gathered, as it is infe- rior." The decoction of either plant is made with the bruised » herb one ounce, water three half pints ; boil to one pint ; one pint to be given in the twenty-four hours, in divided doses. Pereira refers to both species as being useful. The decoction has been much used in scrofula. I have found the pipsissewa particularly serviceable as a tonic diuretic in the convalescence from scarlet fever, having used it largely in an epidemic which prevailed among a large number of negroes, (1862.) They were treated with chlorate of potash, Tincture of Bark and Mur. Tinct. of Iron, followed by the decoction of the plant with tincture of bark as a stimulant. I have also found it to act most beneficially in that pallid, anaemic, quasi dropsical state, particularly as it occurs in delicate children after they have passed through an attack of malarial fever — where this condition is met with in those with the strumous diathesis this plant will be found to act remarkably well. This plant has also been employed as a substitute for uva ursi. See Chemical Analysis in Journ. of Med. Coll. Pharm. March, 1860^ Prof. Proctor prepares a syrup and he suggests a fluid extract. See U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Pyrola rotundifolia. Grows in South Carolina. See Chima- phila. MONOTROPACE^. F V£ -HOOT, (Monotropa uniflor a.) Grows in roads; attached to roots; collected in St. John's; Newbern. This is used by the steam practitioners. See Howard's Impr. Syst. Bot. Med. 339. EEICACE^. (The Heath Tribe.) Generally astringent and diuretic. Andromeda mariana, L. Dry soils. Eichland ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. May and July. U. S. Disp. 1238 ; Mer and de L. Diet de M. Med. i, 289 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 84 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 156. It is employed in do- mestic practice ; a remedy for herpes. The decoction is used 417 as a stimulating wash for ulcers and ground itch, to which no- groea are liable. The honey which bees extract from this is slightly poisonous. See Nicholson's Journal, 163. TETTER BUSH, {Andromeda nitida, Walt.) Grows in damp, pine land, bogs; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; N. C. Fl. April. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 483. A decoction of the leaves of this also is used in the cure of itch. The young branches, de- prived of their pith, form good pipe-stems, see Cliftonia ; and the bark, with copperas, yields a purple dye. Upon examina- tion I find that the leaves contain a great deal of tannin. See " Liqiiidambar," sweet-gum, for detail of experiments. SOUE-WOOD; SORREL TREE, (Andromeda arborea, L. O.vydendron arboreum, D. C.) Diffused; grows in upper districts S. andN. C. I collected it in St. John's, and Spaitan burg Dis- trict, S. C. UTS. Disp. 1227. The leaves, when chewed, allay thirst. A decoction of the bark and leaves is also given as a tonic. Leucothea acuminata, Andromeda acum,inata. Fla. Blufk Swamp, S. C; very ornamental. Dr. J. H. Mellichamp, of Blufion, writes me: "This is the true 'Ti-ti.' The best pipe stems arc made from this shrub." See Cliftonia. Andromeda speciosa, Mich. Vicinity of Charleston. Bach. U. S. Disp. 1228. It is said to be a powerful errhine. Mr. Curtis in his catalogue applies the name " pepper bush " to ^i. ligustriyia. Andromeda angustifolia, Ph. Vicinity of Charleston. Griffith, Med. Bot. 223. This and the A. mariana are said to be poisonous to sheep. These should be examined for narcotic properties. WHITE ALDER, (Clethra alnifolia, L. C. tomentosa, Lam.) Abundant in wet pine lands and swamps throughout the South- ern States. Upon careful examination with reagents of the leaves of the plant, I find tannin in great amount. I recommend it with the leaves of sweet-gum, myrtle, etc., as a substitute for oak bark in tanning leather. See " Liquidambar " for detail of experiments. TRAILING ARBUTUS; GROUND LAUREL; MAY- FLOWER, {Epiga'a repens, L.) Fla. and northward. Chap. 27 418 The flowers are fragrant. Dr. Darlington (Flora Cestr.) states that the plant has been supposed to be injurious to cattle when eaten by them. Dr. Eli Ives, of Connecticut, furnishes Dr. Wood with the following account: It has been freely used for some years in diseases of the urinary organs and of the pelvic viscera generally, particularly of irritated action in cases in which the uva ursi and buchu are indicated. The leaves and stems are ad- ministered in the same doses. It has given relief where the others have failed. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Prof. Gross in his work on the urinary organs, p. 172, ascribes the same properties to this plant. He says : " The best form of exhibition is a strong decoction prepared with one ounce of the dried leaves to a pint of water, of which a large wineglassfulmay betaken every three or four hours." SPICY WINTEE-GEEEN ; PAETE1DGE-BEEEY;M0UN- TAIN-BEEEY, {Gaultheria procumbens, Ph.) Grows in the mountains of South and North Carolina, Dr. MacBride ; New- bern. Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 345; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 29; Lind. Nat. Sj^st. Bot. 221; Bart. M. Bot. i, 178; Kalm, Amoen. Acad, iii, 14 ; Bart. Collcc. i, 19 ; Eaf. Med. Fl. i, 202 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 425. The whole plant is aromatic. It possesses stimulant aromatic proj)- erties, united with astringency ; hence used with advantage in some forms of chronic dysentery. It is said to have also some anodyne power The infusion of the leaves has been found bene- ficial in amenorrhoea attended with debility, and in promoting the mammary secretion when deficient. In the Eevolutionry war it was used as a substitute for tea. The berries, which are aromatic and pleasant, are emploj^ed to flavor spirituous liquors. An infusion of them in brandy is a convenient and useful sub- stitute for the ordinary bitters. An essential oil is obtained from the leaves by distillation. From Mr. Proctor's examina- tion, (Am. Joui'nal Pharm. viii, 211; and ix, 241,) it is shown to possess acid properties, and to have the same composition as the salicilate of methylene. It is one of the heaviest of the essential oils, having a specific gravity 1.173, with a burning, aromatic taste, mixing with alcohol or ether in all proportions. This is found also in the Betula lenta, some of the Spirceas, in the Poly- gala lutea, etc. It is applied with good eff'ect to diminish the sensibility of nerves affected by carious teeth, and to disguise the taste and smell of nauseous medicines. 419 MOUNTAIN" LAUREL ; WILD ROSEBAY, {Rhododendron maximum, L.) Grows among the mountains. Fl. July. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 221. " It is well known to be possessed of poisonous properties." Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 75 Employed with success in chronic rheumatism, gout, and glan- dular enlargements. The petioles act as a sternutatory. Coxe, Am. Disp. 526 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 103. It is a resinous as- tringent, the leaves containing tannin ; but its supposed poisonous , narcotic power is doubted by some, as Bigelow swallowed an entire leaf, and no bad effects resulted. B. S. Barton, however, in his Collections, i, 18, says it is certainly poisonous. The brown powder attached to the foot-stalks possesses considerable power as an errhine. The purple variet}'^, one of the most beautiful, grows in South Cai'olina. A writer under the signature of "Cunio," communicates the following to the " Atlanta Commonwealth," 1861 : " Wood for Engraving. — Upon the authority of Mr. Charles Foster, long known as a wood engraver at Nashville, Tennessee, many years since, I can state that the wood of the R. maximum, or mountain laurel, as well as its confrere, Kalmia latifolia, known by every farmer as poison ivy, are equalled only by the best boxwood, the former of which abounds on every mountain from Mason and Dixon's line to North Georgia that has a rocky branch." I had reported the K. latifolia in my Sketch of the Medical Botany of South Carolina, as "possessing a wood much used for mechanical purposes, being hard and dense." See Ame- lanchier for substitutes for boxwood, which is costly. Rhododendron punctatum, L. and Ph. Grows at the head branches of rivers in South Carolina and Georgia; "Tugoloo branches of the Savannah." Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 75 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 428. A stimulant and astringent. Michaux says it furnishes to bees a deleterious honey. CALICO BUSH ; IVY BUSH, {Kalmia latifolia, L.) Grows along rivers in upper districts; S. and N. C. ; Richland, Gibbes; at Sister's Ferry; Savannah River; Aiken, S. C. Fl. July, Drayton's View of South Carolina, 69 ; Ell. Bot. i, 481 ; U. S. Disp. 1269 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 133 ; Kalm's Travels, i, 335; Barton's Coll. i, 18, 48; and ii, 26; Tbacher's Disp. 247; Thomas' Inaug. Diss., Raf. ii, 16; Griffith, Med. Bot. 528. The 420 leaves are poisonous and narcotic, and animals have been poi- soned by eating them. It is said that death has been occasioned by eating the t!esh of partridges and pheasants that had fed on them. Dr. Shoemaker publishes two cases, (see N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journal, see U. S. Disp.,) which resulted from eating a pheasant, in the craw of which laurel leaves were found. The symptoms are nausea, temporary blindness, pain in the head, dyspnoea, cold extremities and a very feeble pulse, which in one case was for some time absent at the wrist; in the other, beat only forty strokes in the minute. In both cases relief was atforded by vomiting produced by a tablespoonful of flour of mustard mixed with warm water. A case of similar poisoning is related in the Edinburgh Med. J., May, 1856, in which epi- gastric tension and uneasiness, glowing heat of the bead, loss of sight, coldness of the extremities, general prostration and twitchings of the muscles were the prominent sj'mptoms, fol- lowed by nausea and full vomiting, which afforded some relief But feelings of formication and weakness of the limbs, with great prostration of the circulation, remained for several hours requiring the use of stimulants. See U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. ' Thomas, in Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1802, reports cases of obstinate diarrha?a cured by a decoction, thirt}' drops being taken four times a da}". The leaves have been advantageously used in syphilis, and extensively api)lied in tinea, psora and cutaneous affections. Dr. Barton states that nervous symptoms have re- sulted from the external use of the sti'ong decoction, thirty drops taken internally six times a day producing vertigo. Dr. Bigelow detected in the leaves taimin, a resinous matter and gum. Besides these, Dr. Stabler finds a volatile oil of a nar- cotic odor and nauseous smell, supposed to be the active princi- ple: see Am. Journal of Pharm. x, 241 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 428. From these experiments of Dr. S. he determines it to be a direct arterial sedative, without any acrid or narcotic property' ; hence he supposes it suitable to cases of hypertrophy of heart and other diseases, Avhen it is necessary to decrease the action of that organ ; and from the tannin present that it is peculiarly fitted for cases of hemorrhage, dysentery, etc. He proposes that two ounces of the leaves be macerated in a pint of alcohol for a week and then strained, the dose of which for an adult is thirty drops ever}^ two or three hours. If these observations 421 are confirmed it will give tho plant a high reputation as a scda tive, and attention is invited to it. The wood is much used for mechanical purposes, l>ein<^ hard and dense. Kalmia hirsuta, Walt. Grows in wet pine barrens; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 48.^. The leaves are used by negroes, and the poor white people, as a cure for itch, and lor the mange in dogs. A strong decoction is applied warm to the eruptions, which occasions much smarting; and it seldom requires more than one application to effect a cure. iSHKJ^jP LAUllEL, (Kalmia arif/ustifolia, L.) Barren hills; upper districts N. and S. C. Chapman. The leaves of the Kalmia (jangustifolia?) exude a sweet, honey- like juice, which is said when swallowed to bring on a mental intoxication both formidable in its symptoms and long in its dur^ion, (Torrey.) In this it appears closely to resemble the Armeyiian azalea, (Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life, vol. ii, p. 157.) About Long Island the K. angustifolia is believed to kill sheep, and is known by the name of sheep poison. Tho Azalea pojitica, a kindred shrub, is said to be the source of the narcotic quality for which the Trebizond honey is famous. VACCINACEyE. (The Bilberry Tribe.) Bark and leaves are astringent, slightly tonic and stimulating AMERICAN CRANBERRY, (Vaccinium macrocarpon, Ait. Oxycoccos.) Grows in swamps of North Carolina and north- ward. The cranberry, useful for their ascesccnt, cooling properties, for making pies, etc., are now exported to Europe, and they are said to bring eight dollars a bushel in the London market, as they are easily transported without suffering from the voyage. They are cultivated on boggy or swampy land, sand being thrown over it to kill the grass. There is a communication in the Patent Office Reports, 1857, on the mode of cultivation of the plant. Cranberries may be preserved perfect for several years merely by drying them a little in the sun, and then put- ting them up closely in clean bottles. Thej' also keep well in fresh water. The red-fruited variety yields a juice which has been employed to stain paper or linen purple. 422 FAECLB-BEERY; SPAEKLBBEERY, {Vaccinnm arhoreum, Marsh.) Grows in damp soils; diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; N. C. Fl. May. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 496 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 431. The bark of the root is very stringent, and is einploj^ed in diarrhoea and bowel complaints. The leaves also are astringent, and a decoc- tion, as tea, is given in diarrhoea and dysentery, and as a wash in sore mouth ; the fruit is more palatable and equally as effica- cious. The bark is also used for tanning. The root and bark are very much used as an astringent in Sumter District, S. C, given in the form of tea to children affected with diarrhoea from teething, simplj^ because it contains tannin, I suppose, like the chinquapin, oak bark, etc. It is very much relied upon. The root is sometimes stewed in milk and given the same way. Most of the species possess qualities similar to this one. Some of those at the South bear fruit which are very pleasant to the taste, and commonly known as huckleberries. I regard the wood as uncommonly hard and close. A cordial is made from " Whirtleberries," says a writer, 1863; " to one quart of berries add half a pint of water, boil until tender and strain. To one quart of juice add half a pint of brandy. It must be well sweetened with loaf sugar." PEIMULACEiE. {The Primrose Tribe.) More remarkable for beautj' and fragra^ce than for their sen- sible properties. EBD CIIICKWBBD ; SCAELET PIMPEENEL, iAnagallis arvcnsis, L.) Nat. on Sullivan's Island. Collected in St. John's ; N. C. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 1227 ; Le. Mat. Med. i, 80 ; Mer. and de L. Diet. dc M. Med. i, 276 ; Orfila, Toxicologic, ii, 275; Woodv. Med. Bot. Mem. Acad. Eoyal de Med. 18 Mars. ann. 1226. The flow- ers close at the approach of rain, and occasions the plant to be called the "poor-man's weather-glass." Eural Cyc. This plant enjoyed great reputation at one time, and was said to possess sudorific, vulnerary, anti-epilectic and anti-hydro- phobic virtues. Woodvillc states that it is acrid and poisonous. It was considered very valuable for the bite of serpents, but more particularly in hydrophobia, given in the form of powder 423 in doses of two drachms. See the reports to the Econ, Soc, Berne; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 124. Milne, in his Ind. Bot. 260, asserts that it was frequently successful even after dangerous symptoms had supervened ; and the great Hoffman yielded to this opinion. It "really possesses highly energetic powers, for Orfila destroyed a dog by making him drink three drachms of the extract." Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 224. It is used as a local application in ill-conditioned ulcei's, and internally in visceral obstructions, dropsy, epilepsy and mania. Mr. J, A. Heinzelman obtained a small quantity of volatile oil from the dried herb, four drops of which produced intense headache and nausea, which continued for twenty-four hours with pains throughout the body. U. S. Disp., 12Lh Ed. BROOKWEED, {Samolus valerandi, L.) Vicinity of Charles- ton; grows in morasses; collected in St. John's, Charleston Dis- trict.' Fl. June. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 201 ; Journal Gen. de Med. Hi, 413; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 121. Lemery says it is an anti- scorbutic, aperient and vulnerary. SAPOTACEiE. (The Sapotilla Tribe.) lEONWOOD, {Bumelia lycioides, Ell, Sk.) Vicinity of Charles- ton; very rare in St. John's Berkeley; N. C. Fl. June. Griffith Med. Bot. 441. The bark is said to be austere, and to be useful in bowel complaints. The tree is classed by some, with the persimmon, under the " ebony tribe" — the wood being characterized bj' great density and hardness. Mimusops Sieberi, A. Dc. S. Fla. Chap. This tree or shrub should be examined. The East Indian species yield a gum from the bark and an oil from the seeds, the latter used in painting and in facilitating parturition. EBENACEJE. (The Ebony Tribe.) Wood generally hard and black. PERSIMMON, {Diospyros Virginiana.) Diffused ; grows abun- dantly in both upper and lower districts. Fl. March. Coxe, Am. Disp. 259; U. S. Disp. 302; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 135 ; Am. Journal Med. Sc, N. S. iv, 297 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 657 ; Ann. Chim. de Montp. xxiv, 247 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 510; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 227; Griffith Med. Bot. 424 436. An astringent and styptic. The inner bark is used in in- termittent fever, in diarrhoea, and with alum as a gargle in ul- cerated sore throat. The powdered bark can be used wherever an astringent is required. The unripe fruit is exceedingly as- tringent; employed while fresh, or dried in the sun and pow- dered, it is very valuable in diarrhoea, chronic dysentery and uterine hemorrhage. It forms a convenient and useful prescrip- tion for those residing in the country, made into pills or in the shape of a spirituous tincture. Mr. B. Smith found that the green fruit contained tannin, sugar, malic acid, and woody fibre ; the first disappears and the others increase as it rij^ens. (Am. Journal Pharm. xii, 157.) The juice, in the unripe state, is said to be preferable to oak bark for tanning; and a black dye may be extracted from it. The fruit, when matured, is very sweet and pleasant to the taste and yields on distillation after fermen- tation a quantity of spirits; a beer is made of it, and mixed with flour, a pleasant bread. I have used the wood for engraving. Every tree of slow growth seems to me have a dense and hard wood, because the rings are close together, though the consis tence of the interspaces varies in difl:erent plants. See ''Amc- lanchier" Persimmon bark with iron 3'ield8 a dye, the color depending on thg mordant used. See " JRhus;" also Treatises on Calico printing and on Dyeing, Ure's Diet, of Arts and Manu- factures and Wilson's Eural Cyc. Processes are there described. Upon testing for tannin the leaves of the persimmon I find very little, but a great deal in the unripe fruit. See detail of experi- ments under swce(-gura, ^^ Liquiclambar." The tannic acid in the unripe fruit has been ascertained by Mr. J. E. Bryan, (Am. J. Ph. xxxii, 215,) not to be of the kind existing in galls and oak bark. The fact that tannin is a glucoside, observes Dr. Wood, may throw some light on the rapid and complete change which the fruit undergoes from astringency to sweetness during ma- turation. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Dr. Mettaner used the infus. syrup and vinous tincture of the bruised unripe fruit in diarr- hoea, chronic dysentery and uterine hemorrhage. U. S. Disp. A variety of persimmons are occasionally met with in Sumter District, S. C, with fruit almost twice the ordinary size. They were found near Claremont and the river. I have known of a large fruited variety from Cooper Eiver also. Ale can be made with the different species of gentian also, and in England they 425 UPC G. lidea and purpurea as substitutes for hops. The persim- mon should be used in eamps as an astrinj^ent. See " Cas- tanea." To Make Persimmon Beer. — Gather the persimmons perfectly ripe and free from any roughness. Work them into large loaves with bran enough to make them consistent ; bake them so thoroughly that tlie cake may be brown and dry throughout, but not burned. Thc}^ are then fit for use. But if you keep them any time it will be necessary to dry them frequently in an oven moderately warm. Of these loaves broken into a coarse powder, take eight bushels. Pour on them forty gallons of cold water, and after two or three days draw it off; boil it as other beer, adding a little hops. This makes a very strong beer. 8ee Thornton's Southern Gardener, p. 138. W. Gilmore Simms, Esq., writes me word that the pei-simmon beer manufactured in (Jran^eburg JJistrict, S. C, by the lion. J. il. Feldei-, equalled the best sparkling "Jersey Champagne." The latter is gene- rally made of apples, and is a species of carbfjnated cider. See " ApplciS," "H<'ps," "Sassafras," for method of manufacturing useful liquors. The following is from the Southern Cultivator and was pub- lished during the war: Persimmon Beer. — The best persimmons ripen soft and sweet, having a clear, thin, transparent skin, Avithout any rongh taste. Most animals fatten on them ; the chicken, duck, turkey, goose, dog, hog, sheep and cow all eat them greedily. The fruit, when mashed and strained through a coarse wire sieve, makes de- lightful bread, pies and pudding. When kneaded with wheat bran, and well baked in an oven, the bread may be put away for winter use in making beer, and used when wanted. The following is one of the \QTy best receipts for making the beer: Sweet ripe persimmons, mashed and strained, one bushel ; wheat bran, one half bushel. Mix well together and bake in loaves of convenient size ; break them in a clean barrel, and add twelve gallons of water and two or three ounces of hops. Keep the barrel in a warm room. As soon as fermentation subsides, bottle off the beer, having good long corks, and place the bottles in a low temperature, and it will keep and improve for twelve months. This Ijeer, when properly made, in a warm room,isan exquisitely delightful beverage, containing no alcohol, and is to 426 the connoisseur of temperate taste not inferior to the fermented juice of the vine. The ordinary way of making it is more simple, and the drink is relished heartily by most persons : a layer of straw is put in the bottom of the cask, on which a sufficient quantity of fruit, well mashed, is laid, and the cask then filled with water. It should stand in a warm room, and if the weather is cold, fer- mentation will be promoted by occasionally putting a warm brick or stone in the barrel. The addition of a few honey lo- custs, roasted sweet potatoes, or apple peelings, will make the beer more brisk. Wheat bran always improves the quality. A syrup made with unripe persimmons boiled in sugar is rec- ommended as a portable and useful astringent to be used by soldiers in camp to prevent dysenteries and diarrhoeas. I ap- pend the following which appeared during the war in the jour- nals of the daj' : " We find in an old magazine an account of an experiment in distilling brandy from persimmons, which may be interesting. The writer prepared the persimmons in the same way as peaches are usually prepared for the still, and the result of the experi- ment was an average of one gallon of proof spirits, of an agree- able flavor, for each bushel of the persimmons." Palatable syrup is made of the persimmon. The persimmons ai'e mixed with wheat bran, baked in pones, next crushed and put in vessels, water poured on, and all allowed to stand twelve hours. Strain and boil to the consistency of molasses. A writer saj^s : " I have been using persimmon syrup for ten years past, for dysentery, and am persuaded that it has no equal as a remedy for that troublesome disease. It is a simple, harm- less and effective astringent. It is made of persimmons before they are quite ripe. They should be mashed up, put into boiling water, and then strained through a coarse cloth. This rough juice may be preserved in sugar or syrup. If soldiers in camp would adopt this remedy, many long cases of chronic dysentery might be prevented." The ripe fruit of the persimmon, May-apples, figs, etc., are also useful with a basis of molasses or honey in making vinegar. A good vinegar, very much like, and equal to, white wine vinegar, is made as follows: Three bushels of ripe persimmons, three gallons of whiskey, 427 and twent}^ -seven gallons of water. To those who cau get the persimmons, the vinegar thus produced will be relatively cheap, even at any price which the most elastic conscience can ask for the spirits. Indelible Ink. — Green persimmons, say twelve of them, mash them, pour on water enough to cover them. Boil over a slow fire but not too much, add in a small piece of copperas. This ink will not change color and cannot be washed or rubbed out. The bloom of the persimmon and chinquapin is said to be de- structive to hogs. SWEET-LEAF, (Hopea tinctoria, L.) Diffused ; grows spar- ingly in the low countr}' ; vicinity of Charleston, collected in vSt. John's Berkeley; Ward swamp; New^bern. Fl. May. Griffith Med. Bot. 437. The root is esteemed a valuable sto- machic. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 177. Its leaves afford a yel- low dye ; they are sweet and pleasant to the taste, and are eaten by cattle. Major J. Le Conte informs me that the leaves and root are much used in Georgia, in syphilitic and scrofulous affections. Mills, in his Statistics of South Carolina, states that Captain Felder, of Orangeburg, S. C, procured a paste from this plant, and those of the yellow Indigo, "a species of Cassia," for which heobtained one guinea per pound during the Revolutionary war Dr. Edward Jenkins informs me that he has used a decoction of the root in diseases of the kidney, with advantage. It appears to possess a narcotic property, and is serviceable in painful and ir- ritable conditions, where the renal organs are involved. This does not seem to be the genus Hopea belonging to the order Dipteracece, which furnishes such valuable resins. STYRACACB^. {Styrax Tribe.) Styrax. Several species grow in the Southern States, but none are medicinal, so far as I can ascertain. It is well known that storax and benzoin are furnished by some of them. Symplocos tinctoria, L'Her. Low woods and banks of streams. Florida to North Carolina and westward. (Chap.) The dyer's or laurel-leaved species, under the name of yellow wood or sweet-leaf, is used for yielding a yellow dj^e. Eural Cyc. See "Hopea." 428 AQUIFOLIACB.E. {The Holly Tribe.) These are generally astringent. BLACK ALDER; WINTER-BEERY, (llexverticillata, Gray. Frinos veiiicillatus, L.) Damp soils. Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 874; Wild Spec. Plantarum, 275; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 15 ; Barton's Med. Bot. i, 203. The berries and bark are tonic and astringent, and are used in intermittent fevers, diarrhoeas, and diseases connected with a debilitated state of the system, especially gangrene and mortification. It is a popular remedy in ill-conditioned ulcers, chronic cutaneous diseases, administered internally and locally as a wash. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 229. " The bark and berries possess in an emi- nent degree the properties of the vegetable astringents and tonics, combined with anti-septic powers highly spoken of." They are extensively pi-escribed in some parts of the country in diarrhoea, and as a corroborant in dropsy. The leaves are (,'mi)loyed as a substitute for tea. The plant was used by the Indians. It may betaken in substance, in doses of thirty grains to a drachm, to be repeated, or a decoction made with two ounces of the bark to three pints of water, of which three ounces may be taken several times a day. A saturated tincture of the bark and berries has also been used. Bigelow did not speak highly of this plant, but W. P. C. Barton extols it and recommends it to the profession, having employed it on several occasions. Dr. Meara, in the Phil. Med. Museum ; Griffith Med. Bot. 434; Coxe's Am. Disp. 500. INKBERRY, {Ilex glaber, Gray. Prims glaber, L.) Grows in damp soils, along bays; Richland District; collected in St. John's. PI. May. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 229; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 53. The leaves are employed as a tea. The plant probably possesses properties similar to those of the other. Upon chemi- cal examination I find very little tannin in the leaves. See sweet-gum {Liquidambar) for detail of experiments. I am in- formed that the " Ilex, or Prinos glaber,'^ was much used in Wilmington, N. C, during the war in cases of intermittent fever. HOLLY, {Ilex opaca, L.) Diffused ; in rich soils ; Newbern. Fl. May. Griffith Med. Bot. 432; U. S. Disp. 1263. I am informed by 420 gentlemen who have used this plant that the decoction of the bark of the root has been found very serviceable as a demulcent in colds, coughs and incipient phthisis; and by Dr. Joseph Johnson, of Charleston, that the bei'ries are serviceable as an emetic. The bark of the holly root chewed is a most excellent demulcent and tonic for chronic colds and coughs, as I have frequently experienced in my own case and in that of a number of my friends who rely upon it greatly in these cases. It has a pleasant bitter taste, improves the appetite and promotes expec- toration. It is asserted by some to possess properties full}^ equal to those of the I. aquifolium of Europe, the inner bark of which also yields a viscid substance called birdlime; its leaves are esteemed as a diaphoretic in the foi'm of infusion ; employed in catarrh, pleurisy, small-pox, etc. Its febrifuge virtues are supposed to depend on a bitter principle, itUcin, and the berries are considered purgative, diuretic and emetic. The good effects resulting from the use of this plant in diseases affecting the mucous passages, may be owing to the substances contained in the inner bark. Some declare that they find it fully as efficient in intermittent fevers as the Peruvian bark. As an emetic, the berries are said to be more active than the leaves. Dr. Tully says, Mat. Med, p. 1368, that he has been informed that it has a high popular reputation in South Carolina as an ecbolic, it being considered capable of producing an abortion or miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy. A strong infusion or decoction of the leaves is employed, and this is drank freely. Birdlime can be made from holly and misletoe ; also from elder. The bai'k and juice are used. See process described in Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures, article '' Birdlime." The leaves of this plant, like I. dahoon and I. cassina are used as substitutes for green tea. See Ilex cassina. I condense the following from Wilson's Rural Cyc. : " Birdlime for catching birds, mice and other vermin, is gen- erall}^ made from the middle bark of the holly, which is boiled in water seven or eight hours, till it becomes soft and tender. After the water has been strained off it is laid in masses in the earth, covered with stones, and left to ferment during a fort- night or three weeks. When thus changed into a kind of mu- cilage it is taken from the pit, pounded in mortars until reduced to a paste, washed and kneaded in river water until freed .from 430 all extraneous matter. It is left in earthen vessels four or five da,ys to purify itself by fermentation, and it is then put up for use or commerce. In every kingdom or district there is a diflPerent mode of preparing this substance. The mode em- ployed by M. Bouillon Lagrange is to take a sufficient quantity of the second bark of the green prickly holly, to bruise it well, and boil it in water four or five hours ; to pour off the water, to deposit the bark in pits in earthen pans, to moisten it from time to time with a little water, to let it remain until it becomes viscous, and to cleanse it by washing when it has attained a proper degree of fermentation." Birdlime may be procured from the young shoots of the com- mon elder tree, from a number of plants, from slugs, snails, and from the pods of certain caterpillars. The common kind of birdlime readily loses its tenacious quality when long exposed to the air, and particularly when subjected to moisture; but it may be rendered capable of sustaining the action of water by the following process: take a pound of common birdlime and wash it thoroughly with spring water till its hardness be de- stroyed ; then pound it completely that its water may be entirely separated, and when it is well dried put it into an earthen pot wiih as much goose or capon's grease as will make it run. Add two spoonsful of strong vinegar, one of oil, and a small quan- tity of Venice turpentine, and let the whole boil for a few mo- ments over a moderate fire, stirring it all the time. It is then ready for use ; and this is the only kind that can be successfully used for snipes and other birds which frequent wet situations. When birdlime is to be applied for use it should be made hot, and the rods or twigs should be warmed a little before they are dipped in it. When straws or cords are to be limed it should be very hot, and after they are prepared they should be kept in a leather bag till used. In order to prevent birdlime from being congealed by cold it should be mixed with a little oil of petro- leum ; and, indeed, before the common kind can be used at all it must be melted over the fire with a third part of nut-oil or any thin grease, if that has not been added in the preparation. It has been found to resemble gluten in many particulars, but difters from it essentially in the acetous acid which it contains ; in being very slightly animalized; in the mucilage and extract- ive matter which may be obtained from it ; in the great quantity 431 of resin which it yields by means of nitric acrid, and in its solubility in ether. See, also, Wilson's article on " Bird-catch- ing" for the various methods of ensnjiring game. See " Viscus" in this volume. Oiir Ilex opaca is said to resemble closely the English holly, (7. aquifolium.') It has a hard, white wood, with a fine grain. Among many trees and plants which I have examined, with a view to testing their relative hardness, I do not rank the holly 80 high as others. The English holly is said by Wilson to be very retentive of its sap, which renders it very liable to warp unless well dried ; to be susceptible of a high degree of polish, which renders it well adapted to many purposes in the arts. It readily takes a durable color of any shade, hence used by cabi- net-makers, in forming what are technically called "strings and borders" in ornamental works. When properly stained black, its, color and lustre are little inferior to ebony. It may be turned to a great number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet-makers, philosophical instrument-makers and others. Next to boxwood, the pear tree is the best wood, says Wilson, for engraving upon, as it is compact and stands the tool well, Eural Cyc. I do not think that I found our I. opaca equal to the dogwood for the purposes of the engraver ; certainly when green it yielded to the graver's tools more readily and was not 80 hard. The berries of the English holly are said to be purgative, and six or eight of them swallowed will produce violent vomiting ; the bark is said to be febrifugal. Op. cit. YAUPON; CASSINA; EMETIC-HOLLY, (Ilex cassine, Jj. Ilex vomitoria, L. and Ait.) Grows near the seacoast ; Newbern. Fl. March. Merand de L. Diet. deM. Med. iii, 591 ; see I. vomitoria. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med.; U. S. Disp. 1263, App.; Griffith Med. Bot.; Ell. Sk. of Bot. of South Carolina, ii, 682. The leaves act as a pow- erful diuretic, and are employed in calculous, nephritic diseases, diabetes, gout and small-pox. This plant is said also to act as a mild emetic. (Mer. and de L.) The Indians used the cold infu- sion, which was called the black drink, and which was said to enliven them, in the place of opium. The Creeks employed it, according to Elliott, at the opening of their councils, sending to the seacoast for a supply. They considered it one of their most 432 powerful (iini-oties. (Bart. Coll. 38.) The iuluibitants of North Carolina purifj' brackish water by boiling in it Cassina leaves. In North and South Carolina much use is made of the leaves of cassina for making tea. I would refer the i-eader to the Cean- othus Americana, New Jersey tea tree. The leaves of the com- mon holly {Ilex opaca) are also recommended by some as a substitute for tea; and I would call attention to the ftict that the famous plant used so extensively in Paraguay, Mate or Paraguay tea, is an Ilex (J. Paraguaiensis) plants of which have been in- troduced by Lieut. Page, and distributed. See a notice of it in Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 34, and 1859, p. 15. Mate is uni- vcrsall}' drunk in many of the South American States, and almost fabulous properties are attributed to it. "It is unques- tionably aperient and diuretic, and produces effects very similar to 0]>ium. * * * Like that drug, however, it excites the torpid and languid, while it calms the restless and induces sleep." I have little doubt but that great resemblance does exist between this and the kindred plant, the cassina, from which also was prepared a "black drink," which was used by the In- dians of North America in their ceremonials. The mode of preparation maj" be lost to us. In a letter from Mr. Simms, Apiil, 1863, he saj'S: "I think there is some mistake among the authorities you quote when they assert this to be the material out of which the Indians manufacture the famous " Black Drink" used at their most solemn festivals, and which I have always understood, while travelling among them forty years ago, to be compounded of va- rious roots, by decoction, and acting as a powerful emetic. The leaves used moderately as we use tea, have never as I believe acted thus upon the s^-stem." The Yaupon is sometimes referred to as I. vomitoria. The Indians drank it very strong, and in copious draughts, at a cer- tain period of the year, in order to purify themselves. It acted as an emetic. The Mate of Paraguay is not identical, says a re- cent writer, with our /. cassina. Lawson, in his account of this plant, in his Travels in Carolina, (pp. 90, 91, London, 1709,) cele- brates the virtues of the tea, and gives a particular account of the mode of preparing it. " This plant, (the Yaupon, called by the South Carolina Indians Cassina,) is the Indian tea, used and approved by all the savages on the coast of Carolina, and fi-om / 433 them sent to the westward Indians, and sold at a considerable piice." "The savages of Carolina bore this tea in veneration ahove all the plants they are acquainted withal," p. 221. "As for parsings and emetics they never apply themselves to, unless in drinking vast quantities of their Yaupon or tea, and vomiting it up again, as clear as they drink it." Croom, in quoting the above, adds that in North Carolina it is still esteemed a useful diaphoretic. Notes to his Catalogue, p. 45. referred to as I. cas- sina, of Walter. The preparation of Mate is very simple. It can be gathered during the whole year It is collected in the woods — "a process of kiln-drying is resorted to upon the spot, and afterward the branches and leaves are transported to some rude mill and powdered in mortars. The substance, after this operation, is almost a powder, though small stems, denuded of their bark, are alw»ys permitted to remain." A small quantity of the leaf, either with or without sugar, is placed in a common bowl, upon which cold water is poured ; after standing a short time, boiling water is added, and it is at once ready for use. It must be imbibed through a tube on account of the particles of leaf and stem which float upon the surface of the liquid. The plant is not cul- tivated. See, also, Ceanothus and Thea viridis. Ilex dahoon, Walt. Also called cassina. G-rows in swamps ; it is said to possess properties similar to those of the /. cassina. Ilex myrtifolia, Walt. This is a variety of J. dahoon. G-rows around ponds, in flat, pine barrens, forty miles from Charleston ; Newbern. Dr. Joseph Johnson, of Charleston, informs me that this is used to some extent in domestic practice in South Carolina, as a diuretic in drops3\ CUSCUTACE^. LOVE-VINE, (Cuscuta Americana, Linn.) Dr. Engleman, of St. Louis, has determined that we have not the C. Atn. of Linn., and he has substituted three distinct species which are found in South Carolina, the C. compacta and cornuti of Choisey, and C. vulgivaga, Engl. Grows in damp soils ; collected in St. John's; Newbern. Fl. June. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 527; Flora Med. des Antilles, ii, 334 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 485. 28 434 Tl)is is said to be Irtxativc and hydragoguo. It imparts a 3'ollow dj-e to cloth. Tlio vino may bo snapped in pieces, and the divisions will retain a sejvirato existence, throwing ont new tendrils, and reattaching themselves to surrounding objects. CONVOLVULACE/E. {The Bindioeed TiHhe.') An acrid, milky juice is found in their roots, which is strongly purgative, this quality depending upon a peculiar resin, which is the active principle of the jalap, the scammony, etc., plants belonging to this order. Pharbitis nil, Ghois. Ipoimva nil, Pursh. Convohmlus, Spron- gel. Grows in drj'- soils; vicinity of Charleston ; St. John's; Newborn. Fl. July. Mer. and do L. Diet, do M. Med. iv, 409. The root was em- ployed by the ancients as a purgative. WILD POTATO A^INE, {Convolvulus, Ell. Sk. Ijnwuva pan- duratas, of late bot.) Found in dry pine barrens ; collected in St. John's, Charleston District, where it grows abundantly ; Newborn. Coxe, Am. Dis. 226 ; liarton's Colloc. ii, 49 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 254; U. S. Disp. 269; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 409; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. i, 252; Griffith's Med. Bot. 477. The root is diuretic, and in the form of infusion is said to bo very serviceable in calculous complaints. It is employed with great success by Dr. Harris, of New Jersey, in these and in other affections as a substitute for jalap and rhubarb; Dr. B. S. Barton says that an extract from one of our native species is little inferior to scammony. The powder of the decoction may bo used. Convolrulus macrorrhi::us, FA\. Ipomiva of Wxchanx. Vicinity of Charleston ; dry soils. U. S. Disp. 408; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 253; Mer. and de L. Diet do M. Mod. ii, 406; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 140. This is thought to resemble jalap. De Candolle mentions the root as possessing purgative properties, (Essai;) and the ex- pressed juice was said to be very active. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 231 ; Flore Mod. des Antillus, ii, 288. Dr. Baldwin, however, was of the opinion that it possessed very little purgative power. [ It is said to contain a great deal of saccharine with a consid- I crable quantity of farinaceous matter. 435 TpomfBa sinnata, Ort. Convolvulus dissedus, Mx, The C. dis- aectuH abounds in prussic acid, and is said to be used in the manufacture of Noyau. Bot. Mag. 3141 j Griffith. JALAP, {Convolvulus Jalap.) It has been supposed by some that the officinal jalap may be oVjtained from plants growing within the limits of the Southern States, but late researches have almost disproved it. See U. S, JJisp.; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. SWEET POTATO, {Batatas edulic, Chois. Convolvulus bat- atas, Cult.) Several varieties are cultivated. This valuable plant is cultivated to a large extent in the Southern States, and great use is made of the root as an article of food. It may, therefore, not be out of place to furnish some references to the various sources of information concerning it that have come in my way. A large quantity of sago, called "Bowen's patent sago," was made in Georgia from the potato, particularly by L)r. Bancroft, near Savannah. The roots were scraped and grated, the pulp was then mashed through sieves, and the deposited flour collected and dried in pans either by fire or sunlight. See Shec. Flora Carol. The root is used as an article of food prepared in various forms. They may be grated when raw and the pulp made into a pudding ; they are some- times eaten roasted or boiled, in which state, with wheat flour, a very pleasant bread is made of them. On the plantations they furnish a large proportion of the food of animals. Mer. and de L. Diet, de Med. Supplem. 1846, 205. See Depuy'g Memoire sur la culture de la patate, Bordeaux, 1801 ; Lelieur de Ville- sur Arce, Mem. sur la culture de la patate et du mais, Paris ; Gosse, Culture de la patate, (Biblioth. Univ. de Geneve, iii, 1818 ;) Roberts' Xote on the culture of the potato in the Mem. de la Soc. Roy. d'Agric. 1841 ; Southern Agriculturist, Charles- ton, passim. In Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 169, is an illustrated paper on the Chinese yam, Dioscorea batatas, recommended as a substi- tute for the potato. See Dioscorea villosa in this volume. The Cantharis vittata, or blistering fly, can be found on the potato, and I have produced blistering by applying them to the hand. I collected the flies from vines growing on Daniel's Island, near Charleston. Mr. Townsend Glover, in a valuable paper illustrated with wood-cuts in Patent Office Reports, 1854, 436 page 59, states that he found a species of oantharis, C. strigosa, in large numbers on the cotton plants near Columbia, S. C, in the month of September. I have little doubt that the Southern States could be easily supplied with blistering ointment from these flies. The reader interested in the appearance, nature and historj' of the " Insects injurious and beneficial " to plants and vegeta- bles, is referred to the paper cited. Those infesting the cotton plant, the peach, the vine, garden vegetables, etc., are all de- scribed. I am indebted to Mr. Glover for drawings of these. See, also, Patent Office Eeports, p. 88, 1855, in which the papers are continued. A Substitute for Spanish Flies. — The scarcity of Spanish flics for medicinal use in blister plasters makes a proper sub- stitute a desideratum. A writer in the Savannah Republican says we have in this country many representatives of the same genus, and enumerates the blistering beetle, or potato fly, so prevalent in our gardens, and so injurious to vegetation, as effi- cacious. He says : "The blistering plaster and Cmifha rides of medicine are pre- pared from the Spanish flies, Cantharis vesicatoria, which are collected in Spain and Italy in large quantities for exportation. We have in North America many representatives of the same genus. Several species have been used for the same purpose, and in this immediate neighborhood the Cantharis vittata, var, striped blistering beetle, commonly called the potato fly. The blistering beetles have been enumerated among the insects di- rectly beneficial to man, on account of the important use made of them in medical practice; yet the gardeners in our neighbor- hood will testify that the insect in question is very injurious to vegetation, appearing in large numbers on the Irish potato, tomato, egg-plant, and beet, which they will strip of every leaf I have, however, remarked that they will give the preference to a common weed, if in close proximity — an Amarantus — a kind of prince's feather. The insect is of a dull, tawny, or light yellowish color, with two black spots on the head, two black stripes on the thorax, and three broad ones on each wing cover. The underside of the body, the legs, (excepting the first joint, which is yellowish,) the antennce or feelers, are black. Its length is from five to eight lines, its breadth of body two lines. The 437 body is quite soft. These beetles are very shy, timid insects, and whenever disturbed fall immediately from the leaves, and attempt to conceal themselves among the grass, or draw up their long, slender legs and feign themselves dead. In the night and in rainy weather they descend from the plants and burrow in the ground, or under leaves and tufts of grass. It is, therefore, during clear weather, in the morning and evening that they feed, and are to be collected. They should be killed by throw- ing Lhem into scalding water for one or two minutes, after which they should be spread upon cloth or paper to dry, and may be made profitable by selling them to the apothecaries for medical use." Dunglison, in his Therapeutics, saj'S that the Cantharis vittata, Lytta vittata, potato fly, is somewhat smaller than the Spanish fly, {Cantharis vesicaforia,) its length being about six lines. The head* is of a light red color, with dark spots on the top; the feelers are black ; the elytra, or wing-cases, black, with a yellow longitudinal stripe in the centre, and a yellow margin ; the thorax is black, with three yellow lines; and the abdomen and legs, which are of the same color, are covered with an ash- colored down, (Wood and Bache.) They are first observed about the end of Jul}' or the beginning of August. They are found in the morning and evening, and are collected by shaking them from the plant in hot water, after which they are care- fully dried in the sun. It resembles the Spanish fly in all its properties. Other species are found in the United States, viz : C. cinerea, a native of the Northern and Middle States ; C. mar- ginata ; C. atrata, common in Northern and Middle States; but C. vittata is the only one that is officinal, op. cit. sup. In Eng- land, according to Pereira, the blistering beetle is found on species of the Oleacece, as the ash, privet, and lilac, and upon the elder and lonicera. Cloths are spread under the trees, and the flies shaken upon them or beaten with long poles ; the flies are then killed by being exposed to the vapor of vinegar, hot water, or oil of turpentine. Dr. W. A. Patterson, of Virginia, in a letter to the Richmond Sentinel. 1863, states that he col- lected a number of the potato flies which produced blistering very readily, when toasted, powdered and mixed with cerate. They may be mixed with two or three parts their weight of a cerate, made of equal parts of resin, wax and lard. 438 Potato Coffee. — I have seen this used on several plantations in lower Carolina as a substitute for coffee. It is one of the best when carefully made. The following is given as the mode of prepai'ing and using: the sweet potato is peeled and cut to the size of coffee berries, spread in the sun until perfectly dry, then parched in an oven or pan until thoroughly brown before being ground. As much as is intended to be used is then put into a cup with a little hot or cold water ; it is mixed well until all is wet; boiling water is added, and it is settled like coffee. The mucilaginous liquor prepared from potatoes washed and grated, the fecula being allowed to remain at the bottom of the vessel, is used for cleansing silk, woollen and cotton goods, with- out damage to the color. The coarse pulp which does not pass the sieve is of use in cleansing worsted curtains, carpets, tapestry, and other coarse goods ; also in cleansing oil paint- ings. See Ivy. Among the plants for supplying starch, none is superior to the sweet potato — the red-skin variety, white within, is pre- ferred. Large supplies are made upon our plantations by grating and washing out the starch granules, then drying. See Maranta arundinacea in this volume for mode of making starch; also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, etc., vol. 2, p. 462, New York, 1853, for a paper on the manufacture of sugar from the potato, with a table of the amount of starch in the several varieties of the potato. Calystegia sejniwi, R. Br. Fla. and northward. The decoction of the leaves is a mild pui-gative. Griffith. HYDROLEACE^. Hydrolea quadrivalvis, Walt. Immersed in ponds ; collected in St. John's ; N. C. Fl. July. A bitter principle exists in this genus. LOBBLIACEiE. Lindley states that all are dangerous or suspicious, in conse- quence of the excessive acridity of their milk. INDIAN TOBACCO; LOBELIA; EMETIC-EOOT, {Lo- belia inflata, L.) Grows in Spartanburg and Abbeville Districts, and in Grcoro-ia. Fl. Auixust. 439 Ell. Bot. Med. Kotes, ii, 219 ; U. S. Disp. 434; Barton's Collec. 36, 56 ; Thacher's U. S. Disp. 267 ; Frost's Elenis.; Mat. Med. 83. This is one of the most valuable of our indigenous plants, well known as a nauseating diaphoretic and expectorant, possessing some nai'cotic power, and acting particularly on the bronchial mucous membranes. The infusion of the flowers promotes urine, diaphoresis and the discharge of the lochia; used also in convul- sions and palpitations of the heart. The juice which exudes from the plant is of a penetrating and diffusible nature; from its effects upon the eye it is called "eye-bright." The tincture, in small doses, just sufficient to produce slight nausea, is used to prevent colic and croup in infants. The plant in sj^irits is given largely in the bite of serpents, and the tincture ap- plied externally is said to relieve the pain caused by the stings of spiders and insects. See the " Cherokee Physician." The in- fusion of the plant is stimulating to the throat, and is largely employed in asthma, as it occasions a copious secretion of saliva and of mucous fluid : "It, however, sometimes operates vehe- mently and speedily on the stomach." Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 237 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 137. Chapman, Bigelow and Barton spoke of it as a very active and dangerous plant. Sup- plem. to Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 1846, 438. Dr. Noach, of Leipsic, says that it acts specifically on the "pneumogastric nervous system," and consequently possesses such a remarkable influence on the bronchial mucous membrane. In Geneva, also, it has acquired great reputation in spasmodic asthma. See the 12th series of the Journal de Chim. et de Pharmacie, i, 454. Dr EUiotson cured two cases in four days with the alcoholic tincture in a sufficient quantity of distilled water. It has been found in Europe vevy useful in chronic bronchitis, aphony, and nervous affections of the bronchia and in laryngitis and hooping cough. It has been administered in convulsions, tetanus and dance of St. Guy. Mer. Supplem. See, also. Lancet, February 23, 1833. The Indians use it as tobacco, and this is a convenient way of administering it. Rufz, d'empoisonnement practique par les Ne- gres, 139 ; Sigmond on the properties of L. inflata and syphili- tica, in Journal de Chim. Med. ix, 587, 1833; Glasgow Med. Journal, May, 1828; Bidault de Villiers, notice sur I'emploi du Lob. inflat. dans I'asthme et comme emetique, Nouv. Biblioth. Med. V, 226. Lobeline has been extracted from it: Phil. Journal 440 Pharm. 1834. Dr. Proctor found it also to contain an odorous volatile principle, a peculiar acid, lohelic, gum, resin, fixed oil, lignin, salts of lime, potassa, oxide of iron, etc. Am. Journal Pharm. ix, 106, xiii, i. It has been used as an enema in the same way as tobacco, and, in small doses, to produce relaxation of the 08 uteri. Eberle employed it with success in a case of strangu- lated hernia; ho considers the root and inflated capsule the most powerful parts of the plant. Am. Journal Med. Sc. xvii, 248. Some have doubted whether it produces its effects in the same way as tobacco. Dr. Cutler, who introduced it, says if the leaves bo held in the mouth, they induce giddiness and pain in the head, with agitation, and finally nausea. Both Dr. Eandall and himself found it very efficacious in asthma, and employed it as a speedy expectorant in catarrh ; the latter did not observe any narcotic eifect ensue from it in moderate doses. In Now England the infusion has been used advantageously in leucorr- hcea. The active principle is extracted by water and alcohol ; hot water is said to impair its emetic power ; ten to twenty grains of the powdered leaves will act as an emetic, a moiety less as an expectorant; two ounces of the dried plant are added to one pint of diluted alcohol, of which one teaspoonful given to an adult will generally bring on nausea and sometimes vomiting. This is the form in which it is usually prescribed in asthma, re- peating it several times a day, and desisting when headache or nausea ensues. Coxe, Am. Disp. 373 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 179 ; Cutler, Mem. Am. Acad, i, 484; Schropf, 128; Mass. Eeport. vi; Griffith's Med. Bot. 419; Raf. Med. Fl. ii, 22. Dr. Livezey in a paper in the Bost. Med. and Surg. J., v, 35, 110, advises the tincture or infusion in the catarrhal affections of children, and the saturated tinct. to be applied externally in erysipelas. Great use is made of the lobelia in South Carolina and Georgia — the steam and vegetable practitioners relying on it. Obstinate and very violent cases of flatulent colic, which the tinctures of car- damom, etc., fail to relieve, we know to be immediately dissi- pated by preparations of this plant. See Matson's Veg. Pract. and Howard's Imp. Syst. Bot. Med. 334. I have generally selected the tincture or powder of lobelia wherever I thought relaxation was required, and where there was a tendency to spas- modic action. Some physicians use the powder habitually as an emetic ; others consider it too depressing for ordinary cases, and prefer ipecacuanha. The habit of giving an agent like this re- peatedly, almost daily, throughout a long attack of pneumonia, must certainly be injurious; itis, nevertheless, adopted by some practitioners. I saw a patient recover to whom it had been given in emetic doses every day for three weeks. Dr. Gaston, of Columbia, used the tincture successfully in Tetanus. Dr. Proctor has prepared a fluid extract — each teaspoonful of this represents thirty grains of the powder. XJ. S. Disp., 1866. Lobelia syphilitica, L. Mountains of Carolina and Georgia ; Newbern. Fl. September. Bart. M. Bot.; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 268. In the Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 92, it is spoken of as an acrid and pui'gative plant : "Se truerissont de la verole en buvaiit uue decoction de cinq a six racines." Am. Herbal, 208. The Indians employed the decoction internally and topically for lues ; they communi- cated their opinion of its virtues in this respect to Sir W. Johnson, who published it in the April number of the Aman. Acad.; Woodv. Med. Bot. 177; Kalni. L. C; Linn. Veg. M. Med.; Thornton's Fam. Herbal. 