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RESOURCES 
 
 mtfan Jf^lds aiti (Jurats, 
 
 MEDICAL, ECONOMICAL, AND AGRICULTURAL. 
 
 BEING ALSO A 
 
 MEDICAL BOTANY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES | 
 
 PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE USEFUL PROPERTIES OF THE TREES, PLANTS, 
 
 AND SHRUBS. 
 
 BY FRANCIS PEYRE PORCHER, 
 
 SURGEON P. A. C. S. 
 
 PREPARED AND PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SURGEON-GENERAL, 
 RICHMOND, VA. 
 
 CHARLESTON : 
 
 STEAM-POWER PRESS OF EVANS fc COGSWELL, 
 No. 3 Broad Street. 
 
 1863. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 
 FRANCIS PEYRE PORCHER, M. D., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Confederate States, for the District of Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina. 
 
 Printed by Evans & Cogswell, No. 3 Broad sireex, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 r 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 MEDICINAL AND USEFUL PLANTS AND TEEES OF 
 / THE CONFEDERATE STATES — INDIGENOUS 
 AND INTRODUCED. 
 
 The following paper is prepared by direction of the Surgeon- 
 General, for which purpose the author was released tempora- 
 rily from service in the field and hospital. 
 
 It is intended as a repertory of scientific and popular knowl- 
 edge as regards the medicinal, economical, and useful properties 
 of the trees, plants, and shrubs found within the limits of the 
 Confederate States, whether employed in the arts, for manufac- 
 turing purposes, or in domestic economy, to supply a present as 
 well as a future want. Treating specially of our medicinal 
 plants and of the best substitutes for foreign articles of vegeta- 
 ble 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 after the war shall have ceased there will 
 still be no diminution 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 Regimental Surgeon in 
 the field, the Physician in his private practice, or the Planter on 
 his estate may themselves collect and apply these substances 
 within their reach, which are frequently quite as valuable as 
 others obtained from abroad, and either impossible to be pro- 
 cured or scarce and costly. But information scattered through 
 a variety of sources must needs be firs j 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 Confederate States, 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 to enable every one to use the ample material within his reach. 
 I have searched, through the various catalogues 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. 
 
 Catalogues of the trees and plants growing in special local- 
 ities 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 Confeder- 
 ate States by consulting Elliott's Botany, Darby's, and the 
 recent work by Chapman, of Florida, " The Flora of the South- 
 ern United States." Among the catalogues issued at the South 
 are one by Dr. Jno. Bachman of " Plants growing in the vicin- 
 ity of Charleston," published in the Southern Agriculturist; 
 one by Prof. Louis B. Gribbes of those found in Bichland dis- 
 trict, S. C.j "Plants found in the vicinity of Newbern, 1ST. C," 
 by H. B. Croomj an unfinished paper, by W. Wragg Smith, 
 Esq., published in the Transactions of the Elliott Society of 
 Charleston ; and "A Medico-Botanical Catalogue of the Plants 
 of St. John's, Berkley, S. C," by the writer. Also my " Sketch 
 of the Medical Botany of South Carolina," published in the 
 Transactions of the An . Med Association, vol. ii, 1849, and 
 " Besources of the Southern Fields and Forests," De Bow's 
 Beview, August, 1861. The extensive collection in the Charles- 
 ton Museum by my friend, Mr. H. W. Bavenel, as well as the 
 several publications of himself and Mr. M. A. Curtis, of Hills- 
 borough, 1ST. C, 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. 
 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 manu- 
 facture where fuller details, which are too long to insert, can 
 be procured. It will be seen from inspecting the list of author- 
 
 *I take this occasion to express my indebtedness to Col. J. B. Moore, of State- 
 burg, S. C, for the use of a valuable library of agricultural and chemical books, 
 and for many facilities afforded me in the prosecution of this work; also, to Prof. 
 L. R. Gribbes, for the loan of the catalogues in his possession. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 ities, that the labor of searching through the large number of 
 medical and other authorities has been very great. I have not 
 hesitated to draw largely from any quarter, appending the 
 name of the author, whenever I thought the matter applicable 
 to our present condition and requirements. Thus, on the sub- 
 ject of the Grape, Vine, Sugar, Sorghum, Tannin, Opium, Flax, 
 Mustard, Castor oil, Oils, Turpentine, Starch, Potash, Soda, 
 "Wood for engraving and for domestic purposes, Medicinal sub- 
 stances, etc., I have been profuse in my selections from a multi- 
 plicity of sources. 
 
 I have avoided more than a cursory mention of the Crypto- 
 gamic plants, Fungi, etc., as the space occupied would be too 
 great. I would refer the reader to my paper in the Transac- 
 tions of the Am. Med. Association, vol. vii, on " The Medicinal, 
 Dietetic, and Poisonous Properties of the Cryptogamic Plants 
 of the United States/' where the subject is treated in extenso, 
 and a description of several hundred useful or poisonous species 
 furnished. 
 
 The older as well as the more recent works on the Materia 
 Medica, Therapeutics, and Medical Botany — from Johannes 
 Eay and- Bergius to Pereira, Griffith, and Stille — have been 
 consulted. That complete and extensive work, the Diction- 
 naire de Matiere Medicate, by Merat and De Lens, including the 
 supplementary volume, has been freely translated when neces- 
 sary. I have also examined the Agricultural journals, the 
 Patent Office Reports, the " Rural Cyclopaedia," edited by Wil- 
 son, of Edinburgh, and excerpts from the journals and newspa- 
 pers of the day, which have since the beginning of the present 
 contest been particularly full in information on the economical 
 resources of our Confederacy. From these I have been care- 
 fully collecting. 
 
 In our present exigency many topics are appropriately intro- 
 duced which would hardly have place in a strictly medical 
 work. 
 
 Information of this kind is generally referred to under sub- 
 jects with which it is closely allied. Thus, Potash, Ashes, and 
 Soap are classed under "Carya" and "Quercus" (Hickory and 
 Oak), Soda and Soda Soaps under "Salsola" and "Fucus," 
 Charcoal under "Pinus" and " Salix " (Pine and Willow), Oils 
 under " Sesamum " (Bene), Starch and Arrow-root under " Ma- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ranta " and " Convolvulus/' etc., as these plants are character- 
 istically rich in such products. The index, however, will con- 
 tain 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 acci- 
 dent, the result of guesswork, or of popular reputation. Each is 
 distinguished by the composition of its principal constituents ; 
 these are generally astringent principles, narcotics, stimulating 
 vegetable oils, cooling, refrigerant acids, bitter tonics, cathar- 
 tics, etc., etc. Some, as the Cinchonacese and the less active 
 antiperiodics, contain principles still more rarely met with 
 and more obscure in their mode of operation, which have con- 
 trol 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 ivhy it gains credit as a remedy in certain classes 
 of disease. This power it may share in comniCn with many 
 others, and several properties may be combined in various 
 degrees in each, which it is necessary to know, preliminary to 
 a judicious ajoplication 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 Uva ursi, for 
 example, the tannin is associated with a stimulating diuretic 
 oil, which further adapts it to the relief of chronic renal affec- 
 tions. So with those Avhich experience teaches us produce a 
 carthartic, emetic, narcotic, 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. 
 
 In a notice by my distinguished friend, W. Gilmore Simms, 
 Esq., of the article in De Bow's Eeview, by the writer, pub- 
 lished in the Charleston Mercury, Sept. 1861, he speaks thus 
 of the preparations necessary to the great issues then at 
 stake : 
 
PKEFAOE. Vll 
 
 "Now is the time when all the art and science that we pos- 
 sess, and all the suggestions that we can make, should be put 
 in requisition, to the great end of our sectional independence. 
 Every citizen who thinks himself in possession of a truth or a 
 fact which he deems to be not generally recognized, should 
 make it public — put it to challenge — that it may be subjected 
 to investigation. In this way, and this only, with our 'Doubts 
 and Queries/ shall we bring about that searching investigation 
 which will develop our sectional resources." 
 
 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, med- 
 icine, art, science, and mechanics; hints to the domestic man- 
 ufacturer ; 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 
 expedients during the pressure of war and blockade, but contin- 
 uously, through all time, as affording profit, use, interest, and 
 employment to our people." 
 
 From an inspection of the large amount of material em- 
 braced 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 Maryland to Florida, from Tennessee to Texas. The 
 Atlantic slopes with their marine growth, the Mountain ridges 
 of the interior, the almost infra-tropical productions of South 
 Florida, with the rich alluvia of the Eiver courses — all contrib- 
 ute to swell the lists and produce a wonderful exuberance of 
 vegetation. These a bounteous Providence has vouchsafed to 
 a Confederacy of States, starting forth Upon their career under 
 new and happier auspices, and with independence and self- 
 reliance forced upon them by an almost sacred necessity. 
 
 I here introduce a notice of upwards of four hundred sub- 
 stances, possessing every variety of useful quality. Some will 
 be rejected as useless, others may be found upon closer exam- 
 ination to be still more valuable. The most precious of all 
 Textile Fibres, and Grains, Silks, Seeds, Oils, Gums, Caout- 
 chouc, Eesins, Dyes, Fecula, Albumen, Sugar, Vegetable Acids, 
 Starch, Liquors, Spirit, Burning Fluid, material for making 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 Paper and Cordage, Barks, Medicines, Wood for Tanning and 
 the production of Chemical Agencies, for Timber, Ship-build- 
 ing, Engraving, Furniture, Implements and Utensils of every 
 description — 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. 
 
ALPHABETICAL INDEX 
 
 RESOURCES OF THE, SOUTHERN FIELDS AND FORESTS," 
 
 INDEX TO THE, COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS, 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Acacia, false, 188. 
 " rose, 189. 
 
 " substitute for, 310, 352; see de- 
 mulcents. 
 Acetic acid, from pine, 498. 
 Acids, vegetable in plants, 369, 405, 534. 
 Acorn, bearing, to raise, 265 ; substitute 
 
 for coffee, 535 ; for bread, 541 
 Adam's needles, a substitute for flax and 
 
 hemp, 531. 
 Adder'.s tongue, 530. 
 
 Agaric, substitute for, 130; see styptics. 
 Agave, Virginian, 522; Mexican, in Fla., 
 drink from, 522 ; alcohol and materials 
 for paper from, 522. 
 Agrimony, 145, 271. 
 
 Albumen, plants yielding, uses of, 92, 42. 
 Alder, 266; for tanning, 267; oil and 
 
 wine from, 268; black, 389. 
 Alcohol (see Liquors), in grape, 222; from 
 
 sap of birch, 266; from agave, 522 
 Ale (see Beer), 279. 
 Algee, 591. 
 Alkaline salts in weeds (see Potash and 
 
 Soda), 504, 590. 
 Alkanet, 439. 
 
 Allspice, 199; substitute fov, 354. 
 Aloa (see Zostera), a substitute for cot- 
 ton, 547. 
 Alumina in plants, 266. 
 Alum root, 138. 
 Alteratives, vegetable, 33, 121, 385, 419, 
 
 American centaury, 479. 
 " Colombo, 480. 
 " cranberry, 383- 
 " hemlock, 44. 
 " olive, 493. 
 " orchard grass,, 587. 
 
 " spearmint, 440; 
 
 " silver fir, 576. 
 " spikenard, 51. 
 Ammonia, plants yielding, 80, 364, 474'. 
 Amulet, plant used as, 437. 
 Amy root, sudorific and alterative, and 
 
 use in asthma, 483. 
 Anassthetics, influence on plants, 197; 
 
 local, 417; singular native, 475. 
 Anemone, 16, 17. 
 Animals, list of plants avoided by, 563 ; 
 
 food for, 563. 
 Angelica, 46; tree, 50. 
 Aniscsced tree, 39. 
 Anodyne, (see Narcotics), local, 44, 380, 
 
 417. 
 Antimony, substitute for, 486. 
 Antiperiodics, native, 38, 40, 43, 59, 96, 
 136, 238, 267, 372, 389, 390, 404, 412, 
 420, 427, 428, 436, 441, 446, 464, 480, 
 484, 494. 
 Antiscorbutics, sorrel as, 369, 370, 385. 
 Antispasmodics, native, 424, 425, 440,442, 
 
 444, 446, 448,' 525, 533, 544. 
 Antiseptics, vegetable, 356, 424, 43S, 442; 
 powder, 502; sugar as, 569. 
 
 428,429,437, 460, 465, 528, 537, 538, Anthelmintics, native (see "Vermifuge), 
 
 591. 22, 106, 362, 481, 404, 448, 527, 587. 
 
 Ambrosia, 419. Aphrodisiacs, native, 440, 443, 410,470, 
 
 American arbor vitas, 507. | 524, 546. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Apple, 150: cider from, 151, • liquor from, 
 160; wood for printing, 150; to store 
 up, 149; insects on, to prevent, 150; 
 substitute for dried, 65. 
 
 Apple, May, 77. 
 
 Aphis on apple and peach, to destroy, 
 150, 173. 
 
 Apocyne, 483. 
 
 Arbor vitae, for engraving and for hedges, 
 507, 173. 
 
 Aromatics, native, 38, 39, 45. 46, 47, 352, 
 •354, 357, 380, 416, 424, 426, 444, 447, 
 522, 532, 539, 546, 561, 585, 588. 
 
 Arnica, 426. 
 
 Arrow-head, 536. 
 
 Arrow-root, method of preparation and 
 cultivation, 512; Indian, 510; machine 
 for rasping, 513; to dry, 514; to pre- 
 pare and cultivate on plantations, 515, 
 536. 
 
 Artichoke, 420, 417; cultivation and uses, 
 421; burr, 428. 
 
 Arum, 542. 
 
 Asarin, 357. 
 
 Ash, 168, 167, 494. 
 
 Ashes, strength of and yield, 259 ; Potash, 
 etc., in, 260 ; use in soap making, 259, 
 326, 333, 590. 
 
 Asafoetida, substitute for, 424. 
 
 Asparagus (see Salads), 535, 175 : subst. 
 for, 275, 488, 535, 537, 538; subst. for 
 coffee, to prepare, 535. 
 
 Asparagine, 537, 535. 
 
 Aster, 414. 
 
 Astragalus, 177. 
 
 Astringents, native, 17, 18, 19, 20, 35, 58, 
 59, 71, 109, 138, 140, J 41, 144, 145, 146, 
 193, 199, 200, 201 to 208, 237, 238, 239, 
 257, 262, 266, 269, 271, 316, 345, 368, 
 :369, 370, 372, 380, 384, 387, 388, 389, 
 390, 415, 416, 424, 436, 437, 438, 439, 
 441, 444, 447, 463, 467, 522, 545, 590, 
 591. 
 
 Atamasco lily, 522. 
 
 Avens, white, 145. 
 
 Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, 600. 
 
 Bald cypress, 508. 
 
 Balm, 440; of Gilead tree, 506. 
 
 Baling cotton, wood for, 325. 
 
 Bands for cotton bales, 325. 
 
 Balsam, tree, 130 ; balsam plants yielding, 
 
 506, 507, 509. 
 Barbe de capucin, 433. 
 Barley, liquor from, 164. 
 Barberry, 51. 
 Barilla, plants yielding, 133, 360 (see 
 
 potash); to manufacture from fuci, 593. 
 Barks, to dry, 5; for cordage 103; see fibre, 
 
 yielding tannin (see Quercus), 241, et 
 
 seq. 
 ■ Barometer, natural, 136, 177, 384, 590. 
 Bastard alkanet, 438. 
 Baskets, material for making, 62, 63, 380; 
 
 to prepare, 339. 
 
 Bas-s wood, 103. 
 
 Bay, singular properties ascribed to, 36, 
 
 3S0. 
 Beaver tree, 36; poison, 44. 
 Bear grass, to cultivate and prepare fibre 
 
 as substitute for hemp, 530, 531. 
 Bee pasture, plants for, 423, 440. 
 Beer, native plants yielding, to make, 195, 
 276, 279, 280, 353? 421, 479 ; French 
 army,353; persimmon, 387; to strength- 
 en, 425; spruce, 507; from China briar, 
 537; from corn, 552; small, 552. 
 Beech, ashes rich in potash, 236 ; oil from, . 
 237 : leaves for stuffing beds, 237 ; drops, 
 462. 
 Beds, material to stuff, 237, 4S8; see mat- 
 tresses. 
 
 Beet, vinegar from, 374; to extract sugar 
 from, 375 ; cultivation of, 375 ; to crys- 
 tallize, 571. -. 
 
 Belladonna, substitute for, 470J 477. 
 
 Bene, oil and mucilage from, 450 ; sub- 
 stitute for castor and olive oil, 450 ; to 
 extract,, 452. 
 
 Benzoic acid in plants, 561. 
 
 Benzoin, 354. 
 
 Bermuda arrow-root, to prepare, 512; 
 grass, 565. 
 
 Birch, red, 266; cherry, 265; sweet, 265. 
 
 Bird, catching, 392 ; lime, 64, 390 ; to 
 prepare, 391; to intoxicate, 528. 
 
 Bitters (see tonics), substitute for, 380, 
 478, 532, 546. 
 
 Biting knotweed, 370. 
 
 Black alder, 339; oak, 238; gum, 347; 
 drink, 393; walnut, 318; oil from in 
 toothache, 368 : spruce, 505, 507 ; root, 
 467, 419. 
 
 Blackberry, 140, 141; wine, to prepare, 
 141, 142 ; syrup, 143 ; cordial, 143 ; in 
 tanning leather, 242. 
 
 Blade tea, 548. 
 
 Bladder nut, 130. 
 
 Blazing star, 527. 
 
 Bleaching plants, method, 90. 
 
 Blistering plaster, substitute for, 16, 17, 
 IS, 19, 397; blistering fly, 16; to col- 
 lect, 398 ; see, also, Eseharotics. 
 
 Blood root, 30. 
 
 Blue flag, as a diuretic in dropsy, 523 ; 
 tripterella, 523; dyes, to extract, 179, 
 182; plants yielding, 187, 310, 316. 
 
 Boats, timber for, 306, 509 : bark, 508. 
 
 Bog rush, 589. 
 
 Boneset, 410. 
 
 Books, consulted, 1. 
 
 Bots. native remedy, 41, 107. 
 
 Box, 111 ; boxes, material for packing, 
 545. 
 
 Bougie, material for making, 310. 
 
 Bows, from Osage orange, 103. 
 
 Brake, 590. 
 
 Brandy, native material for making, 65 ; 
 from persimmon, 386. 
 
 Bread, substitute for, 177 ; from persim- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 mon, 386; potato, 397; from roots of Carrot, 47. 
 
 plants, 541; hygienic, from corn, 549; Cartridge-boxes, material for, 349. 
 
 Indian loaf, 599 ; from rice, 580 
 
 Brewing (see Liquors), 280. 
 
 Brooklime, 468. 
 
 Brook pimpernel, 468 ; weed, 385. 
 
 Broom rape, 462. 
 
 Brooms, material for, 266, 508, 526 ; from 
 doura corn, 566, 567. 
 
 Brushes, native material for, 526. 
 
 Buckeye, 84. 
 
 Buckwheat, substitute for, 373. 
 
 Buffalo clover, 177; berry tree, 174. 
 
 Bugle weed, 441. 
 
 Bulrush, 537. 
 
 Burdock, 419. 
 
 Burning fluid, see Oil. 
 
 Burr, 419 ; artichoke, 428. 
 
 Butterfly weed, 485. 
 
 Butternut, 317. 
 
 Button, snakeroot, 43, 410 ; bush, 405. 
 
 Buttons, native materials for, 65, 84. 
 
 Byram's plan of cultivation and manu- 
 facture of silk, 282 
 
 Cabbage tree, 526; palmetto, 526; for 
 
 forts, wharves, thatch, etc., 526; skunk. 
 
 544. 
 Cabinet work, woods suited for, 11, 62, 
 
 41, 79, 80, 103, 104, 107, 120, 197, 150, 
 
 171. 188, 189, 311, 312, 318, 320, 321, 
 
 323, 343, 347, 392, 460, 494, 499, 505, 
 
 506, 507, 508, 509, 511, 590. 
 Cactus, 66. 
 Calabash, 65. 
 
 Calamus, an aromatic, 545. 
 Calico printing, plants used in, 406 ; 
 
 bush, 381. 
 Calomel, substitute for (see Deobstru- 
 
 ents and Alteratives), 431, 487. 
 Cake, plants yielding oil, 67, 69, 73, 118, 
 
 423. 
 Cammelina., an oil plant, 67. 
 Camphor, plants yielding, 199. 
 Canada, leatherwood, 350 ; snakeroot, 
 
 357 ; balsam, 506. 
 Canadian collinsonia, 201, 208, 444. 
 Cancer root, 462, 463; weed, 442. 
 Candles, to harden, 66, 501; from myr- 
 tle berries, 314; for war times, 500. 
 Cane, and reed, 587; see Chinese and 
 
 sugar-canes. 
 Cantharis vesic, 397; to collect, 398. 
 Cantharides, substitute for, 16, 19, 28, 40, 
 
 131, 176, 350, 510, 424; to prepare from 
 
 potato fly, 397. 
 Caoutchouc, plant producing, 120, 127, 
 
 128, 417, 539; to prepare, 487 (Inuline), 
 
 485. 
 Capers, 75 ; substitute for, 18. 
 Cardinal flower, 404. 
 Carmine ink, substitute for, 367. 
 Carminatives (see Aromatics), 416, 539, 
 
 546. 
 Carolina potato, 397 ; jalap, 397. 
 
 Casks, cider, 156 ; material for caulking, 
 
 545, 589. 
 Cassia, 196. 
 Cassina, 393. 
 
 Castor oil plant, mode of cultivation, 
 expression of oil, uses, etc., 112, 114, 
 115; self-hulling, 117; stearine from, 
 118; cake for manure, 118. 
 
 Catechu (seo Astringents), 147, 438. 
 
 Cataleptic power in plant, 447, 483. 
 
 Cathartic bromus, 587. 
 
 Cathartics, substitute for, 21, 29, 37, 65, 
 66, 126. 129, 139, 173, 175, 195, 305, 
 317, 358, 361, 370, 372, 376, 395, 396, 
 397, 407, 408, 411, 428, 431, 449, 465, 
 
 1 466, 467, 480, 484, 490, 523, 533, 565, 
 582, 587. 
 
 Catnip, 447 ; cattail, 57, 544 ; catweed, 
 426; catfoot, 427. 
 
 Cattail, as a substitute for cotton, and to 
 stuff mattresses, 544. 
 
 Caulking, material for, 545. 
 
 Caustic properties, plants possessing (see 
 Escharotics), 16, 18, 582. 
 
 Cedar, 507, 510 ; oil from, 510. 
 
 Celery, 45. 
 
 Cement for cisterns, 259. 
 
 Centaury, Am. 479. 
 
 Chairs, wood suited for making, 41, 79, 
 104, 257, 266, 311, 323, 589. 
 
 Chamomile, wild, 424; substitute for, 
 424, 425, 60. 
 
 Champagne, substitute for, 387. 
 
 Charcoal, qualities of, 241, 339, 497; 
 plants yielding for gunpowder, 267, 
 273, 339, 340, 362; to prepare, 339, 
 498 ; to purify water, 342 ; to clarify 
 vinegar, 498. 
 
 Cherokee rose, as hedge plant, 103. 
 
 Cherry, liquor from, 161, 170; birch, 265; 
 cordial and syrup, 170, 171. 
 
 Cheese, plants to flavor, 176, 406. 
 
 Chess, dye from, 587. 
 
 Chestnut, uses of, 238. 
 
 Chiccory, cultivation of, and admixture 
 with coffee, uses of, 431. 
 
 Chickweed, 136, 347, 384. 
 
 China briar, 537; grass, 272; vegetable 
 to cement, 532. 
 
 Chinese tea plant, cultivation and prep- 
 aration, 104. 
 
 Chinese sugar-cane, sugar, molasses, and 
 syrup from, to manufacture, value of, 
 567, et seq.; vinegar, paper, and coffee 
 from, 576, 577. 
 
 Chinquapin, astringency of, 237. 
 
 Chloroform, substitute for, 44 ; influence 
 on plants, 197. 
 
 Cider, manufacture of, 150 ; from mul- 
 berry, 305; persimmon, 387. 
 
 Cigars, pis. to flavor, 410; pectoral, 422. 
 
 Circhonine in Georgia, bark, 405; sub- 
 stitute for, 59. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Circulation, plants acting on; see Seda 
 
 tives. 
 Cisterns, cement for, 259. 
 Citric acid, mode of extracting, 108, 306, 
 Cloth from fibre, 272; plants yielding, 
 484, 488, 489; to render water-proof, 
 500; from mulberry, 307; plants to 
 wash, 590. 
 Clover, rabbit-foot, 177; buffalo, 177; 
 
 yellow, 176; red, 177; white, 177. 
 Club rush, 589. 
 
 Cob, corn, analysis of, 550; potash, lye, 
 and soda, soap from, 551. 
 
 Cochineal insect, 66, 67. 
 
 Cockle, 145. 
 
 Cocoons, method of treating, 280. 
 Coffee, 405; substitute for, 91, 435; from 
 cotton seed, 96; substitute suggested,' 
 177, 407, 195, 196; from potato, 400; 
 from chiccory, 431 ; Florida, 196; from 
 asparagus, 535; from acorns, 535; from 
 corn, 552; from Chinese sugar-cane, 
 577; from rice, 580; from wheat, 584. 
 
 Cohosh, 19. 
 
 Collinsonia, 445. 
 
 Colocynth, substitute for, 200, 485. 
 
 Colombo, American, 480. 
 
 Colt's-tail, 415. 
 
 Concentrated lye, to prepare, 259 ; potash 
 in, 327, 332 ; from corn, 551. 
 
 Confederate flax, 531. 
 
 Conium, substitute for, 44. 
 
 Consumption weed, 418. 
 
 Contrayerva, substitute for, 425. 
 
 Copaiba, substitute for, 378. 
 
 Copal varnish, plants yielding, 208 ; Co- 
 palm oil and resin, 344. 
 
 Corn, Indian, oil, sugar, paper, beer, soda, 
 soap, potash, bread, etc. from, 548, et 
 teq ; cobs, prod, of, 549; anal, of, 560 
 as food for horses, 550 ; soap from 
 shucks, 551; Guinea and doura, 566 
 
 Coral, Indian, 538. 
 
 Cordage, plants yielding, 350, 429, 435, 
 103, 271, 273 ; from mulberry, 305 ; wa- 
 hoo, 311 ; golden-rod, 417 ; Indian hemp, 
 484; spruce, 507; from bear grass, 530. 
 
 Cordial, cherry to make, 171; blackberry, 
 143. 
 
 Cork, substitute for, 347; tree, 265. 
 
 Cosmetic, plant used as, 534. 
 
 Cotton, 93 ; fibre in surgery, 95 ; subst. 
 for quinine, 95 ; substitute for coffee, 
 96, 544; soap from, 96, 100; gun cotton, 
 96 ; to decorticate seed, 97 ; cotton seed 
 oil and cake, 97; as a manure, 100; 
 wooden slats for baling, 259 ; recent 
 substitute for, 547 ; woody fibre unfitted 
 for, 547 ; microscop. exam. 548. 
 
 Counter irritants, see Escharotics. 
 
 Cow-pea, 194. 
 
 Crab apple, 149. 
 
 Cranberry, value, cultivation, and preser- 
 vation of, 383. 
 
 Cranesbill, 138. 
 
 Creosote, from pine, 498, 504. 
 
 Creeping cucumber, 65. 
 
 Cress, 71 ; see Salad, Virginian, 67. 
 
 Croton oil, substitute for, 28. 
 
 Crow foot, 13S. 
 
 Cryptogamous genera, 589. 
 
 Cucumber, tree, 38 ; creeping, 65 ; Indian, 
 
 529. 
 Culpepper, extracts from Nicholas, 37. 
 Cunilla, 445. 
 
 Currants, 174; wild, 168. 
 Custard, apple, 41. 
 Cutworm, to prevent, 107. 
 Cypress, 508, 509 ; powder, 543. 
 Cyperus, jointed, 588. 
 
 Daisy, ox-eyed, 426. 
 
 Dandelion, 429 ; substitute for coffee, ca- 
 outchouc in, 430. 
 
 Darnel, bearded, poisonous to wheat, 564. 
 
 Deadly nightshade, 468. 
 
 Deafness, plants relieving, 444. 
 
 Deer-grass, 57. 
 
 Delirium, caused by plants, 565. 
 
 Demulcents, native, 35, 76, 176, 310, 345, 
 352, 390, 418, 436. 
 
 Dentrifice, vegetable, 368. 
 
 Deobstruents, 145, 369, 429, 465, 528, 
 540; gee Alteratives. 
 
 Devil's fig, 28; wood, 493. 
 
 Dewberry, 141. 
 
 Diaphoretics, 446. 
 
 Digitalis, 461; substitute for, 465, 441. 
 
 Dill, 47. 
 
 Discutients, native, 78, 334, 537; see Es- 
 charotics. 
 
 Dittany, 445. 
 
 Diuretics, native, 39, 42, 43, 47, 64, 86, 
 120, 144, 272, 347, 356, 359, 368, 371, 
 377, 395, 403, 405, 408, 410, 415, 416, 
 419, 428, 435, 444, 468, 470, 510, 523, 
 530, 535, 542, 565. 
 
 Dock, 368, 370. 
 
 Dog's-tooth violet, 530. 
 
 Dog's-bane, 483, 484; pi, vomiting, 588. 
 
 Dogwood, 59; dog-fennel, 414; tested for 
 tannin, 346: to tan leather, 414. 
 
 Dollar plant, 193. 
 
 Doura corn, 566; subst. for wheat, 567. 
 
 Dragon's blood, 370; root, 540. 
 
 Dried fruit, substitute for, 65; fig, 309. 
 
 Drinks from native plants (see Liquors), 
 23, 157. 
 
 Duckweed, 21, 548. 
 
 Dwarf-nettle, 268; milk-weed, 488; pal- 
 metto, 527. 
 
 Dye from native plants, blue, 19, 131 
 178, 179, 183, 189, 316, 372, 494, 523 
 536; green, 18, 21, 262, 494, 534, 587 
 yellow, 16, 18, 21, 29, 52, 79, 103, 149 
 146, 173, 175, 188, 233, 239, 271, 322 
 371, 388, 389, 395, 406, 417, 419, 429j; 
 red, 33, 178, 367, 406; black, 55, 80 
 122, 204, 210, 240, 316, 319, 386, 442 
 484, 494, 310, 598; scarlet, 60, 63, 79 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 cinnamon, 509, 267; purple, 80, 178? 
 262,379; crimson, 367: dove color, 80; 
 brown, 367; drab, 21; saffron, 173," 
 in'oZet, 187; olive, 262; indelible, 367; 
 for bank notes, 598; </o/d, 308; solfe- 
 rino, 367; straw, 444. 
 
 Ebony, substitute for, 392. 
 
 Edible, psoralea, 177; plants (see Salad), 
 
 526, 529, 530, 536, 538, 542, 544, 599. 
 
 578, 594. 
 Eel grass, recent subst. for cotton, 547. 
 Elain, plants yielding, 547. 
 Elder, 408; spirits from, 409. 
 Elecampane and Inuline in native pi., 417. 
 Elm, slippery, 310. 
 Eggs, rearing silk worm, 291, 297. 
 Emmenagogues, native, 46, 47, 87, 94, 
 
 371, 426, 444, 476, 527. 
 Emetic, holly, 393; root, 401. 
 Emetics, native, 20, 29, 31, 42, 50, 57, 65, 
 
 85, 126, 127, 139, 147, 175, 267, 350, 
 
 365, 372, 401, 403, 407, 408, 411, 427, 
 
 444, 447, 448, 450, 465, 467, 4S0, 483, 
 
 484, 4S8, 489, 522, 528, 532, 533, 539. 
 Emollient plants; see Mucilaginous. 
 Endive, 431; substitute for, 433. 
 Engraving, wood for, see wood, ink for 
 
 from fuci, 598. 
 Ergot, cotton seed a substitute, 94. 
 Errhines, 358, 379, 38], 528. 
 Escharotics, native, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 31, 
 
 33, 43, 74, 77, 79. 120,121, 128, 139, 168, 
 
 201, 350, 366, 424, 471, 482, 486, 510, 
 
 523, 536, 541, 582, 585. 
 Essence of flowers to extract, 461. 
 Evaporation, singular, in sunflower, 422. 
 Expectorants, 486. 
 Experiments with nettle (Urtica) to check 
 
 bleeding, 269; with leaves of plants for 
 
 tannin, 346. 
 Eye-bright, 128, 401. 
 
 Eagine from beech, 235. 
 
 False acacia, 188. 
 
 Fans from palmetto, 527. 
 
 Farcle berry, 384. 
 
 Febrifuge ; see Antiperiodics and Quinine. 
 
 Fecundation in plants, 166. 
 
 Fennel, 46. 
 
 Fermentation, process of, 158, 165, 234. 
 
 Ferns, 589; royal, 591. 
 
 Fescue grass, value for swards, 586; for 
 materials for hats, 586. 
 
 Fetid plants, 544. 
 
 Fever root, 407; bush, 354; weed, 43. 
 
 Fever and ague, Dutch remedy for, 61. 
 
 Fibre, use of cotton in surgery, 95 ; plants 
 yielding useful, 68, 88, 90, 91, 92, 94, 
 272, 273, 274, 276, 417, 484, 489, 522, 
 524, 531, 582; substitute for cotton 
 exam., 547. 
 
 Fibrine in plants, 41. 
 
 Fig tree, 308; vinegar from, 308; molas- 
 ses from, 309; method of drying, 309, 
 
 blue and red color from, 309, 310; 
 devil's, 28. 
 
 Fiorin, for wet meadows, 563. 
 
 Fir, silver, 505, 506. 
 
 Fish, plants stupefying, 84, 175, 464; food 
 for, 585. 
 
 Fit root, 378. 
 
 Flag, blue, 523 ; as a diuretic and cathar- 
 tic, 523 ; sweet, 545. 
 
 Flax, cultivation and preparation of, oil 
 from, 88; subst. for, 423, 582; moun- 
 tain, 85 ; water, 548. 
 
 Flea bane, 415. 
 
 Flesh, antiseptics for, 356. 
 
 Flies, plants hostile to, see Insects. 
 
 Flowerless plants, 589. 
 
 Flowering fern, 591. 
 
 Flowers to collect and dry, 7; oil of, to 
 collect, 461, 466. 
 
 Fly, poison, 527; trap, examined, 53. 
 
 Fodder, prepare, 550. 
 
 Food, pi. to supply dur'g scarcity of, 541. 
 
 Formula} for native pi., 599. 
 
 Forty knot, 359. 
 
 Foxglove, 465. 
 
 Frankincense, 200, 506. 
 
 Fringe tree, 494. 
 
 Frost root, 415. 
 
 Fuci, iodine and kelp to man'f, 592, 593. 
 
 Fuel, excellent material for, 421. 
 
 Fumitory, 33. 
 
 Fungi, subterranean, 599; edible, cultiva- 
 tion, uses, etc., 594; parasitical, 598. 
 
 Gall of the earth, 435. 
 
 Gallic acid (see Astringents), 20, 202, 203. 
 
 Gamboge, substitute for, 29. 
 
 Garlic, 531; wild, 532. 
 
 Gelseminine, 461. 
 
 Gentian, 478; subst. for hops, 387, 479, 
 comp. tr., 546. 
 
 Georgia bark, subst. for quinine, 404. 
 
 Geranium, 138. 
 
 Ginger, substitute for, 357. 
 
 Ginseng, 48. 
 
 Glasswort, 361. 
 
 Glass, vegetable cement for, 532; plan to 
 make, 591. 
 
 Glue, substitute for, 149, 150, 525. 
 
 Gluten from wheat, to manufacture, 5S3; 
 plant yielding, 583. 
 
 Goat's rue, 187. 
 
 Gold of pleasure, as an oil plant, 67. 
 
 Golden, cassia, 196; granadilla, 23; club, 
 544; rod, 416, 417; seal, 18. 
 
 Gourd, 65. 
 
 Grape, native, cultivation, wine from, 213, 
 etseq.; rot in, 218; varieties, 229. 
 
 Grasses, best varieties, 561, et seq. 
 
 Grass, eel, recent subst. for cotton, 547 ; 
 best cultivated for food and pasture, 
 561, et seq.; benzoic acid in, 561; to 
 procure a double crop 562 ; avoided by 
 animals, 563 ; timothy, 565 ; period to 
 cut, 565 ; poisonous, 564; sugar in, 562; 
 
INDEX. 
 
 couch, 561; best for hay, 562; to pre- 
 vent encroachment of water, 562; lime, 
 562; Bermuda, 565 ; vomiting dogs, 565; 
 Walter's, 581; marsh, 582; reed bent, 
 582; true blue, 585; meadow, 585; 
 fescue, 586 ; Am. orchard, 587 ; nut 
 grass, 588. 
 
 Ground-nut, 194 ; oil from, 195, 423. 
 
 Ground cherry, 473. 
 
 Guaiacum, substitute for, 111, 137. 
 
 Guano, substitute for, 504. 
 
 Guinea corn, value of, 566 ; brooms from 
 566. 
 
 Gulver root, 467. 
 
 Gum, resembling honey, 418; plants exud 
 ing, 466 ; Arabic, subst. for, 149, 173, 
 525; sour, 347; sweet, 344; leaves rec- 
 ommended in place of oak bark in 
 tanning, 345 ; black, 347. 
 
 Gun, powder, native wood for making, 61, 
 267, 273, 338, 339, 362; stocks, wood 
 for, 320, 323. 
 
 Hsemastatic virtues of nettle, 268 ; see 
 
 styptics. 
 Hair tonic, vegetable, 17. 
 Hardhack, 146. 
 Harvest drink, 166. 
 Hats, plants for making, 343, 526, 544, 
 
 586. 
 Hazel nut, 234. 
 Hay, substitute for, and securing of, 551 ; 
 
 best grasses for, 562, 586. 
 Heal all, 446. 
 Heartsease, 76. 
 
 Heat evolved by plants, 541, 544. 
 Hedges, plants for making, 148, 172, 102, 
 
 189, 195, 235, 508. 
 Hedge mustard, 71 ; hyssop, 465. 
 Hellebore, white, 528. 
 Hemlock, spruce, 506 ; American, 44. 
 Hemp, uses of to plant, 272 ; substitute 
 
 for, 273, 417, 484, 531 (see, also, fibre); 
 
 intoxicating, 273; substitute for, 67, 
 
 91, 489 ; beargrass for, 530. 
 Herbemont's ever bearing mulberry, 304. 
 Hercules' club, 137. 
 Hickory, uses of, 322; as a dye, 322; for 
 
 potash, in making soaps, 325 ; bands 
 
 for baling cotton, 325. 
 Hides, to prepare and dress, 245, et seq. 
 Hippo, Carolina, 126, 127; wild, 126. 
 Hogs, fat of, fed on beech, 235, 237; mul- 
 berry for, 304. 
 Holly, mucilage and bird lime in, 390, 
 
 393. 
 Honey, plants yielding poisonous, 379, 
 
 381, 418, 460; locust, 195; suckle, 
 
 408 ; dew on plants, 103, 276. 
 Hoodwort, 446. 
 Hoops for casks, wood for, 238, 323, 338, 
 
 335 ; set; Wood. 
 Hop, uses and cultivation of, 275, 277 ; 
 
 substitute for, 280, 421, 424; formula 
 
 for, 600. 
 
 Horehound, 448 ; in catarrhs, 449 ; water, 
 449. 
 
 Horse chestnut, 84; as suitable for opium, 
 used in place of soap, and for produc- 
 tion of starch, 84; horse gentian, horse 
 mint, 443; nettle, 470; weed, 444; 
 tails, 590. 
 
 Hound'stongue, 439. 
 
 Huckleberry, 384. 
 
 Hydrocyanic acid, plants yielding, 170, 
 171, 173. 
 
 Hydrophobia, native remedy for, 446, 
 447. 
 
 Hygrometer, rustic, 177, 136, 3S4, 590. 
 
 Hyssop, 465. 
 
 Indelible ink, from plants, 201, 202, 368, 
 441 ; for bank notes, 598. 
 
 Indian, cucumber, 529 ; mallows, 91 ; 
 physic, 147 ; tobacco, 401 ; poke, 528 ; 
 hemp in asthma, 484 ; meal, 538 ; coral, 
 538 ; turnips, 540 ; corn, oil paper, su- 
 gar, bread, soap, soda, potash, etc., 
 from, 548, et seq. ; bread, '599; loaf, 
 599 ; millet, 566. 
 
 Indigo, method of extracting blue color 
 from, 179; wild, 175; sowing of seeds, 
 180 ; to obtain . indigo on plantations, 
 185; for family use, 186; indigo vat, 
 184; bastard, 187; substitute for, 188, 
 372 ; see Dyes. 
 
 Infection, plant preservative against, 546. 
 
 Ink berry, 390 ; indelible, 368, 441, 201, 
 202 ; sympathetic, 308 ; red, carmine, 
 367; black, 309; indestructible for bank 
 notes, 598. 
 
 Insects, plants noxious to, 409, 414, 426, 
 466, 107, 362, 532 ; on cotton plant, 96 ; 
 on orange, 109; to relieve bite, 401; 
 powder to destroy, 362. 
 
 Instinct in trees, 460. 
 
 Intoxication, plants inducing, 425, 564 ; 
 ee Liquors. 
 
 Inuline, curious properties of, 417. 
 
 Iodine, in plants to manufacture, 592. 
 
 Ipecacuanha, substitute for, 29, 120, 147, 
 358 ; wild, 126, 407, 485. 
 
 Iris. 523. 
 
 Irish potato, starch from, 471. 
 
 Iron wood, 233, 3S5. 
 
 Irritability in plants, 197, 460, 35. 
 
 Itch, weed, 382, 528; plants applied to 
 relief of itch and mange, 382, 527. 
 
 Ivy bush, 381. 
 
 Jalap, 397; substitute for, 407, "396, 397; 
 wild, 21 ; formula for, 600, 601. 
 
 Jamestown weed, 474. 
 
 Jerusalem oak, 361, 363; artichoke, 417, 
 420 ; as food, substitute for potato, cul- 
 tivation, for pickles and starch, 420 ; 
 potash in, 421. 
 
 Jessamine, sedative and poisonous prop- 
 erties of, 461 ; substitute for digitalis, 
 461 ; in yellow fever, 461. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XV 
 
 Jewel weed, 139. 
 Jointed Gyperus, 588. 
 Judas tree, 197. 
 Juniper, to season liquors, 162; formula, 
 599. 
 
 Kalmia, 381. 
 
 Kelp, plants yielding, 133, 134; to man- 
 ufacture, 593. 
 Kino, see Catechu. 
 Knot grass, 372 ; weed, 444. 
 Kyanizing wood, method of, 503. 
 
 Lady's slipper, 425. 
 
 Lampblack, from turpentine, 497. 
 
 Larkspur, 19. 
 
 Laudanum, (see Opium) subst. for, 275. 
 
 Laurel, swamp, 36. 
 
 Laxatives, see Cathartics. 
 
 Leather, to tan, (see Tannin) 202, 203, 204, 
 208, 242, 146 ; tanning on plantations, 
 249, et seq.; experiments with leaves of 
 gum and myrtle, and dog fennel, 345, 
 414 ; substitute for, 349 ; preparation to 
 preserve, 497 ; to make water-proof, 
 500; wood, 350. 
 
 Leaves, to dry, 7 ; influence of ohloroform 
 on, 197 ; to be collected for cavalry 
 horses, 563. 
 
 Lee, Dr. Daniel, method of tanning leath- 
 er, 245. 
 
 Lemon, to procure citric acid from, 107; 
 oil from, 108. 
 
 Leptandrine, 468. 
 
 Lettuce, 43 ; wild, 435. 
 
 Lichens, 589. 
 
 Life-everlasting, 426. 
 
 Light, influence on leaves, 198. 
 
 Lily, water, 35 ; of the valley, 533. 
 
 Lime tree, tea from, and cordage, 103. 
 
 Lime, phosphate of, in plants, 544. 
 
 Linseed oil, uses of, 89 ; substitute for, 
 423 ; see, also, Oils. 
 
 Liquorice, substitute for, 49, 51 ; cultiva- 
 tion and preparation of, 49; wild, 51. 
 
 Liquors, from fruit, 42, 48, 23, 156, 157, 
 142, 162, 189, 195, 266, 305, 386,409; 
 to prepare, 157, 162, 166; to flavor, 
 380 ; to strengthen, 425. 
 
 Liriodendrine, in fever, 40. 
 
 Liver, wort, 17 ; plants acting on (see De- 
 obstruents and Alteratives), 413, 42S, 
 429, 465. 
 
 Live oak, 263. 
 
 Live fences, 102; (see Hedges). 
 
 Lizard's tail, 334. 
 
 Lobelia, 401 ; as a relaxant, 402. 
 
 Lobelic acid, 402. 
 
 Locust tree, yellow, 188; honey, 195; 
 clammy, 193 ; cultivation of for ship 
 building, 190. 
 
 Long moss, 524. 
 
 Love apple, vine, 395. 
 
 Lucerne, 176. 
 
 Lungwort, 464. 
 
 Lupulin, 275. 
 
 Lye, concentrated, to make, 259; to ex- 
 tract from ashes, and to use in soap 
 making, 261, 327, 332; see Potash and 
 Soda. 
 
 Machine for rasping arrow-root, 513; 
 
 making sugar, 572, et seq. 
 Madder, import., cultiv., and uses of as a 
 
 dye plant, 406 ; subst. for, 407. 
 Madeira nut, for oil and oil cake, 321. 
 Mad dog skullcap, 446. 
 Maiden hair, 591. 
 Magnolia, 36, 38, 39. 
 Mahogany, 87; substitute for, 171,321; 
 
 mountain, 265. 
 Maize, oil, sugar, beer, potash, soda, bread, 
 
 paper from, 548, et seq. 
 Malaria, plants neutralizing, 56; harrier 
 
 against, 422; influence of pine on 422; 
 
 see, also, Antiperiodics. 
 Malate of lime, 167. 
 
 Malic acid, 150; plants yielding and pre- 
 paration of, 167. 
 Mallows, 90, 91. 
 Mandrake, 21. 
 Mangle, 55. 
 
 Manna, subst. for, 565, 585; croup, 585. 
 Maple, red, 79; sugar, mode of ext'g, 80. 
 Maritime scirpus, 589. 
 Marcet's exp. on sensibility in plants, 197, 
 
 198. 
 Marsh, club rush, 589; mallow, 90; rose- 
 mary, 437 ; grass, 582. 
 Mate, or Paraguay tea, 394. 
 Mattresses, material for, 237, 489, 524, 525, 
 
 544. 
 Maryland cunilla, 445. 
 May-apple, vinegar from, 21, 77, 577; 
 
 weed, 424. 
 Meadow garlic, for pickling, and subst. 
 
 for garlic, 531; grass, 585. 
 Meal, white and red, 538, 541; hygienic 
 
 bread from corn, 549; pi. poisoning, 564. 
 Meat, plants to preserve, 42, 552; subst. 
 
 for, 195. 
 Meekweed, 467. 
 Medeola, Virginian, 529. 
 Melilot clover, 176. 
 Methylene, plants yielding, 380. 
 Mezereon, substitute for, 350. 
 Milfoil mint, 424. 
 Milk, subst. for, 64; to coagulate, see 
 
 Rennet; sickness, remedy for, 148; 
 
 vetch, 177. 
 Mississippi nut, 333. 
 Mistletoe, 63. 
 Mitchella, 404. 
 Mock moccason, 425. 
 Molasses, subst. for, 64; plants yielding, 
 
 309 ; from Ch. sugar-cane, 567, et seq. 
 Monarda, 443. 
 Moonseed, 376. 
 Moss, long, in stuffing beds, cushions, etc., 
 
 524. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Mosses, 589. 
 
 Motherwort, 448. 
 
 Moth mullein, 464. 
 
 Mountain, ash, 167, 168; berry, 380 ; flax, 
 85; laurel for engraving, 380; mahog- 
 any, 265 ; sumach, 207. 
 
 Mouse ear, 414. 
 
 Moxa, prep, from cotton, 96 ; from sun- 
 flowers, 422. 
 
 Mucilaginous plants, native, 56, 66, 90, 
 91, 140, 149, 176, 310, 332, 345, 390, 
 391, 405, 418, 439, 451, 463, 466, 502, 
 534, 537, 565, 589. 
 
 Mucuna, substitute for, 234. 
 
 Mulberry, to feed silk worms, 280 ; ever- 
 bearing, 304; propagation of, 283; syrup 
 from, 305; paper from, 305; French, 
 449. 
 
 Mullein, 463; moth, 464. 
 
 Murrain, to relieve, 20. 
 
 Mushroom, edible, to select, 594 ; to prop- 
 agate, 595 ; plan in S. C, 597 ; anti- 
 dote to poisonous, 597. 
 
 Muskmelon, 64. 
 
 Musk, substitute for, 533. 
 
 Musical instruments, wood for making, 
 312. 
 
 Mustard, 72 ; cult, and prep, of, 73. 
 
 Myope, rice diet upon, 579. 
 
 Myrtle, sea, 418 ; wax from, 312 ; leaves 
 for tanning, 313, 345; for soap and 
 eandles, 314 ; to make, 315 ; leaves in 
 place of oak bark in tanning, 345. 
 
 Narcotics, native, 18, 23, 31, 44, 129, 350, 
 380, 382, 383, 401, 40S, 410, 426, 435, 
 437, 439, 448, 461, 463, 469, 474, 481, 
 4S3, 494, 525, 528, 532, 564. 
 
 Nausea, to allay, 416; nauseants, see 
 Emetics. 
 
 Nearsightedness, influence of food upon, 
 579. 
 
 Neckweed, 467. 
 
 Nettle, dwarf, 268 ; hsernastatic virtues of, 
 269; stinging, 119; red, 270 ; leaf ver- 
 vain, 450. 
 
 New Jersey tea tree, an astringent, and 
 subst. for foreign tea, 109; cider, 151. 
 
 Nightshade, 468. 
 
 Nine bark, 147. 
 
 Nitrate of potash, plants yielding, 363,340. 
 
 Nitre, plants yielding, 326, 340, 376, 428; 
 to prepare, 340 ; see Potash. 
 
 Nonesuch, 176. 
 
 Nut, oil, to procure, 234 ; grass, 588. 
 
 Oak, bark, to collect for tanning, 240, et 
 seq,- white, 257; black, 238; red, 263; 
 quercitron, 238; balls, 238?'of Jerusa- 
 lem, 361, 363; Spanish, 256; poison, 
 200 ; live, 263 ; scrub, potash in, 504. 
 
 Oat, 5S3. 
 
 Oil, nut, 317: to procure, 234; olive, cult. 
 and prep, of, 490; nature and mode of 
 extracting, 457; to clarify, 457, 461 ; of 
 
 flowers to extract, 460, 461 ; press, 455 ; 
 volatile, 416 ; to extract, 459, 481, 485 ; 
 for food, 422, 453, 490 ; essential, 533, 
 380 ; blue, 425, 440, 445 ; from cotton 
 seed, 494; aromatic, 199, 200, 351, 507, 
 510, 363, 416 ; to cultivate, 440 ; to ex- 
 tract, 459 ; styptic, 415, 416 ; painter's 
 234; from beech, 237; for soaps, 457; 
 for burning, etc., 24, 63, 67, 72, 78, 94, 
 122, 135, 188, 194, 235,' 273, 313, 322, 
 422 ; amount yielded by different seeds, 
 453; subst. for olive, 24, 29, 63, 74, 194, 
 234, 235, 422, 451; subst. for castor, 29, 
 111, 451 : cake, 67, 73, 88, 94, 118, 124, 
 322, 422, 423 ; peculiar volatile, 546 ; 
 from corn, 553; poisonous from darnel, 
 564. 
 
 Okra, 91; substitute for, 76. 
 
 Old man's beard, 494. 
 
 Olive oil, subst. for, 24, 29, 63, 74, 490 ; 
 European; to cultivate and extract oil, 
 etc., 490. 
 
 Ooze, to prepare in tanning, 256. 
 
 Onion, tree, 531 ; subst. for, 532. 
 
 Opium, poppy (see Narcotics), 23, 27; cul- 
 ture, 28; gum, to collect and prepare. 
 25, 27; subst. for, 29, 84, 18, 147, 275J 
 276. 
 
 Orach, 361. 
 
 Orange and lime in Florida, 107; essence 
 and wine from, 10S. 
 
 Orange root, 18; wild, 171; Osage, 102; 
 grass, 79. 
 
 Orchard grass, 587. 
 
 Orchis, 524. 
 
 Origanum, 443. 
 
 Osage orange, as hedge plant, 101; as dye 
 stuff, 103. 
 
 Osier willow, for baskets, 335 ; to culti- 
 vate and dress, 336. 
 
 Oxalate of potash, 140, 369. 
 
 Oxalic acid in plants, 369. 
 
 Ox-eyed daisy, 426. 
 
 Packing, material for, 545. 
 
 Palma Christi, uses, cultivation, and ex- 
 pression of oil from, 112. 
 
 Palmetto, 526 ; saw, for mattresses, pil- 
 lows, hats, 525; potash in, 526: for 
 wharves, dates from, 526; dwarf, fans 
 from, 527. 
 
 Painters, oil for, to procure, 234, 273. 
 
 Panicum, spiked, 565. 
 
 Papaw, influence on meat, 41. 
 
 Paper, native material for making, 16, 70, 
 93, 545 ; from cotton plant, 96 ; from 
 mulberry, 305, 307 ; from sunflower, 
 443 ; from agave, 522 ; Chinese paper 
 from typha, 545; from corn leaves, 558; 
 from sugar-cane, 573. 
 
 Parmentier, on conversion of starch from 
 roots into food, 542. 
 
 Parsley, 45. 
 
 Parilla, 376. 
 
 Partridge berry, 380, 405. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Passion flower, 77. 
 
 Pea, 194. 
 
 Peach, 173; to dry, aphides on, 173. 
 
 Pear, 149, 166; to store, 149; to make 
 productive, 166. 
 
 Pecan nut, 333. 
 
 Pennyroyal, 446. 
 
 Pepper, 468; grass, 67; mint, 440. 
 
 Persimmon, tannin in, 385 ; beer from, 
 387; vinegar and syrup from, 3S8, 577. 
 
 Perspiration extraordinary in plants, 422. 
 
 Peruvian bark, substitute for, 59, 88. 
 
 Perry, to prepare, 149. 
 
 Peterwort, 78. 
 
 Pbasnogamous species, 15. 
 
 Picromar, 504. 
 
 Pillows (see Mattresses). 
 
 Pimpernel, 384, 468. 
 
 Pindar, oil from, 194. 
 
 Pine, long leaved, varied uses of, turpen- 
 tine, pj'roligneous acid from, etc., 495 ; 
 influence on ozone, malaria, 495 ; pitch 
 pine, uses of tar from, 504, 505 ; white, 
 505; Spanish gum, uses of, 505; north- 
 ern, 505 ; substitute for, 506; weed, 79 ; 
 "Walter's pine, substitute for northern, 
 506; mucilaginous, 506; Weymouth, 
 export of, 505. 
 
 Piuk root, 481. 
 
 Pipes, material for, 537. 
 
 Pipe stems, plants furnishing, 130, 310, 
 379. 
 
 Pipsissewa, 377 ; diuretic tonic, 378. 
 
 Piquette, to manufacture, 159. 
 
 Plane stocks, materials for, 150 (see Cabi- 
 net work). 
 
 Plantain, 436 ; water, 536. 
 
 Plants (see Wood), to collect and dry, 5 ; 
 for cabinet purposes, 11; easily pro- 
 curable, medicinal, 8, 412 ; for wood 
 engraving, 11, 59, 168; soft woods, 13; 
 luminous property in, 55 ; intox. fish 
 84; yielding thread (see "Fibre"), ma- 
 terial for paper, 16, 70, 93, 274, 305; 
 potash in, see "Potash;" oil from, see 
 "Oil;" sugar in, 321, 81,318; yield 
 ing liquors, 159, 161; see "Liquors;" 
 for tanning, see "Tanning;" yielding 
 charcoal, see "Charcoal;" see "Poison- 
 ous Plants," discovery of new medici- 
 nal, 529, 563; evolving heat, 541, 544; 
 list of those avoided by animals, 563 ; 
 yielding gluten, 483. 
 
 Pleurisy root, substitute for antimony and 
 calomel, 485. 
 
 Poisonous plants, 380, 382, 383, 3S4, 404, 
 
 460, 469, 476, 485, 527, 528, 564. 
 Poison, ash, 494 ; oak, 200 ; sumach, 206 
 Pokeweed, 365 ; crimson, dye from, 367 ; 
 
 potash from, 366; to color wine, 366 
 Pomegranate, 58. 
 Pond lily, 35; spice, 355. 
 Poppy, opium, 23, 28 ; preparation and 
 cultivation of, 27 ; Mexican, 28 ; prick- 
 ly, 28. 
 
 Potash, binox. of, 140, 369 ; plants yield- 
 ing, 34, 47, 80, 84, 526> 359, 360, 421, 
 423, 473, 236 ; to extract, 260, 325, 360 ; 
 to prepare, 326, 328 ; from weeds, 328, 
 421, 504; nitrate of, 363, 376, 590, from 
 fuci, 594. 
 
 Potato, sweet, 397; coffee from, 400 ; starch 
 from, 400; blistering flies on, 400; to 
 cleanse silk, 400, 472; Irish, starch 
 from, 471 ; yam, a substitute for, 539. 
 
 Prickly, ash, 136, 137 ; pear, to harden 
 tallow, 66 ; poppy, 28. 
 
 Pride of India, 106; as vermifuge, and 
 for cabinet purposes, 107. 
 
 Printing blocks, material for, 122 ; see 
 wood engraving, 150, 168. 
 
 Prussic acid, plants yielding, 170, 171, 
 172. 
 
 Puccoon, 30; formulas for, 599, 601. 
 
 Purgatives, plants supplying, see Cathar- 
 tics. 
 
 Pyroligneous acid from pine, 498; vinegar 
 from, 498. 
 
 Pumpkin, 64. 
 
 Pupil, plants dilating, 470, 476. 
 
 Purslane, 131. 
 
 Putty root, substitute for gum arabio, 525, 
 
 Quass, manufacture, 164. 
 Quassia, 137. 
 Queen's delight, 121. 
 Quercitron, 239 ; oak, 239. 
 Quinine (see Antiperiod.), substitute for, 
 •S3S, 334, 372, 405, 412. 
 
 Rabbit-foot clover, 177. 
 
 Radish, water, 71. 
 
 Rag weed, 419 ; root, 429. 
 
 Raspberry, wild, 144. 
 
 Rattlesnake's master, 50, 522 ; plants hos- 
 tile to, 494. 
 
 Reed mace, 544; burr, 545. 
 
 Red-bird salad, 197 ; chickweed, 384; clo- 
 ver, 177. 
 
 Refrigerants, 139, 140, 368, 369, 383, 437, 
 534, 536. 
 
 Reeling of silk, 300. 
 
 Rennet, plant acting as, 77, 131, 139, 406, 
 482. 
 
 Rhubarb, substitute for, 368, 370, 396, 
 480 ; culture of, in Confederate States, 
 373; preparation of roots, 374. 
 
 Rhus, antidote for, 201. 
 
 Ribwort, 437. 
 
 Rice, Carolina, uses of, effect in producing 
 myope, 578; starch from, 578; bread 
 from, 580 ; substitute for coffee, 580. 
 
 Roots, to dry, 7; furnishing starch and 
 food, 541, 542, 544. 
 
 Rope, wahoo, for baling cotton, 311; 
 material for, 350. 
 
 Rose, 460, 461 ; water to prepare, 460 ; oil 
 to prepare, 461; acacia, 189; rose- 
 mary, 437. 
 
 Rosaries, seeds for making, 130. 
 
XV1U 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Rosin from pine, 497 ; from cypress, 509. 
 
 Rouge, substitute for, 439. 
 
 Royal fern, 591. 
 
 Rubefacients (see Escharotics), 17, 31, 33, 
 
 74. 
 Rue, Turkey, 187. 
 Rush, white, 582. 
 Rye, substitute for coffee, 5S4. 
 
 Saccharine matter in grasses, 225; see, 
 
 also, Wine and Sugar. 
 Sage, 442 ; cultivation of, 443. 
 Sago from potato, 397 ; from arum, 543. 
 Salad, substitute for, 56, 57, 67, 72, 73, 
 
 131, 136, 276, 369, 430, 529, 544. 
 Saliein, 335. 
 Salivation caused by plants, 128, 136, 137, 
 
 177, 410, 436, 447, 486; plants arrest- 
 ing, 420 ; see Alteratives. 
 Saliva, plants tinging, 436. 
 Salt, economy in, 332, 503. 
 Saltwort, 359; yielding soda, SCO; marsh 
 
 grass, 582. 
 Sap of tree?, liquors from, 163; sugar 
 
 from, 318, 321. 
 Saponine, 132. 
 Sampson's snakeroot, 478. 
 Sand-paper, substitute for, 415. 
 Sanguinaria, 599. 
 Sanicle, 42. 
 Sarsaparilla, 51, 132, 376; substitute for, 
 
 460, 537. 
 Sassafras, 350; substitute for gum arabic, 
 
 351, 352; beer from, 353. 
 Savin, substitute for, 510. 
 Saw palmetto for mattresses and hats, 525. 
 Scabish, 55. 
 Scarlet pimpernel, 3S4. 
 Scouring rush, 582. 
 Skullcap, 446. 
 Sea myrtle, 418; grape, 376; orach, 361 : 
 
 weed, soda, iodine, and potash from, 
 
 593; as manure, 594. 
 Sedatives, plants acting as, 19, 20, 30, 44. 
 
 47, 5S, 103, 169, 172, 173, 382, 383, 401, 
 
 441. 465, 469, 525. 528, 535. 
 Seneka snakeroot, 85. 
 Senna, wild, 195. 
 Sensibility in plants, 197. 
 Sensitive plant, 197. 
 Serpentaria, 355, 357. 
 Service tree, 161, 168; drink from, 162. 
 Side-saddle flower, 53. 
 Silk, making of, 280 ; rearing of worms and 
 
 processes, 281,e/ xeq.; substitute for, 489. 
 Silkweed for cloth, thread, cushions, etc., 
 
 489; cultivation of, 489. 
 Silica in plants, 415, 590. 
 Silver fir, 506. 
 Simpler's joy, 450. 
 Sisal hemp, to cultivate and prepare, 58 : 
 
 to cleanse, rot, the fibre, 519, et seq. 
 Skunk cabbage, 544. 
 Sheep laurel, 381; sorrel, 308; plants 
 
 poisonous to, 379. 
 
 Ship building, timber for, 188, 189, 236, 
 263, 505, 507; see wood for cabinet 
 work. 
 
 Shoe wax, to make, 206; wooden shoes, 
 343. 348. 
 
 Shrub, 199. 
 
 Shucks, soap, paper, soda, manufactures 
 from, 551, et seq.; yarn from, 561. 
 
 Smart-weed,370. 
 
 Smilacine, 538. 
 
 Smith, Dr. J. L. on crystal, sugar, 570. 
 
 Smut caused by barberry, 52 ; to prevent, 
 598. 
 
 Snake-head, 465; plantain, 437; weed, 44; 
 root, 43, 85, 355, 357, 358; Sampson's 
 snakeroot, 478: black snakeroot, 19. 
 
 Snuff, plants to flavor, 546. 
 
 Soapwort, 132. 
 
 Soap, plants furnishing, 69, 83, 84, 96, 107, 
 132, 325, 423 ; soft, to make, 134, 332, 
 hard, 259. 331 ; to make with lye, 261, 
 316; economical, 262, 331, 332; from 
 myrtle berries, 314 ; from resin without 
 grease, 501 ; from corn shucks, 551, 
 561; plants acting as, 590; from sea- 
 weed, 593. 
 
 Soda, plants yielding, 133, 359, 551 ; to 
 manufacture, 133, 134, 360; from kelp, 
 590, 593. 
 
 Soft rush, 537. 
 
 Solanina, 469, 471, 472. 
 
 Solferino, color, 367. 
 
 Solomon's seal, 534. 
 
 Sorghum and sorgho suere, sugar and 
 syrup from, to manufacture, 567, et seq. ; 
 mill for, 568. 
 
 Sorrel, 3H8, 374. 
 
 Sour wood, 379 ; gum, 347. 
 
 Sow thistle, 436. 
 
 Soup, plant to make, 195, 585. 
 
 Sparterie, for baskets, 343. 
 
 Spearmint, 440. 
 
 Speedwell, 466. 
 
 Spice bush, 354. 
 
 Spicy wintergreen, 3S0. 
 
 Spiders, to relieve sting of, 401. 
 
 Spigeline, 4S2. 
 
 Spikenard, American, 51. 
 
 Spinach, substitute for, 136. 
 
 Spirits, from plants (see Liquors). 
 
 Spotted wintergreen, 377. 
 
 Spruce, 505 ; bemlock, for tanning, 506 ; 
 black, 507 ; essence of, 507; white, 507; 
 beer, 279. 
 
 Spurge, 128. 
 
 Spurry, 135 ; to improve soils, 561. 
 
 Squaw root, 462. 
 
 St. John's wort, 78. 
 
 Staggers, plant causing, 522. 
 
 Starch, plants yielding, 53, 84, 524, 537; 
 from potato, 397, 400, 422; to extract 
 and prepare, 516 ; by fermentation, 
 517; to wash and pack for sale, 518, 
 534, 536, 539; from Indian turnip, 541, 
 from roots, to be converted into bread. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 542 ; from corn, 553 ; from rice, 578 ; 
 from wheat, to manufacture, 584. 
 
 Star-flower, 532 ; grass, 532, 533. 
 
 Stearine, plant yielding, 122, 124. 
 
 Steeple bush, 146. 
 
 Sternutatories, native 31, 483, 358, 533. 
 
 Stitchweed, 136. 
 
 Stimulants, plants yielding, 85, 427, 542, 
 543. 
 " Stomachics, native, 39, 479. 480, 532. 
 
 Stramonium, 474. 
 
 Strawberry, 144. 
 
 Styptic weed, 130, 196, 424; styptics, 
 424, 426. 
 
 Sugar-cane, 577, 570 ; et seq.; paper and 
 syrup from, 573 ; wax from, 578. 
 
 Sugar maple, 80 ; to extract sugar from, 
 81. 
 
 Sugar, to manufacture, 81, 567; et seq.; 
 berry, 312; plants producing, 79, 80, 
 92, 539 ; to clarify with vegetable albu- 
 men, 92 ; from sap of walnut, 318, 
 321 ; from beet, 375; from sap of trees, 
 318, 321, 396; from potato, 400; from 
 silkweed, 488 ; to prepare and manufac- 
 ture from corn, 553 ; Naudain and 
 Webb's method, 553, 558; large amount 
 in lime grass, 562 ; Chinese sugar, mo- 
 lasses, and syrup from, to manufacture, 
 567; et seq.; mill for, 268; antiseptic 
 power of, 569; to crystallize, 570, 577. 
 
 Sumachs, 201, 202, 204, 206, 207; anti- 
 dote to poisoning by, 201, 273, 450, 
 541; cultivation of for tannin, 209; and 
 for calico printing in Sicily, 209. 
 
 Sun, dew, 73 ; flower, extraordinary evap- 
 oration in, oil, cigars from, cultivation 
 of, 422 ; paper from, 423 ; potassa and 
 oil from, 423. 
 
 Swallowwort, 488. 
 
 Swamp laurel, 36 ; dogwood, 62. 
 
 Sweet, birch, 265, 380 ; gum, for tanning, 
 344; leaf, 388, 3S9; shrub, 199; potato, 
 397. 
 
 Syrup, of wild cherry, 171 ; astringent, 
 388 ; to manufacture from Ch. sugar- 
 cane, 567, et seq., 591. 
 
 Tallow tree, 122; candles and soap to ob- 
 tain from it, 123. 
 
 Tannin, plants yielding (see Astringents); 
 to extract, 209, 210, 379, 380, 415, 438, 
 445, 591 ; leaves tested for, 345 ; (see 
 Khus, Quercus, and Liquidambar). 
 
 Tanning leather, plants for, 146, 201 to 211, 
 240, 243, 267, 316, 345, 384, 494, 546; 
 method described by Dr. Lee, 245 ; easy 
 method on plantations, 249 ; method 
 from So. Cultivator, 255 ; leaves sug- 
 gested to be used in, 345 ; dogfennel 
 and gum for, 346. 
 
 Tansy, 425. 
 
 Tanya, indelible dye from, 367. 
 
 Tar water, 504. 
 
 Taraxacum, uses of, 428. 
 
 Tare, 194. 
 
 Tea, antispasmodic from Tilia, 103, 525; 
 Chinese tea plant, cult, and subst. for, 
 104, 140, 144, 380, 389, 390, 391, 393, 
 417, 482; New Jersey tea tree, 109; 
 demulcent and aromatic, 352, 354; flavor 
 of green tea, 523 ; blade, 553. 
 