727. Dr. Wood, in the U. S. Disp. 436, allows it emetic, diuretic and cathartic properties, but denies it any value in syphilis. Dr. Chapman states that it is beneficial in drops}'. It is less powerful than the L. inflata, but more diuretic and diaphoretic ; its diuretic effects are pro- duced by free doses, purging or vomiting as it is augmented. From an analysis by M. Boissel, it is found to contain a fatty, butyraceous matter, sugar, mucilage, a volatile bitter substance, some salts, etc. Mcr. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 138; Des Bois de Rochefort, Mat. Med. ii, 212 ; Diet, des Drogues, iii, 378. For analysis, sec Journal de Pharm, x, 623 ; Kalm. Description du Specifique contre le Mai. Venericn, in the Mem. de I'Acad. de Storek, xii, 1750. CAKDIN AL FLOWER, {Lobelia cardinalis, L.) Grows in in- undated soils, roots often immersed; vicinity of Charleston ; col- lected, in St. John's Berkeley, Charleston District; Richland; JSTewbern. Fl. July. Ell. Bott. Med. Notes, i, 268; Drayton's Views, 77; U. S. Disp. 436 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 137 ; DeCan- dolle's Essai, 189; Journal de Pharm. iii, 470; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 186 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 236 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 421. This plant is used by the Indians as an anthelmintic — some say quite 442 as efficient as the pinkroot. {Spigel. Maryland.) Merat says it is employed as a poison by the negroes at the Cape of Good Hope. It is well known for its beautiful scarlet flowers. CINCHONACE.E. (The Coffee Tribe.) The grand features of this order arc powerful febrifugal prop- erties in the bark and emetic in the root. Quinquina represents the first, and ipecacuanlia the second. JAMAICA BARK, (Exostemma Caribaium,'R. and S.) South Fla. Chap. The capsules, before they are quite ripe, are very bitter, and their juice causes a burning itching on the lips; Jaquin's Amer. The bark is febrifugal, and often causes vomiting, especially if it be fresh ; it is in convex fragments, at first sweetish and mu- cilaginous to the taste, afterwards bitter and disagreeable. It is also known as Quinquina Caraibe. Griffith. Other plants belonging to the Cinchona furail3% and growing in this country, should be examined ; such, for instance, as the two species of the genus Eandia, growing in S. Fla.; also Borreria, for emetic properties. GEORGIA BARK, (Pinckneya pubens, Mich.) "Found from New River, South Carolina, along the seacoast to Florida." Vicinity of Charleston. Plants sent to me by Dr. F. P. Pope from Blufton, S. C; abundant in Liberty County, Ga.; Jones. Fl. June. Ell. Bot. Med. Xotcs, i, 267 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 1830; TT. S. Disp. 128; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 519; Griffith Med. Bot. 366. It was said by Michaux in his N. Am. Sylva to be very useful in intermittent fever. Dr. Law, of Georgia, cured six out of seven cases with it. It did not distress the stomach, though to tw^o patients one ounce was given at a dose; one drachm is the usual quantity in which it is administered. Dr. Farr detected a considerable amount of cinchonine in it, but was prevented from completing his examination. The attention of those residing where it may be found is invited to it as a substi- tute for quinine. In Georgia a handful of the bark is boiled in a quart of water till the liquid is reduced to one-half; the infusion is given. The powdered bark may also be given in doses of a drachm. 443 Surg. A. M. Fauntleroi, of Ya., reports in Confed. S. Med. J. for April and Sept., 1864, the results of his experience with the extract given generally in six to ten grain doses every second hour. He concludes thus : From a careful study of the cases, I believe " that the extract has undoubted anti-periodic proper- ties, still it is too slow in its action to be used as a substitute for quinia. It has, with one exception, always produced dia- phoresis. Its therapeutical action is principally that of a tonic, and it deserves a position in the front rank of vegetable tonics. From the tardiness of its action, and its effect upon the vascu- lar system, together with its manifest invigoration of the diges- tive organs, I am induced to think its energj' as an agent is displayed through the organic nervous system." MITCHELLA; PARTRIDE-BEREY, (Mitchella repens, L.) Vicinity of Charleston ; grows in shady swampy lands; col- lected tn St. John's. Fl. May. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 199. An infusion of the stems and leaves is used in dysuria, its diuretic powers, however, not being of any importance. A decoction of this plant is esteemed a good emetic, and has obtained, says Mills in his Statistics of S. C, a very general use. The " Cherokee Doctor" declares that the "decoction taken freel}^ is an excellent article to facilitate child- birth. It should be used daily for two or three weeks before that period!" The fruit is slightly acid and is edible. It re- sembles the pipsissewa and maybe used in the same manner as that plant, being diuretic, tonic and astringent. U. S. Disp. BUTTON-BUSH, (Gephalaiithus Occident alis.) Grows along rivulets in damp soils; collected in St. John's; specimens from Aiken ; vicinity of Chai"leston. Fl. July. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 487 ; Drayton's View, 62 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de Med. ii, 176 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 376. The decoction has been used in palsy. Elliott states that the inner bark of the root is frequently employed in obstinate coughs. Merat notices it as an anti-venereal. A writer in the "Mercury" says : " The root of the buttonwood or crane willow, a shrub which is conspicuous in our swamps in the spring, when boiled with honey and cumfrey, makes a pleasant syrup, which is the most effective remedy known to me in diseases of the lungs. It is thought by many intelligent persons to be a radical cure for consumption !" U4: Psychotria lanceolata, Nutt., and P. undata, Jacq., both grow- ing in South Fla., should be examined as this genus is closely allied with the Ipecacuanha, and the S. American species P. emetica are the same as those of Ipecacuanha. COFFEE, (Coffea Aribica, L.) Exotic. Should the culture of coifee be attempted in the Southern States, I would refer the reader to Patent Office Eeports, Agri- culture, 1858, p. 313, for an instructive condensed report on the mode of cultivation in Jamaica, Central America and other countries, with the mode of planting, harvesting, curing, etc., etc. See "Potato," "Okra" and "Eye" for substitutes for coffee. E U BI ACE.E. ( The JIadder Tribe.) MADDEE, (Bubia tinctorium.) Exotic. Any one interested in ascertaining what amount of any plant, vegetable or agricultural product was exported from or imported into the United States, can obtain a list of quantities and value in Patent Office Eeports, 1858. It sei-ves to show the consump- tion of certain articles, the demand for them, and the conse- quent necessity for their cultivation. I find upon consulting these tables, that madder, for example, was imported to an enormous amount, twenty million pounds, for calico-printing, dyeing, etc ; a plant wh!ch might be cultivated within our lim- its. See method, Patent Office Eeports, 1855. So, also, soda, barilla, coffee, and numerous other articles which we are or were in the habit of importing. We may find among the genus Galium, some plants yielding dyes — Galium trifidum, L. and his- pidulum, {^Rubia Brownii, Mx.,") grows from Florida to Xorth Carolina. G. verum, found in England, contains so much pig- ment as to have been cultivated in place of madder. " Its flowering tops boiled in alum dye a bright yellow color, its roots yield a red dye equal to that of madder, and the whole of the plant when bruised has the property of curdling milk, and is sometimes employed both for coloring and flavoring milk in- tended for cheeses;" hence called cheese-rennet. Eural Cyc. Since writing the above, I see it stated by Pursh that the Indians use our G. trifidum, L. {G. tinctorium) for dyeing their porcupine quills, feathers, leather, etc., of a beautiful red color. 445 Oldenlandia, Houstonia, Hedyotis. — These plants, growing abundantly in the Southern States, and belonging to the mad- der tribe, should be experimented with for tinctorial purposes, CAHIXCA OR CAiNCA, (Chiococca racemosa, Jacq.) South Florida. Chap. The C. racemosa of L. is supposed to furnish the root called Cainca which was much used in Brazil as a tonic, diuretic, pur- gative and emetic. The bark yields cahincic acid which is be- lieved to be the active principle. Dr. Wood (U. S. Disp., 12lh Ed.) makes the following state- ments respecting the plant. In moderate doses it gently ex- cites the circulation, increases the discharge of urine and pro- duces evacuations from ' He bowels ; but is rather slow in its operation. It may be made to act also as a diaphoretic by keeping the skin warm, using warm drinks and counteracting its purgative tendency. In some patients it occasions nausea and griping, and in very large doses always acts powerfully both as an emetic and cathartic. The bark of the fresh root rubbed with water was used in the bite of serpents — given in quantity sufhcient to excite vomiting and purging. Patrick Brown, Dr. W. adds, speaks of the root of C. racemosa as very useful in obstinate rheumatism. The virtues of Cahinca in dropsy were made known to the European public in 1826. A. Eichard and M. Francois, of Paris, published accounts of it, the latter considering it superior to all others as a remedy in dropsy; but this estimate has not been sustained by the experience of all who have used it. It was employed in substance, decoction, ex- tract and tincture. The powdered bark of the root was given as a diuretic and purgative in a dose varying from a scruple to a drachm ; but ten to twenty grains of the spirituous extract was preferred. In dropsy Dr. F. advised that the full impression of the medicine should be produced at once, which should be main- tained by smaller doses, repeated three or four times a day. U. S. Disp. CAPRIFOLIACE.E. {The Honeysuckle Tribe.) Independently of the fragrance and beauty of these plants, astringent and purgative properties are possessed by some of them. 446 FEYER-EOOT; WILD IPECACUANHA; WILD COF- FEE; HOESE GENTIAN, {Triosteum perfoliatum,JAnr\.) Bart. M. Bot. i, 59 ; Barton's Collec. 29 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 271 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 91 ; Eaf. Med. Fl. i, 59 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 353. This plant acts as a gentle but certain cathartic, particularly when combined with calomel, when its operation is almost as marked as that of jalap. The bark of the root is also emetic, the leaves and stalks proving less powerful. To produce its cathartic effect Bigelow finds a somewhat larger dose than that of aloes or jalap necessary, though it is supposed to be in- fluenced* by age. Eafinesque says the leaves are also diajDho- retic ; and it is stated by Dr. Muhlenberg that the hard seeds, properly prepared, are a good substitute for coffee. Eaudall, in his communication to the Linnjean society, asserts that water extracts its virtues best ; but it is now recommended to be treated with alcohol. The decoction is said to be used by the Cherokee Indians in the cure of fevers; also given hot in colds and female obstructions. The dose as a purge is from ten to fifteen grains of the extract, and twenty to thirty grains of the powdered root. Dose of the extract from ten to twenty grains. DE. TINKER'S WEED, {Triosteum angustifolmvi, Linn.) Grows in South Carolina. Griffith Med. Bot. 353, Possesses properties similar to those of the T. perfoliatum. WOODBINE, (Lonicera sempervirens, Ait. and T. and G. Cap- rifolium, Ell. Sk. Grows in wet swamps ; more abundant in lower country ; vicinity of Charleston; collected in St. John's. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 143. The plant is not much used in medicine. The syrup made of the leaves is given in asthma, and in angina tonsillaris. The leaves and bark of the i. caprifolium of Linn, are styptic and acrid ; the flowers diuretic ; the latter in decoction calm the pain of colic (coliques ou tranchees) following childbirth. BUSH HONEY-SUCKLE, {Diervilla trlfida, Moench. and T. and G. Diervilla Canadensis, Ell. Sk. Muhl. Lonicera diervilla, Linn.) Grows in the mountains of South Carolina and Georgia. Fl. June. Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 554. The leaves possess a narcotic principle, inducing nausea, and are recommended as a gargle in 447 catarrhal angina. The decoction calms the pain attending the disease ; taken largely it causes stupor and catalepsy. BLACK IIAW, (Virburnum jyrumfolium, Jj.) Fruit edible. Dr. Phares, of Newtonia, Miss., calls attention in the Atlanta Med. and Surg. Journ. (1847) to the medical properties of this plant. He regards it as a nervine, anti-spasmodic, astringent, diuretic and tonic, and claims that in the nervous disorders of pregnancy and uterine diseases, it is a valuable remedial agent. He says : " It is particularly valuable in preventing abortion and miscarriage, whether habitual or otherwise ; whether threat- ened from accidental cause or criminal drugging." The editor of the same journal adds his testimony in favor of the same remedy, and details several cases when threatened miscarriage was promptly arrested by its use. It is given in the form of in- fusion or decoction of the bark, in doses of from one to two oun«es, repeated every two or three hours, until the pains cease; then lessen the dose and lengthen the interval according to circumstances. Where there is a tendency to abortion, it may be used as a preventive three or four times daily, for a great length of time. (Richmond Med. J.Jan., 1868, p. 77.) See Hamamelis Virginica, for which the same virtues are claimed. The Black Haw may probably contain viburnic acid, which was thought to be yielded bj^ the Elder, which is closely related to it. ELDER, (Sambitcus Canadensis, Linn.) Grows abundantly along fences and in rich, damp soils; diffused; Newbern. Fl. June. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 248; Bell's Pract. Diet. 404; Drayton's View, 55; Le Mat. Med. ii, 325; U. S. Disp. 625; Roj^le, Mat. Med. 423; Gullen, Mat. Med. ii, 534; Mer. and de L. Diet. dcM. Med. vi, 196 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 354. " The leaves are fetid, emetic and a di*astic purgative;" the plant acting in the same way as the European species, the S. nigra ; the leaf-buds also operating as a powerful purgative. The bark yields valerianic acid. The juice of the root has been highly recommended in dropsy as a hydragogue cathartic, sometimes acting as an emetic, in the dose of a tablespoonful, repeated every day with less frequency if it act with violence. Dr. Stratton, of New Jersey, uses a syrup in place of Sarsaparilla, made with the juice of the berries. New Jersey Med. Rep., vii, 466. U. S. Disp. The flowers are excitant and sudorific, and are used in the form 448 of an ointment as a discutient. The inner bark is a hydragogue cathartic and emetic, acting well in drops}'', and as an alterative in various chronic diseases. The purgation which results from its employment is sometimes, however, too severe. The berries are diaphoretic and aperient, and are used as a remedy in rheu- matic gout and syphilitic affections. The juice of these diluted with water furnishes a cooling and valuable laxative drink. This plant is employed to some extent in domestic practice for the purposes severally referred to above. A decoction made by pouring boiling water over the leaves, flowers or berries of the elder is recommended as a wash for wounds to prevent injury from flies. An ointment used for the same purpose is prepared by stirring the elder or mixing the juice into lard while boiling, and straining through a coarse sieve. Beeswax may be added. Surg. S. E. Chambers reports in the Confed. States Med. Journal, Jan., 1865. that he has used the following ointment with complete success in at least one hundred cases of camp itch. In ordinary cases it will cure in one week. The patient is first made to wash well with soap and water, to dry the parts affected, and then to rub the ointment on the parts affected with the hand until it is absorbed. One pound of the inner bark of the elder, in two and a half pints of water is boiled down to one quarter of a pint. Then one pound of lard and four ounces of sweet gum are added, evaporate the water and at the same time skim whatever filth may rise to the top of the vessel, after which set it aside to cool. When thoroughly cool add two ounces of basilicon ointment, three of olive oil and half an ounce of flour of sulphur. See, also, Phylotacca decandra, Poke. According to Mr. Cozzens, the ripe berries afford a deli- cate test for acids and alkalies. The elder berry stewed with copperas, vinegar and alum, makes, as I have seen, an excellent ink and a dye. Recipe for Blacking. — Boil elder berries well, mashing the pulpy matter. Then strain through a colander and bottle for use. The liquid sours somewhat by age, but retains its qualities. Another. — Simmer ripe elder berries over a slow fire in an iron kettle for one hour, and let the mass cool, and you will have good blacking. The juice may be pressed out and put away for use as you may need it, and the pulp or mass may also be used. 449 The leaves of the English elder (S. nigra) are noxious to in- sects, moles, etc. The flowers are used in fomentations and cooling ointments. " The leaves boiled in lard make one of the most emollient and suppling unguents known to the farmer. The flowers are used for making a perfumed, distilled water. The berries, according to experiments of M. Wehrle, of Vienna, produce a comparatively much lai'ger quantity of spirits than can be obtained from the malt of the best wheat. The juice in these experiments was expressed from the berries, treated in the same manner as the must of grapes, and afterwards dis- tilled." Wilson's Eural Cyc. It would be interesting to ascer- tain to what extent our species share the above properties. The following is from the Lynchburg Eepublican, 1863 : "Excel- lent brandy, is distilled from the berries of the common elder bush. The sample shown us contains 70 per cent, of alcohol, which is about 30 per cent, more than is contained in ordinary liquor. The taste is fully equal to the best apple brandy, which it resembled so closely as to be undistinguishable except by a good judge. The process of manufacture is exactly similar to that of apple or poach brandy." COMPOSITE. • These embrace four orders, all of which are distinguished by bitterness, which in the different sections is variously combined. In the order Asterace^ it assumes a particular character, being united with a resinous principle ; in the Cynarace^ this bitter- ness depends upon the mixture of extractive with a gum, which is sometimes yielded in great abundance ; the Chichorace^ are characterized by a juice, which is milky, bitter, astringent and narcotic. Vernonia angustifolia, Mx. Grows in the pine lands in lower country ; collected in St. John's Berkeley. Fl. July. The root is used by the negroes in South Carolina as a remedy for the bite of serpents. It is also considered by them to be aphrodisiac. WILD VANILLA, (Liatris odoratissima, Walt.) St. John's Berkeley, S. C; Wassamasaw swamp ; North Carolina, near sea- coast, (Croom.) Very aromatic. Used for scenting cigars and tobacco. The 29 450 ai\>in:\ is alnnulantly givoii out whon iroiidon upon hy horsos' foot. Tho orvstalli/.!\blo odorous prinoiplo counuirin, t'ouiul in tho Tonka boan and oon\nion to tho 'lyi/olittm mth'lotu,<, Anthoxan- thum Oiioraiuin, oto., Mr. Tivotor has asoortainod to oonstituto also tho oxndation upon tho loavos of this spooios of Liatris. Jklr. W. U. l.ippit. of Wihuinijton, N. C, had sont him speci- mons of it whioh had boon ooUootod for tlio purposo of pwtoot- insx woollons tivnx moths. U. S. Oisp.. 12th Kd., and Am. J. Pharm., Novombor, 1S59. The ohomists now manufacture many of tho tlavonui; tVuit ossonoos. voi:;otabIo port'umos, oou- marin, oto. BLAZING STAl^: BUTTON SNAKKROOP; KATTLE- 8NAKK'S MASTKR, {^r.iittris Sijiuvrossih W.) (irows in pino hinds ; oollootod in St. .lolm's Horkoloy ; Riohhuul l>lstriot ; vicinity of Charleston. U. S. r>isp. 1278; Journal do C\nm. Mod. v, 41l>. " Us sont iisitoos oontro la moi*suro dos sorpons." Mor and do L. Oiot. do M. Mod. iv, 07. Vh^" iMOt is acrid, bitterish pnMi:;ont, and yioUls H balsamic substance in alcohol. Liatris scariosa. W. Ciivws in pino lands; vicinity of (.Charles- ton. Fl. July. « U. S. IMsp. 1273, Appendix. It is employed in gonorrluipa. awd a8 a gavglo in sore throat. It has a i^ivat reputation thrv>ughout the South for tho bite of serpents. Pursh. Liatris spicata, W. tii\nvs ii\ wet pine lands ; ooUectod in St. John's Berkeley, Charleston District ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newborn. Kl. July. U. S. Disp. 1272. One of the >• rattlesnake's masters." l>r. Barton said that all tho tuberous-rooted Liatrcs were active plants. This plant, called ••button-snakoi-oot " by son\o, is reported to be a stiniulant. diuretic and expectorant ; also possessing powers as an anodyne ; it is consequently given as a ronxody in colic, the tincture or the decoction of tho i-oot being employed — said to resemble senega snakeroot, and to excite a flow of saliva when chewed. These plants are used by the Thomsoniaus. Eiddel Syn. Fl. West. States. Mikania. Au iufusiou and tincture of a species (^liuaeo)grow- 451 in^ in Houth America ; urc rnuoh uho'J for ifio r';lif;f of goaty paroxyHrriH. Our plant ''A/, /nandi-.n^. j H-hoijId be examined. TlIOIiOC^illVVOIiT; liONKSKT, U'Jupatonum perfoUatum, Linn,; firowH in damp koiIk ; diffuHcd ; iiichland DiHtrict ; ';^>m- inon in low eoiintry, Fl. Jiily. (Jhap. 'i'herap. and Mat. Med. i, 387, and ii, 435; Bell's Pract. J:)iet. V.fl; Kll. liot. Med. NotcH, ii, 303; Pc. Mat. Med. and Thcrap. '.',HU ; FroHt'H KiemH. Mat. M<^1. 21G; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 210 ; Itoyle, Mat. Med. 445; O. H. Di^p. 3H< ; Kd. and Vav. Mat. Med. 197; Hig. Am. Med. iiot. i, 34; Thacher'H Am. DiHp. 217; Am. Med. li(^-j)r/;n'H Inaug. ThewiH, Kew York; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 177 ; Coxe, Am. binp. 271 ; Hhee. Flora Carol. 549 ; Hart. M. Hot. ii, 133 ; Lind. Nat. SyHt. liot. 253. A warm infunion of thiH plant i!< emetic, Hudorific and diapho- retic ; employed cold an a tonic and febrifuge. The hot decoc- tion rnay be given in the hot Kta^'eH of Utvdrn without exciting the HyHtem. Small quantitien of the cold infunion, repeatedly given will, it in Haid, purge, and are prescribed in constipation. The leavcH and flowerw, in powdern, •d^•^() purge, even in doses of ten to twenty grains. The discharge of bile is promote^^J by it. It has been repeatedly prescribed with advantage in rheumatism, typhoid pneumonia, catarrhs, dropny, and in the inflaenza wjjich prevailed at the North, and which was described by \)r. liush; he also used it with great suc<;ess in the yellow fever of 1798; and Dr. Chapman found it one of the most effectual remedies in the epidemic " break-bone fever." Graves, of Dublin, has made miieJi use of it in the ship, or typhus fever. See note to Graves and Gerhard, Am, ed. This plant is extensively employed among the negroes on the plantations in South Carolina as a tonic and diaphoretic in colds and fever-", and in the typhoid pneumonia so prevalent among them. In cases of this disease which have come under my observation, I have found this and the senega snakeroot {Foiyjala Hcnc/ja) convenient and useful prescriptions ; the latter, with tartar emetic solution, to promote expectoration ; and the former, witli flaxseed tea, as a stimulant diaphoretic, combining them with spirits of turpentine when it has assumed the typhoid 452 form. From its action on the ciipillaries, it has been recom- mended in chronic cutaneous diseases. Barton said it possessed no power in this respect; but in the hands of Dr. Zollickoifer it has proved eminently successful in tinea capitis, given in com- bination with cremor tartar. See Griffith Med. Bot. 391. In the Supplem. to the Diet, de M. Med. 1846, it is reported to have been given with benefit in asthma. Echo du Monde Savant, 16 ; Janvier, 1845. The infusion of the roots and leaves is usually preferred, of which one to three ounces may be taken several times a day ; of the root, in powder, the dose is thirty grains. As an emetic and cathartic a strong decoction is used, made by boiling an ounce of the herb in three half pints of water to one pint ; given in doses of one or two gills or more. Given hot, it acts as a diaphoretic ; cold, as a tonic. Thoroughwort or boneset tea used hot, in the cold stages of malarial fever, and cold in the hot stages, is believed by many physicians in South Carolina, who have used it since the begin- ning of the war, to be the very best of our indigenous anti-perio- dics as a substitute for quinine. It is thought to be superior in this respect to either poplar bark, (^Liriodendron tuUpifera,') wil- low, (Salix,) or dogwood. It is also an excellent, stimulating diaphoretic in low fevers. The " Indian doctors " make a pill to act upon the liver, which they call the " hepatic pill," by boiling thoroughwort leaves until their strength is extracted, then strain the decoction and continue boiling till it becomes thick — an extract in other words. It is made up with starch into pills, and three are given at a dose. See " Indian Guide to Health." The extensive diffusion of this plant, and the variety of powers possessed by it, being a sudorific and anti-periodic and a tonic, makes it peculiarly valuable to the people of the Southern States. In the discharge of my duties as surgeon of the City Hospital, Charleston, 1866-7, 1 have repeatedly made use of the following formula, recommended by Gerhard, in the treatment of bronchitis and pneumonia, and always with satisfactory re- sults : Recipe, eupatorum leaves, one ounce ; senega roots, two drachms ; roots of sanguinaria, one drachm, (or two of the tinc- ture,) infused in a pint of boiling water, a wineglassful every three hours. This alone is sufficient in most cases of bronchitis. In pneumonia and pleurisy I usually associate with it alterative doses of mercurj', ipecac and soda, with revulsives to the skin. 453 and Dover's powder at night, uning supportive treatment also, and stimulaiit.s when nccc8Hary. Surgeon M. B. Beck reports in the Confed. S. Med. J., September, 1864, excellent effects re- sulting from the use of a decoction of eupatorium and serpen- taria, a half ounce of each to a pint of water, a wineglassful every three or four hours, in cases of typhoid fever, a mild mercurial being premised. The plants just mentioned, the blackberry, chinquapin, {Castanea) and dogwood to be used as astringents, the gentians, pipsisscwa, Sabbatia, etc., as bitter tonics, can easily be ob- tained by our soldiers while in camp, and they will be found to fulfil all the indications required in most cases of fever, dysentery, diarrh^jta, catarrhs, etc. In the formation of demulcent drinks, as substitutes for flaxseed and gum-arabic, the roots and leaves of the sassafras, and the leaves of the Bene (Sesamum) will suflce. The Podophyllum (wild jalap) will supply the purga- tive ; therefore, with the possession of opium and calomel, the surgeon in tlve field can himself obtain almost everything desired, and with comparatively little aid from the Medical Purveyors. Our chief desiderata were the preparations of pot- ash, viz: nitrate, chlorate and bicarbonate, and sup. carb. of Boda. We may procure soda from our Salsola kali. The winter-green (Chimaphila umbellata) is both tonic and diuretic, and may be given with advantage in dropsy. In ex- amining (1862j the excrescences produced by an insect on nearly all the leaves of the cotton-wood tree (^Populm hete- rojjhylla, L.) I find them possessed of an intensely bitter prin- ciple, which may be made useful as a tonic given in spirits. The cinquefoil (Potentilla) is mucilaginous, and I am informed that in Sumter District, S. C, it is used with great advantage as a remedy in affections of the lungs, chronic colds, etc. PUIiPLE TIIOPtOUGHWOKT; GKAVEL HOOT, {Eupa- torium purpmreum, L.) I have a specimen from Abbeville Dis- trict from Mr. Reed; Kichland District; collected in St. John's, Charleston District ; grows in damp or inundated soils ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 319 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 177. It is said to operate as a diuretic; and it is one of the popular remedies for calculus, probably possessing properties somewhat similar to those of the Eup. per/. 454 WILD HOEEHOUND, {Eupatorium tencrifolium, W. and T. ami G. Eupatorium verbenivfoliu)n, Ell. Sk.) Grows in damp soils; collected iiV St. John's. Fl. August. Michaux, Flora Amor, ii, 98 ; U. S. Disp. 319. This is tonic, diaphoretic, diuretic and aperient. A popular remedy in inter- mittents, and in fevers and colds. See observations of Dr. Geo. Jones, of Georgia. It may bo substituted in some cases for the Eup. perfol. Dr. Jos. Jones speaks of this as E. rotundifolium. See S. M. and S. Jour., October, 1861. Eupatorium rotundifolium, L. Grows in dry pine barrens; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston; Eich- land District. Fl. July and August. Mer. and do L. Diet, do M. Mod. iii, 177 ; Journal Gen. de IMed. xxxvi, 111. The infusion is said to be useful in consump- tion. See Dr. Mitchell's letter. Dr. Jos. Jones, Ga., has employed this by itself and with dog- wood bark, with "very good success " in intermittent fevers. S. M. and Surg. Journal, October, 1861. DOGFENNEL, (Eujmforiujn /(vnictdaceum, Willd.) Dr. M. Moore, of Statesburg, informs mo that the fresh juice of the dogfennel will relieve pain caused by the bites of spiders and insects. The leaves may be beaten in a cloth and the juice expressed. It is believed by some that the presence of this plant indicates the existence of the cause of malarial fevers. It is used to keep off inserts and bugs by strewing on the floors of cellars and dairies. This plant is said to tan leather in an extraordinarily short space of time, by a process which attracted much attention during the fall of 1861. Strange that in my examination of this plant, with that of others, I found that it contained scarcely a trace of tannin. But the common name of dogfennel has been applied to the ox-eyed daisy, {Leucanthemum vidgare, Lam.,) and to the wild chamomile, {Maruta cotula,) or stinking Mayweed. The Tallahassee Floridian (1861) says : " Leather tanned by the new pi'ocess. — We have seen a specimen of kip leather said to be tanned by Isaac Bierfiold, of New- bei"ry, S. C, in twenty days, with his dogfennel preparation. The sample was soft and pliable, and had all the appearance of 455 being equal to the best French leather. We understand that our shoemakers so pronounce it. " Everybody knows what dogfennel is, and will be glad to learn that it is of some account after all. The weed ^rows in great abundance and perfection in all parts of Florida. Mr. Bierfield says that now is the time to gather it, and that it should be put under shelter. Planters would do well to lay by a goodly portion of it, as it may prove highly valuable in the manufacture of their leather." I have not been able to procure, by application made to Mr. Bierfield, any specimens of the plant he uses. I have reason to believe (1867) that my estimate of the want of value in this plant, based purely upon a scientific examination of it, has been amply confirmed and that it never was of any real utility. The dogfennel was only used as an aid, and Mr. J. Commins wh(y tested it alone, found it useless. It may assist in opening the pores of the skin. MOUSE-E AK, (Aster tortifolius, Mx.) Vicinity of Charleston ; grows in dry pine barrens ; collected in St. John's. This plant has some reputation in domestic practice in South Carolina as a diuretic. I have noticed the summit generally covered with little insects. Aster cordifolius. Grows in rich lands. Fl. August. Griffith Med. Bot. 387. This and A. puniceus possess anti- spasmodic properties. A small species (Diplopappus linarifoUus, Hooker, Aster, Ell. Sk.) grows in pine barrens, St. John's Berkeley, S. C, the leaves of which contain an unusual amount of silica; they are employed to polish horns, and as a substi- tute for sand-paper. COLT'S-TAIL; FLEA-BANE, (^n^eron Canadense, Jj.) Com- mon in damp, sandy soils; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston ; Eichland ; Newbern. Fl. July. Koyle, Mat. Med. 447 ; Matson's Veg. Prac. 368 ; U. S. Disp. 316 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 140 ; Journal de Bot. 448 ; et des Pharm. 214 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 268 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 395; Dem. Elera. de Bot. 200 ; Eaf Med. Fl. This is a stimulant tonic, diuretic and astringent, employed with marked success in dropsy and diarrhoea ; it is much used by the vegetable practitioners in the latter disease ; they give a tea cupful of the infusion of the herb in hot water every two 456 hours; when chewed it relieves cholera morbus. Dr. Depuz found it useful in these diseases. See his observations quoted in the U. S. Disp. 316. He found tannin, gallic acid, and vola- tile oil among its constituents, from whence its beneficial action in the diseases specified may be inferred. An infusion of the powdered flowers is anti-spasmodic, and is employed in hysteri- cal and nervous affections. The oil obtained from the plant possesses extraordinary styptic properties. The dose of the powder is thirty grains to one drachm. In the Am. Journal M. Sc, 1866, I find the following, signed J. S. P.: A New Remedy in Gonorrhoea. — In July, 1859, while narrowly observing the effects of oil of erigeron administered in a fearful haemoptysis, I was led to suspect that it would prove a useful remedy in the treatment of gonorrhoea. Acting upon this pre- sumption, I immediately commenced giving it to a patient then under my care, in whose case all the vaunted specifics had most signally failed. He improved at once, and was speedily cured. Since that date I have prescribed it in about fifty cases, with unvarying success. It arrests the discharge in about seventy-two hours, and effects a cure in from six to eight days. I do not recommend it as a specific in all cases, but design merely to bring it to the notice of the profession as an exceed- ingly valuable medicine in this disease. When, in recent cases, the urethral inflammation is severe, my plan is to precede the remedy with a full dose of some active hydragogue. A formula is : R. — Pulv. sennas scruples ij ; pulv. jalap, scruples j., pulv. aronaatici grs. x. m. Add a gill of boiling water and a tea- spoonful of sugar, and, when sufficiently cool, agitate and swallow at a dose. As soon as this operates, give ten drops of the oil on sugar, and three hours later a full dose of spts. ether, nit. in infus. althea, and so on every three hours alternately until the urethral irritation is allayed. Then leave off the latter, and continue the oil until the cure is complete. If the case is not recent, or there is but little urethral irritation, the oil alone is sufficient. I have used it also in combination with copaba and other articles, and found such preparations to answer a good purpose, but no better than the oil alone. The oil which I use is reputed to be that of the Erigeron 457 Cana dense ; but I presume that from the Fhiladelphicum is equal, if not superior, for this pui-pose. The oil of Flea-bane, reported by Dr. Wilson, of Philadelphia, as having been used by Dr. Bourvonville and himself in doses of five drops every two hours, with great success in uterine hemorr- hage, (Trans. Coll. Phys. JST. S. ii, 330,) Dr. Wood says must have been that obtained from 1^. Canadense ; U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. FKOST-EOOT, {Erigeron Fhiladelphicum, L. Non. Ell.) Com- mon in pastures; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. May. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 253 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 537 ; Boyle, Mat. Med. 447; Bart. M. Bot. i, 234; U. S. Disp. 317. It is diuretic, without being offensive to the stomach. Fr. Elems. 81. In great repute as a remedy in calculus and in nephritic dis- eases. It was a favorite prescription in Philadelphia in dropsy, and Br. Wistar recommends it in hydrothorax complicated with gout. Dr. F. L. John, of Philadelphia, obtained from forty-five pounds of the hei-b only half a drachm of the oil. U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. The plant is officinal. One ounce of the plant to be administered in infusion or decoction of one pint in twenty-four hours. Erigeron strigosum, Muhl. Grows in sandy soils ; vicinity of Charleston. Griffith Med. Bot. 396. It is similar in properties to the E. annuuni, a favorite diuretic in the dysurfa of children — used by Physick and Dewees in painful micturition dependent on neph- ritis. This also yields a styptic oil similar to that afforded by the E. Canadense. Erigeron iiusilum. Grows in pastures and cultivated soils; collected in St. John's Berkeley. Fl. June. U. S. Disp. 316. SNEEZE-WOET ; SWAMP SUN-FLOWEE, (Helenium autnnmale, L.) Fla. and northward. It possesses a bitter, pungent or acrid taste. It appears to be tonic and diaphoretic, and is also powerfully errhine. Clay- ton and Schoepf have noticed it as useful in intermittent, but it is principally known for its power to produce running from the nose, the whole plant acting thus, but principally the flowers and the central florets. Eafinesque states that Dr. Barton con- sidered it a highly useful substitute for the more acrid articles 458 of this class, though it is not equal in power to the wild ginger, (Asarum,) or the brown powder of the leaves of the Kalmia. GriflSth ; Barton Flo. Am. Sept. GOLDBN-EOD, (Solidago odora, Ait.) Grows in rich soils, among the mountains, and in the upper districts, according to Ell. Collected in St. John's Berkeley also ; Newbern ; Fla. Fl. October. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 437 ; U. S. Disp. 679 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 189, An aromatic, moderately stimulant, and like other substances of the same class, diaphoretic in warm infusion. It is used to allay pain from flatulence, lessen nausea, and cover the taste or correct the operation of irritating or un- pleasant medicines. Merat states that the infusion is also em- ployed as an astringent in dysentery, and in ulceration of the intestines. Journal Gen. de Med. xxxvi, 3. When the leaves are subjected to distillation a very ai"omatic, volatile oil collects, and an essence may be made by dissolving this in proof spirits. This will also stop voiniting and correct the taste of medicines, even laudanum and castor oil ; Griffith Med. Bot. 397, observes that it is valuable in allaying the pain from headache, externally applied. It is much used in the Eastern States, and Bigelow thinks it will entirely supplant more expensive articles. Ac- cording to Pursh, the dried flowers are a pleasant and whole- some substitute for tea. CANADA GOLDEN-EOD, (Solidago Canadensis, L. Solidago procera, Ell.) Margin of fields. Used in Canada as a most valuable dye. The leaves and flowers of the English species are used for making a yellow dye ; said to be as good as woad. Eng. Flora, V, iii. Farm. Encyc. Its stalks are numerous, straight, and grow almost five feet in height ; they aiford very strong fibres if treated in the same manner as hemp. NAEEOW LEAF GOLDEN-EOD, (Solidago sempervirens, L.) Grows in wet lands ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. September. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 437. Very efficacious in the cure of wounds. ELECAMPANE; HOESEHEAL; SCABWOET, (Inula he- lenium.) Mountains of North Carolina. Chap. Introduced. Inuline, a vegetable substance of closely kindred nature to starch and dextrine, was discovered by Eose in Elecampane, 459 and takes its name from the old botanical designation of that plant, (J. helenium.} It is spontaneously deposited from a de- coction of the roots of Elecampane, and it constitutes the greater part of the solid matter of the tubes, both of the dahlia and the Jerusalem artichoke. It is a white powder, and consists by analysis of Payen of 46.6 per cent, of carbon, 6.1 of hydrogen and 49.3 of oxygen. It is soluble in hot water, being distinct from both gum and starch by its insolubility in cold water. But when exposed to a temperature of three hundred and seven degrees, it completely melts, acquires new properties, and be- comes soluble both in cold water and in alcohol. Boussingault showed that it is not colored by iodine, while acetic acid, which is without action on starch, produces with inuline precisely' the same effects as the sulphuric and other acids; finally, diastase, whose reaction upon starch is so peculiar, so prompt and so powerful, does not cause any change in inuline. It is, there- fore, easy to separate these two substances when they are mingled, by heating the mixture either with acetic acid, which dissolves the inuline. or with diastase, which dissolves the starch. I insert the above from Wilson's Eural Cyc. and Boussingault's treatise, on account of the interesting nature of the product. See, also, works on chemistry. The roots should be dug in autumn, and in the second year of their growth, as when older they are apt to be stringy and woody. The dried root has a very peculiar and agreeable aromatic odor, slightly camphor- ous. The taste at first is glutinous and somewhat similar to that of rancid soap ; upon chewing it becomes warm, aromatic and bitter. In its medicinal properties, elecampane is tonic and gently stimulant and resembles calamus. By the ancients used in diseases of females; in the United States most!}' confined to diseases of the lungs. It has also been extolled when applied externally for the cure of itch, tetter and other diseases of the skin. Farmer's Encyc. Dose of the powder a scruple to a drachm, of the decoction one to two ounces. SEA MYRTLE; CONSUMPTION WEED, {Baccharis ha- limifolia, L.) Grows along the seacoast ; collected it St. John's, where it is found in abundance ; vicinity of Charleston ; New- bern. Fl. October. Shec. Flora. Carol. 256. This plant is of undoubted value, and of very general use in popular practice in South Carolina, 460 as a palliative and demulcent in consumption and cough ; 1 have frequently seen it used with advantage, and have often lieai'd tliose emplo3'ing it confess the benefit derived from it. A strong decoction of the root may be drank several times a day. It is slightly bitter and mucilaginous to the taste. No analysis has yet been made, so far as I can learn. Shecut states that the " bark is said to exude a gum so much resembling honey as to attract bees in great numbers." This, like many others of our indigenous plants possessed of unequivocal utility, is unnoticed in the ilispensatories and other works. BLACK-KOOT, {Pterocaulon pyaiostaehymn.) Grows abun- dantly in dry pine barrens ; collected in St. John's Berkeley. Fl. July. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 324. Much use is made of this plant in St. John's Berkele3% as an alterative; it is supposed to bo pos- sessed of decided value. It is well known as the black-root of the negroes. A decoction of the root is given several times a day. EOSIN WEED, (Silphium laciniatum, L. Qummiferum, Ell.) Prairies of Ala.; said to grow in Fla. From Dr. H. D. Gai'rison's paper in the Eclectic Med. Eeviow, wo learn that this plant is brought forward as a now remedy in asthma. It had been used for the heaves or asthma in horses, (see the Am. Horse and Cattle Doctor, by Dr. J. H. Dodd.) Asthma or heaves in horses is said not to exist in the prairies where this plant grows. Dr. King, in the Am. Disp. p. 871, ascribes to the «S ptr/oliutum, L., which grows in Ga., tonic, diaphoretic and alterative properties, and alludes to its success- ful emploj^mcnt in enlarged spleen, liver complaint, miasmatic fevers, etc. He recommends both species in " dry obstinate coughs." The rosin weed, which is sometimes called the polar or compass plant, because its leaves are said to point north and south, is said to be powerfully diuretic. An alcoholic fluid extract is recommended in doses of twenty to forty drops. The dose for a horse is two fluid ounces morning and evening, (Til- don's Journ. Mat. Med. Nov., 1867.) BUKR; BUI^DOCK, {A'cnit/uiim strumarium, L.) Grows abundantly in cultivated lands; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston ; Richland. Fl. August. Mer. and de L, Diet, de M. Med. vi, 970; Dioseoridos, lib. iv, 401 133. It has boon UHcd in Rcrofula. The only works in which I have heen able to find any account of it are the JJein. Elern. do Jiot. iii, 91, where the leaves are said to be antringent, the seeds diuretic, and the expressed juice used in affections of the blad- der, and as an auxiliary remedy in the treatment of ring-worm ; also in Linna;us, Vegetable Mat. Med. 172, according to which it is found beneficial in herpes and in erj'sipelas ; hence, we may infer that it has at any rate some power as an alterative. Its leaves afford a yellow dye. No use is made of it in the South, so far as I can ascertain. The plant is considered a nuisance by farmers, as the burrs get entangled in the wool of sheep, from which they are with difficulty removed. Verbesina Virginica, JAnn. Grows along fences ; collected in St. John's; Richland District. Fl. July. Grifpth Med. Bot. 380. The root, in decoction, is said to be a powerful sudorific. SPANISH NEEDLES, (Bidem bipinnata, L.) Common. The roots and seeds, as well as thone of other species of the same genus, have a popular reputation as emmenagogues, and are given by the " Eclectics," says Dr. Wood, in laryngial and bronchial diseases as expectorants. U. S. Disp. IIAG-WEED, (Ambrosia ArtemisiaifoUa, W.) Grows in culti- vated lands and pastures; collected in St. John's. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 227. The plant is used in fevers in Maryland as a substitute for quinine; a tincture is made, or the juice is given with whiskey. It is very bitter and is thought to be useful. It is also used by some as a styp- tic, as I am informed. Ambrosia trijida, Linn. Griffith Med. IJot. 387. A plant has been noticed by Dr. Eobertson, (Am. Journal Med. Sci. xii, 382, new series,) which appears to be this, which is highly beneficial in arresting ex- cessive salivation. Parthenium integrifolium, L. Dry soils among Mts. Ala. and northward. Chap. llccommended by Dr. Mason Houlton as a powerful anti-pe- riodic. The flowering tops, which have an intensely bitter taste are the parts used, and two ounces of them in the dried state, given in the form of infusion, are thought by Dr. Iloulton to be equivalent to twenty grains of sulphate of quinine. Thirty 4G2 succossivo cases of periodic fever were cured by this remedy without any unpleasant effect upon the nervous system. Med. Exam. N. S. ix, 719; from Memphis Med. Record, and Pharm. J. xii, 602; from N. Y. J. Pharm.; U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. EcUpta crecta, Linn. T. and Gray. Eclipta procumbens, Ell. Sk. Collected in St. John's; dry soils; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Griffith Med. Bot. 387. It is said to stain the hair black. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, {Helianthus tuberosics.) Cul- tivated at the South. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, p. 351. The root washed in water and given to animals, will, it is said, pro- duce meteorism, ("meteorizations mortelles.") Nouv. Biblioth. Med. viii, 426. In Patent Office Reports, p. 578, 1848, a paper on the culture of the artichoke, translated from the French, is published. This contains a full description of its various uses as an article of food, etc. I will enumerate some of them : The tubers are regarded in Alsatia and near Strasburg, as an excellent nutriment for milch cows ; equally good food for horses, which are thus kept in a good condition and sustain hard labor. With the addition of salt, they are also useful in feeding sheep. The tubers compare very well with the potato in the amount of dry matter they contain, and its relative value as a root-plant used for fodder is maintained. " The stalks are of nearly as great use as the tubers; and here is the advantage which it has over the potato." Even if the stalk is cut early in September, which diminishes the size of the tubers, it is compensated for by the supply of green food at that early period. According to Schwertz's experiments, one hundred kilogrammes of the green stalks equal, as regards nutritious qualities, 31.250 kilogrammes of our hay. The stalks of the artichoke can be employed even should they be allowed to remain till the tubers are ripe, when they are readily eaten by all domestic animals. "Finally, the stalks of artichokes have for fuel a value which no other pi^oduct of field culture has. To pi'epare them for use, they are cut in two and made into faggots. This fuel is especially adapted for heating ovens or furnaces." It bears a great amount of cold. It can be left in the ground 4G3 all winter, and does not easily suffer from heat. It is well adapted even to dry and poor soils. The article which I con- dense contains full information as to the best mode of planting, gathering, etc. " Kade, an Alsatian, saw the same soil produce every year for thirty years a tolerable crop of stalks and tubers of this plant, though it had not for a long time received either .culture or manure." Early in April is the best time to plant, but even in winter they can be put in the ground. Withered tubers may be used as seed if soaked ; but planting of pieces or cuttings has not the same success as with the potato. Unless the season is too moist the tubers may be left in the ground all winter. To preserve them when gathered " it is sufficient to make a heap and cover them with earth, for they are not af- fected by cold unless when exposed to the open air. The stalks intended to serve as fodder in place of hay are cut with a sickle, and carefully dried by leaning them up in heaps." M. Vilmerne, of the Agricultural Society of Lyons, remarks that the arti- choke was known as an esculent plant by the Romans, but neg- lected in the dark ages, till it again came into notice in the six- teenth century. Almost all parts of this plar)t, he says, may be rendered useful. The leaves yield an extract which may be sub- stituted for quinine. The leaves themselves may be cooked and eaten after the fruit is gathered, or used as fodder mixed with certain grasses. They may be substituted for hops in making beer, and they contain a great proportion of potash. The Jerusalem artichoke contains a very large proportion of starch. It is used for making pickles, and eaten as a vegetable. It is easily cultivated, gives less trouble than almost any other plant, reproduces with scarcely any attention, and is a most valuable food for cattle, hogs, etc. See Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, etc.; Thaer's Science of Agriculture. Among our best plants which ma}'^ be cultivated for starch may be mentioned the potato, wheat, rice, arrowi'oot, {Maranta aruri- dinacea,) corn, etc. For methods, see Ure, and domestic receipt books. SUNFLOWER, {Helianthus annuus.) Cult. Evaporation takes place in plants to an inconceivable degree under certain circumstances. It is known by the exj^eriments of Dr. Hales that a sunflower plant will lose as much as one pound fourteen ounces by perspiration in twelve hours. " Taking 464 all things into account, a sunflower perspires seventeen times more than a man." The French make a moxa out of the pith of the sunflower. The English use for this purpose cotton dipped in a solution of saltpetre. Commander Maur}- recommended the sunflower to be planted around exposed residences, as a barrier against malaria. The seeds are used for fattening poultry, as they are highly nutritious. One hundred pounds of the seed of the sunflower arc said to yield forty pounds of oil. The refuse after expres- sion furnishes excellent food for cattle. " From the leaves of the plant cigars are manufactured, of singular pectoral quali- ties. The stalk affords a superior alkali." The following I extract from the Farmer's Encyclopoedia: "An acre of land will contain twenty -five thourand sunflower plants, twelve inches distant from each other. The produce will be according to the nature of the soil and mode of cultiva- tion ; but the average has been found to be fifty bushels of the seed per acre, which will yield fifty gallons of oil. The oil is excellent for table use, burning in lamps, and for the manufac- ture of soaps. The marc, or refuse of the seeds after the oil has been expressed, made into cake, will produce fifteen hun- dred pounds, and the stalks when burnt for alkali will give ten per cent, of potassa. The green leaves of the sunflower when dried and burnt to powder make an excellent fodder for milch cows, mixed with bran. From the ease with which sunflowers are produced in gardens, (for they seem to flourish in any soil, and to require no particular care,) wo may safely say that an acre of land will yield a considerable return. Poultry are very fond of the seeds." The following appeared in the " Atlanta Commonwealth," 1862: " Sunfiower seed and groundnut oil. — The fact has been known for some time that the crop of linseed oil was short, and that there would, in consequence, be a great scarcity of linseed oil. Very naturally those interested began to look around for a sub- stitute, and the oils of cotton seed, sunflowers and peanuts have been favorably mentioned. How far either will serve as a sub- stitute we do not know ; but certainly the oil extracted from some one or all of them misrht subserve some useful end. 4nr) " Some yoavH iii^o tlio cnltivjition of the Hiinflower was Htrongly ur^ed ill Jiii a^ficulturul periodical lor vai'iouH UHof'iil piirpofleH ; firnt, for a l»ee paHture ; Hccondly, the HeedH were goofl for poultry, or the niaiiiifacturo of oil ; and then, after the oil was expreHwed, to be eonipre.sHed into oil-cake lor cow-food and fat- tening hogH; the leaves for fodder and the stalk for wrapping paper. In the present condition of the country, these sugges- tions may not ho without value. "The manufacture of oil from cotton seed, we believe, has boon carried on for some time in New Orleans, and the expressed seed made into oil-cake for cow-food. We see no reason why this oil should not be made in any desirable quantity and with gr,eat profit, as well as servo most of the purposes for which oil is used." Anihcmis. See Maruta. WILD CHAMOMILE; MAY-WEED, {Maruta cotula, D. C, T. and G. Anthcmis, L. and Ell. Sk.) Crows in dr}' soils; col- lected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. .luly. Ik'rgii, Mat. Med. i, 741 ; Mer. and do L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 741 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. M6d. 268; U. S. Disp. 278; Shec. Flora Carol. 171 ; (irifflth Mod. Bot. 398. A tonic, diaphoretic and emetic; resembling chamomile in its effects, to which it is fully ecjual, but more nauseous. It is one of our most useful domestic remedies, and is given in numerous diseases. It is also pos- sessed of some power as an anti-spasmodic. A decoction acts as a sudorific and anodyne, and is given in colds and hysterical attacks. Hy Warner's analy^^is (Am. J. Pharm., 1858, .^!)0) it contains oxalic and valerianic acid. Merat mentions it as a substitute for assafeetida, that it is employed as an anti-hysteric, and is recommended in rebellious bilious fever. Dr. Ashby speaks of it as a prompt and powerful vesicant when bruised and applied to the surface as a poultice. Barton and Rafinesquo had conveyed a different impression concerning it. Dr. Ashby adds that unlike blisters caused by other vegetable irritants, the vesications readily heal. Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. Every ])art of the plant is fetid and acrid, has minute resinous dots upon its surface, and when much handled blisters the skin. Eural Cyc. The flowers of the medicinal chamomile are pow- 30 4G6 erfully anti-septic — ono hundred and twenty times superior to salt. See "Calamus" for Ileberdeii's estimate of the value of chamomile in rebellious intermittents. A decoction of the leaves of "common chamomile " will destroy all species of in- sects, and " nothing contributes so much to the health of a garden as these plants dispersed through it." I would suggest that the Wild Chamomile, the Milfoil, Tansy, {Tanacetinn vulgare,) be sown with cotton alternately or in the furrows to prevent the caterpillars. These all possess a pungent aromatic oil, and they are more or less noxious to animals, in- sects, etc. The Hemp might also prove serviceable. See Can- 7iabis sativa in this volume. MILFOIL ; YARROW, (Achillea millefolium, L.) Grows in damp, rich soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charles- ton ; Newbern. Fl. July. U. 8. Disp. 1225, Appendix; Le Mat. Med. ii, 108; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 2G7 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. 738; Hoffmann, "De Pr»stantia Remed. Domest.;" Matson's Veg. Pract. 299 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. i, 22 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 91 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 253 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. 