 Telegraph poles, wood for, 510. 
 
 Terebene and turpentine, 501. 
 
 Textile plants, see '< Fibre." 
 
 Thatch, pi. for, 590. 
 
 Thirst, plants allaying, 379. 
 
 Thistles, 436. 
 
 Thorn-apple, 28, 474, 477. 
 
 Thoroughwort, 410, 413. 
 
 Thread from pi. (see Fibre), 88, 272, 489. 
 
 Thyme, 444. 
 
 Tickweed, 446. 
 
 Tilleul, subst. for soothing tea from, 103. 
 
 Timber, best time to fell, 241 ; to season, 
 258; relative strength of, 258; density 
 of, 264; effect of soil and season upon 
 263; selection of, 264; height of, 264. 
 
 Timothy grass, peculiarity of seed, 566. 
 
 Titi, for pipe stems, 130. 
 
 Tobacco, 473; subst. for, 29, 62, 358; to 
 flavor, 410, 439, 473, 546. 
 
 Tomato, 472. 
 
 Tonics, native, 18, 21, 33, 36, 39, 54, 61, 
 63, 136, 138, 146, 169, 344, 356, 376, 
 377, 389, 390, 413, 415, 427, 428, 435, 
 445, 448, 466, 478, 480, 524, 527, 532, 
 546. 
 
 Tool handles, wood for, see "Cabinet," 235. 
 
 Toothache, remedy for, 447; bush, 50, 136, 
 137. 
 
 Torchwood, 200. 
 
 Touch-me-not, 139. 
 
 Traveller's joy, 16. 
 
 Trees, height, strength, etc.; see "Timber." 
 
 Trefoil, 177. 
 
 Tripterella, blue, 523. 
 
 True blue grass, value in enriching lands, 
 585. 
 
 Trumpet flower, 460. 
 
 Tuckahoe, 599. 
 
 Tulip tree, 39; poplar, 39. 
 
 Tupelo, 347 ; for making utensils, shoes, 
 etc., 348. 
 
 Turkey pea, 187. 
 
 Turmeric, IS. 
 
 Turnsole, 438. 
 
 Turpentine, extraction, uses, etc., 495, 
 499; soap from, 496; effects upon sys- 
 tem, 499; to render leather and cloth 
 water-proof, 500; terebene from, 501; 
 as a burning fluid, 501. 
 
 Twine, material for, 531 ; (see Cordage). 
 
 Twin-leaf, 21. 
 
 Ultramarine blue from plants, 536. 
 Umbrella tree, 38; wood for handles of, 
 
 235. 
 Unicorn root, 532. 
 Uterus, influence of cotton seed on, 94. 
 
XX 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Valerian, substitute for, 525. 
 
 Vanilla, substitute for, 173; wild, 410. 
 
 Varnishes, pl.yielding, 200, 202, 207, 208. 
 
 Vegetable stearine, 125; wax, 313; see Oil. 
 
 Veneering, material for, 16, 79, 80. 
 
 Venus fly-trap, 35. 
 
 Veratrum viride and ver^atria, 528; mode 
 
 of using as a sedative, 529. 
 Vermifuges, native, 22, 39, 41, 48, 106, 
 
 132, 234, 280, 361, 363, 404, 449, 466, 
 
 481, 507, 510, 588, 590. 
 Veronica, 467. 
 Vervain, 450. 
 
 Vesicants; see Escharotics. 
 Vetch, 194. 
 Violet, common, 75; hand-leaved, 76; 
 
 dog's-tooth, 530. 
 Vinegar, native material for (see Sumach), 
 
 64, 150,308; from honey, 308; from 
 
 fig, 308; from beet, 374; persimmon, 
 
 388; from pyroligneous aeid, 498; from 
 
 Chinese sugar-cane, 576. 
 Vine, grape, 213; wine from, to make, 
 
 214, et seq. 
 Virgin's bower, 16. 
 Virginian veronica, 407; lycopus, 441; 
 
 cress, 67; swallowwort, 488; silk, 488; 
 
 medeola, 529. 
 Vitality in plants, 395. 
 Volatile oil, peculiar, 546. 
 Vomiting, plants allaying, 440, 444, 527. 
 
 Wake robin, 540. 
 
 Walnut, 317, 318; sugar and oil from, 
 318; leaves as alterative, 319 ; for gun 
 stocks, 320; Persian, 321. 
 
 Wahoo, 311; rope and cordage from, 311. 
 
 Walter's pine, 506; grass, 581. 
 
 Washing, economical mode of, 261. 
 
 Water-proof material, 89; to purify, 342; 
 chickweed, 347; cress, 71 ; fescue, 587; 
 flax-seed, 548 ; horehound, 440 ; lily, 
 35 ; melon, 64 ; pepper, 370 ; radish, 
 witch-hazel, to detect, 59; plantain, 
 536 ; grass to prevent encroachment 
 of, 562. 
 
 Wax, insect, 122; to obtain from myrtle, 
 313; nature of, 313; myrtle, 312; from 
 sugar-cane, 578. 
 
 Weeds, as manure, and to prevent spread 
 of, 564; alkaline salts in, 504. 
 
 Weeping willow, 343. 
 
 Weymouth pine, uses of, 505. 
 
 Wheat, gluten, and starch from, 583; sub- 
 stitute for, 235, 567; from doura corn, 
 567; bitters, 587; smut in, 598; poi- 
 soned, 564. 
 
 White, hellebore, 312, 523 ; substitute for, 
 67; ash, 494; cedar, 509 ; beech, 235; 
 avens, 145 ; oak, baling for cotton, 25S ; 
 and strength of fibre, 258 ; weed, 420 ; 
 wood, 39; poplar, 343; spruce, 507; 
 rush, 582. 
 
 Whortleberry, 384. 
 
 Wild chamomile, 424; carrot, 48; cherry, 
 169; syrup of, 170, 179; coffee, 196; 
 currant, 168; endive, 431; ginger, 357; 
 rose-bay, 380 ; horehound, 413; hippo, 
 126; indigo, 173, 178; ipecac, 127; 
 jalap, 21 ; lettuce, 435 ; lemon, 21; liq- 
 uorice, 51; orange, 171; potato vine, 
 396; raspberry, 144; radish, 72; sarsa- 
 parilla, 51 ; senna, 195 ; strawberry, 
 144; yam, 334; vanilla, 410; garlic, 
 532 ; yam, 539. 
 
 Willow, 334; osier, 335; purple, 335; for 
 baskets, 336 ; to cultivate, 336 ; red, 62. 
 
 Wine, from native grape, to manufacture, 
 213, el seq.; cellars for, 213 ; Prof. Jack- 
 son's plan of making wine, 214; from 
 grape leaves, 219; Hume's method, 222; 
 in California, 225 ; red, 228 ; fermenta- 
 tion, 165,232,234; from orange, 108; 
 blackberry, to make, 141, 142 ; from 
 sap of birch, 268 ; to color, 366. 
 
 Wing-rib sumach, 207. 
 
 Winterberry, 389; green, 377, 380. 
 
 Witch-hazel, 58; in detecting water, 59 ; 
 alder. 
 
 Wood, substitute for, as dye wood, 417. 
 
 Woodbine, 408; anemone, 16; sorrel, 139, 
 140. . 
 
 Wood, native, for engraving, 11, 62, 122, 
 150, 168, 233, 266, 381, 386, 392, 508; 
 soft and hard, 12, 62, 233, 358, 382, 384, 
 493, 235, 266, 507; for cabinet and 
 manufacturing purposes, 11, 62, 79, 80, 
 103, 104, 107, 150, 171, 188, 189, 120, 
 233, 235, 236, 237, 238, 257, 266, 306, 
 310, 311, 312, 318, 320, 323, 343, 392, 
 460, 494, 499, 505, 506, 507, 511; 
 strength of fibre of, 257, 263 ; dye from, 
 16, 18, 21, 182, 240 (see Dyes) ; relative 
 density of wood, 263, 507, 511 ; influ- 
 ence of soil upon, 263 ; for fuel, 421 ; 
 duration impregnated with sulphate of 
 copper, and method, 502, 511; to pre- 
 serve by chemical agencies, 503; for 
 ship building, 505, 507, 511; for gun- 
 stocks, 320. 
 
 Wormseed, 361. 
 
 Wormwood, for supply of potash, 364. 
 
 Woorari, from plant, 483. 
 
 Xanthoxylin, 137. 
 
 Yam root, wild, to cult, and store, 539. 
 
 Yarrow, wild, 424. 
 
 Yaupon, tea from, 393. 
 
 Yellow grass, 533; clover, 176; lady's 
 slipper, 525 ; locust tree, 188 ; moccason, 
 525, parilla, 376;' root, 18, 21; star 
 thistle, 28 ; star grass, 533 ; sarsaparilla, 
 376,460. 
 
INDEX 
 
 BOTANICAL NAMES OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 
 
 Abies balsamea, 506. 
 
 " Canadensis, 506. 
 
 " Nigra, 507. 
 
 " Alba, 507. 
 Abutilon Avicennse, 91. 
 Acalypha Virginica, 120. 
 Acer rubrum, 79. 
 
 " saccharinum, 80. 
 Achillea millefolium, 424. 
 Achyranthes repens, 359. 
 Aconitum uncinatum, 441. 
 Acorus calamus, 545. 
 Actsea racemosa, 19. 
 Adiantum, 590. 
 
 " pedatum, 591. 
 
 iEsculus pavia, 84. 
 Agave Virginica, 522. 
 " Sisalina, 518. 
 " pulque, 522. 
 Agaricus cainpestrls, 594. 
 Agrimonia eupatoria, 145, 
 
 271. 
 Agrostis stolonifera, 563. 
 " perennaris, 581. 
 Aletris farinosa, 532. ' 
 
 " aurea, 533. 
 Algse, 592. 
 Allium Canadense, 531. 
 
 " Carolinianum, 532. 
 Alisma plantago, 536. 
 
 ■* trivialis, 536. 
 " parviflora, 536. 
 Alnus serrulata, 266, 377. 
 Amaryllis atamasco, 522. 
 Ambrosia trifida, 420. 
 
 " artemisifolia, 419 
 
 Amelanchier, 161, 162, 168. 
 Aniianthum muscaHoxicum, 
 
 527. 
 Ammi majus, 45. 
 Amophila arenaria, 582. 
 Amorpha frutieosa, 187. 
 Amphicavpa monoica, 194. 
 Amygdalus, 173. 
 Amyris Floridana, 200. 
 Anagallis arvensis, 384. 
 
 Anchusa tinctoria, 126. 
 Andromeda angustif., 379. 
 " arborea, 379. 
 
 " coriacca, 379. 
 
 " mariana, 379. 
 
 " nitida, 379. 
 
 " speciosa, 379. 
 
 Anemone nemorosa, 16. 
 
 " hepatica, 17. 
 Anethum foeniculum, 47. 
 Angelica lucida, 46. 
 Anona triloba, 41. 
 Anthemis, 424. 
 Anthoxanthum odoratum, 
 
 354, 356. 
 Antennaria Margaritacea, 
 
 426. 
 Apium graveolens, 45. 
 
 " petroselinum, 45. 
 Apocynum cannabinum,483 
 " androsEemif.,484 
 
 " pubescens, 483. 
 
 Arcbangelica, 46. 
 Aracbis hypogea, 194. 
 Aralia spinosa, 50. 
 " nudicaulis, 51. 
 u racemosa, 51. 
 Argemone Mexicana, 28. 
 Arissema atroreubens, 540. 
 Aristolochia serpent., 355. 
 " hastata, 357. 
 
 " sipho, 357. 
 
 Arnipa nudicaulis, 426. 
 
 " montana, 427. 
 Aroniabotryapium, 161, 16S 
 Artemisia eaudata, 362. 
 Arrhenatherum, 586. 
 Arundo arenaria, 582. 
 Arundinaria a'igantea, 587. 
 " macrosper.,587 
 
 Arum niaculaturn, 542. 
 " triphyllum, 540. 
 " Virginicum, 542. 
 I Asarum Virginicum, 358. 
 " Canadense, 357. 
 I " arii'olium, 358. 
 
 Asclepias decumbens, 485. 
 
 " incarnata, 48.S. 
 
 " verticillata, 488. 
 
 " tuberosa, 4S5. 
 
 " cornuti, 488. 
 
 " Syriaca, 488. 
 Ascyrum Crux-Andrese, 78. 
 
 " multicaule, 78. 
 
 Asimina triloba, 41. 
 Asparagus officinalis, 535. 
 Aster tortifolius, 414. 
 " cordifolium, 415. 
 " linarifolius, 415. 
 Atriplex laciniata, 361. 
 Atropa physaloides, 473. 
 Avena sativa, 583. 
 
 Bacebaris halimifolia, 418. 
 Baptisia bracteata, 175. 
 
 " leucophasa, 175. 
 
 " tinctoria, 175. 
 Batschia canescens, 33. 
 Benzoin odoriferum,352,354 
 Berberis Canadensis, 51. 
 
 " vulgaris, 51. 
 Beta vulgaris, 374. 
 Betula nigra, 266. 
 
 " lenta, 265, 380. 
 Bignonia, capreolata, 460. 
 
 " catalpa, 460. 
 
 u crucigera, 460. 
 
 Bletia verecunda, 524. 
 
 " aphylla, 424. 
 Bcehmeria nivea, 272. 
 Brassica oleracea, 454. 
 
 " campestris, 454. 
 Broussonetia papyrif., 307. 
 Bromus secalinus, 587. 
 " purgaus, 587. 
 Bumelia lycioides, 3S5. 
 Bursera gummifera, 200. 
 Buxus sempcrvirens, 111. 
 
 Cactus cochinilifer, 67. 
 
 " opuntia, 66. 
 Calamagrostis, 582. 
 
XXI 1 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Callicarpa Americana, 449. 
 Callitriche verna, 347. 
 
 " heterophyl., 347 
 
 Caltha palustris, 18. 
 Calycanthus Floridus, 199. 
 Camelina sativa, cultivation 
 
 of, 67. 
 Canella alba, 131. 
 Cannabis sativa, 273. 
 " Indica, 273. 
 Canna flacida, 536. 
 Capparis spinosa, 75. 
 
 " Jamaicensis, 75. 
 " cynophalloph., 75 
 Caprifolium, 408. 
 Capsella bursa-pastoris, 70. 
 Capsicum annuum, 468. 
 Carex acuta, 589, 544. 
 Carpinus, (see Ostrya) 233. 
 Carya amara, 322. 
 
 " olivfeforniis, 333. 
 
 " porcina, 322. 
 
 " alba, 322. 
 
 " myristicia3formis,333 
 Cassia occidentalis, 196. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 196. 
 
 " ehamtecrista, 196. 
 
 " hirsuta, 196. 
 
 " Marylandica, 195. 
 
 " tora, 197. 
 Castanea pumila, 237. 
 
 " vesca, 238. 
 Catalpa cordifolia, 460. 
 Ceanothus Americanus, 109 
 Celtis occidentalis, 312. 
 Centaurea benedicta, 427. 
 Cephalanthus Occident., 405 
 Cerasus serotina, 169. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 171. 
 Cercis Canadensis, 197. 
 Cicuta maculata, 44. 
 
 " virosa, 45. 
 Cimicifuga racemosa, 19. 
 Citrus aurantium, 107. 
 Chamselirium Carolin.,427. 
 Chamajrops palmetto, 526. 
 " serrulata, 512, 
 
 525. 
 Chelone glabra, 465. 
 Chenopodium anthelminti- 
 
 cum, 361, 359. 
 
 Chenopodium ambros., 363. 
 
 " alb., 359,364. 
 
 " botrys, 363. 
 
 Chimaphila maculata, 377. 
 
 " umbellata,378. 
 
 Cbionanthus Virginica,494. 
 
 Cliironia, (see Centaurea) 
 
 479. 
 Chrysanthemum leucanthe- 
 
 muiii, 426. 
 Cichorium intybus, 431. 
 Citrus aurantium, 107. 
 
 " limonium, 107, 109. 
 Citrullus, 64. 
 
 Cladrastis tinctoria, 175. 
 Clematis crispa, 15. 
 " viorna, 16. 
 " Virginiana, 16. 
 Clethra tomentosa, 379. 
 
 " alnifolia, 379. 
 Cliftonia ligustrina, 130. 
 Clusia flava, 130. 
 " rosea, 130. 
 Cnicus, (see Centaurea) 427. 
 Coccoloba urifera, 376. 
 
 " Floridana, 376. 
 
 Coffea Arabica, 405. 
 Collinsonia Canadens., 201, 
 
 208, 444. 
 Collinsonia anisata, 445. 
 " scabra, 445. 
 
 Commelina communis, 536. 
 Convalaria multiflora, 534. 
 " biflora, 534. 
 
 " majallis, 534. 
 
 " polygonat., 534 
 
 Convolvulus macror., 396. 
 " batatas, 397. 
 
 '• Jalapa, 397. 
 
 " pandurat.,396. 
 
 Cornus Florida, 59. 
 " sericea, 62. 
 " san guinea, 63. 
 " stricta, 63. 
 Corylus, rostrata, 234. 
 
 " Americana, 234. 
 Corypha palmetto, 426. 
 Crataegus crus-galli, 148. 
 
 " cordata, 148. 
 Croton balsamiferum, 111. 
 
 " maratimum, 111. 
 Ctenium American, 585. 
 Cucumis citrullus, 64. 
 " pepo, 64. 
 " melo, 65. 
 " sativus, 65. 
 Cucurbita lagenaria, 65. 
 Cunilla mariana, 445. 
 Cupressus disticha, 508. 
 " thyoides, 509. 
 
 Cuscuta Americana, 395. 
 " compacta, 395. 
 " cornuti, 395. 
 " vulgivaga, 395. 
 Cynara scolymus, 428. 
 Cynoglossum Virginic.,439. 
 " officinale,439. 
 
 " amplex., 439. 
 
 Cyperus articulatus, 588. 
 " vireus, 58S. 
 " odoratus, 588. 
 " hydra, 588. 
 Cypripcdum pubescens,425. 
 Cyrilla racemiflora, 130. 
 
 Dactylis glomerata, 5S7. 
 Dasystoma pubescens, 466. 
 Datura stramonum, 474. 
 " tatula, 474. 
 
 Daucus carota, 47. 
 " pusilus, 48. 
 Delphinium consolida, 19. 
 Diervilla trifida, 408. 
 
 " canadensis, 408. 
 Digitaria dactylon, 565. 
 Digitalis purpurea, 465. 
 Dilatris tinctoria, 522. 
 Dionoea muscipula, 35. 
 Dioscorea battatas, 539. 
 
 " villosa, 539. 
 
 " sativa, 540. 
 
 " alata, 540. 
 
 Diospyros Virginiana, 335. 
 Diplopappus linarif. 415. 
 Dirca palustris, 350. 
 Discopleura capillacea, 45. 
 Dracocephalum variega- 
 
 tum, 447. 
 Dracocephalum Virgini- 
 
 anum, 448. 
 Dosera rotundifolium, 77. 
 
 Echites difformis, 482. 
 Eclipta ereeta, 420. 
 
 " procumbens, 420. 
 Eleocharis palustris, 589. 
 Elymus arenarius, 562. 
 Epiphagus Americana, 462. 
 Equisetum lsevigatum, 590. 
 " hiemale, 590. 
 
 " arvense, 590. 
 
 Erigeron annuum, 416. 
 
 " eanadense.415,416 
 " Philadelphic.,415. 
 " pusilum, 416. 
 " strigosum, 415. 
 Eryngium aquaticum, 43. 
 • " yuccaefolium, 43. 
 
 " foetidum, 43. 
 
 " aromaticum, 43. 
 
 Erythronium Americ, 530. 
 
 ' ; lanceol. 530. 
 
 Erysimum, 71. 
 Eugenia, 199. 
 
 Euonymus Americanus,129. 
 " atropurpur. 129. 
 
 Eupatorium perfoliat. 410. 
 Eupatorium purpur. 412. 
 Eupatorium rotundif. 413. 
 Eupatorium teucrif. 413. 
 Eupatorium verbenas. 413. 
 Eupatorium foeniculaceum, 
 
 345, 414. 
 Euphorbia annua, 129. 
 Euphorbia corollata, 126. 
 Euphorbia helioscopea, 129. 
 Euphorbia hypericif. 128. 
 Euphorbia ipecacuan. 127. 
 Euphorbia maculata, 128. 
 " thymifolia, 129. 
 
 Fagus sylvatica, 235. 
 " Americana, 235. 
 " feruginea, 246. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XX111 
 
 Festuca, 585. 
 
 " duriuscula, 586. 
 Ficus carica, 308. 
 Filices, 589. 
 
 Foeniculum officinale, 46. 
 Fosteronia diflbrmis, 482. 
 Fragaria vesca, 144. 
 
 " Virginiana, 144. 
 Frasera Walteri, 480. 
 
 " Caroliniensis, 480. 
 Fraxinus acuminata, 494. 
 
 " Americana, 494. 
 Fuci, 593. 
 Fucus serratus, 592. 
 
 '* vesiculosus, 592. 
 Fumaria officinalis, 34. 
 Fungi, 594. 
 
 Galium trifidum, 406. 
 " hispidulum, 406. 
 " tinctorium, 406. 
 jSaultheria procumb. 380. 
 Gelseminum sempervi. 461. 
 Gentiana catesbaei, 478. 
 " ochroleuca, 479. 
 " lutea, 386, 479. 
 " purpur. 386, 479. 
 " Elliot tii, 478. 
 " saponaria, 479. 
 " quinqueflora, 479. 
 Geranium maculatum, 138. 
 Gerardia flava, 466. 
 Geum Virginianum, 145. 
 " Carolinianum, 145. 
 Gillenia tomentosa, 146. 
 " trifoliata, 147. 
 " stipulacea. 148. 
 Glyceria fluitans, 585. 
 
 '"' tomentosa, 187. 
 Gnaphalium margaritace- 
 
 um, 426. 
 Gnaphalium polycepb. 426. 
 Gonolobus macrophyl. 485. 
 Gossypium herbaceum, 93. 
 Gratiola officinalis, 465. 
 " aurea, 466. 
 " Virginica, 465. 
 Gyromia Virginica, 529. 
 
 Hamamelis Virginica, 58. 
 Hedeoma pulegioides, 446. 
 Hedyotis, 407. 
 Helianthus tuberosus, 417, 
 
 420. 
 Helianthus annuus, 422. 
 Heliotropium indicum, 438. 
 Helonias dioica, 527. 
 
 " erythrosper., 527. 
 Helosciadium, 45. 
 Hepatica, triloba, 17. 
 Heuchera Americana, 200. 
 Hibiscus moscheutos, 91. 
 
 " esculentis, 91. 
 Hieracium gronovii, 442. 
 Hippomane mancinella,120. 
 
 Holcus odoratns, 561. 
 
 " sorghum, 566. 
 
 " lanatus, 586. 
 Hopea tinctoria, 388. 
 Houstonia, 407. 
 Humulus lupulus, 275. 
 Hydrastis canadensis, 18. 
 Hydrolea quadrivalvis, 400. 
 Hydrocotyle umbellata, 42. 
 Hypericum sarothra, 79. 
 " perforatum, 78. 
 
 Ilex cassina, 393. 
 " vomitoria, 393. 
 " opaca, 390. 
 " dahoon, 395, 
 " myrtifolia, 395. 
 Illicium Floridanum, 39. 
 " parviflorum, 39, 
 Impatiens pallida, 139. 
 
 " noli me tan., 139. 
 
 Indigophera Carolin., 178. 
 " argentea, 179. 
 
 " anil, 178. 
 
 " tinctoria, 181. 
 
 Inula helenium, 417. 
 Ipomoea nil, 396. 
 
 " panduratus, 396. 
 Iris Virginica, 524. 
 " versicolor, 523. 
 Isatis tinctoria, 179. 
 
 Jatropha stimulosa,119,578, 
 Jeffersonia diphylla, 21. 
 Juglans cinerea, 317. 
 
 " nigra, 318. 
 
 " regia, 321. 
 Juncus effusus, 537. 
 
 " communis, 537. 
 Juniperus Virginiana, 510 
 Jussiosa grandiflora, 57. 
 
 Kalmia latifolia, 381. 
 " angustifolia, 353. 
 " hirsuta, 382. 
 
 Lachnanthes tinctoria, 522. 
 Lactuca elongata, 435. 
 
 " longifolia, 435. 
 Laurus sassafras, 350. 
 
 " benzoin, 352, 354. 
 
 " geniculata, 355. 
 Leersia oryzoides, 581. 
 Lemna polyrhiza, 548. 
 Leontodon tarax., 428. 
 Leonurus cardiaca, 448. 
 Lepidium Virginicum, 67. 
 Leptandra, 467. 
 Leucanthemum vulgare, 426 
 Liatris spicata, 410. 
 
 " scai-iosa, 410. 
 
 " squamosa, 410. 
 
 " odoratissima, 410 
 Limnetis, 582. 
 Linum usitatissimum, 88 
 
 Liquidambar styracif., 344. 
 Liriodendron tulipifera, 39. 
 Lithospermum canescens,33 
 " arvense, 439. 
 
 Lobelia inflata, 401. 
 " syphilitica, 403. 
 " cardinalis, 404. 
 Lolium temulentum, 564. 
 Lonicera sempervirens, 408 
 
 diervilla, 408. 
 
 caprifolium, 408. 
 Lycopus Europeus, 440. 
 
 angustifolius, 440. 
 
 sinuatus, 440. 
 
 Virginicus, 441. 
 Ludwigia alternifolia, 57. 
 Lycoperdon solidum, 599. 
 
 Maclura auruntiaca, 101. 
 Magnolia glauca, 36. 
 
 " acuminata, 38. 
 
 " grandiflora, 38. 
 
 " macrophylla, 39. 
 
 " tripetata, 38. 
 
 « umbrella, 38. 
 Malva rotundifolia, 90. 
 
 " sylvestris, 90. 
 Maranta aruudinacia, 511. 
 Marubium vulgare, 448. 
 Maranta cotula, 424. 
 Medeola Virginica, 529. 
 Medicago lupulina, 176. 
 Melanthium Virginic, 527. 
 Melia azedarach, 106. 
 Melilotus officinalis, 176. 
 Melissa officinalis, 440. 
 Melothria pendula, 65. 
 Menispermum Ganad., 376. 
 Mentha tenuis, 440. 
 
 " piperita, 440. 
 Mercurialis annua, 129. 
 Mimosa sensitiva, 197. 
 Mitchella repens, 405. 
 Monarda punctata, 443. 
 Monocera aromatica, 585. 
 Monotropa uniflora, 378. 
 Morus alba, 280. 
 
 " multicaulis, 284. 
 " rubra, 305. 
 Mylocarium, 130. 
 Myrica Carolinensis, 316. 
 " cerifera, 312. 
 
 Nabalus Fraseri, 435. 
 Nepeta cataria, 447. 
 Nicotiana tabacum, 473. 
 Nymphasa odorata, 35. 
 Nyssa aquatica, 347. 
 
 OEnothera biennis, 55. 
 Oldenlandia, 407. 
 Olea Europea, 490. 
 Olea Americana, 493. 
 Opuntia vulgaris, 66. 
 Orchis, 524. 
 
XXIV 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Orobanehe Virginiana, 462. 
 " Amer., 462, 463. 
 
 " uniflora, 462. 
 
 Orontium aquaticum, 544. 
 Oryza sativa, 578. 
 Osmunda regalis, 591. 
 Ostrya Virginica, 233. 
 
 " carpinus, 233. 
 Oxalis acetosella, 139. 
 
 " violacea, 140. 
 
 " acetosella, 139. 
 
 " corniculata, 140. 
 
 " furcata, 140. 
 Oxycoccus, 383. 
 
 Panax quinquefolium, 48. 
 Pancratium maratim., 522. 
 " Carolinian. 522 
 
 Panicum dactylon, 565. 
 " Italicum, 565. 
 Passiflora lutea, 77. 
 
 " incarnata, 77. 
 
 Papaver somnifer., 23, 25. 
 
 " " alba, 25 
 
 Peltandra Virginica, 542. 
 Phleum pratense, 565. 
 Physalis viscosa, 473. 
 *' obscura, 473. 
 " pubescens, 473. 
 Phytolacca decandra, 365. 
 Pinckneya pubens, 404. 
 Pinus nigra, 505. 
 " australis, 495. 
 " glabra, 506. 
 " balsarnea, 506. 
 " balsamifera. 506. 
 " canadensis, 506. 
 " palustris, 495, 504. 
 " rigida, 504. 
 "' strobus, 505. 
 " tasda, 506. 
 Piscidia erythrina, 175. 
 Pisuui sativum, 194. 
 Plantago major, 436. 
 
 " lanceolata, 437. 
 Poa, 585. 
 " compressa, 585. 
 " pratensis, 585. 
 Podophyllum peltatum, 21, 
 
 601. 
 Polygala senega, 85. 
 " paucifolia, 87. 
 " polygama, 87. 
 " sanguinea, 87. 
 Polygonum punctatum, 370. 
 " aviculare, 372. 
 
 " convolvul., 373. 
 
 " fagopyrum, 373 
 
 " hydropiper. 370 
 
 " polygama, 372. 
 
 " parvifolia, 372. 
 
 " scandens, 373. 
 
 " tinctorium, 179 
 
 " hydropiper, 370 
 
 Polygonatum biflorum, 534. 
 
 Polygonatum pubesc, 534. 
 " multiflo., 534. 
 
 Populus alba, 343. 
 
 " heteroph., 344, 413 
 Portulacea oleracea, 131. 
 Potentilla canadensis, 140. 
 
 reptans? 140. 
 Prenanthes alba, 435. 
 Prinos verticillatus, 389. 
 
 " glaber, 390. 
 Prunella vulgaris, 446. 
 Prunus Virginiana, 169. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 171. 
 Psoralea esculenta, 177. 
 Pteris aquilina, 590. 
 Pterocaulon pycnost., 419. 
 Puccinia, 598. 
 Punica granatum, 58. 
 Pyrethrum, 362. 
 Pyrola maculata, 377. 
 
 " umbellata, 378. 
 
 " rotundifolia, 378. 
 Pyrus coronaria, 149. 
 
 " malus, 149. 
 
 " cydonia, 149. 
 
 " Americana, 167, 168. 
 
 Quercus tinctoria, 238. 
 
 " alba, 287. 
 
 " falcata, 239,256. 
 
 " montana, 263. 
 
 " prinos, 264. 
 
 " rubra, 262. 
 
 " virens, 263. 
 
 " suber, 264. 
 
 Ranunculus sceleratus, 18. 
 " repens, 19. 
 
 " phragmites, 16. 
 
 Rheum palmatum, 373. 
 
 " emodii, 373. 
 Rhexia, glabella, 57. 
 Rhizophora mangle, 55. 
 Rhododendron maxim., 380 
 " pimctat. 3S1 
 
 Rhus toxicodendron, 200; 
 
 see Sumach, for antidote, 
 
 201, 273. 
 Rhus coriaria, 209. 
 
 " copallina, 207. 
 
 " glabra, 202. 
 
 " pumila, 20S. 
 
 " radicans, 200. 
 
 " typnina, 203, 208. 
 
 " vernix, 206. 
 
 " venenata, 206. 
 Rhyncosia tomentosa, 193. 
 Ricinus communis, 111. 
 Robinia pseudacacia, 188. 
 " viscosa, 193. 
 " hispida, 189. 
 Rubia tinctorium, 406. 
 Rubia Brownii, 406. 
 Rubus villosus, 140. 
 
 " occideutalis, 144. 
 
 Rubus trivialis, 141. 
 Ruellia, strepens, 462. 
 Rumex crispus, 368. 
 
 " acetosella, 368. . 
 
 " Britannicus, 370. 
 
 " sanguineus, 370. 
 
 " acetosa, 369. 
 
 " obtusifolius, 370. 
 
 " divaricatus, 370. 
 
 Sabal adansonii, 527. 
 
 " pumila, 527. 
 Sabbatia angularis, 479. 
 
 " gracilis, 480. 
 
 " stellaris, 480. 
 
 Saccharum officinarum,577. 
 Sagittaria sagittif., 57, 536. 
 
 " latifolia, 536. 
 
 Salicornia herbacea,361,594 
 Salix nigra, 334. 
 
 " viminalis, 337. 
 
 " caprea, 336. 
 
 " purpurea, 335. 
 
 " triandra, 336. 
 
 " alba, 334. 
 
 " nigra, 187. 
 
 " babilonica, 343. 
 Salsola soda, 133, 359. 
 
 " kali, 133, 359. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 133. 
 Salvia lyrata, 442. 
 
 " officinalis, 442. 
 Sambucus canaden., 30,408. 
 Samolus valerandi, 385. 
 Sanguinaria canadensis, 30, 
 
 599, 601. 
 Sanicula Marylandica, 42. 
 Sapindus marginatus, 83, 
 
 133. 
 Saponaria officinalis, 132. 
 Sarracenia variolaris, 53. 
 
 " flava, 53. 
 
 Sarothra, 79. 
 Sassafras officinale, 350. 
 Saururus cernuus, 334. 
 Schoenolerion Michauxii, 
 
 532. 
 Schrankia uncinata, 197. 
 
 " angustata, 197. 
 
 Schubertia, 508. 
 Scirpus maritimus, 588. 
 " macrostachyus,588. 
 " palustris, 589. 
 Scrofularia Marylandica, 
 
 465. 
 Scrofularia nodosa, 465. 
 Scutellaria integrifolia, 447 
 " lateriflora, 446. 
 
 Senecio aureus, 426. 
 Sesamum Indicum, 450. 
 " orientale, 450. 
 Shepardia magnoides, 174. 
 Sida abutilon, 91. 
 Silene Virginica, 131. 
 Simaruba glauca, 137. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Sinapis nigra, 72. 
 Sisymbrium amphibium,72. 
 " nasturtium, 71. 
 
 Sium nodiflorum, 45. 
 Smilax sarsaparilla, 538. 
 " caduca, 538. 
 " glauca, 538. 
 " herbacea, 539. 
 " ovata, 539. 
 " pseudochina, 537. 
 " tamnoides, 539. 
 Solarium Virginianum, 471. 
 
 " lycopersicum, 472. 
 
 " Carolinense, 470. 
 
 " mammosum, 470. 
 
 " dulcamara, 470. 
 
 " nigrum, 468. 
 
 " tuberosum, 471. 
 Solidago odora, 416. 
 
 " sempervirens, 417. 
 
 " canadensis, 417. 
 
 " procera, 417. 
 Sonchus oleraceus, 436. 
 Sorghum vulgare, 567. 
 
 " saccharatum, 567. 
 Sorbus Americana. 168. 
 
 " aucuparia, 168. 
 
 " microcarpa, 167. 
 Spartina glabra, 582. 
 
 " juncea, 582. 
 Sparganium ramosum, 545. 
 " Americanum,545. 
 Spergula arvensis, 135, 561. 
 Spigelia Marylandica, 481. 
 Spiraea trifoliata, 146. 
 
 " opulifolia, 147. 
 
 " stipulacea, 146. 
 
 " tomentosa, 146. 
 Spirodelia polyrhiga, 548. 
 Stapbylea trifolia, 130. 
 Statice limonium, 360, 437. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 361,437. 
 Stellaria media, 136. 
 Stillingia sylvatica, 121. 
 
 " sebifera, 122. 
 
 Styrax, 389. 
 
 Swietenia mahogoni, 87. 
 Symplocarpus foetidus, 544. 
 Symplocas tinctoria, 389. 
 
 Tanacetum vulgare, 425. 
 Taraxacum densleonis, 428. 
 Tepbrosia Virginiana, 187. 
 Thea viridis, 104. 
 Thlaspium bursapastoris,70 
 Thuja occidentalis, 507. 
 Thymus vulgaris, 444. 
 Tilia glabra, 103. 
 " Americana, 103. 
 " Europea, 103. 
 Tillandsia usneoides, 524. 
 Tricodium perennans, 581. 
 Trifolium pratense, 177. 
 
 " arvense, 177. 
 
 " reflexum, 177. 
 
 " repens, 177. 
 Trillium sessile, 530. 
 Triosteum perfoliatum, 407. 
 
 " angustifolium, 407. 
 Tripterella ccerulea, 523. 
 Triticum, 583. 
 
 " repens, 561. 
 
 Typha latifolia, 57, 544. 
 
 Ulmus fulva, 310. 
 
 " alata, 311. 
 
 " Americana, 311. 
 Uredo segetum, 598. 
 
 " fetida, 598. 
 Urtica urens, 268. 
 
 " nivea, 272. 
 
 " dioica, 270. 
 
 " pumila, 273. 
 Utricularia inflata, 577. 
 Uvaria triloba, 41. 
 Uvularia perfoliate, 534. 
 " sessiliflora, 535. 
 
 Vaccinium arboreum, 168, 
 
 384. 
 Vaccinium macrocarp., 383, 
 
 | Valeriana scandens, 462. 
 " pauciflora, 462. 
 Veratrum viride, 528. 
 
 " parvifolium, 529. 
 " album, 528. 
 " angustif., 529. 
 Verbascum thapsus, 463. 
 " blattaria, 464. 
 
 " lychnites, 464. 
 
 Verbena urticifolia, 208,450. 
 " aubletia, 450. 
 " hastata, 450. 
 Verbesina Virginica, 419. 
 Vernonia angustifolia, 409. 
 Veronica officinalis, 466. 
 " anagallis, 468. 
 " peregrina, 467. 
 " Virginica, 467. 
 Vicia sativa, 194. 
 Vitis, 213, et seq. 
 " bipinnata, 212. 
 " labrusca, aestivalis, 
 etc. 214, et aeq. 
 Viola tricolor, 76. 
 " arvensis, 75. 
 " cucullata, 76. 
 " palmata, 76. 
 " pedata, 75. 
 Virgilia lutea, 175. 
 Viscum verticillatum, 63. 
 
 Xanthium strumarium, 419. 
 Xanthorrhiza apiifolia, 21. 
 Xanthoxylum American. 136 
 
 " Carolinianum, 137. 
 
 " clavaHerculis, 136. 
 
 " fraxineum, 136. 
 
 " ramiflorum, 136. 
 
 " tricarpum, 137. 
 
 Yucca filamentosa, 350. 
 
 Zamia integrifolia, 512. 
 Zea mays, 548. 
 Zizania aquatica, 580. 
 Zostera marina, 547. 
 
WORKS CONSULTED, AND ABBREVIATIONS USED. 
 
 WORKS. ■ ■ ABBREVIATIONS. 
 
 Catalogue Plantarum Angliso, cum Observationibus et 
 
 Experimentis Novis Medicis et Physicis. Londini, 1667. ^ Cat. Plantaruiii. 
 Auct. Johannes Ray. 
 
 English Physician. By Nicholas Culpepper, gent., 
 
 '■'Student, in Physic and Astrology." "An Asirologo- [- Culp. Eng. Phys. 
 Physiological Discourse on Vulgar Herbs," etc. 
 
 Bulliard, Histoire des Plantcs Veneneuses de la Prance, I Bull. Plantes Ven. 
 
 4 vols. Paris, 1774. ■ • j de Prance. 
 
 Hortus Americanus. By Dr. Barham. Bar. Hort. Amer. 
 
 Linnaeus, Vegetable Mat. Medica. Translated by C. I T . wo'- « i/i 
 ,„, .., ' ° ■'■■}. Linn. Veg. M. Med. 
 
 Whitlaw. J ° 
 
 Demonstrations Elementaire de Botanique. Containing "l 
 
 elem., veg., phys. properties, and uses of plants. With -^ , ■*,-:, , „ , 
 
 . • ?.,/■ • a / , , t ■ Y Dem. Elem. de Bot. 
 
 much information concerning the vegetable veterinary 
 
 practice, etc. By J. Gillibert, Lyons, 1 787. J 
 
 Plantaa Rarinres Hibernia Inventse, etc. With Remarks ) 
 
 on the Properties and Uses. By Walter Wade, M. D. M. > Wade's PL Rariores. 
 
 L. S. Dublin, 1804. J- 
 
 Le Medecin Herboriste. Paris, 1802. Le'Med. Herb. 
 
 New Med. Discoveries, 2 vols. London, 1829. By C. 1 AVhitlaw'sNewMed. 
 
 Whitlaw. ( j Disc. 
 
 Am. Herbal, or Materia Medica. With New Medical ) V,. , . TI , , 
 
 t\- t> o ' i oj. t t r> w i i iom r b teams Am. Herbal. 
 
 Discoveries. By bamuel Stearns, LL. D. Walpole, 1801. j 
 
 Flora Scotica. By John Lightfoot. Edinburgh. Fl. Scotica. 
 
 Indigenous Botany. Bv Colin Milne, LL. D., and Alex- I ,,.. T , „ . 
 
 , ?, , T J , 'iwf.., ' ' > Milne Ind. Bot. 
 
 ander Gordon. London, ltv6. . J 
 
 A New Family Herbal: or, an Account of Plants and 1 rrl , T , 
 
 ,, • ™ ,. ■ . it i- ■ j i.u a i -l> -a t I horn ton s Fain. 
 
 their Properties m Medicine and the Arts. By R. J. | w h 
 
 Thornton. London, 1810. j item. 
 
 Liiidley's Natural System of Botany. With the Uses ) 
 
 of Important Species in Medicine, the Arts, and Domestic S- Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 
 
 Economy. London, 1836. • J 
 
 Medical Botanv. By W. Woodville, 4 vols. London, I w , , r , », 
 
 1790. Sec. edition, 1800. | Woodv. Med. Hot. 
 
 Barton's Med. Botany. . Bart. M. Bot. 
 
 W. P. Barton's Flora. Philadelphia, 1S23. Bart. Flora'. 
 
 Rafinesque's Medical Flora. Raf, Med. Fl. 
 
 Bigelow's Am. Medical Botany, 4 vols. Boston, 1820. Big. Am. Med. Bot. 
 
 Barton's Collection towards the Formation of a Materia ) -r, j. ' » „ ™ ' 
 
 M ,. \ Barton's Collec. 
 
 Medica. j 
 
Ell. Bot. Med. Notes. 
 
 Medical Botany. AVith the Uses of Important Species ') 
 
 in Medicine, the Arts, etc. By R. E. Griffith. Philadel- \ Griffith's Med. Bot, 
 
 phia, 1847. I 
 
 Illustrations of Medical Botany. By Joseph Carson. | Carson's Illust.Med. 
 
 M. I). With Descriptions, etc. Philadelphia, 18-17. . j. Bot. 
 
 Shecut's Flora 'CarolinKensis ; or, a History, Medical ) 
 
 and Economical, of the Vegetable Kingdom. Charles- [■ Shoe. Flora Carol, 
 
 ton, 1806. j 
 
 Elliott's Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and I 
 
 Georgia. With Medical Notes. ' Charleston, 1806. j 
 
 Drayton's View of South Carolina. Charleston, 1802. Drayton's View. 
 
 Chalmer's History of South Carolina. Chaliner's Hist, S.C. 
 
 Garden's and Lining's Observations, Physical and Lit- ) ,-, , , T . A , 
 
 ° > j k Gard. and Lin. Obs. 
 
 erary. J 
 
 Travels in South and North Carolina. By John Law- 1 T ' , o r, 
 
 „ /i i tmc f Lawson s S. C. 
 
 son, Surveyor-General, 1 do. J 
 
 United States Dispensatory. By Wood and Bache. I TT ~ ,,. 
 
 Philadelphia. 1847. j L ' ?•' 1Jl ' n '' 
 
 Thacher's United States Dispensatory. Thacher's U.S. Disp. 
 
 American Dispensatory. By II. Coxe. Coxe, Am. Disp. 
 
 Bergii Materia Medica. E. regno vegctabili. etc. — ) ,, .. ,., , ,, . 
 
 c, ,f , ■ T^n,, ° a > Bergn, Mat, Med. 
 
 Stockholm^, 1/82. J ° ' 
 
 Cullen's Materia Medica. Edinburgh. Cullen, Mat. Med. 
 
 Lewis' Materia Medica. 2 vols. London, 179-1. Le. Mat. Med. 
 
 Pereira's Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 2 I Pe. Mat. Med. and 
 
 vols.' I Therap. 
 
 Practical Dictionary of Materia Medica. By John > -,-, ,,, ,, t,. , 
 
 t> ii t>i i i i v.- i Bells Pract Diet. 
 
 Bell. Philadelphia. . . J 
 
 Eberle's Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 2 vols. | 1,1 i ■ m 1 « j 
 „, ., , , ,. ,<,„, l > Eberle, Mat. Med. 
 
 Philadelphia, 1844. j 
 
 Edwards and Vavasseur's Matiere Medicale. Paris, 1836. Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 
 
 Trousseau et Pidoux. Traite dc Tberapeutique, et de ) Trous. et Pid. Mat. 
 
 Matiere Medicale. Paris, 1837. J Med. 
 
 Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. By H. j Frost's Elems. Mat. 
 
 R. Frost, Prof. M. M. South Carolina Medical College. j Med. 
 
 Chapman's Therapeutics and Materia Medica, 2 vols'. I Chap. Therap. and 
 
 Philadelphia, 1822. } Mat, Med. 
 
 Ballod and Garrod's Materia Medica, Loudon, [ Bail, and Gar. Mat, 
 
 1846. J Med. 
 
 Royle's Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Philadel-') ,, , -,, . ,, , 
 ,.'',„,» ' y Royle, Mat. Med. 
 
 phia, 184:7. j 
 
 Merat and de Leu's Dictionnaire Univ. de Matiere Med- I Mer. and de L. Diet. 
 icale. Paris, 1837, tom. vi. J dc M. Med. 
 
 Supplementary volume to the above. Paris, I Supplem. to Diet. 
 1S46. j Univ. de M. Med. 
 
 Watson's Practice of Physic. Second American Edi- ) Watson's Pract, 
 tion. Philadelphia, 1845. f Physic. 
 
 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. AV. Johnson. Esq., F. R. S. 4th Edition. New York, Bangs, Brother & 
 Co., 1852. 
 
Flora of the Southern United States, containing abridgod description? of the 
 flowering plants and ferns off Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Alabama., Mississippi, and Florida, arranged according to the natural system, by 
 A. W. Chapman, M. I). The ferns by Daniel C. Eaton. Now York, I860.' 
 
 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 George Law, Agriculturist. 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, Charles- 
 ton, S. C. 
 
 The Art of Manufacturing Soaps and Candles. By P. Kurten. Philadelphia, 
 Lindsay & Blakiston, 1854. 
 
 Industrial Resources of the South and West,jby J. D. B. DeBow. New Or- 
 leans, 1S53. ' 
 
 Sorgho, and Imphoe, the Chinese and African Sugar Canes, by H. S. Olcott. 
 New York, 1857. 
 
 Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines. From 4th English edition. 
 New York, 1853. 
 
 A New Family Herbal, or popular account of the natures and properties of the 
 plants used in Medicine, Diet, and the Arts, by R. J. Thornton, M. D. Lon- 
 don, 1810. ' • 
 
 Chemistry applied to Agriculture, by Count John Antony Chaptal. Boston, 
 1835. 
 
 Chemical Field Lectures, by J. A. Stockhardt. Translated from German. Cam- 
 bridge, 1853. 
 
 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. Fiske 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. 
 Philadelphia, 1859. 
 
 The American Grape Grower's Guide, intended especially for the climate of 
 America. Illustrated by William 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, alcohol, wines, beer, cider, vinegar, starch, and dye stuffs, with trans- 
 lations of French Pamphlets, etc., etc., and drawing of machinery, by H. S. Olcott. 
 New York, A. 0. Moore, 1857. 
 
 Patent Office Reports, Agriculture, 1848, '51, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58. 
 
 Rural Chemistry, by Edward Solly, F. L. S., Honorary Member of Royal Agri- 
 cultural Society, England. Philadelphia, Henry C. Baird, 1S52. 
 
 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 
 pamphlet. • 
 
The following works, published in England, may be referred to in case any are 
 desirous of consulting them : 
 
 Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, Marshall on Planting, Nichols' Planter's Calen- 
 dar, Pontey's Profitable Planter, Phillips' Shrubbery, Treatise on Planting in the 
 Library of Useful Knowledge, Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants, Accum on the 
 Adulterations of Food, Babbage on the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 
 Thompson's Vegetable Chemistry, Knapp's Technology, Willich's Domestic Ency- 
 clopaedia. See, also, Treatise by Dr. J. Harris, of Mass., on Insects injurious 
 to Vegetation, and Townsend Glover's papers on same subject in Patent Office 
 Reports. 
 
 j5^"* Those interested in obtaining foreign seeds, plants, etc., can obtain them by 
 applying to James Carter & Co., and Butler <fc McCulloch, of London; William 
 Thompson, of Ipswich, England ; and Vilmorin, Andreux & Cie., Paris, France. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 GENERAL DIRECTIONS 
 
 COLLECTING AND DRYING 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 genei^ally 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. 
 
 Roots of AnxN'uals are to be gathered just before the time of 
 flowering. 
 
 Roots of Biennials are to be gathered after the vegetation 
 of the first vear has ceased. 
 
Roots of Perennials are to be gathered in the spiking, before 
 vegetation has commenced. Roots 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 
 removed. 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. Rosa G-allica — 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 FOR 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 Boots may be dried in the sun, or at a, heat of from 
 65° to 80° F. in the drying-room. 
 
 Fleshy Boots 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 
 loosely 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, these may be 
 tied loosely in small bundles, and strung on lines stretched 
 across the drying-room. 
 
 Flowers must be di-ied carefully and rapidly, so as to pre- 
 serve their color. They should be spread loosely on the hurdles, 
 and turned several times by stirring. When flowers or leaves 
 owe their virtues to volatile oils, greater care is necessary. 
 
 A carefully pressed specimen of the stem, leaf, and flower of 
 each medicinal, substance collected, whether it be bark, root, or 
 
8 
 
 herb, should be obtained and forwarded with each collection, 
 for the purpose of aiding in its identification. From "General 
 Directions" and List of Plants — a pamphlet issued from Sur 
 geon-General's Office, 1862. Consult, also, U. S. Dispensatory. 
 
 The two following papers, contributed by the writer to a 
 periodical during the present war, are introduced before enter- 
 ing upon the* systematic portion of the work, because they 
 contain information, in a condensed shape, which may be prac- 
 tically useful : 
 
 BRIEF NOTICE OF EASILY PROCURABLE MEDICINAL PLANTS, TO BE 
 
 COLLECTED BY SOLDIERS WHILE IN SERVICE IN ANY 
 
 PART OF THE CONFEDERATE 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 
 great!} 7 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 b} T 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 (Laurus). — Whilst engaged in active duties as Sur- 
 geon to the Ilolcombe Legion, whenever a soldier suffered 
 from measles, pneumonia, bronchitis, or cold, his conrpanion or 
 nurse was directed to procure the roots and leaves of Sassafras, 
 and a tea made with this supplied that of Flax Seed or Gum 
 Arabic. Each leaf of Sassafras contains a great amount of 
 mucilage. 
 
 Bene (Besamum). — The planters and farmers throughout the 
 Confederate States should save and cure all the leaves of the 
 
9 
 
 Ber^e now growing, to be used in camp dysentery, in colds, 
 coughs, etc., among our soldiers, in place of Gum Arabic or 
 Flax Seed. One or two leaves in a tumbler of water imparts 
 their mucilaginous properties. 
 
 Dogwood CCornus Florida). — Since the war, the bark has been 
 employed with great advantage in place of quinine in fevers — 
 by physicians in Sumter district. S. C, and elsewhere — par- 
 ticularly in cases of low forms of fever, and in dysentery, on 
 the river courses, of a typhoid character. It is given as a sub- 
 stitute for Peruvian barks. In fact, in almost any case where 
 the Cinchona bark was used. 
 
 Thoroughwort, Bone-set (Eupatorium perfoliatum). — Thorough- 
 wort, drank hot during the cold stage of fever, and cold as a 
 tonic and antiperiodic, is thought by many physicians to he 
 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 our troops 
 during the summer; 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 Poplar (Liriodendron) and the Willow bark 
 supply a remedy for the fevers met with in camp. Cold infu- 
 sion given. 
 
 Sweet Gum (Liquidambar Styraciflua). — The inner bark eon- 
 tains an astringent, gummy 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 when 
 green I have also ascertained to be powerfully astringent, and 
 to contain as large a proportion of tannin as that of any other 
 tree. I believe that the Cum leaf and the leaf of the Myrtle, 
 and Blackberry can be used wherever an astringent is re- 
 quired ; cold water takes it up. They can, I think, be also 
 used for tanning leather, when green, in place of oak bark. 
 
 Blackberry Boot (Bubus). — Wherever it can be obtained, a 
 
10 
 
 decoction will check profuse diarrhoeas of any kind. The root 
 of the Chinquapin (Castanea) is also astringent. 
 
 Gentian. — Our native tonics' are abundant. Several varieties 
 of Gentian, Sabbatia, etc., may be added to those mentioned,. 
 The Pipsissewa, or Winter Green {Chwiapliila), is both an aro- 
 matic tonic and a diuretic, and therefore selected in the con- 
 valescence from low fevers followed by dropsical symptoms. 
 These, the numerous aromatic plants, etc., are not intended 
 to take the place of mercury, or any other drug which can be 
 obtained and is required. It is not intended that a blind or 
 exclusive reliance should be placed in them — but they are 
 recommended to supply a great and present need. 
 
 Holly {Ilex Opacd). — The bark of the holly root chewed, or a 
 tea made with it, yields an excellent bitter demulcent, very 
 useful in coughs, colds, etc. The bitter pi'inciple is also tonic. 
 The Holly contains bird-lime. 
 
 Wild Jalap {Podophyllum Peltattun). — 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 Con- 
 federate States can produce the opium, mustard, and flax seed 
 that is required, either for the army or for home use. 
 
 I think we stand most in need also of nitrate, chlorate, and 
 bicarb, of potash, as we have no means of supplying these by 
 vegetable substances. It has suggested itself to me that those 
 in charge of our Nitre works might also produce other prepa- 
 rations of potash with veiy little additional trouble. 
 
 Potash, pearlash, and soda are easily procurable from the 
 ashes of certain plants. Our Salsola Kali, growing on the sea 
 coast, is rich in soda. Consult index for references to more 
 detailed information. 
 
11 
 
 SOUTHERN TREES ADAPTED TO THE PURPOSES OP THE MANUFAC- 
 TURER AND WOOD ENGRAVER. 
 
 A short time since, in answer to an inquiry of a correspond- 
 ent, I gave the names of several trees growing at the South as 
 j>robably suited for the purposes of the wood engraver. To 
 these 1 will now add those noticed by subsequent correspond- 
 ents, 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 when- 
 ever a wood of hard, fine grain is required by the manufac- 
 turer. 
 
 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 (Fagus Sylvatlca). 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. 
 
 Sweet Birch, Cherry Birch, Mountain Mahogany (Betula Lenta. 
 Linn.) — Grows in mountains of South Carolina, possesses a fine 
 grain, and also susceptible of a beautiful polish. The .Red Birch 
 (JBetula 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 dura- 
 bility is desirable; these, with the Walnut and Maple, are well 
 known. 
 
 Dog Wood (Coi'nus Florida). — Much used on our plantations 
 wherever a wood of firmness of texture is required. 
 
12 
 
 Persimmon (Diospyros Yirginiana). — A very hard wood — in 
 the natural family of plants found under what is known as the 
 Ebony tribe. 
 
 The Holly (Ilex Opaca), the Apple, and Pear ai-e very much 
 esteemed by many; perhaps harder than any of those cited. 
 These may be more particularly adapted to the purposes of the 
 wood engraver. 
 
 The Calico Bush, Ivy Bush (Kalmia Latifolia). — Grows in our 
 middle districts. Wood hard and dense. 
 
 Mountain Laurel Bay (Rhododendron Maximum). — Found in 
 our mountains; said to resemble the Kalmia, and quoted by a 
 writer as adapted to the purposes of the engraver. 
 
 Iron Wood. — Another tree named from its supposed firm- 
 ness (Bumelia Lycioides Ell. Sk.~) I have collected it in Charles- 
 ton, and forty miles from the ocean.. 
 
 Yellow Locust Tree, False Acacia (Robinia 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 (Dirca Palustris). — Grows in Georgia ; is both 
 hard and pliant. 
 
 Arbor Vitoz (Thuja occidentalism. — Grows in mountains. Wood 
 said by Michaux to be the most durable which our forests 
 produce. 
 
 The soft woods are: the Cedar, the Cypress, the Black 
 Spruce, or Fir (Pinus nigra, Aiton); the Pinus strobus (growing 
 in the mountains), and the Spruce tree of our low country 
 swamps, which might well supply the place of our 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 lied Mulberry (Morns 
 rubra) is preferred in the building of boats to that of any other, 
 except the Eed Cedar. 
 
13 
 
 The wood of the Black Gum (JYyssa aquatica), particularly 
 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 Poplar is well known also 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 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 Pal- 
 metto, which is characteristically soft, porous, and elastic. 
 
RESOURCES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SOUTHERN FIELDS AND FORESTS. 
 
 MEDICAL, ECONOMICAL, AND AGRICULTURAL. 
 
 Class I. EXOGENS ; OR, DICOTYLEDONOUS 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS. 
 
 Sub-Class I, POLYPETAL.E. 
 
 NATURAL ORDERS. 
 
 RANUNCULACEiE. ( Crow-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. 
 
 Clematis crispa, Linn. Not of Ell. Sk., which, is the C. 
 cylindrica, T. and Gray. Grows in damp, rich soils, and 
 in swamps in the low country of South Carolina, vicinity of 
 Charleston. Dr. Bachman. Newborn, Croom. 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, 
 
16 
 
 with the powdered 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 substitute for cantharides, and applied to 
 rheumatic limbs, and in paralysis and gout. The decoc- 
 tion of the root is alterative and purgative; and is also said 
 to be valuable in washing sores and ulcers, in order to 
 change the mode of their vitality, and to make them cica- 
 trize. Shecut remarks that "the Spanish or blistering 
 flies are very fond of the Clematis crispa, 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, "Con- 
 volvulus.'" The American species are deserving of partic- 
 ular attention, and we would invite further investigation 
 of them. 
 
 Clematis viorna, L. Traveller's-joy. Grows in middle 
 and upper districts. Elliott. 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 are employed internally as diuretics and 
 sudorifics in chronic rheumatism ; and externally, in the 
 treatment of eruptions, and as vesicants. Shecut says that 
 a yellow dye may be extracted from both leaves and 
 branches ; the latter are sufficiently 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. 
 
 Clematis Virginiaiia, Linn. Virgin's bower. Grows in 
 rich soils ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. ■ Wood and 
 Bache, IT. S. Disp. 1244; Griffith, Med. Bot. 80. See C. 
 viorna. 
 
 Anemone riemorosa, L. \ Wood Anemone. Mountains 
 Ranunculus phragmites. f of South Carolina. Fl. April. 
 Bull. Plantes Ven. de France ; Linn. Veg. M. Med. 109 ; 
 Fl. Scotica, 287 ; Chomel, Plantes Usuelles, ii, 376 ; Diet. 
 
 
des 8c. 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 producing 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 dis- 
 charge of urine,' attended with dysentery, in cattle which 
 feed on it. It contains a principle called anemonin. 
 
 Most of the species of Anemone, says Wilson, Rural 
 Cyc, are acrimonious and detersive. "An infusion 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 decoc- 
 tion 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 Anem- 
 one 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 etfect 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 the publication of 
 much that is vague and uncertain. The unexpected dis- 
 coveries of Ipecacuanha, Cinchona, Veratrum viride, etc., 
 warn us not to discard, upon a superficial examination, all 
 those popularly considered as of trivial importance. 
 
 Hepatica triloba, Chaix. \ Liverwort. Grows in light 
 Anemone hepatica, Linn. J soils, upper districts, and in 
 Georgia. Collected by Mr. Ravenel at the Eutaw battle- 
 ground, St. John's, Berkley ; sent to me also from Abbe- 
 ville district. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 368; Raf. Med. PI, i, 238 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 
 
18 
 
 81. A tonic and astringent, supposed by some to possess 
 deobstruent virtues. It has been used to a considerable 
 extent in haemoptysis and chronic cough ; but Wood says 
 it has fallen into neglect. 
 
 Hydrastis Canadensis, W. Orange -root; yellow - root ; 
 turmeric ; golden seal. Grows in rich soils, among the 
 mountains of South Carolina. Fl. May. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. 6 ; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 21 ; Veg. Mat. Med, 
 ii, 17 : Raf. Med. Fl. i, 251 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 82. It has 
 a narcotic smell ; used in this country as a tonic. The root 
 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 Dyes used by the Aborigi- 
 nes, states, from his own experience, that it was found ser- 
 viceable 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. 
 Tincture, decoction, or powder employed. Dose of powder, 
 thirty to sixty grains. 
 
 Caltha jxdustris, L. Var. pa mass, ifolia, T. & G. Cedar 
 Swamps, S. C, (Pursh); Chap. Flora. The flower buds are 
 pickled for use as a substitute for capers. 
 
 Ranunculus sceleratus, L. T. and Gray. Grows in bogs; 
 abundant around Charleston. Xewbern, Croom. Fl. May. 
 
 Bull. Plantes Yen. de France, 143 ; Dem. Elem de Bot. ; 
 Lightfoot'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 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 84. 
 
 The juice possesses remarkable caustic powers, raising a 
 blister if applied topically, and often in doses of two drops 
 exciting fatal inflammation alono; the whole tract of the 
 alimentary canal. Some, however, say that this property is 
 
19 
 
 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 substi- 
 tute for cantharides. Annal. Univ. de Med. 1843. It has 
 been administered with success in asthma, icterus, dysuria, 
 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 distillation, and preserved in closely-stopped 
 bottles. Tilebein relates that the distilled water is exces- 
 sively acrid, and on cooling, deposits crystals, which are al- 
 most insoluble in any menstruum. Precipitates are caused 
 by muriate of tin and acetate of lead. The boiled root 
 may be eaten. 
 
 Ranunculus rcpens, Linn. 1 Grows in shady woods, and 
 Nilidus, Ell. Sk. j among the mountains of this 
 
 state. Fl. Aug. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 584. This has also a rubefacient and epis- 
 
 pastic operation. Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 65. Very similar 
 
 to the above in its mode of action. 
 
 Delphinium consolida, L. Larkspur. Becoming natural- 
 ized. The plant has astringent properties, and its flowers 
 yield a fine blue dye. 
 
 Oimicifuga racemosa, Torrey. 1 Black snake-root ; Oo- 
 Actcea racemosa, L. & Willd. j hosh ; grows in the upper 
 districts, and in Georgia. Fl. July. 
 
 Linnseus, Veg. Mat. Med. 102 (see Actsea). The root is 
 used in the debility of females attendant upon uterine dis- 
 order ; and, in its action, is thought to have a special 
 affinity for this organ. It has also a decided effect upon 
 some nervous affections, especially 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 success, after the 
 failure of purgatives and metallic tonics ; and have also 
 
20 
 
 derived the happiest effects from it in eases of convulsions 
 recurring periodically, and connected with uterine dis- 
 order." Wood, U. S. Disp. The powdered root is em- 
 ployed, a teaspoonful three times a day. It is a stimulating 
 tonic, increasing the secretion of the skin, kidneys, 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 resinned again ; frictions should at the same time be 
 made upon the surface with the tinct. See the Supplem, 
 1846, to the Diet, de. M. Med. cit. sup. Dr. Hildreth has 
 found this plant, in combination with iodine, very advan- 
 tageous in the early stages of phthisis. Am. Journal Med. 
 Se. 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 Actrea), 
 say that it partakes of the properties of A. brachipetala. 
 According to Chapman, it produces free nausea, with 
 abundant expectoration, succeeded by nervous trembling, 
 vertigo, and a remarkable slowness of the pulse. Dr. Gar- 
 den administered the tincture for phthisis. London Med. 
 Journal, li, 245. 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 ]S r ew Jersey, a decoc- 
 tion of the root is said to cure itch; and in ^sTorth 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 Annal. in Am. Journal Pharm. vi, 20, 
 1843. According to Mr. Tilghman, it contains gum ; 
 starch; sugar; resin; wax; tannin; gallic acid ;, salts of 
 potassa ; lime ; magnesia ; iron, etc. The ethereal extract 
 contains most of its virtues. See, also, Jones, in the Jour- 
 nal de Pharm. x, 670 ; and Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. vi, 
 14 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 92. He remarks that its greatest 
 efficacy has been exhibited in rheumatism ; the power of 
 
21 
 
 the root appearing to depend on the volatile oil and bitter 
 resin, both of which are soluble in alcohol, and partially so 
 in water. 
 
 ZanthorrMza apiifolia, L'Her. Yellow root. Upper, and 
 mountainous districts. Fl. April. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 745 ; Bart. Med. Bot. ii, 203 ; New York 
 Med. Eepos. 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 
 analogous 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 decoction is also employed. The 
 shrub contains a gum and resin, both of which are in- 
 tensely bitter. Alcohol is the best menstruum. Its tinc- 
 torial powers were known to the Indians. It yields plenti- 
 fully a coloring matter, a drab being imparted by it to 
 wool, and a rich yellow to silk ; without a mordant it does 
 not affect cotton or linen ; with Prussian blue it strikes 
 a dull olive green color. 
 
 Jeffersonia diphylla, Pers. Twin-leaf. Rich shady woods, 
 Tennessee. 
 
 The decoction of this plant is used by the vegetable prac- 
 titioners and Indian doctors as a diuretic in dropsy, and as 
 an external application to sores, ulcers, etc. 
 
 Podophyllum peltatum, L. Wild jalap ; May-apple ; wild 
 lemon; duck- weed. Diffused in rich swamp lands ; grows 
 in Abbeville and Sumter districts; collected in St. John's, 
 Berkley ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. ; Newbern. I saw 
 it at Portsmouth, Virginia. Fl. March. 
 
 Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 749; Bell's Pract. Diet.; Drayton's 
 View S. O. 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. 
 
22 
 
 i, 9; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. in, 873; Med. Record, iii, 
 332; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 193; Schoepf,'M. M. 86; 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. v. 207 ; Chap. Mat. Med. 
 and Therap. 209; Coxe, Am. Disp. 478; Lind. JSTat. Syst. 
 Bot. 
 
 Bigelow says it is a sure and active cathartic : " "We 
 hardly know any native plant that answers better the com- 
 mon purposes of jalap, aloes, and rhubarb." The Shakers 
 prepare an extract, which is much esteemed as a mild ca- 
 thartic. By the experiments of Dr. Burgon, in the Am. 
 Med. Recorder, 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. Appen- 
 dix, iii, 187; Griffith, Med. Bot. 116. It has been recom- 
 mended in dropsy, from the abundant evacuations which 
 it produces. 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 Illust. of Med. Botany, pt. i. An 
 officinal extract is prepared, given in doses of 5-15 grains. 
 The leaves are purgative, and sometimes produce nausea in 
 irritable stomachs ; the fruit is eatable. 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 in incon- 
 tinence of urine. Dr. McBride made great use of it during 
 his practice in St. John's, Berkley, S. C; he said that it 
 answers all the purposes of the officinal jalap, "producing 
 copious liquid discharges, with no griping". The powdered 
 root is applied as a dressing for ulcers; it is said to restrain 
 excessive granulations, sprinkled over the surface. In a 
 communication from Dr. Douglass, of Chester district, S. 
 C, his correspondent, Mr. Melveown, 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 eecharotic purposes. We have em- 
 
28 
 
 ployed this plant among negroes as a substitute for jalap 
 and the ordinary cathartics, and find that it answers every 
 purpose, being easily prepared by the person having charge 
 of them. Thirty grains of the root in substan«e 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 
 Liriodendron tulipifera as a substitute for quinine during 
 the stage of intermission of all mild cases of intermittent 
 fever. We would invite the particular attention of planters 
 to the extensive use of these medicines upon their planta- 
 tions. We have caused them to be used on one on which 
 upward of a hundred negroes resided, and we found that 
 during a period of seven months, including the warm 
 months of summer, they were used in all cases, and appar- 
 ently 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 re- 
 quired. 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 
 with the addition of a little old Madeira and sugar, it is said 
 to be equal to the luscious golden granadilla of the tropics. 
 Am. Farmer, vol. 14 ; Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Papaverace^e. (The Poppty Tribe.) 
 
 Narcotic properties generally prevail throughout this 
 order. Seeds are universally oily — seldom narcotic. Eu- 
 rope is the principal seat of the papaveracese ; but several 
 species included under it are found in North America, be- 
 yond the tropic. Most of them are annuals, the perennials 
 being chiefly natives of mountainous tracts. 
 
 Papaver Somniferum. Opium Poppy. 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 unimportant. The seed is either white or black. 
 Some persons think that the black-seeded variety is more 
 
24 
 
 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 as- 
 sume a slightly bluish tinge. The structure of the capsules 
 is of more consequence ; for there is a variety in which the 
 envelope of the capsule dehisces spontaneously when ripe, 
 so that the seed is easily shed ; and another, in which the 
 seed remains 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 maybe 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 qual- 
 ity." 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 expression 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 superior 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 "Report on Flemish Agri- 
 culture, for method of growing the Poppy, Colza, Flax, 
 Hemp, Hop, Mulberry, Beet, Olive, Grape," etc., also 
 " Thaer's Treatise on Agriculture." 
 
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 
 quantity. Forty pounds were made in one season by one 
 person. Boys and girls were employed in incising the 
 bulbs and gathering the gum. See Bene (Sesamitm) for 
 oils and their expression. 
 
 A variety of the "common" or "opium poppy" (P. som- 
 niferum), indigenous to the warm and temperate parts of 
 Europe and Asia, has been introduced, and a brief notice 
 is contained in Patent Office Report, 1855, p. xxi : " It has 
 proved itself susceptible 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' (JPapa- 
 ver 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 purple 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 the single flowered kind, not only 
 for the purpose of extracting opium, but also on account of 
 the bland, esculent oil that is expressed from the seeds, 
 which are simply emulsive, and contain none of the nar- 
 cotic principle. For the latter purpose, if no other, its 
 culture in this country is worthy of attention. 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 produc- 
 tion now (1862), when gum opium and morphine are so 
 very difficult to obtain. Occupied in researches upon these 
 subjects during the month of June, under the order of 
 the Surgeon-General,- 'I was enabled to collect, in a few 
 
26 
 
 days, more than an ounce of gum opium, apparently 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 
 Stateburgh, S. C. I have little doubt that all we- require 
 could be gathered by ladies and children within the Con- 
 federate 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 from it, with alcohol or whisky. 
 The poppy, it is said, produces better when planted in 
 the fall. 
 
 I quote the following from paper cited above : 
 The successful cultivation of the plant, however, requires 
 the provision of good soil, appropriate manure, and careful 
 management, The strength of the juice, according to Dr. 
 Butler, of British India, depends much upon the quantity 
 of moisture of the climate. A deficiency even of dew pre- 
 vents the proper flow of the peculiar, 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 
 employed as in modern times, as the notices respecting it 
 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 de- 
 coction. The liquor is strongly pressed out, suffered to 
 settle, clarified with the whites of eggs, and evaporated to 
 a due consistence — yielding a fifth of the weight of the 
 
27 
 
 heads of extract, which possesses the virtues of opium in a 
 very inferior degree, and is often employed to adulterate 
 the genuine opium. The heads of the poppies are gathered 
 as they ripen ; and, as this happens at different 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 warm climates, is extracted by incisions 
 made in the capsules, and simply 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 
 watered, 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 dis- 
 continued, and the 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 depositing the whole 
 in an earthen pot, where it is worked in the sunshine 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, tobacco, or some 
 other plant. 
 
 In obtaining gum opium, the capsules are cut longitu- 
 dinally 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 operation 
 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 some- 
 times used. If the incision is too deep the juice passes 
 within the poppy head. 
 
28 
 
 Prof. Alston, of Edinburgh, long ago, says' Thornton, 
 ascertained that opium 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 examina- 
 tion, to be equal to the imported drug. The reader inter- 
 ested in the culture of the poppy, can find in Thornton'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 pro- 
 portioned to the depth of earth they are enabled to pene- 
 trate. Hence the necessity of land that will admit of deep 
 ploughing. The fineness of the surface, too, is very essen- 
 tial. As the seed is small, and the plants on their first 
 coming up so exceedingly tender, the bush harrow should 
 always be used after those which are commonly 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 sufiicient 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 purpose. 
 
 Argemone Mexicana, Linn. D. C. Prodrom. Devil's fig; 
 prickly poppy ; Mexican poppj r ; thorn apple ; yellow this- 
 tle. Charleston district, grows around buildings in rich 
 spots; vicinity of Charleston; JSTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. aud de L. Diet. Univ. de M. Med. i, 395 ; Journal de 
 Pharmacie xiv, 73 ; Bull. des. Sci. Med. de Fer. viii, 210 ; 
 De Cand. Essai, 116. The oil is said by some to be as 
 active as that of the Croton tiglium ; see the Supp. to Mer.' 
 
29 
 
 and de 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 maladies of the skin. In Java, they 
 employ it in inveterate cutaneous diseases, and as a caustic 
 in chancres. Lind., in his Kat. Syst. Bot. 8, says that the 
 seeds are narcotic, and are smoked with tobacco ; Garden- 
 er'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 rubbed 
 on the tarsus ; it is also considered purgative and deobstru- 
 ent. Ainslie, M. Med. Ind. 243 ; Prince Maximil. Travels, 
 214; Aublet, Hist. Guiaue. 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 one ounce of castor 
 oil. They applied it in tinea capitis, and as an external ap- 
 plication in headache occasioned 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, which, exposed to the air, 
 becomes yellow, resembling gamboge. The flowers are 
 said by De Candolle, Essai, 14, to be employed in Mexico 
 as a hypnotic. A thorough examination of this plant 
 might, well repay the labor bestowed upon it. It is, ap- 
 parently, native in South Florida. Chapman. "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 distin- 
 guishable from gamboge, and has, we believe, been brought 
 into the market under the name of that drug. It has sim- 
 ilar properties to gamboge, both as a medicine and as a 
 pigment; and it has been administered in very small doses 
 
30 
 
 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 
 Charleston, and experimented with the oil and tincture, 
 but with no definite results. A long paper on the medical 
 properties of the argemone can be found in the Charleston 
 Medical Journal, among the extracts. I cannot, at present, 
 cite the volume, but it was during the editorial manage- 
 ment of Dr. Cain and myself. The tincture was particu- 
 larly recommended for the relief of colic and pain. 
 
 Sanguinaria Canadensis, Linn. Ell. Sk. Puccoon; blood- 
 root. Diffused; vicinity of Charleston, Abbeville, Rich- 
 laud, and Fairfield districts; collected in St. John's. El. 
 March. 
 
 Drayton's View of S. C. 72; Bell's Pract. Diet. 404; 
 Eberie, Mat. Med. 95; Lind. Nat. Syst. 8; TL S. Disp. 627; 
 Royle, 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 Illust. Med. Bot. i, 18, 1847. 
 The root is narcotic, emetic, and purgative in large doses; 
 stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, and tonic in small. 
 Dr. Dana found a peculiar principle in it, called sangui- 
 narina (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, accel- 
 eration 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, occasion- 
 
31 
 
 ing torpor, languor, disordered vision, and dilatation of 
 pupil." Dr. Bard, of ]STew York, confirms this in his In- 
 aug. Diss. It is an acrid narcotic, producing vomiting, and 
 given in all diseases of the raucous membranes; employed 
 in catarrh, typhoid pneumonia, croup, hooping-cough, and 
 in arresting the progress of phthisis, and also in in- 
 flammatory 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 in- 
 flammatorv 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 sternutatory; 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. Dr. Shanks, of Tennessee, also 
 destroyed a gelatinous polypus with sanguinaria, after ex- 
 traction 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 hydrothorax, 
 the tincture in doses of sixty drops, three times a day, 
 increased until nausea followed its employment. Eberle, 
 in his w T ork 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, 
 
32 
 
 inducing symptoms resembling those produced by stramo- 
 nium. The dose of powder as an 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 root 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 respect, and 
 he has also given the fresh root mixed with the food, at 
 intervals, to destroy bots in horses — one or two roots prov- 
 ing sufficient. In a communication from Dr. 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 diptheritic membrane. From 
 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 frequent- 
 ly 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 repeated, until 
 vomiting is induced; if the patient is relieved, continue it 
 in doses short of the emetic point, every hour or two, 
 increasing it in frequency and amount should the symp- 
 toms 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 glan- 
 dular system. It possesses, also, the peculiar advantage of 
 not producing bad efiects 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 corroborates 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 useful promoter of expectoration in pneumonia. The 
 decoction of the root, taken in small doses, may be used 
 wherever a nauseaut and expectorant is required, and will 
 aid in preventing 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. 
 Donney says that the sulph. of alumina will partially fix 
 the color in woollen 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 (Lithospermum canes- 
 cens), growing in upper districts. See Pivrsh's Flora and 
 Croom'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 tinct. of sanguinaria largely during five years attend- 
 ance 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 mix- 
 ture, lest it convert it into a nauseaut or emetic. Without 
 being able to state precisely why, I can only say that it has 
 proved a highly satisfactory agent in my hands as a tonic, 
 alterative, and expectorant. Though paying some atten- 
 tion to 'medicinal plants, I use habitually very few of them, 
 viz: the sanguinaria, hoarhound, blackberry root, and a 
 few others. My endeavor is not so much to avoid a great 
 multiplicity of agents, as to do no injury with any. The 
 more full and accurate our knowledge, the more skilful is 
 
34 
 
 our application, whether the substances used be vegetable 
 or mineral. 
 
 Fumaria officinalis, Linn. Hook. Fl. Bo., Fumitory. Natu- 
 ral, says Elliott, on John's island, and at Mr. Middleton's 
 on Ashley river. 
 
 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 confi- 
 dence was placed in its virtues by Cullen. Mat. Med. ii, 77. 
 In the Deni. Elem. de Bot., it is referred 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 hypochondriacal affec- 
 tions ; Fl. Scotica, 379. Boerhaave frequently prescribed 
 it in jaundice and bilious colics. Thornton, in his Fam. 
 Herb. 628, asserts that he had experienced its value in 
 cutaneous diseases. Its acrimonious property is volatile ; 
 hence, it should be given in whey. Mer. and de L. Diet. 
 de 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. Bar- 
 bier, M. Med. 381 ; IT. 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." Griffith, Med. Bot. 118. It is still 
 employed in France ; given in the form of decoction, ex- 
 tract, s\ T rup, or expressed juice. 
 
 In observing the enormous amount of potash said by Ure 
 to exist in 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 siuce in 
 my report to the American Medical Association. It is 
 
35 
 
 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 enormous amount 
 relatively. 
 
 Nymph^aceje. [The Water Lily Tribe.) 
 
 This order is generally considered antaphrodisiac, seda- 
 tive, and narcotic. Their stems are bitter and astringent; 
 they contain a considerable quantity of fecula, and, after 
 repeated washings, are capable of being used for food. 
 
 Nyynphcea odorata, Ait. Kew. and Ph. Sweet-scented 
 water-lily ; pond-lily. Diffused in lower country of South 
 Carolina ; roots immersed. Newbern. Fl. April. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1280; Mat. Veg. Pract. 201; Thompson's 
 Steam Pract. Big. Am. Med. Bot. 132 ; Cutler, Am. Trans. 
 i, 456. "An antaphrodisiac." The root possesses a high 
 degree of astringency, containing, according to Dr. Bige- 
 low, tannin and gallic 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 his Mat. Med. 
 Ind. ii, 381, says that, in India, the} 7 prepare with it a re- 
 freshing 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 un- 
 known, merely to introduce the non-medicinal, but very 
 remarkable plant, the 
 
 DioiKEa muscijmla, Ellis, L. Venus fly-trap. Gen. C. C. 
 Pinckney informed Mr. Elliott of the only locality of this 
 
30 
 
 interesting plant in this state, viz. : on the margin of the 
 Santee river, between Lynch's ferry and the sea, particu- 
 larly at Collins' and Bowman's bridges. ISTewbern. Fl. 
 May. Its leaves possess great sensibility, and are prehen- 
 sile: 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 passim. " Miraculum naturae ! folia triloba, radi- 
 calia, ciliata, sensibilia, couduplicanda, insecta incarceranda. 
 Ellis, Epist. ad Linnmtm. Groom's Cat. 
 
 Magistoltace^e. (The Magnolia Tribe.) 
 
 This order is characterized by the possession of a bitter 
 tonic taste, and fragrant flowers ; the latter generally pro- 
 ducing a decided action upon the nerves. 
 
 Magnolia glauca, L. Bay; beaver tree; swamp-laurel. 
 Diffused in damp pine lands. Charleston; Newbern. Fl. 
 June. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 67 ; Bart, i, 77 ; U. 8. Disp. 442 ; 
 Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 733 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 248; Ball and 
 Gar. 189 ; Michaux, X. Am. Sylvia, ii, 8 ; Kalm's Travels, 
 i, 205 ; Humphries, Med. Comment, xviii ; Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. iv, 193; Marshall's Arbust. 83; Bart. 
 Mat. Med. 46 ; Price, Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1812 ; Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. 18 ; Am. Herbal, 200 ; 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, according to Barton, in inflammatory 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 Indians to fulfil a variety 
 of indications; the warm decoction acts as a gentle laxa- 
 
87 
 
 tive, and subsequently as a sudorific, whilst the cold decoc- 
 tion, 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 sup- 
 posed by many residing in the lower portions of this state 
 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 ba} 7 tree grows.* 
 
 * In that old work on Herbs, entitled the "English Physician," by Nicholas 
 Culpepper, gentleman, "Student in Physic and Astrology," we 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 superstitious credence then attached 
 to the influence of astrology, iu determining the virtues of, and the times proper 
 for gathering plants, and also the diversity of qualities attributed to them, we 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 re- 
 sisteth Witchcraft 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 Lightning, 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 Astriction withal, 
 whereby it is effectual to break the Stone, and good to open Obstructions of the 
 Liver, Spleen, and other inward Parts, 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 the Pestilence, and other infectious Dis- 
 eases, and therefore put into sundry Treacles for the purpose. They, likewise, 
 procure Women's Courses, and seven of them 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 taken by such as have not gone their Time, lest they procure Abortion, or 
 cause Labour too soon. They wonderfully help all cold and rheumatic Distilla- 
 tions 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 Rheums, as also the Megrim. They mightily expel the Wind, and pro- 
 voke Urines, help the Mother, and kill the Worms. The Leaves also work the like 
 Effects; a Bath of the Decoction of the Leaves and Berries is singularly good for 
 Women to sit in that arte troubled with the Mother, or the Diseases thereof, or the 
 stoppings 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 the Joints, Nerves, Arteries, Stomach, Belly, or Womb, and helpeth Pal- 
 sies, Convulsions, Cramps, Aches, Tremblings, and Numbness in any Part, Weari- 
 ness also, and Pains that come by Sore Travelling. * * * * 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. 
 
. 38 
 
 Magnolia grandiflora, L. Magnolia. This magnificent tree 
 grows abundantly along the sea-coast, and in the streets of 
 Charleston. Found sparingly in St. .John's, Berkley, forty- 
 five miles from the ocean; grows in Georgia also. FL 
 May. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de 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 iden- 
 tical. See M. glauca. Mr. Proctor, in his analysis, Am. 
 Journal Pharm. xiv, 95, and viii, 85, found in this species 
 volatile oil, resin, and a crystallizable principle analogous 
 to the liriodendrine of Prof. Emmet, obtained from the L. 
 tulipifera growing in this state (vide L. tulip.) Merat says 
 that in Mexico the seeds are employed with success in 
 paralysis. Loc. sit. sup. 
 
 Magnolia acuminata, Linn. Mich. Cucumber tree. Moun- 
 tainous districts ; grows in Georgia also. Fl. July. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 443 ; Mx. X. Am. Sylvia, ii, 12 ; Lind. STat. 
 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 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 98. Used as a prophylactic in 
 autumnal fevers. 
 
 The wood is soft, fine grained, and susceptible of a bril- 
 liant polish. It is sometimes sawed into boards, and used 
 in the interior of wooden houses. 
 
 The flowers of most magnolias exhale a strong aromatic 
 fragrance ; the bark of all possesses a combination of bitter 
 and hotly aromatic properties, without astringency, and 
 that of many acts as a powerful medicine, in a similar way 
 to Peruvian bark and Winter's bark. Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 
 Magnolia umbrella. Lam. ^ LTmbrella tree. 
 
 " tripetala, Linn, and Ell. Sk. j Rare. Grows on 
 the sea-coast in rich soils ; ISTewbern. Fl. June. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 443. It has a warm, aromatic odor, and is 
 possessed of similar properties with the above. Mx. IS". 
 
39 
 
 Am. Sylvia, ii, 19; Lind. Nat. Syst. 16. According to Be 
 Cand. and Merat, Diet, de M. Med. iv, 193, it acts so pow- 
 erfully on the nerves as to induce sickness and headache. 
 
 Magnolia macrophylla. Mx. and Ell. Sk. Grows on the 
 mountains of South Carolina. It possesses the most mag- 
 nificent 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. Sk. of Bot. of 
 S. C. 
 
 Illicium Floridanum and panrifiorum. Anise seed tree. 
 These plants have the smell of anise seed, and should be 
 examined. 
 
 Liriodendron luUpifera, L. Tulip tree; white wood; pop- 
 lar. Grows in swamps ; diffused. Collected in St. John's, 
 Charleston district ; Columbia; Newbern. El. June. 
 
 Eberle, Mat. Med, ii, 308; U. S. Disp. 432; Rush, in 
 Trans. Phil. Coll. Phy. 1798; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 743; 
 younger Michaux on Eorest Trees of N. America ; Clay- 
 ton, Phil. Trans. 8 ; Carey's Am. Museum, 12 ; Barton's 
 Collec. Form. Mat. Med. 14; Thacher's U. S. Disp.; Big. 
 Am. Med. Bot. ii, 107; Barton, i, 92; Ball. Gar. Mat. Med. 
 190 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 130 ; Annal. de 
 Chimie, lxxx, 215; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot.; Rogers' Inaug. 
 Diss. 1802. This plant is tonic, diuretic, and diaphoretic, 
 and is generally considered one of the most valuable of the 
 substitutes for Peruvian bark. It has been employed 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 materia medica he does not know of a more certain, 
 speedy, and effectual remedy for that disease. See his let- 
 ter to Governor Clayton. " He has never known it to fail 
 in a single case of worms." Am. Museum, xii; Griffith, 
 
40 
 
 Med. Bot, 98. "Rafinesque says the seeds are laxative, and 
 the leaves are used as an external 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 vermi- 
 fuge properties ; employed in relaxed states of the stomach 
 [reldchcmens) and in the advanced stages of dj 7 sentery; this 
 is corroborated by Thacher, Anc. Journal de Med. lxx, 530; 
 J. C. Mayer, Mem. on L. tulipifera, in the Mem de l'Acad. 
 de Berlin, 1796 ; Ruch. Mem. sur le tulipier, Tilloch's 
 Magazine; Hildebrande, Essai sur un nouveau succedane 
 du quinquina in Ann. de Chim. lxvi, 201 ; Carminati sur 
 les proprieties medicinales de l'ecorce de tulipier. Its analy- 
 sis, etc., in the Mem. of Roy. Inst. Lombard}-, iii, 4; in the 
 Supplem. to Mer. Diet. 1846,436. M. Bouchardat advises, 
 as the most preferable mode of exhibiting it in fevers, the 
 wine of the tulip, made with the bark in equal parts of 
 alcohol, to which he adds of white wine seven or eight 
 times the amount of the alcoholic infusion. Bull, de 
 Therap. xix, 246; S. Cubiere'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. Journal Pharm. 
 iii, 5, announced the discovery of a new principle in it — the 
 liriodendrine. This is solid, brittle, and inodorous at 40°, 
 fusible at 180°, and volatile at 270°. It is soluble in alco- 
 hol, thought to be analogous to camphor, and to the princi- 
 ple found in the magnolia grandiilora, and to consist of a 
 resin and a volatile oil; hence the alcoholic tincture is pref- 
 erable. The powdered bark in syrup is given to children 
 who are liable to convulsions from worms, to promote their 
 expulsion, and to strengthen the tone of the digestive 
 organs. The bark should be pulverized and bottled. We 
 have employed a strong infusion of the bark and root of 
 this plant as an anti-intermittent, among a number of 
 negroes, and are much pleased with its efficacy. See the 
 Podophyllum peltatum, in conjunction with which it was 
 usually given. In Virginia, the decoction of the bark, with 
 that of the Cornus Florida (dogwood) and the Prinos ver- 
 ticillatus, is given to horses affected with the bots. The 
 
41 
 
 poplar bark powdered is a valuable remedy as a tonic for 
 horses. 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 veter- 
 inary or jockey parlance. This tree I notice in unusual 
 abundance along the line of railroad from Kingsville 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 satu- 
 rated tincture a fluid drachm. The wood is durable when 
 not exposed to the weather — it is smooth, line grained, and 
 flexible; employed for various mechanical purposes — for 
 carving and ornamental work ; for making carriage and 
 door panels, chairs, cabinets, etc. Mx. Forest Trees of 
 America. 
 
 ANONACEiE. {The Papain Tribe.) 
 
 The plants of this order generally possess a powerful 
 aromatic taste and smell in all the parts. 
 
 Uvaria triloba, T. and Gray. ) Papaw ; custard apple. 
 
 Anona " Linn. > Grows in rich soils along 
 
 Asimina " Ell. Sk. ) streams. We have observed 
 
 it in Fairfield and Spartanburg districts, S. C, and collected 
 it in St. John's; Mr. Elliott says it is found at Beck's 
 ferry, Savannah river. Fl. May. 
 
 Diet, de Mat. Med. par Mer. and de L. torn, i, 311. The 
 rind of the fruit of the A. triloba of Linn, possesses a very 
 active acid ; pulp sometimes employed as a topical applica- 
 tion in ulcers. Lind. JSTat. Syst. Bot. 69. "Juice of unripe 
 fruit is a powerful and efficient vermifuge ; the powder of 
 the seeds answers the same purpose ; a principal constituent 
 of the juice is fibrine — a product supposed peculiar to ani- 
 mal substances and to fungi." "The tree has, moreover, 
 the property of rendering the toughest animal substances 
 
42 
 
 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 Papaw tree, Ca.rica papaya), 
 which is extracted from the fruit by incision, is white and 
 excessively viscous. In a specimen from the Isle of France, 
 Vauquelin found a matter having the chemical properties 
 of animal albumen, aud lastly, fatty matter. Boussingault, 
 This tree can be found in many parts of the state, and we 
 would invite examination into these very curious properties. 
 For an excellent description of the papaw, see Hooker in 
 the Bot. Magazine, 898. At Pittsburgh, a spirituous licpior 
 has been made from the fruit. Michaux notices that the 
 cellular integument of the bark, and particularly that of the 
 roots, exhales in summer a nauseous odor so strong as to 
 occasion sickness if. respired in confined air. Am. Sylva. 
 
 Umbellifer.s:. (The Umbelliferous Tribe.) 
 
 This order is nearly related to the Ranunculacese, and is 
 generally 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 former, the hemlock is an example ; of 
 the latter, the celery and parsley. 
 
 Hydrocot[ile umbellata, L. Grows in bogs and wet marshes ; 
 collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Xewbern. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. torn, iii, 560. Employed 
 with great efficacy in Brazil against hypochondriacism. 
 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. We see no mention 
 of it in the English or American works. 
 
 Sanicula Marylandica, L. Sanicle. Diffused; grows in 
 shady spots; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Xewbern. Fl. Jul v. 
 
43 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 201. The Indians 
 used it as we do sarsaparilla in syphilis, and also in diseases 
 of the lungs. 
 
 Eryngium aquaticum, L. (E. YiicccefoUum of Mx.) Button 
 snakeroot. Damp pine lands ; diffused ; collected in St. 
 John's; Charleston. 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, expecto- 
 rant, 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 undoubted diuretic pow- 
 ers, and in combination with the Iris versicolor (blue flag). 
 was much employed by Dr. McBride, of South Carolina, in 
 dropsy. (See I, versic.) Great use is frequently made of 
 them in popular practice. Shec. in his Flora Carol. 310, 
 states that the decoction and tincture are given with benefit 
 in pleurisies, colds, and most of the inflammatory diseases 
 of the mucous passages. It is also said to act as an 
 escharotic — keeping down fungus flesh, and preventing 
 mortification. The root, when chewed, sensibly excites a 
 flow of saliva. The E. aromaticum, an aromatic species, 
 grows in East and South Florida. Baldwin in Chapman's 
 Flora. The E. maratimam, of England, penetrates the 
 soil to the depth of twenty teet. 
 
 Eryngium fostidum, L. Fever weed. 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 ; Shec. Flora. Carol. 54. 
 "An admirable febrifuge." Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iii, 145; Aublet, i, 284. liotboll says it is a sedative, 
 alterative, and febrifuge. Sprengel, Hist, de la M6d. v, 
 
44 
 
 467 ; Lind. Species, PI. 336. JSTot included in Chapman's 
 Flora. 
 
 Aconitum uncinatum, L. Aconite, monks-hood, wolfsbane. 
 Shady banks of streams among the mountains of Confed- 
 erate States, and northward. 
 
 Most of the aconites, particularly those with blue flowers, 
 are highly poisonous. This species should be carefully 
 experimented with, as it may be made to supply the tinc- 
 ture of aconite and aconita for medicinal and chemical 
 purposes. The active principle is " the most virulent poi- 
 son known, not excepting prussic acid, as prepared by 
 Moison, of London. 1-50 of a grain has endangered life." 
 Wilson's Rural Encyc. 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 more manageable, 
 and is useful as an external anaesthetic in frontal neuralgia, 
 local pains, etc. No remedy, save chloroform, equals it 
 when applied locally for the relief of pain. The tincture 
 may be combined with oil and chloroform, as a liniment in 
 rheumatism. 
 
 Cieuta maculaia, L. Walt. FL, Carolina. Am. hemlock; 
 snake-weed ; beaver poison. Grows in bogs and inundated 
 land; collected in St. John's ; Charleston: JSTewbern. Fl. 
 Aug. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 1242; Barton's Collec. 1846; Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. ii, 282; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, -125; 
 Schcepf, M. Med. 36 ; Stockbridge, iST. England Journal, 
 iii, 334 ; Mitchell, Ely, and Muhlenburg, Med. Repos. xvii, 
 303 ; Stearns, Am. Herbal, 172. The leaves, flowers, and 
 seeds are resolvent, powerfully narcotic, sedative, and ano- 
 dyne. It resembles conium in its effects, and is used as a 
 substitute for it. "It relieves pain from cancer more pow- 
 erfully than opium ;" employed in ill-conditioned ulcers, 
 gleets, painful uterine discharges, venereal ulcers, epilep- 
 sies, and convulsions ; it promotes perspiration and urine, 
 
and, externally applied, discusses hard tumours. It is 
 closely 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 cof- 
 fee are the best antidotes for the stupor which follows its 
 employment. 
 
 Ajpium graveolens. Celery. 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 particu- 
 larly hurtful to epileptic and pregnant women. So that we 
 have here a striking evidence of the excellence of the Nat. 
 Syst., as it may be remembered that, in describing the 
 characteristics of this order, this plant was alluded to as 
 forming an exception. 
 
 Ajpium jpetroselinum. Parsley. Ex. cult. Leaves aromatic 
 and slightly diuretic. See authors. 
 
 Discojpleura cajnllacea, D. C. and T. and Gray. ] Bishop's 
 Ammi majus of Walter. j weed. 
 
 Grows in damp soils. Fl. July. Shec. Flora Carol. 136. 
 
 Slum nodijiorum, "Walt, and Ell. Sk. \ " Probably intro- 
 Helosciadium of Koch. j duced ; abundant 
 
 around Charleston." Ell. 
 
 Thornton's Fam. Herbal, 297; Kay's Cat. Plantarum, 213; 
 Diet, de M. Med. It is recommended in cutaneous erup- 
 tions. Withering relates the case of a young lady, who 
 was cured of a very obstinate attack by taking three large 
 spoonfuls of the juice twice a day; "and I have repeated- 
 ly seen," says Thornton, "two ounces administered every 
 
46 
 
 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. IT. S. Disp. 1296. 
 The juice has also been employed in scrofulous 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. 
 
 Faemeulum officinale. Fennel. Introduced from Europe; 
 cultivated. 
 
 Seeds of fennel are well known ; employed in flatulent 
 colic for their carminative and stimulant properties. The 
 oil of fennel is also used for the same purpose, and to cor- 
 rect the taste of. medicine. See authors. 
 
 Angelica lucida, Ell. Sk. ^ Angelica. We have collected 
 Archartgeliea of some, /it in Fairfield district; also 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 indig- 
 enous plants. It is used in spasmodic vomiting, flatulent 
 colics, and nervous headaches * some say it is powerfully 
 emmenagogue. The vittre of some species are filled with a 
 pungent oil. A candy is sometimes prepared with the 
 roots boiled in su^ar. The oreat 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 carminative ; and the plant was in 
 repute at one time as a preventive of pestilence to those 
 who bore it about them. "The pulverized root, 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." 
 
47 
 
 Wilson's Rural Cyc. " Angelica " is stated in some tables 
 to yield more potash even than wormwood or fumitory. 
 See " Chenopodiuvi " and "Fumaria" in this volume. 
 
 Anethum fce?iiculnm, L. Dill. In trod. cult, in South 
 Carolina. 
 
 It is employed in flatulent colic as a carminative and an- 
 tispasmodic. 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. 
 
 Daueiis carota, Tourn. Carrot. Completely naturalized, 
 says Elliott, in South Carolina and Georgia. Collected in 
 ,S't. John's; Charleston. Fl. April. 
 
 Woodv. Med. Bot.; Royle, Mat. Med. 401. Root and 
 seeds stimulant, carminative, and eminently diuretic ; em- 
 ployed with great success in strangury, anasarcous swell- 
 ings of lower extremities, in suppression of urine, and 
 painful micturition. Eberle on Diseases of Children, 110 ; 
 Am. Herbal, 92 ; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 298. * Dr. 
 Chapman 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.) Root 
 contains some volatile oil, a large proportion of pectin, a 
 peculiar coloring principle called carotin, and sugar. Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot. 387. The authors alluded to above contend 
 that the plant acts as a sedative, even topically applied. In 
 the form of a poultice, it cairns pain, is antiseptic, and cor- 
 rects the intolerable fetor arising from internal diseases — 
 as of the ear, for example. Dr. Geo. Wilkes, ophthalmic 
 surgeon, ISTew York, informs me that he finds it invaluable 
 in this respect. Mem. de Museum, iv, 102 ; Suppl. to Mer. 
 and de L. 1846 ; Vauquelin upon the Pectic Acid in the 
 Root of the Carrot, Journal de Pharm. xv, 340. The 
 essential oil is regarded as emmenagogue and antibysteric. 
 
48 
 
 Ancien Journal de Med. xxiv, 68. In Germany, it is con- 
 sidered 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 flavor to brandy. Much use is made 
 of this plant in popular practice as a diuretic. 
 
 Daucus pusillus, Mx. Wild carrot. Grows on the Savan- 
 nah river; collected in St. John's ; Charleston. Bach. 
 
 Eberle, Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 318; Bell's Pract. Diet. 
 162. Seeds contain more volatile oil than the other spe- 
 cies. It, however, possesses nearly the same properties. 
 Used as a diuretic in calculous diseases, suppression of 
 urine, etc. 
 
 Araliace^e. ( The Aralia Tribe.) 
 
 Panax quutquefolium, L. Ginseng. Rich soils in the 
 mountains of South Carolina. Fl. May. 
 
 Am. Herbal, 157, by Stearns. In China they drink an 
 infusion, 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 con- 
 sumptive 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 antispasmodic 
 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. Jar- 
 toux, in the Phil. Trans, xxviii, 239, states that, after 
 being fatigued by travelling three days, he employed the 
 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 there is no reasonable doubt of the 
 ginseng having an invigorating and stimulant power, when 
 
49 
 
 fresh. Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 82 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. iii, 356, and iv, 176; Flor. Med. iv, 185; Kaem- 
 pher, Amoen. Academical, v, 218; Histoire du Japon, vij. 
 218 ; Burmann, Flora Ind. tab. 29, i ; L'Encyelop. Chi- 
 noise, lxcii ; Flora Cochine, 806; Lafitteau, Descrip. d\\ 
 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 Ginr 
 seng, 1700; Coxe, Am. Disp. 434. Cullen, in his Mat. 
 Med. 270, refers to its efficacy in increasing virility. See 
 Merat, loc. cit. "J'avoue qu'un Individ u qni en avait fait 
 usage dans cet derniere intention, pendant long temps, n'en 
 obtint absolument aucun resultat." S. Vaillant in Acad, 
 des Sci. 1718; Bourdelin, Hist, de l'Acad. 1797; Lafitteau, 
 Mem. concernant la precieuse plante de Ginseng, Paris, 
 1788; Kalm. Travels, iii, 114; Osbeck's China, 145; Heb- 
 erden, Med. Trans, iii, 34 ; Fothergill, Gent. Mag. xxiv,. 
 209 ; loc. cit. sup. The root is thought to resemble liquor- 
 ice, and may partially supply the place of that article: see 
 report from Surgeon-General's office, 1862. 
 
 Glycyrrhiza glabra ; liquorice. Exotic. I am uncertain 
 as to the position of this genus in the natural system;. 
 This plant is said to be well adapted to the southern states 
 of the Confederacy. It has been grown in Texas. Infor- 
 mation as to the best mode of planting and culture can be 
 found in a paper in Patent Office Rep. 1854, p. 359. I ap- 
 pend the following practical remarks: "The sooner liquor- 
 ice 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, dry- 
 ing them in an oven or kiln, and grinding them in a mill. 
 The third kind is prepared by pounding the vsmaller 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 
 4 
 
50 
 
 or stamped into sticks or cakes, which are sometimes sold 
 under the name of 'Spanish Liquorice.' Liquorice roots 
 will keep a year if laid in sand, and stored in a cool, dry 
 cellar ; and if the sets, or runners, or buds, are cut readj'- 
 for planting, tied in bundles, and sent by land carriage, 
 they will keep a fortnight. If packed in sand, and sent by 
 water, they will keep some three or four months, especially 
 the more hardy buds." In the Patent Office Reports for 
 1854, '55, the cultivation of a number of medicinal plants 
 is described, particularly those yielding aromatic oils. 
 
 Arcdia spinosa, L. Toothache bush ; Angelica tree ; 
 Prickly ash. Collected in St. John's ; rich soils along 
 fences; Charleston. Plant often confounded with the Xan- 
 thoxylon ; properties somewhat similar. See X. fraxineum. 
 Ell. Bot. 373 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 379 ; 
 Coxe, Am. Disp. 100 ; Shec. Flora 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." The 
 infusion of bark of 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 its 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, made by boil- 
 ing an ounce of the bark in a quart of water : taken in 
 divided doses several times a day. In South Carolina, this 
 plant is the rattlesnake's master par 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 part. 
 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. 
 
51 
 
 Aralia racemosa, L. Spikenard. Grows, according to 
 Dr. McBride, in the mountains of South 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 properties. Michaux cites it as a sudorific. 
 The root, when boiled, yields a gummy 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. nudicaulis. Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 376; IT. S. Disp. ; Am. 
 Journal Med. Sci. xix, 117. 
 
 Aralia nudicaulis, Mx. Wild sarsaparilla ; wild liquorice. 
 Mountains of South Carolina. Fl. June. 
 
 Raf. Med. Flora, i, 53 ; II. S. Disp. 116. A gently stim- 
 ulating diaphoretic ; thought to be alterative, and used in 
 popular practice in rheumatism, syphilis, and cutaneous 
 affections. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 375. Dr. 
 Meara records the roots as possessing the virtues of sarsa- 
 parilla. Mus. Med. Philos. iv. An excitant, diaphoretic, 
 and entrophic, like mezereon, guaiac, sarsaparilla, and sas- 
 safras. The infusion has been employed with success in 
 zona, and as a tonic in debility of stomach [les reldchemens 
 d'estoynac). Coxe, IT. S. Disp. 99 ; Lindley's Nat. Syst. ; 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 344; Phil. Med. Mus. ii, 161. Admin- 
 istered in domestic practice, in pulmonary disease, where 
 inflammation does not coexist. 
 
 Berberace^e. ( The Berberry Tribe.) 
 
 Berberis vulgaris, Walt. Fl. Carol. ) American Barberry. 
 " Canadensis, Ph. and Ell. ) Grows wild in St. 
 John's, Berkley, near Woodlawn, PL; upper districts of 
 Georgia, Carolina, and northward. Fl. May. 
 
52 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol, (see B. vulgaris), 268 ; Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. Bot. 30; U. S. Disp. 1233, Appendix. The B. vul- 
 garis of Europe, with which this plant is not identical, 
 though differing from it but slightly, if at all, in medicinal 
 properties, has received considerable 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. It was said to 
 have a singular effect upon wheat growing near it, turning 
 the ears black for some distance around; but this, however, 
 is doubted. We 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 communicate their pollen to it. 
 The berries are acid. The English barberry (i?. vulgaris) 
 has attracted much attention ; its fruit is edible, and 
 much discussion has been excited whether or not it pro- 
 duces smut in wheat or corn when planted near it. Ex- 
 periments touching this peculiarity should be performed 
 with respect to our barberry. For a full statement of the 
 merits of the above question, see Wilson's Rural Cyc. Art. 
 Barberry. Thae'r, 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 
 
53 
 
 Einhoff has made several experiments ori the possibility of 
 communicating cecidium (a parasitical fungus) to cereals hj 
 cutting branches from the barberry, which were quite cov- 
 ered with it, and shaking them over the corn, or else plant- 
 ing them in the midst of it ; but he never succeeded 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 en- 
 genders the disease. Nor will it attack crops planted near 
 young and newly made barberry hedges ; but as these lat- 
 ter grow up, the disease will appear until these hedges are 
 rooted up. As soon as the barberry has been thoroughly 
 extirpated, the evil disappears." Thaer .considers mil 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, will produce rust. This is quite unlikely. 
 
 Sarraceniace^e. 
 
 The species of this order are exclusively confined to the 
 bogs of this country. Lindley thinks it should also com. 
 prebend the Dioneea, which grows in this state, and which 
 also possesses the power of entrapping insects. See D. 
 muscipula. 
 
 Sarracenia flava, L., and variolaris, M. . Fly-catchers ; side- 
 saddle flowers. Diffused; grow in bogs; Charleston; New- 
 bern. 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. Linnsean Soc, is referred to. We have read this 
 description of one of our native botanists, and allude to it 
 with pleasure. We are informed by several gentlemen of 
 this state that these plants are used in dyspepsia with great 
 service. The roots are undoubtedly possessed of bitter, 
 
54 
 
 tonic, and stomachic properties; and we are credibly as- 
 sured of a number of cases in which relief has been experi- 
 enced from them. The taste is disagreeable to those using 
 them for the first time, but eventually it becomes pleasant, 
 as we have ourselves 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 re- 
 puted value in the treatment of dyspepsia. Several cases 
 are there detailed, illustrating the employment of the sarra- 
 cenia. It is supposed by many to relieve most of the dis- 
 tressing symptoms of this affection, among which may be 
 cited : gastralgia, pyrosis, acidity, aud 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 digest- 
 ive organs, producing some cerebral disturbance, when 
 persisted in. On one occasion 320 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. U. 
 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 cinchonia, 
 which, should it prove new, may be called sarracenin." 
 We 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 effects upon the animal economy 
 in disease consists its excellence. And its peculiar action 
 on the stomach, we think, is the result of a happy combi- 
 nation of elements, which renders it appropriate to the 
 relief of an affection like dyspepsia. Its acid prevents or 
 
55 
 
 corrects the undue formation 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 correcting acidity was obvious. 
 Its bitter property, which is abundant, is tonic and restora- 
 tive ; its resinous 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 hyperemia; or as, 
 according 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 our own person, giving some color to the sug- 
 gestion." (See Art. cit. sup.) A bit of the fresh or dried 
 root of either species may be chewed, and the juice swal- 
 lowed, during the day before each meal; it ma} r be given 
 powdered in the form of pill, with a little rhubarb if neces- 
 saiy, 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 diarrhoea and dysentery, and I am pleased to 
 learn that it is now widely used in other portions of this 
 state, and in Georgia, with very general approbation. 
 
 RnizoPHORACEiE. (Mangrove Tribe.) 
 
 JRhizophora mangle, L. Mangrove. This plant is found 
 in South Florida. Chapman. An introduced species is 
 used in India for yielding a black dye. 
 
 Onagrace^e. (The Evening Primrose Tribe.) 
 
 CEnolher a biennis, Linn. Scabish. Grows in dry pastures ; 
 diffused; collected in Charleston district; jSTewbern. 
 
 Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iv, 202 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 
 36; IT. S. Disp. 1281; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 444; Griffith, 
 
56 
 
 Med. Bot. 304. The root and herb have been employed in 
 cutaneous diseases. Dr. Griffith has used it with success 
 in tetter, applying the decoction to the affected part several 
 times a da} 7 , and giving it internally at the same time. He 
 has been successful with it in subsequent trials. The plant 
 should be gathered about the flowering season. The young' 
 sprigs are mucilaginous, and can be eaten as salad. Lind- 
 ley. The leaves of the (Enothera 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 sup- 
 poses, to some phosphoric property. Its roots have a nutty 
 flavor, somewhat similar to those of rampion, and are used 
 in Germany and some parts of Prance, stewed and raw, in 
 salads', with mustard, oil, salt, and pepper, like common 
 celery. The ancients thought the plant possessed the pow- 
 er of allaying intoxication and calming the most ferocious 
 animals. It is doubtful whether this is the Oenothera of 
 the ancients. Wilson's Rural C} t c. 
 
 Jussicea grandijlora, Mich. Grows in bogs; "common 
 around Savannah, and in ponds four miles from Charles- 
 ton." 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 Natchez, asserts that this plant has the 
 power of preventing the development of malaria in regions 
 peculiarly adapted to its generation. Pie 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 from the 
 clouds" — ascribing to the presence and peculiar "hygienic 
 or health-preserving properties of this plant" the remark- 
 able 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 dispute ; it nevertheless contains more stagnant 
 water and swamps than any other inhabited district of the 
 
57 
 
 same extent in the United States." He is quoted in the 
 notes appended by the American editor, to Watson's Pract. 
 Physic, p. 465 ; and Dr. "Wood, in his late work 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 
 Charleston Neck, where intermittent and remittent fevers 
 are notoriously prevalent. 
 
 The genus Jussiena has its roots distended into vegetable 
 swimming bladders. The curious can examine the J. gran- 
 difiora to observe this peculiarity, like that in our beautiful 
 Utricularia inflata. 
 
 Typha and Nymphaia (water lily), and Sagittaria, "display 
 myriads of air chambers in the solid stem." See Wilson, 
 "Aquatic plants." 
 
 Ludiuigia aUernifolia, L. Grows in Charleston district ; 
 Elliot says rare; seven miles from Beaufort, and at Savan- 
 nah; collected in St. John's. Fl. Aug. 
 
 Merat, in the Diet, de M. Med. iv, 154, says that in 
 America a decoction of the root is employed as an unfail- 
 
 ing emetic. 
 
 Melastomace^e. 
 
 In this order, a slight degree of astringency is the pre- 
 vailing characteristic; though a large one, it does not con- 
 tain a single unwholesome species. 
 
 Rheoria glabella, Mx. Deer grass; Sorrel. Grows in moist 
 pine lands, vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's. 
 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. 
 
Myrtace.e. ( The Myrtle Tribe.) 
 
 Punicd granatum. Pomegranate. Cultivated with success 
 in this state. The bark of the root is a well known astrin- 
 gent; 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. 
 Carson, in his Illust. Med. Bot. i, 1847, states that it has also 
 been employed with success against taenia. A correspond- 
 ent of the "Mercury," 1862, says that the rind of the fruit 
 yields a jet black fluid, which writes very smoothly and 
 retains its jetty hue." "F. J. S." 
 
 Hamamelaceje. [The Witch- Hazel Tribe.) 
 
 This order, remarks Lindley, is found in the northern 
 parts of North America, Japan, and China. In my exami- 
 nation of the various authorities on the subject before me, 
 I have frequently been struck with the correspondence 
 prevailing between the species found in this state and 
 those of Japan, and this respects only the medical botany 
 of the two; should the flora of each be compared, a still 
 more universal relation might be established. Professor 
 Agassiz has noticed something of the same kind existing 
 between the fossil botany and the fauna of each. 
 
 Hamamelis Virginica, Jj. Witch-hazel. Grows along pine 
 land bays; collected in St. John's, Charleston district; 
 vicinity of Charleston, Bach. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 452; Coxe, Am. 
 Disp. 310; IT. S. Disp. 1258; Matson's Veg. Pract. 201; 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 850; Rafinesque, Med" Flor. i, 227. 
 It is said to be sedative, astringent, tonic, and discutient. 
 The bark was a remedy derived from the Indians, who 
 applied it to painful tumors, using the decoction as a wash 
 in inflammatory swellings, painful hemorrhoidal affections, 
 and ophthalmias. A cataplasm, and a tea of the leaves, as 
 an astringent, were employed in haematemesis. The steam 
 practitioners also administer it in irritable hemorrhoids, 
 
59 
 
 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 
 Ilutton's "Mathematics," on the wonderful properties of 
 the witch-hazel in detecting water, a recent one in Patent 
 Office Report on Agriculture, p. 16, 1851. This is from 
 Prairie du Chien, by Mr. Alfred Burnson, and contains 
 some remarkable statements of the certainty of finding 
 water by the divining rod. Some electrical and telluric 
 influences are hinted at — Qredat Judceus ! Persons living 
 in the upper districts of South Carolina assume to use the 
 rod with success. 
 
 CoKNACBiE. [The Dogwood. Tribe.) 
 
 Cornus Florida, L. Dogwood. Well known ; diffused in 
 rich shady lands ; Newbern ; Va. 
 
 Drayton's Yiew S. C. 63; Bell's Pract. Diet. 152; Bar- 
 ton'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; Royle, Mat. Med. 422; Ball, and 
 Gar/310; Mer. and de L. Diet de M. Med. iv, 436; Big. 
 Am. Med. Bot. ii, 73 ; Shec. Flora 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 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 emplojang it for twenty-three years 
 in the treatment of intermittent fevers, he was satisfied 
 that it was not inferior to Peruvian bark." Generally given 
 in conjunction with laudanum. It also possesses antiseptic 
 powers. In the recent state, it is less stimulating than the 
 cinchona bark, but it affects the bowels more ; the dried 
 bark is the preferable form. The fresh bark will some- 
 times act as a cathartic. It is more stimulating than 
 thoroughwort (Eupatorium), and, therefore, is less appli- 
 
60 
 
 cable during the hot stages of fever. According to Dr. 
 Walker's examination, the bark contains extractive matter, 
 gum, resin, tannin, and gallic acid ; and Dr. Carpenter 
 announces in it a new principle, cornine. Dr. S. Jack- 
 son also, from experiment, is satisfied that it contains a 
 principle analogous to quinia. It has been exhibited by 
 Dr. S. G. Morton in intermittent fever, with success. Grif- 
 fith, in his Med. Bot. 347, mentions that the infusion of the 
 tlowers is useful as a substitute for chamomile tea; for 
 analyses, 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 arti- 
 cle prepared in the shops. Barton says, in his Collections, 
 that the bark is valuable in a malignant disorder of horses 
 called yellow 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. Linclley men- 
 tions that the young brauches, stripped of their bark, and 
 rubbed against the teeth, render them extremely white! It 
 is often employed by the common people in South Carolina 
 for this purpose. 
 
 In our present need of astringent antiperiodics and 
 tonics, the dogwood bark powdered will be found the best 
 substitute for Peruvian. Internally and externally, it can 
 be applied wherever the cinchona barks were found ser- 
 viceable. The dogwood 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 district, informs me that 
 he not only finds it efficient in fevers, but particularly use- 
 
61 
 
 ful,, with whisky or alcohol, in low forms of fevers, and 
 dysentery occurring near our river swamps. 
 
 During convalescence, where an astringent tonic is re- 
 quired, this plant supplies our need. See Eupatorium (bone- 
 set) and Lirodendron. These, with the blackberry and 
 chinquapin as astringents, the gentians and pipsissewa 
 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 with easily procurable medicinal 
 plants, which are sufficient for almost every purpose. 
 Ultrate and bi-carbonatc of potash are most required, and 
 with calomel, may be procured from abroad. Our supply 
 of opium can be easily procured by planting the poppy, 
 and incising the capsules. Every planter could raise a full 
 supply of opium, mustard, and flax seed. The wood of the 
 dogwood, like the willow, is preferred in making gun- 
 powder. See Salix. 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 wild 
 cherry, six ounces; leaves of thorough wort, four ounces; 
 cayenne pepper, four ounces — sifted and mixed. Dose, a 
 teaspoonful, in warm or cold water, repeated. It is stated 
 in the "JN"ewbern Progress" "that a ripe dogwood berry 
 taken three times a day, before meals, will cure ague and 
 fever. 
 
 My friend, Professor "F. A. P.," contributes the follow- 
 ing to the Charleston Courier. The Dogwood bark, pow- 
 dered, may be used in place of the Peruvian mentioned: 
 
 Dutch Remedy for Fever and Ague. — As quinine is very 
 scarce, it may not be unprofitable, both to our armies and 
 to private families, to revive the memory of an ancient 
 remedy, which was in almost universal use before the in- 
 troduction of the former drug. It was known by the name 
 which heads this article, and has been used from time imme- 
 morial among the Huguenot families of the Santee, among 
 whom there is a tradition that it was brought to this coun- 
 try by the ancestor of one of the families, who was a 
 
62 
 
 r 
 
 physician. The remedy quoted below is copied from an 
 old receipt book. Though not a professional man, I can 
 vouch for its efficacy when it was in vogue. 
 
 The Recipe. — Two ounces of Peruvian bark, two ounces 
 of cream of tartar, sixty cloves. 
 
 Manner of Using It. — These ingredients are to be rubbed 
 together in a mortar. The mixture to be divided into 
 twenty-four doses, four of which (mixed in water) are to be 
 given the first day, four on the second, and two on every 
 succeeding day, until the whole shall have been taken. It 
 is probable that the disease will be arrested on the second 
 or third day, but the object in taking the whole prescrip- 
 tion is to complete the cure by its tonic property. 
 
 The berries of the dogwood have also been highly re- 
 commended — given as a remedy for fever in place of 
 quinine (1862). One or two given in the form of pill. 
 
 The wood is compact, heavy, fine grained, and suscep- 
 tible 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, names; 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 dogwood. The 
 branches of the tree are disposed nearly in the form of 
 crosses. N. Am. sylva. Farmer's Encye. I have used the 
 dogwood for engraving. See " Amelanchier" in this vol- 
 ume. 
 
 Cornus sericea, Ph. Red willow ; swamp dogwood. El- 
 liott says it grows in the mountains of South Carolina; 
 sent to me from Abbeville district, by Mr. Reed. 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. R. informs me that it is employed to a 
 great extent in domestic practice in Abbeville. Accord- 
 ing to 13. S. Barton, 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. 
 
 Cornus sanguined, L. Grows, according 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. Murion says they afford one-third of their weight 
 of a pure and limpid oil, used for the table and for burn- 
 ing. A case of hydrophobia was said to have been cured 
 by it. Griffith, Med. Bot. 349. There also exists in this, 
 as in the others, a red. coloring principle, soluble in water 
 alone. 
 
 Cornus strict®. Grows in swamps near Charleston ; New- 
 bern. Shec. Flora Carol. 449. 
 
 LORANTHACEJ3. 
 
 Bark usually astringent; berries contain a viscid matter; 
 plants possess the power of rooting in the wood of others. 
 
 Viscum verlicillatmn, L. The V. verticillatum of Ell. Sk. 
 is not that of Linn T. and Gray ; N", A. Flora. Mistletoe. 
 Diffused ; grown on oaks ; NeAvbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Mer. and . de- L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 860 ; Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. Bot. 50; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 456; Journal de Med. lxx, 
 529 ; Eberle, Dis. of Children, 522. Dr. Barham, in the 
 Hortus Americanus, says that the fruit of the mistletoe 
 cures epilepsies, pleurisies, coup de soleil, etc. Dem. Elem. 
 de Bot. iii, 556; employed in paralysis. Thornton's Fam. 
 Herb. 333. Fothergill, Dr. Wilson, and Gilbert Thomp- 
 son use it "with great effect in epilepsy." So, also, Dr. 
 Fraser, who published a work on it. Wade's PI. Kariores, 
 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 
 
64 
 
 seeds contain a viscid substance resembling bird-lime in 
 appearance, which is insoluble both in water and in alco- 
 hol. In Dr. Hunter's edition of Evelyn's Sylvia, it is said 
 to prevent the rot in sheep. Bird-lime was formerly made 
 from the berries of the mistletoe of oak, which were first 
 boiled in water, then pounded, and the water poured off .in 
 order to carry away the seeds and rind. For process, 
 see "Holly" (Ilex opaca) ; also, Wilson's Rural Cyc. : 
 "Bird-lime" and " Bird catching." 
 
 Cucurbitace^e. (The Gourd Tribe.) 
 
 ) 
 This order is closely allied to the Passifloraceae, 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. 
 
 Cucumis citr alius. Watermelon. 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. No 
 doubt, like the ripe" fig, beet, and other saccharine sub- 
 stances, it may easily be converted into vinegar, and should 
 be added to the vinegar cask. The diuretic properties of 
 the seeds of the watermelon are well known — 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 Confed- 
 erate States. The harder portions of both melon and 
 pumpkin are used in making preserves by our Southern 
 matrons. 
 
 Oucumis pej)o, W. Pumpkin. Cultivated very success- 
 fully in South Carolina. 
 
 Shea 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 
 
 efficacious remedy for retention of urine. The fruit is 
 
65 
 
 much used on the plantations in this state, 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 and others, in 
 medicine. The fruit which should have been dried as a 
 winter provision for our army", has been converted into 
 brandy, and dried fruit will probably be very scarce. An 
 excellent substitute may be found in the pumpkin. Cut 
 into slips and dried either in the sun or in a dry room, it is 
 said to be little inferior to dried apples. The muskmelon 
 (Cucumis melo) and cucumber (C. sativus) are also culti- 
 vated in South Carolina. 
 
 Giicurbita lagenaria, L. Gourd; calabash. Grows in corn- 
 fields, and along fences ; vicinity of Charleston ; Richland. 
 Gibbes. Collected in St. John's. Fl. May. 
 
 Linn. Veg. 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 watermelon (C. citrullus) grows 
 luxuriantly in South Carolina. It is well known that the 
 juice of the latter is diuretic, and the seeds, by trituration, 
 or by being boiled in water, afford a demulcent and diuretic 
 drink. The various species of squash are likewise culti- 
 vated here. 
 
 Melothria penduld, L. Creeping cucumber. Grows in rich, 
 5 
 
shaded soils ; collected in St. John's, Charleston district. 
 M. June. 
 
 Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 498 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. iv, 322 ; Griffith, Med. JBot. 311. The seeds act as 
 a drastic purgative — a half a one is a dose for an adult. 
 Martius states that three or four will act powerfully on a 
 horse. Journal de Chim. loc. sit. sup. 
 
 CACTACEiE. ( The Indian Fig Tribe.) 
 
 Fruit very similar in its properties to that of the currant 
 tribe ; often refreshing, sometimes mucilaginous and in- 
 sipid. 
 
 Opuntia vulgaris, Mill. T. and Gray. ) Grows in dry pas- 
 
 Cactus, opuntia of Ell. Sk. /tures; Newbern. Fl. 
 
 May. 
 
 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 informed that it is much used in Alabama as a 
 demulcent drink in pneumonic and pleuritic inflamma- 
 tions. Its cultivation has been recommended on account 
 of the cochineal insect, which is said to feed on it. Mr. 
 Wm. Summer, of South Carolina, contributes 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 ojmntia,) 
 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 dried. 
 
 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, and, at the same time, have the con- 
 
solation of knowing that we are independent of the extor- 
 tioners, who are next of kin to the villainous abolitionist 
 makers of stearin e candles in the North. 
 
 The prickly pear has been used (1862) for hardening tal- 
 low by the ladies of St. John's, S. C, with satisfactory 
 results. One pound is added to four of tallow ; a larger 
 quantity makes the candles too brittle. It takes the place 
 of wax. 
 
 ' Cactus cochinilifer. Elliott says that it is probable that 
 other species exist, but he does not include this in his 
 Sketches of the Bot. of South Carolina. Shecut, however, 
 in his Flora Carol. 819, 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 cochi- 
 neal insect feeds. T. and Gray, however, do not include it 
 in their IsT. A. Fl. The fruit tinges red the urine of those 
 who eat it ; and the leaves, rubbed up with hog's lard, are 
 useful as a topical application to prevent mortification. 
 
 CnuciFERiE. (The Cruciferous Tribe.) 
 
 Lindley states that the universal characteristic of this 
 order is the possession of antiscorbutic and stimulant quali- 
 ties, combined with an acrid flavor. The species contain a 
 great deal of nitrogen, to which is attributed their animal 
 odor when rotting. 
 
 Lepidium V%rgi?iicum, L. Peppergrass ; Virginian cress. 
 Wet places. 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 pro- 
 tected with dry litter during severe winter. Rural Cyc. 
 
 Camelina sativa, Crantz. Gold of Pleasure. Referred to 
 in Chapman's Botany of Southern states, p. 30, as intro- 
 duced, growing in cultivated fields. 
 
 Paper in P. 0. Report on Agriculture, 1851, p. 51, on the 
 
68 
 
 " Camelina sativa — a new oil plant." In some parts of the 
 world it is cultivated for its stems, which yield a fibre ap- 
 plicable for spinning, and for its oleiferous seeds. Merat 
 says cultivated for this purpose in Flanders. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Taylor, F. L. S., has recently drawn the atten- 
 tion 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 drought, the plants have grown most 
 luxuriantly, yielding a large and certain crop. When 
 grown 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 be 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 further culture or expense will be 
 required. If sown early, two crops may be frequently ob- 
 tained in one year, as it is fit for harvesting in three months 
 after the plant makes its first appearance. Or another im- 
 portant advantage may be obtained : if seed is sown early 
 in March, the crop will be ready to harvest in the begin- 
 ning of July, and the land fallowed for wheat or spring 
 corn; also when barley or small seeds cannot be sown suf- 
 ficiently 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. 
 
69 
 
 The grower of this invaluable production is in all sea- 
 sons secure of his crop, inasmuch as it is not subject to 
 damage by spring frosts, heavy rains, and drought, and, 
 above all, the ravages of insects, more particularly the cab- 
 bage plant louse (aphis brassica), which so frequently 
 destroys rape, turnips, and others belonging to the cruci- 
 ferse 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. When 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 ex- 
 pense of these crops cannot be very great, either in the 
 preparation and culture of the land or in the management 
 in securing 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 manufac- 
 ture, and consequently a grower would find a good remu- 
 neration in cultivating the seed. The plant may be con- 
 sidered a valuable production of the earth. A fine oil ia 
 produced for burning in lamps, in the manufacture of wool- 
 len 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 mat- 
 ter, which, combined together, are found very beneficial in 
 developing fat and lean. From the experiments above re- 
 lated, 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. 
 
70 
 
 The gold of pleasure has been cultivated by several prac- 
 tical agriculturists, 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 rota- 
 tion 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 exceed 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 excel- 
 lent, 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 saliva, and which 
 has been recently sent to several medical men by Mr. Tay- 
 lor, under the belief that it possesses valuable medical 
 properties. It is of a yellow color, and smells something 
 like linseed oil. Finding it of service in relieving the in- 
 cessant cough of a cat, Mr. Taj^lor has extended the use to 
 the human subject, and states that it has cured several per- 
 sons affected with diseased lungs and asthma. 
 
 In a brief notice, P. 0. Reports, 1850, is the following 
 statement : " Camelina sativa (3fiagrum 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 plant may be em- 
 ployed for thatching. The culture' is similar to that for 
 flax." See "Linum " in this volume. 
 
 Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Moench and T. and G. ) • Grows 
 Thalspi. Linn, and Ell. Sk. ) in damp 
 
 pastures ; collected in St. John's ; ISTewbern. Fl. May. 
 
71 
 
 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 dys- 
 entery, diarrhoea, and bloody urine ; the juice placed on 
 a piece of cotton, and inserted in the nostril, will arrest 
 hemorrhage. u Externe vulneribus solidandis adhibieter 
 nee sine successu." Fl. Scotica, 342 ; Linn. Veg. M. 
 Med. 128. 
 
 Sisymbrium nasturtium, L. and Ell. Sk. > Cress. Nat. in 
 Erysimum of Bot. ) the upper part of 
 
 this state ; vicinity of Charleston. Bach. Fl. March. 
 
 Fl. Scotica, 351. The young leaves furnish an agreeable 
 salad ; the plant was esteemed useful as an antiscorbutic, 
 and was employed in removing obstructions of the liver, 
 viscera, jaundice, etc. Thornton's Fam. Herb. 618. The 
 juice acts as a stimulant and diuretic. Haller says: "We 
 have seen patients in a deep decline cured by living almost 
 entirely on these plants." According to Tournefort, the 
 juice, snuffed up the nose, cured cases of polypus of that 
 organ. See Edinburgh New Disp., Flora Med. iii, 138; 
 Pliny, lib. xix, chap. 8 ; xx, chap. 13. Hoffman and Cullen 
 spoke highly of it as furnishing a mucilaginous application 
 for the heads of infants affected with eruptions. It was 
 acknowledged to have an effect upon maladies of the skin, 
 engorgement of the abdominal viscera when the blood is 
 depraved, in feeble digestion, etc. T7. S. Disp. 1226. This 
 plant is also vaunted in incipient phthisis, in chronic ca- 
 tarrhs, in maladies of the bladder and kidneys, and in 
 hysterical affections. It contains a very bitter and odorif- 
 erous essentia] oil — the seeds yielding 55 per cent, of fixed 
 oil. See de Cancl. Phys. Veg. i, 298 ; Journal Gen. de Med. 
 xxviii, 136 ; Barbier, M. Med. 242. Moreau asserts that 
 vertigo and discoloration of the face are produced in those 
 eating this plant; but this is an effect unnoticed by others. 
 
 Sisymbrium officinale, Fide Grav- ) TT i ^ i 
 
 -m. • j, t • 7™, ^ } Hedge mustard. 
 
 Erysimum " Lin. and Ell. Sk. ) 
 
 This is not included by Mr. Elliott in his Sketches of 
 
72 
 
 the Plants of South Carolina. It was one of the speci- 
 mens sent to Professor Gray, and determined hy him ; col- 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley ; Charleston district. The 
 herb is said to be diuretic and expectorant ; the seeds pos- 
 sess considerable 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. 
 
 Sisymbrium amphibium, L. Water radish. 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 M. Med. vi, 365. Recommended 
 for taenia by Didelot, and in the old works as an antiscor- 
 butic. Merat says the "young leaves are eatable in the 
 spring ; probably possessed of similar properties with the 
 S. nasturtium." 
 
 Nasturtium officinale, R. Br. Water cress. Introduced. 
 Ditches Florida, and northward. Chap. 
 
 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, antiscorbutic, 
 and diuretic properties. It was greedily gathered in all its 
 natural habitats within some miles of London for the supply 
 of the London market, and eventually became an object of 
 regular, peculiar, and somewhat extensive cultivation ; see 
 methods, etc., Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia. 
 
 Sinapis nigra. Mustard. Cultivated in South Carolina. 
 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 the seeds as a local 
 irritant, should induce every planter and farmer to grow it. 
 Enormous quantities are required to supply the armies ; 
 
besides that, it is largely consumed in every household. 
 The white mustard I have seen cultivat'ecl on our planta- 
 tions, and, maturing early in June, is fully equal in strength 
 to the imported article. At the present time (June, 1862) 
 the seeds are sold for more than a dollar a pound. It is 
 very easily ground or powdered, and used like English 
 mustard. 
 
 The common table mustard is prepared from the flour of 
 the seed. For salad, it is sown thickly, and used like com- 
 mon cress. " Sow early in the spring in two feet drills, 
 and thin to six inches. The crop must be gathered before 
 it is fully ripe, on a cloudy day or early in the morning, to 
 prevent the seed from shelling out." 
 
 The "white" is usually prepared for salad, and the seeds 
 are eaten whole as a remedy for impaired digestion. The 
 leaves of this are light green, mild and tender when 
 young; the seed light yellow. The "black" or "brown" 
 is a larger plant, with much darker leaves. " Seeds brown, 
 and more pungent." 
 
 For the medical uses of these plants, any of the works 
 on the materia medica will supply information under the 
 head " Sinapis.'-' 
 
 Mustard seed oil, says Ure, in his Diet. Arts and Sci- 
 ences, p. 285, concretes when cooled a little below 32° 
 Fahrenheit. The white or yellow seed afford thirty-six 
 per cent, of oil, and the black seed eighteen per cent. 
 
 The reader interested in the culture of mustard can find 
 some information in Wilson's Rural Cyc. He quotes from 
 a prize essay by T. C. Burroughes in 7th volume Royal 
 Ag. Soc. The field culture of both the white and black 
 mustard is practised for the production of their seeds, with 
 a view either to the expression of oil from them, similar to 
 that of cole, and rape, and poppy, or to the obtaining of 
 oil cake for the use of cattle, or to the grinding them into 
 the well known condimental and medicinal flour of mus- 
 tard, or to several other economical and pharmaceutical 
 purposes. The crop is reaped, and tied in sheaves like 
 wheat, and is afterward threshed out upon cloths in the 
 
74 
 
 field in the same manner as cole. White mustard is gen- 
 erally laid in handfuls on the shuttle, and not tied up. 
 The black mustard is hardier than the white. The quan- 
 tity of oil obtained from any given weight of black mus- 
 tard seeds is greater than that obtained from the same 
 weight of coles; but the oil cake is slightly purgative, and 
 requires to be given to cattle with caution, and is com- 
 monly ground and sprinkled on their chaff. "Wilson also 
 states that the flour of mustard from the seeds of black 
 mustard is much more pungent, and of much finer quality 
 than that from the seeds of white mustard. It is still the 
 kind most commonly used in France ; but it requires to be 
 manufactured by a nice mechanical process of removing 
 the outer skins of the seeds, or else it has a grayish or very 
 dark color ; and, in fact, it is never so prepared as to be 
 entirely freed from its grayishness. The flour of white 
 mustard is generally used in Britain in consequence of its 
 fine color, and the superior facility of manufacturing it. It 
 is often mixed with the black. Rural Cyc. The method 
 of depriving the black mustard seed of its envelope I have 
 been unable to obtain. Warm water is always the- best ad- 
 dition to mustard to elicit the volatile oil. Vinegar lessens 
 its pungency. See Trousseau's Experiments. Mustard 
 has been highly recommended as a substitute for the 
 spring colza and other plants, to be used in the production 
 of oil. "Both species," white and black, yield oil, Thaer 
 says in his Principles of Agriculture, "which is well adapted 
 for burning ; and also, when well purified, for the use of the 
 table. A quintal of mustard seed yields from thirty-six to 
 thirty-eight pounds of oil. The biting acridity of the seed 
 exists not 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 been 
 expressed." Among the plants mentioned by Thaer as val- 
 uable for the oil in their seeds, are the oily radish {Eaph- 
 anus ckinensis oleiferus), the sunflower, and the common 
 poppy, Papaver somniferum ; the oil from the white-seeded 
 variety is preferable on account of its taste. See Thaer 
 
75 
 
 also, for descriptions of the cultivation of flax seed, hemp, 
 hops, madder, beets, etc. Many plants, the seeds of which 
 yield oil, are used in making oil cake for agricultural pur- 
 poses, and as food for animals. The sunflower, which 
 yields a large quantity of seed to the acre, will, it is said, 
 furnish one gallon of oil to the bushel. See "Cotton," 
 "Flax," etc., in this volume. 
 
 Capparidacb^:. (Caper Family.) 
 Capparis Spinosa. (Caper Tree.) 
 
 This plant, cultivated in Greece, Ionian isles, France^ 
 Italy, etc., has also been introduced into this country. 
 The flower buds are collected and put into salt and vinegar. 
 See Patent Office Report, 1855, p. 285, for a brief notice of 
 the cultivation and preparation. In the Confederate States 
 we have the C. Jamaicencis, Jacy, and C. cynophallophora, L. 
 growing in South Florida. It is possible that they may be 
 used as substitutes for the foreign caper. 
 
 YiOLACEiE. (The Violet Tribe.) 
 
 Roots more or less emetic ; a property which prevails to 
 a greater extent in the South American species, which are 
 generally less herbaceous. 
 
 Viola pedata, Mich. Found in the upper districts ; spar- 
 ingly in the lower ; Richland. L. Gibbes. Fl. May. 
 
 TJ. S. Disp. 753 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 140. The roots of 
 nearly all the species of this genus possess a nutritive and 
 an emetic principle, called violine, allied to that of ipe- 
 cacuanha, but more uncertain in its operation. This is 
 said to replace the European plant, and, according to Dr. 
 Bigelow, is valuable as an expectorant and demulcent in 
 pectoral affections. 
 
 Viola arvensis, D. C. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 141. This and the V. tricolor have 
 received considerable attention from European writers, 
 
76 
 
 especially the German. Strack made them the subject of a 
 discussion in 1776, and since then the observations of Met- 
 zer, Cloquet, and others have shown that they are possessed 
 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 extremely fetid, smelling like that of the cat; op. 
 cit. supra. Attention is invited to it. See V. tricolor. 
 