180. This is an astringent; employed in the suppression of hemorrhages. The Highlanders made an ointment of it to dry up wounds. Lin- nauis informs us that the inhabitants of Deleeai'nia mix it with ale in place of hops, and think it imparts to the liquor an intoxi- cating qualit}-. Lightfoot's Flora Scotica, 486 ; Thornton's Fam. Herb. A tablespoonful of the expressed juice will arrest spitting of blood ; and it is also valuable as an astringent in dysentery. Dr. Buekwald says he experienced great benefit from the plant in the bleeding piles. Stahl boasted of it as a specific ; and the great Haller asserts that the infusion, taken inwardly, with the outward application of the leaves, cut fine, will dissipate dreadful wounds — cicatrizing them rapidly. Stahl, Diss, de Therap.; Hoffmann, "De Pra\stant. Remed." 18 ; Linnaeus, Flora Shec. 299. Besides the astringent, it possesses a mild, anti-spasmodic, tonic power, which renders it beneficial in hysterical affections and in leucorrhoea. The flowers are stronger than the leaves, being somewhat similar to chamomile, and yielding by distillation a small quantity of essential oil of a blue color. Dr. Grew says it resembles contrayerva in its 467 effects. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, p. 5. Sec Analysis in Bull. des. Soi. Med. de Ferus, xxii, 119, and xxvi, 253; Soc. de Med. Botaniqiie de Londres, 18.30. It is asserted that this plant has a marked tonic power upon the bladder ; it is employed in debility of that organ, and is especially useful in correcting the involuntary discharge of urine in children. A handful of the leaves is infused in a pint of boiling water, and three ounces may be taken by an adult three times a day. See Culverwell's treatment. It has been highly recommended as an emmenagogue, and in painful men- struation, in colic, to bring out the eruption in low forms of exanthematous fevers and in infantile convulsions. Its virtue is no doubt owing to the volatile oil. It contains an acid called achilleic acid. Dose of volatile oil, twenty drops. This plani, might be found of great service by practitioners residing in the country. The leaves of yarrow, or milfoil, are said by Johnson, in his Chemistry of Common Life, to "have the property of producing intoxication. These are also used in the north of Sweden by the Delecarnians to give headiness to their beer." TANSY, (Tanacetum vulgare, L.) Sparingly nat. in North Carolina. Chap. The plant emits a strong but not unpleasant odor, and has a bitter taste; said to possess tonic, cordial, and anthelmintic properties. Eural Cyc. See, also, medical authors. The plant yields an oil, and is culinary and medicinal. OX-EYED DAISY"; WHITE WEED, {Leucanthemum vul- gare, Lam. and T. and G. Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, L.) Natural. In upper districts; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Shec. Flora Carol. 394 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 271 ; Nouv. Journal de Med. v, 208; Griffith Med. Bot. 387. It is vulnerary and detergent. Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 212. In Siberia, according to Dr. Rehmann, they employ the plant in leucorrhoea. It is not used in this country. Nouv. Journal de Med. V, 208. Contraine states that it is a certain safeguard against fleas, destroying or driving them off in a short time. Bull. Acad. Brux. viii, 234. CUD-WEED, {Antennaria margaritacea, E. B. T. and G. 468 Gnaphalium margaritaceum, L. Ell. Sk.) Grows among the mountains of South Carolina ; vicinit}'' of Charleston. Fl. Sept. U. S. Disp. 1258. It is employed in popular practice in dis- eases of the chest and bowels, and is externally applied as a fomentation to wounds and bruises. Schcepf says it possesses anodyne properties. CAT-FOOT ; SWEET-SCENTED LIFE-EVEELASTING, (^Gnaphalium polycephalum, Mx.) Diffused in upper and lower country. Grows in pastures ; collected in St. John's Berkeley ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. August. U. S. Disp. 1258 ; Matson's Veg. Pract. 275. " It probably possesses little medicinal virtue." A popular remedy in hemorr- hagic affections, and as a fomentation in bruises and languid tumors. The infusion is employed by the vegetable practi- tioners in fever, influenza, fluor albus, and consumption ; acting probably as a warm sudorific. It has a pleasant, aromatic, and slightly bitter taste when dry, and the leaves are pleasant when chewed. I employed the leaves, flowers and stems largely as a substitute for hops whilst in charge of the S. C. Hospital, Petersburg, Ya., during the late war, by direction of the Sur- geon-General. Arnica nudicaulis, BU. Grows in damp, pine barrens ; vicinity of Charleston; St. John's Berkeley, S. C; Florida; Richland. Griffith Med. Bot. 409. It is supposed that this may be used as a substitute for the European species, the A. montana, which is well known as a powerful plant, possessing stimulant proper ties; directed with peculiar energy to the brain and nervous system. It produces an emetic and cathartic effect, and is much used by the Germans in paralysis, amaurosis, and other nervous diseases. Very useful, also, as a febrifuge, and to relieve pain locally applied in the form of tincture. RAGWORT, (Senecio aureus, Ell. Sk.) Mountains of South Carolina. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 1295. It is said by Schoepf to have been a favorite vulnerary with the Indians; the juice of the plant in honey, or the seeds in substance, are employed. FIREWBBD, {Erecthites hieracifolia, Raf. Senecio hieracifolia, L.) Common. It possesses a rank odor, and yields its virtues to water. It has been particularly recommended in dysentery ; U. S, Disp. 4G9 THISTLE, (Cnicus benedictus, T. and G. Centaurea benedicta, L.) Nat. along the seacoast, near Beaufort; collected in St. John's Berkele}^ ; vicinity of Chai'leston. Fl. August. Trous. et Pid. Traite de Therap, etc., i, 253 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 408; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 179; U. S. Disp. 196; Le. Mat. Med. i, 202; Woodv. Med. Bot. 34, i, 14; Ann. de Therap. 1843, 206 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. 1, 747 ; Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 171 ; Thompson's Steam Pract. The plant is emetic, tonic and febrifugal; one drachm of the powder of the flowers in wine, with a decoction of the leaves, is paid to be invaluable in anorexia, weak stomach, impaired by irregularities of diet, atony, jaundice and tertian fevers; Thorn. Fam. Herbal, 725 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 115. It is used, also, in chronic diarrhoea and in gout. Woodv. loc. cit. A decoction " possesses marked tonic properties ;" a large dose acting as an emetic, and occasioning a plentiful discharge from the cutaneous surface. It is employed as a febrifuge, in dyspepsia, pleurisy, and chronic peripneumony. Woodville says the extract is strongly recommended in the catarrh of children ; the seeds are very bitter, and may be used with the same intention as the leaves. Rectified spirits extract the virtues of the plant. The watery extract appears, also, to possess the emetic principle. By keeping, a salt is produced upon the surface resembling nitre. See Hist, des Sc. de Berlin, 79 ; and Duncan's Edinb. New Dispensatory. This plant is intensely bitter, and the opinions I have derived from many persons residing in the lower portions of South Carolina, particularly in the neighborhood of Summerville, are highly favorable to its use as a remedj' in intermittent fever. A strong infusion given warm is used to promote perspiration, and cold to act as a tonic. The plant possesses a peculiar volatile oil and a principle called cnicin, and it is stated by Dr. Wood, also, (U. S. Disp.,) from the Ann. de Therap. 1843, 206, that in four grain doses it produces vomiting, and, in doses of eight grains, that it was useful in intermittent fever. It should be experimented with more fully by physicians. BURDOCK; CLOT BURR; BAT WEED, (Zappa major, Gajrt.) Intr. waste places N. C. The roots and seeds are officinal ; odor weak, but unpleasant; 470 taste mucilaginous and sweetish, with a little bitterness and astringency. The roots contain a gummy extractive matter, sugar, a large quantity of imdine, some salts, etc. The roots are diaphoretic and diuretic, formerly much used in sj^philis, rheumatism and gout, its principal power, however, being depu- ratory — given like sarsaparilla in diseases of the skin also. According to Gmelin, it was employed in hysteria. The seeds are said to be more diuretic than the roots, and, according to Linnseus, they are purgative. The leaves are applied exter- nally in tinea, the decoction being used internally. Baron used the juice of the leaves mixed with oil as a favorite application to obstinate ulcers. The decoction of the root is made by boil- ing two ounces of the recent root with three pints of water down to two pints, of which one-half is given daily. Dose of the seeds about a drachm ; Griffith. See, also, Gfetner and Woodville. A fluid extract, of which a fluid drachm, repre- senting eighty grains of the root is the dose, is prepared by Mr. T. J. Graham, (Am. J. Pharm., March, I860.) U. S. Disp., note to 12th Ed. BURR ARTICHOKE, (Cynara scolymus.) Ex. Cult. I call attention to this plant, as it grows luxuriantly in the Southern States. Mer. and de L. Diet, do M. Med. Supplem. 1846, 234. " Dr. Montaine, of Lyons, assures us," remarks Merat, "that each year he treats with success a large number of fever patients with the extract of the leaves in the form of pills." Great use is made of it on the plantations in South Carolina as a tonic and diuretic in dropsy ; the leaves are steeped in rum, of which a wineglassful is administered three times in a day ; I have fre- quently seen it prescribed with advantage in this way. It is employed also in jaundice, the expressed juice or the infusion being used; of the former two or three spoonsful may be given; large doses purge. We also use the corollas for curdling milk. The modern Arabians consider the root aperient, and class the gum among their emetics. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 284; Ainslie, Mat. Med. Ind. i, 22. Dr. Copeman, pharmaceutist to the hos- pital at Norfolk, makes a favorable report on the value of the leaves in the form of tincture and extract, in rheumatism. See London Med. Gazette, 1833, from extracts in Gazette Med. de Paris, 13th April, 1833. Dr. Barry first employed the leaves in 471 chronic jaundice, and Perroton, of Lyons, also administered it frequently in the same disease. Revue Med., Nov., 1845. M. Dussauce, in his work on Tanning, 1867, states that the leaves are used in the preparation of leather. DANDELION, (Taraxacum densleonis, Desf, T. and Gray. Leoniodon iaraxacum, Ell. Sk.) Collected in St. John's; I have observed it growing in the streets of Charleston and New York ; Newbern. Waison's Pract. Physic, 39 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 184; Wilson Philip, Diss. Abdom. Viscera ; Bell's Pract. Diet. M. M. 445 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 453 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 401 ; U. S. Disp. 706 ; Le. Mat. Med. i, 396 ; Brande, Diet. Mat. Med. and Pharm. V, 632 ; AVoodv. Med. Bot. 39, t. 16 ; De Cand. Prodromus, vii, 45; Ball. Gar. M. M. 319; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 687; Mer. and de L^ Diet, de Mat. Med. iv, 87 ; English Physician, by Nich. Culpepper, gent., " Student in Physic and Astrology," p. 109. The root is deobstruent, cathartic and diuretic. " Good in obstructions of the viscera, scirrhosites of the liver, stone in the gall-bladder, ascites, jaundice," etc. A decoction of the root is also useful in impetigo and itch; the doses are one drachm of the juice and two ounces of the decoction. Thornton's Fam. Herbal. 677 ; Dem. Elem. de Botanique, iii, 169. At Gottingen the roots are washed and substituted for coffee by the poorer in- habitants ; they say the difterence between this and the im- ported article can scarcely be distinguished. It is roasted, powdered and prepared in the same manner. Murray's Ap- parat. Med. Withering mentions than when a swarm of locusts destroyed vegetation on the Isle of Minorca the inhabitants subsisted on this plant. The great Boerhaave entertained a fa- vorable opinion of it ; and Bergius found it useful in derange- ment of the biliary apparatus from gall-stones, etc. Mat. Medica. Delius, de taraxaco prtesertim aquje, etc. Dr. Men- delstaed cured black jaundice (I'ictere noir) with it. Van Swieten, in his Comment., Ziramermann, and Storck spoke of it in jaundice and hypochondriacal atfections. Later writers have confirmed these opinions expressed by those living at an earlier period. Dr. Wood, in the U. S. Disp., says that his experience in de- rangements of the biliary secretions has been decidedly in its favor, it being particularly valuable in chronic hepatitis. Eberle 472 recommends it in chronic cases of infantile jaundice : "Diseases of Children." Griffith in his Med. Bot. 415, alludes to its use in deranged conditions of the digestive organs, connected with an abnormal state of the liver, and in dropsical effusions arising from the same cause. In habitual costiveness, dependent on a want of due biliary secretion, it acts with peculiar benefit ; and, as an adjuvant to more active remedies, where the liver is indu- rated, it has been prescribed with advantage. It has been em- ployed, likewise, in affections of the spleen, uterine obstructions, chronic cutaneous disorders, etc. When its diuretic effect is desired, it is advised that it be given in combination with super- tartrate of potash. This plant is supposed to be possessed of valuable properties as an alterative, and much use is made of it among patients of a strumous diathesis, and those affected with diseases of the skin. I have seen it employed to some extent in New York for these purposes, constituting an important in- gredient of diet drinks. It may be easily obtained, and might be found of much service to practitioners residing in the coun- try. The young shoots are eaten as salad. It has been observed that the flowers possess a certain degree of sensibility ; for when under the influence of the direct rays of the sun on a summer morning an evident motion of the filaments is percep- tible. See MSS. Lect. of Dr. Hope. I have never been able to observe this movement. The plant should be gathered in the summer and early in the autumn. An analysis of it is found to contain gum, gluten, albumen, an odorous principle, extractive, caoutchouc, a peculiar bitter crystallizable principle, by M. PoUex who has named it taraxacin, some salts, etc. The decoction made with two ounces of the root of a whole plant to two pints of water, boiled to one-half, may be given in doses of a wine- glassful; of the extract, the dose is ten grains to a half drachm ; the latter should be of a brown color, and entirely soluble in water. The young shoots are edible, and produce in children a diu- retic effect. The leaves and roots of this plant ai'e bitter and contain a bitter milky juice. I have given the extract largely during many years attendance at the Marine and City Hospi- tals, Charleston. I ascertain that it certainly produces a laxative effect given in from ten to thirty grains — the same, or a much larger quantity dissolved in water, proved diuretic. In this way 47:-} I account for the different qualities ascribed to it. There was always a tendency to ascribe a power in the dandelion to act upon the portal system. " The roots of the plant were esteemed to be diuretic, saponaceous and resolvent, and to be powerful remedies for removing obstructions of the liver, and of the other viscera." Their purified, expressed juice has been given, from two to six ounces, twice, thrice, or oftener in the day ; and in- fusions and decoctions of the herb and root have been used for the same purpose. Boerhaave had such a great opinion of the continued use of (he juice, or of the infusions of the plant, that he believed they were capable of removing most obstructions of the viscera that were to be relieved by medicines. Bergius, likewise, as was stated, speaks much in the praise of this simple, and says "that he has often seen it prove of service after other remedies had failed; and that he had seen hardness of the live?- removed by patients eating daily, for some months, of a brolh made with dandelion root, the leaves of sorrel and the yolk of an egg with water, while they took at the same time cream of tartar to keep their bodies open;" and he adds "that he has seen a similar course of service in ascites, and in cases of gall-stones." (Thornton's Herbal. 677.) The yolk and white of raw eggs undoubtedly produce a laxative effect; so does the dandelion in the fresh state, or in the form of the extract. It is a useful vegetable laxative in place of calomel. WILD ENDIVE ; CHICCORY, (Cichorium intybus.) Intro- duced. As this plant is cultivated to some extent in the South- ern States, and will probably be largely required in the future, I insert the following, which I find in Dickens' " Household Words :" Chiccory is in truth, however, one of the most harmless sub- stances that ever has been used for the purpose of the adultera- tion of coffee, not excepting even water — as it is obtained in London. In the case of all low-priced coffee — of all coffee pur- chased b}^ the poor — adulteration with chiccory yields profit to the grocer simply because it yields pleasure to the customer. Good chiccory and middling coffee dexterously mixed can be sold at the price of bad coffee, and will make a beverage at least twice as good, and possibly more, certainly not less whole- some. Coffee that chiccory would spoil is bought by none of the poor, and by a portion only of the middle classes. We do 474 not advocate secret adulteration, but we would have the adul- teration to be made open, and all people to understand distinctly that since chiccory is altogether wholesome, it is a matter that depends upon the taste and the pocket whether they will buy coflfee pure or mixed. Take away all fraud from the use of chiccory, and we shall be glad to see its use fairly promoted. Let us look a little more closely into the subject. Chiccory is better known to many of us when growing wild in many parts of England on dr}-, chalky soils under the name of the wild endive ; it belongs to a tribe of composite plants called "the Cichoracese," in which are included, also, dandelion and the garden lettuce. It shoots above the soil a tuft of leaves, and when it runs to flower, sends up a stem from one to three feet high, rigid, rough, branched, clothed with leaves and blue flowers. It has a long root like that of a carrot, which becomes enlarged by proper cultivation, and is the part used for the manufacture of a substitute for coff'ee. Every part of the plant is perfectly wholesome — the root when fresh is tonic, and in large doses slightly aperient. Chiccory is cultivated extensivel}" in Belgium, Holland and Germany. It is cultivated in France for its leaves, as herbage and pasturage ; in Germany and Flanders for its roots. It was first cultivated in England about 1780 by the well known agriculturist, Arthur Young. It is a most valuable article of farm produce. On blowing, poor and sandy land it yields more sheep food than any plant in cul- tivation ; it will thrive on fen, and bog, and peat; it is good fodder for cattle ; it is good for pigs. It grows only too readily, if that can be an objection, for if not carefully extirpated, it is apt to become a vivacious weed. For herbage chiccory is sown precisely in the same way as clover; for the roots it is sown and thinned in the same way as carrots, and taken up, as car- rots are, in the first autumn after sowing. The great demand for chiccory has led to its very extensive cultivation in this country ; considerable sums of money have been expended on the kiln and machinery required to prepare it for the markets, and a large amount of capital is at the pres- ent lime profitably employed upon this new branch of English agriculture. It is not unimportant to notice that the cultiva- tion of cRiccorj^ requires and remunerates the use of lands worth from five pounds to eight pounds per acre ; that so far 475 from exhausting the soil, wheat may be grown upon it after chiccory with the greatest advantage; that it furnishes occupa- tion for a ver}^ large number of laborers, including women and children, and at a time of year when the fields afford but little other employment; and that, consequently, in some parishes, the poor's rate has been diminished by one-half since chiccory was introduced. The blanched leaves of chiccory are sometimes used as a sub- stitute for endive, and are commonly sold as an early salad in the Netherlands. If the roots, after being taken up be packed in sand, in a dark cellar, with their crowns exposed, they will push out shoots, and provide through the winter a very delicate blanched salad, known in France as Barbe de Capucin. When chiccory is to be used for coffee the roots taken up by the growta* ai'e partly dried, and then sold to the manufacturer, by whom they are cut into slices, roasted and ground. The ground chiccory thus made is used by many poor upon the Continent as a substitute for coffee by itself. It has not, of course, the true coffee flavor, but it makes a rich and wholesome vegetable infusion of a dark color, with a bitterish sweet taste, which would probably be preferred by a rude palate to the compara- tively thin and weak, and at the same time not very palatable infusion of pure coffee of the second or third quality. By the combination of a little chiccory with coffee the flavor of the coffee is not destroyed, but there is added to the infusion a richness of flavor, and a depth of color — a body, which ren- ders it to verj^ many people much more welcome as a beverage. The cheapness of chiccory enables a grocer, by the combination of chiccory powder with good coffee, to sell a compound which will yield a cup of infinitely better stuft' than any pure coffee that can be had at the same price. Any one with a sensitive taste, and a sufficient purse, would of course buy coffee of the finest quality, and never think of bettering with chiccory the enjoyment of its delicate aroma. The majority of the people, however, are b}^ no means in this position. Coftee, with an admixture of genuine chiccory, (which we take care to pro- cure by purchasing the article in its raw state, and having it roasted the same as coffee,) was preferred to coffee in its pure state. The reason of this we can clearly understand, and will explicitly state. We can afford to sell, and do sell a finer coffee 476 when mixed with chiccory than we can sell in its pure state at the same price; and the superiority of the coffee in conjunc- tion M'ith the fuhiess of the chiccory, in our opinion, decidedly gives greater satisfaction to the public. It is, however, a rule that will bear harshly on the comforts of the poor if coffee is to be sold only in its pure state, and chic- cory cannot be obtained in any less quantity than a two-ounce packet. Two ounces of chiccory would go in mixture to about a pound of coffee, and there are thousands who buy coffee itself hy ounces. Moreover, the chiccory coffee sold by the grocer is made with coffee of a higher price and better quality than the poor man would dare to give for coffee bought pure, when he has to make another outlay upon chiccory for mixing. The necessit}^ of two purchases would suggest the idea of greater cost, lead to a desire for more econoni}^; so in the buying the poor man would be a loser. Certainly, also, he would lose by having to make at home, in his own clumsy way, the mixture which it had been before the interest of the grocer so to pro- ])ortion that he might bring custom to his shop by issuing an article as good and palatable as any that could be contrived by his competing neighbors. " Of all the plants," saj's Thaer, in his Principles of Agricul- ture, "which have been proposed as substitutes for coffee, and which when roasted and steeped in boiling water yield an in- fusion resembling coffee, chiccory is the only one which has maintained its ground. It has been used in this manner for thirty years, even when the price of coffee has been low ; and has always yielded considerable profits, both to manufacturers who prepare it in large quantities and those who cultivate it in their neighborhood. It has also been cultivated as a fodder- plant, and highly recommended by Arthur Young in England. A plentiful supply of fodder is obtained without injury to the roots." See Thaer for method of cultivation, etc. In Patent Ofiice Eeports, 1854, p. 348, is a brief notice of the mode of cultivating chiccory. A variety which the French call Chicoree sauvage a cafe, has long fleshy roots like the white carrot, which are used for making coffee. "In the Middle and Southern States the roots may remain in the ground during winter without injury from frost." Among the substitutes for coffee employed in the Southern 477 States during its great scare! tj^, I may mention rye, raw yam potato, cut into small fragments, roasted and parched, okra seed, and corn flour parched and ground, cotton seed, the ground- nut, Bene, etc., which have all been tried. The okra seed is particularly deserving of attention : alone or with a slight ad- mixture of coffee it forms an admirable material, the aroma resembling that of coffee very closely. It is very probable that coffee can and will be cultivated as successfully in Florida as in the West Indies. WILD LETTUCE, {Lactuca elongata, Muhl, Lactuca longi- folia, Mx.) Damp soils; collected in Charleston District; New- bern; Fla. Fl. June. U. S. Disp. 421; Ann. de Therap. Ann. 1843; Woodv. Med. Bot. 75-31 ; see L. virosa, Mer. and de L. Did. de M. Med. iv, 10. It ppssesses a milky juice; it is said to act as an anodyne, and to produce discharge by the kidneys and skin, being similar in its effects to the Jj. virosa of Europe; according to others, it is destitute of narcotic power ; see M. Aubergier's experiments. It should be examined for the presence of lactucarium, the pro- duce of the garden lettuce. GALL OF THE EARTH, {Nahalusfraseri, D. C. and T. and G. Prenayithes alba, Ell. Sk.) Grows in dan.p pine lands ; collected in St. John's; Richland; vicinity of Charleston ; Nevvbern. The root is excessively bitter ; it is used in domestic practice in South Carolina as a tonic. I would invite further examina- tion. Dr. N. J. Pitman, of North Carolina, in a communication to Dr. Wood, reports the successful use of the F. serpentaria of Pursh, in twelve cases of the bite of the rattlesnake. He gave internallj' a decoction of the root. U. S. Disp. 12th Ed. .COMMON SOW-THISTLE, (Sonchusoleraceus, Ij.) Diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; Newbern. Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 439. It is said to be useful in stagnation of the portal circulation; according to some, it in creases the secretion of milk. Fl. Scotica, 428; Dem. Elem. de' Bot. iii, 177. The tender leaves are boiled and eaten in some countries as greens ; they are of a cooling nature, are applied outwardly as an emollient cataplasm, and are found serviceable in inflammatory swellings, carbuncle, etc. The flowers open at 6, A. M., and close at 12, M. The roots are milky and bitter, but have occasionally been converted into bread. Rural Cj'c. 478 PLANTAGINACE^E. {The Rib-grass Tribe.) The herbage slightly bitter and astringent. PLANTAIN, {Plantago major.) Nat. Collected in St. John's near the Santee Eiver ; I have also observed it in the streets of Charleston ; Richland District ; Newbern. Fl. June. Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 71; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 232; U. S. Disp. 1289, App.; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 135; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 358 ; Journal Univ. des Sc. Med. xix, 127. The leaves, when chewed, tinge the saliva red. This plant was a popular vulnerary and astringent once in great repute. It was also highly valued for its efficacy in fevers. Bergius, however, tested it with unfavorable results. We are informed that " the seeds in milk will stop a dysentery." Boerhaave states, from his own experience, that the fresh leaves applied to the feet will ease the pain and fatigue occasioned by walking, and that the whole plant was esteemed useful in healing and con- solidating ulcers and recent wounds, and as a dressing for blis- ters and sores. The leaves no doubt make a soothing application to inflamed surfaces. A decoction of the leaves in milk was employed as a gargle in inflammation of the fauces, and a colly- rium was made with a decoction of the seeds. Thornton's Fam. Ilerb.; Woodv. Med. Bot.; Dem. Elem. de Bot. 85 ; Milne, Ind. Bot. 102. It was looked upon as a panacea by the ancients; see Pliny, 1. 