 Viola tricolor, Linn. Heartsease. Cultivated in gardens. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Trous. et Pid. Traite de Therap. et cle Mat. Med. ii, 15 ; 
 IT. S. Disp. 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, Erlang. 1782. Metzer de crustea 
 lactea infantum, ejusdem que remedio prsemio 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 remedy 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. 
 
 Viola palmata, Linn. Hand-leaved violet. Collected in 
 St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; ISTewbern. Fl. March. 
 
 Ell. Bot. 300, Med. Notes. The plant is very mucilagin- 
 ous. It is employed by negroes for making soup, and is 
 commonly called wild okra. The bruised leaves are used 
 as an emollient application. 
 
 Viola cucullata, Ait. Common blue violet. Grows in 
 damp pine lands; collected in St. John's; vicinity of 
 Charleston. FL Mav. 
 
77 
 
 Le. Mat. Med. i, 223. Probably possessed of similar 
 properties with the others; a decoction is given to children 
 in eruptive diseases. These plants might very conveniently 
 be used in domestic practice, and we would invite attention 
 to their further employment. 
 
 Droserace^e. (The Sun Dew Tribe.) 
 
 Plants generally slightly acid ; acrid and poisonous to 
 cattle. 
 
 Drosera rotundifolia, Linn. Sun dew. Grows in damp 
 spots in the low country of South Carolina; Richland; col- 
 lected in St. John's; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Bull. Plantes Yen 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. Geoftroi 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 hydrops, diseases of the kidneys, ophthalmias, etc. Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 690. Shec, in his Flora 
 .Carol, 519, confirms tjie opinion in reference to the corro- 
 sive property of the juice, and adds that, with milk, it 
 furnishes a safe application for removing freckles ; any part 
 of it will curdle milk. Fl. Scotica, 109. It is thought to 
 be very injurious to sheep, producing in them consumption 
 or rot. M. Berlace affirms (Esquiss. Hist. Bot. Aug.) that 
 cattle avoid it on account of an insect (Hydra hydatula) 
 which feeds on it. This plant is quite diminutive, and has 
 heretofore received very little attention; we see no men- 
 tion made of it in our Am. Disps. 
 
 V. Passifloraceje. (The Passion Flower Tribe.) 
 
 Passiflora'hrtea : tend incarnata, Linn. May apples; passion 
 flowers. Grow in pastures. 
 
 The fruit of these beautiful climbing plants contains a 
 sweetish, acid pulp, and is eatable. Several of the species 
 are employed in medicine ; but these have received no 
 
78 
 
 attention, being more remarkable on account of the struc- 
 ture of their flowers. One is quite diminutive. 
 
 Hypericace^;. (The Tatsan Tribe.) 
 
 The juice of many of the species is slightly purgative 
 and febrifugal. 
 
 Ascyrum Crux Andreas, W. ] Peterwort. Collected in 
 " multicaule, Mx. j pine land soils; St. John's; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 The infusion of the bruised root and branches of this 
 plant was used by an Indian with success in the case of a 
 female, under our observation, with an ulcerated breast, 
 which had resisted all other attempts at relief. We have 
 since seen it employed with entire satisfaction, on the per- 
 son of an infant, having a painful enlargement of the sub- 
 maxillary gland. ISTo further opportunity has been aiforded 
 of ascertaining its properties with certainty ; but it seems 
 to be possessed of some power as a resolvent in discussing 
 tumors, and reducing glandular enlargements ; given in- 
 ternally, and applied topically. The taste is somewhat 
 acrid. "We would invite further examination. 
 
 Hypericum 'perforatum, L. St. John's-wort. Sparingly 
 naturalized in Confederate States. 
 
 It was greatly in vogue at one time, and was thought to 
 cure demoniacs. The decoction 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 Ascy- 
 rum cruxandrece, growing abundantly throughout our coun- 
 try, is popularly regarded as of great value, bruised and 
 applied in the healing of wounds, and as a discutient. 
 
 Wilson states that its leaves and flowers are strongly 
 resiniferous or oleiferous, and emit a powerful odor when 
 rubbed ; it bleeds under very slight compression or wound- 
 ing, and imparts a blood-red color to any spirituous or 
 oleaginous substance with which it is mixed, and was for- 
 
79 
 
 merly supposed to possess the power of healing wounds, 
 bruises, and contusions. It is the Fuga Dcemonium, he 
 adds, of old herbalists, and was formerly 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. Rural 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 appears to become acrid. Flora 
 Cest. Farmers' Encyc. I found the same impression pre- 
 vailing in Powhatan county, Va. A tincture of the flowers 
 and leaves are used in stomach complaints. 
 
 Hypericum sarothra, Mich., T.and G. ] Pine weed; 
 
 Sarothra gentianoides Linn, and Ell. Sk. j orange grass. 
 Grows in dry pastures ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of 
 Charleston; JSTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, cle M. Med. vi, 226 ; Journal de 
 Med. lxxx, 360. It is employed as an aperient in inflam- 
 matory affections. 
 
 Acerace^. (The Sycamore Tribe.) 
 
 Acer rubrum, Linn. Red maple. Diffused. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 80. The wood is much used in the 
 manufacture of Windsor chairs, gun-stocks, etc. ; the grain 
 is sometimes beautifully curled. In a communication re- 
 ceived from I. Douglass, M. D., of Chester district, S. C, 
 his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, states that the country 
 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 inhabitants 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. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
80 
 
 Acer saccharinum, Linn. Sugar maple. Var. Florida- 
 num, found in South Florida. Chap. Diffused, but more 
 abundant' in the upper districts ; found sparingly at the 
 head waters of Cooper river ; St. John's, Berkley ; New- 
 bern. Fl. Feb. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 90. Pure flake manna has been 
 discovered 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 distin- 
 guish the timber of the Norway maple. The wood is heavy 
 and strong, but not durable. The ashes are very rich in 
 alkaline matter, and furnish a large proportion of the potash 
 which is imported to Europe from New York and Boston. 
 Rural 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 pur- 
 ple color; maple, red oak bark, and copperas to fix it, will 
 dye dove color ; maple, with bark of black walnut [Juglans 
 nigra), gives a brown color; sweet gum, with copperas, 
 yields a color nearly black. See, also, "Quercus," "Hopea," 
 etc. ; see Boussingault's Treatise, " Rural Economy, in its 
 Relation to Chemistry, Physics, etc.," p. 125, for valuable 
 instruction on cultivation, production, etc., of sugar from 
 maple, beet, etc ; also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufac- 
 tures, 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, therefore, all the conditions for forming the nitroge- 
 nous components of the branches, leaves, and blossoms ; 
 and in proportion as these parts of the tree are developed, 
 it gradually loses its ammonia, and when they are com- 
 pletely formed it ceases to flow. Rural Cyc. Liebig dis- 
 
81 
 
 covered that ammonia was emitted from this juice when 
 mixed with lime. The sugar crystallized spontaneously. 
 The American practice with the sugar maple is to bore two 
 auger holes, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and half 
 an inch deeper than the bark, in an obliquely ascending- 
 direction, on the south side of the tree, at the height of 
 about eighteen or twenty inches from the ground, in Feb- 
 ruary or March, while the snow is on the ground, and the 
 cold is still intense, and to insert into the holes elder or 
 sumac tubes, partially laid open, eight or ten inches in 
 length, and three-fourths of an inch in diameter, commu- 
 nicating at the lower end with troughs of two or three 
 gallons in capacity, for the reception of the sap. Four 
 gallons are usually sufficient to yield one pound of sugar; 
 and eight to sixteen gallons are usually obtained in a season 
 from a single tree — this must depend upon the locality. 
 Op. cit. I insert the following from Farmer's Encyc. : 
 
 "In a central situation, lying convenient to the trees from 
 which the sap is drawn, a shed is constructed, called a 
 sugar-camp, which is destined to shelter the boilers and the 
 persons who tend them from the weather. An auger, 
 three-fourths of an inch in diameter, small troughs to 
 receive the sap, tubes of elder or sumac, eight or ten inches 
 long, corresponding in size to the auger, and laid open for 
 a part of their length, buckets for emptying the troughs 
 and conveying the sap to the camp, boilers of fifteen or 
 eighteen gallons capacity, moulds to receive the syrup 
 when reduced to a proper consistency for being formed 
 into cakes, and, lastly, axes to cut and split the fuel, are 
 the principal utensils employed in the operation. The 
 trees are perforated in an obliquely ascending direction, 
 eighteen or twenty inches from the ground, with two holes 
 four or five inches apart. Care should be taken that the 
 augers do not enter more than half an inch within the 
 wood, as experience has shown the most abundant flow of 
 sap to take place at this depth. It is also recommended 
 to insert the tubes on the south side of the tree ; but this 
 useful hint is not always attended to. 
 6 
 
82 
 
 "A trough is placed on the ground at the foot of each 
 tree, and the sap is every day collected and temporarily 
 poured into casks, from which it is drawn out to fill the 
 boilers. The evaporation is kept up by a brisk fire, and 
 the scum is carefully taken off during this part of the pro- 
 cess. Fresh sap is added from time to time, and the heat 
 is maintained till the liquid is reduced to a syrup, after 
 which it is left to cool, and then strained through a blanket, 
 or other woollen stuff, to separate the remaining impurities. 
 
 " Some persons recommend leaving the syrup twelve 
 hours before boiling it for the last time ; others proceed 
 with it immediately. In either case the boilers are only 
 half filled, and by an active, steady heat the liquor is rap- 
 idly reduced to the proper consistency for being poured 
 into the moulds. The evaporation is known to have pro- 
 ceeded far enough when, upon rubbing 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 ebullition. 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 col- 
 ored, 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 taste 
 is as pleasant, and it is as good for culinary purposes. 
 When refined, it equals in beauty the finest sugar con- 
 sumed in Europe. It is made use of, however, only in the 
 districts where it is made, and there only in the country ; 
 from prejudice or taste, imported sugar is used in all the 
 small towns, and in the inns. 
 
 "The sap continues to flow for six weeks ; after which 
 it becomes less abundant, less rich in saccharine matter, 
 and sometimes even incapable of crystallization. In this 
 case it is consumed in the state of molasses, which is su- 
 perior to that of the islands. After three or four days 
 
83 
 
 exposure to the sun, maple sap is converted into vinegar, 
 by the acetous fermentation. The amount of sugar manu- 
 factured in a year varies from different causes. A cold 
 and dry winter renders the trees more productive than a 
 changeable and humid season. It is observed that when a 
 frosty night is followed by a dry and brilliant day the sap 
 flows abundantly ; and two or three gallons are sometimes 
 yielded by a single tree in twenty-four hours. Three per- 
 sons are found sufficient to tend two hundred and fifty 
 trees, which give one thousand pounds of sugar, or four 
 pounds from each tree. But this product is not uniform, 
 for many farmers on the Ohio do not commonly obtain 
 more than two pounds from a tree. Trees which grow in 
 low and moist places afford a greater quantity of sap than 
 those which occupy rising grounds, but it is less rich in the 
 saccharine principle. That of insulated trees, left standing 
 in the middle of fields or by the side of fences, is the best. 
 It is also remarked that, in districts which have been 
 cleared of other trees, and even of the less vigorous sugar 
 maples, the product of the remainder is, proportionally, 
 most considerable. 'Having introduced,' says a writer, 
 ' twenty tubes into a sugar maple, I drew from it the same 
 day twenty-three gallons and three quarts of sap, which 
 gave seven and a quarter pounds of sugar ; thirty-three 
 pounds have been made this season from the same tree, 
 which supposes one hundred gallons of sap.' It appears 
 here that only a little more than three gallons was required 
 for a pound, though four are commonly allowed." 
 
 Sapindaceje. [Soapberry Tribe.) 
 
 Sajnndus marginatns. "Willd. Soapberry. Florida and 
 Georgia, near the coast. 
 
 The skin of the fruit of S. emarginatus is said to be used 
 in India for the same purposes as soap. That of the S. 
 scqwnaria, which grows in the West Indies, is employed for 
 washing linen, but when employed often is apt to burn and 
 destroy it ; the nuts are very smooth, and of a shining 
 black color, and were formerly imported to England and 
 
84 
 
 manufactured into buttons, which were sometimes tipped 
 with silver, and always very durable. Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 Our species should be examined. It will be observed that 
 it is very nearly related to the buckeye (JSscidus), the roots 
 of which are also used for washing woollens. See, also, 
 " Saponaria," in this paper. 
 
 ^EscuLACEiB. ( The Horse Chestnut Tribe.) 
 
 The seeds contain a great quantity of a nutritive starch ; 
 also a sufficient amount of potash to be useful as cosmetics, 
 or as a substitute for soap. 
 
 jEsculus pav(a,Ti. Horse chestnut; buckeye. Diffused. 
 I have observed it in Greenville, Fairfield, and Charleston 
 districts ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Fl. May. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 105 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 214. The 
 fruit is about the .size of a small lemon, and of a beauti- 
 fully polished mahogany color externally ; it contains a 
 great deal of starch. Dr. Woodhouse prepared a half a 
 pint from the nuts, which retained its color for two years. 
 It is superior to the famous Portland starch, and does not 
 impart a yellow color to cloth. It is said that the washing 
 from this is narcotic and poisonous. Dr. McDowel tried the 
 powder of the rind, and states that ten grains were equiva- 
 lent to three of opium ; a strong decoction is recommended 
 as a lotion to gangrenous ulcers. A strong decoction of the 
 root is said to relieve toothache when held in the mouth. 
 The fresh kernels, macerated in water, mixed with wheat 
 flour into a stiff' paste, and thrown in pools of standing 
 Water, intoxicate fish, so that they float on the surface, and 
 may be taken ; reviving, however, when placed in fresh 
 water. I am informed that large quantities were formerly 
 caught in this way in the swamps along the Santee river. 
 See, also, Ell. Bot. Med. Notes. The roots are preferred 
 even to soap for washing and whitening woollens, blankets, 
 and dyed cottons — the colors of which are improved by 
 the process. Satins washed in this manner, and carefully 
 ironed, look almost as well as new. 
 
.85 
 
 Polygalace^. {The Milkwort Tribe.) 
 
 Bitterness in the leaves, and milk in the roots, are their 
 usual characteristics. 
 
 Polygala Senega, L. Seneka snakeroot ; mountain flax. 
 Mountainous districts of S. C. Fl. July. 
 
 Thornton's Fam. Herb. 629. An active stimulant, in- 
 creasing the force of the circulation, especially that of the 
 pulmonary vessels ; hence, found very useful in typhoid 
 inflammation of the lungs. Dr. Brandreth, of Liverpool, 
 has derived great service from its employment, in cases of 
 lethargy, in the form of an extract combined with carb. 
 ammonias. It has been given in hydropic cases, and as it 
 sometimes provokes plentiful discharges by urine, stool, 
 and perspiration, it is frequently the means of removing 
 the disease after the ordinary cathartics, diuretics, and 
 hydragogues have failed. The Indians used it in snake 
 bites; given internal]} 7 and applied topically ; if beneficial, 
 it only acts as a diffusible stimulant ; it is administered, 
 also, as a gargle in croup. A principle called senegin has 
 been discovered in it; and one by Eeschier, called poty- 
 galic acid. Anevenne is also said to have detected two: 
 polygalic and Virgineic — the first of which will unite with 
 bases ; the second volatile, oily, nauseant, and emetic in 
 small, diaphoretic, expectorant, and diuretic in large doses. 
 Stephens & Church, 103. See Analysis in Journal de 
 Pharm. xxii, 449. One of the principles referred to is 
 said not to differ from saponine. Supplem. to the Diet, de 
 M. Med. by Mer. and de L. 1846, 578; M. Guibourt, in his 
 "Abridged Hist, of Simple Drugs" (in French); Carson's 
 Illust. Med. Bot. 1847, pt. i ; L. Feneulle's Annal. Journal 
 de Pharm. ii, 430. It has been employed in pleurisy. See 
 Tennent's Essay on that disease; Duhame, Mem. de l'Acad. 
 de Paris, 1739, 144; McKensie's Med. Obs. and Enquiries, 
 ii, 288 ; De Haen. Ratio Medendi : F. d'Ammon "sur l'em- 
 ploi et l'utilite de la racine du P. senega dans plusieurs mal 
 del'ceil"; Annal. de Chim. de Heidelberg. Dr. Ammon, of 
 
Dresden, in his paper, employs it in ophthalmias, after the 
 inflamniatoiy stage is passed; it is said to prevent the 
 formation of cataract, and to promote the absorption of 
 pus in hypopium ; he reports two cases ; it is adapted, in 
 fact, to all cases of exudation, by its power of promoting 
 discharge. Suite des Experiences in Bull, des Sci. Med. 
 xx, 241. Bretonneau gave four to five grains, every hour, 
 in croup ; it opposes the formation of the diphtheritic 
 membrane. Bull, des Sci. Med. de Ferus. xi, 61 ; Mem. 
 sur le Senega, Acad, des Sci. See Merat, loc. cit. Dr. 
 Milne spoke highly of the decoction, joined with bitartrate 
 of potash, in dropsy. Dr. Percival administered it in 
 hydrops pectoris. If the decoction causes vomiting, some 
 aromatic, angelica, calamus, or fennel, may be added. It is 
 prescribed as a drink in pneumonia, pleurisy, and typhoid 
 fever. Linnaeus, in his Veg. Mat. Med. 137, speaks of- 
 this plant as a specific in croup [specificum in phlogose 
 hinc officinis nostris dignissima). Lincl. Nat. Syst. Bot. 87. 
 Stimulant, diuretic, sialagogue, expectorant, purgative, 
 emetic, sudorific, and also emmenagogue. U. S. Disp. 
 649; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 27; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 111; 
 Mer. and de L. v, 424; Diet, des Sci. Med. Ii, 1; Journal 
 de Chim. Med. ii, 431 ; Journal Analyt. i, 339. Employed 
 in nervous affections, and hectic fever ; in hydrothorax, 
 from its stimulating effect on the kidneys, and in diseases 
 of the lungs, from its augmenting the absorbent forces. 
 Anc. Journal de Med. lxxvi, 53 ; Detharding, Diss, de 
 Senega, 1749; C. Linn. Diss, upon the Root of the Senega, 
 Argentorati, 1750; Kielhon, Diss. Frankfort, 1765; Hel- 
 minth, at Edinburgh, 1782; G. Folchi, "Rech. chimico 
 Therap. sur la racine du polygala du Virginie." In pneu- 
 monia, after bleeding, and in the typhoid stage, it is one of 
 our best remedies for promoting expectoration ; at an ear- 
 lier 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 useful in the asthma 
 of old people, and in the latter stages of croup. It has 
 been employed successfully in chronic rheumatism, and Dr. 
 
87 
 
 Chapman also found it very efficacious in recent cases of 
 amenorrhcea. Frost's Eleras. 258 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 
 225; Archer's Med. and Phys. Journal, i, 83; Bree on 
 Asthma, 258; Massie's Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1808; Thacher's 
 Disp. 319; N". Eng. Journal, vii, 206. In croup, it is often 
 given in the form of hive syrup ; the best form, however, 
 is a decoction made by boiling one ounce of 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 
 employed by the steam practitioners. See Howard's Syst. 
 of Bot. Med. 343. 
 
 Polygala sangmnea, L. ISTutt. Grows in flat, pine lands ; 
 abundantly near Pittsburg; sent to me from Abbeville by 
 Mr. Reed ; vicinity of Charleston. Bach. Fl. June. 
 
 Lind. UTat. Syst. Bot. 86 ; Barton's Med. Bot. ii, 17. A 
 stimulating diaphoretic, similar, it is supposed, in properties 
 to the above. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 424 ; 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 225. 
 
 Poli/gala 'pauctfolia, Willd. Grows in the mountains of 
 South Carolina. Fl. August. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 227^ Rafmesqiie, 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 jwocumb.) ; he thinks it milder than the 
 P. senega, and, therefore, adapted to cases in which that is 
 inapplicable. Griffith does not agree with him, attributing 
 to it merely tonic and bitter properties. 
 
 Polygala jjolygama, "Walter. Vicinity of Charleston. 
 U. S. Disp. 558. 
 
 Cedrelaceye. (Mahogany Tribe.) 
 Swietenia mahagoni, L. Mahogany. 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 
 farther description. 
 
 The bark may, it is said, be used as Peruvian bark. I do 
 not know that the tree is "exploited" in Florida. 
 
 LinacExE. (The Flax Tribe.) 
 
 Linum usitatissimum. Flax. Cultivated in South Caro-. 
 lina. 
 
 It is cultivated here pretty much on account of the seeds, 
 which are well known for their valuable demulcent proper- 
 ties, and for the linseed oil which they afford. 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. . 
 
 Among the thread plants may be mentioned Flax (Linum 
 usitatissimum), Perennial flax (Linum perenne), Hemp (Can- 
 nabis sativa), Virginian silk (Asclepias syriaca), Common 
 nettle ( Urtica dioica), and the Rosebay willow herb (Epilo- 
 bium angustifolium). The three latter are all found growing 
 wild in South Carolina. The asclepias was planted for the 
 purpose in Germany, 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 farther examination. 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 flax seed, 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 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. Linseed oil saturated with 
 the oxide and applied with a brush to any substance, hard- 
 
89 
 
 ens 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 cement of this oil, 
 prepared 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 
 pulverized 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 mate- 
 rial is made, which may prove of great use in preparing 
 garments for our 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 
 raw linseed oil, assisted by a gentle heat, until it becomes 
 entirely taken up by the latter ; after which it may be ap- 
 plied to substances for adhesion to each other, in the way 
 common glue is usually applied. It dries almost immedi- 
 ately, and water will exert 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 gar- 
 ment. Glue dissolved in vinegar also makes a very tena- 
 cious substance in place of the prepared glues. See plates 
 of machinery for pressing linseed and other oils, Ure's Dic- 
 tionary of Arts, article "Oils;" also Wilson's Rural Cyc, 
 articles "Flax" and "Linseed." The processes are described 
 with plates. Those interested may find there a full state- 
 ment of the method of gathering, planting, uses, etc. See 
 also "Olea," in this work. Flax seed intended for plant- 
 ing should not be gathered too quickly. Flax seed was 
 largely made in western New York. The yield is from ten 
 to fifteen bushels per acre. It is sown early in the spring. 
 If raised merely for the seed, it is harvested and thrashed 
 like other grain. But when the stalk is used, it is pulled 
 
90 
 
 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 oat 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. 
 
 The reader interested in the preparation and cleaning of 
 the fibres of textile plants, will find a paper upon the sub- 
 ject, condensed from the Singapore Free Press, in the P. 
 Office Rep. 1854, p. 1T4. A description of the simplest and 
 most economical 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 per ton. I do not know that these 
 plants are used in our West -India islands or in Florida for 
 these purposes. The ordinary mill used in pressing sugar- 
 cane can be used in cleaning the fibre. See article cited. 
 
 Wilson's Rural Cyc, article "Bleaching," furnishes a 
 practical explanation of the methods of bleaching flax, 
 hemp, etc. See also Ure's Dictionary. 
 
 Malvace^. ( The Mallow Tribe.) 
 
 They abound in mucilage, and are totally destitute of all 
 unwholesome qualities. 
 
 Malm rotundifolia, L. Low mallows. Naturalized ; 
 grows around buildings ; Richland ; vicinity of Charleston. 
 Fl. June. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 444. A substitute for M. sylvestris, which 
 possesses valuable demulcent properties. Woodv. Med. 
 Bot. 554, torn. 197. It is very emollient, and is employed 
 in catarrhal, dysenteric, and nephritic diseases, and wher- 
 ever a mucilaginous fluid is required. It is administered 
 in the shape of emollient enema, and it forms a good sup- 
 purative or relaxing cataplasm in external inflammations. 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 207. It was highly 
 regarded by the ancients. " Pythagore regardait leur 
 usage comme propre a favoriser l'exercise de la pensee." 
 
91 
 
 Hippocrates employed it as we do, for gargles and collyri- 
 uras, as an application to heated and inflamed parts, as a 
 vehicle for pectoral and anodyne medicines, and for those 
 administered in diseases of the urinary passages. 
 
 Abutilon Avicmnce, Gaertn., T. and G. "I Indian mallows. 
 
 Sida abutilon, Linn, and Ell. Sk. j Grows at Granby, 
 
 in Richland district, and in Georgia; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. 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 emollient 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 Abutilons should be examined; several grow in South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Hibiscus Moscheutos, L. Marsh mallow. Collected in 
 St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. 
 
 Bergius, M. Med. ii, 629. This also is possessed of de- 
 mulcent properties ; a convenient substitute for the above. 
 
 Hibiscus esculentus. Okra. Introduced from Africa. 
 
 The fruit and pods afford the well-known valuable vege- 
 table, so largely used in the Southern states in combination 
 with tomatoes in making soup. It is very mucilaginous, 
 and, infused in water, forms a suitable vehicle for medi- 
 cines prescribed in diseases of the mucous passages, for 
 enemata, etc. Some information on this plant may be ob- 
 tained in the Journal de Pharm. vi, 383. The parched seeds 
 afford a tolerably good substitute for coffee ; the difference 
 can with difficulty be detected. It is sometimes used for 
 this purpose among the negroes on the plantations of South 
 Carolina. 
 
92 
 
 This well-known vegetable contains an enormous amount 
 of albumen — so much, that Chaptal says that in St. Do- 
 mingo it is employed in clarifying liquors. In Guadeloupe 
 and Martinique they use the bark of the slippery elm "for 
 this purpose as white of egg elsewhere. It would be a 
 matter of importance to' ascertain whether or not vegetable 
 albumen would be useful in clarifying sugar. In employ- 
 ing 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 Manu- 
 factures. 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° Faki\, 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, to remove any remaining 
 particles from it. The same writer says that animal albu- 
 men, mixed with quick-lime, finely powdered and spread 
 upon strips of linen, makes an excellent lute, to be ap- 
 # plied over the joints of vessels for distilling, to prevent 
 loss of gas or vapor. 
 
 The Sesamum indicum, Bene, 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 allowed to come to maturity, and planted closer, like 
 flax and hemp, might furnish an inner bark suitable for 
 twine or cloth. The Urtica dioica, nettle, and Apocynum can- 
 nabinum, Indian hemp, and several species of asclepias, or 
 silk weed, may, by improved cultivation, give a useful 
 fibre ; see index. Dr. Gr. C. Shaefler, the author of a paper 
 in P. O. Eep., 373, 1859, on " Vegetable fibre," states that 
 the fibre of the silk or milk-weed [A. cornuti) " was nearly if 
 
93 
 
 not quite as strong as the hemp." In this article, the mode 
 of preparing textile fibres is treated of, and also the best 
 materials for paper making. A curious work, by Dr. J. C. 
 ShaefFer, 1765, is referred to, in which experiments were 
 long since performed upon innumerable substances suited 
 to the making of paper. The latest work of consequence 
 has been published by L. Piette, 1838. Piette gives speci- 
 mens of good, strong, white paper made from straw. Paper 
 in the United States was also made from wood, sawdust, 
 and shavings, in 1828 and '30. Ure's Dictionary of Arts ma} 7 
 also be consulted for machinery, etc. Bark of linden is 
 used in Prussia. See Tilia. And the palmetto, agave, and 
 yucca of the South furnish a long fibre. When necessary, 
 the intercellular substance may be dissolved out by strong 
 alkalies — the lye from the ashes of plants, etc. For ma- 
 terial for paper making see "Cotton." 
 . The New Orleans Crescent says of coffee : 
 The supplies of many articles of consumption are run- 
 ning very low. In the meantime substitutes have been 
 proposed, among which is named the okra seed. As re- 
 gards this, the thought of its becoming a substitute may 
 as well be laid aside at once, for there are not twenty-five 
 sacks of the seed available. The chief substitute will have 
 to be r3 r e. This cereal was used during the war of 1812. 
 In fact, half of the ground coffee which has been sold in 
 New York and Boston for the last twenty-five years was 
 composed chiefly of rye. 
 
 Gossypium herbaceum, Linri. Cotton. A native of trop- 
 ical America. The long staple, including the varieties of 
 sea-island, black seed, and mains, grows best in the lower 
 country ; and the short, or green seed, in the upper dis- 
 tricts. Prescott states that the Spaniards found it in Mex- 
 ico. See "Conquest of Mexico." 
 
 Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846. This 
 was the plant known to the ancients as the Byssus of old 
 writers. Herodotus, t. iii, 134, of Durger's Ed. ; Chateau- 
 briand, Journal to Jerusalem, 1777 ; see R6vue Medicale, 
 
94 
 
 Feb. 1845, 225, for Observations on the Employment of 
 the Cotton Fibre in Dressing Wounds ; Ann. de Chimie, 
 427, 1845 ; Binol's Letters on the Cultivation of Cotton in 
 India ; C. Delasterie on the G. herbacea and its Cultiva- 
 tion, Paris, 1808; Lessier sur la Culture du Coton en 
 France ; Gerspach, Considerations sur l'iniluence des fila- 
 tures du Coton sur la sante des ouvriers, Paris, 182,7 ; Obs. 
 on the Employment of Cotton in the Treatment of Blis- 
 ters, 1830 ; Some Reflections by F. T. Saint Hilaire on 
 "Wounds, and their Treatment with Cotton (in French), 
 Montp. 1830 ; Sicand, Obs. 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. 163 ; Dr. MacFayden (Fl. Jamaica) considers the spe- 
 cies 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 simi- 
 lar purposes ; the roots are used in India in diseases of the 
 urinary organs. See Ainslie. In Brazil, a decoction of 
 the leaves steeped in vinegar is said to relieve hemicrania. 
 According to Martin, the seeds, which afford much oil, 
 are emollient, and are employed in emulsions, injections, 
 and diseases of mucous passages. The oil is afforded by 
 the seeds in sufficiently 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 this state, in the 
 treatment of asthma — a decoction being employed. It 
 appears to have, moreover, a specific action on the uterine 
 organs. Dr. Heady, of Edgefield district, informs me that 
 his attention was called to its emmenagogue 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 particularly 
 in many cases of flooding, with entire success. It seems 
 to produce as active contractions of the uterus as ergot 
 
95 
 
 itself. Three ounces of the root are infused in one pint of 
 boiling water, of which from three to four ounces are taken 
 internally every fifteen minutes. More extended experi- 
 ments with this remarkable plant, in cases of this descrip- 
 tion, might furnish very valuable results, and I would 
 invite particular attention to it. 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; Boyle, 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; and Gov. W. B. 
 Seabrook's (of S. C.) paper on the cotton plant. 
 
 The fibre of our great staple is applicable to many pur- 
 poses in surgery, in dressing burns, preserving the temper- 
 ature 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 pre- 
 pared. 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 sub- 
 stitute for quinine in intermittent fever. I will refer the 
 reader to some of the later volumes of the Charleston Med. 
 Journal and Review. I have not my volumes at hand to 
 refer to. It has been used with great confidence by many 
 persons throughout the South and West. I introduce the 
 following slip from a newspaper (1862) in default of more 
 precise information from the medical authorities who have 
 used it. 
 
 II. D. Brown, of Copiah county, Mississippi, communi- 
 cates the following notice of the use of cotton seed tea as a 
 substitute for quinine: 
 
96 
 
 " I beg to make public the following certain and thor- 
 oughly 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 persons 
 will doubtless laugh at this simple remedy, but I have tried 
 it effectually, and unhesitatingly say it is better than qui- 
 nine, 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 is not at all 
 unpleasant to the taste." 
 
 The seeds of the black seed cotton, parched and ground, 
 are considered by many as one of the best substitutes for 
 coffee, both in smell and taste. In a paper by G-. C. 
 Shaeffer, on the cotton fibre, Patent Office Report, Agricul- 
 ture, 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 employed." If the cotton 
 is gathered, the plant has then become too woody. See, 
 also, 1 Okra (Hibiscus esculentus.) Governor ~W. B. Seabrook, 
 of S. C, has written perhaps the most full description of 
 the cultivation of cotton, in a pamphlet published a few 
 years since. 
 
 Townsend Glover, entomologist, employed by the Patent 
 Office, describes the diseases incident to the cotton plant in 
 his successive papers, in the volumes of the Patent Office 
 Report for 1855-'7, " On the Insects frequenting the Cotton 
 Plant." These papers contain a good deal of information 
 on the character and habits not only of insects infesting 
 cotton, but many other plants, with illustrations on wood. 
 He describes the rust, rot, and blight, and devises methods 
 for preventing their spread. The English use cotton dipped 
 in a solution of saltpetre as a moxa; see " Helianihus." 
 "Gun cotton" is also a well known explosive agent, pre- 
 pared by means of nitric acid. 
 
 Cotton Seed Soap. The following I obtain from the 
 
97 
 
 Charleston Mercury: Put cotton seed into a large and 
 strong iron pot, in small quantities at a time, mash them 
 well with a wooden pestle, and then pour in a certain quan- 
 tity of common lye, and boil thoroughly; strain in an ordi- 
 nary sieve, and proceed in the usual way in drying and 
 cutting into cakes. The oil is thus yielded, and saponified. 
 Machines are now manufactured in this country for 
 decorticating the cotton seed, in manufacturing the cake. 
 It is thus much improved as an article of food for cattle, 
 not being near so liable to injure the animals. It brings a 
 high price in England. Mills for the preparation of the 
 cake have been established in Rhode Island. Strange that 
 nothing of the kind has existed in Charleston, where the 
 seed can be so easily obtained. The great value of the 
 seed as a manure may account in part for the indifference 
 of the planter. The seed has been pressed in ISTew Orleans. 
 The oil is said to be "unsurpassed for dressing leather and 
 lubricating machinery, and as an illuminator affords a clear 
 and brilliant light" — as good as spermaceti, when refined. 
 See also a paper on cotton seed oil, Southern Cultivator, p. 
 iii, vol. 3. He states that there are thirty bushels of seed 
 to every bale of cotton ; each bale will yield at least fifteen 
 gallons of crude oil, and three hundred and sixty barrels 
 of oil cake. "No difficulty exists in hulling, tempering, 
 or expressing the oil," and the huller of Follet and Smith, 
 of Petersburg, is referred to : hulling at the rate of a 
 basket of kernels in four or five minutes. The machinery 
 employed in French Flanders for rape seed, answers per- 
 fectly for cotton seed. 
 
 Cotton Seed OH. A good deal has been said of late in 
 the Cincinnati and New Orleans papers on the subject of 
 cotton seed oil and cake ; and if the half of what is pub- 
 lished shall turn out to be true, we have reached the beo-in- 
 ning of a new era in the cotton culture, not unlike that 
 which marked the invention of the cotton gin. Mr. Wil- 
 liam R. Free, of Cincinnati, has invented and constructed 
 a cotton seed huller, which entirely separates the hull, and 
 7 
 
x 98 
 
 the little lint that adheres to it, from the meat part of the 
 seed. The huller is said to he 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 screen. It will hull and screen one ton, or two 
 thousand pounds, per hour, ready for the press — fifty per 
 cent, of which is kernels, or the meats of the seed, from 
 which forty gallons of oil may he obtained. This machine 
 must he exceedingly valuable to prepare seed for all feed- 
 ing purposes on the farm where no oil is expressed, as the 
 hulls and lint are altogether undesirable as food. Hulls 
 and cotton seed, and cut straw or corn stalks, boiled 
 together in large iron boilers, or steamed in big tubs or 
 vats, will make a superior stock feed. But as a gallon of 
 this oil is cheap at a dollar, and enough seed to make forty 
 gallons can be hulled in an hour, it is far better to feed the 
 cake after most of the oil is taken out, steamed with straw 
 or stalks, than to feed this precious oil to live stock. After 
 cotton seed is hulled, a good cotton press for baling cloth 
 will press out most of the oil in the kernels. Perhaps they 
 may require beating, as in pressing flax seed. The art is 
 very simple. Instead of sending cotton seed to distant 
 markets, where the producer will lose the cake for feeding, 
 and as a fertilizer, we earnestly recommend to each large 
 plantation (or where their operations are small, for several 
 to unite), to purchase a hulling machine, and, if neces- 
 sary, construct or buy an oil press for home use. Ac- 
 cording to the data furnished by the Cincinnati operators, 
 four thousand pounds of common cotton seed will turn 
 out fifty dollars worth of oil ; and every planter knows 
 that in case he should wish to mix the hulls with the 
 cake in feeding it, or as a manure, he can do so after 
 the oil is expressed. The oil is nearly valueless as a 
 fertilizer, being nothing but carbon and the elements of 
 water, while in skilful hands it is worth some forty to fifty 
 cents a gallon for making fat hogs, sheep, cows, and 
 steers; but more for burning, and lubricating machinery. 
 
99 
 
 At this time we would gladly pay twenty dollars per one 
 thousand pounds for cotton seed cake, to feed cattle, sheep, 
 and hogs. It is worth more than corn or wheat, pound 
 for pound, to feed mules and hogs on a cotton plantation. 
 It contains more of the muscle, sinew, and bone forming 
 matter. It has less starch than corn, but is a healthier 
 food than either peas, beans, wheat, or maize. If the hulls 
 were in the cake, the result would be quite different. In 
 flax seed cake the hull of the seed is not removed. It is 
 owing to the richness of the clean meats of cotton seed 
 that straw, or coarse forage of some kind, should be fed 
 with the cake, except to hogs. 
 
 Consequent upon the increased amount of cotton raised 
 in the Southern states, and the great bulk of the seed, there 
 had been several establishments in operation before the 
 war for economizing the oil. At one in New Orleans, 
 driven by a thirty-five horse power steam-press, five hun- 
 dred gallous of oil and five tons of oil cake a day were pre- 
 pared. It required for the day's work, as is stated in the 
 Southern Farmer and Planter, about fifteen tons of cotton 
 seed to produce this amount of oil and cake, each ton of 
 seed yielding about forty gallons of oil and seven hundred 
 or eight hundred pounds of cake. The proprietor shipped 
 eight hundred tons to England, where it was used by the 
 farmers, who are extensive importers of linseed oil cake. 
 The cotton seed cake "is highly esteemed for fattening cat- 
 tle and sheep." In Memphis, Tenn., it was also made in 
 very large quantities. The oil, refined by a secret process, 
 is made of two qualities — " the best used for illuminating 
 and lubricating purposes, as well as for currying leather, 
 etc. The inferior is found to answer the purpose of soap 
 making equal to palm oil, making soap of every quality, 
 even to the most refined toilet soap." Cotton seed cake 
 might be used as a substitute to a certain extent for corn 
 for fattening stock. " Cotton seed meal and corn meal, if 
 applied directly to the hay that is fed in fattening ani- 
 mals, instead of the latter being fed alone and dry, and the 
 corn unground, would add vastly to the profits of fatten- 
 
100 
 
 ing." Cotton seed cake sold at the mills for about the 
 same price that flax seed cake sold for. 
 
 Browne, in his "Field Book of Manures," New York, 
 1853, says of the cotton seeds: "They abound in a mild 
 oil, and are accounted very nutritious (as manures) after the 
 oil is expressed. A bushel of seed weighs thirty pounds, 
 and yields two and a half quarts of oil, and twelve and a 
 half pounds of fine meal. The oil cake is very brittle, and 
 breaks down much more readily than linseed oil cake. Its 
 taste is not unpleasant, and it is stated that it can be 
 employed with success in fattening stock." 
 
 In the Patent Office Eeport, 1855, p. 234, are some 
 "Chemical Researches on the Seed of the Cotton Plant," 
 by Prof. C. T. Jackson. In this article a patent is referred 
 to as having been taken out by D. W. Mesner for "separat- 
 ing the hulls from the cotton seeds." The yield of the un- 
 prepared and woolly seeds is very small, in comparison 
 with what is obtained from those which have been hulled. 
 Analyses are given of the oil, the seed, the cake, etc. 
 Prof. Jackson says : Separation of the oil : In order to sep- 
 arate the fixed oil, pure ether was employed, and it was 
 found that one hundred grains of the dried pulverized 
 seeds yielded in one experiment 39.7, and in another 40 
 per cent, of pure fatty oil. By pressure, I was able with a 
 small screw-press to obtain only thirty-three per cent, of 
 oil ; but I have no doubt a more powerful one would have 
 given a larger yield. The specific gravity of the oil which 
 I obtained from the ethereal solution was 0.923 — water 
 being unity. This is also the specific gravity of purified 
 whale oil. Cotton seed oil is stated by Dr. Wood to be a 
 drying oil, but that which I have obtained does not appear 
 to possess drying properties, serving perfectly well for the 
 lubrication of machinery, and for burning in lamps, as well 
 as for making soap. It will also serve as a substitute for 
 olive oil in many cases, and perhaps may be eaten as a 
 salad oil, for it has no disagreeable odor or taste. 
 
 Chemical examination of the oil cake: Linseed oil cake is 
 well known both in Europe and in this country as valu- 
 
101 
 
 able food for cattle, and as an excellent fertilizer — worth 
 from forty to fifty dollars per ton for the latter purpose. On 
 examining my cotton seed oil cake, I found it possessed a 
 sweet and agreeable flavor, and was much more pure and 
 clean than linseed oil cake. One hundred grains of the 
 seed leave sixty grains of oil cake. This cake, examined 
 for sugar, was found to contain 1.1 grains, and for gum, 
 thirty-five grains were obtained. Iodine gave no proof of 
 the existence of any starch in cotton seed, nor in the oil 
 cake. Alcohol dissolves out the sugar, which is like that 
 obtained from raisins, and is grape sugar. Boiling water 
 dissolves the gum, and becomes very mucilaginous. The 
 gum is precipitable from the water by means of pure alco- 
 hol. 
 
 Madura aurantiaea. Osage Orange. IS. America. Not 
 included by Chapman in his Flora of Southern United 
 States ; position irregular. 
 
 From the Patent Office Report, 1848, an article taken 
 from the Prairie Farmer, by Prof. J. B. Turner. 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 
 Cincinnati; in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Northern Mis- 
 souri; 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 the subject, no unfavorable account 
 has come to my knowledge. Great losses have been incur- 
 
102 
 
 red with the seed, as might be expected, 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. Recent 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 thorn under 
 each leaf. Its dense iron branches soon become so inter- 
 locked, that no domestic animal, 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 per- 
 fectly secures orchards, fruit-yards, stables, sheepfolds, and 
 pasture grounds from all thieves, rogues, 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 pro- 
 tection. 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 Report, 1854, p. 419, an article on the 
 best mode of cultivating the osage orange for hedges, and 
 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 con- 
 tractors set out and tend the hedge at one dollar a mile, till 
 a good fence is produced. See Cerasus Carolhiiana. The 
 juice of the osage orange, says Wilson, is exceedingly abun- 
 dant, and flows freely from incisions, and quickly separates 
 
103 
 
 into a feculant matter, and a supernatant, clear liquid. The 
 wood is uncommonly tine and elastic, and is used by the 
 American Indians for making their bows. It seems well 
 adapted to many purposes of turners. It is said to equal 
 fustic as a yellow dye stuff, and may be much more easily 
 produced. Rural Cyclopaedia. 
 
 The Cherokee rose forms a most valuable hedge plant. 
 A writer praises highly the "cabbage tree." See also 
 " Cratcegus ;" in this volume. 
 
 TiLiACEiE. [The Linden Tribe.) 
 They have all a mucilaginous, wholesome juice, 
 
 Tilia Americana, Linn., T. and G. ) Lime tree. Bass 
 " glabra, Vent, and Ell. Sk. J wood. An ornamental 
 tree, found in the mountain valleys of South Carolina; 
 Florida to North Carolina; Kewbern. 
 
 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 [T. Europea), 
 forms a strong cordage. Doubtless our American species 
 are also thus distinguished. 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 throughout 
 England the material for "bass," and is used by the horti- 
 culturist. The flowers of our American tilia, sent to me 
 from Pendleton district, S. C, I find quite as useful as the 
 imported "Tilleul," a material for quieting, antispasmodic 
 teas, so much employed in France. It is particularly grate- 
 ful and soothing to lying-in women : quieting nervous ex- 
 citement, and pleasant to the taste. I would particularly 
 recommend a larger use of these flowers in the Confeder- 
 ate States. It can be used wherever tea is required. 
 Honey dew is generally most abundant on lime, sycamore, 
 and beech trees ; on the cotton plant also. The above re- 
 marks apply to T. pubescens also, which is indigenous. 
 
104 
 
 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 the panels of carriage bodies and the seats of 
 "Windsor chairs. It is, however, apt to split, and is not 
 considered equal to poplar for such and other useful pur- 
 poses. 1ST. Am. Sylva. 
 
 Camellie^:. 
 
 Thea viridis. The introduction of the tea plant into the 
 Confederate States is so important that I will, at any rate, 
 endeavor to give all suitable references to sources of in- 
 formation concerning its culture, preparation, etc. See a 
 pretty full account of the history of its production in the 
 United States in Patent Office 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. 0. Report, 1848, p. 168, and 1859, p. 6. See also vol. 
 for 1857, p. 167, for article on " Practicability of the Tea 
 Culture in the United States." A description is given of 
 the varieties of soil and climate adapted 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 busi- 
 ness of raising tea plants; also vol. 1859, p. 5, et. seq., 
 containing successful experiments in Brazil. See Ceano- 
 thus Americanus, red-root, New Jersey tea tree, as a sub- 
 stitute. 
 
 Among our indigenous plants, the Gardenia (S. pubescens 
 and lasianthus, growing from Florida to North Carolina)* 
 belongs to the same natural family, Camellieae, as the tea 
 plant, and it should be experimented with. Our Linden 
 tree (Tilia Americana), the flowers of which are used in 
 making an antispasmodic tea, is closely related to Gar- 
 denia and Thea ; so the botanical relationship and the 
 natural properties are again substantiated. See Tilia. It 
 
105 
 
 is said that a pleasant tea can be made likewise from the 
 Holly [Ilex opaca). 
 
 The introduction of both coffee and tea into Brazil was 
 at first very slow, but was subsequently successful. 
 
 A writer in the " Country Gentleman " makes this state- 
 ment : " A few days ago I 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 a plant 
 of the Thea growing out in the open air, near Stateburgh, 
 South Carolina. 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 plant is a light 
 loam, well mixed with sand, and enriched with vegetable 
 matter, moderately moist, but neither wet nor sour. Slop- 
 ing 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 year. 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 indiscrimi- 
 nately, 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 18 inches high the leading shoots are pinched off, 
 and the shrub is forced to throw out laterals. Naturally, it 
 has a tendency to grow tall and straggling, with few side 
 shoots. * * * As the leaves used in making tea are 
 produced yearly at the ends of the shoots, the object of 
 
106 
 
 this system of treatment is apparent. * * * A small 
 crop of leaves may be gathered the third year after plant- 
 ing. In the eighth or tenth year, the product may be con- 
 sidered at its maximum. About ten pounds to an acre is 
 produced in China the third year, sometimes three hundred 
 pounds in the tenth year." Art. cit. sup. 
 
 Meliace^e. (The Bead Tree Tribe.) 
 
 Bitter, astringent, and tonic properties characterize the 
 species of this order. Some of them are active and dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 Melia Azedarach, Linn. Pride of India. Nat. ; diffused ; 
 grows in the streets of Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Chap. Therap. ii, 70; Ell. Bot. 475; Mer. and de L. Diet, 
 de M. Med. 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 Generates de Med. xvii, 112 ; Lind. 
 !N"at. Syst. 102 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 128. Barton considered 
 it our most active anthelmintic. It is also a febrifuge, 
 adapted to verminous fevers, where no worms are voided. 
 Diet, des Drogues, 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 Sant6, Mars, 
 1824. We have frequently seen them eaten by children in 
 South Carolina, with no bad effect. 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 
 coffee, 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 ber- 
 ries, in spirits, have also been employed against ascara- 
 dides, taenia, and verminous maladies generally. Accord- 
 ing to Thacher, the pulp of the berry, stewed in lard, 
 is used advantageously as an ointment in tinea capitis. 
 The decoction of the leaves is regarded as astringent and 
 stomachic, and Dr. Skyston says he uses it with success 
 
107 
 
 in hysteria. This plant is employed in Java and Persia. 
 See Bev. Medicale, iv, 82. The tree is planted around 
 stables, in order that horses, by eating the berries, may 
 be prevented from having "bots." The leaves and ber- 
 ries of the Pride of India, packed with dried fruits, will 
 preserve them from, insects. It is much valued in this state 
 as a shade tree, growing equally well in dry pine land resi- 
 dences, 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 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), aud sprinkled with a water-pot over the 
 plants, will, in most cases, prevent the depredation of the 
 black grub or cutworm. The elder (Sambucus canadensis) 
 is also said to be excellent, used in the same way. F. S. 
 Holmes' So. Farmer. The oil from flax seed (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." 
 
 Aurantiaceje. ( The Orange Tribe.) 
 
 Citrus aurantium, W. Orange. This well known tree is 
 cultivated in Charleston, and grows abundantly in Beau- 
 fort district, on the sea-coast; also in Florida, and coast 
 of Georgia. I will refer to the Lemon, also, in this con- 
 nection. 
 
 To obtain the fragrant essences from the fresh rinds of lemons, 
 oranges, 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 
 
108 
 
 put by in pots, where it is to be squeezed down hard, 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 manner may be ob- 
 tained 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 prepa- 
 ration 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 
 powdered 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 spoonfuls 
 of yeast and the juice of twelve lemons, which, being 
 pared, must stand, with two pounds of white 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 ; let 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 
 products 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 some- 
 times the most valuable portion of the fruit is Scarito, or 
 that rejected as unfit for exportation, from which the essen- 
 tial 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 currents of air. 
 The skin cut from three sides of the lemon is pressed be- 
 tween 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 
 
109 
 
 (after remaining some days to deposit the extraneous mat- 
 ter 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 con- 
 struction, is efficient. This is worked during the season 
 night and day. The quantity of juice produced from one 
 press during twenty-four hours averages 126 gallons. * * 
 Lemon juice intended for exportation is put into well 
 seasoned oak casks, and filled to the bung, so as entirely 
 to exclude the air. When of a good quality, and the till- 
 ing of the cask is completed, the article may be kept in a 
 cellar 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 con- 
 sistency — the citric acid and mucilage only remaining in 
 a highly concentrated stage. Consult Mulberry (Morus 
 rubra, in this volume. See P. 0. Rep. 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 prevent attacks of the 
 " scale," an insect, hot water or steam is the best remedy. 
 The Persian powder (see P. 0. Rep. 1857, p. 129) is also 
 advised (Pyrethrum caucasicum) — allied to the ox-eyed daisy 
 {Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) growing in the Confederate 
 States. 
 
 Rhamnace^e. (The Buckthorn Tribe.) 
 
 Ceanothus Americanus, L. New Jersey tea tree. Red- 
 root. Two varieties exist in this state. Diffused 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; 
 IT. S. Disp. 1240 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 291 ; Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 165 ; Boston Med. and Surg. Jour- 
 nal, 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 gonorrhoea! 
 
110 
 
 discharges. It is applied by the Cherokee doctors as a 
 wash in cancer, and may be used wherever 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 (Bubus villosus) was mixed with 
 it. Stearns' Am. Herbal, 97. Referring to its antisyphi- 
 litic powers, Ferrein says: "Elle guerit aussi en moins de 
 quinze jours, les veneriens les plus inveteres." It is not 
 now supposed to be endowed with any 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 dependent upon debility ; he usually 
 combines with it a little borax. See Journal de Pharm. xxiii, 
 354. Mr. Tuomey, State Geologist, informs me that much 
 use is made of it in domestic practice in Chesterfield dis- 
 trict. An infusion of the leaves was employed during the 
 Revolutionary war as a substitute for tea. We have experi- 
 mented 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 war I called the attention of our citizens 
 to this plant as a substitute for foreign tea, in a brief com- 
 munication to the Charleston Courier (Oct. 1861), 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 abun- 
 dantly in our high pine ridges. 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 better than none. I am glad to report it as a most 
 excellent article to be used in war times in place of a high- 
 priced commodity, which in every respect it closely resem- 
 bles, if it does not equal." Dr. John Bachman, also, at a 
 later period (1862) directed attention to the plant, stating 
 that he had used it for two months in his own family. 
 The leaves should be carefully dried in the shade. 
 
Ill 
 
 Euphokbiace^. {The Ewphorbium Tribe.) 
 
 The general property, according to Jussieu, is an exci- 
 tant principle, residing principally in the milky secretion, 
 and proportioned in its strength to the abundance of the 
 latter. 
 
 Buxus sempervire?is. Box. Ex. ; cultivated in gardens. 
 
 Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 799 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 512 ; 
 Le. i, 244 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 602. The leaves have been 
 affirmed to be violently purgative, and are employed as a 
 substitute for guaiacum. Dem. Elem. de Botanique, iii, 
 434 ; Bull. Plantes Ven. de France. A fetid oil is obtained 
 from it, and the wood is prized by engravers for their 
 blocks. 
 
 The timber-bearing box tree is planted in England from 
 the seeds to great profit, Besides being ornamental, its 
 timber is very valuable. It attains a great height in Tur- 
 key and Asia Minor, and the wood is used by the engrav- 
 er, and for the manufacture of combs, and musical and 
 mathematical instruments. It will grow on poor lands. 
 The garden box is always dwarfish. 
 
 Croton balsamiferum. Willd. South Florida. 
 
 This plant, C. maralimign, Walt., and several other spe- 
 cies, natives of the Confederate States, should be examined 
 on account of their alliance with C. tiglium, which produces 
 croton oil. Cascarilla bark, and a dye, are obtained from 
 the genus Croton. 
 
 Ricinus communis. Castor oil plant. Ex ; grows luxu- 
 riantly in rich spots. This valuable plant thrives so well 
 in this state, that it might be made a source of profit. On 
 some of the plantations the seeds are boiled, and the su- 
 pernatant oil given as a cathartic. It might with great 
 advantage be more generally used. See authors passim. 
 
 It is believed by some that one variety of the castor oil 
 bean hulls itself spontaneously. I remember no distinc- 
 
112 
 
 tion of this kind mentioned in Pereira's lengthy descrip- 
 tion of the plant. I have been applied to to ascertain the 
 relative value of the small and large-seeded variety. Pere- 
 ira states that the oil is equally good and abundant in each. 
 See also the Dictionnaire de Mat. Medicale. 
 
 It is being planted extensively by planters for home use 
 in the Confederate States; and at present, 1862, the oil 
 sells at from eight to eleven dollars a gallon. As it is im- 
 portant that this plant should be largely grown, on account 
 of its great value and enormous consumption, I will be at 
 the trouble to insert all 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 Christi 
 " has proved itself well adapted to the soil and climate of 
 the Middle and Southern states, and were its culture ex- 
 tended for the manufacture of castor oil, there is no doubt 
 it would be profitable under improved methods of extract- 
 ing it, and we should no longer be dependent upon other 
 nations for a supply. At present we annually import an 
 amount of this article exceeding in value $30,000." 
 
 Although an annual, herbaceous plant in the gardens of 
 the cooler parts of Europe and the United States, within the 
 tropics, 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 fif- 
 teen or twenty feet high. This plant thrives best in a light, 
 sandy loam, although it may be cultivated with success in 
 almost any soil tolerably 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, re- 
 ceiving one seed to a hill, covered to the depth of two 
 inches. The culture is so simple, that it only requires to 
 
113 
 
 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 drop to the ground. . In order to pre- 
 vent 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 seeds of 
 this plant furnish the well known medicine, castor oil, 
 which is obtained both by decoction and expression. The 
 former method is performed 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, afterward 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 surface, 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 bruis- 
 ing the seeds ; and the other apparatus used in obtaining 
 the oil should be of appropriate dimensions. The oil thus 
 obtained, however, has the disadvantage of becoming ran- 
 cid sooner than that procured by expression. The best 
 mode, . therefore, is to subject the seeds to a powerful hy- 
 draulic 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 
 De Len's Diet, cle 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 u Oils," and Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. 
 
 The oil may be extracted from the seeds (see U. S. Disp.) 
 
114 
 
 in three ways: by decoction, expression, and by the agency 
 of alcohol. 
 
 The process by decoction consists in bruising the seeds, 
 previously deprived of their husks, and then boiling them 
 in water. The oil rising to the surface is skimmed or 
 strained off, and afterward again boiled with a small 
 quantity of water, to dissipate the acrid principle. To 
 increase the product, it is said that the seeds are some- 
 times 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 cleansed from the dust and 
 fragments of the capsules with which they are mixed, are 
 conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are sub- 
 mitted to a gentle heat, insufficient 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 suffi- 
 ciently liquid for easy expression. The seeds are 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 
 forms a whitish layer between the oil and water. The 
 clear oil is now carefully removed, and the process is com- 
 pleted 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 
 
115 
 
 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 reason, 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 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 de- 
 posit a sediment upon standing ; and the apothecary -fre- 
 quently finds it necessary to filter it through coarse paper 
 before dispensing it. Perhaps this may be owing to the 
 plan just alluded to, of purifying the oil by rest and clecan- 
 tation." A large proportion of oil was obtained through 
 New Orleans from Illinois. The American castor oil, says 
 Wood and Bache, is also prepared by mere expression, 
 rest, and decantation. See Bent (" Sesamum") for oils and 
 method of expression. 
 
 Doctor John Bachman ("J. B."), who has exhibited the 
 character of the true patriot during our present struggles, 
 communicates the following on the castor' oil plant: 
 
 Mode of Culture. — Break up the land with a plough, 
 and lay it off in rows six feet apart, each way. The best 
 time to plant is from the middle of April to the second 
 week in May. Drop three seeds in each hill. Half a 
 bushel of seed will plant ten acres. Treat the plant in the 
 same manner as corn. Be careful in looking after the cut- 
 worm, which gives it the preference to corn. When the 
 plants are six inches high, they should be thinned to one 
 stalk in a hill. New lands, broken up the same season, are 
 not suited. 1 One hand can tend five acres. In a good, dry 
 soil, the yield will be from fifteen to twenty bushels per 
 acre, each bushel yielding seven quarts of pure oil. 
 
 Gathering the Seed. — About the middle of August the 
 seeds begin to ripen, and will continue until checked by 
 the frost. A writer in the Western Plough Boy, of 1832, 
 
116 
 
 says: "Previous to the ripening of the seeds, the yard for 
 spreading them on should be prepared. It should be made 
 on ground of a gradual descent, open to the sun, and made 
 very smooth and firm. The first and second parcels that 
 ripen must stand till the pods on the ear begin to crack, 
 otherwise a part of the bean will be imperfect. Later in 
 the season, when the stalk is more mature, they must be 
 cut when two or three pods begin to open, or they will 
 waste. They are laid in the yard one ear deep. In warm 
 weather a layer will pop out in three days. When all have 
 opened the stems are raked oft'. The hulls are swept oft' 
 with a broom made with naked switches ; which, if care- 
 fully done, will not leave more than one bushel of hulls in 
 eight of beans. They may be cleaned with a common 
 wheat-fan, with a riddle suited to the size of the bean." 
 
 Mode of Extraction. — The oil is obtained both by coc- 
 tion and expression. The former method is performed by 
 tying up the seeds, previously broken and bruised, in a 
 bag, which is suspended in boiling water till the oil is ex- 
 tracted and rises to the surface, when it is skimmed oft". 
 This is the usual mode adopted by farmers. The smallest 
 quantity of water, however,- remaining in the oil, causes it 
 to become rancid. The "cold expressed oil" is prefer- 
 able, and will continue pure for a long time. The process 
 is easy and simple. The screw and the lever used in bal- 
 ing cotton will express the oil from the beans. The cap- 
 sules, or unopened beans, are to be moderately heated in a 
 furnace, not so hot as to be distressing to the naked hand. 
 Under the screw is fixed a strong iron cylinder, into which 
 the beans are put, and covered with an iron follower, of 
 diameter proportioned to the cylinder. The oil is now fit 
 for use. I have seen it stated that "a Southwestern plant- 
 er began with- making 500 gallons of oil in 1825, and in 
 1831 he produces 13,000." It was then a profitable busi- 
 ness at one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. 
 
 I trust our planters will see the necessity of preparing to 
 plant the castor oil bean extensively. The great value of 
 the oil as a purgative is the mildness and rapidity with 
 
117 
 
 which it operates. It is much needed by the brave defend- 
 ers of our soil. It has saved thousands of lives-; and if 
 we cannot obtain it, thousands must perish by our inatten- 
 tion to the production of this necessary medicine. That 
 the profits, under moderate prices, are greater than. the 
 production of any other article, I am fully aware. 
 
 N. B. — Planters should be encouraged to plant largely 
 of the ground-nut — it makes an admirable oil; so does the 
 benL Oils are needed not only for table use, but on our 
 machinery of every description. 
 
 Mr. W. Toney, a writer in the Southern Field and Fire- 
 side, says "there are several varieties, all yielding castor 
 oil, but only one kind which is self-hulling, and this is the 
 true, genuine oil-bean." If this is so, I am not aware of it. 
 I have only seen a large and a small seed variety, and ho 
 writer refers, so far as I am aware, to any other distinction. 
 The writer referred to says that, for the common varieties, 
 some machinery, like the cotton seed huller, is necessary 
 to decorticate them. 
 
 A recent writer says that when the capsule is about to 
 expel the bean it is ripe ; the ripe bunches should be re- 
 moved from the stalk with a knife, and laid thinly over a 
 hard and dry floor of earth, plank, etc., on a hot and sunny 
 day, when the heat of the sun will cause the capsules to 
 expel the contained beans. Now rake away the straw, and 
 winnow away the chaff. 
 
 The cleaned beans are now to be beaten in a mortar with 
 a pestle, or ground in a mill to a good degree of fineness. 
 The mass may then be made to give out the contained oil, 
 either by decoction or by expression. 
 
 The beaten beans may be used as 'a purgative, but an 
 overdose is sure to act powerfully as a cathartic, and often 
 as an emetic. Three beans (a little more or less) are gen- 
 erally enough for a dose. 
 
 The castor oil bean, after being exposed in the sun, may 
 be thrashed with a flail, or slightly pounded in a mortar, to 
 loosen out the seeds. I would suppose that the best plan 
 would be to winnow out the seeds from their coverings. 
 
118 
 
 To purify the oil of mucilage, which will render it rancid, 
 the oil 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 be evaporated, taking care 
 not -to burn or overheat 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 ex- 
 pressed 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 h}^- 
 draulic 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 sun- 
 flower seed. He says that 62 pounds of oil can be pro- 
 cured in 100 of the castor oil bean. It is stated that in 
 Jamaica castor oil is often obtained by simply bruising the 
 iseeds in a mortur, and boiling them in bags under water — 
 the oil rises to the surface, is skimmed off, strained, and 
 bottled for use. This was the plan used on the plantations 
 in South Carolina during the war of Independence. It 
 would not do for operations on a large scale. See also 
 Encyc. Britannica, art. "Ricinus." The oil is considered 
 good for illuminating purposes. A writer in the Southern 
 Cultivator, p. 29, vol .7, refers to the discovery of a proc- 
 ess for separating stearine from the pure oil in the seeds, 
 and making the former into candles. 
 
 The cake left after the expression of castor oil is very 
 advantageously applied to land as a manure for wheat and 
 
119 
 
 other crops/ An interesting communication upon this 
 subject may be found in the first volume of the Farmer's 
 Register, from T. Or. Peachy, Esq., of Williamsburg, Va., 
 the results of whose experiments show the great value of 
 the article. In one experiment he applied from fifty 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 ex- 
 pected from it without dressing. He recommends about 
 forty bushels as an ordinary dressing. Mr. Peachy does not 
 think the common impression correct, that the chief effi- 
 cacy of the cake resides in the portion of oil which it re- 
 tains. 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 deal more oil than the cake, 
 which I have used as manure, and been uniformly disap- 
 pointed in its effects. Accident has enabled me, I think, 
 to solve the difficulty, and to declare my belief that the 
 fertilizing qualities of the oil cake reside chiefly 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 the neigh- 
 borhood, 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 great an increase of that portion of his crop as my oil 
 cake would have done. 
 
 "By experiment, I find that fifty bushels of the cake will 
 weigh 1,800 pounds; and of this quantity I have discovered 
 that ten-eighteenths is farina or flour — equal to five barrels 
 of flour. The cotton seed, I fancy, contains more farina, 
 in proportion to the oil, than the castor bean, and, I be- 
 lieve, would produce as great an effect after being deprived 
 of its oil as it would do in its original state." 
 
 Jatropha stimulosa y Mx. Stinging nettle. Grows in dry 
 
120 
 
 pine land ; vicinity of .Charleston ; collected in St. John's ; 
 Richland, Div<L. Gibbes; Newborn. Fl. Aug. The leaves 
 are prickly, and highly irritating when'applied to the" skin. 
 It might be employed like the nettle (Urtica), as a counter- 
 irritant in epilepsies, and diseases requiring stimulating 
 applications. 
 
 Acahjpha Virginica, L. Grows in dry, fertile lands ; 
 vicinit3 7 of Charleston; collected in St. John's, Berkley ; 
 JSTewbern. Fl. Sept. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 645. Said by Dr. Atkins, of 
 Coosawhatchie, to be expectorant and diuretic; he has 
 employed it successfully in cases of humid asthma, ascites, 
 and anasarca. . 
 
 Jtvppomdne mancinella, L. Manchineel. South Florida. 
 Chap. 
 
 I find it closely related to Stillingia (queen's delight), and 
 it belongs to the EupliorbiacecE. "Wilson describes it as a poi- 
 sonous, evergreen, tropical tree, of the spurge family. It 
 attains a height of eighty feet, and was esteemed a great 
 curiosity in the hot-houses of Britain. The fruit is the 
 size of an apple. A milky, caustic juice abounds in every 
 part of the tree, and if it touches the human eye, is in 
 danger of causing blindness ; and if it falls on any part of 
 the human skin, will blister it; if upon linen, it will make 
 it black, and afterward eat a hole through it; yet this 
 forms, adds the author from whom I quote, some of the 
 well known caoutchouc of commerce. The timber of the 
 manchineel is very durable, and takes a fine polish, and is 
 much esteemed for various kinds of cabinet-work; but the 
 woodsmen require to dry and consolidate it by surround- 
 ing it with artificial fires before felling the trees, else they 
 might be blistered and blinded by its juice. And the cab- 
 inet-makers must cover their faces with fine lawn while 
 working it, else they might get their eyes inflamed, and 
 temporarily blinded, with its exhalations and sawdust. The 
 
121 
 
 fruit violently inflames the mouth and throat of any person 
 who tastes it, and it is exceedingly dangerous. Any avail- 
 able part of the plant is so dreadfully active that it cannot, 
 even in the 'smallest doses, be safely introduced into medi- 
 cine. A notion prevails among the Americans that the 
 dew which falls beneath the tree is inflammatory and blis- 
 tering ; but this seems to be, the author adds, an absurd 
 exaggeration. The name Hippomane signifies horse-mad- 
 ness, ascribing to the tree a maddening effect upon the 
 horse. Rural Cyclopaedia. Its resemblance to our Stttlin- 
 gia, which is a mere shrub, is close, and the tree wants a 
 careful investigation at the hands of those living in Florida. 
 I have collected the milk from the Euphorbia and Asclepias, 
 and hardened it, though not in sufficient amount to test its 
 qualities. 
 
 Stillingia sylvatica, L. Queen's delight. Collected in the 
 pine barrens of St. John's, Berkley, in great abundance; 
 Richland ; vicinity of Charleston ; JSTewbern. Fl. Aug. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 687 ; Frost in So. Journal Med. and Pharm., 
 Oct. 1846 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 535. This 
 plant exudes a milky juice, very pungent to the taste, and 
 flowing in great abundance from the bruised surface. It is 
 used to some extent in this state, as an alterative in scrof- 
 ula, in syphilis, in cutaneous diseases, in chronic hepatic 
 affections, and in the composition of diet drinks ; it adds 
 to the efficacy of sarsaparilla. We are informed by a phy- 
 sician residing in South Carolina, that he has treated syph- 
 ilis successfully with i't. It is believed to be possessed of 
 valuable properties, and greater attention should be paid to 
 it by those living in the country where it is easily obtained. 
 A tincture is made with the root two ounces, of diluted 
 alcohol a pint. Dose a fluid drachm. A decoction is made 
 of the bruised root one ounce, water one and one-quarter 
 pints. Boil to one pint. Dose, one or two fluidounces 
 several times a day ; an overdose is cathartic or emetic. 
 The milky juices should be examined. I have inspissated 
 that from the Asclepias and Euphorbia. See these genera, 
 
122 
 
 ia sebifera, L. Tallow-tree. Nat. from China; 
 collected in St. John's, forty-five miles from the ocean. 
 I have seen it growing abundantly near Charleston, on 
 the King street road. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 476; see Oroton 
 sebif of Mich. An ointment made from this is applied in 
 nocturnal fevers. The Chinese, according to Thunberg, 
 employ the concreted oil extracted from the plant, in man- 
 ufacturing candles. The Reporters of the Patent Office, 
 for 1848, speak very favorably of it, and recommend its 
 Introduction, seeming not to be aware of its being already 
 found here. See their method of extracting the oil. 
 
 In my report on the Medical Botany of South Carolina 
 to the American Medical Association, in 1849, I had, as 
 above, reported the fact of this tree being already natural- 
 ized. I have recommended it particularly to the soap 
 manufacturers of Charleston and the Confederate States, 
 as a rich material for oil. The seeds, when burned, give 
 out a great deal of light. It could be planted with profit. 
 In the Patent Office Report, 1851, p. 54, there is also a 
 paper on the uses of the S. sebifera, with a notice of the 
 Pe-la, or Insect Wax of China. By D. J. Macgowan, M. 
 D., dated Ningpo, August, 1850. In this article, it is stated 
 that the Encyclopaedia Americana refers to its being grown 
 along our coast. "Analytical chemistry shows animal 
 tallow to consist of two proximate principles — stearine and 
 daine. Now, what renders the fruit of this tree peculiarly 
 Interesting, is the fact that both these principles exist in it 
 separately, in nearly a pure state." "Nor is the tree prized 
 merely for the stearine and elaine it juelds, though these 
 products constitute its chief value : its leaves are employed 
 as a black dye ; its wood, being hard and durable, may be 
 easily used for printing-blocks, and various other articles ; 
 and, finally, the refuse of the nut is employed as fuel and 
 manure." Dr. Roxburgh, in his Flora Indica, had con- 
 demned the plant as of little value, because, in simply 
 crushing and boiling the seeds, the two principles referred to 
 as existing together are not properly separated. I had my- 
 
123 
 
 self, long since, in my report, published in 1849, and also in 
 my paper in DeBow's Review, August, 1861, recommended 
 tliis plant to the candle and soap manufacturers for the 
 large amount of oil it contained, and because of its abun- 
 dance around Charleston. I also gave some of the seeds 
 to a manufacturer of castor oil, to experiment with, in 
 1851. I will now quote from the paper mentioned, and 
 also refer the reader to a paper on the subject in the 
 Charleston Medical Journal, by H. W. Raven el. 
 
 " The Stillingia sebifera is chiefly cultivated in the provin- 
 ces of Brangsi, Kongnain, and Chekkiang. In some districts 
 near Uangchan,. the inhabitants defray all their taxes with 
 its produce. It grows alike on low, alluvial plains, and on 
 granite hills, on the rich mould, at the margin of canals, 
 and on the sandy sea-beach. The sandy estuary of Hang- 
 chan yields little else. Some of the trees are known to be 
 several hundred years old, and, though prostrated, still send 
 forth branches and bear fruit. Some are made to fall over 
 rivulets, forming convenient bridges. They are seldom 
 planted where anything else can be conveniently cultivated 
 — in detached places, in corners about houses, roads, canals, 
 and fields. Grafting is performed at the close of March, or 
 early in April, when the trees are about three inches in 
 diameter, and also when the} 7 attain their growth. The 
 Fragrant Herbal recommends for trial the practice of an old 
 gardener, who, instead of grafting, preferred breaking the 
 small branches and twigs, taking care not to tear or wound 
 the bark. In midwinter, when the nuts are ripe, they are 
 cut off, with their twigs, by a sharp, crescentic knife, 
 attached to the extremity of a long pole, which is' held in 
 the hand, and pushed upward against the twigs, removing 
 at the same time such as are fruitless. The capsules are 
 gently pounded in a mortar, to loosen the seeds from their 
 shells, from which they are separated by sifting. To facili- 
 tate the separation of the white, sebaceous matter envelop- 
 ing the seeds, they are steamed in tubs having convex open 
 wicker bottoms, placed over caldrons of boiling water. 
 When thoroughly heated, they are reduced to a mash in 
 
124 
 
 » 
 
 the'mortar, and thence transferred to bamboo sieves, kept 
 at a uniform temperature over hot ashes. A single opera- 
 tion does not suffice to deprive them of all their tallow ; 
 the steaming and sifting are therefore repeated. The arti- 
 cle thus procured becomes a solid mass on falling through 
 the sieve, and, to purify it, is melted and formed into cakes 
 for the press. These receive their form in bamboo hoops, 
 a foot in diameter, and three inches deep, which are laid on 
 the ground over a little straw. On being filled with the 
 . hot 'liquid, the buds of the straw are drawn up and spread 
 over the top, and when of sufficient consistence, are placed 
 with their rings in the press. This apparatus, which is of 
 the rudest description, is constructed of two large beams, 
 placed horizontally, so as to form a trough capable of con- 
 taining about fifty of the rings, with their sebaceous cakes. 
 At one end it is closed, and at the other it is used for 
 receiving wedges, which are successively driven into it by 
 ponderous sledge-hammers, wielded by athletic men. The 
 tallow oozes in a melted state into a receptacle below, 
 where it cools. It is again melted, and poured into tubs 
 smeared with mud, to prevent its adhering. It is now 
 marketable, in masses of about eighty pounds each, hard, 
 brittle, white, opaque, tasteless, and without the odor of 
 animal tallow. Under high pressure it scarcely stains 
 bibulous paper; melts at 104° Fahrenheit. It may be 
 regarded as nearly pure slearine; the slight difference 
 is doubtless owing to the admixture of oil expressed 
 from the seeds in the process just described. The seeds 
 yield about eight per cent, of tallow, which sells for 
 about five cents per pound. The process for pressing the 
 oil, which is carried on at the same time, remains to be 
 noticed. It is contained in the kernel of the nut — the 
 sebaceous matter which lies between the shell and the 
 husk having been removed in the manner described. The 
 kernel, and the husk covering it, are ground between two 
 stones, which are heated to prevent clogging from the seba- 
 ceous matter still adhering. The mass is then placed in a 
 winnowing machine, precisely like those in use in western 
 
125 
 
 countries. The chaff being separated, exposes the white, 
 oleaginous kernels, which, after being strained, are placed 
 in a mill to be mashed. This machine is formed of a cir- 
 cular stone groove, twelve feet in diameter, three inches 
 deep, and about as many wide, into which a thick, solid 
 stone wheel, eight feet in diameter, tapering at the edge, is 
 made to revolve perpendicularly by an ox harnessed to the 
 outer end of its axle, the inner turning on a pivot in 
 the centre of the machine. Under this perpendicular 
 weight the seeds are reduced to a mealy state, steamed in 
 the tubs, formed into cakes, and pressed by wedges in the 
 manner above described; the process of mashiLg, steaming, 
 and dressing being repeated with the kernels likewise. 
 The kernels yield about thirty per cent, of oil. It is called 
 ising-yu, sells for about three cents a pound, answers well 
 for lamps, though inferior for this purpose to some other 
 vegetable oils in use. It is also employed for various pur- 
 poses in the arts,*and has a place in the Chinese pharmaco- 
 poeia because of its quality of changing gray hair black, 
 and other imaginary virtues. The husk which envelops 
 the kernel, and the shell which encloses them and their 
 sebaceous covering, are used to feed the furnaces — scarcely 
 any other fuel being needed for this purpose. The resid- 
 uary tallow cakes are also employed for fuel, as a small 
 quantity of it remains ignited a whole day. It is in great 
 demand for chafing-dishes during the cold season, and, 
 finally, the cakes which remain after the oil has been 
 pressed out are much valued as a manure, particularly for 
 tobacco fields, the soil of which is rapidly impoverished 
 by the Virginia weed. Artificial illumination in China is 
 generally procured by vegetable oils ; but candles are also 
 employed by those who can afford it, and for lanterns. In 
 religious ceremonies no other material is used. As no one 
 ventures out after dark without a lantern, and as the gods 
 cannot be acceptably worshipped without candles, the quan- 
 tit} 7 consumed is very great. With an unimportant excep- 
 tion, the candles are made of what I beg to designate as 
 vegetable stearine. When the candles, which are made by 
 
126 
 
 dipping, are of the required diameter, they receive a final 
 dip into a mixture of the same material and insect wax, by 
 which their consistency is preserved in the hottest weather. 
 They are generally colored red, which is done by throwing a 
 minute quantity of alkanet root (Anchusa tinctoria), brought 
 from Shangtung, into the mixture. Verdigris is sometimes 
 employed to dye them green. The wicks are made of rush 
 coiled round a stem of coarse grass, the lower part of which 
 is slit to receive the pin of the candlestick, which is more 
 economical than if put into a socket. Tested in the mode 
 recommended by Count Iiumford, these candles compare 
 favorably with those made from spermaceti, but not when 
 the clumsy wick of the Chinese is employed. Stearine 
 candles cost about eight cents per pound. 
 
 Euphorbia corolhta, L. "Wild hippo ; wild ipecac. Col- 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley; Charleston district; in dry 
 soils ; vicinity of Charleston ; ISTewbern. * Fl. Aug. 
 
 Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 82; Bell's Pract. Diet. 199; 
 Am. Journal Med. Sci. xi, 22 ; U. S. Disp. 321 ; Big. Am. 
 Med. Bot, iii, 119 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 542 ; Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. iii, 179; Clayton's Phil. Trans. Abriclg. 
 331 ; Zollickotfer, Mat. Med. 1819 ; cit. in Bart. loc. sup. ; 
 Coxe, Am. Disp. 272 ; Griffith, Med. Bot, 593. It is emetic, 
 diaphoretic, and cathartic. Dr. Zollickoft'er thinks that, as 
 a diaphoretic, combined with Dover's powder, it is not in- 
 ferior to ipecacuanha. He tried it in seven cases. Twenty 
 grains of the powdered root would produce emesis, some- 
 times followed by hypercatharsis. Dr. McKeen states that 
 twelve grains of the root in substance have double the pur- 
 gative power of an equal quantity of jalap. "Combined 
 with opium and the sulphate of potassa, an excellent 
 diaphoretic in dropsy." See Diet, de Mat. Med. Dr. Frost, 
 Prof. Mat. Med. South Carolina Med. Coll., thinks it quite 
 as active as the ipecacuanha, and fully entitled to the con- 
 sideration of the profession, he having used it with benefit 
 in his own practice. "Even should they not be employed, 
 every physician should be instructed in their properties, 
 
127 
 
 and, when occasion requires", know the substitute he can 
 apply to in case of need." Op. cit. 82. A drachm to eighty 
 or one hundred grains may be added to a half pint of 
 hot water, which may be given in tablespoonful doses 
 every five or ten minutes till vomiting is induced. This is 
 a convenient mode of administration. According to ex- 
 periment, the contused root will excite vesication and 
 inflammation if applied to the skin. Maj. John Leconte, 
 of New York, informs me that he has been much pleased 
 with its effects as a sudorific. Dose as an emetic, twenty 
 grains ; as a cathartic, ten grains ; as a diaphoretic, four 
 grains. This plant is easily obtained, and can be conven- 
 iently prescribed. It should be used with caution in cases 
 of insensibility of the stomach. 
 
 Euphorbia ipecacuanha. Carolina hippo. Grows in Abbe- 
 ville, Edgefield, and Colleton districts ; Newbern. Fl. 
 June. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 223 ; Barton's Med. Bot. 120. . An energetic 
 and tolerably certain emetic ; but liable sometimes to pro- 
 duce excessive nausea by accumulation ; hence, thought by 
 some writers "wholly unfit to supersede the officinal ipe- 
 cacuanha." "This opinion, however, has been questioned 
 by Hewson, lioyal, and others. Barton said it was equal, 
 and in some respects superior. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 114 ; 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 555 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 
 iii, 182 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 272 ; Schoepf, Mat. Med. 74 ; B. 
 S. Barton, Collec. 26; W. P. Barton, Veg. Mat. Med.; 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 592 ; Frost's Eleins. 81. It sometimes 
 has its action extended to the bowels, and operates w T ith a 
 considerable degree of activity. Dose as an emetic, fifteen 
 to twenty grains ; as a diaphoretic, five grains. Bigelow 
 notices among its constituents caoutchouc, resin, mucus, 
 and fsecula. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 109. It is evident, from 
 the variety of opinions expressed in relation to this plant, 
 that it should be given with caution. Both species are 
 considered to be more active than the imported ipecac- 
 uanha. 
 
128 
 
 Euphorbia hypericifolia, L. Spurge ; eye-bright. Grows in 
 the upper district, according to Elliott; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton, Bach ; Collected in St. John's ; found by Dr. Boykin, 
 in Georgia. Fl. July. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 321. Highly recommended by Dr. Zol- 
 lickofi'er, of Baltimore, in dysentery, after due depletion. 
 In diarrhoea, meuorrhagia, and leucorrhcea, a half ounce of 
 the dried leaves is infused in a pint of boiling water, of 
 which a fluid half ounce must be taken every hour in dys- 
 entery, and the same quantity after every evacuation in di- 
 arrhoea, and two ounces morning, noon, and night, in 
 amenorrhcea, fluor albus, etc. See, also, Mer. and de L. 
 Supplem. to the Diet, de M. Med. 1845, 282, where Dr. 
 Zollickoffer's success in twelve cases is referred to ; also, 
 Am. Journal of Med. Sci. Nov. 1832 ; M. and de L. iii, 181. 
 It possesses some narcotic power, also, which contributes 
 to render it peculiarly applicable in these diseases. Journal 
 Med. de la Gironde, 161, 1825. Martius says it has the 
 same properties as the E. linearis the milky juice of which 
 is used in Brazil in syphilitic ulcers. He had often tested 
 its value in ulcers of the cornea. Journal de Chim. v, 427. 
 The juice applied to the eye causes severe smarting, and it 
 is thought to cause the severe salivation to Which grazing 
 horses are subject. From several of the spurge tribe a 
 gum (euphorbium) is obtained by incision, which concretes 
 by exposure to the air. It is a dangerous irritant, and has 
 to be handled with caution. Mixed with starch to weaken 
 it, it may be used externally. Our Euphorbias should be 
 examined for caoutchouc, and the juice investigated care- 
 fully and cautiously; so, also,, the juice of the Stillingia. 
 
 Euphorbia maculata, L. Cultivated soils ; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; collected in St. John's. El. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 184 ; Ainslie, Mat. 
 Med. Ind. ii, 76. Juice employed with great success in 
 cleansing the cornea of the spots and pellicles (les pelli- 
 cules) following small pox. Merat says the ancients recom- 
 mended these plants in diseases of the eye. Dr. Zol- 
 
129 
 
 lickoffer speaks of this species, also, as possessing valuable 
 properties. All are endowed with some emetic power. 
 
 Euphorbia heUoscopia. Grows near the Horseshoe bridge, 
 Ashepoo, and on Hutchinson's island. See Ell. Sketches. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Dem. filem. de Botanique, ii, 21. "A valuable purga- 
 tive." According to Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 
 181, it is useful in spyhilis when mercury is contraindicated. 
 Dr. Eonne assures the profession of its utility. See Bulk 
 des Sci. de Fer. ii, 354. 
 
 Euphorbia thymifolia, L. Included by Thomas Walter, in 
 his Flora Carolina, among the South Carolina species- 
 Mich, says it grows on the Mississippi. Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. iii, 188. In India, the powder is admin- 
 istered in the verminous disorders of infants. Ainslie, 
 Mat. Med. Ind. 275. 
 
 Mercurialis annua. Grows around Charleston. Intro- 
 duced. 
 
 A poisonous, narcotic plant, with emetic properties, but 
 less active than the M. perennis. Seeds purgative. It par- 
 takes, to a certain extent, of the acrid qualities of the 
 Euphorbiacese. 
 
 Celastrace^e. 
 
 De Oand. says an acrid principle has been detected among 
 the species. 
 
 Euonymus Amerkanus. Rare ; grows in swamps ; col- 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley. Fl. May. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 220. Emetic, discutient, and anti- 
 syphilitic. It is also thought to be narcotic. The seeds 
 are said to be nauseous, purgative, and emetic, and are 
 used in some places to destroy vermin in the hair. Leaves 
 are poisonous to cattle. 
 
 Euonymus atropurpureus. Possesses properties similar to 
 the above. 
 9 
 
130 
 
 Staphyleace.e. (Bladder-nut Family.) 
 
 Staphylea trifoha, L. Three leaved bladder-nut. Damp 
 woods North Carolina, Tennessee, and northward (Chap). 
 
 The nut of our tree ^resembles closely that of the S. pin- 
 nata, which is used in Catholic countries for making rosa- 
 ries. Rosaries are also made of the seeds of the Pride of 
 India tree (Melia). The nuts of the 8. trifoliata resemble a 
 large, inflated bladder. 
 
 Cyrilla racemiflora, Walter. Grows in swamps, and inun- 
 dated lands ; collected in St. John's, where it is found in 
 abundance; vicinity of Charleston; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 295. The outer bark of the old- 
 est shrubs, near the root, is extremely light and friable, and 
 absorbs moisture. It has been used with advantage as a 
 substitute for agaric and other styptics. I learn that it is 
 much confided in for this purpose by those living in Dar- 
 lington district, South Carolina. When rubbed on the 
 hand, it produces a sensation similar to that produced by 
 the application of an astringent fluid. It has also been 
 applied to ulcers when the indication is to cicatrize them. 
 This plant merits further attention. 
 
 Cliftonia ligustrina, Banks. (3fylocarium, Willd.) Titi. 
 Pine-barren ponds and swamps, Florida, and lower dis- 
 tricts of South Carolina and Georgia. 
 
 Mr. Johnson, of Beaufort, S. C, informs me that the 
 stems, when dried, are found to suit admirably for pipe- 
 stems — a heated wire being passed through the pith. 
 
 Clusiace^e. (Balsam. Tree Family.) 
 
 Clusia Jfava, L. South Florida. 
 
 Wilson, in his Rural Cyclopaedia, says that the balsam 
 tree, Clusia rosea, grows in Carolina and West India islands. 
 "A balsam resembling turpentine exudes from every part 
 of the tree, and has been much used as a plaster for the 
 cure of sciatica. The West Indians call this balsam ho^ 
 
131 
 
 gum, from a belief that wild hogs rub themselves against 
 it to obtain a cure of their wounds." 
 
 Canella alba. Swartz. South Florida. Chap. 
 This is an aromatic tree, bearing black berries. 
 
 Portulacace^e. (The Purslane Tribe.) 
 
 Portalaca oleracea, Walter. Garden purslane. Grows in 
 yards and rich soils; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. 
 John's; Newbern. Fl. Aug. 
 
 Linn. Veg. M. Med. 88; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. v, 458. It is antiscorbutic, diuretic, and anthelmin- 
 tic, and vaunted as an antidote for poisoning from can- 
 tharides. According to Linnaeus, the herb was used in 
 strangury. It will coagulate milk. The American dispen- 
 satories do not vouchsafe it the same notice that it has 
 received in various parts of Europe. It has long been used 
 as a salad and potherb. The young shoots are gathered 
 when from two to live inches long. Rural Cyclopaedia. A 
 blue color is obtained from this plant. The following is 
 given by an agricultural journal : Boil a bushel of garden 
 parsley or purslane till soft in an iron pot or kettle, and 
 strain off the liquor; boil a pound of logwood, also in iron, 
 for two hours, strain off the liquor, and mix the purslane 
 water; then dissolve half a pound of alum in soft water, 
 sufficient to cover three pounds of yarn ; put it in a brass 
 or copper kettle, and simmer the yarn in it for three hours ; 
 then wring and put into the dye ; simmer this three hours, 
 with frequent stirring. The depth of the color may be 
 varied by varying the quantity of the logwood. A very 
 desirable blue dye is obtained. See Ohio and Southern 
 Cultivator. 
 
 Silenece^;. (The Dianthus Tribe.) 
 
 Uniformly insipid. 
 
 Silene Virginica, L. Grows on the margin of roads ; 
 vicinity of Charleston; collected in St. John's. Fl. June. 
 
132 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 188 ; Barton's Collec. i. 39 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 1296 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 342 ; De 
 Cand. Essai, 94 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 125.* The decoc- 
 tion of the root acts as an anthelmintic. 
 
 Saponaria officinalis, Linn. Soapwort. Nat. in upper 
 districts ; Newbern. Fl. Aug. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1293. This plant imparts to water the pro- 
 perty of forming a lather, from a principle it contains 
 called saponine, which is allied to the active constituent of 
 sarsaparilla, and as a substitute for which it is frequently 
 used. This is obtained by treating the watery extract 
 with alcohol, and evaporating. It has been used in Ger- 
 many in visceral and scrofulous affections, cutaneous erup- 
 tions, and by some is thought superior to sarsaparilla in 
 efficacy. The decoction or the extract may be given. 
 Audiw said the inspissated juice would generally cure 
 gonorrhoea in two weeks, without any other remedy. Op. 
 tit Wade's PI. Rariores, 32 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. vii, 220; Flore Med. vi, 311. It is regarded as diu- 
 retic, aperient, and sudorific, recommended in engorgement 
 of the abdominal viscera, stomach, intestines, lymphatic 
 glands, and in icterus, cachexy, etc. On account of its 
 sudorific properties, it is advised in syphilis, rheumatism, 
 and gout. Perrihle gave it combined with mercury; while 
 fresh, administering it in doses of one-half ounce of the de- 
 coction, or from twenty-four to forty-eight grains of the 
 extract. Journal de Chim Med. vi, 747, and vii, 710 ; 
 Ludolff, Diss, de Rad. Sap. Offic. Erfordire, 1756; J. F. 
 Cartheusen, Diss, de Sap. Frankfort ; Amielhon, " Si le 
 Struthium des anciens est veritablement la saponaire des 
 modernes." Mem. Nat. des Sci. et des. Arts, i. 587. 
 
 A decoction of this plant has been used in some coun- 
 tries as a substitute for soap, and is well capable of cleans- 
 ing woollen fabrics; the leaves were considered laxative. 
 Wilson's Rural Cyc. Consult "Sapindus " and " JEsculus." 
 in this paper, for other plants used as substitutes for soap. 
 The Sapindus (soapwort) also furnishes one species, S. 
 
133 
 
 mar [fin alas, which may he useful. Found in Florida and 
 Georgia, near the coast. 
 
 Salsola soda. Barilla plant. I would particularly advise 
 the planting in the Confederate States of this plant (culti- 
 vated so largely in Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia), on ac- 
 count of its great value in the ready manufacture of crude 
 soda — which is now supplanting, on account of its cheap- 
 ness, the use of potash in the manufacture of soap. Be- 
 side, soda gives a hard soap. According to the analysis 
 of life, "good barilla contains twenty per cent, of real 
 alkali, associated with muriates and sulphates of lime, 
 soda," etc. Caustic lyes made from it are used in the 
 finishing process of hard soap manufacture. 
 
 The Salsola kali, L. Saltwort. S. Carolmiana of Walt. 
 It grows in Georgia, and northward ; and- 1 have little doubt 
 is rich in soda, and may be made of great use to us in the 
 production of this most important product. 
 
 The barillas, Ure says, " always contain a small propor- 
 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." 
 
 I will give the method of preparing soda from the Sal- 
 sola: "Of manufactured soda, the variety 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 vicinit}^ of Alicaut. The seed is sown in 
 light, low soils, which are embanked toward the sea-shore, 
 and furnished with sluices for admitting an occasional 
 overflow of salt water. When the plants are ripe, the 
 crop is cut down and dried; the seeds are rubbed out, and 
 preserved ; the rest of the plant is burned in rude fur- 
 naces, at a temperature just sufficient to cause the ashes 
 to enter into a state of semifusion, so as to concrete on 
 cooling into cellular masses, moderately compact," etc. 
 "Another mode of manufacturing crude soda is by burn- 
 ing sea-weed into kelp." Ure. Now, crude soda, and the 
 
184 
 
 soda ash of commerce, are made altogether by the decom- 
 position 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" {Zea mays) for eco- 
 nomical mode of making soda from corn-cobs. 
 
 Directions for making "Home-made" Soda. — The Rich- 
 mond Dispatch publishes the following: "The prepara- 
 tion 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, stirring frequently ; 
 then strain through a fine cloth, and boil down again to 
 dryness, stirring frequently, and. finally, cork up the pow- 
 der 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 these times of war and blockade, 
 when our people are thrown almost entirely upon their own 
 resources, every item looking to domestic economy and 
 home production should be carefully observed. Our people 
 are passing through a trying ordeal, but they are learning 
 lessons which will be of practical 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 increasing love for easy and luxurious 
 living, and by the versatility of Yankee genius in supply- 
 ing our almost every want, are now, from the influences 
 of necessity, being resumed, while they are found to em- 
 body all of practical utility which they possessed in days 
 of yore. 
 
 Looking to the general principle of domestic economy 
 and home effort, we annex the following receipts for mak- 
 ing soap, which we find in the "Wilmington Journal. One. 
 
135 
 
 of these receipts lias been patented at the North. If tried, 
 they will no doubt be found valuable at this time: 
 
 To Make Family Soap*. — Take six quarts of soft water, 
 six pounds of bar soap, one-quarter of a pound of sal-soda, 
 three teaspoonfuls spirits turpentine, one and a half tea- 
 spoonful hartshorn, one teaspoonsful of .camphor, two tea- 
 spoonfuls of salt. Cut the soap up fine, 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. 
 
 To 31ake Jelly Soap. — After pouring out of the vessel the 
 above soaps, pour in water enough to wash off the sides 
 and bottom, and boil twenty minutes. Then pour off to 
 cool, and you have excellent jelly soap for washing clothes, 
 etc. 
 
 To Make Soft Soap. — Take ten pounds potash well pul- 
 verized, fifteen pounds grease, and three buckets boiling 
 water. Mix, and stir potash and water together until dis- 
 solved. Then add the grease, stirring well ; put all into a 
 barrel, and every morning 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, Garya, for manufacture of potash and 
 potash soap from ashes. 
 
 Spergula arvensis. Walt ; Linn. Spurrey. Grows in cul- 
 tivated lands, lower country of South Carolina; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; collected in St. 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 quan- 
 tities." The seeds of a variety of this plant growing in 
 German}* continue 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 
 
136 
 
 form, and are thought to become very prolific of eggs when 
 fed upon it. Rural Cyclopaedia, and Thaer's Agricultural 
 Chemistry. 
 
 Stellaria media. Smith. Chickweed ; stitchwort. Intro- 
 duced. 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 barometer ; for when rain is approaching 
 they remain closed, and in dry weather they are regularly 
 open from about nine o'clock in the morning till noon. 
 "Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia. 
 
 Xanthoxylaceje. 
 
 The species belonging to this order are generally aro- 
 matic and pungent. 
 
 ( Americanum, T. & Gray, ~\ 
 Xanthoxylum. Ifraxineum, Wi\W. I Prickly ash; 
 
 ] ramiflorum, Mich. f toothache bush. 
 
 ^ Clava Herculis, Linn. J 
 Barham's Hortus Americanus. The scraped root is 
 applied to ulcers in order to heal them. The plant pos- 
 sesses stimulating powers, and is a "powerful sudorific 
 and diaphoretic;" remarkable, according to Barton, for its 
 extraordinary property of exciting salivation, whether ap- 
 plied immediately to the gums, or taken internally. It is 
 reported to have been used successfully in paralysis of the 
 muscles of the mouth, and in rheumatic affections. 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. According to Cam, the Indians employed the 
 decoction as an injection in gonorrhoea: "Voyage to Can- 
 ada." It has been given in syphilis as a substitute for 
 
137 
 
 guaiacum, and also for mezereon. See Anc. Journal cle 
 Med. ii, 314. A peculiar principle, xanthopierite, is 
 afforded by it. See also X. fraxineum, with which this 
 plant is frequently confounded, as well as with the Aralia 
 spmosa. 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 crystal- 
 lizable principle, which he calls xanthoxylin. 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 diaphoresis. It enjoys con- 
 siderable reputation in chronic rheumatism. Dose of pow- 
 der 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. In rheumatism 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 Surgeon-Gen. Office, 1862. 
 
 X. Carolinianum, Lam. and T. and G. 1 This species is 
 tricarpum, Ell. Sk. J 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 Southern states, does not 
 include X. Americanum (toothache bush, Hercules' club) 
 among our Southern plants. 
 
 These plants have the reputation in America of being 
 powerfully 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 paralysis of the muscles of the mouth. 
 Rural Cyc. This may account for their utility in tooth- 
 ache. ' 
 
 Simarubace^e. (Quassia Family.) 
 
 Simaruba Glauca. D. C. Quassia. South Florida. A 
 large tree. Chap. 
 
138 
 
 This species of quassia, though not the officinal, should 
 be examined for any bitter tonic properties it may contain. 
 
 Geraniaceje. [The Geranium Tribe.) 
 
 Characterized by an astringent principle, and an aro- 
 matic or resinous flavor. 
 
 Geranium maculatum, Linn. Cranesbill; crowfoot; alum 
 root. 
 
 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; U. S. Disp. 350; 
 Royle, Mat. Med. 73; Bart. M. Bot. i, 140; Pe Mat. 
 Med. and Therap. ii, 751; Am. Journal Pharm. iv, 190; 
 Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. i, 171; Ed. and Yav. Mat, M6d. 
 135; Schoepf, Mat. Med. 107; Barton's Collec 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 diar- 
 rhoea, and cholera infantum. It is injected with advantage 
 in cases of gleet and leucorrhcea, and is used as a wash for 
 old ulcers. Bigelow speaks of it as a very powerful astrin- 
 gent, very similar to kino and catechu, and a useful substi- 
 tute for the more expensive 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 excit- 
 ing causes. Colden and Schcepf also speak highly of the 
 root in dysentery; and Dr. B. S. Barton, in cholera infan- 
 tum, used the decoction in milk. Eberle Avas successful 
 with it, in his treatment of aphthous affections of the 
 mouth, and of ulcerations of the fauces and tonsils. Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot, 209. By Staple's examination, Journal 
 Phil. Coll. Pharm. i, 171, it contains tannin, gallic acid, 
 mucilage, a small proportion of aniadin, 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 
 
139 
 
 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 tablespoonfuls. The extract is said 
 to be the best form; alcohol and proof spirits, however, 
 readily dissolve the active principle, and the tincture keeps 
 best. 
 
 Balsaminace^e. [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. 
 
 f 'pallida, ISTutt. ; T. and G. ) Touch-me-not; 
 
 Impatiensi 7 - . ttvh en -• i in 
 
 1 \ noli me tangerc, Ell. Sk. J jewel-weed. Grows 
 
 in inundated swamps; vicinity of Charleston; collected in 
 St. Johns. Fl. July. 
 
 Bull Plantes Yen. 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 IT. S. Disp., 1264, speaks of it as a dangerous plant, 
 possessed of acrid properties; when taken internally, act- 
 ing as an emetic, cathartic, and diuretic. 
 
 OXALIDACEyE. 
 
 Leaves generally acid. 
 
 Oxalis acetosella, L. White wood-sorrel. Mountains of 
 North Carolina, and northward. Chap. 
 
 The plant is a very agreeable and wholesome salad, and 
 possesses refrigerant, antiscorbutic, and antiseptic proper- 
 ties. The juice coagulates milk, and precipitates lime from 
 solution. When boiled in milk, it gives off its acidulous-' 
 ness to the whey; and either this whey, or the expressed 
 juice of the plant, much diluted with water, may be used 
 as a good refrigerant drink in fevers. Rural Cyc. The 
 herb is powerfully and most agreeably acid, making a re- 
 
140 
 
 freshing and wholesome conserve with fine sugar; its flavor 
 resembles green tea. 
 
 Oxalis violaced, L. Wood-sorrel. Grows in rich soils ; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's. Fl. May. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 66. It contains the oxalate of potash, which 
 imparts to it its pleasant, acid taste. 
 
 Oxalis corniculata, L. "i Vicinity of Charleston ; similar 
 " furoata Ell. Sk. j in properties to the Ox. violacea. 
 
 Rosacea. (The Rose Tribe.) 
 
 None of the species are unwholesome ; they are generally 
 characterized by the possession of an astringent principle. 
 The sub-order, Amygdalece, are better known for yielding 
 Prussic or hydrocanic acid. 
 
 Poteatilla (canadensis f). Grows in meadows, in lower and 
 upper districts; St. John's, South Carolina. 
 
 Dr. Richard Moore, of Sumter district, South Carolina, 
 informs me that this plant, on account of its bitter, mucil- 
 aginous qualities, has been found, by repeated experiment, 
 to be a most efficient and useful remedy in the treatment 
 of chronic colds, threatening phthisis. The decoction is 
 used. He refers to the plant as the P. reptans (?). 
 
 Rubus villosus, Ait. High bush blackberry. Diffused ; 
 observed in Fairfield district; collected in St. John's; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Eberle, Mat. Med. i, 386; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 453; Ed. and 
 Vav. Mat. Med. 134; Royle, Mat. Med. 374; IT. S. Disp. 
 603-4; Ball, and Gar. Mat, Med. 267; Big. Am. Med. Bot. 
 ii, 160; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 474; Thacher's 
 IT. S. Disp. 341 ; Bind. Nat, Syst, 144 ; Barton's Collec. ii, 
 157; Griffith, Med. Bot. 270. Bigelow considers it a power- 
 ful astringent, and is satisfied of its efficacy, administered 
 both internally and externally, in a variety of cases admit- 
 ting of relief from this class of remedies. Dr. Chapman 
 
141 
 
 also speaks highly of it in the declining stage of dysentery, 
 after the symptoms of active -inflammation are removed ; 
 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 decoc- 
 tion is made of 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 teaspoonfuls ; for an adult, a wine- 
 glassful several times a day ; orange peel may be added. 
 Dose of the powdered root, twenty or thirty grains. No 
 analysis has yet been made. In the old work on "Herbs," 
 by Nicholas Culpepper, gentleman, " Student in Physic 
 and Astrology," the author observes of one of the genus 
 Mubus : "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. 
 
 Mubus trivialis, Mich. Low bash dewberry; creeping 
 blackberry. Diffused ; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in 
 St. John's; Newbern. Fl. April. 
 
 Watson's Pract. Physic, 820 ; U. S. Disp. 603 ; Pe Mat, 
 Med. and Therap. ii, 543 ; Royle Mat. Med. 375 ; Chap, 
 on Dis. of Thorac. and Abdom. Viscera, 279 ; British and 
 For. Med. Review, Jan. 31, 1845; Ball, and Gar. Mat. 
 Med. 268. This is, no doubt, possessed of astringent prop- 
 erties similar to the above ; a decoction of the root is said 
 to be a safe, sure, and speedy cure for dysentery — 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 receipt 
 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 serviceable in families, as well as in 
 
142 
 
 camps and hospitals. It can easily be made with whisky, 
 or this may be omitted. It is only strange that so useful 
 and pleasant a drink, and one within the reach of every 
 one, should, until recently, have been so 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 three 
 eggs beaten to a froth, and stirred in the juice; a little 
 spice, with two dozen cloves, beaten together, and one nut- 
 meg grated, should be put in a small linen bag and dropped 
 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 overvalue 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. I have seen this 
 wine of such an agreeable flavor and taste as to be pre- 
 ferred to more valued wines. Cheap good wines are cer- 
 tainly the greatest boon that could be conferred on any 
 country. See "Grape," Vitis. 
 
 The following is an approved method of making Black- 
 berry wine, in vogue in St. John's, Berkley, South Caro- 
 lina. I insert it in a work of this kind for its general 
 utility, and as it forms an approved liquor which " cheers 
 but not inebriates." Blackberries, six quarts; boiling 
 water, two quarts; brown sugar, tw x o 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- 
 four hours. Strain through a hair sieve, and add the 
 sugar. Leave the jug open for two weeks, until fermenta- 
 tion ceases — then you may add a glass of alcohol. ("I?. 
 S.") See " Cera-sus," for manufacture of " blackberry 
 cordial." 
 
143 
 
 A correspondent in the Mobile Register gives the fol- 
 lowing method of making blackberry cordial : 
 
 Cordial for Sickness in the Army. — To alleviate the 
 sufferings, and perhaps save the lives of many of our sol- 
 diers, whose sickness may be traced to the use of unwhole- 
 some water in limestone regions, I recommend the use of 
 blackberry cordial. The following is a good recipe : 
 Bruise the berries, and strain the juice through a bag; 
 to each quart of the juice allow a half pound of loaf 
 sugar, a heaped teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, the 
 same of powdered cloves, and a grated nutmeg; boil these 
 ingredients fifteen or twenty minutes, skimming them 
 well. When cool, stir into each quart a half pint of 
 brandy; then bottle, and cork well. In case brandy and 
 loaf sugar cannot be had, substitute good whisky and 
 sugar-house molasses. Avoid plantation molasses, brown 
 sugar, and bad whisky. So much for the cure. 
 
 To prevent the disorder, boil the water of the country 
 before drinking it. The process of boiling precipitates the 
 impurities, and when cool, the water may be poured from 
 the sediment and used. 
 
 Compound Syrup of Blackberries. — Medicated Black- 
 berries. — Useful as a drink in diarrhoea, and to supply 
 soldiers in camp, either as a remedy in mild cases of 
 diarrhoea or as a vehicle for medicines. To two quarts 
 of the juice of blackberries, add half an ounce each of 
 cinnamon, allspice, and nutmegs, and one quarter of an 
 ounce of cloves, well pulverized. Boil them together for 
 fifteen to twenty minutes in a preserve pan or kettle, to 
 get the strength of the spices; strain through a piece of 
 flannel, then add loaf sugar to make very sweet, and while 
 still hot add to every two quarts of the juice one pint of 
 Cognac brandy. The dose of this for an adult is about two 
 tablespoonfuls repeated. One-fifth portion of the mixture 
 is brandy. The blackberry root is an easily obtained and 
 valuable astringent. A decoction acts as an astringent, and 
 will check diarrhoea. The rind of pomegranate, which is 
 easily portable, boiled in milk, is an excellent remedy in 
 
144 
 
 diarrhoea in the army, to be used during scarcity of medi- 
 cines. The tree grows abundantly in the Confederate 
 States ; all parts of it are medicinal. 
 
 From frequent trials, I know of no remedy for diarrhoea 
 and dysentery of teething children, superior to the decoc- 
 tion of the blackberry root; also, during the convalescence 
 from dysentery in adults. 
 
 The leaves of blackberry and raspberry are recommended 
 as substitutes for foreign tea. 
 
 Rabus occidentalism Linn. Virginian, or wild raspberry. 
 Grows in the upper districts ; collected in St. John's ; 
 jSTewbern. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 131. Properties 
 identical with the above. It is thought to be a specific in 
 dysentery. 
 
 Fragaria vesca. Ex. cult. Strawberry. 
 
 Flore Med. iii, 169; Griffith Med. Bot. 277. Gesner 
 speaks of the good effects of the fruit in calculous dis- 
 orders, and Linnpeus extols its efficacy in gout, having, he 
 says, prevented paroxysms of it in himself by partaking of 
 this fruit very freely. They are also supposed to possess 
 vermifuge properties, and to be useful in phthisis. The 
 leaves are astringent, and are recommended in bowel com- 
 plaints ; and the roots are much used in Europe as diu- 
 retics ; frequently given in dysuria, in infusion, made with 
 an ounce to the pint of water. Op. cit. Lallemand, in his 
 work on Spermatorrhoea, p. 310, states that strawberries are 
 quite serviceable in relieving irritable conditions of the 
 bladder and urethra. 
 
 Fragaria Virginiana, Erhart. Scarlet Virginian straw- 
 berry. Rich woods ; Florida to Virginia. Chap. 
 
 It was introduced into England in 1629, and possessed 
 a fame equal to the hautbois. The pulp has a fine flavor. 
 Rural Cyc. This plant is well known, and its economical 
 value and application require no description. The use of 
 
145 
 
 the fruit often acts beneficially upon dyspeptics, who are 
 benefited by acids. The celebrated Rousseau was always 
 relieved of a calculous affection by eating this fruit. See his 
 Confessions. "The old Carolina strawberry is a well known 
 and much esteemed variety. The pulp is colored and juicy, 
 and has a fine vinous flavor." By pinching off all the first 
 flowers of early bloom varieties, the flowers will appear 
 and fructify the present autumn. Rural Cyc. They re- 
 quire constant watering to bear almost constantly. 
 
 Geum Virginianum, Linn. ) . 
 
 r, t . -r Tr -,, y white avens. 
 
 " Carolinianum, Walt, j 
 
 Griffith, Med Bot. 279 ; Raf. Med. Fl. i, 220. This plant 
 is possessed of tonic and astringent properties, recom- 
 mended by Ives and Bigelow in dyspepsia, and debility of 
 the viscera ; employed, also, with success in leucorrhcea 
 and chronic hemorrhages. It is not supposed, however, to 
 be possessed of much power; one drachm of the powdered 
 root may be used, or a decoction made by one ounce to one 
 pint of water, of which the dose is one ounce several times 
 a day. In domestic practice, it is given in the shape of a 
 weak decoction, as tea. 
 
 Agrimonia Eupatoria, L. Agrimony ; cockle burr. Dif- 
 fused in cultivated lands ; ISTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Parr's Med. Diet. art. A, Sup. ; Pe. Mat. Med. and 
 Therap. ii, 76; Le. Mat. Med. i, 1251; Royle, Mat. Med. 
 602; Hoffman's Obs. Phys. Chim. i; Obs. i; Ell. Bot. Med. 
 Notes, i, 403, note ; IT. S. Disp. 145 ; Ed. and Yav. Mat. 
 Med. i, 281 ; Ball and Gar. Mat. Med. 431 ; Bergii, Mat. 
 Med. 287 ; Mer. and cle L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 63; Woodv. 
 Mecl. Bot.; Ann. de Chim, lxxxi, 332; Coxe, Am. Disp. 18; 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 96; Dem. filem de Bot. i, 442. The 
 root and leaves, before the flowers are produced, are acrid 
 and astringent, and are serviceable in passive hemorrhages, 
 diarrhoea, leucorrhcea, and gonorrhoea, and are highly 
 recommended as a deobstruent in obstructions of the 
 spleen, and in diseases arising from torpor of the liver, 
 10 
 
146 
 
 as hydrops, icterus, etc. The roots and leaves have been 
 found efficacious in involuntary discharge of urine (enure- 
 sis). Ray's Cat. Plantarum ; Am. Herbal, by I. Stearns, 
 89; Lightfoot's Fl. Scotica. It is styptic; it strengthens 
 the tone of the stomach, and it has been employed in 
 chronic diarrhoea. The plant, digested in whey, affords a 
 very grateful diet drink. See Linnaeus Veg. M. Med. 88. 
 The Indians used it in intermittent fever. Colonel Sea- 
 born, of Pendleton district, S. C, writes me word that he 
 has known the plant, boiled in milk, given successfully in 
 snake bites, and injuries arising from the stings of spiders. 
 The dose of the powder is one drachm ; of the infusion of 
 six ounces of root in one quart of boiling water, the dose 
 is one ounce. In popular practice, the leaves are applied 
 as a cataplasm to contusions and fresh wounds. It is used 
 by the steam practitioners. See Howard's Imp. Syst. Bot. 
 Med. 284. The leaves and stalks impart a beautiful and 
 permanent gold color to animal wool, previously impreg- 
 nated with a weak solution of bismuth, and the flowers are 
 employed by tanners for curing soft and delicate skins. 
 
 Spiraea trifoliata and siipulacea. See Gillenia. 
 
 Spirma tomentosa, Linn. Hardhack; steeple-bush. Grows 
 in the upper districts, and in Georgia; Newbern. Fl. 
 July. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 682 ; Raf. Med. Fl. ii, 91. A valuable tonic 
 and astringent; administered in diarrhoea, cholera infantum, 
 and other complaints where medicines of this class are in- 
 dicated. Wood says it is peculiarly adapted, by its tonic 
 powers, to cases of debility, as it does not disagree with 
 the stomach ; but it should be avoided during the exist- 
 ence of inflammatory action or febrile excitement. It was 
 employed by the Indians, and brought to the notice of the 
 profession by Br. Cogswell, of Conn. Dr. Ives is of the 
 opinion that the root is the least valuable portion : tannin, 
 gallic acid, and bitter extractive are among its constituents, 
 and its virtues are extracted by water. Mer. and de L. 
 
147 
 
 Diet, de M. Med. vi, 507. According to Mead's Thesis, it 
 is given with, success in the second stages of dysentery and 
 diarrhoea, having virtues attributed to it analogous to those 
 of quinine. See, also, Journal Univ. des Sci. Med. xxiv, 
 238, and Thesis in New York Med. Repos. (Merat, op. 
 tit.) The extract is said to be fully equal to catechu, and 
 might very well take its place. As it does not disagree 
 with the stomach, it is considered a very valuable addition 
 to the materia medica. Griffith, Med. Bot. 280. From five 
 to fifteen grains of extract may be taken, or two ounces of 
 the decoction, prepared by the addition of one ounce of 
 the plant to one pint of water. The extract is preferable ; 
 made by evaporating the decoction of the stems, leaves, or 
 root. This is taken cold, and repeated several times dur- 
 ing the day. Great use might be made of this plant, par- 
 ticularly by practitioners residing in the country. In a 
 communication from Dr. S. B. Mead, of Illinois, he in- 
 forms me that he has employed it in obstinate diarrhoeas 
 in place of opium. 
 
 Spiraea opulifolia, Linn. Nine-bark. Grows along streams. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 282. This is not so astringent as 
 the S. tomentosa, though Rafmesque (Med. Flora) says it is 
 possessed of similar properties. It has an unpleasant odor, 
 which renders it objectionable as an internal remedy. It 
 is, however, much employed as an external application, in 
 the form of fomentation, or as a cataplasm to ulcers and 
 tumors. The seeds are extremely bitter, and are said to 
 be tonic. 
 
 G-illenia trifoliata, Nutt. | Indian physic. Grows in the 
 Spiraea, Linn. . f upper districts ; also in Geo. 
 
 Fl. July. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 10 ; Bart. M. Bot. 165 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 353. It is a mild emetic according to some writers ; 
 largely employed as a substitute for ipecacuanha. Bige- 
 low thinks it is not a certain emetic, but Zollickoffer, Bar- 
 ton, Eberle, and Griffith unite in testifying to its value; 
 
148 
 
 the latter entirely disproves Baume's unfavorable report. 
 In small doses, it acts as a gentle tonic, especially in torpid 
 conditions of the stomach. According to Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. 509 (see Spircea trifoL), its properties par- 
 take 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 con- 
 veniently given as an emetic, by boiling the root and giv- 
 ing one or two ounces of the decoction at a dose till 
 vomiting is induced. " The tincture of the root is an in- 
 fallible remedy for milk sickness." Cherokee Doctor. The 
 dose of the powdered root is thirty grains, persisted in till 
 vomiting takes place ; two to four grains act as a tonic, 
 and sometimes as a sudorific. The infusion will occasion- 
 ally 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. 
 
 Glllenia stipulacea, Nutt. 1 Grows on the Saluda moun- 
 
 Spircea of Mich. J tains. 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. 353; Griffith's Med. Bot. 284. 
 
 Oratcegus crus galli. Grows in swamps. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 460. Dr. Darlington 
 regards it as one of the best thorn plants for hedges ; 
 it is much used in Delaware. Fl. Cestrica. It is better 
 than the Washington thorn, C. cordata. 
 
149 
 
 Pyrus coronaria, Linn. Crab-apple. Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 It is not employed medicinally. The fruit is very acid to 
 the taste, and is often made into preserves. 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 wrung out, and boiled in 
 the preparation. 
 
 Pyrus mains. Cultivated. The apple, pear (P. com- 
 munis), and quince (P. cydonia), grow very well in the 
 Confederate States. The pulp surrounding 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 of keeping pears and apples is described by Wilson 
 in his Rural Cyc. Art. "Fruit storing." Having prepared 
 a number of earthenware jars, and a quantity of dry moss 
 (different species of hypnum and sphagnum), 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 
 infecting 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 earthenware 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 arable, as an adhesive 
 
150 
 
 agent ; see, also, Bletia aphylla. I find that from the wild 
 orange, in boiling 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 more polished the more it 
 is used. 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 de- 
 termined by the framers of the United States Pharmaco- 
 poeia, is as follows : " One fiuidounce is saturated by about 
 thirty grains of crystallized bicarb, of potassa. It affords 
 no precipitate with solution of chloride of barium, and is 
 not colored by sulphohydric acid." 
 
 The bug, or plant louse, which in the shape of a hoary 
 covering destroys the apple tree, is generally an aphis or an 
 eriosoma ; see Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia, a full account; 
 also, papers on the "Insects destructive to Trees," in 
 Pateut Office Report on Agriculture. In these the reme- 
 dies 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, brushing with a mixture of soap lees and 
 one of oil of turpentine, and brushing with brown, impure, 
 pyroligneous acid." Wilson, See "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 best means of 
 destroying the larvse, which produce the fly of the next 
 season. 
 
 Good cider is deemed a pleasant, wholesome liquor dur- 
 ing the heats of summer; and Mr. Knight has asserted, 
 
151 
 
 and also eminent medical men, that strong;, astringent 
 ciders have been found to produce nearly the same effect 
 in cases of putrid fever as Port wine. 
 
 The unfermented juice of the apple consists of water 
 and a peculiar acid called the malic acid, combined with the 
 saccharine principle. Where a just proportion of the latter 
 is wanting, the liquor will be poor and watery, without 
 body, very difficult to preserve and manage. In the process 
 of fermentation, the saccharine principle is in part con- 
 verted to alcohol. Where the proportion of the saccharine 
 principle is wanting, the deficiency must be supplied either 
 by the addition of a saccharine substance before fermenta- 
 tion, or by 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 tasteless 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 
 
152 
 
 first of ISTovernber, 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 
 si owl}-, 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 covered with coarse cloths or Russia 
 mats beneath, to prevent bruising, and consequent rotten- 
 ness, before the grinding commences. Unripe fruit should 
 be laid in large masses, protected from dews and rain, to 
 sweat and hurry on its maturity, when the suitable time 
 for making approaches. The earlier fruits should be laid 
 in thin layers on stagings, to preserve them to the suitable 
 period for making, protected alike from rain and dews, and 
 where they may be benefited by currents of cool, dry air. 
 Each variety should be kept separate, that those ripening 
 at the same period should be ground together. 
 
 In grinding, the most perfect machinery 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 Xew Jersey, has observed em- 
 phatically, that "the longer a cheese lies after being ground, 
 before pressing, the better for the cider, provided it escapes fer- 
 mentation 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 oppo- 
 site 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 prolonged union of the bruised pulp and juice, which 
 could never have been formed in that quantity had they 
 been sooner separated. 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Rice, of Marlborough, who made the pre- 
 mium 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 
 
153 
 
 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 mixtures of ripe and unripe 
 fruit. He always chooses cool 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 
 communication in vol. vii, p. 123, 1ST. E. Farmer. 
 
 The first fermentation in cider is termed the vinous ; in 
 this the sugar is decomposed, and loses its sweetness, and 
 is converted into alcohol ; if the fermentation goes on too 
 rapidly, the cider is injured ; a portion of alcohol passes off" 
 with the carbonic acid. 
 
 The design of frequent raokings is principally to restrain 
 the fermentation ; but it seems to be generally acknowl- 
 edged that it weakens the liquor. It is not generally prac- 
 tised, 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 poured 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 necessa- 
 rily render such liquors unwholesome. 
 
 Black oxide of manganese has a similar effect; the crude 
 oxide is 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 
 atmosphere, till it has imbibed again the oxygen which 
 had been expelled by fire. An ounce of powder is deemed 
 
154 
 
 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 fermentation 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 charcoal, in a finely pulver- 
 ized 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 con- 
 fined from the beginning. The experiment has been tried 
 with good success ; the fermentation goes on slowly, and 
 an excellent cider is generally the result. 
 
 A handful of well powdered clay to a barrel is said to 
 check the fermentation. This is stated by Dr. Mease. 
 And with the view of preventing the escape of the car- 
 bonic acid, and to prevent the liquid from imbibing oxygen 
 from the atmosphere, a pint of olive oil has been recom- 
 mended to each hogshead. The excellent cider exhibited 
 by Mr. Rice was prepared by adding two gallons of New 
 England rum to each barrel when first made. In Febru- 
 ary or March it was racked oft* in clear 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 sep- 
 arated, and freeze first, and the stronger parts are drawn 
 oft' from the. centre. I fiuish by adding the following- 
 general rules — they will answer for all general purposes; 
 they are the conclusions from what is previously stated: 
 1. Gather the fruit according to the foregoing rules ; let it 
 be thoroughly ripe when ground, 'which should be about the 
 
155 
 
 middle of November. 2. Let the pomace remain from two 
 to four days, according to the state of the weather, stirring 
 it every day till it is put to the press. 3. If the liquor is 
 deficient in the saccharine principle, the defect may be 
 remedied in the beginning by the addition 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 by driving the bung hard, and by sealing; a vent 
 must be left, and the spile carefully 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 continue shaking it till the lime is slacked. Soda and 
 chloride of lime are good for purifying. 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 con- 
 demned to other uses. Cider should not be bottled till 
 perfectly fine, otherwise it may burst the bottles. The bot- 
 tles should be 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 in boxes, or in the bottom of a cellar, and covered 
 with layers of sand. 
 
 Most of the above information relative to cider making 
 is derived from the American Orohardist, by W. Kenrick, 
 of Boston, Massachusetts, whose list of apple and other 
 nursery trees comprehends almost every kind desirable for 
 any purpose. 
 
156 
 
 The reader will find very explicit instructions for the 
 manufacture of cider in the Penny Cyclopasdia, vol. vii, p. 
 161 ; in the Lib. of Useful Know. ; British Husb. vol. ii, 
 p. 364 ; Low's Pract. Agr. p. 379 ; Croker, On the Art of 
 Making and Managing Cider; in the Quart. Journal of 
 Agr. vol. viii, p. 332, by Mr. Towers ; and in Baxter's Agr. 
 Lib. p. 135, by Andrew Crosse, Esq., of Somerset. The 
 following instructions for making cider are by a Devon- 
 shire 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 
 krver 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 la}-er 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 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 
 cider, 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. Before the cider is put into the cask, 
 a match 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 
 
157 
 
 before lie would be qualified to superintend the making 
 of sweet or made cider. Much depends on the year, 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 ingredients. 
 
 The sweet cider, above described, is distinct from the 
 other two kinds of cider (the harsh and mild). Cider, 
 according to Brande, contains about H 9 7 parts per cent, of 
 alcohol. It is a wholesome beverage for those who use 
 much bodily exercise. Willich's Dom. Erie. ; McCulloch's 
 Com. Diet. 
 
 Under this genus, I insert the following from Chaptal's 
 Chemistry Applied to Agriculture, as the subject of the 
 manufacture of Liquors from fruits, grain, etc., is important 
 in the present exigency: " Grood water is undoubtedly the 
 most wholesome drink ; but man has almost everywhere 
 contracted the habit of using fermented liquors, and this 
 habit has created in him 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 produce nearly the 
 same effect, and this is done by the fermentation 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 con- 
 sumption and of commerce. The peasants, in the greater 
 part of our districts, have acquired the habit of preparing 
 their liquors from the fermentation of most of these sub- 
 stances ; and as the only object I have in view is to furnish 
 information in regard to extending and perfecting these 
 processes, I shall confine myself to pointing out such 
 methods as are easily executed, and which require the em- 
 
158 
 
 ployment 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 fermentation. 
 
 " 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, how- 
 ever, some sugar and mucilage, and for such as can be 
 made to keep better by being dried, some water is em- 
 ployed 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 ex- 
 cited in them by immersing them in water containing the 
 yeast of beer, or leaven made of wheat flour. The opera- 
 tion of germination may even be suppressed b} r 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 directions 
 for the manufacture of cider, perry, and beer for general 
 consumption are much less necessary here than those 
 for procuring for farmers (or soldiers, I add,) wholesome 
 liquors at a trifling expense, I shall confine my obser- 
 vations to this object. Grapes furnish the best liquor, 
 
159 
 
 and that in the greatest quantity ; but when this is 
 drunk clear, it serves but little purpose for quenching 
 thirst ; when made use of in large quantities, it impairs 
 the strength. The liquor called piquette, which is manu- 
 factured by our farmers, supplies advantageously the place 
 of wine, serving as a tonic, and at the same time quench- 
 ing thirst. Piquette is made from the pressed and fer- 
 mented mash of red grapes, 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. 
 Piquette can be kept but a short time unchanged, and, 
 from this tendency to sour, it is necessary that it should be 
 made only in such quantities as are immediately wanted, 
 and that the manufacture of it should be continued at in- 
 tervals throughout the year. For this 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 piquette is to be pre- 
 pared 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 completed 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 sup- 
 plied by an equal quantity of water thrown in upon the top 
 of the mash. In this manner a cask of mash, of the capac- 
 ity of sixty-six gallons, may 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 
 ferment by itself, and the piquette is then made by adding 
 to the mash the necessary quantity of water. This liquor 
 is more spiritous than that made from red grapes, and 
 
160 
 
 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 everywhere done, this liquid 
 should first be slightly sweetened and heated, and then re- 
 ceive the addition of a little yeast, piquette of a very superior 
 quality would be obtained. In the absence of yeast or 
 leaven, the scum which arises upon wine, especially white 
 wine, during fermentation, may be used for the same pur- 
 pose ; this foam or scum may be dried, and thus preserved 
 for use without undergoing any change. 
 
 " Well made piquette is a very wholesome drink for coun- 
 try 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 by the fermentation of certain fruits. 
 
 "Apples and pears, as being the fruits that are most 
 abundantly produced, are the most variable for the pur- 
 pose of manufacturing 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 may be produced, 
 both from apples and pears, by following the well known 
 method of making cider, which consists in grinding the 
 fruit with a millstone, and fermenting 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 preparing them as they are needed. I shall, there- 
 fore, recommend the following method: Begin to collect 
 the apples and pears which fall from the trees toward the 
 end of August, and continue to do so till they have arrived 
 at maturity ; cut them in pieces as fast as they are gathered ; 
 dry them first in the sun, and afterward in an oven 
 from which the bread has been drawn. If the fruit be well 
 
161 
 
 dried in this manner, though it may grow dark colored, it 
 ma}' 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 will 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 con- 
 ducive to health by mixing with the apples and pears one- 
 twentieth of the dried berries of the service tree Amelanchier 
 canadensis (Aronia botryapium, Ell. 8k., which grows in Caro- 
 lina), 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 antiputrescent. The use of this drink 
 is one of the surest means that can be taken by the hus- 
 bandman 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 agreeable 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 quan- 
 tity of yeast has been added, as will fill the cask, fermenta- 
 tion 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, af- 
 11 
 
162 
 
 fords an excellent liquor, which, although not exactly the 
 same as the good Kirschwasser 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 handful s of the red fruit of the bird- 
 catcher service tree counteract the flat, sweetish taste of 
 certain other fruits. 
 
 "In our farming districts the berries of the juniper are 
 carefully collected and fermented, in the proportion of 
 about thirty pounds of berries to thirty-eight and a half 
 gallons of water. The drink procured from these is one 
 of the most wholesome jDossible, but it requires a, little use 
 to reconcile one to the odor and flavor of it; those, how- 
 ever, who drink it, prefer it after a short time to any other 
 liquor. The juice of the juniper contributes so much to 
 health that I cannot too strongly recommend its being 
 mixed, in greater or less quantities, with all fruits which 
 are to be subjected to fermentation ; its flavor alone will 
 disguise the taste of such liquors as, without being un- 
 wholesome, 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 {Janiperus 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. 
 
 " The rinds of oranges or lemons, aromatic plants, an- 
 gelica roots (grow in South Carolina), peach leaves, etc., 
 may likewise be mixed with any of these fruits which are 
 
163 . 
 
 naturally too sweet, and thus serve to raise the flavor of 
 the fermented liquor, and render it more strengthening 
 and efficacious in preventing the attack of disease. 
 
 " I do not doubt but that by the application of the true 
 principles of science, and by employing only those prod- 
 ucts which nature yields us abundantly and without ex- 
 pense, we can procure from the husbandman a variety of 
 drinks more healthy, more agreeable, and better adapted 
 for quenching thirst than the weak and imperfectly fer- 
 mented 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 dissolv- 
 ing 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 manufac- 
 tured from the sap of several kinds of trees. In Germany, 
 Holland, and some parts of Prussia, as soon as the return- 
 ing warmth of spring begins to cause the ascent of the 
 sap, holes two or three inches deep are bored with a gim- 
 let in the trunks of the birch trees ; through the straws 
 which are introduced into the gimlet holes there flows out 
 a clear, sweet juice, which, after having been fermented for 
 a few days, becomes a sprightly liquor, that is drunk by the 
 inhabitants of those countries with much pleasure. It is 
 thought by them to be very serviceable in counteracting 
 affections of the kindneys, stomach, etc. A single tree will 
 furnish a quantity of drink sufficient to last three or four 
 persons a week. The natives of the Coromandel coast fab- 
 ricate their colore from the sap of the cocoanut tree. The 
 savages of America prepare their chica from the juice of 
 the maize, and the drink of the negroes of Congo is made 
 from the juice of the palm tree. 
 
. 164 
 
 "-It caunot be doubted that the sap of all those trees 
 which afford a saccharine substance can be made to yield a 
 spiritous liquor, but I mention only these few as instances, 
 because our own wants may be abundantly supplied from 
 our fruits and grain. 
 
 "The fermentation of rye and barley has afforded, from 
 time immemorial, a liquor which has supplied the place of 
 wine for the use of the common people in nearly all those 
 countries in which the vine cannot be made to flourish ; in 
 those where wine is made abundantly the use of beer is 
 still very extensive, both on account of the nutritive quali- 
 ties which it possesses in a high degree, and its power of 
 quenching thirst. Though beer may be brewed upon so 
 small a scale as to supply the wants of a single family, I 
 shall enter into no explanation of the process. In Russia a 
 wholesome drink called quass is made. One-tenth part of 
 the rye to be employed in its manufacture is steeped in 
 water till it becomes soft ; it is then spread thinly upon 
 planks, in a place warm enough to produce germination, 
 and it is there sprinkled occasionally with warm water. The 
 remainder of the rye, after having been ground, is mixed 
 with the germinated grain, and the whole is diluted with 
 two gallons and a half of boiling water; the vessel is then 
 set into an oven, from which bread has just been drawn, or 
 exposed to an equivalent degree of heat, during twenty-four 
 or thirty hours ; if the vessel be put into an oven which 
 it is necessary to heat every day, it may be removed during 
 baking, and returned again after the bread is taken out. 
 After this first operation, the fermented substance is diluted 
 by mixing with it two and a half gallons of water at the 
 temperature of 12° or 15°. (If of the Centigrade, 53° to 
 59°; if of Reaumur, to from 59° to 65°.) This mixture is 
 stirred for half an hour, and then allowed to settle. As 
 soon as a deposit is formed and the liquor becomes clear, 
 it is then thrown into a cask, where fermentation takes 
 place ; this is completed in a few days, when the cask is 
 removed into a cellar, and the quass soon becomes clear. 
 It is in this state that it is drunk by the peasants ; but it is 
 
165 
 
 much improved by being drawn off' in jugs as soon as it 
 has formed its deposit in the cask, and bottled, after hav- 
 ing 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 imperfec- 
 tions of quass might easily be remedied by adding wild 
 apples, or pears, or juniper berries, to the fermented sub- 
 stances. The fermented liquor might be racked off several 
 times from its lees, and clarified 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 fur- 
 nished on our farms. 
 
 On the subject of fermentation, Chaptal gives the follow- 
 ing hints, which may avail us in our experiments upon 
 the production of wine. It seems to me that they convey 
 some doctrines similar to those brought forward by Pro- 
 fessor William Hume, of South Carolina, in his ingenious 
 essay : 
 
 " Generally speaking, the French grapes, when ripe, con- 
 tain such proportions of sugar and the vegeto-animal prin- 
 ciples as are well adapted for producing the vinous fer- 
 mentation ; but when the summer is cold or damp the 
 proportion of sugar is less, and the predominance of the 
 mucilage (it is from this mucilage that vinegar is formed) 
 renders the liquor weak. In this case the small quantity of 
 alcohol which is developed is not sufficient to -preserve the wine 
 from spontaneous decomposition, and at the return of heat 
 a new fermentation takes place, the product of which is 
 vinegar. This evil may be easily obviated by artificial 
 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 alcohol, I believe, to preserve the wine from the 
 acetic fermentation. See also "Treatise on Rural Chem- 
 
166 
 
 istry," 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. 
 
 Pyrus communis. Pear. 
 
 Fruit trees, particularly the pear, were formerly intro- 
 duced into hedge-rows. It was objected that depredations 
 would be made upon the hedge. Gerard, who wrote on 
 this 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 your 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 want to relieve their necessity, and 
 God shall rewarde your good mindes and diligence." See 
 paper on "Best trees for hedges," in Pat. Office Reports, 
 1854, p. 416. To manufacture perry, cider, etc., consult 
 Wilson's Rural Cyc. ; Ure's Dictionary of Arts, etc. ; see, 
 also, "Apple." 
 
 Dr. John Lindley has written a most instructive article on 
 fecundation in plants, physiological principles, and meth- 
 ods upon which fruits are produced. See his "Guide to 
 the Orchard and Kitchen Garden," and a condensation in 
 Patent Office Reports, 1856, p. 244. lie says that some 
 fruits of excellent qualities are bad bearers, and recom- 
 mends the following modes of remedying these defects : 
 1st, by ringing the bark; 2d, by bending branches down- 
 ward; 3d, by training; 4th, by use of different kinds of 
 stocks. All these practices are intended to produce the 
 same effects by different ways: "Physiologists know that 
 whatever tends to cause a rapid diffusion of the sap and 
 
167 
 
 secretions of any plant, causes also the formation of leaf 
 buds instead of flower buds ; and that whatever on the 
 contrary tends to cause an accumulation of sap and secre- 
 tions, has the effect of producing flower buds in abun- 
 dance;" so that a flower bud is often only a contracted 
 branch. By arresting the motions, of the fluids and secre- 
 tions in a tree, we promote the production of flower buds. 
 See, also, same volume, for mode of preservation and trans- 
 portation 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. 
 
 Pyrus Americana, D. C. (Sorbus microcarpa, Ph.) High- 
 est mountains of North Carolina. Fruit acid. 
 
 This plant yields malic acid. I insert the following from 
 lire's Dictionary (Farmer's Encyclopaedia): 
 
 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, strawberries, raspberries, bilberries, bramble-berries, 
 whortleberries, cherries, ananas, afford 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 barberries. 
 This must be clarified by mixing with white of egg, and 
 heating the mixture to ebullition ; then filtering — digesting 
 the clear liquor with carbonate of lead till it becomes neu- 
 tral ; and evaporating the saline solution till crystals of 
 malate of lead be obtained. These are to be washed with 
 cold water, and purified by reciws'tallization. On dissolving 
 the white salt in water, and passing a stream of sulphu- 
 retted hydrogen through the solution, the lead will be all 
 separated in the form of a sulphuret, and the liquor, after 
 filtration and evaporation, will yield yellow, granular crys- 
 tals, or cauliflower concretions, of malic acid, which may 
 be blanched by redissolution and digestion with bone-black, 
 and recrystallization. 
 
168 
 
 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 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 mountain-ash (Sorbus aeuparia), ap- 
 plicable to many purposes ; but it has not hitherto been 
 manufactured upon a great scale. 
 
 Punts Americana, D. C. "1 ,, , . , ^ 
 
 .., ■ . -.-rr.,, n ! Mountain ash. Grows on 
 
 Sorbus Americana, Willd. I ,, -, , , , . r 
 
 . ' Vthe highest mountains oi 
 
 " flC ^ m ' Mx Tnoi South Carolina. Fl. July. 
 " microcarpa, ML 8k. J 
 
 Dem Elem de Bot. 655. The flowers are purgative. 
 The oil from the young branches is caustic, -and is em- 
 ployed against ringworm. 
 
 Amelanchier canadensis, L. (Aronia botryapium of Ell. Sk.) 
 Wild currant ; shade trees ; service tree. Upper country ; 
 Sarrazins ; St. John's, S. C. ; woods Fla. to Miss., Chap- 
 man ; Newbern ; 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 experi- 
 mented 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, Farcleberry (Vaccinium 
 arboreum), Eedberry, (Azalea nudiflora), and Kahnia latifolia. 
 The Holly (Ilex opaca) I find to be quite hard when well 
 dried. The beech (Fagus sylcatica), the hornbeam (Ostrya 
 
169 
 
 Virghiica), indigenous plants, have all been recommended 
 for the purposes of the engraver. 
 
 While engaged in completing a number of wood en- 
 gravings for my prize Essay for the South Carolina Medi- 
 cal Association, I used a piece of well seasoned dogwood, 
 and obtained a very good impression from coarse figures 
 cut with the graver's tools. I find that none, so far experi- 
 mented with, equal the boxwood, but I have not yet fully 
 tested the woods put to season. 
 
 See Kalmia, etc. 
 
 See apple (Pyrus malus) for stimulating beverages made 
 from the fruit of the service tree. 
 
 Prunus Virginiana. See Cerasus. Several South Caro- 
 lina species furnish fruit, which is eatable, and often em- 
 ployed for various domestic purposes. 
 