26, c. 11; Celsus, lib. iii, c. 22; Scultz, Mat. Med. i, 112 ; Boyle de XJtil. Phil. Nat. ii, 150; Petzolat, Eph. Nat. cur. cen'. vii, Obs. X, 25. It was formerly carried as an amulet, '■En fin," remarks Merat, "on a porte la racine des plantains en amulet pour guerir ou prevenir une multitude des maladies." See the Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, 567; Kev. Med. Juin, 1837, 399. Dr. Perret communicated to the Soc. des Sc. Med. de Lausanne a report on the beneficial effects derived from the root in various maladies : Journal Univ. des Sc. Med. xix, 127 ; and Desbois says he has seen the good effect resulting from the use of the leaves in scrofulous ulcers and in indolent tumors. Mat. Med. ii, 254. The authors of the U. S. Disp., however, refer to it as a plant of feeble power, allowing it to be refrige- rant, diuretic, deobstrueut, and somewhat asti-ingent. A chem- ical analysis would be desirable, as it is probable that a narcotic principle exists in it. M. Dussauce, in his Treatise on Tanning 479 and Leather Dressing, 1867, cites it among the plants whose flowers and flower tops contain tannin. EIBWORT; SNAKE PLANTAIN, (Plantago lanceolata, Ph.) Grows around Charleston and Savannah ; collected in damp meadows in St. John's ; Newbern. Fl. Jnlj*. Fl. Scotica, ii, 1089. It possesses properties very similar to the above. The Highlanders attribute great virtue to the leaves as an ointment for healing up fresh wounds. PLUMBAGINACE.E. {The Leadwort Tribe.) This order embraces plants possessed of very opposite quali- ties ; part are tonic and astringent, and part acrid and caustic in the highest degree. MARgH EOSEMARY ; INK ROOT, {Statice Umonium, Tor- rey. Statice CaroUniana, Walt. Fl. Carol.) Grows on the sea- shore. Fl. Sept. U. S. Disp. 680; Big. Am. Med. Bot. 251; Coxe, Am. Disp. 568. This is one of our "most intense and powerful astring- ents; much used in New England for all the purposes to which catechu and kino are applied. A large dose acts as an emetic, and in smaller quantities as a powerful expectorant; it also possesses considerable anti-seplic power. Its chief popular application is to aphthous and ulcerative affections of the mouth and fauces. Dr. Balies, of Massachusets, found it highly ser- viceable in cynanche maligna : he used a decoction of the roots both internally and locall}-, and these beneficial results have been corroborated by others. It is also given with advantage in S. anginosa, and in aphthous fever attendant on dysentery, where bark is inadmissible. From the experiments of Prof V. Mott, in an inaugural thesis spoken favorably of by Dr. Bige- low, it proved serviceable in chronic dysentery after the inflam- matory symptoms had subsided. From his observations, as well as from those of Dr. Edward Parrish, the cold infusion was the best form. Dr. P. found it to contain twelve per cent, of tannin, also gum, extract, alkali, etc., but no gallic acid. Am. Journal Pharm. xiv, 116 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 525 ; Am. Journal by John Stearnes, 281; see S. Umonium; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 524. It was regarded as an astringent in the time of Pliny; lib. xxvi, 28. The root is employed in infusion, 480 decoction, or tincture. Alcohol is a better solvent of the prop- erties of the root than water. The infusion with cold water is preferable to that with hot. According to Dr. Parrish, the roots of this plant contain tweve per cent, of tannin. M. Dussauce's Treatise on Tanning, p. 78, 1867. It also contains caoutchouc. Plumbago scandens, L. So. Fla. Chap. This plant, a native of the W, Indies and So. America, is ex- tremely active, and is known in the French Islands under the name " herbe du diable." Pison speaks of it as a good emetic in cases of the ingestion of poisons; but, according to Descour- tilz, it is too energetic to be given with impunity. Flor. Med. Autill. iii, 94. Brown also speaks of it as extremely corrosive, Hort. Jour, ii, 235 ; Griffith. EHKETIACE.E. TURNSOLE, {HeUotropium Indicum.) Michaux found it at the Eutaw battle-ground, St. John's Berkeley; and Mr. Oemler in the Dutch Fork, in Richland District. Fl. July. ' Ell. Bot.; Mer. and de L. Diet, do M. Med. iii, 462. It has been employed in the cure of headache. See Walkenaer, " Yoy- age," xii, 469. It is used in Guinea and in India. The juice is applied to eruptive surfaces, opthalmias, etc. Ainslie, Mat. Med. Ind. ii, 414. Rottboll, after Sprengel, says it is a vulnerary, employed in some countries to arrest flooding. Hist, de la Med. iv, 467; Abbet, Guyane, i, 117. BORAGINACE.E. {The Borage Tribe.) Characterized by soft, mucilaginous, and emollient properties. Some are said to contain nitre, a proof of which is shown by their frequent decrepitation when thrown on the fire. Lindley. BASTARD ALKANET, (Lithospermum arvense, L.) Intro- duced. Waste places, Florida and northward. Wilson states that the red bark of the root stains paper, linen, oily substances, and the human skin ; and that it is sometimes used as a rustic substitute for rouge, and as a coloring matter of ointments. Rural Cj'c. HOUND'S TONGUE ; WILD COMFREY, (Cynoglossum am- plexicaide, Mx. Cynoglossum Virginicmn, L.) Grows in shady spots ; Richland and Charleston Districts. Fl. June. 481 The root is raucilai^inous, and much employed in domestic practice for complaints of the lungs, and externally for poul- tices in sprains, bruises, etc. Farmer's Encyc. Shee. Flora Carol. 489, According to Clayton, the root is astringent, and is administered in diarrhoea. The leaves intoxi- cate when smoked as tobacco. According to Griffith, it is stated that the root may be used as a substitute for comfrey. Med. Bot. 500. HOUND'S TONGUE, {Cynoglossum officinale, L.) Intro- duced. Waste grounds; North Carolina and northward. Chapman. The leaves, when touched, emit a pungent and disagreeable odor, like that of mice in a trap. It is supposed to be narcotic, demulcent and astringent, being most active in the recent state ; but aiithoritics disagree in their statements, some ascribing poisonous properties to the leaves. Griffith thinks it is probably unjustly neglected. The plant is eaten by goats, but is dis- liked by all other domestic animals. Its roots have asti'ingent and narcotic properties — regarded as anti-scorbutic. Wilson's Kural Cyc. Mertensia Virginica, D. C. Pulmonaria, L. Eiver banks and mountain streams ; S. C. to Tenn. and northward. Said to be astringent and demulcent, (Eiddoll,) and is much used in some parts of the country in catarrhs and other diseases of the respiratory organs ; Griffith. LAMIACE^ OR LABIATE. {The Mint Tribe.) These do not contain a single unwholesome or even sus- picious species ; their tonic, cordial and stomachic qualities are due, according to Lindley, to the presence of an aromatic, vola- tile oil, and a bitter principle. AMERICAN SPEARxMINT; MINT, {Mentha viridis, L. M. tenuis, Mx.) Cult. It is an anti-spasmodic, with a bitter, aromatic taste ; con- tains a volatile oil, much used as a flavoring ingredient, and is said by Culpepper to be also an aphrodisiac. English Physi- cian, by Nich. Culpepper, gent., "Student of Physic and Astrology," p. 214. It is considered by the steam and vegeta- ble practitioners a specific in allaying nausea and vomiting. Thompson's Practice, and Matson's Veg. Pract. 286. 31 482 PEPPEEMINT, (Mentha piperita, L.) Introduced. We have also the round-leaved mint, (M. rotund if olia.) — intro- duced, and often used as a substitute for the above. They abound in resinous dots, which contain an essential oil. The pleasant, aromatic, stimulant, and anti-spasmodic proper- ties of these labiate plants are well known. They flourish within the Southern States, and the essence and mint water can be extracted in any quantity. See "Gilseminum" and " Sesa- mum " for extraction of essences, oils, etc. Immense planta- tions of Peppermint for the production of the oil exists, says Parrish in his Pract. Pharmacy, in St. Joseph's County, in the southern part of Michigan, and in Ohio and Western New York. These are estimated to comprise an area exceeding 3,000 acres, and to yield in oil of Peppermint over $63,000 per annum. For an account by F. Stearnes, see Proc. Am. Pharm. Assoc, 1858. In Patent OflSce Eeports, 1854, the mode of culture of a number of medicinal herbs is described, particularly the aromatic plants, viz : sage, mint, rosemary, mustard, etc., pp. 367 to 380. Nearly all the native and introduced plants containinjr aromatic oils can be raised at the South in suflScient quantities to supply all demands. An establishment such as that at New Lebanon, New York, and at other localities, for the cultivation of medi- cinal and useful plants on an extensive scale, should now re- ceive consideration. See my paper in De Bow's Review, August, 1861. BALM, {Melissa officinalis.) Introduced. The balm, sage, mint, and other aromatic plants, for the most part cultivated in our gardens, need scarcely more than a refer- ence. The melissa is cultivated for bees. The reader is re- ferred to an article on " Secretion in plants," in Wilson's Cyc, showing the deposits of aromatic and other properties at the base of plants, with the theories of De Candolle, Macaire and others. WATER HOREHOUND ; GIPSY WORT, {Lycopus Euro- pens, Eat. M. Lycopus angustifolius and Lycopus sinuatus, Ell. Sk.) Nat. in damp soils ; collected in St. John's Berkeley ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 25; U. S. Disp. 437; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 168; Matson's Yeg. Pract. 250; Milne, Ind. Bot. 34. This is reputed to give an indelible stain to whatever 483 it touches. Hoffmann says the gypsies use it to disguise them- selves. It has been highly spoken of on the Continent of Europe in intermittent fevers; Prof. E,e, of Turin, declares that in doses of two drachms of the dried plant the most obstinate intermittents were removed. Broffiero says it is astringent. See letter (in French) on the properties of L. Europeus in allay- ing fever. Dr. Bi'offiero's note in the Eepertorio Medico Chi- rurg. 832, and Griffith's Med. Bot. 505. It is employed by the vegetable practitioners in diarrhoea, atonic conditions of the digestive organs, and as a cleansing wash for sores. I would invite attention to this and the following, which are easil}^ ob- tained. Mills states that the juice gives a fixed black dye. BUGLE-WEED; VIRGINIAN LYCOPUS, {Lycopus Vir- ginicus, Mich.) Diffused ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Richland District. Fl. August. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 168. It has been admin- istered internally with great success in hemorrhage and htemop- tysis; and in phthisis it lessens the force of the circulation. In the diseases first mentioned, Dr. Silliman verifies the results ob- tained by Linstey — twenty persons having tried it with benefit in internal hemorrhage. Drs. Porter and Winkoop also report cases in which they have employed it with success. See Jour- nal des Sc. Med. 154. According to Dr. Ives, of New Haven, it is a mild narcotic. Drs. Pendleton and Rogers, of New York, obtained favorable effects from it in incipient phthisis and hem- orrhage from the lungs. See New York Med. and Phys. Jour- nal, i, 179 ; U. S. Disp. 436 ; Raf Med. Fl. 11. As a direct seda- tive, it is useful in diminishing the frequency of the pulse, quieting irritation and allaying cough. Practitioners, observes Griffith, (Med. Bot. 505,) are unanimous in declaring that it is an important addition to the Mat. Med. It appears to act like digitalis in abating the frequency of the pulse ; its use, however, not being attended with the disagreeable symptoms sometimes accompanying the employment of the latter. An infusion may be given ad libitum, made with one ounce of the herb macerated in a pint of boiling water. See, also. Trans. Am. Med. Assoc, i, 347. It imparts a black color to linen, woollen and silk. This plant grows abundantly in the lower country of South Caro- lina, and its power as a sedative should be examined into. CANCER- WEED, (Salvia lyrata, L.) Grows in shady, rich 484 lands; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston ; Eichland District ; Newbern. Fl. June. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 31. " The fresh radical leaves of the plants, when bruised and applied to warts, generally destroy them ;" continue the application for a day or two, and renew it every twelve hours. The leaves of the Hieracium gronovii are also applied in this way. EATTLESNAKE WEED; HAWK-WEED; BLOOD-WOKT, {Hieracium venosiim, L.) Upper districts. This plant enjoys the greatest reputation as an antidote for the bite of snakes. The case is related by Dr. Harlan of a person who allowed himself to be bitten by a rattlesnake, the bite from which subsequently killed a puppy, and he was com- pletely revived after taking a few ounces of the decoction of this plant. See Eolation in the 3d vol. Tr. Am. Phil. Soc. U. S. Griffith, Pursh. Fl. ii, 499, and Tech. Eepos. ii, 258. Used, also,' as an astringent and expectorant in spitting of blood and chronic catarrhs. The dose of the infusion, made with two ounces of the leaves and roots to a pint of water, is a wine- glassful. SAGE, (Salvia officinalis, Ex.) Cult. Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 268 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M.Med, vi, 191. This is a warm aromatic, and, according to the experi- ments of Ellinger, is possessed of marked anti-spasmodic power: it strengthens the circulatory, cutaneous and digestive func- tions ; stimulates the action of the nerves, and has a decided effect upon the cephalic organs, (see Merat and authors ;) pre- scribed as a stomachic, and in catarrhal and cellular infiltration, and used as a gargle in mucous angina and fungous ulcers. "Our moriaiur homo cui salvia crescit in horto ?" became an adage, so much confidence was formerly reposed in the plant. Its reputation is most extensive in domestic practice, the warm in- fusions being given as a sudorific, and in promoting the mens- trual discharge. The plant is said to have great power in resisting the putrefaction of animal substances. Van Swieten, Com. ii, 370; Woodv. Med. Bot. It is thought to have a remarkable efficacy in stopping night sweats, infused in wine or spirits, and this opinion was sustained by Quarin, Methodus Medend. 37. Baron Van Swieten also found it efficacious in restraining the inordinate flow of milk after weaning children. 485 In the English Physician, p. 295, the quaint author, Nich. Cul- pepper, gent., "Student in Physic and Astrology," mentions it as an aphrodisiac : " Helpeth conception and hinders miscar- riage." "Jupiter claims this, and bids me tell you it is good for the liver and to breed blood I" The essential oil deposits camphor in abundance, hence employed as a friction in rheuma- tism, paralysis, etc. Journal de Pharm. xvi, 574. I introduce the following on the cultivation of Sage. — The cultivation of this herb is among the most profit- able of the market gardener's products. Large quantities of it are sold while green during the season, as every housekeeper uses it in the cooking of game, or water-fowl, and it is essential as a component of sausages, so that tons of it are used in the winter season. At the price it is usually retailed in the markets of our larger cities, an acre of sage plants will yield a return of ovei;, seven hundred dollars ; and at the wholesale price, it will give a return of over three hundred dollars to the acre. The seed can be had of most seedsmen. It should be sown in any light, loamy soil, covered about half an inch deep; and when the plants are about two inches high, should be picked out and re- planted at distances of about one foot each way. As soon as it has grown so as to begin to show forms of flower buds, cut it off" to within two inches of the ground, and so on, again and again, throughout the season. If planted on land thoroughly drained the plant will stand many years ; but plants not over two years old produce the best flavored leaves. DOTTED MONAEDA; HORSEMINT ; ORIGANUM, {Mo- narda punctata, L.) Grows in rich and damp soils ; collected in St. John's, where it is found abundantly; vicinity of Charleston ; Richland District ; Spartanburg. Fl. August. Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 302; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 30 ; U. S. Disp. 462; Am. Med. Record, ii, 496 ; Ball, and Gar. Mat.' Med. 360 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv,444; Bull des Sci. Med. de Ferus, xi, 302. This is another of our very aromatic indigenous plants, possessing stimulant and carminative powers and regarded as a very popular emmenagogue among those re- siding in this country. The French authorities speak favorably of it ; an aromatic oil is obtained from this ; and the infusion of the leaves, recent or dried, is very efiicient in allaying nausea 486 and vomiting in bilious fevers. Dr. Chapman mentions eases of long standing deafness cured by the oil rubbed on the head as a counter-irritant. It was used in cases of this description, and in many diseases, by Dr. Atlee, of Philadelphia; see his essay ; among other affections in hemiplegia and paralytic diseases, in the sinking state of epidemic typhus, in cholera infantum, where there is prostration of strength, and in mania a potu ; sometimes employing a liniment, (see Chap, Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 305;) and sometimes the undiluted oil rubbed on the parts. The oil is of an amber color approaching to red, and if exposed to a great degree of heat, leaves a beautiful straw- colored camphor! THYME, (^Thymus vulgaris.) Ex. Cultivated at the South. A well known warm aromatic. GEAVBL EOOT; HORSEWEED ; KNOTWEED, {Collin- sonia Canadensis.) G-rows in the mountains of the Carolinas. Fl. September. The root is used in colic from lochial discharge. Linn. Veg. M. Med. 9. "The infusion of the bruised root in cider cured several alarming cases of dropsy." Shec, Flora Carol. 482, and Mease's Domestic Encyc. ii, 177. Dr. Wood saj^s it possesses tonic, astringent, diuretic and diaphoretic powers ; the root in substance, even in small doses, is said to irritate the stomach, and produces vomiting ; the active principle is volatile, so that it is best employed in the fresh state. The decoction is eflfica- cious in catarrh of the bladder, leucorrhoea, gravel, dropsy, etc., and as a cataplasm to internal abdominal pains. U. S. Disp., 1248. Merat says. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 364, that in America it merits the name all heal, (guerit tout,) having the properties re- ferred to above. Drs. A. French and Beers speak highly of it in pains of the bladder, in ascites, and dropsy of the ovaries ; given, also, as a powerful tonic in putrid and malignant fevers, and in leucorrhoea ; the contused leaves are applied to bruises, lividities, (les 7neurtrisseurs,) pains in the stomach, and as an ap- plication to eruptions produced by the poisonous sumachs. (See Rhus.) The plant, by chemical analysis, contains tannin, gallic acid, extractive matter, and a coloring principle. Op. cit. See, also, Ann. de la Soc. Linn, de Paris, v. 508. In his late work, Griffith (Med. Bot. 513) states that externally it has been era- ployed as a friction in rheumatism. See account of it by Dr. 487 Hooker, of New Haven, Ann. Linn. Soe. Dr. H, thinks the infusion should be made with a gentle heat, in a close vessel. The best preparation is supposed to be the essential oil, which is said to be an excellent tonic, given with benefit in low fevers, exhaustion of the forces, etc. This plant certainly merits fur- ther notice. Collinsonia anisata. Griffith's Med. Bot. 515. It possesses an odor somewhat similar to that of aniseseed, having the properties of the C. Canaden. EOIFGH-LEAVED COLLINSONIA, (Collinsonia scabra.) Collected in St. John's, in shaded soils. Fl. June. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 364. It is possessed of properties similar to those of the C. Canaden. Tonic, astrin- gent and diuretic. See C. Canaden. DITTANY; MAKYLAND CUNILA, {CunUa mariana, Mx.) Grows in the mountains of South Carolina ; Richland ; I find it abundant in Spartanburg District, S. C. Bart. M. Bot. ii, 175 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 517 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 276 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 127. The in- fusion foi'ms a pleasant and refreshing drink ; it is diaphoretic, and is employed in fevers and colds. A gentleman in Spartan- burg District, S. C, tells me that in his day "everybody cured everything with dittany." Doubtless they took less mercury and drastic purgatives in consequence. PENNYROYAL ; TICKWEED, (Eedeoma pulegioides, Pursh.) Grows in the upper districts, and among the mountains of the Carolinas; abundant in Spartanburg, S. C. U. S. Disp. 365 ; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 165 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 276, and Flora Med. 491 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 508; Raf Med. Fl. i, 231 ; Bart. Veg. Mat. Med. ii, 165. A gently stimulant aro- matic, given in flatulent colic, and sick stomach ; also as a stimulant diaphoretic in catarrhs and rheumatism. The warm infusion is a convenient and useful prescription, which is largely employed in popular practice in promoting the menstrual dis- charge. It is said that the plant, or the oil extracted from it, is an effectual remedy against the attacks of ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. HEAL-ALL, (Prunella vulgaris.} Grows in dry soils; col- lected in St. John's. Fl. July. Le. M. Med. ii, 245; Med. Diet, by Carr, art. Brunella ; U. S. ■488 Disp. 1291 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 276 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 520, This plant, though possessing some power as a stimulant, has fallen into disrepute. It was also used as an asti'ingent in affections of the throat. MAD-DOG SCULLCAP ; HOODWOET, (Scutellaria lateri- flora.) Grows along ditches ; Eichland ; collected in St. John's; Elliott says it is found in the mountainous districts. Watson's Pract. Physic, 386; U. S. Disp. 1294, Appendix; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 274; Bulletin de la Faculte, vii, 191, ann. 1820, where Spalding's (of Geo.) report concerning its anti-hydrophobic virtues is referred to. Youatt spoke in favorable terms of this remedy as enjoying the reputation for some time of being the only one for this disease. See Watson, loc. cit. The above meagre account was all that I eould collect with reference to this plant when the first edition of this work was prepared. To show the increased attention which it has re- ceived I add the following contained in the 12th Ed. of the U. S. Disp. It is thought by some practitioners to have valuable thera- peutic properties. Drs. Ariel Hunt.on and C. H. Cleveland, of Vermont, speak in strong terms of its efficacy as a nervine. They have employed it in neuralgic and convulsive affections, chorea, delirium tremens and nervous exhaustion from fatigue or over excitement, and have found it highly advantageous. Dr. Cleveland says that he prefers it to all other nervines or anti-spasmodics except where an immediate effect is desirable. He prefers the form of infusion, which he prepares by adding half an ounce of the dried leaves to a tea cupful of water, and allows the patient to drink ad libitum, (Am. J. Phai'm., xxiii, 370; N. Jersey Med. Eeport, v, 13.) Two preparations are now used, scutellarine, though erroneously, adds Dr. Wood, as it has no claim to be considered a true proximate principle ; the other a fluid extract. Dr. C. gives the scutellarine in a dose varying from one to three or four grains and finds very happy effects from it in quieting nervous disorders, (N. Jersey Med. Report, viii, 121.) The fluid extract prepared by Messrs. Tilden is used in the dose of one or two fluid drachms. Dr. Jos. Bates speaks highly of it as a nervine, (Bost. Med. and Surg. Journal lii, 337 ;) U. S. Disp. 489 BUEOPEAN SCULLCAP, {Scutellaria galericulata, L.) "Wot places, N. C. and northward. It has been employed in intermittents. Dr. H. W. Evans, of Canada West, uses an infusion of two ounces of the herb to eight of water, of which he gives in epilepsy a fluid ounce every eight hours, doubling the quantity after a week. To effect a cure he says it must be continued for six months, (Am. J. Med. Sc. xvii, 495 ;) U. S. Disp., 12th Ed. Scutellaria iyitegrifolia, L. Diffused in swampy soils ; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. Intensely bitter, probably useful as a tonic. U. S. Disp. 1294. CATNIP; CATMINT, (Nepeta cataria, lb.) Nat. in upper districts; collected also in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Le. Mat. Med. ii, 130; U. S. Disp. 191; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 216; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 540; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 592; Dem. Blem. de Bot. 248; Am. Herbal. 26. This plant is possessed of stimulant, tonic and warm aromatic virtues. Employed in popular practice in colds, asthma, ame- norrhoe"a, chlorosis, hysteria and the flatulent colic of infants; in the latter condition this herb is universally employed. It was used in yellow fever, and, like many others, enjoyed an ephemeral reputation as a remedy in hydrophobia. An infusion of the flowers was said to open obstructions of the liver and spleen. In the Supplement to the Diet. Univ. de M. Med. 1846, 509, it is stated that Dr. Gustamachia had used the JV. cataria with great advantage in toothache, caused by cold or carious bone, mashing the leaves in the decayed tooth ; this produces an abundant flow of saliva, and causes the pain to cease in a few moments. See, also, Journal de Chim. Med. vii, 2d series. The dose of the powder is a drachm and a half This plant is used by the vegetable practitioners. Cats roll in it with the same avidity that they do in valerian, and cover it with their urine. Dracocephalum variegatum. Vent. Grows in inundated swamps ; roots frequently immersed. Collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 682. The organization of the peduncle is peculiar. See observations on certain phe- nomena attending the plant called the D. Americanum. Acad. 490 des. Sci. 276, 1702. It is supposed to possess a "cataleptic powers." "Pourvues de cette siuguliere faculte," namely : "la propriete, de la cataleptique, c'est-adire, do garder la position dans laquelle on place la fleui*." Siipplomen. to Diet. Univ. do M. Med. 252, 1846. Dracocephalum Virginianmn, L. Grows in the mountains of the Carolinas. Its propei'ties are similar to those possessed by the preceding. MOTHEEWOET, (Lconorus cardiaca, L.) Nat. Grows around buildings; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. "The leaves are deobstruent, laxative, diaphoretic, emmena- gogue, anti-hysteric and anthelmintic." Am. Herbal. 230; Linn. Veg. M. Med. 168. L. states that the herb, drunk as a tea, is useful in hysteria and hypochondriacal affections. Griffith, in his work on Med. Bot. 515, supposes it to be tonic, and to relieve palpitation of the heart. It is extolled in Eussia as a preservative against hj'drophobia. In the " Indian Materia Medica" it is stated thai " an infusion of the plant is a stimu- lant, cordial bitter, and when taken at bedtime it procures a quiet, refreshing sleep, even where opium and laudanum have failed." It is probably useful as an ingredient tor a soothing tea. See Linden, ^'Tilia." HOEEIIOUND, (Mannbium vulgare.) Ex. Nat. Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 284; Watson's Pract. Physic, 118 and 332; Ed. and Yav. Mat. Med. 273; Trons. et Pid. Mat. Med.; Traite de Therap. 308; Eoyle, Mat. Med. 470; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 89; U.S. Disp. 452; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 358; Matson's Veg. Pract.; CuUen, Mat. Med. ii, 154 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 558; Woodv. Med. Bot. In the United States, it is used only as a warm, aromatic stimulant. The leaves ai*e tonic and somewhat laxative, and are employed in colds, asthma, hys- teria and menorrhagic diseases. The warm infusion acts as a sudorific, and is applicable as a palliative in phthisis and pneu- monia, but it is not allowed the possession of any very decided powers. In the Supplem., however, to the Diet. Univ. de M. Med. 457, 1846, it is said to be certainly useful in chronic rheu- matism, one ounce and a half of the infusion being given morn- ing and evening. See, also, the Journal des Connaissances Medic. Dec. 10, 1836. Ferreiu notices the root as an excellent vermifuge. Mat. Med. i, 279, iii, 312; and Desbois de Eochefort 491 H'dyH the decoction of three or four ounceB is a good remedy in tape-worrn. Dr. Cutler anserted that the infuHion wan a very UHelui application in salivation. Am. Herbal, by J. Stearnn, LL.D. Griffith states that obstinate catarrhs are much bene- fited by the expressed juice taken in milk. Dose, one drachm of the powder, or one ounce to two ounces of the infusion made with an ounce of the dried herb to one pint of boiling water. From this plant it is well known the candy so much used in pectoral affections is made. The horehound has a bitter taste and an aromatic odor. "It possesses tonic, diuretic and laxative properties, and it seems to owe all its powers to a bitter extractive, a volatile oil and gallic acid." Used in coughs, colds, asthma, etc., on account of the combination of moderate qualities just described. From the very fact of its simplicity, I consider it one of the very best remedies for infants and children suffering with colds and cough?. Given during the day with opiates, and nitre at night, it restores appetite through its bitter principle, it is expectorant and diuretic, and thus removes the slight remains of cold and fever so frequent with children. If the iavor is a prominent symptom ipecacuanha should also be used. Besides, it may per- form a most important role in taking the place of more active and injurious drugs. 