 Cerasus serotina, T. & Gray. ) Wild cherry. Diffused in 
 Prunus Virginiana, Ell. Sk. J upper and lower districts ; 
 Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 576 ; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. x, 197, and 
 xiv, 27; Eberle, Mat. Med. 300; Bell's Pract. Diet. 389; 
 Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 538 ; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 487 ; 
 Phjl. Trans. 418, and Michaux, K Am. Sylva, ii, 205; Ball 
 and Gar. Mat. Med. 273; Cullen, Mat. Med. 288; Lind. 
 3&t Syst. Bot. 147; Woodv. Med. Bot. ; Griffith, Med. 
 Bot. 288; Carson's Illust. Med. Bot. pt. 1. This is un- 
 doubtedly 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 irritation existing at the same 
 time." It is peculiarly suited to the hectic fever attending 
 scrofula and consumption, owing to the reduction of ex- 
 citability which it induces, it is supposed, by the Irydro- 
 cyanic acid contained in it. Eberle 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 
 
170 
 
 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 circula- 
 tion 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 employ- 
 ment of the wild cherry 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 im- 
 pairment of the constitution by syphilis, dyspepsia, pul- 
 monaiy, 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 (Amyg- 
 dalus communis), which likewise affords Prussic acid, when 
 combined with brandy and white sugar, an excellent 
 remedy in dj^sentery and diarrhoea ; one ounce of each is 
 added to one pint of brandy, with a sufficient quantity of 
 white sugar, a tablespoonful of which is taken every half 
 hour. The sensible, as well as the medicinal properties of 
 this plant, are impaired by boiling ; cold water extracts 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. Bark stronger, if collected from the root in au- 
 tumn. Deteriorates by keeping. Tonic, sedative, expecto- 
 rant. Infusion officinal. Thus made: bark bruised, half 
 an ounce ; one pint water (cold). Macerate for twenty-four 
 hours. Dose, two or three fiuidounces three or four times 
 a day. Syrup officinal : Take of wild cherry 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 percolator, and pour cold water upon it 
 
171 
 
 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 fluidounce. By Proc- 
 tor's analysis, 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 antispasmodic ; used in 
 coughs, angina pectoris, 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 ; be- 
 side several secret preparations. 
 
 Method of making "Cherry" cordial by the Southern 
 matrons in the lower country of South Carolina (Saint 
 John's) — a most delectable drink at all times, but par- 
 ticularly valuable in the present emergency: Fill the ves- 
 sel with cherries (not washed, if gathered clean.) Cover 
 with whisky. 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 demijohn. 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. ("I. S. P.") 
 
 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. 
 
 Cerasus Carolinana, Mich. \ Wild orange ; Fl. 
 
 Brums " L. Ell. Sk. J March. 
 
 This is one of the most ornamental of our indigenous 
 evergreen trees ; and is planted around dwelling-houses. 
 
172 
 
 The berries, bark, and leaves possess in a high degree the 
 taste characterizing the genus. It deserves an analysis. 
 
 This tree, the flowers of which are much frequented by 
 bees, grows abundantly on the sea-coast of our states, and 
 is certainly one of the most beautiful and manageable ever- 
 greens that we possess. It can be cut into any shape, and 
 is of a most attractive 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 impetigo. He used the 
 infusions of bayberry ; no doubt the infusions of the wild 
 orange would be equally useful. In the Patent Office Re- 
 ports, Agriculture, 1854, '55, p. 376, are papers on "Live 
 fences," or the planting and management of quick-set 
 hedges. In this the reader will find a most full and satis- 
 factory 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 (Prunus sjrinosa), the haw- 
 thorn ( Crakegus oxyacantha), and the buckthorn (Hhamnus ca- 
 ihariicus) have been planted in this country with indifterent 
 success on account of the intense heat of our southern 
 sun. "The "'Washington Thorn' (C. cordata), growing in 
 mountains of Georgia, was also brought into notice as a 
 hedge plant toward the close of the last century, and was 
 subsequently 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 " Osage Orange." 
 See article for modes of management, planting, etc., of 
 
173 
 
 hedges, with illustrations on wood. The arbor vilce (Thuja 
 obcidehtalis), 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 ornamental hedge known to this climate." The 
 holly (Ilex opaca) and the hemlock spruce (Abies canadensis) 
 should be mentioned ; also the willow box (Buxus sempervi- 
 rens) ; prickly ash (Xanthoxylum fraxineuma) ; honey locust 
 (Gleditschia triacanthus) — all these are either natives or are 
 cultivated in the Confederate States. See Willow and 
 Osage Orange. 
 
 Amygdalus. The peach produces abundantly in the Con- 
 federate States. The root, leaves, and kernels are sometimes 
 employed in medicine, and in seasoning drinks, condiments, 
 etc. — being indebted for any virtues which they 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 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 may be made by adding honey. The. 
 gum of peach or pear dissolved in water acts like gum 
 arabic. The kernel is used in seasoning, and in making 
 the cordial known as ratifia; also in adding to tonics. The 
 leaves are used in seasoning creams in imitation of vanilla 
 bean. 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 arti- 
 choke (Cynara) also dye a yellow color: see u Hhus." Sassa- 
 fras roots with copperas yield a drab. Fumigation with 
 tobacco smoke, syringing 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. See "Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia, 
 Art. Aphis. 
 
 Drying Peaches. • Several modes of effecting this are pur- 
 sued. . When done in-doors, furnaces should be placed in 
 
174 
 
 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 
 process is facilitated by a previous scalding. This is 
 effected by immersing baskets of the fruit a few minutes 
 in kettles of boiling water. They 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 aud 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 practised 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, aud 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 are soon 
 dried by the hot air produced by the stove. In this way 
 great quantities may successively, in a single season, be 
 prepared, with a very little expense in the preparation of 
 the building and in fuel. 
 
 Shepardia magnoides, ~N. Buffalo-berry tree. Mo. Nutt- 
 all. I do not know the family of the plant. 
 
 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 
 Encyclopaedia. 
 
 Leguminos^, or Fabace^e. (The Bean Tribe.) 
 
 The sub-orders are distinguished by nutritive, purgative, 
 and astringent properties. 
 
175 
 
 Cladrastis tindoria. Raf. ( Virgilia lutea Mx.) Yellow- 
 wood. Hill sides Tennessee and Kentucky. 
 
 The wood is yellow, and dyes a beautiful saffron color. 
 
 Pistidia erythrina, L. Jamaica dogwood. South Florida. 
 Chap. 
 
 The piscidia is said to be used in America for stupefying 
 fish, which are taken as readily by this means as with mix 
 vomica. Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia. 
 
 Baptisia tindoria, Ell. Sk. Wild indigo. 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. 158. Its 
 virtues reside in the cortical part of the root. In large 
 doses, it operates violently as an emetic, cathartic, and sub- 
 astringent antiseptic. It is said to have proved useful in 
 scarlatina, typhus fever, and the condition attendant upon 
 mortification and gangrene. Dr. Comstock found it useful 
 in the latter state, used both externally and internally. 
 Eclectic Repert. vi ; IT. S. Disp. 1231. It was employed by 
 Dr. C. not only in existing, but as a prophylactic in threat- 
 ened mortification and gangrene. Dr. Thacher speaks 
 highly of its efficacy as an external application to obstinate 
 and painful ulcers, and Eberle (Diseases of Children, p. 98) 
 used a decoction with advantage in the aggravated cases of 
 ulcerated umbilicus, so frequently met with in infants. It 
 may be employed topically, in the form of a cataplasm. 
 The young shoots may be eaten as asparagus ; but after 
 they assume a green color, they act as a drastic purgative. 
 Griffith, 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. 
 The ointment, prepared by simmering the fresh root in 
 lard, is applied to ulcers and burns. 
 
 B. Imcophcea, Nutt. ") Grows in dry soils; found in 
 
 bradeata, Muhl. Cat. j Georgia also. Fl. April. 
 Sent to me from Abbeville district, by Mr. Reed, by whom 
 
176 
 
 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. 
 
 Medicago lupulina, L. Yellow clover ; lucern; nonesuch. 
 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 Cyclopsedia for long article on "Clover," 
 and "Lucern." 
 
 Melilotus officinalis, Ph. Melilot; sweet clover. Com- 
 pletely nat. says Elliott, around Charleston. 
 
 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; U. S. Disp. 1275. It is thought to be pos- 
 sessed of very little efficacy in medicine, but is used as a 
 local application, in the form 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 possesses 
 an odor which is attributed to the presence of benzoic 
 acid. See Vogel's Anal. JSTouv. Journal de Med. viii, 270 ; 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 293 ; Flore Med. iv, 
 229; Aublet, Voyage, ii, 454; Haller, Hist. Stirp. Helv. 
 362. The flowers are employed in flatulent colic, and in 
 rheumatism, and the decoction for fomentations. Several 
 species of it are used to flavor Chapziger cheese. 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 green color and a disgusting smell, and was of 
 exceedingly little value. Rural Cyc. 
 
177 
 
 Trifolium pratense., L. Red clover. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; Newbern. 
 
 Dem. Elera. cle Bot. ii, 36. All, the species contain a 
 mucous, nutritive principle. In Ireland, when food is 
 scarce, the powdered flowers are mixed with bread, and are 
 esteemed wholesome and nutritious. Fl. Scotica, of Light- 
 foot. Some are said to produce vertigo and tympanites in 
 cattle which feed on them. 
 
 Trifolium arvense, Linn. Rabbit-foot; field clover. — 
 "Grows sparingly in the upper districts." Collected in St. 
 John's ; Charleston district ; Newbern. Fl. April. 
 
 Wade's PI. Rariores, 56. Dickerson observes that the 
 dried plant is highly aromatic, and retains its odor. It has 
 been used in dysentery. Withering, 636; FL Scotica, 406. 
 
 Trifolium reflexum. "Wild buffalo clover. Upper dis- 
 tricts ; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's. 
 
 It affects very sensibly the salivary glands. In horses, 
 this may frequently be noticed. 
 
 Trifolium repens, L. White clover. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton; collected in St. John's ; Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Ell. Bot. ii, 201. This also affects the salivary glands, 
 sometimes producing complete salivation. Fl. Scotica, 
 404. Its leaves are a good rustic hygrometer, as they are 
 always relaxed and flaccid in dry weather, but erect in 
 moist and rainy. 
 
 Astragalus. Milk-vetch. 
 
 There are five species of this genus within our limits. I 
 refer to them because the seeds of A. boeticus, planted in 
 Germany and England, are found to be the very best sub- 
 stitute for coffee yet tried, and so used — roasted, parched, 
 and mixed with coffee. Our species of Vicia, tare, vetch, 
 and Lathyrus should also be tried. 
 
 Psoralea esculenta. Edible psoralea. 
 
 The bread root, growing in Missouri, is eaten by the 
 12 
 
178 
 
 inhabitants of the plain, and the Rocky mountains. Rural 
 Cyclopaedia. 
 
 Indigofera Caroliniana,. Walt. Grows in dry soils; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's, Berkley ; 
 Newbern. M. May. 
 
 Not inferior, says Nuttall, to the cultivated indigo. It 
 does not, however, possess so much coloring matter. The 
 decoction of the leaves is said to act as an emetic when 
 given in large quantities; in smaller doses it is cathartic. 
 "F. I. S." a correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, 
 says: "Our country ladies gather wild indigo, and ferment 
 from it a blue powder equal to the commercial indigo, 
 which dyes a beautiful and lasting blue. A solution of 
 this powder in water is a speedy and certain relief for 
 cramp and asthma. The red sumach dyes a rich dark or 
 light purple, as is required." 
 
 Indigofera tinctoria. Indigo. Once cultivated in South 
 Carolina to a large extent ; see Indigofera anil. Collected 
 in St. John's, Berkley. Fl. June. 
 
 Drayton's View of South Carolina. Merat and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. iii, 601. According to Laennec, the de- 
 coction of the root possesses the property of action against 
 poison, and is useful in nephritic diseases. In Jamaica, it 
 is employed to destroy vermin. The leaves are alterative, 
 and are given in hepatic disorders. Ainslie, Mat. Med. 
 Ind. i, 180; ii, 33; Journal de Botanique, v, 11; Ann. de 
 Chim. lxviii, 284; M. and de L. Supplem. 1846, 383; Mar- 
 tius, Syst. Mat. Med. 126 ; Perollet, Mem. sur la culture des 
 indigoferes tinctoriaux, Paris, 1832; L'Herminier, Resume 
 des obs. faites sur plusieurs especes indigoferes de Guade- 
 loupe : see Jourual de Pharm. xix, 257 ; A. Saint Hiliare, 
 "Hist. Indigo, from the first account of it till the year 
 1833" (Ann. des Sci. Nat. vii, 110); Mem. on Indigo, in 
 the Comptes Rendus Hebdom. of Acad. Nat. Sci. 19th Dec. 
 1836, 445 ; Dumas' Mem. upon Indigo, its Composition, 
 etc., in the Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 6Q, 1837 ; D. Erd- 
 
179 
 
 • 
 mann, Rech. upon Indigo (in French, also), in the 26th vol. 
 
 Journal de Pharra. 460, 1840 ; and the report upon the pro- 
 posed extraction of indigo from the Polygonum tinctorium,. 
 See Journal de Pharm. xxxvi, 274. The remains of the 
 indigo plantations, with the vats in which indigo was pre- 
 pared, are still to be seen in the lower districts of South 
 Carolina, bordering on the Santee river. Since the intro- 
 duction of cotton and rice it is cultivated, though not very 
 largely. 
 
 On the cultivation, preparation, etc., of indigo, Woad 
 (Isatis tinctoria), see Chaptal's Chemistry applied to Agri- 
 culture, p. 295 ; lire's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, 
 and Mines, articles "•Indigo," "Calico Printing;" also, 
 Penny Cj'cloptedia. I must content myself simply with a 
 reference to the source of information. The I. anil is also 
 used for the production of indigo. The So. Cultivator, vol. 
 ii, p. 58. contains a full account of the preparation of 
 indigo. To avoid the deleterious effects of fermented in- 
 digo, Dr Roxburg, of India, states that he succeeds per- 
 fectly by the "scalding process." This is doubted. See 
 also, Southern Cultivator, p. 15, vol. 6, report of a Com- 
 mittee of Georgia Agricultural Association. They recom- 
 mend the Indigofera argentea, or wild indigo of Georgia. I 
 insert the following : 
 
 " The directions for preparing I obtained, many years 
 ago, from an old and respectable planter in South Carolina. 
 The manuscript which he delivered to me was from the pen 
 of one who had been extensively engaged in the cultivation 
 .and preparation of indigo for market, before the Revolu- 
 tion. It has never been published; and may, therefore, 
 impart information on a process little known by the present 
 generation. 
 
 "The pigment, or dyeing substance of the indigo, is 
 obtained from the leaves. There are several species of this 
 plant. The Indigofera tinctoria, or French indigo, yields 
 the greatest quantity, and is cultivated in India; but the 
 quality is inferior to the Indigofera argentea, or wild indigo. 
 The former is distinguished by its pinnate leaves, the 
 
180 
 
 smaller ribs expanding from the principal rib like the 
 feathers of a quill, similar to the leaves of the pear and of 
 the lime-tree, and by a more slender, ligneous stem. It 
 rises, in a rich soil, and when well cultivated, to the height 
 of six feet. 
 
 " The seeds are sown as early in the spring as the climate 
 and season will warrant. In the West Indies, the planting 
 commences in March, in trenches about a foot asunder; 
 and the weed is cut down in May. In South America, six 
 months elapse before it can be cut. In the former, gener- 
 ally four cuttings are obtained of the same plant in the 
 course of a year ; but in the latter, never more than two, 
 and often only one. The cutting takes place when the 
 plant is in blossom, and is done with the sickle. Fresh 
 plantings of the seed are required yearly. 
 
 " Commence the cutting of the weed in the evening, in 
 time to have the steeper set before it is dark. The plants 
 are laid in strata, and pressed down by weights. When a 
 sufficient quantity of them are laid, pour in water to the 
 height of about four inches above them. One inch and a 
 half above the surface of the water bore a hole through 
 the side of the vat, and directly over the trough which is 
 to convey the liquor into the beater.. When the fermenta- 
 tion has commenced the liquor will rise and run over. 
 Let it remain until the stream has ceased, or nearly so. 
 This, in hot weather, will be from ten to fourteen hours 
 after the water has been poured upon the weed, or on the 
 following morning. Immediately draw off into the beater, 
 and commence the agitation. Continue this for about . 
 twenty minutes, and then let in the lime-water until you 
 have plenty of grain, but not very coarse. The agitation 
 must be carried on, and frequent use be made of the plate. 
 As soon as a change in the color is perceived, from a 
 muddy green to a purple or blue, the beating should cease. 
 This operation usually requires an hour. There can be no 
 certain rule as to the quantity of lime-water to be used, or 
 the length of time for continuing the agitation. If the 
 indigo be not sufficiently steeped, it will require more lime- 
 
181 
 
 water, and longer beating, and vice versa. Having obtained 
 the fine bine tint you wish, stop the agitation, and pour in 
 an additional quantity of lime-water, which will cause the 
 grains to collect and settle in a short time. Be careful, 
 however, not to add so much as to give the liquor a yellow 
 or red tinge : it should be of a clear, but pale green. As 
 the sediment subsides, commence drawing off the water 
 through the upper plugs, and so on to each successively, 
 until the mud alone remains at the bottom of the vat or 
 beater. In the evening this should be removed into the 
 drainer, and by the morning following it will be well 
 drained and cracked, which it should be before it is taken 
 out. Having first pressed out the v^ater remaining in it, 
 work up the mud ; give it a second pressure, and work 
 it up again until it becomes stiff. After this, submit it to a 
 third pressure, for cutting. Should your indigo incline to 
 mould on the drying-boards, as it is apt to do in rainy or 
 damp weather, the mould must be wiped off; otherwise it 
 may turn to a gray color. Let it remain upon the drying- 
 boards until you plainly see the quality ; afterward it 
 may be put up in small barrels. In continued damp 
 weather, during the manipulating and drying process, put 
 the greenish indigo in the sun, and turn it frequently. As 
 soon as it begins to crack, take it in. 
 
 " Good indigo is known by its lightness, or small specific 
 gravity, indicating the absence of earthy impurities ; by 
 the mass not readily parting with its coloring matter, when 
 tested by drawing a streak with it over a white surface : 
 but above all, by the purity of the color itself. The first 
 quality, estimated by this last test, is called, in commercial 
 language, fine blue ; the next, ordinary blue, then fine purple, 
 etc. The most inferior is known as ordinary copper."- 
 
 The most satisfactory information can be got in the Pat- 
 ent Office Reports, and from Mr. Spalding, Liebig, Chaptal, 
 Encyclopaedia, etc., etc. Several varieties are cultivated. 
 The Indigofera disperma is used in Guatemala, and makes 
 the best and most beautiful article. The Indigofera tincioria, 
 formerly cultivated in South Carolina and Georgia, is the 
 
182- 
 
 most productive, and the increase in quantit}' will make tip 
 the deficiency in price. 
 
 Culture and Manufacture of Indigo (signed 'Oconee'). — 
 " The soils best adapted to it are the rich, sandy loams, 
 though it grows on most lands moderately well, provided 
 they are not wet. The ground should be well broken, and 
 kept light and free from grass by the plow. The nature of 
 the manure used exerts a great influence upon the quantity 
 and quality of its coloring principle. Those substances 
 that act as stimulants to vegetation, such as lime, pou- 
 drette, ashes, etc., etc., favor the growth of the plant with- 
 out injuring the coloring matter. When barn-yard manure 
 has been largely used, a crop of grain should first be raised 
 on the land. 
 
 "The seed should be mixed with ashes or sand, and sown 
 in drills fourteen inches apart, four quarts of seed to the 
 acre. . In this climate (Middle Georgia), the seed should be 
 sown the first of April. When it first comes up it should 
 have the grass picked out with the hand. When an inch 
 or two high the' grass between the rows should be cut out 
 with the hoe or scraper, and the soil loosened about the 
 roots. Three weedings are enough before the first cutting, 
 which should commence as soon as the plant throws out its 
 bloom. It is so easily injured by the sun after being cut, 
 that the operation should be commenced and end in the 
 afternoon. After cutting with the reap-hook, it is put 
 under the shed until it can be put in the vats. In Georgia, 
 the two cuttings yielded sixty pounds of indigo to an acre, 
 provided the roots were not injured in the first cutting, 
 which at three acres to the hand would be one hundred 
 and eighty pounds ($180). The price varies from 30 cents 
 to $2.25 per pound for the best Guatemala. 
 
 "Like other plants, it has its enemies. The leaves are 
 frequently seen covered with yellow spots, owing to some 
 change in the atmosphere. It often happens that in conse- 
 quence of a degree of heat and drought, the plant is not 
 fully developed; the leaves are not more than one-third 
 
183 
 
 their proper size, yet exhibit all the properties of a perfect 
 plant. If the plant is' cut in this imperfect state the crop 
 is lost, for the indigo is not well developed. An insect (the 
 ilea) often destroys the first crop of leaves. Next, a loose 
 destroys the plant later in the season ; this, however, is not 
 so bad as the first. The cutworm also commits some depre- 
 dations upon it. 
 
 " Manufacturing Process. — Two methods are used, the 
 cold and the hot. The cold is the safest ; the plant must 
 be in a certain state to use the hot. 
 
 " 1st. By Cold Water. — The weed is put in the vat and 
 covered with clear water, where it remains until the color 
 of the liquid becomes a light olive; this is about ten hours; 
 the weed must be pressed down by heavy scantling laid 
 upon it. Draw the liquid off into the churn or beater. 
 The churning must now be commenced, and kept up until 
 the fluid becomes lighter in its general shade, and the blue 
 fecula are seen in the water; which sooner begins from 
 small quantities of lime-water being added from time to 
 time during the process of beating. The quantity of lime- 
 water that is used should be not more than one-tenth of 
 the liquid that is in the vat. If the lime-water be all 
 thrown in at once, the lime more than saturates the car- 
 bonic acid, and the carbonate thus formed will be precipi- 
 tated, and thus injure the indigo. After the fecula shows 
 itself distinctly in the water, the vat is allowed to be still 
 for four or five hours, then the clear water is drawn off by 
 faucets at different heights, so as to allow the indigo to be 
 precipitated in the bottom. 
 
 " 2d. The Hot Process. — The weed is put in the vat, 
 boling water is let on so as to saturate the plant, and fully 
 cover it. The weed is kept down by scantling thrown 
 upon it. Allow the water to stand from five to fifteen min- 
 utes, according to the effect above mentioned. Draw it off 
 through a faucet and sieve into the beater; repeat until all 
 the coloring matter is extracted ; beat or churn as above, 
 omitting the lime-water; remainder of the process the 
 same. 
 
184 
 
 " The precipitated indigo still requires some farther op- 
 erations to bring it to a state of perfection (though it can 
 be dried and sent to the market as it now is). It contains 
 particles that are imperfectly oxyclated; consequently it has 
 -neither the color nor properties of the best indigo. Con- 
 tinued beating would bring these to a proper state ; but it 
 would cause the particles first oxydated to imbibe an addi- 
 tional quantity of oxygen, by which the color is too much 
 deepened, and the article would be rejected in commerce as 
 burnt To avoid this, throw over the liquid fecula a volume 
 of warm water double the quantity of the fecula, stirring 
 it all the while ; by this means the perfect indigo will be 
 precipitated, the other held in suspension. This water is 
 drawn off, and lime added, etc., as above, by which the 
 green color becomes a yellow brown, and the indigo is ren- 
 dered insoluble and precipitated. That indigo may be 
 pure and brilliant, it should be twice washed — once in cold, 
 and once in hot water. After washing, allow the fecula to 
 settle, then draw off the water. 
 
 "The. last purification now is to mix the fecula with 
 another quantity of water, in a vat having several faucets. 
 While it is suspended, the earths are precipitated ; draw off 
 while stirring, and allow to settle. The last operation con- 
 sists in putting the fecula in a coarse bag of hemp or wool, 
 and this bag in an open basket to drain, placing weights 
 upon it until it becomes tightly compressed. These last 
 operations are not requisite if a very common article is to 
 be made ; but it is well to follow all the purifications. The 
 increase in price will cover the increase of trouble." 
 
 " Indigo Vat. — Description. — For ever}- set of ten hands 
 there should be what are called a set of works. These for- 
 merly cost about one hundred dollars or more, and were .a 
 vat or tank, made of plank two inches thick, well joined. 
 This vat is twenty feet square, stands upon posts four feet 
 from the ground, and is kept tight by wedges driven into 
 the sleepers upon which the plank rests. The vat is three 
 feet deep, and is called the steeper. Along-side of it is 
 
185 
 
 another vat, twenty feet by ten, occupying the space be- 
 tween the bottom of the steeper and the ground, into 
 which the water is drawn in which the indigo is steeped 
 when ready to be beat, or churned, as we may say. At the 
 end of this last vat a small tank or cask must be placed, to 
 furnish lime-water in the process of beating. The liquor 
 is drawn from the steeper by a spigot at the bottom of the 
 vat along the beater. Lengthwise of this is stretched a 
 beam, resting on its upper ends, and revolving on journals, 
 and furnished with cross arms, to the ends of which are 
 fixed open buckets without bottoms, containing about two 
 gallons each. Two men, standing on this beam, with a 
 handspike fixed to the long beam, alternately plunge the 
 open buckets right and left, thus churning the liquid until 
 it begins to show a blue fecula, which is produced by small 
 quantities drawn from the lime cask." 
 
 Method successfully used by a negro (Geoffrey) on a 
 plantation (Mrs. J. S. P.), St. John's, Berkley, South Caro- 
 lina, to prepare a dye from the wild indigo : 
 
 Cut the plant, put in a barrel, and cover with water. In 
 about three days it commences to foam, and it is then 
 ready to churn; take out the leaves, and press the liquid 
 out *of them. It is then to be whipped up in a churn 
 with a stick made like a dasher. When it foams, a greased 
 feather applied to the surface will check the foam. In 
 order to test whether the process is sufficiently advanced 
 and the blue color extracted, it may be tested in a white 
 plate put in the sunlight; the thickened grounds will be 
 visible. About a quart of strong lye-water, or lime soaked 
 in water, should be first thrown in to settle it. This should 
 be done before it is churned. If the Coloring substance 
 appears to be sufficiently separated by the test mentioned 
 above, drain the supernatant water carefully away. The 
 remainder, or sediment, should be placed in a bag to drain. 
 This contains the indigo. This indigo may subsequently 
 be moulded into cakes. I have seen yarn excellently dyed 
 by it; also wool, which was dyed before it was carded, and 
 made into cloth (1862). 
 
186 
 
 The following process of manufacturing indigo in small 
 quantities for family use is extracted from the Southern 
 Agriculturist: 
 
 Cut the indigo when the under leaves begin to dry, and 
 while the dew is on them in the morning ; put them in a 
 barrel, and fill this with rain water, and place weights on 
 to keep it under water ; when bubbles begin to form on the 
 top, and the water begins to look of a reddish color, it is 
 soaked enough, and must be taken out, taking care to 
 wring and squeeze the leaves well, so as to obtain all the 
 strength of the plant ; it must then be churned (which may 
 be done by means of a tolerably open basket, with a handle 
 to raise it up and down) until the liquor is quite in a foam. 
 To ascertain whether it is done enough, take out a spoon- 
 ful in a plate, and put a small quantity of very strong lye to 
 it. If it curdles, the indigo is churned enough, and you 
 must proceed to break the liquor in the barrel in the same 
 way, b} T putting in lye (which must be as strong as possi- 
 ble) by small quantities, and continuing to churn until it is 
 all sufficiently curdled ; care must be taken not to put in 
 too much lye, as that will spoil it. When it curdles freely 
 with the lye it must be sprinkled well over the top with 
 oil, which immediately causes the foam to subside, -after 
 which it must stand till the indigo settles to the bottom of 
 the barrel. This may be discovered by the appearance 
 of the water, which must be let off gradually by boring 
 holes first near the top, and afterward lower, as it continues 
 to settle ; when the water is all let off, and nothing remains 
 but the mud, take that and put it in a bag (flannel is the 
 best), and hang it up to drip, afterward spreading it to dry 
 on large dishes. Take care that none of the foam, which 
 is the strength of the weed, escapes ; but if it rises too 
 high, sprinkle oil on it. 
 
 Seven or eight species of indigo are found in the United 
 States, most of which are in the South. The wild indigo 
 (Dyers bapiisia), common in Pennsylvania and other Middle 
 states, yields a considerable proportion of blue coloring 
 matter of an inferior kind. (Flora Cestrica.) 
 
187 
 
 Blue Dyes. — The materials employed for this purpose are 
 indigo, Prussian blue, logwood, bilberry ( Vaccinium myr- 
 tillus), elder-berries (Sambacus nigra)] mulberries, privet- 
 berries (Ligiistmm vulgare), and some other berries whose 
 juice becomes blue by the addition of a small portion of 
 alkali, or of the salts of copper. I shall here describe the 
 other, or minor blue dyes : To dye blue w.ith such berries 
 as the above, we boil one pound of them in water, ad-ding 
 one ounce of alum, of copperas, and of blue vitriol to the 
 decoction, or in their stead equal parts of verdigris and tar- 
 tar, and pass the staffs a sufficient time through the liquor. 
 When an iron mordant alone is employed, a steel-blue 
 tint is obtained; and when a tin one, a blue with a violet 
 cast. The privet-berries, which have been employed as 
 sap colors by the card-painters, may be extensively used in 
 the dyeing of silk. The berries of the African night- 
 shade (Solanmn guineense) have been of late years considera- 
 bly applied to silk on the continent in producing various 
 shades of blue, violet, red, brown, etc., but particularly 
 violet. 
 
 Glyceria tomerdosa. Grows in dry 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^ 
 
 Tephrosia Virginiana, Ph. Turkey pea ; goat's-rue. Vi- 
 cinity of Charleston ; grows in dry soils. Fl. July. 
 
 Lindley's Med. Flora, 244 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 238. The 
 roots were used by Indians, and are now employed in pop- 
 ular practice as a vermifuge ; a decoction is said to act as 
 powerfully and as efficiently as the pink root (Spigelia). 
 Attention is invited to it. 
 
 Amorpha fruticosa, L. Bastard indigo. Florida, Caro- 
 lina, and Mississippi. 
 
 This was formerly used in Carolina as an indigo plant, 
 and continues to be extensively cultivated in Britain as an 
 ornamental shrub. Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia. 
 
188 
 
 Robinia p'seudacacia, L. Yellow locust tree ; locust ; false 
 acacia. Grows in the mountains of South Carolina; vi- 
 cinity of Charleston; collected in lower St. John's, Berk- 
 ley, near Ward's plantation, Mrs. Prioleau's ; Newbern. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Dem. JSlem. de Bot. The flowers are aromatic and emol- 
 lient. An antispasmodic syrup is prepared from them ; 
 and Gendrin states that when given to infants it produces 
 sleep, vomiting, and sometimes slight convulsive move- 
 ments ; 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. 
 The inner bark is fibrous, and may be spun into cordage; 
 the wood is of a fine, compact grain, and is used for manu- 
 facturing purposes. Mem. sur la Robinia, Mem. de la Soc. 
 d'Agricult. 1786 ; Francois, Letters on the Robinia, Paris, 
 1803. Griffith, in his Med. Bot. 239, says that it has not 
 received sufficient attention, for "every part is endowed 
 with some good quality." On account of its durability, the 
 wood is much used for treenails in ship-building ; the 
 leaves, prepared in the same manner as those of the indigo, 
 may be 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 fur- 
 nish 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. 
 
189 
 
 This tree, both the leaves and flowers of which are beau- 
 tiful, has attracted great attention in England, and its seeds 
 are largely imported, to be planted as a hedge and orna- 
 mental plant, and for various purposes. Almost a mania 
 prevailed upon the subject. "ISTo 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 circumference of three inches. When 
 the tree is felled suckers spring from the trunk in great 
 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 em- 
 ployed it for axle-trees of carriages ; the turner has used it 
 for various purposes of his 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 better than any other 
 timber in common use, and to be as durable as cedar; land- 
 scape gardeners have planted it for a combination of orna- 
 ment 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 desirable 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 pro- 
 portion of sugar." Wilson's Encyc. Rural. The plants are 
 easily propagated by pouring boiling water over the beans 
 in the fall; let them remain twenty-four hours, and plant. 
 They grow six or seven feet the first season. 
 
 Robinia hispida; also Va. rosea. Rose acacia. Mountains 
 of Georgia and North Carolina. Chapman. 
 
 Wilson speaks of 'it as a " remarkably beautiful shrub." 
 
190 
 
 Its shoots of each year, or newest and freshest twigs, carry 
 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, nearly 
 all the English and Scotch authorities. 
 
 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 N"ew York, has been attended 
 to with considerable profit to the agricultural interest, but 
 not with that earnestness which the importance of the sub- 
 ject demands. This may have arisen from the difficulty of 
 propagating it by transplanting, or not understanding how 
 to raise it from the seed. 
 
 ^ jjs * ^c * ^ X 
 
 " 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 sea-coast, penetrated by numerous bays, and giving 
 rise to many great rivers, whose banks are covered with 
 forests of extraordinary growth, whose soil is fertile, rich, 
 and variegated, and whose climate is agreeably diversified 
 by a gradation of temperature ; to such a country, inhab- 
 ited by an industrious and enterprising people, commerce, 
 both foreign and domestic, must constitute one of the prin- 
 cipal employments. As long as the country possesses the 
 necessary timber for ship-building, and the other advanta- 
 ges which our situation affords, the government will con- 
 tinue to be formidable to all other powers. We have within 
 ourselves four materials necessary for the completion of 
 strong and durable naval structures. These are the live-oak, 
 locust, cedar, and pine, which can be abundantly 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 
 
191 
 
 than if constructed of any other wood. Naval architecture 
 has arrived in this place, and other parts of the United 
 States, to as great perfection, perhaps, as in any other coun- 
 try on the globe. Our 'fir-built frigates' have been com- 
 pared with the British oak, and stood the test ; and in 
 sailing, nothing has equalled the fleetuess of some of our 
 sharp vessels. The preservation and cultivation 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 of 
 them. The pine forests appear almost inexhaustible, and 
 they will be so in all probability for many generations to 
 come ; but the stately cedars of Mobile, and the lofty for- 
 ests 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 Virginia and Maryland, is in. such 
 demand for foreign and domestic consumption that it is 
 called for before it can attain its full growth. It has been 
 cultivated as far eastward as Rhode Island, but begins to 
 depreciate in quality in that state. Insects attack it there, 
 which are not so plentifully found in this state, nor its native 
 situations. These give the timber a worm-eaten appear- 
 ance, and render it less useful. The locust has been exten- 
 sively cultivated in the southern parts of the State of New 
 York, but the call for it has been so great that few trees 
 have attained any size before they were wanted for use. 
 Hence they are in great demand, and of ready 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 extensively 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 impor- 
 tance from this circumstance alone, independent of its great 
 consumption in this city among ship-builders. In naval 
 structures it is not exclusively applied to the interior or 
 frame. In many places where strength is wanting, locust 
 timber will bear a strain which would break oak of the 
 
192 
 
 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 happened with a locust one. Tillers for large sea 
 vessels are now uniformly made of locust in JSTew York. 
 It is the best timber also for pins or treenails (commonly 
 called trunnels), and preferable to the best of oak. The 
 tree generally 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 treenails, with little or no 
 loss of substance. These are made in considerable quanti- 
 ties 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 for that 
 purpose. Most of the roots of the locust are long, cylin- 
 drical, and run horizontally not far under the surface. In 
 transplanting, so few of the roots are 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 locusf in this way that 
 another method of propagating it has been generally re- 
 sorted to. Whenever a large tree was cut down for use, 
 the ground for some distance around was ploughed, by 
 which operation 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 protected 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, 
 
193 
 
 from inability to raise it from the seed. The seed does not 
 always 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 w T ell understood and practised, 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. 
 
 "Dr. Bard's method of preparing the seeds was to pour 
 boiling 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." 
 
 Robinia viscosa, Vent. Clammy locust. Grows among 
 the mountains, 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 superficial glands, which is dissolved by ether ; Vau- 
 quelin considers it a peculiar product : An. de Chim. xxvii, 
 223. Chevalier, however, doubts it : Diet, des Drogues, 
 iii, 15. 
 
 Rhyncosia tomentosa (?). Dollar-plant. Diffused 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 trouble- 
 some diarrhoea. A tea is given several times a day. Several 
 cases have come to my knowledge where it was successfully 
 employed — no doubt on account of tannin contained in it, 
 as is evident from the taste. 
 13 
 
194 
 
 Vicia saliva, Linn. Walter. Tare. Grows abundantly 
 around Charleston. 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. 
 
 V. faba. Garden bean. Cultivated. 
 
 Piswn sativum. Pea. 
 
 Great use is made of the varieties of the pea on the plan- 
 tations in this state, as articles of food for men and animals. 
 The species called the cow-pea is most in use ; I have 
 been unable to find, and do not believe that there exists 
 any accurate botanical description of this very valuable 
 plant. It seems, however, from my examination, to be 
 included under the genus Vicia. 
 
 Am-phicarpa monoica. Grows in rich lands. Fl. July. 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 322. The subterranean pod is 
 cultivated as a vegetable. 
 
 Arachis hypogxa. Ground-nut. 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 from 
 them, and which is much valued. Ermandel "On the 
 cultivation of the ground-nut, and its employment as a sub- 
 stitute for coffee," Journal de la Litter. Etrang. ix, 169 ; 
 Du Buc, Mem. on the use of A. hypog., and an examina- 
 tion of its oil (in French); see Journal de Pharm. viii, 231; 
 Kivoli, Lettre sur l'Arachis hypogsea, Milan, 1807 ; Don- 
 men, Notice sur l'Arachis, Montpellier, 1838. According 
 to the analysis of Pagen and Henry, it is very difficult for 
 the oil to become rancid. Journal de Chim. Med. i, 435 ; 
 Ann. de Hist. Nat. iv, 206 ; Gurnin, Mem. sur l'Arachis, 
 
195 
 
 Biblioth. Physice Econ. i, 145 ; Tessier, Mem. sur l'Ara- 
 chis, Avignon. The seeds, parched and ground, can with 
 difficulty be distinguished from cofl'ee, as I have myself 
 experienced. In some portions of South Carolina it is 
 employed as a substitute. The okra [Hibiscus esculentus) 
 serves the same purpose. The ground-nut 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 ground-nut is culti- 
 vated to some extent in South Carolina, 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 this state of the oil which it affords on expres- 
 sion. The authorities cited above will afford much valu- 
 able information. 
 
 The above was published in my report on Med. Botany, 
 S. C.j 1849. Since the war it is largely employed. The 
 superintendent of the Rockfish Factory in North Carolina, 
 writes that he has "used the pea-nut oil by the side of the 
 sperm, and that it works fully as well.'' 
 
 Gleditschia triacanthus, L. Sweet locust; honey locust. 
 Diffused. As far west as Mississippi ; I have seen it in 
 lower and upper districts of South Carolina. 
 
 Beer is sometimes made by fermenting the sweet pods 
 while ffesh. 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. 
 
 Cassia Marylandiea, L. Wild senna. Grows along the 
 banks of rivers ; vicinity of Charleston. 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 cor- 
 rected by infusing fennel seed or some other aromatic with 
 
196 
 
 the leaves. It is prepared in large quantities by the 
 Shakers, and is generally collected 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 officinal senna, which 
 is cultivated successfully by Mr. W. Lucas, of South Caro- 
 lina, for use on his plantation. He says that it does not 
 appear to degenerate. 
 
 Cassia occidentalis, L. ) Styptic weed; Florida cof- 
 
 " Carolmiana, Walt. $ fee. Common around old 
 buildings ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Columbia. 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 venomous 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 derangement of the digestive organs, and 
 as a vermifuge also ; forty grains, parched like coffee, are 
 used. It is useful as an application, in the form of a decoc- 
 tion of the leaves, in itch, erysipelatous eruptions, irrita- 
 tion, 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 ; Chernoviz, 
 Form. 222. Once thought to be very valuable as a substi- 
 tute for coffee ; roots thought to be injurious to hogs. 
 
 (Jassia cham&crista, L. Golden cassia. Diffused in dry, 
 sandy soils ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Xewbern. 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 purgative. It grows in abundance in South Carolina, 
 and should be examined. It is employed in portions of the 
 country for the recovery of worn-out lands ; those that are 
 
197 
 
 sandy being particularly benefited by it. See Greenway's 
 account of the 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. 
 
 Cercis canadensis, L. Redbud ; Judas-tree. Swamps, vi- 
 cinity of Charleston ; collected in St. John's. Fl. March. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 380. "The wood is of great value for 
 mechanical purposes, as it polishes exceedingly well, and is 
 admirably veined with black and green." 
 
 Schrankia angustata, T. and G. 1 Grows in pine lands. 
 " uncinata, Ell. Sk. j Fl. July. 
 
 The leaves of this plant possess a remarkable degree of 
 sensibility, or irritability, closing up immediately upon 
 contact with any surface. I have just 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 vegetable sensi- 
 bility.* After trying a number of substances, including 
 the tinctures of opium, capsicum, and camphor, and the 
 solutions of tartar emetic, sulph. morphine, and hyd. potash, 
 without producing any impression, I ascertained that the 
 two anaesthetic agents alone, when placed on the main 
 petiole of the leaves, had, in about five minutes, their influ- 
 ence gradually extended to those above, causing the leaf- 
 lets to contract seriatim. Though sensibility to impressions 
 was impaired by each successive attempt, yet it was never 
 entirely lost. The result of my observations differed from 
 those of Prof. Marcet, but agreed with De Candolle in his 
 analogous experiments with nitric and sulph. acids in its 
 
 * Read before the Soc.de Phys. et cl'Hist, Nat., Oct. 19th. 1849. See, also, Sill, 
 Journal. July. 1849. 
 
198 
 
 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 
 aniseseed placed on a leaf-stalk 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 arranged not far from the surface. 
 In the examination I was assisted by Dr. Rene Ravenel. 
 
 In sensitive plants, Mimosa, for example, the move- 
 ments 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 petiole will remain 
 constantly elevated, having lost the power of depressing 
 itself. These facts prove that the motious 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 
 motions. 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 communicate between the two parts of the 
 skin except the woody fibres and vessels ; that it is trans- 
 missible 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 parenchyma. «Froni these very interesting 
 experiments, it results that the interior movement pro- 
 duced 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 com- 
 
199 
 
 pletely destroys the irritability of the plant. The return 
 of the sun's influence readily restores the plant to its irrita- 
 ble state. "It appears, therefore, that it is by the action of 
 light that the vital properties 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." Rural Cyc. 
 
 Calycanthace^e. {The Carolina Allspice Tribe.) 
 Flowers aromatic and fragrant. 
 
 thlycanthus Floridus, Linn. Sweet shrub. Specimens 
 from Aiken ; I have observed it growing wild in Fairfield 
 district. Fl. May. 
 
 One of the most aromatic and sweet scented of our in- 
 digenous plants ; cultivated on this account in gardens. 
 Dr. Douglass, of Chester district, S. C, sends me a commu- 
 nication from his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, who says 
 he has frequently used it with satisfaction, as an antispas- 
 modic tonic, in the cure of chronic agues. A strong decoc- 
 tion of the seed or bark of the root is given. The wood is 
 strongly camphorated, especially the root, and Mr. Nuttall 
 thinks will probably produce this drug as abundantly as 
 the Laurus camphora. Seeds seldom mature. 
 
 MYRTACEiE. [Myrtle Tribe.) 
 
 Eugenia, Micheli. Allspice family. 
 
 Several species of this genus are found in South Florida. 
 See Chapman's Southern Flora. The timber of most Eu- 
 genias 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 rendered somewhat disa- 
 greeable by the aroma of the oil, are edible. Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. 
 
 Saxifragace,e. {The Saxifrage Tribe.) 
 
 De Cand. considers the whole order as more or less astrin-, 
 gent. 
 
200 
 
 Heuchera Americana, L. Alum-root. Grows in damp 
 soils; Richland, Dr. G-ibbes ; collected in St. John's; 
 Charleston district ; found also in Georgia ; ISTewbern. 
 
 Coxe's Am. Disp. 112 ; Lind. Nat Syst. Bot. 163 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 390 ; Barton's Collec. ; Mich. Flora Boreal. Ameri- 
 cana, 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 administered 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. 
 
 BuRSERACEiE. (Torchivood Tribe.) 
 
 Amyris Floridana, Xutt. Torchwood. South Florida. 
 Chapman. 
 
 Nearly all the species afford fine materials in both their 
 resin and their wood for fragrant incense and delightful 
 pastiles. Wilson's Rural Cyc. 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 from the Pinus tceda. The Bur sera gummi- 
 fera, Jacq. of Florida, also yields a balsam. 
 
 Anacardiace^e. ( The Cashew Tribe.) 
 
 Trees abounding in a resinous, sometimes acrid, highly 
 poisonous juice, are the ordinary representatives of this 
 order. 
 
 Rhus toxicodendron, T. & Gray. ) Poison oak. Diffused; 
 " radicans of authors. J 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, Toxi- 
 
201 
 
 cologie 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 ; Bull. Plantes Yen. de 
 France, 146. 
 
 It produces in those who come into its vicinity an ery- 
 sipelatous 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 dis- 
 solved by ether. Bigelow thinks it is composed of a resin 
 and an essential oil. Purging with neutral salts, the use of 
 opium, blood-letting, and cold applications of acetate of lead 
 are employed in case of poisoning from these plants. The 
 bruised leaves of the Collinsonia canadensis (which grows in 
 the Confederate States) are employed for the eruptions 
 caused by the emanations from the poisonous sumachs, 
 and the Verbena urticifolia, also found in South Carolina, is 
 likewise considered an antidote. Horseiield, in his Diss., 
 states that he administered the infusion in consumptive 
 and anasarcous patients. Du Fresnoi reports cases of. her- 
 petic eruption cured by preparations of this plant; also 
 four cases of palsy. Dr. Alderson, of Hull, has given it 
 with o-ood effect in doses of one-half to one o-rain, three 
 times a day, in paralysis. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. Supplem. 1846, 627. Dr. Baudelocque employs it 
 with success in the chronic ophthalmia of scrofulous in- 
 fants, a col^-rium being made of the alcoholic tincture. 
 Four drachms in two ounces of water is used, afterward 
 augmenting the dose. Rev. Med. ISTov. 1836 ; A. How- 
 roarth's Hist. R. Toxicod. in Essai Med. du Docteur Al- 
 derson, Lond. 1793; Fontana, Traite de la vipere, ii, 169; 
 Alibert, M. Med. i, 450. Some have inoculated them- 
 selves with it without injury. Biblioth. Med. xxvi, 395. 
 "On cite un eas mortel par suite d'attouchement des par- 
 
202 
 
 ties sexuelles apres avoir manie des rameaux de ce vegetal:" 
 Me. loe. cit. See Annal. in Journal de Chim. In employ- 
 ing it for ringworm Du Fresnoi increased the dose of the 
 extract till it amounted to eight grains a day. "Novel 
 effects concerning a dangerous American plant,"- by Gle- 
 ditch (in French); see Journal de Physic, 1782 ; Du Fresnoi, 
 in Actes de la Soc. de Med. de Bruxelles, i, 136 ; Wursur, 
 sur leE. Toxicod. ; Actes de La Soc. Econ. de Florence, 
 iii, 138 ; and observations by Wilhmet on the effects of this 
 plant, in Journal de Med. de Courv. i, 209 ; Employ. R. 
 Tox. in Thesis, at Montpellier ; Ann. de Clinique, vi, 343. 
 Heinning's case of paralysis, cured by R. rad. in Bull, des 
 Sc. Med. de Ferus, iv, 262. It is employed in maladies 
 arising from general debility, and defective innervation. A 
 French writer testifies to the efficacy of this plant in homoe- 
 opathic doses, in all cutaneous diseases. Dr. Alderson 
 prefers the infusion of the recent leaves ; Van Mons the 
 extract of the dried leaves. By analysis, it contains a very 
 combustible "hydrocarbonate," tannin, gallic acid, resin, 
 gummy substance, fecula, etc. Griffith's Med. Bot. 185 ; 
 and Stephenson and Churchill, iii, 167 ; Bull, des Sc. Med. 
 vi, 98 ; Bull de la Facult. v, 439. An acrimonious vapor, 
 combined with carburetted hydrogen, exhales from a grow- 
 ing plant of the poison oak sumach during the night, can 
 be collected in a jar, and is capable of inflaming and blis- 
 tering the skin of persons of excitable constitution who 
 plunge their arms into it. The yellow, milky juice turns 
 dark, and forms one of the best indelible inks for marking 
 linen, and is used by the Japanese as a varnish. Rural 
 Cyc. See varnish sumach (i?. vernix). 
 
 Rhus glabra, Linn. Smooth sumach. Grows in the 
 upper districts ; found near Columbia, and Augusta, Ga., 
 in wet soils. Fl. May. 
 
 " If the bark of the root is boiled in equal parts of milk 
 and water, forming with flour a cataplasm, it will cure 
 burns without leaving a scar." The excrescences have 
 been preferred, as an astringent, to tannin or gallic acid. 
 
208 
 
 'Dr. Walter employed and substituted them for galls ; their 
 sourness is supposed to be owing to malic acid, which is 
 contained in the pubescence. According to Dr. Cozzens, 
 also, of New York, they are astringent, and refrigerant, 
 furnishing with water a cooling drink, useful in inflamma- 
 tion and ulceration of the throat. The excrescences on the 
 leaves of the JR. glabra which I have gathered (1862) on 
 Tiger creek, Spartanburg district, are as large as persim- 
 mons — resemble fruit in appearance — are powerfully astrin- 
 gent, and contain moving bodies like seeds attached to the 
 inner walls, surrounded by a white, cottony substance, 
 probably embryo animals. These glandular excrescences 
 are showy. I would recommend them as a perfect substi- 
 tute for tannin. I have dried and powdered them. They 
 are a pure astringent. Dr. Fahnestock states that an infu- 
 sion of the inner bark of the root is employed as a gargle, 
 and is considered almost as a specific in the sore throat 
 attending mercurial salivation. An infusion of the leaves 
 sweetened with honey is serviceable, applied in the same 
 way, and for cleansing the mouth in putrid fevers. The 
 bark is considered a febrifuge. Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 166 ; 
 II. S. Disp. 598 ; Am. Journal Med. Sci. 561 ; Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 77, where its employment as a gar- 
 gle is alluded to ; Rev. Medicale, i, 1830, 307 ; Griffith, 
 Mecl. Bot. 106. The decoction of the root is used by the 
 Indian doctors in the treatment of gonorrhoea and gleet, 
 and as a wash in ulcers. In other words, it is an astrin- 
 gent. The bark of this, the JR. copal, and the R. typhinum, 
 and of the European species, acts as a mordant for red 
 colors, and much use is made of it in the tanning of mo- 
 rocco leather. A vinegar may be prepared from the berries 
 of this species. 
 
 I introduce the replies of several correspondents of the 
 Charleston Courier (1862) to inquiries concerning the 
 sumach. 
 
 Dr. Abner Lewis Hammond writes : 
 
 " The Rhus Glabra I consider identical with that so 
 extensively grown for export and manufacturing, purposes 
 
204 
 
 in Sicily. The difference, as seen in the size of the leaves, 
 tree, etc., is attributable, no doubt, only to a difference in 
 locality, soil, and cultivation, and to no other. I have seen 
 it flourishing alike on the mountain slopes and in the val- 
 leys of Virginia; on the rich table lands and bottoms of 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Illinois ; on the flinty ridges 
 and barren mineral lands of Missouri. Under cultivation 
 it suckers freely. Looking at its value and importance as 
 a manufacturing agent or material, and its easy production, 
 I have long wondered at its total neglect, and feel no hesi- 
 tancy in saying that with the same care given to its 
 cultivation by our people as by the Sicilians, it could he as 
 successfully and profitably raised in the one as the other 
 country, and should, under existing circumstances, be neg- 
 lected no longer. Hundreds and thousands of bags, at 
 heavy expense, are annually imported into the United 
 States for tanning and other purposes, yielding to the 
 growers (after expense) a remunerating profit. The ber- 
 ries, the bark of the tree and roots, have for years fur- 
 nished the country people here and in the West a most 
 substantial dyestuff" (a brilliant black), while its prepared 
 leaves (ground) have been as steadily used (to the full ex- 
 tent of the available quantity) in the preparation of 
 morocco." 
 
 A correspondent ("E") writes from Graham's Turnout, 
 South Carolina : 
 
 " Your article, and a subsequent communication lead 
 me to believe there is more importance in the sumach than 
 I ever attached to it. When a small boy I recollect to 
 have gathered bushels of the berry on the mountains in 
 this state for the purpose of having the wool dyed black 
 for the woof of our home-made jeans. I have learned 
 something from your correspondent, and will try its use in 
 shoemakers' wax (as he stated.) There can be any quan- 
 tity gathered in this section almost without any charge. 
 
 " Should any one wish to try dyeing wool, they will find 
 it one of the handsomest black dyes known to. me." 
 
 
205 
 
 Dr. Vm. Jeuson, of Charleston, writes : 
 
 "Sumach — Rhus Glabra — figured also as Rhus Virgini- 
 cum, better known as smooth sumach, and variously called 
 Pennsylvania sumach, upland sumach, is a native of most 
 parts of the continent of North America. Grows in 
 dry, uncultivated places, flowering early in July, and suc- 
 ceeded by dense clusters of crimson berries, which, when 
 mature (about early autumn), are covered with a whitish 
 and very acid efflorescence (often used to make vinegar in 
 country localities.) The bark and leaves are astringent, and 
 said to be used in tanning leather and in dyeing. Excres- 
 cences are produced under the leaves resembling galls in 
 character. These have been used by Dr. Walter, of New 
 York, who thought them in every respect preferable to im- 
 ported galls. The only officinal part is the berries, which 
 are used as a refrigerant and febrifuge, though Dr. Fahne- 
 stock speaks highly of an infusion made from the inner 
 rind or bark of the root, for a wash and gargle in the sore 
 mouth attending inordinate mercurial salivation. The 
 writer's own experience has been to use the berries in im- 
 pure water, or when that was not to be obtained, to put 
 them into the mouth to allay the thirst attendant upon 
 riding through the hot, unsheltered, and frequently water- 
 less prairies of the far West. He also knows that a syrup 
 made with the berries is successfully used in the fall fluxes, 
 while a drink made with them is a favorite remedy in 
 many localities in febrile attacks. In the sickly year of 
 1853 the writer used them (the berries) constantly, although 
 frequently changing his atmosphere from the free, open 
 prairie to the confined pestilential air of a city with yellow 
 fever ravaging in it, and without experiencing the slightest 
 indisposition." 
 
 James Peckham, of Columbia, South Carolina, adds : 
 
 "I have often wondered that no. one here has engaged 
 in its cultivation, or rather in gathering and preparing it 
 for market, as it grows all over the country." 
 
 The following was communicated by Mr. C. H. Woodin, 
 of Charleston : 
 
206 
 
 " I notice in the Courier an inquiry in regard to the use 
 of the sumach, which grows so abundantly in the lower 
 portions of our state. Your correspondent informs us 
 that it is very beneficial in making shoewax, consequently 
 it was called shoemach. But the sumach is not only used 
 for making wax, but it is extensively used in the New 
 England and Northern states for tanning purposes." 
 
 "The sumach leaf is invaluable in tanning fine hog 
 skins and skirting, and it is shipped in great quantities 
 from South America to all the principal tanneries in the 
 North. 
 
 " The process is this : It is well known to every tanner 
 that the most important thing in making good leather is to 
 have it properly colored, and that it is not crisped or 
 parched on the grain in the "handlers." 
 
 " The shoemac leaf is put into a vat which is intended 
 for a "handler," and then the vat is filled with clean, fresh 
 water, and when it has stood until the strength is entirely 
 out of the leaf, the skin or stock is' taken from the " bait," 
 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 process 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 of this information." 
 
 See "Sweet Gum" (Liquidambar) for my examination of 
 this, the sumach, and other leaves, as substitutes for oak 
 bark. 
 
 Rhus vernix, L. Ell. Sk. | Poison sumach ; swamp su- 
 " venenata, J). C. jmach; poison elder. Grows in 
 the upper districts, and in Georgia; collected in St. John's; 
 vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
207 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 82; Lindley, Phil. , 
 Trans, vi, Abridg. 507 ; Sherard, do. 508 ; Kalm's Travels, 
 i, 77; Marshall's Abstract, 130; Cutler, Am. Acad. 427; 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 86; Bart. Coll. 24; Thacher's Disp. 
 321 ; see Big. R. vernix, Nouv. Journal de Med. xv, 43 ; U. 
 S. Disp. 718. This also gives 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 tine varnish much used in that country. Dr. Bigelow 
 ascertained that the juice, which flows in large quantities 
 from our tree when wounded in the spring, affords a bril- 
 liant, glossy, black varnish. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. Supplem. 1846, 628. See Thunberg's Voyage, vi, 15, 
 for a notice of the oil extracted from the seeds. Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. 168 ; Linn. Veg. M. Med. 56. It is styptic and astrin- 
 gent, and the resin is used as an ointment in piles. Bige- 
 low, 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 remain- 
 der, being reduced almost to the state of a resin, was 
 applied warm as a varnish. Dr. Pierson reports an inter- 
 esting 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 Rhus radicans, acciden- 
 tally burnt on the fire. A swarm of bees was poisoned 
 by alighting on one of these trees. New York Medical 
 Repos. 
 
 Rhus copallina, Linn. Walt. Wing-rib mountain sumach. 
 Diffused. Vicinity of Charleston ; Florida and Mississippi, 
 and northward ; collected in St. John's ; Newbern. Fl. 
 July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. 302 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 136. A wash is 
 applied to ringworms. The root is used by the Chippeway 
 Indians as an antivenereal. The excrescences on the leaves 
 are powdered and made into an ointment as an application 
 to hemorrhoids. Griffith, Med. Bot. It does not afford 
 copal. The leaves were mixed with tobacco, and used by 
 
208 
 
 the Indians for smoking. The sumach is said to form an 
 ingredient in the manufacture of "Killickinick" tobacco. 
 The berries are quite sour, and afford, with water, a cooling 
 drink. 
 
 Wilson asserts in the Rural Cvc. that the JR. copallina 
 does contain copal. "The resin from this shrub exists in 
 smooth, brittle, translucent, roundish, small masses; has 
 little taste, and scarcely any odor; is fusible by heat, inflam- 
 mable by ignition, insoluble in water, very sparingly solu- 
 ble 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 distinguished 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 convinced 
 that the excrescences abundant on the Rhus glabra (or 
 smooth sumach) would furnish an excellent material for the 
 supply of 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 med- 
 icine, and should be added with the leaves to the tan-vat. 
 See article " Quercus tincto?ia" in this volume, for trees 
 furnishing tannin and gallic acid. 
 
 Rhus pumila, Mich. Ph. Upper districts; Newbern. Fl. 
 August. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 719 ; Mx. Flora Americana. According to 
 Pursh, it is the most poisonous of the species. 
 
 Rhus typhina, Walt. Flora Carol. 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 contains malic acid. The incised bark yields resin. It 
 is employed in preparing morocco leather. See R. ver- 
 nix, etc. 
 
209 
 
 Rhus 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 "ex- 
 ploit" or plant our wild sumachs which are found so 
 abundantly in rank meadows; particularly abundant, I have 
 observed, in the Dismal Swamp, Va. I think it is suffi- 
 ciently 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 thirty-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 solution 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 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 
 ripe leaves; and in August, as soon as the wdiole plant is 
 mature, it is cut with a sickle dowm 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 thrashed, 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 powdered sumach in large quantities. The 
 air was filled with fine particles of dust, which covered our 
 14 
 
210 
 
 clothing, and entered the lungs. It is not injurious, how- 
 ever, for although it seemed suffocating, the workmen 
 will sleep three or four hours successively in it, and are 
 always remarkably healthy. They were particularly ex- 
 empt from cholera. The leaves are readily reduced to 
 powder while the stems are not. These last are then sep- 
 arated by sifting, and the pure sumach is placed in bags of 
 one hundred and sixty-three pounds for shipment. Two 
 thousand pounds of ground sumach to an acre is considered 
 a good crop." . 
 
 This corroborates my own suggestion regarding the 
 employment of leaves for the supply of tannin. See article 
 Tannin, and Sweet Gum (Liquidambar), for my comparative 
 experiments upon the leaves of gum, myrtle, etc., for tan- 
 nin. Both these trees grow abundantly everywhere, and 
 will easily supply a large amount of tannin, to be 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 appli- 
 cation vary with the nature of the fabric, whether silk, 
 wool, or cotton. The finest blacks are obtained by a com- 
 bination 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 verdigris, or immediately 
 through the latter." *Wilson[s Rural Cyc. See, also, lire'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. 
 
 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 the 
 Dismal Swamp, 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 
 
211 
 
 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 manu- 
 facturing purposes, for tanning, etc., can be produced in 
 the United States in sufficient quantity to supply the world, 
 if the mode of its culture be understood, and proper atten- 
 tion 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 plough 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 separated from the twigs 
 by thrashing (or, in this country, both ways — by thrashing 
 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 planting 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; 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 
 
212 
 
 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 upright 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 bucea, which resem- 
 bles 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 plough or 
 harrow would prevent these from growing, as they would 
 be in the track, and this may be the reason why they hoe 
 it. Still, I think the plough or harrow must be used in 
 our country, and some way or other contrived to save these 
 little plants if wanted." 
 
 Vitace^. (Vine Tribe.) 
 
 Vitis bipinnata, T. and G. (Ampelopsis, Mx.) Margins of 
 swamps, Florida, and northward ; abundant, bearing black 
 berries in bunches. 
 
 Attracted by the sweetish taste and the purplish black 
 hue 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 quan- 
 tity of powdered alum. The mixture was then boiled, and 
 
213 
 
 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. 
 
 My friend, the late Major John Leconte, in a paper on 
 the "American Grape Vines of the Atlantic States," has 
 given the conclusions of an experienced botanist in regard 
 to the wild species. His change of residence North and 
 South gave him a good opportunity to study the various 
 species. He is of the opinion that a grape adapted to the 
 production of wine in the Confederate States would be ill 
 adapted to the Northern states, which are colder, and less 
 humid, and dry. " Thus, the Scuppernong 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 varieties 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 
 considerably reduced. 
 
 Major Leconte 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 Patent Office Reports, 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 Leconte, 
 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. Virginiana 
 of Poiret. 
 
 A -writer recommends the use of natural caves as wine 
 cellars. Drs. Gall and Petiol's "Method of wine making, 
 
214 
 
 according to the modern principles adopted in Germany 
 and France," is published in Patent Office Reports, 1859, 
 p. 95. The same volume also describes the construction of 
 cellars and vats, etc. Gov. 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. Ravenel, also of Aiken, S. C, who has been in- 
 vestigating the native grape with his known ability as a 
 botanist, in a paper 4 published in Patent Office Reports, 
 1857, gives an enumeration of our four American species 
 of grapes so far studied. Under these, viz : V. labrusca, L., 
 fox grape, V. cestivalis, Mx., summer grape, V. cordifolia, 
 Mx., winter or frost grape, Vulpina, L., bull grape, or Bui- 
 lace, he classes the varieties which have proceeded from 
 them. The V. rupcstris of Scheele is found in Texas. 
 
 Mr. Ravenel makes a statement which is instructive: 
 "All the species of American grapes are dioecia 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 varie- 
 ties of foreign grapes are referred to a single species, V. 
 vinifera, L. 
 
 Professor C. T. Jackson, in a communication in Patent 
 Office Reports, p. 42, 1859, remarks, in reference to the pre- 
 servative power of sugar in making wine, as follows : 
 
 "We must find out the proportion of saccharine or alco- 
 hol-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 
 
215 
 
 to wine. Jacksou 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 order -to 
 make a wine that will keep." See, also, notice of Prof. 
 Wm. Hume's paper, further on, and Patent Office Reports, 
 1859, p. 59, for proportions of acids and sugar in American 
 grapes, cultivation and preparing wine, gathering grapes, 
 apparatus, 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 Reports, 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, di- 
 viding 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 eye of the cutting be even with the 
 surface of the ground, and if the matter is dry, cover with, 
 half an inch of light earth. The cuttings should be pre- 
 pared for planting by burying them in the earth imme- 
 diately 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. 
 
216 
 
 Pruning. — The first year after planting cut the vine d©wn 
 to a single eye (some leave two), the second leave two or 
 three, 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 year, 
 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. Hip off the ends of the fruit-bearing 
 branches two or three joints be} 7 ond the branches of 
 grapes, but do not take oft' any leaves. If both the cut- 
 tings 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. — Grather the grapes when very ripe ; pick 
 off the unsound and unripe berries. The bunches are then 
 washed in a w r ashing-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. 
 
217 
 
 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 fermenta- 
 tion ceases, and the wine clears; then fill up the casks, and 
 tighten the bungs. In 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 im- 
 prove 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, Chaptal's Chemistry, in its relations with Agri- 
 culture, chapter on "Fermentation," Ure's Dictionary of 
 Arts, article Wine, "Fermentation," etc., may be consulted 
 for information as to the processes of wine making. See 
 DeBow's Review, and DeBow's "Industrial Resources of 
 the South and "West," in three volumes, for articles on cul- 
 tivation of grape, and 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 Washington. I regret that I cannot condense this 
 article. 
 
 In Missouri and Ohio it is found that the Catawba grape, 
 a native of the Atlantic sea-coast, is liable to rot, and to be 
 affected by mildew. A writer in Patent Office Reports, 
 .1854, p. 453, recommends several hardier varieties, viz: 
 The Halifax (wine mild and spicy), Norton's Virginia seed- 
 ling (wine fiery and aromatic), the Roekhouse Indian, which 
 is said to produce a wine not inferior to the best Burgundy. 
 The writer gives some directions about the culture, and 
 adds: "In the place of putting the 'bung loosely' on your 
 
218 
 
 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 
 your 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 seems to contain 
 some practical directions. 
 
 The "rot" in grapes is caused by an excess of moisture 
 about the roots, and moist and damp weather. Vineyards 
 located upon "still, cold, clayey subsoils, which unavoidably 
 retain the excess of moisture and produce injurious effects, 
 can be obviated 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 para- 
 sitic fungus. See a paper on this subject in Patent Office 
 Reports, 1854, p. 311, by J. F. Allen, of Mass. 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, resem- 
 bling 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 mil- 
 lions 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 
 
219 
 
 almost covered." The plan of dusting the leaves with sul- 
 phur is impracticable. The writer says he has found a 
 wash quite effectual in destroying this fungus, and it can 
 be applied on a large scale with the garden engine ; on a 
 smaller, by the syringe or the nose of a watering-pot. 
 
 "To prepare this wash, take one peck of lime, not slaked, 
 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- 
 ture well together. In twenty-four hours it will have set- 
 tled 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 neces- 
 sary for the season. The fruit and foliage have ripened 
 fully on the European varieties. The American or native 
 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 con- 
 dition of the atmosphere 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 growth 
 may destroy millions of sporules or seed vessels deposited 
 upon their vineyards." 
 
 I have seen grapes attacked with a disease, an apparent 
 blackening 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. 
 
 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. MacCulloch compared 
 
220 
 
 it to 'white hermitage. ' ' See, also, MacCulloch's Treatise 
 on Wine making. Excellent wine is also prepared from 
 the unripe berries, he. tit, 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 greater confidence offer a 
 few abbreviated extracts from Mr. MacCulloch's book, pre- 
 viously observing that the specific gravity of the liquor 
 must here also be taken as the criterion of strength; the 
 proportions 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 
 forcibly pressed. A gallon more water is to be added, and 
 the leaves again are to be pressed. A screw w T ine-press 
 with hair bags, is very useful in the process. Sugar, vary- 
 ing 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. 
 MacCulloch'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 Cham- 
 pagne, and the smaller of the two proportions of the leaves, 
 etc., is to be employed. The specific gravity of the must 
 should be 1.110 to 1.115. The fermentation must be car- 
 ried 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 that 
 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 
 conducted in the manner already stated for the production 
 of a dry wine from green grapes ; and when perfected, and 
 
221 
 
 the wine becomes bright, it is to be fined and racked oft' 
 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 delicious 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 sub- 
 due ; hence, we recommend, the author adds, that it b^ 
 always retained two years in the cask, and be bottled in 
 the second winter. It ought, also, to remain during one 
 entire year in the bottles. Wilson's Rural Cyc, 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. 0. Rep. 1855, p. 308): 
 
 "The mode adopted by me of making wine is as fol- 
 lows : 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 perforated with small holes. 
 The must is then allowed to ferment slowly for about 
 three we*eks, until the scum caused by the fermentation 
 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 
 fumigated with sulphur as before, to destroy any bad 
 flavor. It is then ready for market ; but during this time 
 the casks require to be frequently examined, and filled up, 
 keeping them always full to the bung." The reader can 
 find in the Patent Office Reports 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 Acad- 
 
222 
 
 emy of South Carolina, read a paper before the South 
 Carolina Medical Association, on the "Manufacture of 
 Wines in the South," which has been published in De- 
 Bow's Review, March and April, 1862. It is a well writ- 
 ten article, giving the results of experiments, containing 
 an exposition of a plan to obviate the disabilities of climate 
 opposed to the manufacture of wine in South Carolina. 
 
 In brief, Prof. Hume advises that the two qualities of 
 sweetness and acidity in wines (which vary in different 
 varieties and at different seasons) should be ascertained 
 and considered b}^ the wine maker. The latest date com- 
 patible with the full and perfect maturation of the grape 
 should be selected for gathering, so that they should be as 
 little acid and contain as much sugar as possible. 
 
 Cellars should be constructed in order to prevent acidity 
 during fermentation, and if necessary alcohol, brandy, or 
 whiskey 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 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 fermentation." 
 Cool cellars' are certainly one obvious desideratum. The 
 addition of alcohol to wine as a preservative agent has 
 been referred 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 No- 
 vember the cool weather is sufficiently established, and 
 
223 
 
 continues in Aiken to conduct the vinous fermentation 
 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 
 Rural 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 mash- 
 ed, not pressed. See details, P. 0. Rep., 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 "Grape and Wine culture in California," P. 0. Rep., 
 1858, p. 342. "Angelica 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, arid 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 pre- 
 pared 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 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 Angeles, Cal., says: "The manufacture of 
 
224 
 
 wine, in a suitable climate, is simple, and may be done by 
 any one of ordinary intelligence. Bat 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 manufacture is the proper 
 regulation of temperature, particularly during the phe- 
 nomenon 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. Must which 
 abounds in saccharine matter, and is deficient in ferment, 
 requires a higher degree o.f temperature than that which 
 has these substances in opposite proportions. The strong- 
 est must, even when it contains much ferment, can sup- 
 port 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 tem- 
 perature 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 con- 
 venient, it is necessary to pay attention 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 ali 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 processes, is true of the manufacture of in- 
 digo, of sugar from the different variety of canes, etc. ~$o 
 rigid rules adapted to every climate can be depended upon. 
 That vats should be essential, I myself, without experience, 
 felt sure from seeing their necessity in keeping porter and 
 ale in Charleston, or cider in the upper country. We do 
 not manufacture any of them in Charleston, but in order 
 
225 
 
 to bottle or keep them under favorable circumstances, a 
 cool cellar is essential. 
 
 The writer quoted above gives the method of making 
 wine in Los Angeles, 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 an- 
 cient 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 mat- 
 ter 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 vineyard, 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 transferred into the fermenting tuns, 
 and the first active fermentation goes on, according to cir- 
 cumstances, 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 immediately after 
 fermentation, but if left to pass a secondary fermentation 
 it would yield more 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 oif 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 materials, and to 
 15 
 
226 
 
 enable us to hold our wines till they have age, when they 
 would compare favorably with the best. See also P. O. 
 Rep., 1859, p. 94, et seq.; also an extended account of 
 grape culture and wine manufacture, with wood-cuts of 
 presses, etc., in Report 1856, p. 408, by J. A. Warder, M. 
 D., of Ohio. The diseases affecting the grape are also de- 
 scribed. 
 
 I obtain the following from the Southern Field and Fire- 
 side : 
 
 Although this subject has been widely discussed, and 
 hundreds of methods recommended, still I see no satis- 
 factory article written which has treated this question as to 
 our Southern grapes and climate. Almost all the writers 
 have confined themselves 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 immensely superior quality 
 of its products. I trust that the following 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 bj^ the same 
 grape. Often those varieties of wine depend upon many 
 circumstances — such as difference in soil and subsoil, 
 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 gather- 
 ing 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 trans- 
 parent, 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 infe- 
 rior quality, and apt to form vinegar; if later, the wine 
 
227 
 
 will be less in quantity and syrup-like. When the grapes 
 have attained the right period of maturity, 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 ber- 
 ries 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 remarks upon the process 
 to be followed according to the mode of wine to be pro- 
 duced, and to the variety of grape employed. Our native 
 grapes ot the Labrusca 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 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 be- 
 tween 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 burn- 
 ing a w T ick 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 low T er end of which rests in a vessel filled with water. 
 
228 
 
 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 produces a harsh 
 wine — neither a hock nor a claret. The above method 
 is also applicable to the juice of any grapes of which a 
 a white or pale 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 fermentation. It can then be drawn off in clean 
 casks of required size for market, or in bottles ; but it will 
 be to its advantage to leave the wine in casks for two or 
 three yesirs before bottling. 
 
 The process of making red wine is different — the 
 grapes being mashed, with hulls, seeds, etc., in a ferment- 
 ing-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 
 white wine, the end of which siphon must rest in water. 
 In a few hours after the must has been put in the vat the 
 liquid will 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 chap- 
 eau (hat). This mass is often very consistent. As soon 
 as the chapemi 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 tan- 
 nin, 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 ferment- 
 ing-vat, which is made from well seasoned wood, and holes 
 bored all over. This false bottom is put upon the hulls to 
 
229 
 
 prevent their rising. Its position must be regulated by the 
 amount of pomace 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 fermentation. The casks have 
 to be filled occasional!}^, 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 com- 
 press the w T ine-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. 
 
 Varieties belonging to the Vitis labrusca, or fox grape : 
 
 Catawba. A light colored hock, often equal to the cele- 
 brated Rhine wines. 
 
 Diana. Also a light colored wine, much more delicate 
 than Catawba. 
 
 Delaware. From small experiments yields a wine of the 
 muscatel class, remarkably rich, and very often makes a 
 beautiful, sparkling wine. 
 
 Isabella. Makes a wune of a pale red color, if fermented 
 upon the juice, and a darker wine of a claret order if fer- 
 fermented upon the hulls. 
 
 Hartford 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-bodied Avine of the claret order. 
 This variety is destined to be relied upon as our red wine 
 grape at no distant period. 
 
 Jacques. Gives a very dark wine of the Burgundy order. 
 
230 
 
 Its juice can be manipulated as 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 
 doubtless will soon be our standing, or white Wine variety. 
 
 The Scup-pernong. A variety of Viiis cordifolia. Yields a 
 wine of the muscat order, but unfortunately sugar and 
 alcohol are too generally added, and thereby a good wine 
 is spoiled. 
 
 Many other varieties Of our native grapes will soon be 
 experimented upon as to the wine-making qualities ; but 
 with the above list we can obtain almost all the classes and 
 colors of wines that are imported in this country. 
 
 In Spartanburg district, S. C, they make out of the gar- 
 den grape a very pleasant wine, which is pure juice of the 
 grape, by the following simple process : 
 
 Squeeze the grapes through a bag ; to each gallon of 
 juice put one pound of sugar (more may be added); set 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 gal- 
 lon of brandy may be added to twelve gallons of juice. 
 This wine is said to equal the best quality. Very good 
 wine is also made by adding sugar and brandy to apple 
 cider. 
 
 " C. "W, B.," a correspondent of the Southern Field -and 
 Fireside, writes as follows : 
 
 Cultivation of Grapes. — Growing Scuppernong 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 erect 
 a good arbor to each one, and if they are well treated they 
 will soon cover the. whole field. The best land for this vine 
 is light, sandy soil, and the best manure is grass, or weeds, 
 
231 
 
 hoed up when green and put under the arbor; also, rotten 
 wood, such as old boards, rails, sticks, etc., piled under the 
 vines. It is also good to have a pen around the roots filled 
 with all the scrap leather, old shoes, bones, brickbats, etc. 
 When the vines begin to grow they must be pruned every 
 spring, for the tendrils will wrap around the branches, and 
 when the branches grow large, die, or break off, it will in- 
 jure 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 fully ripe 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, and 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 coun- 
 try, thinks that "wine-farming will, in a few years, become 
 simplified, and almost as easily understood as corn-farm- 
 ing. There is no mystery in it. Experience alone must 
 teach the proper position and soil ; the right distances 
 apart for the vines; the most judicious methods of spring 
 and summer pruning ; and* as for cultivation, keep the 
 ground clean with the plough or cultivator, like corn. Cer- 
 tain rules are given in books for vineyard culture, as pur- 
 sued in the Ohio valley. These are the European systems, 
 adapted to our own country. It will be safe to follow these 
 rules, until by experimenting we can find better. There is 
 more room for progress in this branch of agriculture than 
 in almost any other. 
 
232 
 
 "Making the wine is as simple as making cider. The 
 great bunches are cut from the vines, and all unsound or 
 unripe berries picked off the bunch and thrown in^p 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, sepa- 
 rated 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 in- 
 ferior 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 a 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 
 carbonic acid escapes through the water. In ten or four- 
 teen 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 fer- 
 mentation occurs in the spring, about the time of the blos- 
 soming 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 bot- 
 tle, but that operation had better be deferred until Novem- 
 ber. And this is the whole process of making still wine — 
 the wine for general use ; and, being a natural product of 
 
233 
 
 the pure juice of the grape, it is more wholesome than any 
 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 cul- 
 tivation of a few acres, the capabilities of the soil, position, 
 and climate, and the kind of grapes best suited to it." 
 
 CorylacejE. [The Nut Tribe.) 
 
 Properties well known. The seeds oily, and generally 
 eatable ; the bark astringent, and often containing coloring 
 matter. 
 
 Ostrya Virginiea, Willd., Ell. 8k. | Ironwood; hornbeam. 
 " carpinus, Mich. J Richland, Prof. Gibbes; 
 
 Newbern. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 619; Shea Flora Carol. 355. 
 Its leaves afford, a o-rateful food to cattle. The wood is 
 tough and white, and burns like a candle. I have suggest- 
 ed this (article in De Bow's Review) as a substitute for 
 wood employed by engravers. It is employed 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 uniform 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 [Carpinus sylvestris) is ob- 
 tained in the months of April and May. At this period it 
 is colorless, and clear as water ; its taste is slightly saccha- 
 rine; its odor resembles that of whey; it reddens turnsole 
 paper. The sap of this tree contains water in very large 
 
234 
 
 quantity, sugars, extractive matter (probably azotized), and 
 free acetic acid, acetate 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." Vauquelin's Annales de Chimie 
 t. xxxi, p. 20, first series ; Boussingault's Rural Economy, 
 p. 67, Law's edition, 1857. 
 
 Corylus rostrata, Ait. Grows on the mountains. Fl. 
 March. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot., 585 ; Duhamel's Mem. Am. Journal 
 Pharm. Dr. Heubener, of Bethlehem, has emplo} r ed 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 
 Reidville, 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. 
 
 Corylus America?ia,Walt. Hazel-nut. Rich soils; along 
 the margin of woods and thickets. West Florida, and 
 northward. Chapman. Edible. 
 
 I have seen the hazel-nut growing wild near Surnmer- 
 ville, S. C, in Laurens district, and in Powhatan county, 
 Va. Our American hazel-nut is said to be preferred to the 
 filbert. Wilson says that the oil which is obtained from 
 hazel-nuts by pressure is little inferior to that of almonds ; 
 and under the name of nut-oil is often preferred by painters, 
 on account of its drying more readilj' than any other of the 
 same quality. Chemists employ it as the basis of fragrant 
 oils, artificially prepared, because it easily combines with 
 and retains odors. This oil is found serviceable in obsti- 
 nate coughs. If nuts be put into earthen pots and well 
 closed, and afterward buried eighteen inches or two feet in 
 the earth, they ma}' 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 
 
235 
 
 and flexible, the branches are 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 manner, 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 ha- 
 zel are put into turbid wine for the purpose of fining it. 
 Rural 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. 
 
 Fagus Sylvatica. ] White beech. Rich, shaded 
 
 " V.Americana, L. J swamps. Richland, Professor 
 .Gibbes; collected in St. John's; jSTewbern. 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. Farnham, 
 in intermittent fever; but it is not possessed of any decided 
 powers. The fruit produces vertigo and headache in the 
 human species. It is observed, 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 remaining after ex- 
 pression 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 manu- 
 facturing purposes — being capable of receiving a high pol- 
 ish. 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 han- 
 
236 
 
 dies., See Dickens' Household Words. Liebig states that 
 the ashes of the beech contain a larger proportion of phos- 
 phate of lime than those of any other tree. See his Agricul- 
 tural Chemistry. It is observed in South Carolina that the 
 lands on which it grows are not usually suited for cotton ; 
 and we may, perhaps, attribute it to their depriving the soil 
 of this, so necessary a constituent 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. Chap- 
 man only includes in his work F. feruginea, Ait. 
 
 By distilling, says lire, beech tar (F. sylvatica) to dry- 
 ness with other processes, paraphine is obtained. "It would 
 form admirable candles," the author adds, while referring 
 to the production of paraphine as an article of commerce 
 from peat. 1 insert this here (1862) as deposits of peat are 
 found within the Confederate States. The ashes of peat, 
 also, are worth something as manure. They usually, Nor- 
 ton 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 manure, so much so that* 
 when laid on heaps of grass the plants are destroyed. Mi- 
 chaux says that our beech bears a strict analogy with the 
 European beech. The beech should be felled in the sum- 
 mer 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 
 proportion to its alburnum. The bark of old trees is used 
 by tanners as a substitute for oak bark." In England 
 beech wood is employed for many purposes — the nuts or 
 mast being given to hogs. See, also, Rural Cyc. The 
 wood of the red beech is stronger, tougher, and more com- 
 pact 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 incorruptible when con- 
 stantly in the water. The ashes of both species of beech 
 yield a very large proportion of potash. Michaux, who de- 
 
237 
 
 scribes the process of extracting the oil, says 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 only when it becomes limpid several 
 months after its extraction. It improves by age, lasts un- 
 impaired 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 somewhat 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, be- 
 comes liquid 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 obtain the following from a journal 
 (1862): 
 
 • Beech Tree Leaves. — The leaves of the beech trees, collect- 
 ed 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. 
 
 Castanea pumila,W. Chinquapin. 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 admirably adapted for fence-posts — lasting in the 
 ground more than forty years. Farmer's Encyc. See fol- 
 lowins:. 
 
238 
 
 Castanea vesca, L. Chestnut. Florida, and northward. In 
 South Carolina only found in upper districts ; one of our 
 noblest trees. 
 
 The fruit of the tree and the chinquapin (C. pumila) are 
 well known. Eaten either raw or boiled. The roots con- 
 tain an astringent 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 extemporane- 
 ously in diarrhoea by our soldiers in camp. 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 planted 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 }^ew 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. Dr. kelson Burgess, of Sumter district, 
 S. C, informs me that at the recommendation of Dr. Jones 
 he has used the decoction of the root and bark of the chin- 
 quapin 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 
 heretofore simply as an astringent. Hot water is poured 
 over the root and bark, and a large quantity taken during 
 the twenty-four hours. The wood of the chestnut, though 
 brittle, is very durable in w T eather. I am informed that 
 fence-rails made of it will last over, twenty years. The 
 trees can easily be raised from the seed. 
 
 Quercus tindoria. Bartram. Black oak; quercitron oak. 
 
239 
 
 Upper districts; rare in lower; collected in Charleston dis- 
 trict; St. John's. 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; IT, S. Disp. 581 ; Mich. K 
 Am. Sylva, i, 91 ; Journal de Pharm. et de Chim. v, 251 ; 
 Royle, Mat. Med. 559; Ball, and' Gar. Mat. Med. 396; Grif- 
 fith's Med. Bot. 585 ; Am. Herbal, 153. The bark, a pow- 
 erful 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, rheu- 
 matism, pulmonary consumption, tabes mesenterica, cynan- 
 che tonsillaris, and asthma. Oak-balls produced by these 
 are 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 decoc- 
 tion is serviceable as a fomentation for prolapsus uteri and 
 ani, and for defiuctions from those parts. According to 
 Dr. Cullan, it is applicable- in relaxations, or impaired con- 
 ditions 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-conditioned ul- 
 cers. Marasmic and scrofulous children 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) indiscriminately, and is sent to Europe 
 in large quantities to be employed in dyeing wool and silk 
 of a yellow color. 
 
£40 
 
 The bark is a well known and important dyestivff, and is 
 much employed in dyeing wool, silk, and paper-hangings. 
 It is said 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 integument 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 cheny 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 event- 
 ually evaporated decoction of galls, or of the tanniniferous 
 barks. Wilson's Rural Cyc. and medical authors. 
 
 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 impov- 
 erished in tannin, but weighs two hundred weight less than 
 if it had been removed before the end of May. Other 
 trees may in England be peeled earlier. The reader inter- 
 ested in procuring barks should read the article Rural 
 Cyc, "Barking." The best methods of collecting 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 fre- 
 quently turned. When it is sufficiently dry to avoid 
 
241 
 
 fermentation, it should be carried to a dry-house or shade, 
 or stacked in the same manner as hay — in stacks not so 
 large as to incur 'the risk of fermentation. In the Farmer's 
 Encyc. 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 
 Cyclopaedia. 
 
 The best season for felling timber is undoubtedly mid- 
 winter, 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 dur- 
 ing 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 Encyclopedia. 
 
 Wilson's Rural Cyclopedia, 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 preparing lampblack. 
 The willow, alder, and dogwood are employed for preparing 
 charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder. See Salix; 
 "Pimis." 
 
 See article "Leather," in Wilson's Rural Cyc, for mode 
 of preparing the varieties of leather, tanning kidskins for 
 French gloves, etc.; also "Rhus," in this paper. 
 
 The editor of the Southern Field and Fireside, April, 
 16 
 
242 
 
 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 prin- 
 ciple ; and our common broomsedge, or straw, has been 
 largely employed in the manufacture of leather in Euro- 
 pean 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 experi- 
 menting with the bark 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." 
 
 I see a Treatise on Tanning advertised by S. Hart, book- 
 seller, Charleston, S. C, which I have not examined, but 
 which may furnish more complete information than what is 
 to be obtained from fugitive essays. 
 
 From a useful communication in Southern Field and 
 Fireside, Oct. 19, 1861, it is stated that oak bark has 
 sold in the District of Columbia at ten dollars a cord for 
 years; and that "several million dollars worth of sumach 
 (Rhus) is annually imported from the south of Europe 
 into the United States for tanning purposes." The Rhus 
 grows abundantly in the Confederate States, as well as 
 many other plants containing tannin. I have noticed, in 
 traversing that part of the Dismal Swamp near Suffolk, 
 Va., that the Rhus is the most characteristic growth. It 
 could be procured in any amount. The writer of the arti- 
 cle just referred to calls attention to the great amount of 
 goatskins and morocco manufactured and exported from 
 France and England, where tannin is scarce, to this 
 country, where the materials for producing are abundant, 
 at least in the Confederate States. I quote from the writer 
 in Southern Field and Fireside as follows, and also refer 
 
243 
 
 the reader to my own examination of the plants growing 
 in St. John's, Berkley, S. C, October, 1861, for the relative 
 amount of tannin in plants. See " Liqiddambar" in this 
 volume : 
 
 "But such is the demand for leather one may well use 
 oak and chestnut bark hewed off 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 warrant their use has, we believe, never been 
 tested. Larch bark is much used in Scotland, although 
 only half the strength of oak. Monteath, of Stirling, ap- 
 plied chemical tests to the infusion of different 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 advises 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 of its valuable 
 tan-bark in clearing oak land, cutting rail timber and fire- 
 wood, and thereby deprive our children and grandchildren 
 of the power to manufacture their own leather. The time 
 has come when this error must be corrected, or serious 
 injury will be the consequence. To send a million dollars 
 worth of hides to the North, have them tanned, 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 
 
244 
 
 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 in St. 
 John's, Berkley, S. C, November, 1862, to show that the 
 leaves of many of our native trees — such as the sweet gum, 
 myrtle, etc., are rich in tannin, and being easily procured 
 may be substituted for barks, which are difficult to prepare. 
 Tanners in the State of ISTew 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 (which is a land of shoemakers) to England,' the 
 Southern states, and the great prairie West." He con- 
 demns "the habit of felling oak trees when the bark will 
 not peel." See "Quercus," " Rhus," " Myrica" and " Liquid- 
 ambar," for notice of plants suitable for tanning leather ; 
 also Wilson's Rural Cyc, art. "Currying," for method of 
 preparing and dressing leather, and lire's Dictionary 
 of Arts. 
 
 '■'■Method of tanning. — For doing a small business hot water 
 and hot ooze may 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 some- 
 times used, set on an arch, for heating ooze. A mill for 
 working hides operates precisely like a fulling-mill in 
 scouring and fulling cloth. When dry and weighty, Span- 
 ish 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 
 horizontal staff will work a hide-mill, and a horse-power 
 will drive the shaft. Our friend, Prof. Rutherford, has con- 
 structed 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 thrashes wheat, and cuts hay and straw for 
 horses. As this is a cheap and valuable power for farm 
 
245 
 
 use, it has been our purpose 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 
 flillinff-mill. The whole affair can be made of wood. Our 
 tanning 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 Nichol- 
 son's Encyclopaedia. 
 
 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 Fireside, Nov. 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 molasses 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 from the bark-vats, because lime spattering into the 
 
246 
 
 ooze injures it. Surround these with clay like the hogs- 
 heads 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 
 heam, 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 fer- 
 ments, and is ripe for use in one or two days, after soaking 
 in a half hogshead or more of water. Much pains and 
 care are used in working 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 evenly colored, 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, 
 
247 
 
 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 hogs- 
 heads of good ooze. You cannot heat old ooze in an iron 
 vessel, as it would spoil it ; but you may, perhaps, beg or 
 borrow 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 
 handling. We should hang them across sticks an inch or 
 less in diameter, 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 fre- 
 quently 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 two 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 three 
 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. 
 
248 
 
 " 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 pump- 
 ing 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 on three sides (one on each), are nailed with 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 ex- 
 peditiously 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 blacken leather. Care- 
 less 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 about 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 
 
249 
 
 to attempt to tan them himself. Let him improve his pas- 
 tures by cultivating the best grasses, and raise more fat 
 cattle for home consumption, 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 Confederate 
 States are even now short of oak bark if they are to manu- 
 facture all the leather which they consume in saddles, bri- 
 dles, 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 industries but that of producing their great staple. 
 Hence the scarcity of good mechanics and artisans. Hence 
 we make no effort to diversify our agriculture, and thereby 
 meet many public wants, while resting our land from the 
 scourge of eternal ploughing. 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 scien- 
 tific 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, and 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 
 
250 
 
 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 arrangements 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 a 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, 
 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 fif- 
 teen 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, 
 stacked and dried, of which about four pounds are supposed 
 to be necessary to produce one pound of leather. There is 
 an article occasionally 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. 
 
251 
 
 Galls, willow bark, the bark of the Spanish 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, cur- 
 rier'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 flesh- 
 ing-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 
 dry (and no hide should be dried with less than from two 
 to four quarts of salt 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 removed — throwing one hide at a time on the 
 fleshing-beam, grain or hair side down, and scraping or 
 shaving it off with the fleshing-knife, which must be some- 
 what dull or the skin is apt to be cut. They are then put 
 in the liming-vat, which is supplied with strong lime-water 
 
252 
 
 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 twelve- 
 month. Before using stir the lime well up, and while it is 
 thus mixed with the water put 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 off with the finger completely 
 and with ease. While in the liming-vat they must be 
 moved up and down every 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 flesh- 
 ing-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 ]ot of sides and skins in 
 hand have been all 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 be 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 unexplained cause, 
 feel rough, at which time they must not be worked over. 
 While they are thus boiling they must not be neglected, or 
 they will soon spoil. Tanners are iri 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 
 susceptible to the action of the ooze. Forty-eight hours 
 generally suffices for this last baiting. 
 
 "In the meantime, some good, strong ooze should be pre- 
 
253 
 
 pared 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 days; during which they 
 must be once well and carefully fleshed and worked over, 
 and must be drawn up and down every morning, 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 alternate layers of 
 bark y 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 mat- 
 ter 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 way, 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 out of the vat, rinsed effectually, and dried in the 
 shade, hanging the sides up by two of their corners to 
 joists, where they may remain until wanted. Those sides 
 
254 
 
 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, occasionally throw- 
 ing on pure water, until all the Ooze is scoured out. Tan- 
 ners 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 pos- 
 sible, the table is cleaned off, and the skins thrown back 
 upon it grain side up, and are rubbed with tanner's oil (cod- 
 fish oil) as long as 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 heavy coating. 
 
 "Dubbing, which consists of equal parts of tar and tal- 
 low, melted together, and well mixed, must be made the 
 day previous 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 dis- 
 color 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 
 
255 
 
 dry, put on another good coat of oil. The leather may 
 then be smoothed oft" with a rounding edge of polished 
 steel, or glass, or stone." 
 
 The following is from Southern Cultivator : 
 
 "Having tanned my hides for a number of years, and 
 believing 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 bot- 
 tom 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 
 equally among them from three and one-half to five bush- 
 els 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, sp 
 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 cel- 
 lular 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 
 
256 
 
 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 year you had better boil an ooze in kettles or 
 pots, 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 dry- 
 ing 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 comparatiyely 
 S,oft, 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." 
 
 Quereits fakata. Mx. Spanish oak. According to Elliot, 
 common on the sea-coast; collected but sparingly in St. 
 John's ; Richland ; grows also in Georgia ; vicinity of 
 Charleston, Bachman ; Newberu. 
 
 Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 493 ; TJ. S. Disp. 581 ; 
 Bart. Essay on the M. Med. ; Alibert, Nouv. Elems. de 
 Therap. 193 ; Pink 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 
 
257 
 
 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 hemorrhage, and 
 some have said, in intermittent fever. See Q. tinctoria 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 in South Carolina. 
 
 Quercus alba, L. White oak. Diffused ; St. John's ; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; ISTewbern. Fl. May. 
 
 II. S. Disp. 582 ; Iioyle, 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. By some it is preferred to the others on 
 account of its not acting on the bowels. The decoction 
 is sometimes used as an injection in leucorrhcea and gon- 
 orrhoea. The bark contains tannin, gallic acid, and bitter 
 extractive, the former predominating. Bark officinal. 
 Young bark 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. Good 
 collected at all seasons. Astringent, somewhat tonic. 
 Powder — dose, from one half-drachm to one drachm. Ex- 
 tract — dose, half that of the powder. Decoction — bark 
 bruised, one ounce; water, three half-pints; boil to one 
 pint. Dose, one wineglassful. This is one of the most 
 valuable of our forest trees, and it is largely emplo}<ed for 
 manufacturing purposes, and in the domestic economy of 
 the plantations in the Confederate States. The wood is 
 hard and durable. It is employed, when stripped, in mak- 
 ing plantation baskets, and chair bottoms. 
 
 The following table is the result of the experiments of 
 Barlow upon the "Absolute strength of different kinds of 
 wood drawn in the direction of their fibres." Wilson's 
 17 
 
258 
 
 Rural Cy.c. on the streugth of materials may be consulted 
 Article from Renwick's Elements of Mechanics: 
 
 Boxwood 20,000 lbs. 
 
 Ash 17,000 
 
 Teak 15,000 
 
 Norway Fir 12,000 
 
 Beech 11,000 
 
 Canada Fir 11,000 
 
 Russia Fir 10,700 
 
 Pitch Pine 10,400 
 
 "Absolute cohesive strength of wood drawn in a direc 
 tion 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. White 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 509 
 
 Ash ....359 
 
 Metals. 
 Wrought-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 3,350 
 
 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 
 Rennie'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, rela- 
 tive strength, etc. In England the shipwright considers 
 that three years are required 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. 
 
259 
 
 White Oak Baling. — The Columbia Guardian notices a 
 bale of cotton, in which white oak slats, basket fashion, 
 take the place of gunny bagging, and hoops of the same 
 wood take the place of rope. This device is the work of 
 IT 2S\ Garter, of Laurens, who states that with machinery 
 for cutting the slats, two hands can get out enough for one 
 bale in twenty minutes. 
 
 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 re- 
 quired on these invaluable substances. For processes, see 
 Ure's Dictionary of Arts. For " soda," see "Salsola" in 
 this paper. 
 
 "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 obtained. 
 
 " Concentrated Lye" is a very pare 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 
 pint of salt dissolved in a quart of water, boil a few 
 minutes longer, and pour off 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 Cyclopaedia, art. "Ashes": 
 " Trees in a general 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 
 
260 
 
 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, consult "Garya," hickory, in this paper. 
 
 Table of mean results of experiments of Messrs. Ker- 
 wan, Vauquelin, and Pertues, upon ten thousand parts of 
 each plant — amount of potash in each — (Chaptal) : 
 
 Elm 39 of potash. Fern 62 of potash. 
 
 Oak 15 " Cow Thistle 196 
 
 Beech 12 " Wormwood 730 
 
 Vine 55 " Vetches 275 
 
 Poplar 7 " [Beans 200 
 
 Thistles 53 " 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. "Grasses, leaves, the stalks of French 
 beans, of peas, melons, gourds, cabbages, artichokes, po- 
 tatoes, 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 Confederate 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 Ghaptal, "may 
 be commenced in a copper boiler, into which a very fine 
 stream of the lye should flow to replace that which evapo- 
 rates; when the liquor has acquired the consistency of 
 honey it should be put into iron boilers to complete the 
 operation. As the substance 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 thrown into 
 
261 
 
 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 exists in the person of 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 mixture. 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 
 consistence, and seems to be separating from the fluid be- 
 low. This separation is a very material part of the opera- 
 tion, and to effect it completely a quantity of common salt 
 is added; the materials are continually 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 there- 
 fore drawn off. The soap is now melted for the last time 
 with a lye, or even with water. It is then allowed to cool, 
 and afterward cast into wooden frames. The last melting 
 is important, as giving compactness. A solution of sul- 
 phate of iron will mottle soap by dispersing it before the 
 soap hardens throughout the mass. 
 
 A most economical mode of washing, which has been 
 employed by farmers, which reduces the labor of days to that 
 of a few hours, might be adopted in our armies. The wash- 
 ing of an entire regiment, when in garrison or in cities, 
 might be done systematically 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 filled with 
 water, which is raised to the boiling point. To one con- 
 
262 
 
 taining sixty gallons put two teaspoon fills 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 may be kept until it is 
 all consumed. The receipt for making the soap is as fol- 
 lows: The ingredients for one hundred pounds do not cost 
 more than one dollar aud 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 alco- 
 hol 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. 
 
 Quercus rubra. lied oak. Diffused ; grows in great 
 abundance; St. John's; Charleston; ISFewbern. Fl. April. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. ; Griffith, Mod. Bot. 587. Employed, like 
 the others, as an astringent. It is easily obtained, and 
 convenientl} T prescribed. I have myself found the bark 
 of the tree of some service among the negroes, in sev- 
 eral cases where a tonic astringent injection was required, 
 using it in one of prolapsus uteri, where the organ be- 
 came 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, furnishes 
 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. Blacksmiths' dust may be used in place of copperas. 
 
268 
 
 The wood is not so durable as that of the Q. alba, but it is 
 much used for domestic purposes. 
 
 Quercus montana, Wilkl. Rocky soils in the Alleghany 
 mountains of South Carolina. Used as a substitute for the 
 above. 
 
 Quercus virens, Aiton. Live-oak. Grows abundantly on 
 the sea-coast, for the space of forty miles from the ocean ; 
 Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 581 ; Eberle, Mat. Med. i, 376. This tree is 
 of quick growth, and attains a large size in South Caro- 
 lina. Its great value for manufacturing purposes, ship- 
 building, etc., is well known. It is often exported for 
 these purposes, to great advantage. Its branches extend 
 out to some distance, and it affords one of our most ven- 
 erable, magnificent, and ornamental shade trees, suited for 
 avenues. The acorns are edible. 
 
 Density of Wood. — I introduce the following under 
 Quercus virens. Count Chaptal, in his Chemistry applied 
 to Agriculture, makes the following remarks : " Soil, ex- 
 posure, climate, and season modify in a remarkable man- 
 ner the fibre of vegetables 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 quan-tity of volatile oil, are decomposed with more 
 difficulty, 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 Bous- 
 singault. The locality and the season of the year should 
 have an influence upon the tree, upon its structure, and 
 
264 
 
 secretions, and the} 7 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 condensed by the cold. Boussin- 
 gault, in his work on Scientific Agriculture, describes a 
 French method of preserving timber, superior to the Kyan- 
 ized, by the absorption of the salts of iron. I would refer 
 the curious reader to a paper, giving a most remarkable 
 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 Win. A. Williams. Trees sixty-eight 
 feet in circumference, and three hundred and eight} 7 feet in 
 height, without a branch for two hundred and sixty feet ; 
 vegetables relatively large. See Boussingault's work for 
 similar statements ; also, paper in Patent Office Reports on 
 Agriculture, p. 655, 1851, by Thomas Eubank, Commis- 
 sioner, containing extracts from writings of M. M. Na.udin 
 and Lecoq (report to the French Academy), on the taming 
 of plants by cultivation; they "tamed 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 Office Re- 
 ports, 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 du- 
 rability 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. 
 
 Quercus prinos, L. Vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. 
 This may be used medicinally as a substitute for the 
 Q. alba. 
 
 Quercus suber. Cork tree. Exotic. 
 
 The Patent Office has distributed for years past seeds 
 
265 
 
 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-hearing oaks, fin- 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 near!}' 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. 
 
 Betulace^e. (The Birch Tribe.) 
 Bark astringent ; sometimes employed as a febrifuge. 
 
 Betula lenta, L. Sweet birch ; cherry birch ; mountain 
 mahogany. Mountain ridges of South Carolina. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1233. The bark and leaves possess a very 
 aromatic flavor. An infusion of them is useful as an agree- 
 able, 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 that plant.) It also affords a saccharine liquor. Am. 
 Journal Pharm. xv, 213; 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 hand- 
 somest 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, 
 
266 
 
 arm-chairs, the frames of coach panels, and various other 
 purposes. " "Wilson ; Miehaux's Travels, etc. 
 
 "The Sap of the Birch tree reddens turnsole intensely. It 
 is colorless, and has a sweet taste. The water which forms 
 a greater part 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 discovered in the ashes of the 
 birch tree." Boussingault's Rural Econ. p. 65, ed. 1857. 
 
 Betula nigra, Linn. B. rubra, Mx. Red birch. Vicinity 
 of Charleston ; collected on the Santee river, St. John's, 
 Berkley; 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 engraver, and in the 
 construction of any implements requiring wood of firm 
 texture. We have also the yellow 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 longitudi- 
 nally, and useful for various economical purposes. Con- 
 sult "Alnics semdata." 
 
 Abuts serrulata, Aitou. Alder. Grows along rivulets, 
 Charleston district ; Richland, Prof. Gibbes ; Newbern. 
 Fl. April. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1224. The bark is astringent. 1ST. Y. Jour- 
 nal Med. v, 7, 8. It had for a long time been neglected ; 
 but in the article referred to the decoction is spoken 
 highly of as an alterative and astringent in scrofula, and 
 cutaneous diseases, and it is said to have been very success- 
 
267 
 
 fill in hsematuria ; in these affections 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 hemorrhage, 
 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 tincture may also be used. Poultices made of them are 
 used as a local application to tumors, sprains, swellings, 
 etc. The leaves are 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 (A. glutinosa) is planted along the side of 
 water-courses, rivulets, and sand-banks, to prevent the en- 
 croachment of water by the hardening and binding influ- 
 ence 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 subaqueous 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 manufac- 
 ture of gunpowder." Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia, 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 tanners and dyers ; see Wilson. 
 It is, in other w T ords, rich in tannin. The birch (JBetula 
 
268 
 
 nigra, L.), in fact all of our species, no doubt, contain a 
 certain proportion of the gummy, oily substance peculiar 
 to the B. alba of England. The flowers of the latter are 
 highly odoriferous, and the oil is collected. The bark is 
 also used by the tanner. Russia 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 consideration of the possession of an astringent and oily, 
 resinous principle, that a tincture of the catkins would 
 .serve as an excellent astringent, stimulating diuretic, to be 
 used in gleet, gonorrhoea, 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. 
 
 URiTiCACEiE. [The Nettle Tribe.) 
 Urtica urens, L. Dwarf nettle. Grows around Beaufort ; 
 collected in Fairfield district; Ell. says at St. Mary's, 
 Georgia; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Fl. February. 
 
 Murray's App. Med. iv, 592 ; Bull. Plarites Yen. 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 originally 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 confidence 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 instantly ar- 
 rested ; two to four ounces of the juice were given, taken 
 internally, and in the form of injection. It has also been 
 successfully employed in heematemesis and epistaxis, and 
 cases of two months duration were cured. The objections 
 of others who were not so successful have been satisfactorily 
 
269 
 
 answered, its pretended therapeutic action being denied hj 
 Drs. Kaseiakewies and Fiard, who report a case of poison- 
 ing from the internal use of two ounces of the concentrated 
 decoction. The supporters have produced well sustained 
 arguments destroying 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 ffirl who was sriving birth to a child, and who was at 
 the same time flooding, both of which he succeeded in 
 arresting with the juice of this plant, when everything else 
 had failed. Many others have used it with very favorable 
 results in this and in leucorrhoea. "Sperons," adds the 
 author of the Diet, de M. Med., " que l'experience con- 
 firmera ces heureux resultats. " See Amusat's, Cheval- 
 lier's, and Merat's Rapport " stir l'emploi du sue d'ortie 
 comme antihemorragique," made in 1846, in the Bull, de 
 l'Acad. Royale de Med. ix, 1015. Dr. Menicucci, of Rome, 
 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. Griiinestet attributes 
 its hamiostatic 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 ; 
 Journal de Med. vi, 492. By analysis, it contains a car- 
 bonate, ammonia, 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 
 obtaining a quantity of the U. wrens from Fairfield district, 
 S. C. Assisted by Dr. R. A. Kinloch, of Charleston, I pro- 
 ceeded to expose 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 respectively. The results were 
 as follows : the first died from improper manipulation ; in 
 
270 
 
 the second, the bleeding ceased entirely — the animal was 
 killed, however, a short time afterward. The juice of the 
 plant seemed to have some effect in coagulating 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 wineglassful four times a day, to a patient affect- 
 ed with chronic hematuria, who had used tannin, gallic 
 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 ex- 
 periments in both cases are obviously too meagre to enable 
 me to pronounce positively as to the amount of power the 
 plant possesses. Celsus employed the Urtica in paralysis. 
 De Re Medica, 1. iii, 27 ; Bull, des Sci. Med. ix, 77. Flag- 
 ellation with the branches, which, it is well known, contain 
 stings which produce great irritation, followed by inflam- 
 mation, has been recommended for bringing out cutaneous 
 and febrile eruptions, as in scarlatina, in apoplexy, in in- 
 sensibility of organs, in chronic rheumatism, and in fact 
 wherever a powerful external stimulating revulsive is re- 
 quired. For this purpose it has even been employed in the 
 algid period of incurable cholera morbus. Dr. Marchand, 
 Seance de 1'Acad. Roy. de Med. ii, July, 1832 ; J. Ste- 
 voght, Diss, de Urtica, 1707 ; J. Francus, Tractatus Singu- 
 laris de Urtica U rente, etc. Dilleng, 1726. Both this 
 and the U. dioica are found in the Confederate States, and 
 I would invite farther and particular examination into 
 properties which are of so valuable a description. I ob- 
 serve no notice of these experiments in the American 
 works. The minute structure of the sting is said to be 
 very curious. 
 
 Urtica dioica, L. Common or red dead nettle. Grows 
 along roads and fences; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. Aug. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 338. It is applied extensively as 
 a stimulating and- antiseptic 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, 
 
271 
 
 etc. Urtication with this also was employed in rheumatism, 
 paralysis, etc. (See U. wrens.) The root is advised in jaun- 
 dice 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 spoon- 
 ful of which was sufficient to coagulate a large quantity of 
 milk. Stearns, in the Am. Herbal, 136, refers to its use in 
 jaundice, nephritic disorders, and 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. Lin- 
 naeus, in his Veg. Mat. Med. 511, alludes to its employment 
 in hemorrhage ; it was considered lithontriptic and emmena- 
 gogue, 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 be- 
 comes more flexible." The seeds produce an oil, which, 
 taken in moderate quantities, excites the system, especially 
 "les plaisirs de rumour." 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, hydrochlo- 
 rate of soda, phosph. potash, acetate of lime, ligneous mat- 
 ter, with silicate and oxalate of iron. Pallas, Voyage, i, 
 700; G-melin, Flora Siberica, ii; Mathiole, Comra. 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 emploj'ed for making 
 cordage; the root boiled in alum will dye a yellow colour. 
 I have obtained a fine yellow colour bj T boiling the agri- 
 mony (Agrimoniu eupatoriu) in water with alum. See Hooke's 
 Microscop. Diss, xxii, 12, and Guettard, Mem. de l'Acack 
 des Sci. de Paris, 1751, 350, for a description of the struct- 
 ure of the sting, and the Petersburg Journal, 1778, 370, for 
 a notice of the value of the stalks in making ropes and 
 paper. The IT. S. Disp., 1303, barely notices the plant. Late 
 experiments may have escaped the attention of its indefati- 
 gable authors. 
 
272 
 
 The nettle plants are known to be closely allied to those 
 bearing textile fibres, and indeed thread can be made from all 
 the nettles. The Bcelwieria nivea, formerly known as Urtica 
 nivea, is the famous China grass which has been introduced 
 into this country by the Patent Office on account of its value 
 for manufacturing purposes. The China grass cloth is made 
 from it. Dr. Royle says that it has sold in England at from 
 £80 to £120 a ton. See Patent Office Rep. 244, 1855, and 
 Dr. J. F. Royle and Dr. Roxburgh's treatises on the orient- 
 al fibres. Experiments may be made in the Confederate 
 States upon the yield of fibre from the Urtica wrens and 
 dioica, which grow spontaneously. Boiling in alkaline so- 
 lutions and lime-water is used in preparation of such 
 plants. See article cited ; also Apocynum. 
 
 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 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 accounted 
 troublesome weed have hitherto been much overlooked — 
 quoted by Wilson in Rural Cyc. It is stated that the 
 roots possess astringent and diuretic properties, and have 
 been found serviceable in poultices for tumors, and decoc- 
 tions 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 promote the laying of eggs. Settles are 
 sometimes boiled and eaten in the manner of greens. La- 
 borers use the young tops of nettles as a pleasant, nourishing, 
 and mildly aperient potherb, either in soups or in accompa- 
 niment with salt beef or pork. Rural Cyc. 
 
273 
 
 TJrtica pumila, L. Grows in wet soils, vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; Richland, Prof. Gibbes. 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 Rims. Griffith invites further 
 investigation. 
 
 Camions saliva. Hemp. 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 intoxicating properties of the East India 
 species (0. 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 Louisville 
 Journal, containing a full description of varieties, mode of 
 production, and preparation 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 ex- 
 tracted an oil, generally employed by painters. The fine 
 oil obtained from the seeds is peculiarly adapted for burn- 
 ing 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 
 vegetable, 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 distance of sixteen or seventeen inches, or by the drill, 
 at a distance of thirty inches. In the autumn the plants 
 are pulled, the male plants first, and the female plants six 
 18 
 
274 
 
 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 days, 
 and is continued until the outside coat of the hemp readily 
 separates. 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 decom- 
 position of the woody part of the stem is materially acceler- 
 ated. It is next carried to the barn, where it is bruised by 
 the break, a machine constructed for the purpose; it is then 
 bound up into bundles, and carried to market. (Low's 
 JPrac. Agr. p. 348.) There is a paper on a species of African 
 hemp by Mr. A. Hunter (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. (Com. 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, Uriica 
 dioica and Yucca jilamentosa or bear-grass. See these plants. 
 Elliott says 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 
 
275 
 
 said to be useful in. incontinence of urine. In India an 
 intoxicating liquor is made from the leaves, resembling 
 opium in its effects. 
 
 Humulus lupulus, L. Hop. Grows in the mountains of 
 South Carolina, and generally cultivated in Confederate 
 States. 
 
 Dr. McBride; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 185; Chap. 
 Therap. and Mat. Med. i, 348, and ii, 455 ; Eb. M. Med. ii, 
 55 ; TX. S. Disp. 374 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 163 ; Freake, 
 Med. Phys. Journal, xiii, 432; Thompson's Lond. Disp. 
 200; Bigsby, Lond. Med. Repos. v, 97; Bryorly's Inaug. 
 Diss. Phil. An. 1803 ; Ives in Silliman's Journal, ii, 302 ; 
 Thornton's Fam. Herbal, 820. This plant is certainly pos- 
 sessed 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 se- 
 cretions, removes pain and irritability, and induces sleep. 
 Dr. Maton, Fell. Roy. Soc. Coll. Phys., says that large 
 doses produce headache. It is thought to be a specific in 
 removing asthmatic pains, without increasing the secre- 
 tions. Mer. and cle L. Diet, cle M. Med. iii, 544; Pliny, lib. 
 xxi, c. 15 ; Flore Med. iv, 196. It is given with good effect 
 as a stomachic, in inappetency and weakness of the diges- 
 tive organs. Mat. Med. Indica. 120; Bull. 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. 
 1846, a case is reported of a girl being poisoned by the 
 hop. Rev. Scientifique, Mars, 1845; Journal de Pharm. 
 Mars, 1842. Much use is made of the hop poultice in al- 
 laying pain, applied over the part. Its domestic value in 
 preparing the liquor known as yeast is obvious, as well as 
 
276 
 
 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 lupulin, a peculiar resinous secretion con- 
 tained in the glands, which is obtained by thrashing 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 poulti- 
 ces, ointments, etc. Ives' Experiments; Griffith, Med. Bot. 
 574. The tincture of lupulin is said to be preferable ; dose, 
 one to two fluid drachms. 
 
 Patent Office Rep. 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 
 cultivators to this article. It is said to be one of the very 
 most exhausting among cultivated plants, both in respect 
 to the organic and mineral constituents which it extracts 
 from the soil; so that valleys containing the debris of the 
 surrounding country should be selected. See, also, Wil- 
 son's Rural Cyc, art. "Hop," "Beer," "Ale." His account 
 of cultivation, diseases, etc., of the hop is full and instruc- 
 tive. 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 tanning: 
 the ash yields 25. of potash, 15. of lime, magnesia, salt, etc. 
 The suckers of the hop are said to form an agreeable vege- 
 table 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 very abundant on cotton plants. 
 
 An article also on the cultivation of the hop can be found 
 in Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 354. 
 
 I quote from the paper mentioned above as follows, as I 
 consider information on this topic important: 
 
 The hop is a perennial plant of easy cultivation, and 
 
277 
 
 will grow in any part of the Western states. Its domestic 
 uses are so obvious, that no farm or garden should be with- 
 out one or more roots. It requires a rich, deep, mellow 
 soil, with a dry, pervious, or rocky subsoil. The exposure 
 in a northern climate should be toward the south, as on the 
 slope of a hill, or in an}' 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 takeu 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 consequently 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 water- 
 ing with liquid manure will greatly assist their taking root, 
 and they will soon begin to show "vines." Sticks three 
 or four feet long 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 
 
278 
 
 around the stems. In favorable seasons a few hops may 
 be picked from these young plants in autumn, but in gen- 
 eral 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 off within an inch of the main 
 stem, and all the suckers quite close to it. The latter 
 forms an agreeable 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 ploughing the 
 ground intended 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 between the hills. After the 
 line is drawn, small sticks are set to each mark. Roots are 
 to be cut, two joints on each piece, three pieces to the hill ; 
 cover about two inches. The ground ma} 7 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 cultivated 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 different times, 
 the stems to be about four inches long. They are to be 
 spread on shelves about eight inches deep, one tier above 
 another. There should be a good circulation of air, that 
 
279 
 
 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, prepara- 
 tions, adulterations, etc., in Johnson's Chemistry of Com- 
 mon Life,' vol. ii, p. 36 ; also Ure's Dictionary of Arts and 
 Manufactures, articles "Hop," "Ale,"" Beer," etc. Con- 
 sult Pereira's Mat. Medica, Chaptal's Chemistry applied to 
 Agriculture, Boussingault's Treatise on Agriculture in its 
 relations with Chemistry, and Thaer's Agriculture, for 
 mode of planting, preparation, etc. See, also, Phillips' 
 History of Cultivated Vegetables. The uses of the hop 
 pillow and the tincture of hops, as sedatives and mild nar- 
 cotics, are well known ; but for the medicinal application 
 consult the various works on the materia medica. 
 
 The great importance of cultivating this plant on a large 
 scale for manufacture of yeast should be impressed upon 
 the people. See receipt books for mode of making spruce 
 and hop beer with hops, and the essence of spruce. 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 mo- 
 lasses. The latter must be poured by itself into the casks. 
 Boil the hops, adding to them a teacupful of powdered 
 ginger in about a pailful and a half of water; that is, 
 a quantity sufficient 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 w r ater 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. Thornton'b Southern 
 Gardener. 
 
 Ale and beer can be made in the Confederate States, 
 though not with the same advantage as in colder climates. 
 Though without practical experience, I am forced to the 
 conviction that the desideratum 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 
 
280 
 
 or covered with a closed house. The temperature of these 
 cellars is quite low, and they are used in keeping milk, 
 butter, melons, cider, etc. I think their temperature 
 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 
 required. The reader interested in the subject can find a 
 description of the English method of making malt liquors 
 in Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures, in Wilson's 
 Rural Cyclopaedia (art. "Ale"), in Solly's Rural Chemistry, 
 p. 178, see art. "Fermentation and Distillation"; also, 
 Thornton's Family Herbal, "Mentha," p. 565., Child on 
 Brewing, Combrune's Theory and Practice of Brewing. 
 In England they use Gentiana, lutea, purpurea, and rubra as 
 substitutes for hops. Consult this volume, art. "Persim-r 
 mou "" (Diospyros), ■ "Sassafras" (Laurus), "Blackberry" 
 and "Cherry" (Cerasus), "Apple" (Pyrus), for liquors. 
 
 Moras alba, L. Mulberry. 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, diarrhoea, etc. Lind. ISTat. 
 Syst. Bot. 186. It contains myroxylic acid with lime. Tur- 
 ner, 640. See analysis in the Journal de Chim. Med. x, 
 676. The bark is a purgative vermifuge, but is more im- 
 portant on account of "the leaves being the favorite food of 
 the silk- worm." That this plant is easily cultivated in the 
 Confederate 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. 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med., Supplem. 1846, 496 ; Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot. 579. 
 
 As "this is the species upon which the silk-worm feeds," 
 the following brief directions concerning the manufacture 
 of silk, from the Rural Cyc, may be useful; and as the pro- 
 duction of the raw silk is in the power of almost any one, 
 
281 
 
 if the females of numerous families throughout the Con- 
 federacy would devote their leisure 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 clone either by exposure 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 envelops 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 
 through holes in an iron bar, after which two of these com- 
 pound threads 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 can- 
 not 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 firmness to 
 its texture. Tram is formed by twisting together, but not 
 very closely, two or more threads of raw silk, and usually 
 constitutes the weft or shoot of manufactured goods. Or- 
 ganzine 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 
 
282 
 
 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 ^n 
 clear water to discharge the soap, and is seen to have ac- 
 quired that glossiness and softness of texture which forms 
 its principal characteristic. The yarn is now ready for 
 weaving. Rural 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 ac- 
 quired 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 resem- 
 bling 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 
 advantage is sometimes taken of this circumstance to pro- 
 cure threads much coarser than usual, which are extremely 
 strong, and impervious to water. Rural Cyc. At the 
 agricultural meetings in South Carolina and Georgia arti- 
 cles of home-made silk are occasionally presented. 
 
 From an essay on the culture and manufacture of silk. By 
 H. P. Byram, Brandenburg, Meade county, Ky. — Expe- 
 rience 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 in- 
 digenous in our soil, and those generally -used in the na- 
 tive country of the silk-worm succeed equally well in our 
 own soil and climate. Hence, from the nature and habits 
 of American people, we must soon become the greatest 
 silk-growing nation on the earth. The first step toward 
 the production of silk is to secure a supply of suitable 
 food for the silk-worm. 
 
283 
 
 Having tried all the varieties introduced into onr coun- 
 try, I find the Moras multicaulis and the Canton varieties, 
 all things considered, most suitable for that purpose. 
 
 Propagation of the mulberry. — Although the experience of 
 some years past has rendered this subject familiar to many, 
 yet those now most likely to engage in the legitimate busi- 
 ness of silk-growing may be less acquainted with the 
 propagation of the tree. I shall give some brief directions 
 ou 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 Moras multicaulis 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 perpendicu- 
 larly 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 sufficient 
 distance to admit of thorough cultivation with a plough 
 or cultivator. The ground should be kept mellow until 
 past midsummer. 
 
 Select a suitable piece of ground for a permanent or- 
 chard. It would be well if broken up in the fall, and 
 again ploughed in the spring, and, if followed with the 
 subsoil plough, it would be advantageous. After a thor- 
 ough harrowing it should be laid off in rows, each way 
 eight feet by four, with the plough. 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 plough 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 from old trees cannot at once be procured, the 
 trees from the nursery should be taken up in the fall, and 
 
284 
 
 buried in a cellar, or upon the north side of a bank or hill, 
 in alternate layers of trees and earth, and the whole pro- 
 tected by a shed from the rains of winter, as the plants 
 seldom sufficiently mature the first season from the cut- 
 tings to withstand the winters of a northern climate, 
 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, 
 producing a large, full, thick leaf. This variety is propa- 
 gated 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 j:>lants. 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, Pennsyl- 
 vania, which, in connection with the Morus midticaulis, 
 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 latitude, 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 cul- 
 tivated, when thev 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 midtieaulis. [This is not 
 necessary in the Southern states.] — So. Cult. 
 
 In the following spring the brandies may be taken off 
 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 
 
285 
 
 removed to the orchard. They may be allowed to stand 
 much nearer than the multicaulis, leaving only sufficient 
 room for cultivation. 
 
 When seed is required it would be well to plant out a 
 portion from the seed-bed at once, as standards for this 
 purpose, always selecting those bearing full, heart-shaped 
 leaves. 
 
 The leaves of the white Italian produce a good, heavy 
 cocoon, and should always be used in the last age of the 
 worms when other larger-leaved varieties cannot be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 Cultivation. — The mulberry orchard should be annually 
 cultivated. 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 atmosphere 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 
 successfully fed. 
 
 These sheds may be cheaply made by setting some dura- 
 ble posts in the ground, saj- from 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, 
 
286 
 
 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 ac- 
 cording 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 emplo} r ed. If of wood, weather-boarded 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 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 exclude 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 mo- 
 tion for a few minutes every hour, or oftener in still 
 
287 
 
 weather. Both may be made to turn by one crank, con- 
 necting 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 necessary to supply the furnace. The air, when 
 heated in the chamber, should be conveyed through the 
 wholeiength 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 temperature is suf- 
 ficiently 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 draw- 
 ing off and consuming the impure air of the cocoonery. 
 
 At Economy, they not only 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 openings through the length of the 
 building. This pump is kept in motion by a steam-en- 
 gine. 
 
 With good eggs, when proper means have been employ- 
 ed for their preservation, and the feeding-apartments thor- 
 oughly ventilated, I do not know of a single instance 
 where the worms have proved unhealthy. 
 
 From the conviction that proper regard had not gener- 
 ally been paid to the ventilation of cocooneries, in the 
 summer of 1842 I commenced a series of experiments, by 
 which I ascertained that the silk-worm during; its last a^e 
 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 carefully conducted experiments, 
 
288 
 
 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 enor- 
 mous amount of two hundred and six pounds was given 
 off in the same time, in the form of exhalations or imper- 
 ceptible perspiration alone. This, then, I think, fully 
 explains the cause of disease complained of by many, and 
 establishes 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 less degree of heat, as may be 
 required, without reference to the temperature of the feed- 
 ing-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 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, allow- 
 ing 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- 
 
 * 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 accu- 
 racy, through the whole experiment they were fed rather sparingly. 
 
289 
 
 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-quarters 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 lengthwise. 
 This twine should be somewhat smaller than that running 
 lengthwise. On a damp day the twine becomes tight ; I 
 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 quantit} 7 of gum 
 shellac in alcohol in a tin covered vessel, and placed near 
 the fire. It should be reduced, when used, to the consist- 
 ence 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 hurdles, and two feet ..and four 
 inches wide; this is rilled 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 
 19 
 
290 
 
 to keep the worms properly cleaned renders this plan 
 objectionable. 
 
 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 upright 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 per- 
 sons taking hold of the four corners of the net and trans- 
 ferring them to clean trays, held and carried off by a third 
 person. One hundred thousand are changed in this man- 
 ner in two hours. 
 
 Description of the silk-worm. — It will be necessary for the 
 inexperienced culturist to have some knowledge of the 
 forms, changes, and appearances of the silk-worm before he 
 enters 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 different forms 
 of existence varies in different countries — governed by 
 climate, temperature, and the quality and quantity of the 
 
291 
 
 food upon which it is fed, and the nature of the particular 
 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 in- 
 tervening 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 differ- 
 ent shades, and in different varieties through every age, 
 to the close of the last, or near the time of 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, 
 pea-nut-shaped cocoon ; and a kind called the Pea-nut, pro- 
 ducing 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. — Bearing. — When the leaves of the mul- 
 berry have put forth to the size of about an inch in diam- 
 eter, 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 means are 
 employed, the temperature should be gradually raised until 
 the time of hatching, which will be in about ten days, 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 mulberry leaves cut into narrow strips should be 
 laid over them, to which they will readily attach them- 
 selves ; these should be carefully removed, and placed com- 
 pactly upon a cloth screen or tray prepared for them, and 
 other leaves placed upon the eggs for the worms that still 
 
292 
 
 remain, which, should be passed off as before. A singular 
 fact will be observed, that all the worms will hatch be- 
 tween 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 selected 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 be fed 
 in this w&y six or eight times in twenty-four hours, as 
 nearly as possible at regular and stated periods. 
 
 It will be impossible to lay down any definite rules for 
 the quantity of leaves necessary for a given number of 
 worms- for each succeeding day through every age. After 
 a little acquaintance with their nature and habits, the intel- 
 ligence and judgment of the attendant will be the best 
 guide ; they should, however, have as much as they will 
 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 vora- 
 ciously, 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 hatch- 
 ing. It may be known when the worms are about to cast 
 their skins, as they cease to eat, and remain stationary, 
 with their heads raised, and occasionally shaking them. 
 This operation will be more distinctly observed as they 
 increase in size through their succeeding 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 
 
293 
 
 which they will require less at each succeeding meal until 
 the time of moulting 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 be 
 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 gather- 
 ing 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 appear 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 laying more leaves upon them. The rem- 
 nant 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 generally 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, jt is well to go over a second 
 time, and add more where they seem to require it. 
 
 Very 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 
 the} r 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 com- 
 mon rotary hay or straw-cutter, of Hovey's, or one of a 
 similar make. 
 
294 
 
 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 and 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 multicaulis, 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 accumulation of litter is consequently less. 
 The Canton and Italian produce the heaviest cocoon, while 
 the multicaulis yields a finer and stronger fibre. In pursu- 
 ing this course the advantages of both are in some degree 
 secured. 
 
 The worms should be removed from their litter immedi- 
 ately after each moulting, and in their fourth age the hur- 
 dles should be cleaned a second time, and after the last 
 moulting they should be removed at least every second 
 day. 
 
 Where nets are not used in the last ages, the worms are 
 changed by laying over them the small branches of the 
 mulberry. 
 
 Recently branch-feeding, as it is termed, has been intro- 
 duced with some success, and with great economy of time ; 
 in the last ages of the worms care should be taken to lay 
 the branches as evenly as possible, especially where it is 
 designed to use the twine hurdles, otherwise it will be diffi- 
 cult for the worms to ascend through the netting. 
 
 When the worms are about to spin they present some- 
 thing of a yellowish appearance ; they refuse to eat, and 
 wander about in pursuit of a hiding-place, and throw out 
 fibres of silk upon the leaves. The hurdles should now be 
 thoroughly cleaned for the last time, and something pre-- 
 
295 
 
 pared for them to form their cocoons in. Various plans 
 have been proposed for this purpose. The lath frames, 
 before described, I prefer. They are used by resting the 
 back edge of the frame upon the hurdle, where the two 
 meet in the double range, and raising the front edge up to 
 the underside of the hurdle above, which is held to its 
 place by two small wire hooks attached to the edge of the 
 hurdle. 
 
 A covering of paper or cloth should be applied to the 
 lath frames. In. using the hurdles and screens I remove 
 the screen from under the hurdle, turning the underside 
 up, and letting it down directly upon the winding-frame. 
 This affords 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 hur- 
 dle renders this side more dark, which places the worms 
 instinctively seek when they meet with the ends of the 
 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 are required they are put up with 
 great expedition. 
 
 Where branch-feeding has been adopted by some, no other 
 accommodation has been provided for the winding of the 
 worms than that afforded 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. Next 
 to lath frames, small bunches of straw afford the best 
 accommodation for this purpose. Rye straw is preferred. - 
 Take a small bunch, about the size of the little finger, and 
 with some strong twine tie it firmly about half an inch 
 from the butt of the straw ; cut the bunch off about half 
 an inch longer than the distance between the hurdles, 
 
296 
 
 They are thus placed upright with their but-ends down- 
 ward, with their tops spreading out, interlacing each other, 
 and pressing against the hurdles above. They should be 
 thickly set in double rows about sixteen inches apart across 
 the hurdles. These may be preserved for a number of 
 years. 
 
 After the most of the worms have arisen, the few re- 
 maining may be removed to hurdles by themselves. In 
 three or four days the cocoons may be 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 cocoons most generally produce the 
 male, and those larger and more full at the ends the female 
 insect. Each healthy female moth will lay from four to six 
 hundred eggs. But it is not always safe to calculate on 
 one-half of the cocoons to produce female moths. There- 
 fore, it is well to save an extra number to insure a supply 
 of eggs. 
 
 The cocoons intended for eggs should be stripped of 
 their floss or loose tow, which consists of irregular fibres, 
 by which the worm attaches its work to whatever place it 
 is about to form its cocoon. These should be placed on 
 hurdles, in a thin layer, and in about two weeks the moths 
 will come out ; always in the forepart of the day, and 
 generally before the sun is two hours high. If laid upon a 
 net hurdle (which is best) they will immediately fall 
 through the meshes and remain suspended on the under 
 side, where they are not liable to become entangled in the 
 cocoons. As soon as the male finds the female they 
 become united. They should be taken carefully by the 
 wings, in pairs, and placed upon sheets of paper, to remain 
 until near night, when the female will be anxious to lay 
 her eggs. Then take each gently by the wings, and sepa- 
 rate them, placing the females at regular distances — about 
 two inches from each other — upon sheets of paper or fine 
 cotton or linen cloth ; these should hang over a line, or be 
 tacked to the side of the house. In two or three nights 
 the moths will complete their laying, when they should be 
 
297 
 
 removed from the papers or cloths. Frequently the males 
 appear first in the greatest numbers, some of which should 
 be reserved each day in case there should afterward be an 
 excess of females. They should be shut out from the light, 
 otherwise they are liable to injure themselves by a constant 
 fluttering of their wings. The female is largest, and sel- 
 dom moves or flutters. 
 
 Killing the chrysalides. — After the cocoons have been 
 gathered, those that are intended for sale or for future 
 reeling should be submitted to some process by which the 
 moths will be killed, otherwise they will perforate and 
 spoil the cocoons. This is done by various methods. The 
 most simple and convenient is to spread them thinly on 
 boards, and expose them to the direct rays of the sun. In 
 a hot day many of them will be killed in a few hours ; but 
 they must be stirred occasionally, or some will be liable to 
 escape the heat, and afterward come out. At Economy, 
 they place them in an air-tight box containing about ten 
 bushels (the box should always be full, or if not, a partition 
 is fitted down to the cocoon), sprinkling evenly through 
 the whole, beginning at the bottom, about three ounces of 
 camphor slightly moistened with alcohol, and finely pulver- 
 ized. The box is then closed, and the seams of the top 
 covered by pasting strips of paper over them. They 
 remain in this way about three or four days. They are 
 then spread out thinly in an upper loft to cure, where they 
 should be occasionally stirred. It will require some weeks 
 to thoroughly cure them. Before camphoring, the dead 
 and bad cocoons must be taken out, otherwise they will 
 spoil the good ones. 
 
 When it is convenient, it is best to reel as many of the 
 cocoons as possible immediately after they are gathered, as 
 they reel much more freely before they are exposed to the 
 sun or dried. 
 
 Succession of crops. — Preservation of eggs. — Repeated at- 
 tempts have been made to feed a succession of crops of 
 worms throughout the entire season from the same stock 
 of eggs. In most instances success has failed to attend 
 
298 
 
 these efforts. When proper means are employed, and due 
 care observed, the eggs may be preserved, and worms suc- 
 cessfully raised until the feed is destroyed by the frost. In 
 many years experience I have never failed in this respect. 
 
 In the spring of 1840 I communicated to Miss Rapp, of 
 Economy, my method of preserving eggs, which she imme- 
 diately adopted, and has pursued it until the present time 
 with perfect success, feeding from eighteen to twenty-five 
 crops each year. The following is an extract of a letter 
 from the postmaster at Economy, dated January 19, 1843 : 
 
 "Between May and September we raised near two mill- 
 ions of worms, in eighteen sets, of near equal numbers, 
 about a week apart, producing three hundred and seventy- 
 one bushels of cocoons. The last crop hatched the 9th of 
 September, and spun the 10th of October. We found no 
 difference in the health of the different sets. We are of 
 the opinion that the late keeping of the eggs does not 
 bring disease on the worms if they are kept right, and 
 gradually brought forward as they ought to be." 
 
 It may be remarked that the qualities of the mulberry 
 leaf are such in the latter part of the season that as hea\w 
 cocoons will not be produced, as in the first. A bushel of 
 the first crop raised at Economy, in the season referred to, 
 produced twenty-three and a quarter ounces of reeled silk, 
 and the last crop, wound in October, but nineteen ounces. 
 About one month of the best part of that season of feed- 
 ing was lost by the severe frost that occurred on the 5th of 
 May, which entirely killed the young leaves, and must 
 have materially injured the crop of the season. 
 
 My method of preserving eggs is to place them in the 
 ice-house in February, or early in March, or sooner if 
 the weather is warm. For this purpose a box or square 
 trunk is made, extending from within one foot of the bot- 
 tom of the ice to the top. This may be made in joints, so 
 that as the ice settles the upper joints may be removed. 
 The eggs should be placed in a tin box, and this enclosed 
 in a wood one, and suspended in the trunk near the ice. 
 The communication of warm air should be cut off by fill- 
 
299 
 
 ing the opening with a bundle of straw or hay. The eggs 
 should be aired for a few minutes as often as once in one 
 or two weeks, always choosing a cool, dry morning; when 
 selections for succeeding crops may be made these should 
 be placed in another box, and gradually raised in the trunk 
 for several days, avoiding a too sudden transition from the. 
 ice to the temperature of the hatching-room. 
 
 The ice-house at Economy is connected with the cellar, 
 the bottom of the former being eighteen inches below that 
 of the latter. A long wooden box, extending into the ice- 
 house, level with the bottom of the cellar floor, contains all 
 the smaller boxes of eggs. The door of the box opening 
 in the cellar is kept well closed to prevent the admission 
 of warm air. They employ another ice-house, sunk deep 
 in the cellar, with shelves gradually rising from the ice up 
 to the top of the ground, upon which the eggs of succeed- 
 ing crops are placed, and raised one shelf higher every 
 day until they are taken into the hatching-room. The past 
 season they have hatched about jive ounces of eggs, or one 
 hundred thousand worms every four days. 
 
 Diseases of the silk-worm. — The silk-worm, like every other 
 animal or insect, is liable to disease, and premature death. 
 European writers have enumerated and described six par- 
 ticular diseases to which it is subject. But in our more 
 congenial climate nothing is wanting to insure a healthy 
 stock of silk-worms, and a profitable return from their 
 labors, but to give them sufficient room, a regular and full 
 supply of suitable food, a strict regard to cleanliness, and a 
 proper ventilation of their apartments. 
 
 In excessively hot, damp, or sultry weather, in the last 
 age, tha disease known as the yellows sometimes occurs. 
 Where open feeding is adopted, some fine air-slaked lime 
 may be sifted on the worms once or twice a day before feed- 
 ing, and the diseased and dead worms picked out and 
 thrown away. In a regular cocoonery, properly ventilated 
 and supplied with an air-furnace, dry air should be made 
 to circulate freely. But if the temperature is above 80° or 
 85° the ventilating apparatus should be constantly employed 
 
300 
 
 until a change of weather occurs, or the disease disappears. 
 
 A feeding-house should be so arranged as to cut off all 
 communication of rats and mice from the worms and the 
 cocoons. 
 