1 know of no better remedy for colds and coughs than the juice or tea of horehound sweetened and given during the day. VERBP:NACEJ-:. (The Vervain Tribe.) FRENCH MULBERRY, (Callicarpa Americana, Mx.) Col- lected in St. John's, in dry soils; vicinity of Charleston ; Rich- land District; Newbern. Drayton's View of S. C. 62. This is said to be useful in drop- sical complaints. It bears very pretty red berries, growing in whorls around the stem, which are slightly sweetish to the taste. I could not extract much coloring matter from their skins with vinegar or alum. NETTLE-LEAF VERVAIN, (Verbena urticifolia, L.j Com- mon in damp soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Chailes- ton. Fl. July. U. S. Disp. 1304. Boiled in milk and water, and combined with the inner bark of the white oak, it is advantageously used 492 in poisoning from the sumachs, (Bhus.) Mer. and de L. Diet, do M. Med. vi, 8GS; Journal de Med. Ixx, 529. VERVAIN; SIxMPLEU'S JOY, (Verbena ha$tada,Jj.) Mid die districts of South Carolina, and in Georgia; vicinity of Charleston ; Newborn. Fl. Aug. U. S. Disp. 1304. This is more bitter than the European species, and it is said to be emetic. This plant is described by the " Cherokee Physician " as an emetic inferior to the " Indian Physic ;" a decoction of the dry or green herb "or a powder is prescribed like lobelia. A decoction of the root is used to check fevers when given in the early stage. The plant should be ex- amined. Verbena aubletia, L. Grows in the middle districts of South Carolina and in Georgia. Fl. Sept. Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 865. It is said to contain a very acrid mucilage. Die. des. Sci. Nat. x, 426. PEDALIACE.E. (The Oil Seed Tribe.) BENE, (Sesamum Indicum., Sesamum Orientale.) Introduced by the Africans. Fl. July. This is the Sesame of the Anabasis, mentioned also by Dios- corides, Theophrastus and others. The seeds contain an abun- dance of fixed oil as tasteless as olive, and for which it ma}^ be substituted ; it is said to be used extensively in Egypt and Arabia. Lind. Nat. Syst. 280; U.S. Disp. 661. Morat says that in Egypt they drink large quantities of the oil morning and evening, to give them embonpoint. It is also used medicinally as a laxative, and is by some preferred to castor oil ; also as an ap- plication to furfuraceous eruptions. In India it is regarded as an emmenagogue and as provocative of abortion ; employed in cutaneous aifections and ophthalmia; a solutionis given in colic and dysentery, and used as an application for softening the skin. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 832, and the Snp- plem. 1846, 657, according to which it is also becoming an object of considerable commercial importance, being substituted for olive oil in the manufacture of Marseilles soap. See Essay of M. Hardy, Eevue Agricole, Avril. 1845, 177. In the Trans. Phil. Soc, it is said that one hundred parts of the seed yield ninety of oil. Coxe, Am. Disp., art. Sesam. orient., states that 493 it was found beneficial in a dysentery which prevailed in 1803. 1 have Hoon it ^iveri to n^jma extent, and with great advantage, in New York, in diarrhoja and dyscjntery, particularly in these affections as they occur in children ; two or three of the leaves, thrown in water, arc sufficient to render it very mucilaginous. This is taken internally. It also serves as a convenient vehicle for enemata, gargles, collyria, etc. In South Carolina the seeds are largely used by the negroes in making broths. They are also eaten parched, and are often candied with sugar or mo- lasses. It might be made a source of profit to raise the plant in the Southern States, as it grows well and the seeds bring a high price. The above was contained in my report on the Med. Bot. of South Carolina, published in 1849. The oil pressed from the seed will keep many years without acquiring any rancid taste, but in two years becomes quite mild, so that'the warm taste of the oil when first drawn is worn off, and it can be used for salads and all the ordinary purposes of sweet oil. In some countries it is used for frying fish, as a varnish, and for some medicinal purposes. Nine pounds of seed are said to yield upward of two pounds of fine oil. The oil may be extracted by bruising the seed and immersing them in hot water, when the oil rises on the surface and may be skimmed off. But the usual mode of extraction is similar to that practiced in the expression of linseed oil. The plant is generally sowed in drills about four feet apart, in the month of April. Am. Farm. Encyc. I consider, after examination, that the sassafras leaf contains more mucilage than the Bene, and that both should be gathered and cured for winter use in making mucilaginous teas to be used in dysenteries, pulmonary diseases, etc. From a statement of H. M. Bry, of Louisiana, P. O. Rep. 1854, p. 225, sixteen bushels of seed of Bene plant (S. orientale) was sent to a mill in Cincinnati to be manufactured into oil. It yielded thirty-nine gallons of clear oil and about five quarts of refuse oil, or about two and a half gallons to the bushel. In consequence of the mill imparting the flavor of flaxseed he could not use it as a salad oil, for which purpose he was confi- dent it would be superior, when pure, to the adulterated im- ported olive oil. It was used, however, as a substitute for 494 ca8tor oil. All who used it praised it for its gently purgative eflfect, and because it Avas free from the "nauseous taste peculiar lo castor oil. Twenty bushels is believed to be a moderate esti- mate of the amount of the seed produced by an acre. It yields a gallon of oil to the bushel more than flaxseed. The excellent effect of the leaves steeped in water as a mu- cilage to be used in diarrhoea and dysentery is testified to by all persons who have used it. For this purpose two or three loaves are soaked in a tumbler of water and administered re- peatedly. This plant will act as a substitute for gum-arabic on account of the mucilage it yields. It should be used in the bowel affections of children and among soldiers in camp. Planters should collect and cure all the leaves at their disposal. At page 338 of the same volume another paper on the Bene is to be found. It is there stated that the plant will throw out a profusion of leaves by breaking off the top when it is half grown. The cotton seed also yields a mucilaginous tea, useful as a substitute for flaxseed. Nelson quotes Miller on the Bene, as cultivated by the Afri- can negroes in South Carolina : " The inhabitants of that country make an oil from the seed which will keep many years and not take any rancid smell or taste, but in two years be- comes quite mild; so that when the warm taste of the seed which is in the oil, when first drawn, is worn off, they use it as a salad oil and for all the purposes of sweet oil. The seed are also used by the negroes for food — which seed they parch over the fire and then mix with water and stew other ingredients with them, which makes a hearty food." Eural Cyc. Mr. Carlisle ascertained from the Gi-azette of 1735 that Mr. Garcia established the manufacture of this oil in Charleston as a salad oil ; his death in 1738 put an end to the enterprise. The seeds of the Bene, the myrtle, and the tallow tree, with the fruit of the groundnut, (Arachis,) might afford useful mate- rial to the soap manufacturers within the Southern States. I will insert here what I have upon the oleiferous plants most useful to us in the present exigency. In Boussingault's treatise on the subject of oils, pages 135 and 139, he says : " The following sums may be taken as a pretty accurate esti- mate of the average quantity of oil yielded by the different oleaginous seeds : colewort, winter rape, and other specimens of 495 cruciferous plants, from 30 to 36 and 40 per cent.; sunflower about 15 per cent.; linseed (flax) from 11 to 22; poppy from 34 to 63; hemp-seed from 14 to 26; olives from 9 to 11; walnuts 40 to 70 ; Brazil nuts 60 ; castor oil beans 62 ; sweet almonds 40 to 54 ; bitter almonds 25 to 46 ; Modiva sativa 26 to 28 per cent." I would refer the reader to a more extensive table than this in lire's Dictionary of Arts. I have little doubt that the Chinese tallow tree, {Stillingia sebifera,) introduced and growing around Charleston, is richer than any above mentioned. Hick- ory nuts, when bearing abundantly, broken and thrown in a vessel of boiling water, would no doubt yield oil abundantly and cheaply for soap. I have, however, upon experiment, found it diflicult to extract the oil. The plants most commonly cultivated for the production of oil belong to the genus Brassica ; all plants of this genus pro- duce seeds containing considerable quantities of oil, and are sometifties used for obtaining it. All the species are biennial, save the spring colza, or field cabbage, {Brassica campestris.) It is not, as some suppose, a degenerated variety of autumnal rape or cole seed, but really a distinct species. "Tbaer's Principle of Agriculture," p. 449. In the description by this author of colza and rape, (autumnal varieties,) he lays great stress upon the great value of the colza, {Brassica oleracea lacineata, a variety of the garden cabbage,) as perhaps one of the most abundant in the oil it gives out. The rape, a variety of the Brassica napus, is less productive. The colza (Brassica campes- tris) requires a dry soil. I introduce this information here because the plant might be cultivated to great advantage at the South for supplying oil, and because Thaer adds at the conclu- sion of his paper that the seeds of the ruta baga, or Swedish turnip, which is already grown extensively here, are equally rich in oil. For the method of culture and gathering, see Thaer's work, published in New York, 1857. It is also an excel- lent forage plant. The seed does not mature well in this lati- tude. The oil is obtained by a press or oil mill. Even the spring rape {Brassica campestris) yields more than twenty pounds of oil per bushel. Mr. Sanders informs me that the rape is grown and produces well in Clarendon District, S. C, and that it will produce seed. I would particularly advise the extensive introduction and 496 cultivation of the rape, both because it grows and matures well, and because of the amount of oil the seeds afford, which would supply whatever is necessary in making soap, (for pro cesses, see lire's " Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures,") and also because it would allow the Southern planter to devote the tallow, grease, etc, which has been economized for this purpose, to other objects. The Bene probably yields as much oil as any plant we possess, as I am informed by a practical gardener. See, also, flaxseed, Chinese tallow tree, etc. Mustard seed oil concretes when cooled a little below 32" Fah. The white or yellow seed (Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, p. 285) afford thirty-six per cent, of oil, and the black seed eighteen per cent. I would refer the inquirer to Ure's Dic- tionary for paper on the subject of the oils, mode of obtaining, etc.; and to Kurten's work on the "Art of manufacturing Soaps, including the most recent discoveries — with receipts for making camphene oil, candles, etc. Phil.: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1854." This treatise gives very plain directions concerning the articles necessary. In Ure's Dictionary a plan of an oil mill is given, and infor- mation on "seed crushing " and extraction of all oils. He says that the oil of colza is obtained from the seeds of the Brassica campestris to the amount of thirty-nine per cent, of their weight. "It forms an excellent lamp oil, and is much em- ployed in France." Hemp-seed oil resembles the preceding, but has a disagreeable smell and a mouldish taste. It is used extensively for making both soaps and varnishes. Linseed oil is obtained in greatest purity by cold pressure, but by a steam heat of 200° Fahr. a very good oil may be procured in larger quantity. " The proportion of oil," Ure adds, " usually stated by authors is twenty-two per cent, of the weight of the seed, but Mr. Blundell informs me that by his plan of hydraulic pressure he obtained from twenty-six to twenty-seven." In the Encyc. Metropolitana, under " Oil-press," a quarter of seed (whose average weight is four hundred pounds) is said to yield twenty gallons of oil. Now, as the gallon of linseed oil weighs 9.3 pounds, the total product will be one hundred and eighty- six pounds, which amounts to more than forty-five per cent., an extravagant statement, about double the ordinary product in oil mills, etc., etc. When kept long cool, in a cask partly open, 497 it deposits masses of white stearin e along witii a bi-ownish powder. This stearine is very difficult of saponification. The reader is referred to the last paragraph of p. 297 of Ure's Dic- tionary, vol. ii, and all of p. 298, ending at word "Dutch plan," p. 299 ; and on the subject of oils, soap, candles, starch and sugar, I would refer to the same work, where many of the best processes ai*e described. Chaptal, in his Chemistry applied to Agriculture, makes the following practical remarks on oils: " The oils are fat, unctuous bodies, of various degrees of fluidity, insoluble in water, form- ing soap with the alkalies, and burning and evaporating at different temperatures. It is the last characteristic particularly which establishes that difference among them by which they are divided into fixed and volatile oils. The fixed oils are con- tained in seeds and fruits, from which they are extracted by pressure. The first portion which is expressed is the purest, and is'known by the name of virgin oil; that which follows is rendered more or less impure by the mixture of other princi- ples contained in the fruit submitted to compression. It is par- ticularly by the mucilage, which is found in greater or less quantity in all vegetables, that the purity of oil is affected. After all the oil which can be extracted by pressure has been drawn off, it is customary to moisten the mash with boiling water and to subject it to another and more powerful pressure; but the oil thus obtained carries with it a large portion of mucilage, and is usually employed only in some of the trades. In some countries it is customary to collect the fruits into heaps and to subject them to a degree of fermentation before press- ure; by this means the extraction of the oil is rendered easier and the quantity of it is increased, but the quality of it is much injured. Similar results are obtained by breaking the fruit previous to expressing the oil. It would be hardly right to condemn these last methods as erroneous, because in the numerous soap-works, dye-houses, cloth manufactories, etc., this quality of oil is preferred to that which is purer. The learned will do well to condemn the processes now employed for procuring the fine oils, and to present others by which we may obtain them purer and of a better taste ; but the grand consumption of the oils is in the manufactories, and there the fine oils would but imperfectly replace those of a coarser kind; 32 498 thus, by perfecting the produce the usefulness of it would be lessened. When oil is to be extracted for domestic purposes it is without doubt desirable that it be obtained as pure as possi- ble, but that which is destined to be employed in the trades and in manufactures, as in that of soaps for example, is the better for being combined with a portion of mucilage. The great art of manufacturing consists in appropriating the pro- ducts to the wants and tastes of consumers. When mucilage is so abundant in an oily seed that it yields upon expression only a pasty combination of mucilage and oil, the seed is dried by fire ; when the mucilage is thus deprived of fluidity the oil flows oif pure. In this manner the seeds of flax, of poppies, of henbane, etc., are prepared for expression. Nearly all the oils are colored, and contain some of the principles of the fruits from which they are procured ; these are in some of their efi'ects injurious to the oil, and great pains have been taken to find some means of freeing it from them. Oil is clarified to a certain degree merely by standing in a cool place in open earthen vessels ; it forms a deposit, and is thus rendered purer, clearer and better. If oil is exposed to the sun it gradually loses its color. In order to clarify the oil of mustard one per cent, of sulphuric acid is put into a large earthen pan into which the oil is thrown and carefully stirred ; the oil becomes green, and upon being allowed to remain at rest forms upon the sides and bottom of the pan a blackish deposit, which is principally composed of carbon ; the process must be repeated after a few days if the oil has not acquired the wished for clear- ness. But before using the oil it is necessary that it be allowed to remain for some time undisturbed. In this operation the mucilage appears to be precipitated and consumed by the acid. Most fixed oils contain some mucilage, and most of them be- come rancid. " Most fixed oils have but in a very slight degree the property of drying, but some of them acquire it by being combined with some metallic oxide, and this greatly increases the use of them, as they can in this way be employed as varnishes for covering bodies which it is necessary to preserve from air and water, or as the recipents of colors to be used in painting upon cloth, wood or metal. The best drying oils are those of flaxseed, nuts and poppies. Linseed oil will dissolve at boiling tempera- 499 ture one-quarter of its weight of that oxide of lead known in commerce by the name of litharge. It becomes brown in pro- portion as the oxide is dissolved ; when saturated with the oxide it thickens by cooling, and it is necessary to render it liquid by heat at the time of using it. In consequence of the numerous purposes to which the fixed oils are applied the consumption of them is immense; they form the basis of the soaps, both soft and hard, according as they are combined with potash or soda ; they are used to fix in the most durable manner upon cotton the colors obtained from madder ; they are employed to facili- tate the operations in all establishments for carding and spin- ning wool. It is by the use of oil that the play of all machinery is rendered more regular and easy, and that friction is mod- erated, and by it metals are preserved from rusting. The most important use to which oil has been applied is that of lighting buildings, the defects of the light being remedied by argands and other lamps which aid in the consumption of the carbon by admitting more air to the wick. " The volatile oils do not belong exclusively to any one part of plants ; in some, as in the Bohemian angelica, the oil is dis- tributed throughout the whole plant ; sometimes, as in balm, mint and wormwood, it is found in the leaves and stalks ; the elecampane, Florence iris and bennet contain it in their roots ; thyme and rosemary in their leaves and flower buds ; lavender and the rose in their calyces ; chamomile, lemon and orange plants in their flowers ; the petals and the rind of the fruit of the two last abound in oil; that of the indigo and fennel is contained in vessels forming the raised lines which may be per- ceived on the bark. Volatile oils vary in color, consistency and weight ; there are some, as those of sassafras and the clove, for instance, which are heavier than water; and there are some, as those of the rose and parsley, that remain in a concrete state at the usual temperature of the air, etc. " The volatile oils are extracted either b}' distillation or ex- pression. When the oil is contained in vesicles upon the surface of the rind, as in those of the lemon and bergamot, the cells may be broken and the oil caused to flow out by merely rubbing the rinds together ; or the rinds may be taken off by grating, and the oil separated from the pulp by a light pressure, or by allowing the whole to remain undisturbed for a few days, when 500 the pulp will settle at the bottom and the oil remain floating above it. When these rinds are scraped with a bit of sugar, the oil combines with it, forming an oleosaccharum, useful in giving a pleasant flavor to liquors." Count Chaptal gives this simple process for extraction of oils : " With the exception of the oils of which I have just spoken, all the volatile oils are extracted by distillation ; in this process the plant is put into the boiler of the alembic and covered with water ; when the water boils the oil rises with the steam, and is condensed with that in the worm of the still, whence they flow together into the receiver ; the oil which swims upon the top is separated from the water, and this water, which has a milky appearance, is again employed from preference in new distillations. It is customary to make use of a narrow straight- necked vessel as a receiver; the oil collects in the upper part of this, while the water passes off through a siphon in the side about four inches below the neck. In the south of Europe where great quantities of the volatile oils are prepared, the dis- tillers place their portable apparatus in the open air, in those places which offer a plentiful harvest of aromatic plants ; when these are exhausted they remove elsewhere. " The aromatic oils are employed particularly as perfumes, and for this purpose are often combined with other substances. They are likewise used in the manufacture of varnishes, from the readiness with which they dissolve colors, and fi'om their quick evaporation after being applied." At Cannes, in the south of France, I have witnessed the operations for extraction of essence of roses, which are planted in great abundance. On the plantations in South Carolina rose- water is distilled from the petals of the sweet rose by a simple process. M. Dussauce, chemist to Tilden & Co.'s establishment at N. Lebanon, N. Y., has published, 1868, a Practical Work on the Manufacture of Perfumery, Oils, etc. BIGNONIACE^. {The Trumpet-flower Tribe.) TEUMPET FLOWEE, {Bignonia cnicigera, Walt., N. A. F. Bignonia capreolata, L. and Ell. Sk.) Eich, shaded soils; col- lected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. March. Shec. Flora Carol. 278. See B. cnicigera, Walt. The root 501 and vine, in infusion or decoction, answer the purpose of sarsa- parilla. It is detergent and alterative, aperient, diuretic and sudorific, used in syphilis, chronic rheumatism, and in de- rangements arising from impurities of the blood. The pith is said to be divided longitudinally into four equal parts, so that when the stem is cut transversely it exhibits the appearance of a cross, and hence Walter's name. This vine ajjpears to be possessed of instinct j it shoots up to the highest tops of trees before sending out a branch. CATALPA, {Catalpa bignonioides, Walt. Bignonia catalpa, Mx. Catalpa cordifoUa, Ell. Sk.) Grows in the upper and lower country of South Carolina ; collected in St. John's. Fl. May. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, 107. The physicians at Naples, after the favorable report of Thunberg and Ksempher, as well as those of Brera, have given incontesta- ble evidence of the advantages resulting from its use in asthma. The decoction of the fruit is also employed. See Gazette Medi- cale, 8, 1834 ; Journal de Chim. Med. x, 164. Ksempher says he also applied the leaves, which are emollient and anodyne, to the painful part. A decoction of the pods has been recom- mended in pectoral complaints, and the dried seeds smoked like tobacco, have proved useful in asthma. The bark is said to be vermifuge and the wood emetic. Griffith. Poultry are said to thrive on and to be fond of the seeds. The timber makes dura- ble posts. The honey collected from the flowers is somewhat poisonous — resembling, though less active, that collected from the yellow jessamine ; and an unpleasant and poisonous gas is said to be emitted from the wounded bark. YELLOW JESSAMINE, (Gelseminum sempervirens, Juss.) Grows in swamps ; diff'used through the alluvial regions. It is observed that it is gradually gaining ground in the upper country. I have noticed it just beyond Columbia, and near Norfolk, Va. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 312; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 490. " Possessed of narcotic peoperties to a very considerable de- gree." A spirituous tincture of the root is used with success in rheumatism. It is also employed in gonorrhoea ; ninety drops of the bark of the root in tincture, taken in three doses, produce vertigo, perverted vision, etc. Its marked efffect on the nervous system has been repeatedly observed. It also acts as an arte- 502 rial sedative without producing nausea or purgation, and though causing insensibility to pain, when taken in large doses, it does not induce stupor or delirium. The root of the jessamine has been much more freely used since the publication of my report on the Med. Bot. of South Carolina, made to the Am. Med. Association, 1849. Special articles can be found descriptive of its uses in the Charleston Medical Journal. Dr. Mayes, of South Carolina, has contributed one of these, March, 1857. Dr. Nash, of Norfolk, has also used it in many cases of fever with the most desirable results. Four ounces of the fresh root are added by Dr. Mayes to one pint of diluted alcohol ; dose, twenty to fifty drops repeated every two or three houi-s. Drs. Ford and White used the tincture of the root as they did that of the Veratrum viride in yellow fever, for its depressing influence upon the circulation ; see Ch. Journal. Many employ the tincture of the root in fevers; it acts in a manner similar to digitalis and V. viride, with the addition of some narcotic property. It has to be used with caution on these accounts, and because it induces delirium in overdose. Stille's Therap. and Dunglisou's New Kemedies may be con- sulted. My venerable friend. Dr. John Douglass, of Chester, S. C, writes me that he has used it repeatedly with advantage in gonorrhoea; see his letter published in Ch. Med. Journal. The tincture forms a valuable ingredient in cough mixtures, particu- larly in those cases where a nervous sedative is required. It has been repeatedly prescribed in these cases by Dr. O. A. White and others during the war. Dr. Edward Porcher, of Mars Bluff, S. C, prescribes the tincture in doses of twenty drops with much success in neuralgia. In the Med. Press, and Circular, 1867, Dr. E. P. Davis, of Vir- ginia, reports two cases of poisoning by overdoses of the fluid extract of gelseminum ; one died two hours and a half after taking the poison, having had widely dilated pupils, spasmodic breathing, a cold and congested surface, pulse almost impercep- tible, and being totally unconscious. The other a gentleman who had also taken about a tablespoonful of Tilden's ex- tract, had an emetic administered to him more promptly and recovered. The emetic was followed by one drachm of quinine in four ounces of wine. When first seen this patient was found in the following condition : He was lying on his left side, face 503 somewhat congested, pupils dilated but responding to the different degrees of light, eye-lids half closed with apparent in- ability to move them, and lower jaw drooping, and his tongue, to use his own expression, so thick that he could hardly speak ; his skin was warm and moist, pulse small and feeble, and res- piration somewhat diminished in number. He had neither purging nor vomiting. Dr. Parker gave quinine, and in a large dose, because it was a cerebral stimulant, and he thinks it was useful because the patient had taken the Gelseminum nearly ten hours before he took the emetic, giving the system time to come under its influence. The tincture or extract of this plant would, no doubt, be found useful in most cases of fever and inflammations, to reduce arterial action. In Tilden's Jour, of Mat. Med. July, 1867, Dr. E.. W. Slaughter communicates the following antidote : "A gentleman who had resided in Brazil, where the natives use the gelseiftinum as a specific for fever, asserts that the symptoms caused by an overdose will immediately pass off if a teaspoonful or two of the expressed juice of the Thuja occidentalism arbor- vitae, be given." In reply to some queries addressed to Dr. J. A. Mayes, of 6. C, 1868, who has extensively used the Veratrum and Gelsemi- num, I received the following statements : " I used the gelseminum in form of tincture very much as a sedative to an excited nervous system, and locally for relief of neuralgia, in situations where it could be properly applied. " For trismus nascentium, I found the tincture of gelseminum more successful than any remedy I ever used. I never lost a case in which it was freely used. Had a case of tetanus been met, I should have prescribed it with much confidence. For the former, I gave it in doses of three drops every half hour or an hour, according to the frequency of the spasms, and continued it with gradually lengthening intervals until the spasms ceased altogether. For tetanus I had long made up my mind to test it fairly by giving thirty to fifty drops every hour, until blind- ness was superinduced, hoping to see the disease overcome when the system was fairly saturated with the gelseminum. "A poultice, made by boiling a quantity of gelseminum roots until a strong decoction was obtained, and then adding corn meal to give it consistency, applied warm to acute, painful 504 swellings, to the jaws for neuralgia or rheumatic toothache, and for various local pains, was found, during the war, to be a valu- able substitute for opiate applications. I have seen very great relief obtained in a few minutes in severe neuralgic pains of the side of the face." For reference to authorities see U. S. Disp., 12th Ed.; Charles- ton Med. Jour. March, 1854, and xii, 180 ; also an abstract of the various papers by Dr. J. Bell, in N. Am. Med. Chir. Eev. September^ 1858. ■ The active principle, gelseminine, is much used latterly by a school of practitioners at the North and West, with other sub- stances of similar nomenclature. I give the following statement of the method of extracting the perfumed oil of flowers, as it may enable those living where the jessamine, rose, violet and other flowers bloom in such abundance, to prepare it : " The essence of rose, of jessamine, violet, etc., are possessed of a more feeble odor, and being obtained frcrm the flowers of their respective plants, require much care in their preparation. This is done by spreading upon white wool, impregnated with olive oil, the petals of the flowers, and leaving them for some time covered over with a woollen cloth, upon which flowers are also scattered. The flowers are renewed from time to time, until the olive oil em- ployed appears to be saturated with the oil of the flowers, when this last is separated by digesting the wool in alcohol." Wil- son's Rural Cyc; consult, also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, and Chaptal's Chemistry applied to Agriculture ; also Bene {Sesa- mutii) in this volume. I have seen in the south of France young girls manufacturing the essences of rose and orange flowers. Our Southern matrons do not lack jessamine flowei's or rose petals for making perfumes, essences, rose-water, etc. YALERIANACE^. {Valerian Tribe.') Valeriana scandens, L. East Florida. Chap. We have also V. pauciflora, Mx. Growing on mountains of Tennessee. They should be examined on account of their re- lations with the officinal valerian, and as nervous stimulants. ACANTHACE^. {The Justicia Tribe.) Buellia strepens, L. Grows in pine barrens ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 505 Ainslie, ii, 153 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 285. The leaves are said to be subacrid. OEOBANCHACE^. (T/ie Broom-rape Tribe.) SQUAW-ROOT; CANCER-ROOT; BROOM-RAPE, {Oro- hanche unifora, L.) Grows in pine barrens in the middle dis- tricts. TJ. S. Disp. 1282. It is said to possess properties similar to the following : BEECH-DROP, {Orohanche Yirginiana, L. Epiphegns Aweri- mna, Nuttall.) Grows on beech trees exclusively; vicinity of Charleston; Newbern. Fl. August. U. ^ Disp. 128. It has a bitter, nauseous, astringent taste, diminished by drying; it is given^internally in bowel affections. Dr. Barton thought it was one of the ingredients of a secret remedy for cancer, known as Martin's cancer powder. This is supposed to possess some of the powerful astringency belong- ing to the 0. major. Michaux says that in Virginia they use the powder in inveterate ulcers and cancers. Lind. Nat. Syst. 288; Bart. Med. Bot. ii, 38; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 102. Orobanche Americana, L. Collected in St. John's in rich soils; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. This has been also used as a remedy in carcinomatous affec- tions, ulcers, etc. SCROPHULARIACE^. {The Figwort Tribe.) Generally acrid and bitterish, sometimes dangerous in their properties. MULLEIN, {Verbascum thapsus, Walt.) Diffused ; grows in pastures, upper and lower districts. Fl. July. Le. Mat. Med. ii, 446 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 295 ; U. S. Disp. 735 ; Watson's Pract. Physic,, 202 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 493; Journal de Ghim. Med. ii, 223 ; Home, Clin. Experiments and Hist.; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 118 ; Mer. and de L. Diet. de. M. Med. vi, 864 ; Bull, des Sc. Med. de Ferus, xvi, 341. The leaves of the flowers con- tain a narcotic principle ; a decoction of the flowers and leaves as tea, is beneficial in dysentery and tenesmus; it calms pain in the fundament caused by hemorrhoids; and it is used in the 506 convulsions of infants, in ardoi* urin®, and wherever the indica- tion is to moderate spasm or irritation. A large quantity of the flowers will even induce sleep, so active is the narcotic principle it contains. Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 135 ; Milne, Ind. Bot. 293. The leaves of mullein, wai'med and applied to the feet, have given relief to those affected with gout ; and the dis- tilled water of the flowers has been used effectually in diseases of the skin ; Merat says in erysipelas and colics. Scopoli re- lates that in Carolina mullein is esteemed valuable in the pul- monary complaints affecting cattle, (hence called cow's lung- wort.) " The roots, both recent and dried, have the property of fattening poultry, even to obesity." Thornton's Fam. Her- bal. 238. It is useful in stopping or diminishing diarrhoeas of long standing, and often in easing pain of the intestines, which is accounted for by the anodyne, emollient and gently astringent qualities of the plant. Woodv. Med. Bot. ii, 343. Linnaeus states, in his Veg. Mat. Med. 31, that fish will become so stupe- fied by eating the seeds as to allow themselves to be taken. See, also, the ^sculus pavia, which possesses similar powers. Dr. Wood refers to its value in pectoral diseases, coughs, etc. U. S. Disp. 736. The leaves, steeped in hot water, are applied externally as a feebly anodyne emollient dressing for sores, for the relief of headache and frontal pains, used as an injection in tenesmus and applied locally in pains, and are much used b}' the poorer class. An ointment may be made by boiling the leaves in lard. A friend informs mo that the mullein leaves dried and smoked as tobacco relieve asthmatic paroxysms, which is not unlikeh' in view of their narcotic properties. The down serves for tinder; no animal will eat it. Equal parts of mullein leaves and the bark of the root of sassafras boiled in water and concentrated, then mixed with powdered sassafras bark to form pills, arc reputed valuable in the treatment of agues by the herbalists. See " Indian Guide to Health." Surg. Hinckley has reported several cases in which the par- oxysms of intermittent fever were completely prevented by the administration of the warm infusion of the fresh root. Four ounces of the fresh root to one pint of water reduced one-half by boiling, of which two ounces were given every hour, com- mencing four hours previous to the expected chill. Confed. S. Med. J., January, 1864. Dr. K. R. Newkirk, of N. Jersey, in- 507 formed Prof. Wood that he had found the smoking of dried mullein leaves useful in aphonia from irritation of the larynx. Taken internally, the dose is four ounces, one ounce of the leaves being added to one pint of water. It would be desira- ble to obtain an analysis of this plant, and it should be more carefully examined. Verbascum lychnitis, L. Grows in South Carolina, according to Dr. Muhlenberg. FI. July. Dem. Elem. de Bot.; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 863. The root has been used in jaundice. Durand gave an extract of the leaves in this disease, in pectoral affections, and in colics ; no doubt beneficial, from its sharing the possession of the nar- cotic principle ascribed to the V. thapsus. Griffith states that the flowers are said to destroy mice. Med. Bot. 517. MOyH MULLEIN, (Verbascum blattaria.) Grows abun- dantly, according to Elliott, in the middle and upper districts ; sparingly in the lower ; collected in St. John's, at the Big Camp, on the Santee Canal. Fl. March. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 863. FIGWOET, (Scrophularia nodosa, Linn. Prodrom. Scroph- ularia Marylandica, Ell. Sk.) Vicinity of Charleston. The leaves have a rank fetid smell, and a disagreeable, bitter taste. The root has also a nauseous odor. They yield their properties to water and alcohol, and contain a bitter resin, an extractive having the odor of benzoic acid, with gum, starch, inuline, etc. Pereira, ii, 306 ; Griffith Med. Bot. 518. It is vul- nerary and soothing, when applied as a poultice to ulcers, burns, piles, itch, etc. An ointment of the leaves was officinal in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, and was found useful by Stokes and Montgomery in skin diseases. SNAKE-HEAD, (CMone <7?a6rflf, L.) Grows in damp soils; Piehland District; collected in St. John's Berkeley; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. Griffith Med. Bot. 520. In small doses it is laxative ; large quantities purge. It acts on the liver ; one drachm of the powder may be given at once. It is administered by the vege- table practitioners as an anthelmintic ; also in jaundice, in hepatic disorders generally, and in constipation. It is pre- 508 scribed as an alterative and tonic in impure conditions of the blood — the decoction, powder, or tincture used. DIGITALIS ; FOXGLOVE, (Digitalis purpurea.) It is stated in one of the gazettes that this plant grows na- tive around Charleston. See Shec. Flora Carol. 305. Elliott makes no mention of it ; neither does Bachman in his Cata- logue. The po^ve^ this remarkable species possesses of dimin- ishing the force of the circulation is well known. It sometimes proves violently emetic and purgative. See authors. HEDGE HYSSOP, (Gratiola officinalis. Gratiola Virginica of Mx. and Ell. Sk.) Natural. Abundant along the margins of ditches ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. April. Bull. Plantes Von de France, 118. It is purgative and emetic ; like the Arum, however, it loses much of its virtue when dried ; a small quantity of the fresh root will purge exces- sively, (des superpurgations extremement dangerouses.) It was used, says Lieutaud, as a hydragogue cathartic, sixty grains of the dried root being given in dropsy and intermittent fever. Thornton's Fam. Herbal. 23. It is also said to be powerfully anthelmintic, and was highly spoken of by the celebrated Boer- haave, by Hoffmann, and Dureau. "Relieves dropsy in the chest." Lind. Nat. Syst. 291. According to Vauquelin, the purgative property depends upon a peculiar substance analo- gous to resin, but differing from it in being soluble in hot water. Dr. Whiting has announced the existence oi ver atria in it, which accounts for its active properties. It formed an ingredient of the celebrated eau medicinale for gout. Dose of powder fifteen to thirty grains ; of the vinous tincture, forty to fifty drops; of the infusion of an ounce of dried plant to a pint of boiling water, half an ounce to an ounce. GOLDEN GRATIOLA, {Gratiola awrea, Muhl.) Vicinity of Charleston. Griffith Med. Bot. 519. It is said to be fully as powerful as the above, as a substitute for which it is employed; attention is called to it. Herpestis monnieria, Kunth. Herpestis cuneifolia, Ph. Ditches, Fla. to N. C. and westward. The juice is considered a good embrocation when mixed with petroleum, in rheumatic complaints. Griffith. 509 YELLOW GEKAliDIA, {Dasystovia pubescens, Bontli. Ge- rardia Flava, L. and Ell. Sk.) Abundant in rich, dry woods. This plant, it is said, will prevent the attacks of yellow and other flies upon horses ; ])robably owing to its great viscidity. See " Juglans." It is pubescent and highly viscous. It has very little taste, unless chewed for some time. Upon a subse- quent examination (18G2) of the G. Flava, I find that the hairs with which the plant is covered secrete from the gland at their summits a tenacious, gummy substance, to which insects may adhere. Under the microscope it is an interesting object. The leaves of the English o\dor {Sambucus nigra) "kill several species of noxious insects, offend and banish moles, and are greedily eaten by sheep." Our Lysimachias should be examined, as the loaves and flowers of L. nunwiularia, steeped in oil, have the power of destroying insects and worms which infest granaries. PURPLE GERARDIA, {Gerardia purpurea.) Common in wet places. A wineglassful of the decoction repeated is said to bo highly serviceable in "diseases of the kidneys ;" largely used in some portions of S. Carolina. It is said to give great relief. SPEEDWELL, (Veronica ojficitialis.) Grows in South Caro- lina, according to Pursh. Fl. May. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 1. This is tonic and pectoral; used in asthm.a and coughs, four spoonsful of the expressed juice being given in the form of tea. Indig. Bot. 18. The infusion of the leaves is employed on the west coast of Africa as a drink in gravelly complaints. Drs. Frank and Scopoli wrote mono- graphs on it ; the latter affirms that he cured a very violent case, where suffocation arose from catarrhal affection, by intro- ducing through the mouth, by a funnel, the vapor of a decoction of Veronica, mixed with vinegar. It contains tannin. Mer. and do L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 875; Flore Med. vi, 345. It is alluded to in the U. S. Disp. as a diaphoretic, diuretic and expectorant, which had passed out of use. Griffith refers to it as a mild astringent. Many of these plants only require exami- nation to regain the confidence once placed in them ; all being liable to the fluctuations which have characterized some that are now considered our most valuable agents. To the above, published in the first edition of this volume, I add the following from the 12th Edition U. S. Disp.: Exam- 510 ined by Euz, this plant is found to contain in the fresh juice and an extract from the herb, a bitter principle, soluble in alco- hol, but scarcely so in ether; an acrid principle, red coloring matter ; a variety of tannic acid, a crystallizable fatty acid, with malic, tartaric, citric, acetic and lactic acids ; a soft, dark, green, bitter resin and mannite. Prof. Mayer, of New York, found evidence of the existence of an alkaloid and a small quantity of a saponaceous principle. (Am. J. Pharm., July, 1863.) NECKWEED, {Veronica peregrina, Mx.) Vicinity of Charles- ton ; Newbern. Grriffith's Med. Bot. 517. In some portions of the United States it is supposed to be very efficacious ; and is used inter- nally and externally as a wash in scrofulous tumors on the neck. YIKGINIAN VERONICA; CULVEE'S ROOT, {Veronica Virginica, L. JLeptandra, Nutt.) Grows in the mountain val- leys. Fl. August. U. S. Disp. 772 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 816. The root is bitter and nauseous, yielding its active properties to boiling water. In the recent state it is said to act violently, sometimes as a cathartic and sometimes as an emetic. Under the name Blackroot, Culver's root, and the probably erroneous botanical name, {Leptandra alba,) the author of a work professing to describe the Indian mode of treating dis- eases, entitled the "Cherokee Ph3^sician," recommends the plant as an efficient purge, "operating with mildness and certainty;" peculiarly adapted to typhoid and bilious fevers. Dose, a large teaspoonful of the root in a gill of boiling water, repeated in three hours. It is said to be also diaphoretic. The root may be given in any shape, and is thought to have a slow, alterative action. An extract is also used in making cathartic pills by concentrating the decoction, and using starch or liquorice root powder, or a syrup is made by adding molasses or sugar. It is laxative in tablespoonful doses. A principle called leptandrine, from the Leptandra, is much used in the Western States. An emetic decoction is made by the vegetable practitioners with the Leptandra root: half a pound American ipecacuanha, or the Indian physic one pound, put into a gallon of water and boiled down to a pint, of which the dose is an ounce every twenty minutes till vomiting is induced ; or two teaspoonsful of the 511 powder may be given in an ounce of boiling water, to be re- peated. Since the above was written the value of the plant has been more fully recognized, and it has been placed in the primary list of the U. S. Pbarmaccepia. I obtained additional information (1868) from the U. S. Disp., 12th Ed, Water and alcohol ex- tract the virtues of the root. According to Mr. E. S. Wayne, of Cincin., it contains volatile oil, extractive, tannin, gum, resin, and a peculiar crystalline principle to which the virtues of the plant may be ascribed. To this, says Dr. Wood, the name lep- tandrin properly belongs. The resinous matter obtained by making a tincture of the root precipitated with water has been improperly called leptandrin, (Proc. of the Am. Pharm. Assoc.) Dr. Wayne also obtained a principle having the properties of mannite. (Am. J. Pharm., 1859, 557.) The root acts both as an emetic and cathartic. The " Eclectics " use it as a cholo- gogae,'and the impure resin, which they call leptandrin, and the root itself, they employ as a substitute for mercurials. The The dose of the powder is from twenty grains to a drachm ; that of the impure resin is from two to four grains. Prof. Proctor, adds Dr. Wood, has prepared a fluid extract which, probably, contains all its virtues, and may be given as an ape- rient chologogue in the dose of from twenty to sixty minims. (Am. J. Pharm., March, 1863.) BKOOK PIMPERNEL; LONG-LEAVED BROOK-LIME, ( Veronica anagallis, Mich.) Grows in South Carolina, according to Pursh. Nat. Fl. July. Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 130. The infusion is diuretic, anti- scorbutic and vulnerary. Scoparia dulcis, L. S. Fla. Chap. An infusion is used in S. America as a febrifuge and in hae- morrhoidal affections. Griffith. SOLANACE.E. {The Nightshade Tribe.) Leaves are narcotic and exciting — tubers generally whole- some. PEPPER, {Capsicum annuum.) Cultivated. Its properties are well known. Cayenne and other peppers may be used as external irritants in place of mustard. Our 512 Cnpsician frutescens, L., growing in S. Fla., should be examined, for the most active of these plants are either this identical spe- cies or varieties of it. They contain capsicin and are used to produce i-evulsion to the surface or as excitants of the stomach, also in fevers and affections of the throat. C. baccatum and 0. frutescens are said to yield most of the Cayenne pepper brought from the West Indies and S. America, and Ainslie informs us that the latter is chiefly employed in the East Indies. U. S. Disp. DEADLY NIGHTSHADE, (Solamim nigrum, L.) Grows in rich soils ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; New- bern. Fl. July. Trous. et Pid. Mat. Med. i, 206 ; U. S. Disp. 304; Eberle, Mat. Med, ii, 89 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 343 ; Eoyle, Mat. Med. 495; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 326; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 272; Mer, and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 417 ; Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 422 and 541 ; Nouv. Journal de Med. x, 67 ; Alibert, Nouv. Elems. de Therap. i, 417. The berries are an active nar- cotic poison ; one grain of these, in augmented doses, is used as a remedy for increased flow of urine. It is indicated in dis- eases affecting the bladder, rebellious ulcers, etc. Milne, Ind. Bot. 315 ; Bull. Plantes Yen. de France, 155 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 139. When swallowed, headache, violent distortion of limbs and delirium supervene. Rucke mentions a case of a family having eaten the leaves, and being attacked with swel- ling of the face, accompanied with burning heat, followed by gangrene. Forskall, in his Flora J^gypt. Arabica, says that an application of the bruised leaves acts as a specific in the disease termed by the Arabs bulla, and, applied with hog's lard, cures whitloAvs. Caesalpinus states that the juice, or a decoction, proved useful in inflammation of the stomach. Gataker, in his " Observations on the Use of the Solanum," commenced by giv- ing a grain, which acted gently as an evacuant by sweat, urine and stool ; if the dose was too large, it produced vomiting, pro- fuse perspiration, or too copious a discharge by the kidneys, or diarrhoea, and sometimes dimness of sight, vertigo, etc. He used it frequently in nervous affections, obscure pains and dropsy. Stearns' Am. Herb.; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. The leaves, beat up into a poultice, are applied to painful parts, hemorrhoids, etc., and as a cataplasm in spasmodic retention of 513 urine, and in catarrh of the bladder, no doubt producing bene- ficial results by its narcotic properties. Combined with bread, or bruised and applied alone, it eases headache and pain in the ears, helps inflammation of a venereal kind, pains from can- cerous tumors, and is applied with advantage in herpetic, syphilitic and scorbutic eruptions. Given internally, one half- grain infused in one ounce of boiling water may be used. See, also, Linnaeus, Veg. Mat. Med. 34; Flore Med. v, 239. It was mentioned by Dioscorides, iv, 56. By the analysis of Desfosses, the berries furnish an alkaloid called solanirie, possessed of marked properties. Nouv. Journal de Med. x, 67 ; Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 541. Dunal says it induces dilation of the pupil by friction, as completely as it is accomplished by belladonna. Anc. Journal de Med. vi, 150; Hist. Med. des Solane, by Dunal. It has been doubted whether it produces anj'^ impression upon epileptic patients. Botanique Med. 292. The fumes arising from thS burning of the fresh fruit are valuable in curing tooth- ache. Gazette of Health, May, 1824. The juice furnishes a reactive agent, which indicates at the same time acids and alka- lies, accoi'ding to S. Boullay, Bull, des Pharm. ii, 576 ; and in the Observs. on different English species by Broomsfield. See, also, Desfosses, Chem. Anal, of the narcotic principle, followed by some cases illustrating the action of that principle; Eevue Med. iv, 463. GriflSth Med. Bot. 482, says that it appears to possess the same properties as the S. dulcamara, but in a greater degree ; accounted for by the fact that solanina exists in it in larger proportion. Orfila found the extract equal in power and energy to that of lactuarium. Toxicol. Gen. ii, 190. It may be employed in the same description of cases as the bitter- sweet. Eberle thinks it is by far too much neglected. M. Dunal, of Montpelier, states as the result of numerous experiments, that the berries are not poisonous to man or the inferior animals; and the leaves are said to be consumed in large quantities in the Isle of France as food, having been pre-^ viously boiled in water. XJ. S. Disp., 12th Ed. HORSE-NETTLE, (Solanum Carolinense, Michaux.) Dif- fused ; collected in St. John's Berkeley, in pine barrens j vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. FI. August. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 410. Valentine employed it in tetanus, (non traumatique.) The juice of five or six 33 514 berries was used, augmenting the dose from day to day. See "A notice of the different methods of treating tetanus in America, with observations on the good effects of S. Caro- linense," (in French.) Journal Gen. de Med. xl, 13. They did not have it in sufficient quantities to repeat the experiment ; with us it is abundant. It possesses some reputation among the negroes in South Carolina as an aphrodisiac. Salanum mammosum, Pursh. Fla.; Ga.; vicinity of Charleston. Lind. Nat. Syst. 295. The decoction of the root is bitter, and is esteemed a valuable diuretic. Ainslie, M. Med. 291; Griffith Med. Bot. 483. It bears a large and poisonous fruit, which is said to contain malate of solanina. Its extract, in small doses, has been given in cardialgia, lepra, etc. Flore Med. Antill. iii, 159. Solanum Virginianum, Pursh. Grows in sandy soils ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. Stearns' Am. Herbal. 154. The leaves are anodyne ; the juice of the whole plant is sharp and corrosive, and inspissated in the sun to the consistence of an ointment, is applied to cancers and ulcers. " The plant is good in rheumatic affections, and in those proceeding from venereal taint — surpassing opium." It has also been found serviceable in itch and herpe.s. From this statement, it appears to resemble in its properties the S. nigrum, of which it is considered a variety. lEISH POTATO, {Solanum tuberosum.) Cult. It is said to have been originally carried to Europe from Virginia. Baldwin found it growing wild in Peru. Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 142. The juice of the leaves is said to be an excellent diuretic. " Nous avons remarque que lea enfans de nos provinces, nourris avec ces racines, ont le ventre gros, dur, et sont sujets a des glandes tumefiees !" Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 295, where it is mentioned that the root, in a state of putre- faction, is affirmed to give out a light sufficient to read by. Macculloch said potash could not be obtained from the stalks, though it exists largely in the plant. Griffith's Med. Bot. 483. An extract of the leaves is highly spoken of by Mr. Dyer in chronic rheumatism, and in painful affections of the stomach and bowels ; he thinks it ranks between conium and belladonna. Pharm. Journal, i, 590. The leaves, stalks, and unripe berries are asserted to be narcotic ; and an extract from the leaves is 515 used in coughs and spasmodic affections, in which it is said to act like opium. From a half grain to two grains is the dose. Geiger ; U. S. Disp. Dr. Worshum's experiments in Philadel- phia did not support Dr. Latham's, of London, with regard to its influence on the nervous sj^stcm. Phil. Journ. M. and Phys. Sc. vi, 22. Otto found solania in the germs of the potato. The water in which potatoes are boiled contain solanina. The stalks contain a large quantity of potash, "and it is said that if the stalks were appropriated to this manufacture that they would supply most that is required in commerce." They also afford a bright yellow dye by bruising and pressing when in flower. GriflSth, Jour. Sc. and Arts, v. Eating the unripe fruit has caused death. The Irish as well as the sweet potato, rice, etc., contain starch in large amount, and it is easily obtained. See "Maranta," Arrows-root, in this volume. The following is a method of cleaning silks with potatoes: three potatoes are pared into thin slices and well washed ; pour on them a half pint of boiling water, and add to it an equal quantity of alcohol; sponge the silk on the right side, and when half dry iron it on the wrong side. The most delicate colored silks may be cleansed by this process, which is equally applica- ble to cloth, velvet, or crape. See " Ivy." TOMATO, (Solanwn lycopersicum. Ex.) Cult. The fruit of this plant is well known as an article of food ; it is slightly acid, and has a constipating effect, which renders it so appropriate as an article of food during the warm months of summer. The leaves are said to produce vomiting, from an alkaline principle which exists in them; they also contain cal- careous sulphates, extractive, and a coloring matter, combined with a volatile oil. See analysis in Journal de Pharm. xviii, 106 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 488. The alkaloid principle contained in the leaves is analagous to, if not identical with, solanina. A peculiar oil and an animalized extractive are also ascribed to it by other observers. Journal Phil. Coll. Pliarm. iv, 224. The fruit contains a peculiar acid, and a brown, tarry, odorous, resinous matter, with some indications of the presence of an alkaloid. It is said to act on the biliary functions. Tomatoes may be preserved for winter use in a portable form suitable for distribution to soldiers in camp as well as for fami- lios, in tho tolUnvim;- inunnor: t\i:isl» tho fruit, strain tlio jiiioo thivngh a cosuso tvnvol. sonson witlt salt, boil in a powtov or tin vossol until ono third is ova|>iM'atoil ; tlion sjuvail o\\ a flat sur- tai'o aiul oxposo to tho sun till it looks liko a pasto. Whoti roadv {o storo away put writing papor ovor tlio y>asto. wii in vinoi^ir. Tho watorv parts arc all ovaporatoti, and a snntU por- tiiM\ is onouji'h to soastu\ sinip. broths, oto. Tho oooi\omioal valuo ot' tho plant is woU known. Tho soods aro irritaiit to tlio luiuous itnit ol' tho digest ivo origans, but tho laxativo otVoot is oorrootod bv tho juioo, whioh darkoius tho oNorota as it" a salt of iron had boon takon. Tho uso of tho tVuit tonds to ]u-omoto oonstipatiini and provont diarrluva. Tho juioo will tako out tho stain of iron rust tVoni linon and Wi^ollon by avldini;- a littlo salt to it. Phtfi^oli^ j»MftAVllootod in >>t. John's. Fl.July. Mor. and vlo L. Oiot. do M. Mod. v. -iH! ; Journal do Chin\. Mod. vi. 210. It is supposed that tho tspooios boaring this name in F.uropo and Amorioa aro ilitVoront. Tho toj-nior is intorost- injj. ^.Hir nativo spooios ot phvt'alis havo boon proscribed as diuivtios and sodativos. Tho tVuit o( all jvro odihlo. GrilHth. Mioh. /*/)!/.<. I /i"s puh(\