 Reeling. — We have now arrived at another branch of the 
 silk business, which more properly comes under the head 
 of manufacturing. Every farmer who engages in the silk 
 culture, in order to avail himself of an additional profit 
 should provide his family with a suitable reel, by the use 
 of which, after a little experience, he will be enable to offer 
 his silk in market in a form that will greatly enhance its 
 value, and much reduce the trouble and expense of trans- 
 portation. Reels can now be procured in almost any of 
 the principal cities at a small cost, or they can be made by 
 any ingenious farmer or carpenter. The reel now uni- 
 formly used is that known as the Piedmontese. 
 
 All attempts to improve this reel in its general principles, 
 I believe, have failed. At Economy, however, they have 
 made an addition which may be found useful. It consists 
 of two pairs of whirls, made of wire, in the form of an 
 aspel to a reel, about four inches long, and two and a half 
 inches across from arm to arm, making the circumference 
 about six inches. These whirls are set in an iron frame, 
 and run each upon two points or centres. Each pair is 
 equidistant, on a direct line, about eight inches apart, 
 between the first guides and those on the traverse bar, 
 instead of making the usual number of turns around each 
 thread as they pass between the guides on the reel. With 
 this arrangement each thread is taken from the basin and 
 passed through the first guides, then carried over and 
 around the two whirls, and where they pass each other on 
 the top the turns are made necessary to give firmness to 
 the thread, then passing directly through the guides in the 
 traverse bar to the arms of the reel, making each thread in 
 reeling independent of the other. This enables the reeler, 
 when a remnant of cocoons are to be finished on leaving 
 the work, to unite both threads into one, retaining the 
 necessary size, whereas both would be too fine if continued 
 on the reel in the ordinary manner. 
 
301 
 
 Directions for reeling. — In family establishments a com- 
 mon clay or iron furnace should be procured, to which 
 should be fitted a sheet-iron top about twelve inches high, 
 with a door on one side, and a small pipe on the opposite 
 side to convey off the smoke. This top should retain the 
 same bevel or flare as the furnace, so as to be about twenty 
 inches in diameter at the top. The pan should be twenty 
 inches square, and six inches deep, divided into four apart- 
 ments, two of which should be one inch larger one way 
 than the others. They should all communicate with each 
 other at the bottom. In large filatures a small steam- 
 engine to propel the reels, etc., and to heat the water for 
 reeling would be necessary. 
 
 Before the operation of reeling is commenced the co- 
 coons must be stripped of their floss, and assorted into 
 three separate parcels, according to quality or of different 
 degrees of firmness. The double cocoons, or those formed 
 by two or more worms spinning together, the fibres cross- 
 ing each other, and rendering them difficult to reel, 
 should be laid aside to be manufactured in a different 
 manner. 
 
 After the cocoons have been assorted as above directed, 
 the operation of reeling may be commenced. The basin 
 should be nearly filled with the softest water, and kept at a 
 proper heat by burning charcoal, or some other convenient 
 method of keeping up a regular heat. The precise tempera- 
 ture cannot be ascertained until the reeling is commenced, 
 owing to the different qualities of the cocoons. Those of 
 the best quality will require a greater degree of 'heat than 
 those of a more loose and open texture ; hence the import- 
 ance of assisting them. Cocoons also require less heat, 
 and reel much better when done before the chrysalides are 
 killed and the cocoons become dried. 
 
 The heat of the water may be raised to near the boiling 
 point (it should never be allowed to boil), when two or three 
 handfuls of cocoons may be thrown into one of the large 
 apartments of the basin, which must be gently pressed 
 under water for a few minutes with a little brush made of 
 
302 
 
 broom-corn, with the ends shortened. The heat of the water 
 will soon soften the gnm. of the silk, and thereby loosen the 
 ends of the filaments ; the reeler should then gently stir 
 the cocoons with the brush until the loose fibres adhere to 
 it ; they are then separated from the brush, holding the 
 filaments in the left hand, while the cocoons are carefully 
 combed down between the fingers of the right hand as 
 they are raised out of the water. This is continued until 
 the floss or false ends are all drawn off", and the fine silk 
 begins to appear ; the fibres are then broken oflf", and laid 
 over the edge of the basin. The floss is then cleared from 
 the brush, and laid aside as refuse silk, and the operation 
 continued until most of the ends are thus collected. 
 
 If the silk is designed for sewings, about twenty-five 
 fibres should compose a thread ; if intended for other fab- 
 rics, from eie;ht to fifteen should be reeled tos-ether. The 
 finest silks should always be reeled from the best cocoons. 
 The cocoons composing the threads are taken up in a small 
 tin skimmer made for the purpose, and passed from the 
 large apartment of the basin to those directly under 
 the guides. As the ends become broken they are passed 
 back into the spare apartment, where they are again col- 
 lected to be returned to the reel. The requisite number 
 of fibres thus collected for two threads are passed each 
 through the lower guides. They are then wound around 
 each other two or three times, and each carried through 
 the two guides in the traverse bar, and then attached to 
 the arms of the reel. The turning should now be com- 
 menced with a slow and steady motion until the threads 
 run freely. While the reel is turning, the person attending 
 the cocoons must continually be adding fresh ends as they 
 may be required, not waiting until the number she began 
 with is reduced, because the internal fibres are much finer 
 than those composing the external layers. In adding new 
 ends the reeler must attach them, by gently pressing them 
 with a little turn between the thumb and finger, to the 
 threads as they are running. As the silk is reeled off the 
 chrysalides should be taken out of the basin, otherwise 
 
303 
 
 they obscure and thicken the water, and injure the color 
 and lustre of the silk. When the water becomes dis- 
 colored it should always be changed. 
 
 If in reeling the silk leaves the cocoon in burrs or 
 bunches, it is evident the water is too hot ; or when the 
 ends cannot be easily collected with the brush, or when 
 found not to run freely, the water is too cold. 
 
 A pail of cold water should always be at hand, to be 
 added to the basin as it may be required. When the 
 cocoons yield their fibres freely, the reel may be turned 
 with a quicker motion. The quicker the motion the 
 smoother and better will be the silk. When from four to 
 six ounces have been reeled, the aspel may be taken oft' that 
 the silk may dry. The end should be fastened so as to be 
 readily found. Squeeze the silk together, and loosen it 
 upon the bars, then, on the opposite side tie it with a band 
 of refuse silk or yarn, then slide it off the reel; double, 
 and again tie it near each extremity. 
 
 The quality of the silk depends much upon the art and 
 skilful management of the reeler. All that is required to 
 render one perfect in the art of reeling is a. little -practice, 
 accompanied at the beginning with a degree of imtience, 
 and the exercise of judgment in keeping up the proper tem- 
 perature of water, and the threads of a uniform size. 
 
 Manufacture of perforated cocoons. — The perforated and 
 double cocoons can be manufactured into various fabrics, 
 such as stockings, gloves, under-shirts, and the like. Be- 
 fore the cocoons can be spun they must be put into a clean 
 bag made of some open cloth, and placed in a pot or ket- 
 tle, and covered with soft water, with soap (hard or soft) 
 added sufficient to make a strong suds, and boiled for about 
 three or four hours. If they are required to be very nice 
 and white, the water may be changed and a small quantity 
 more of soap added, and again boiled for a few minutes. 
 After they are boiled they may be hung up and drained ; 
 the}^ should then be rinsed while in the bag, in fair water, 
 and hung out to dry, without disturbing them in the bag. 
 When completely dry they may be spun on the common 
 
, 304 
 
 flax-wheel by first taking the cocoon in the fingers and 
 slightly loosening the fibres that become flattened down 
 by boiling, and then spinning off from the pierced end. 
 The silk will run entirely off, leaving the shell bare. The 
 double cocoons may be spun in the same manner, but 
 should be boiled separately. 
 
 A species of edible mulberry is planted pretty generally 
 for feeding hogs. I am informed that it continues to bear 
 during several months, from April to July or August, and 
 is considered highly advantageous. This is called the Ever- 
 bearing mulberry. The following account I obtain from the 
 Southern Field and Fireside : 
 
 Ever-bearing Mulberries. — There are now three varieties of 
 ever-bearing mulberries presented to us for selection or for 
 general adoption. 
 
 Downing's Ever-bearing is a seedling of the Multicaulis, 
 which it resembles in wood and foliage. It is therefore 
 necessarily somewhat tender, and not suited to a more 
 northern climate. Mr. D. has given us an ample descrip- 
 tion of its fruit in his Fruit Trees of America, and merits 
 much credit for originating so excellent a fruit. 
 
 Herbemont' s or Hicks' Ever-bearing is a much hardier varie- 
 ty, and superior to the preceding in size and quality of its 
 fruit, which is produced during a considerably larger period 
 of time. It is a prodigious bearer; the berries are usually 
 nearly two inches in length, sweet and delicious. At the 
 South the fruit continues to ripen from the 25th of April 
 until the 15th of August, and here at the JSTorth the crop 
 extends to a late period in the autumn. This tree has dark 
 red wood, and indented leaves, very distinct from Down- 
 ing's. 
 
 White Ever-bearing, sweet berries, partakes considerably 
 of the character of the white Italian. It grows vigorously, 
 and yields immense quantities of fruit. 
 
 The first two varieties have been in fruit with us this 
 season. Of Downing's, from a young tree, we gathered but 
 a few berries, of which we preferred the more vinous and 
 decided flavor to that of the Hicks. The latter does not 
 
305 
 
 materially vary in quality from the common wild species, of 
 which it is a variety, differing in its extended period of bear- 
 ing. Our young tree, of about twice the age of Downing's, 
 began to ripen the first of May, and has just stopped fruit- 
 ing for the season. The fruit is worth growing on planta- 
 tions for poultry and swine, as it is very prolific. A 
 mulberry orchard of this kind would furnish the latter a 
 full supply of food for about three months. It is to be 
 found at all nurseries, and we venture to commend it to our 
 agricultural friends as a valuable farm crop for the. cheap 
 rearing of good hogs. 
 
 The juice of the mulberry is used to give a dark tinge to 
 confections. When properly fermented the fruit yields a 
 pleasant vinous liquor, mulberry wine, and is mixed with 
 apple juice to form mulberry cider. The bark of the root 
 is a powerful cathartic. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Morus rubra, L. Mulberry. Grows along rivers and 
 swamps ; vicinity of Charleston ; Richland, Prof. Gibbes ;„ 
 Florida. Fl. March. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 463. The fruit is laxative and cooling, and a 
 grateful drink and syrups are made from it, adapted to fe- 
 brile cases. The bark of the mulberry can be converted 
 into cordage, ropes, and brown paper. The inner bark of 
 the root of the black mulberry, in doses of from half to a 
 whole teaspoonful of the powder, is said to act as an. excel- 
 lent purgative. A syrup of the ripe fruit is an excellent 
 laxative for children. A tincture of the inner bark of the 
 root is considered a valuable laxative bitter. 
 
 Tartaric acid is obtained from the mulberry, the grape, 
 currant, etc.* It is almost always found in vegetables com- 
 bined with potassa, with which it forms a nearly insoluble 
 salt; it is the union which occasions it to be so easily pre- 
 cipitated from the liquors in which it is contained, espe- 
 cially when they ferment. The coats of tartar which are 
 found deposited upon the sides of casks are a combination 
 of tartaric acid, potassa, and extracted matter (Chaptal). 
 20 
 
306 
 
 See Pereira, and treatises on chemistry for mode of forma- 
 tion of Cream of tartar. 
 
 Citric acid, also, is found in the skins of the red currant, 
 of wild plums, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries. In 
 these it is found united with malic acid. The orange and 
 lemon, of course, furnish it in the largest proportion. 
 
 The process adopted by Scheele for obtaining and crys- 
 tallizing citric acid is to saturate the juice with lime, the 
 insoluble salt, thus formed, being decomposed by sulphuric 
 acid diluted with water. The liquor is then evaporated, 
 and the acid obtained in a crystalline form. See Chaptal, 
 Ure, works on chemistry and mat. medica, Pereira, U. S. 
 Dispensatory, etc. 
 
 The production of citric acids in the warmer portions of 
 the Southern Confederacy is quite practicable, as the lemon 
 grows abundantly. 
 
 Citric acid supplies the place of lemon juice for domestic 
 purposes, and in the arts, by its being freed from mucilage, 
 .which renders the juice liable to undergo speedy change, 
 and from a diminution of its bulk by concentration (Chap- 
 tal). 
 
 To give a flavor to food, citric acid is preferable to 
 vinegar, on account of the aromatic principle it contains. 
 Dissolved in water, it forms a very wholesome drink ; 
 " about thirty grains of the acid, dissolved in a pint of 
 water, and sweetened with sugar, composes an excellent 
 lemonade." From its refreshing and antiputrescent proper- 
 ties, it is invaluable during the hot months, and especially 
 as an article for sea-stores of vessels in warm latitudes 
 (Chaptal); and particularly for the prevention of scurvy. 
 "Citric acid is also particularly useful in the arts;" like ox- 
 alic acid, "it is employed in forming reserves in printed 
 goods, and in removing spots of ink or rust." Chaptal. 
 See, also, acetic acid, vinegar, etc. See Chaptal, Ure, and 
 treatises on chemistry, and orange, " Citrus" in this vol- 
 ume. 
 
 Ell., in his Sketches of the Botany of S. C, says the 
 wood is preferred, in the building of boats, to that of any 
 
307 
 
 other tree, except the red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana). The 
 other woods suitable for ship-building found with us are, the 
 live oak for the timbers and knees, and the cypress, cedar, 
 willow, and several species of pine for the timbers as well 
 as the spars — being preferred on account of their strength, 
 lightness, or peculiarity of growth. 
 
 Wilson says of this tree th'at the wood is fine grained, 
 compact, strong, and solid, and by many persons is esteemed 
 fully equal to the locust. It is employed in naval architec- 
 ture at Philadelphia and Baltimore, for the upper and lower 
 parts of the frame, for knees and floor timbers, and for tree- 
 nails; it is hardly inferior to the locust, but is scarce in the 
 ship-yards. For posts it is considered nearly as lasting as 
 the locust, but it grows more slowly, and requires a richer 
 soil. From experiments made in France it was ascertained 
 that the leaves were not as good for the silk-worm as those 
 of the M. alba. A much less quantity was obtained than 
 from worms fed on the white mulberry, and there was a 
 greater mortality. Rural Cyc. See, also, my article in 
 August number, 1861, of DeBow's Review. 
 
 Broussonetia, papyri/era, the paper mulberry of our yards, 
 belongs to this family (Chapman). Fustic is also got from 
 the same family. As the paper mulberry is planted in this 
 country, I will insert the account given by Wilson of its 
 uses. The islanders of the Pacific make a kind of clothing 
 from this tree, in the following manner: twigs of about 
 an inch in diameter are cut and deprived of their bark, 
 which is divided into strips, and left to macerate for some 
 time in running water; after the epidermis has been scraped 
 off, and while yet moist, the strips are laid out upon a plank 
 in such a manner that they touch at their edges, and two or 
 three layers of the same are placed upon them, taking care 
 to preserve an equal thickness throughout. At the end of 
 twenty-four hours the whole mass is adherent, when it is 
 removed to a large flat and perfectly smooth table,' and is 
 beaten with little wooden clubs till it has attained the re- 
 quisite thickness. It is easily torn, and requires to be 
 
308 
 
 washed and beaten many times before it acquires its full 
 suppleness and whiteness. The paper which is used in Ja- 
 pan, and many other countries in the East Indies, is made 
 from this plant; for this purpose the annual shoots are cut 
 oft' after the fall of the leaves, tied in bundles, and boiled 
 in water mixed with ashes; after which the bark is stripped 
 off by. longitudinal incisions, and deprived of the brown 
 epidermis. The bark of the more tender shoots furnishes 
 a very white paper for writing. Hair pencils must be used 
 in writing on this paper. Silk-worms eat the leaves of this 
 tree also. Rural Cyc. 
 
 Ficus carica. Fig. Ex. Cult. Flourishes in South Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. The fruit is well known; the juice 
 has been substituted for sympathetic ink, as the characters 
 written with it are not visible till exposed to the sun. The 
 decoction />f the green branches and leaves imparts a deep 
 gold color, of a brown shade, to cloth prepared with a so- 
 lution of bismuth. We have heard it stated as a curious 
 fact, that there is but one male fig in America, which grows 
 in Louisiana! Some botanists describe the plant as con- 
 taining both stamens and pistils within the fruit or pericarp. 
 
 Figs are excellent pabulum for vinegar. Vinegar should 
 be constantly replenished with over-ripened figs. 
 
 The following easy process of making white vinegar from 
 honey may not be amiss, even in a work of this kind, which 
 professes to teach all economical modes of becoming inde- 
 pendent of foreign supplies. It is obtained from Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. The materials can be easily obtained. Four 
 very good kinds of household vinegar, perfectly suitable for 
 pickling, and for other domestic purposes, may easily be 
 made from respectively — honey, brown sugar, British wines, 
 and sour ale. First, as to honey or white vinegar: dissolve 
 three-quarters of a pound of honey in rain-water, and put 
 it into a seven-gallon cask, with a quart of malt spirit; 
 shake it well, then fill up the cask with rain-water; shake 
 it well, and keep near the kitchen fire, where it must 
 
• 809 
 
 stand without being moved or shaken. Let it remain five 
 months in this place, and the vinegar will be made. Draw 
 it oft* by piercing the lower part ot the cask, and let it run 
 till the concretion which is formed at the top, and is termed 
 "mother of vinegar," begins to appear. You ma}' then 
 begin the process again without cleaning the cask. Prop- 
 erly toasted bread, saturated with yeast, would take the 
 place of the malt spirit referred to above. See article 
 "Vinegar" in Rural Cyc. for other methods. 
 
 The fruit is well known. Even this, when properly pre- 
 pared for market in the warmer portion of the states of our 
 Confederacy, constitutes an article both for export and for 
 home consumption. Many persons believe implicitly in the 
 power of the atmosphere about this tree to render meat ten- 
 der. Our "Southern matrons" now put up this fruit in a 
 most palatable shape for winter use, dried in the sun, after 
 being boiled in a syrup. The celestial fig is the best for 
 this purpose. Molasses can also be made from the fig and 
 watermelon. Mr. C. H. Owen, of Charleston, sends a spec- 
 imen to the Charleston Courier, made from the white fig. 
 One peck yielded three pints. From a bushel he obtained 
 seven quarts, according to the following directions: 
 
 "Wash the figs, then put them in a porcelain vessel; 
 cover with pure water, boil carefully one hour. When cool, 
 strain through a muslin cloth; then boil again until it is 
 boiled down to a proper consistency, which you can easily 
 tell by dipping up a spoonful and cooling. The above is all 
 the preparation necessary. In boiling for the last time, 
 take the scum off." 
 
 "F. J. S." a correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, 
 writes as follows on " our resources :" 
 
 "You spoke, in the article above alluded to, of different 
 coloring substances. The juice of the skin of our blue jig 
 is abundant, and of a deep, brilliant red color; a half-page 
 written with it a few days since had the appearance of hav- 
 ing been done with red ink. 
 
 The pomegranate, which grows in great abundance in 
 Southern Georgia, furnishes, in the rind of the fruit, a jet- 
 
310 
 
 black fluid, which writes very smoothly, and retains its jetty 
 hue. The metallic pen used may darken its color." 
 
 I have seen blue cakes resembling indigo, intended for 
 dyeing, and marked fig blue — probably extracted from the 
 skins of the fig. The fig makes excellent pipe-stems. Since 
 the war the stems of the fig and titi (Cliftonia) have formed 
 favorite materials for pipe-stems, perforated with a heated 
 wire. 
 
 Ulmaceje. ( The Elm Tribe.) 
 
 Ulmus fulva. Slippery elm. I have observed it in Fair- 
 field district. It is sometimes found lower down. 
 
 Am. Herbal, 139; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. and Therap. 
 228; U. S. Disp. 727; Dr. McDowell's Med. Exam. 244; 
 West. Jour. Med. and Phys. Sc; Michaux, Fl. Americana, 
 i, 172; and K Am. Sylva, iii, 89; Griffith, Med. Bot. 563. 
 A decoction of the bark was much used by the Indians in 
 the cure of leprosy. It is an excellent demulcent employed 
 as an emollient application, and internally is especially re- 
 commended in suppression of urine, inflammation of the 
 bladder, dysentery, and diarrhoea. A decoction made of 
 this, combined with the root of the sassafras, and guaiac, is 
 esteemed as a valuable drink to increase cutaneous transpi- 
 ration, and to improve the tone of the digestive organs. 
 Griffith considers it a good substitute for acacia, and he has 
 witnessed its beneficial effects, externally applied, in obsti- 
 nate cases of herpetic and syphilitic eruptions; he is in- 
 clined to ascribe higher curative powers to it than are 
 generally admitted. It forms a good vehicle for enemata, 
 where a mucilaginous fluid is required. The bark, cut in 
 the form of a bougie, has been used in dilating sinuses and 
 contractions of the urethra. The substance exuding from 
 the bark is called ulmin. It should be largely collected for 
 the use of our soldiers — suitable wherever a highly mucil- 
 aginous substance is required. See " Sesamum." This' is 
 the best wood we have for blocks, and is excellent for rails, 
 as it splits easily, and is of long duration. It is more dura- 
 ble than the white elm. 
 
311 
 
 TJlmus Americana, Mx. White elm. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 799; Coxe, Am. 
 Disp. 611; Phil. Med. Mus. 11. The U. fuloa probably 
 referred to. 
 
 The wood of the white elm, like that of the common 
 European elm, is of a dark brown; and cut transversely, or 
 obliquely to the longitudinal fibres, it exhibits the same nu- 
 merous and fine undulations, but it splits more easily, and 
 has less compactness. It is, however, used at the North for 
 the naves of coach-wheels, because it is difficult to procure 
 the black gum. In Maine it is used for the keels of vessels. 
 Its bark is said to be easily detached during eight months 
 of the year; soaked in water, and suppled by pounding, it is 
 used in the Northern states for the bottoms of common 
 chairs. Michaux. 
 
 Ulmus alata, Mx. "Wahoo. Rich soils; Florida; South 
 and North Carolina. 
 
 The wood is fine grained, more compact, heavier, and 
 stronger than that of the American white elm. It is em- 
 ployed for coach-wheels, and is even preferred to the black 
 gum, as being more hard and tough. Michaux. Farmer's 
 Encyc. 
 
 From the Montgomery Advertiser (1862) I obtain the 
 following: 
 
 " Wahoo rope.- — AVe have seen a specimen of rope made of 
 wahoo bark, by Mr. T. J. Howard, of this county. Mr. 
 Howard has used the wahoo rope with great success in 
 bagging cotton on Col. Baldwin's place, and we can safely 
 recommend his contrivance to the attention of planters. 
 The common impression is that the bark is not in good 
 condition except in the spring of the year. This is a mis- 
 take. It can be used to great advantage at this season in 
 bagging cotton. The manner of using the rope made of 
 wahoo bark is altogether similar to that which has been in 
 ordinary use." 
 
312 
 
 Celtis occidentalism L. Sugar-berry. A noble tree, grow- 
 ing along the margin of streams, and in damp lands; col- 
 lected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach ; Newbern. 
 Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 170; Fl. Med. i, 90; 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 563. It yields a gum resembling that of 
 the cherry tree; the root and leaves are somewhat aromatic, 
 and were used by the Indians in syphilis. The berries have 
 a sweet and pleasant taste. 
 
 The wood of this tree resembles closely, says Wilson, 
 that of the C. australis. The timber of the latter is exceed- 
 ingly durable, and was formerly employed by British coach- 
 makers for making the frames of their vehicles; and by the 
 Italian musical-instrument-makers for making flutes and 
 pipes. Rural Cyc. 
 
 MYRiCACEiE. {The Gale Tribe.) 
 
 Aromatic and sometimes astringent. 
 
 Myrica cerifera, L. Wax myrtle. Grows abundantly in 
 the swamps of the lower country; Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 278; Matson's Veg. Pract. 198; 
 U. S. Disp. 200; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. 786; Big. Am. - 
 Med. Bot. iii, 32; Am. Journal Med. Sci. ii, 313; Bergii, 
 Mat. Med. ii, 541 ; Nicholson's Journal iv, 187; Kalm's Trav- 
 els, i, 129; Dana in Silliman's Journal 1; Thachal's U. S. 
 Disp. 288; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 531; De 
 Cand. Essai, 772; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 180. The root is a 
 powerful astringent, and a decoction is employed in diar- 
 rhoea, dysentery, hemorrhage from the uterus, in dropsies 
 which succeed fevers, and as a gargle in sore throat. It is 
 also given to some extent by the vegetable practitioners. 
 Griffith states (Med. Bot, 583) that the bark of the root is 
 also stimulant and acrid, and in doses of a drachm, causes a 
 sensation of heat in the stomach, followed by vomiting and 
 sometimes diuresis. The powder is an active errhine, and 
 the leaves have some celebrity in domestic practice, as being 
 antispasmodic, antiscorbutic, and astringent. Dr. Dana 
 found the powdered root powerfully sternutatory. Bigelow 
 
313 
 
 says that the bark and leaves contain gallic acid, tannin, 
 resin, and a small quantity of mucilage. The berries afford 
 a large amount of wax, which rises to the surface when 
 •the}^ are boiled, not remarkable for adhesiveness or unctu- 
 osity. Dr. Bostock considers it a fixed, vegetable oil, render- 
 ed concrete by oxygen ; and by the experiments of Dr. Dana, 
 it constitutes one-third of the whole berry. It is employed 
 for candles, emitting a fragrant odor, and it also forms the 
 basis of a fine soap. It appears to possess some astringent 
 and slightly narcotic properties, and has been administered 
 by Dr. Fahnestock in an epidemic of typhoid dysentery. 
 He gave it in doses of 1 to 2 drachms, and he is of opinion 
 that its active principle resides in the green coloring mat- 
 ter. Am. Journal Med. Sci. ii, 313. Rafinesque states that 
 a tincture of the berries, with heracleum, is beneficial in 
 flatulent colic. De Cancl., Essay upon the Louisiana Myrtle 
 (in French); see Ann. de Chim. xliv, 141, and xlvi, 77; C. 
 L. Cadet, Mem. on the Myrtle of Louisiana and Pennsyl- 
 vania, Paris; Thiebault de Bernaud, Mem. sur le cirier, ou 
 arbre a cire, Paris, 1810. See my own experiments upon 
 the applicability of the leaves as a substitute for oak bark, 
 under " Liquidambar," sweet-gum. 
 
 " The northern nations formerly employed this plant in 
 place of hops, and it is still in use for that purpose in some 
 of the western isles ; unless it is boiled a long time it is 
 reported to occasion the headache." ^Nicholson also says, 
 in his Encyclopaedia, of the M. cerifera, that "it is used in 
 tanning calf-skins ; gathered in autumn, it will dye wool 
 yellow, for which purpose it is used both in Sweden and in 
 Wales; the Welsh lay branches of it upon and under their 
 beds to keep off fleas and moths." Boussingault, in his 
 Rural Chemistry applied to Agriculture, 1859, says of the 
 wax-bearing myrtle : " The fruit yields as much as twenty- 
 five per cent, of wax, and a single shrub will yield from 
 twenty-four to thirty pounds of berries. The crude wax is 
 green and brittle, and to be made into candles requires the 
 addition of a certain quantity of grease." Proust discov- 
 ered that vegetable wax formed part of the green fecula of 
 
314 
 
 many plants. In the common cabbage it occurs in large 
 quantity. Oleine is said to predominate in the fluid vege- 
 table oils. See, on this subject, Styllingia sebifera. The 
 berries of the Pride of India (Melia) also yield an oil' 
 when dried and boiled. Wax has also been collected by 
 scraping the stalk of the sugar-cane. See "Sorghum, " in 
 this volume. 
 
 I have repeatedly seen the wax produced from the myrtle 
 in large amounts. The berries are boiled, and the wax 
 rises on the surface of the water. The boiling should be 
 continued a long time, and the berries stirred and bruised. 
 The wax may be remelted to purify it. Four pounds of 
 this will make forty pounds of soap. The candles made of 
 it are dark green in color. Candles and soap were made in 
 considerable amounts by the ladies in the low country of 
 South Carolina during the autumn of 1861 — fifteen to 
 twenty dozen candles in one household. 
 
 Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, quotes Hamilton, who says 
 that the wax, after being skimmed off the water, should be 
 strained through a coarse cloth to free it from foreign 
 matter. When no more wax rises, the berries are removed 
 with a skimmer and a fresh supply put into the same water, 
 taking care to add boiling water to supply the place of 
 that evaporated during the process. The wax should be 
 dried, and melted again to free it from impurity. See 
 Charles Louis Cader's Memoir, inserted in the Annales de 
 Chimie, who said that the myrtle had been successfully 
 cultivated near Berlin, and Hamilton recommends its cul- 
 tivation in England for its wax-producing properties. 
 Abundant in the Confederate States; only a condition of 
 war and blockade has induced us to use it. 
 
 "J. B." communicates the following to the Charleston 
 Courier, from a writer under the signature of "Economy," 
 from St. Paul's parish, S. C. It is also printed in F. S. 
 Holmes' Southern Farmer, p. 236 : 
 
 Large amount of Soap produced from Myrtle Wax. — I find 
 the following recipe far making soap from myrtle wax 
 (Myrica cerifera) in an old number of the Southern Agricul- 
 
315 
 
 turist. As one of the complaints of soap-makers is the 
 difficulty and expense of obtaining the grease, it will be 
 well for us to avail ourselves of a production of nature, 
 found abundantly in our lower country. The fruit is now 
 matured, and may be had in abundance for the picking. I 
 saw, this day, very good candles made of myrtle wax. I 
 trust our planters, residing in the vicinity of the myrtle, 
 will profit by these advantages before the season for picking 
 lias passed : 
 
 "To three bushels and a half of common wood ashes 
 add half a bushel of unslaked lime. This being well 
 mixed together, put into a cask capable of containing sixty 
 gallons, and till up with water. In forty-eight hours the • 
 lye will be strong enough to float an egg. Then draw off, 
 and put from six to eight gallons of it into a copper 
 kettle capable of containing twenty-five gallons. To this 
 add only four pounds of myrtle wax. Keep constantly 
 boiling for six hours. For the first three or four hours 
 •pour in occasionally a supply of strong lye, the whole 
 frequently well stirred with a ladle. After six hours 
 boiling, throw two quarts of common large grain salt into 
 the kettle; leave one hour more to simmer over a slow 
 fire. The liquor must be placed in tubs to cool for twenty- 
 four hours. Take out the soap, wipe it clean ; put it to 
 dry. 
 
 "The produce of this soap when it was weighed the 
 next day was found to be forty-nine pounds of good, solid 
 soap, from the materials and by the process above men- 
 tioned. At the end of six weeks the soap had only lost a 
 few pounds from the evaporation of its watery particles. 
 
 "In many parts of our state the myrtle tree is abundant, 
 and from three pecks to a bushel may be gathered from a 
 hand per day. "Would it not be worth the while of the 
 planters to attend to this matter? I am sure it would save 
 them many a dollar." 
 
 A correspondent, " T," of the Charleston Courier writes 
 as follows: 
 
 Soap and Candles. — We have been so long dependent on 
 
316 
 
 our Yankee enemies for supplies of the above named 
 articles of universal use that we have forgotten that we 
 can make them ourselves. To our shame we admit that 
 even on our plantations in the low country and seaboard, 
 abounding in materials for making the best candles in the 
 world, millions of pounds have been annually permitted to 
 mature and decay unused. The low bush myrtle, indigenous 
 to our coast from Virginia ad libitum south, the berries of 
 1 which are now mature, will afford a supply of wax; that, 
 with the addition of one-third tallow, will furnish candles 
 sufficient to light every house in the Confederacy for the 
 next year, and put a stopper on the exorbitant extortion 
 now practised on the people for that article. So, also, on 
 every plantation, nay, in almost every kitchen, the monthly 
 waste of ashes and grease, with the addition of a little 
 lime and salt, and the labor of one person for one day, will 
 make soap enough to cleanse every man, woman, and child, 
 and their clothing. Now, why should we any longer pay 
 thirty cents a pound for soap, and sixty cents for candles? .. 
 
 Since my examination and recommendation of the myrtle 
 leaves as a tanuiniferous agent, I see that it has been used 
 b} T Mr. J. Commins, of Charleston, in tanning leather. I 
 find that the berry is also highly astringent. 
 
 I had observed, also, an unusual amount of astringency 
 in the berries of the myrtle. The water in which they are 
 boiled, with copperas, is used as a dye. I have seen an 
 excellent dark brown with very little copperas. If walnut 
 leaves, bark, or the rind of the fruit is added the color is 
 very black. I am informed in St. John's, Berkley, S. C, 
 that a blue dye is obtained without a mordant, by using 
 the same water repeatedly in boiling the berries for the 
 extraction of the wax ! This seems an unexpected result. 
 
 Myrica Carolinensis. Grows in dry soils; Richland, Prof. 
 Gibbes ; collected in St. John's; Newbern. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 583. Supposed to possess similar 
 properties with the above. It can scarcely be distinguished 
 from the others. 
 
317 
 
 JuglandacEjE. (The Walnut Tribe.) 
 
 Juglans tittered; L. Butternut; oil-nut. Grows in the 
 mountains of South Carolina. Fl. April. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 710; Archives Gen. 3e serie, x, 399, and xi, 
 40; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 131. "The inner bark of 
 the root affords one of the most mild and efficient laxatives 
 we possess." The extract was a favorite remedy in Gener- 
 al Marion's camp during the Revolutionary war. It is 
 very efficacious in habitual constipation, in doses of ten to 
 thirty grains; the first acting as a laxative, the maximum 
 purging. Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 115; Mx. N". Am. Sylva, 
 160; where it is spoken of as a mild cathartic, operating 
 without pain or irritation, and resembling rhubarb in its 
 property of evacuating without debilitating the alimentary 
 canal. Dr. Rush employed it during the war. Wood says 
 it is highly esteemed in dysentery ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 181. 
 The rind of the fruit and the skin of the kernel are ex- 
 tremely astringent, anthelmintic, and cathartic; the oil 
 extracted from the fruit is of a very drying nature. Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 687 (J. cathartica.) He re- 
 marks that the inner bark of the root is acrid and caustic, 
 and purges, but occasions neither heat nor irritation ; adapt- 
 ed to bilious constitutions and to dysentery; often combined 
 with calomel. It is given to animals in a disease called 
 "yellow water"; Bull, des Sci. Med. Fer. xii, 338. To 
 extract the cathartic principle, the bark is boiled in water 
 for several hours; remove the extraneous matter, and boil 
 down the decoction to the consistence of honey or mo- 
 lasses—pills may be made of this. A syrup may also be 
 made. The bark is strongest in the early summer. The 
 powdered leaves are rubefacient, and act as a substitute 
 for cantharides. Coxe, Am. Disp. 365. The bark of the 
 branches affords a large quantity of soluble matter, chiefly 
 of the extractive kind, water seeming to be a solvent. 
 Wetherill found in it fixed oil, resin, saccharine matter, 
 lime, potash, a peculiar principle, and tannin. Dr. B. S. 
 Barton, in his Collections, 23, 32, thinks it is possessed of 
 
318 
 
 some anodyne property. Dr. Gray ascertained that four 
 trees, eight to ten inches in diameter, produced in one 
 day nine quarts of sap, from which was made one pound 
 and a quarter of sugar, equal, if not superior to that pro- 
 duced from the maple. This plant is alwa} 7 s given in the 
 form of extract or decoction. Griffith's Med. Bot. 589 ; 
 Thacher's Disp. 245; Rush's Med. Obs. i, 112; Pe. Mat. 
 Med. and Therap. ii, 767 ; Lind. Med. Fl. 387. The wood 
 of the butternut is used for the sleepers and posts of frame 
 houses and barns, for posts, and rail fences, troughs for 
 cattle, etc. For corn-shovels and wooden dishes it is pre- 
 ferred to the red flowering maples, because it is lighter and 
 less liable to split ; consequently, hollow-ware and other 
 articles made of it sell at higher prices. In Vermont the 
 wood is used for the panels of coaches and chaises, being 
 well adapted for this purpose, not only for its lightness, 
 but because it is not liable to split. It receives paint in a 
 superior manner, its pores being very open, more so than 
 poplar and basswood. Mx. Am. Sylva; Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Juglans nigra, L. Black walnut. Diffused in lower and 
 upper country of South Carolina; iSTewbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 687; Griffith, Med. 
 Bot. vi, 89. The bark is styptic and acrid; the rind of 
 the unripe fruit is said to remove ringworms and tetter; 
 and the decoction is given with success as a vermifuge. 
 "A kind of bread is obtained from the fruit." In a commu- 
 nication received from J. Douglass, M. D., of Chester dis- 
 trict, South Carolina, his correspondent, Mr. McKeown, 
 informs me that a bit of lint, dipped in the oil of the wal- 
 nut kernel, and applied to an aching tooth, is an effectual 
 palliative; he has employed it for thirty years with great 
 satisfaction. 
 
 The following appeared in one of the journals during the 
 year 1861 : 
 
 Walnut leaves in the treatment of diseases. — Dr. Negries, 
 physician at Angiers, France, haa published a statement of 
 his success in the treatment of scrofulous disease in differ- 
 
319 
 
 ent forms by preparations of walnut leaves. He has tried 
 walnut leaves for ten years, and of fifty-six patients, afflicted 
 in different forms, thirty-one were completely cured, and 
 there were only four who appeared to have obtained no 
 advantage. The infusion of the walnut tree leaves is made 
 by cutting them and infusing a good pinch between the 
 thumb and forefinger in half a pint of boiling water, and 
 then sweetening it with sugar. To a grown person, M. 
 ISTegries prescribed from two to three teacups full of this 
 daily. This medicine is a slightly aromatic bitter ; its effi- 
 ciency is nearly uniform in scrofulous disorders, and it is 
 stated never to have caused any unpleasant effects. It 
 augments the activity of circulation and digestion, and to 
 the functions imparts much energy. It is supposed to act 
 upon the lymphatic system, as under its influence the 
 muscles become Arm, and the skin acquires a ruddier hue. 
 
 Dry leaves may be used throughout the winter, but a 
 syrup made of green leaves is more aromatic. A salve 
 made of a strong extract of the leaves mixed alone with 
 clean lard and a few drops of the oil of bergamot is most 
 excellent for sores. A strong decoction of the leaves is 
 excellent for washing them. The salutary effects of this 
 medicine do not appear on a sudden — no visible effect may 
 be noticed for twenty days, but perseverance in it will effect 
 a cure. As walnut tree leaves are abundant in America, 
 and as the extract of them is not dangerous or unpleasant 
 to use, and scrofula not uncommon, a trial of this simple 
 medicine should be made. In directing attention to it 
 good results may be expected. 
 
 A gray dye may be prepared with young, unripe walnuts. 
 The walnuts should be beaten in a mortar, boiled with 
 water — the yarn is previously, prepared with lye-water. 
 See "Rhus" 
 
 I obtain the following from a journal (1862) : 
 
 To dye wool yam a durable black without copperas. — Place 
 in. a kettle a layer of walnut leaves, then a layer of yarn, 
 then a layer of leaves and another of yarn, and so on till 
 the kettle is full ; pour on water till all is covered, and boil 
 
320 
 
 all day. The next morning pour off the liquor into another 
 vessel, and put fresh leaves with the yarn in layers as 
 before, and pour the same liquor over it and boil again all 
 day. Then hang the yarn in the air a few days, after 
 which wash it and it will be a fine black. 
 
 The walnut leaves should be gathered in the autumn just 
 as they begin to fall from the trees. 
 
 Both the black and white walnut possess a durable wood, 
 and are secure from the annoyance of worms. The stem 
 of the black walnut is easily perforated, and like the titi 
 (Gliftonia) is much used for pipe-stems among the soldiers 
 in camp. The fig is also used for the same purpose. 
 
 At a convention of gunsmiths, held at Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 
 29, 1861, some facts were elicited which are interesting in 
 this connection. 
 
 Mr. Hodgkins, a gunsmith, stated "that the greatest dif- 
 ficulty was to get wood for the stocks ; that wood of one or 
 two j'ears was not sufficiently seasoned. It ought to be 
 cut twenty years. The bark should be taken off the tree 
 at once. Some thought it best to cut the timber in the 
 summer, others in the fall or winter." Gen. Wayne read 
 the following from the Ordnance Manual : 
 
 " The most suitable season for felling timber is that in 
 which vegetation is at rest, which is the case in midwinter 
 or midsummer. Recent experiments incline to give the 
 preference to the latter season — say the month of July ; 
 but the usual practice is to fell trees for timber between the 
 first of December and the middle of March." 
 
 "Gen. Wayne, on being inquired of, gave it as his opin- 
 ion that there was no artificial process of seasoning wood 
 that would answer for making gunstocks. 
 
 " Mr. Esper said that maple timber could be seasoned 
 rapidly by being boiled in oil. It prevented its cracking. 
 It soon seasoned thoroughly, and would not spring. 
 
 " Mr. Lamb stated that walnut was the best for stocking 
 guns, but harder to season. It required a great number ot 
 years — say twent} 7 years, or nearly so. Maple was next, and 
 persimmon the next. These could be seasoned by artificial 
 process." 
 
321 
 
 The reader will find some information on the felling of 
 timber in Wilson's Rural Cyc. I have seen beautiful 
 walnut obtained from the roots of old trees which had died. 
 
 The fruit is edible, and pleasant to the taste. The wood 
 is very compact and durable, with a black, fine grain, sus- 
 ceptible of a high polish, and forming a valuable substitute 
 for mahogany, from which, when seasoned and varnished, 
 it can scarcely be distinguished. It is much used in South 
 Carolina in the manufacture of tables, stair-railings, and 
 the inner work of houses. The writer has seen as beautiful 
 book-cases, tables, stair-railings, and cabinet-work made 
 from the wood prepared on our Southern plantations, when 
 well seasoned, as any imported from elsewhere. The roots 
 have a peculiarly rich black color, and are useful in making 
 gunstocks. 
 
 The trunk of a walnut tree, tapped on the 11th February, 
 yielded a sap containing some cane sugar. The saps of the 
 sycamore, of the Acer negundo, and of the lilac tree, con- 
 tained the same species of sugar; but that of the birch 
 tree held in solution some grape sugar. In the sycamore 
 and birch tree M. Biot observed an extremely interesting 
 fact. He ascertained, on felling these trees, that the greater 
 portion of the descending sap was accumulated toward the 
 middle of the trunk. That of the birch tree was acid and 
 saccharine ; the sap of that portion of the trunk which was 
 buried in the ground contained no sugar, but a substance 
 possessing the principal characters of gum. {Annates du 
 Museum d'Hisloire Naturelle, t. ii.) It was probably an 
 eil'ect of the season, for Knight states that he never could 
 discover the least trace of saccharine matter during winter 
 in the alburnum either of the stem or of the roots of the 
 sycamore. Boussingault's Rural Econ. in its relation to 
 Chemistry, etc., Law's edition, 1857. 
 
 Walnut leaves soaked in water for some hours, then 
 boiled and applied to the skins of horses and other animals, 
 will prevent their being bitten or worried by flies. 
 
 In Patent Office Reports, 1855, is a paper on the Persian 
 walnut, or Maderia nut (Juglans regia), which appears to be 
 21 
 
322 
 
 well adapted to the climate of the Middle or Southern 
 states. It produces an immense amount of oil and cake. 
 It is preferred to linseed oil, and gives an excellent light. 
 The husk of the walnut is used in dyeing woollen stuffs. 
 
 Carya amara, porcina, alba, etc. Ell. Sk. Hickory. The 
 barks are astringent. 
 
 A dye for woollens used on the plantation is made from 
 that of most of the species. The fruit of many of the 
 hickory trees is pleasant to the taste, particularly the C. 
 alba, shell-bark hickory, which is an article of trade. It 
 should be spared in clearing land. 
 
 To color yellow. — "Take three-fourths of hickory bark, 
 with the outside shaved off, and one-fourth of black oak 
 bark done in the same manner; boil them well together in 
 a bell metal kettle until the color is deep ; then add alum 
 sufficient to make it foam when stirred up, then put the 
 yarn in and let it simmer a little while ; take it out and air 
 it two or three times, having a pole over the kettle to hang 
 it on, so that it may drain in the kettle; when dry rinse it 
 in cold water." Thornton's Southern Gardener, p. 182. 
 The writer has seen negro clothes and other stuffs dyed on 
 the plantations with either hickory or oak barks, either 
 alum or commercial copperas being used. The crab-apple 
 dyes a canary color. The hickory bark, with copperas, dyes 
 yarns an olive color — with alum, a green — the yarns must 
 be put in hot. The wood of the hickory yields a very fine 
 lye when reduced to ashes, and I will include much that is 
 said of soap under this genus. The wood is also valuable 
 for many purposes in the mechanical arts on account of its 
 weight, pliability, toughness, and durability. In Pennsyl- 
 vania an oil is extracted from the nuts of the C. amara, 
 butternut hickory, which is used for the lamp, and for other 
 inferior purposes. I would suggest that the nuts of any 
 species would serve, if broken and boiled, for the manufac- 
 ture of soap. I insert the following from Michaux : 
 
 " Properties and uses of hickory wood. — The wood of all the 
 species of hickory bears a striking resemblance, both as to 
 
328 
 
 fibre and the uniform reddish color of the heart. It pos- 
 sesses great weight, strength, and unusual pliability and 
 toughness. When exposed to heat and moistur.e it is sub- 
 ject to rapid decay, and is peculiarly liable to injury from 
 worms. 
 
 " Throughout the Middle states it is selected for the axle- 
 trees of carriages, for the handles of axes and other carpen- 
 ters' tools, and for large screws, particularly those of book- 
 binders' presses. The cogs of mill-wheels are made of 
 hickory heart, thoroughly seasoned; but it is proper only 
 for such wheels as are not exposed to moisture ;^,nd for this 
 reason some other wood is by many millwrights preferred. 
 The rods which form the backs of Windsor chairs, coach- 
 whip handles, musket-stocks, rake-teeth, flails for thrashing 
 grain, the bows of yokes, or the elliptical pieces which pass 
 under the necks of cattle: all these are objects customarily 
 made of hickory. At Baltimore it is used for the hoops of 
 sieves, and is more esteemed than the white oak, which is 
 equally elastic, but more apt to peeloff in small shreds into 
 the substance sifted. In the country near Augusta, in 
 Georgia, I have remarked that the common chairs are of 
 hickory wood. In New Jersey it is employed for shoeing 
 sledges — that is, for covering the runners or parts which 
 slide upon the snow; but to be proper for this use it must 
 have been cut long enough to have become perfectly dry. 
 
 "Of the numerous trees of North America east of the 
 Alleghany mountains, none except the hickory is perfectly 
 adapted to the making of hoops for casks and boxes. For 
 this purpose vast quantities of it are consumed at home, and 
 exported to the West India islands. The hoops are made 
 of young hickories from six to twelve feet high, without 
 choice as to the species. The largest hoop-poles sold at 
 Philadelphia and New York in February, 1808, at three dol- 
 lars a hundred. Each pole is split in two parts, and the hoop 
 is crossed and confined by notches, instead of being bound 
 at the end with twigs, like those made of chestnut. From 
 the solidity of the wood, this method appears sufficiently 
 secure. 
 
324 
 
 "When it is considered how large a part of the produc- 
 tions of the United States is packed for exportation in 
 barrels, an. estimate maybe formed of the necessary con- 
 sumption of hoops. In consequence of it, young trees 
 proper for this object have become scarce in all parts of the 
 country which have been long settled. The evil is greater, 
 as they do not sprout a second time from the same root, and 
 as their growth is slow. The cooper cannot lay up a store 
 of them for future use, for unless employed within a year, 
 and often within six months after being cut, they are at- 
 tacked by tjvo species of insect, one of which eats within 
 the wood, and commits the greatest ravages. 
 
 "The defects which unfit the hickory for use in the build- 
 ing of houses equally exclude it from the construction of 
 vessels. At 'New York and Philadelphia the shell-bark and 
 pignut hickories have been taken for keels, and are found 
 to last as long as those of other wood, owing to their being 
 always in the water. Of the two species, the pignut would 
 be preferable, as being less liable to split, but it is rarely 
 found of as large dimensions as the other. 
 
 "In sloops and schooners the rings by which the sails are 
 hoisted and confined to the mast are always of hickory. I 
 have also been assured that for attaching the cordage it 
 makes excellent pegs, which are stronger than those of oak; 
 but they should be set loosely in the holes, as otherwise, for 
 want of speedily seasoning, they soon decay. For hand- 
 spikes the hickory is particularly esteemed on account of 
 its strength ; it is accordingly employed in most American 
 vessels, and is exported for the same purpose to England, 
 where it sells from 50 to 100 per cent, higher than ash, 
 which is brought also from the north of the United States. 
 The hickories are cut without distinction for this use, but 
 the pignut, I believe, is the best. 
 
 "All the hickories are very heavy, and in a given volume 
 contain a great quantity of combustible matter. They pro- 
 duce an ardent heat, and leave a heavy, compact, and long- 
 lived coal. In this respect no wood of the same latitude in 
 Europe or America can be compared to them; such, at 
 
325 
 
 least, is the opinion of all Europeans who have resided in 
 the United States. 
 
 "It has been seen by what precedes that though hickory 
 wood has essential defects, they are compensated by good 
 properties which render it valuable in the arts." 
 
 In concluding this article, Michaux recommends particu- 
 larly for propagation in European forests the shell-bark 
 hickory and the pignut hickory, whose wood unites in the 
 highest degree the valuable properties of the group. He 
 thinks, also, that the pecan-nut merits attention from pro- 
 moters of useful culture, not so much for its wood as for its 
 fruit, which is excellent, and more delicate than that of the 
 European walnut. It might probably be doubled in size, 
 if the practice was successfully adopted of grafting this 
 species upon the black walnut, or upon the common Euro- 
 pean walnut. 
 
 Oak and hickory bands for cotton bales. — A tie dispensing 
 with the use of iron or rope bands in baling cotton has been 
 patented. The editor of the Southern Field and Fireside 
 says on this subject: "Precisely such 'ties' have been used 
 to fasten strong hoops on tubs in distilleries and breweries 
 a longer time than any living man can remember. Thirty 
 years ago we made a score of large tubs for tanning leather, 
 and tied the staves together (made of two-inch plank) as 
 above described, save the teeth on the iron rings or bands. 
 The fastening is very simple, and perfectly reliable. A 
 small iron ring, formed like the capital letter D, is the thing. 
 It should hold both ends of a hoop two inches wide, each 
 end being a half-inch in thickness; and also a wedge 
 three-fourths of an inch thick. Such a hoop, made of oak, 
 ash, or hickory, will have more than four times the strength 
 of the rope usually employed in baling cotton. Green or 
 sound wood is hard to break when pulled lengthwise. On 
 our Southern plantations oak, hickory, ash, and grape-vines 
 are much used in place of rope in baling hay, fodder, etc." 
 
 The following practical remarks on the manufacture of 
 potash and soap I introduce here in connection with the 
 hickory, from an editorial by Dr. Lee, in the Southern Field 
 
326 
 
 and Fireside, January 18, 1862. (For "Soda" see "Sal- 
 sola," in this book, and " Quereus") The ashes we may 
 obtain by burning corn-cobs yield more potash than any 
 other available substance; and the alkali from this source 
 is rapidly converted into saleratus or good soap. Corn-cobs 
 are mentioned because we often see them wasted in quanti- 
 ties where hogs are fed, and where much corn is shelled. 
 Soap-makers at the North buy all kinds of wood-ashes, and 
 find no difficulty in making soap from them ; but many 
 Southern negroes, who make a little soap, do not under- 
 stand the art under consideration. They require ashes from 
 hickory, walnut, poplar, or some other wood rich in potash 
 to succeed in producing good soap. The quantity of lime 
 named in the directions given in the article we copied is 
 two or three times larger than it need be. A peck of re- 
 cently slaked lime is abundant for a barrel of ashes. Lime 
 that has been long slaked and exposed to the air will not 
 answer. The object of the lime is to decompose all the 
 carbonate of potash dissolved out of the ashes, so that the 
 pure alkali will combine, with grease or oil, to form soap. 
 When the amount of potash in wood is small, as in pines 
 and decayed wood, the whole of the alkali unites with car- 
 bonic acid, or some other, if free, when the wood is burnt. 
 When ashes are kept some time, if partly caustic when first 
 burnt from wood they part with their causticity by imbib- 
 ing carbonic acid from the atmosphere, as freshly burnt 
 lime will do. Hence, recently burnt ashes will often make 
 soap without lime, but will not do if kept several months. 
 As caustic lime has a stronger affinity for carbonic acid than 
 potash or soda has, soap-makers find no trouble whatever 
 in making soap from old ashes, or any ashes that have not 
 been wet and washed. Having stated the reason why lime 
 is used, we will give the simplest and best practice in the 
 art of combining potash with an animal or vegetable oil or 
 fat, which chemical compound is soap — soft if potash is used, 
 and hard if soda is used. Refuse barrels and hogsheads are 
 often used to drip and leach ashes in, and should stand on 
 boards or plank, so as not to waste the lye. This done, a 
 
327 
 
 few inches of clean broom-straw should be placed over all 
 the bottom of the barrel and pressed down. For a hogs- 
 head of ashes, a good bushel of recently slaked lime 
 should be spread evenly over all the straw; but a peck of 
 lime will do for a barrel of ashes. More lime will do no 
 harm, and some ashes may require a little more. ISTow fill 
 up the barrel of ashes, pound them down moderately, and 
 pour on boiling water, or that which is hot, until the lye 
 runs out at the bottom. If the ashes were good, this lye 
 will make soap with very little boiling; but if the potash is 
 too diluted, some of the water must be evaporated before 
 the chemical union between the alkali and grease will take 
 place. If too little grease is put in the pot or kettle, more 
 must be added; and if there is too much for all to combine 
 with the potash, the excess must be removed after, the soap 
 is cold. Where salt is cheap, it is largely used in the manu- 
 facture of bar soap. Turpentine and rosin are also used in 
 this branch of business. The explanations in reference to 
 soda and turpentine soap will be given elsewhere. Salt is 
 now too expensive to be used in soap-making. 
 
 In an article on soap and potash from the Atlanta Com- 
 monwealth, in the Southern Field and Fireside for October, 
 1861, great stress is laid upon the ease with which we can 
 manufacture potash in large quantity within the limits of 
 the Southern Confederacy, and the consequent production 
 of soap: "But whether we make our soap or establish 
 manufactures, we need lye or potash in large quantities. 
 To have this we must burn the light kind of wood, for 
 some wood is better than other sorts, and we must save all 
 the ashes and take good care of them. The ashes should 
 not only be saved for this purpose, but to be used as ma- 
 nure. It is a shame that we have been so long and so 
 willingly dependent on the North for so large a catalogue 
 of the commonest articles, and even for the article of soap." 
 The following on the same subject is from the Richmond 
 Dispatch, which I condense: "The great scarcity of soap 
 at the present time arises from the want of potash and 
 soda ash. Either will make soap. The latter is found in 
 
328 
 
 its natural state (natron) in Egypt and South America, but 
 the principal supply has been obtained from Great Britain, 
 procured by the burning of sea-weeds. The former (pot- 
 ash) is supplied mostly from Canada and the State of New 
 York. There is in the Confederate States any quantity of 
 material to make potash, and I would call the attention of 
 farmers to its production. It requires but a simple process 
 in its manufacture — a few large iron pans and a half-dozen 
 whiskey barrels, with heads out, and an iron ladle, being all 
 the apparatus required. 
 
 " Most weeds furnish potash, in a greater or less degree, 
 to every one hundred pounds. The following plants will 
 furnish of potash : 
 
 Oak wood 2^ lbs 
 
 Wheat straw A\ " 
 
 Barley straw 5 " 
 
 Potato stem 55 lbs. 
 
 Corn-stalks 17 " 
 
 Oak bark and elm leaves .... 24 " 
 
 "These articles can be obtained by the farmers at little 
 cost. Select a shaded position, gather in a large heap, set 
 fire to it, keeping the tire up until several bushels of 
 ashes are obtained ; fill each barrel about one-quarter full 
 of slaked lime; fill it then with water, stirring the ashes 
 well; let it stand over night, or for about twelve hours, 
 stirring frequently ; strain off the lye as clear as possible; 
 pour in the kettles, and evaporate over a wood fire. The 
 kettle should be kept constantly full for two days (a little 
 experience will soon teach the quantity of lye it will require 
 to make them half full with potash). The evaporation 
 should be continued until the mass obtains the consistency 
 of brown sugar; then increase the fire, by which it will be 
 fused; continue it until quiescent, and looks like melted 
 iron ; with a ladle transfer it to iron pans or baking-ovens, 
 and allow it to cool; it ma}- be then broken in pieces, and 
 packed in tight boxes or barrels. The experiment will 
 pay well any enterprising farmer. The article cannot now 
 be obtained at any cost, and can be sold at a high rate. 
 We hope this may induce some to try it. The expense of 
 fixtures is small. Pine wood furnishes but little potash." 
 
 Ure, in his Dictionary of Science and Manufactures, art. 
 
329 
 
 Potash, p. 457, says : In America, where timber is in many- 
 places an incumbrance upon the soil, it is felled, piled up 
 in pyramids and burned, solely with a view to the manu- 
 facture of potashes. The ashes are put into wooden cis- 
 terns having a plug at the bottom of one of the sides under 
 a false bottom; a moderate quantity of water is then pour- 
 ed on the mass, and some quick-lime is stirred in; after 
 standing for a few hours, so as to take up the soluble mat- 
 ter, the clear liquor is drawn off, evaporated to dryness in 
 iron pots, and finally fused at a red heat into compact 
 masses, which are gray on the outside, and pink-colored 
 within. All kinds of vegetables do not yield, he adds, the 
 same proportions of potassa. The more succulent the 
 plant, the more does it afford; for it is only in the juices 
 that the vegetable salts reside, which are converted by 
 incineration into alkaline matter. Herbaceous weeds are 
 more productive of potash than the graminiferous species, 
 or shrubs, and these than trees; and for a like reason twigs 
 and leaves are more productive than timber. But plants 
 in all cases are richest in alkaline salts when they have 
 arrived at maturity. The soil in which they grow also 
 influences the quantity of saline matter. The following 
 table exhibits the average product in potassa of several 
 plants, according to the researches of Vauquelin, Pertuis, 
 Ivirwan and DeSaussure : 
 
 /)/ 1000 />«m 
 
 Potassa. 
 
 Pine or fir 0.45 
 
 Poplar 0.75 
 
 Trefoil 0.75 
 
 Beechwood 1.45 
 
 Oak 1.53 
 
 Boxwood 2.26 
 
 Willow 2.85 
 
 Elm and maple 3.90 
 
 In 1000 parts 
 
 Potassa. 
 
 Thistles 5.00 
 
 Flag stems 5.00 
 
 Small rushes 5.08 
 
 Vine roots 5.50 
 
 Barley straw 5.80 
 
 Dry beech bark 6.00 
 
 Fern 6.26 
 
 Large rush 7.22 
 
 Wheat straw 3.90 Stalk of maize 17.15 
 
 Bark of oak twigs 4.20 -. Bean stalks 20.00 
 
 In 1000 parts 
 
 Potassa. 
 
 Bastard chamomile — 
 Anthem-is ontula, L .19.06 
 
 Sunflower stalks 20.00 
 
 Common nettle 25.03 
 
 Vetch plant 27.50 
 
 Thistles in full growth35.37 
 Dry straw of wheat 
 
 before earing 47.00 
 
 Wormwood 73.00 
 
 Fumitory 79.00 
 
 Stalks of tobacco, potatoes, chestnut-husks, broom-heath, 
 furze, tansy, sorrel, vine leaves, beet leaves, orach, and many 
 other plants abound in potash salts. In Burgundy the well 
 known cendres gravelies are made by incinerating the lees 
 of wine pressed into cakes and dried in the sun ; the ashes 
 
330 
 
 contain fully sixteen per cent, of potassa. To manufacture 
 carbonate of 'potassa, chlorate, etc., from ashes, see also Ure's 
 Dictionary. The corn-shuck and cob contain potash, and 
 an economical soap is made from corn-shucks. See "Zea," 
 in this volume. 
 
 Count Chaptal, "Chemistry applied to Agriculture," p. 
 290, refers to the method of using economy in washing 
 and bleaching cloths, linen, etc., by a soapy liquor, a solu- 
 tion of oil and soda, in place of ordinary soap. He also 
 introduces and describes a plan for washing and cleansing 
 household linen and cotton yarn by steam from alkaline 
 solutions. The expense is three-sevenths of the expense 
 of the common method. 
 
 I introduce the following from Chaptal's Chemistry 
 applied to Agriculture, as it shows the very different com- 
 position of different plants — the potato, for example: 
 
 " It appears that the three earths which form the basis 
 of the most fertile soil enter into the composition of plants. 
 Bergmann has proved this by an analysis of several kinds 
 of grain, and Ruckert, by the results of his experiments 
 upon a variety of vegetable productions, in a way to put it 
 beyond doubt. About one hundred parts of ashes well 
 leached, and consequently disengaged of all their salts, 
 yielded 
 
 Silica. Lime. Alumina. 
 
 Ashes of wheat 48 37 15 
 
 " oats, 68 26 6 
 
 " barley 69 16 15 
 
 " rye 63 21 16 
 
 " potatoes 4 66 30 
 
 " red clover 37 33 30" 
 
 "Soft soaps," says Ure, "are usually made in this coun- 
 try with whale, seal, olive, and linseed oils, and a certain 
 quantity of tallow ; on the Continent, with the oils of 
 hemp-seed, sesame (beni, which is planted in South Caro- 
 lina)^ rapeseed, linseed, poppy-seed, and colza, or with 
 mixtures of several of these oils. When tallow is added, 
 as in Great Britain, the object is to produce white and 
 somewhat solid grains of stearic soap in the transparent 
 mass, called figging, because the soap then resembles the 
 
331 
 
 granular texture of a 'fig.'" "The potash lyes should 
 be made perfectly caustic, and of at least two different 
 strengths," etc. See Ure, p. 668, for method. Any of 
 the seeds of our oily plants, the cultivation of which I have 
 so often recommended, can be pressed in a flannel bag in 
 an ordinary cotton-press. If the pressure is exercised in a 
 warm room heated by a stove, the escape of the oil will be 
 much facilitated. A lye made of wood ashes will stop the 
 rust in wheat, if the seeds are soaked in it before being • 
 planted for two or three hours. It is a useful substitute at 
 this time for the brine which is usually made of sulphate 
 of copper or salt. 
 
 As the Concentrated Lye may be made from ashes, I am 
 induced to insert the following, on this all-important sub- 
 ject. Resin is abundant in the Confederate States, and 
 vegetable wax and oils can be obtained. See " Myrica" 
 and bene" (" Sesam^im"). See method of preparing concen- 
 trated lye, "Quercus alba" in this volume. 
 
 Yellow, or rosin soap. — Dissolve one pound of concentrat- 
 ed ]ye in one half-gallon of water, and set it aside ; heat in 
 a kettle one gallon of water and three and a half pounds 
 of fat or tallow, and commence to make the soap just as 
 above for hard soap, with small quantities of lye, and a 
 very small fire, until the soap is ready for salt, but add no 
 salt. Put in now one and three-fourth pound of powdered 
 rosin, and let it boil down by constantly stirring until the 
 soap sticks on the kettle, and gets very thick. It is now 
 finished, and may be put into a mould. 
 
 Hard fancy soap. — Dissolve one pound of the concentrat- 
 ed lye in two and a half pounds of hot water, and let it 
 cool ; then melt by a low heat five pounds of clear fat or 
 tallow, pour in the lye in a very small stream, and stir it 
 rapidly; keep stirring until all has assumed the appearance 
 of thick honey, and falls off the stirrer in large drops. It 
 is then finished. Cover it up, and set the batch in a warm 
 place; or better, cover it with a woollen blanket to keep in 
 the heat, and let it stand for twenty-four hours, when it 
 will have set into a fine, hard soap, which may be per- 
 
332 
 
 fumed and variegated with colors by stirring the desired 
 colors or perfumes into the mixture just before covering. 
 If lard or olive oil is used, no heating of the same is 
 required. 
 
 Soft snap. — To one pound of the concentrated lye add 
 three gallons of soft water, and four and one-half to live 
 pounds of fat or tallow ; boil until the mass gets transpar- 
 ent and all the fat has disappeared. Now add fifteen 
 gallons of water, boil a few minutes, and the soap will be 
 ready for use. As soon as cold, it will be a perfect jelly. 
 If still too thick, add more water, which can be done to 
 make the soap to any consistency desired. Twenty-five 
 gallons of good soft soap can be made in this way out of 
 one pound of the concentrated lye. 
 
 Pump water is softened and made fit for washing as fol- 
 lows : dissolve one cake of the concentrated lye in one 
 gallon of watei\ and keep it for use in a well-corked demi- 
 john or jug. To a tub full of pump or hard spring water 
 add from one-eighth of a gill to a pint of the clear solu- 
 tion ; the quantity of course varies according to the size 
 of the tub, and the nature of the water, some taking more 
 and some less. A tablespoonful will generally be found 
 enough to make three to five gallons of water fit for wash- 
 ing. In all the above operations, it should be remembered 
 to replenish the water which may evaporate while dissolv- 
 ing the concentrated lye, or while boiling. 
 
 Consult " Salsola kali" for soda and soda soaps from 
 ashes; also "oak" (Quereus alba), for additional information. 
 
 To make twenty pounds of cheap soap from four pounds. — 
 The Southern Field and Fireside directs : four pounds of 
 turpentine soap, one half-pound of soda; add two gallons 
 water, boil ten minutes, add a spoonful of salt, and boil 
 ten minutes more. 
 
 Economy in the use of salt. — I insert the following for its 
 utility in the present exigency : " Green wood contains 
 some forty per cent, of its weight of moisture, which forms 
 a watery vapor when burning; and even dry wood has 
 over forty per cent, of the elements of water, oxygen, and 
 
333 
 
 hydrogen that forms vapor when such wood is burnt. Coal 
 consists mainly of the carbon in wood, which in burning 
 forms a very drying heat. Most of our readers are famil- 
 iar with the usual process of barbecuing large pieces of 
 meat over coals. If such meat were too. high above the 
 coal tire to roast, it would soon dry. When dry, a very 
 little salt and smoking will keep it indefinitely. Like 
 cured bacon, it should be packed in tight casks, and kept 
 in a dry room. 
 
 "After one kills his hogs, if he is short of salt, let him 
 get the water out of the meat by drying it over burning 
 coals as soon as possible, first rubbing it in a little salt. 
 Shade trees around a meat-house are injurious by creating 
 dampness. Dry meat with a coal fire after it is smoked. 
 You may dislike to have meat so dry as is suggested, but 
 your own observation will tell you that the dryest hams 
 generally keep the best. Certainly, sweet, dry bacon is far 
 better than moist, tainted bacon, and our aim is simply to 
 show how meat may be cured and long kept with a trifle 
 of salt, when war has rendered the latter scarce and expen- 
 sive." As this is an important question in every point of 
 view at present, I will also cite on the manufacture of salt an 
 elaborate article in the P. O. Reports, 1855, p. 143, by W. 
 C. Dennis, of Key West, Florida ; also P. O. Reports, 
 1857, p. 133. The mode of crystallizing, etc., is explained 
 in a plain, practical manner, with wood-cuts of machinery. 
 Evaporation through thorns, wood-shavings, etc., is de- 
 scribed. 
 
 i 
 Carya olivceformis. Pecan. Mississippi nut. Cultivated 
 
 in Atlantic states. 
 
 I have observed it growing wild in Ward's swamp, St. 
 John's, Berkley, S. C, in company with the C. myrisUcm- 
 formis or nutmeg hickory of Mx. ISTo doubt the fruit was 
 disseminated from neighboring plantations, where it is 
 cultivated. The fruit of the plants of this order are favorite 
 articles for table use in the Confederate States. The pe- 
 can-nut is rich and nutritious, and the tree might be planted 
 
334 
 
 as a source of profit, as it is a rapid bearer, attaining a 
 large size. * 
 
 Michaux advises that the shoots should, for the purposes 
 of fruiting, be grafted on stalks of the common walnut 
 tree. The tree abounds in upper Louisiana and Illinois. 
 A swamp of 800 acres is said to exist on the right bank of 
 the Ohio, opposite the Cumberland river. The wood is 
 coarse grained, heavy, and compact. Michaux. 
 
 Saururace^e. 
 
 Saururus Cernuus, L. Grows in inundated soils ; Rich- 
 land ; vicinity of Charleston; Newbern ; and collected in 
 St. John's, where the root is used, in the form of a poultice, 
 in discussing tumors, and as an application in abscess of 
 the breasts occurring after labor. It is thought by many 
 to possess great value in this respect. In a note to Ell. 
 Bot., 505, it is also said that the. fresh root is applied with 
 advantage as an emollient and discutient to inflamed sur- 
 faces. 
 
 Salicace^e. (The Willow Tribe.) 
 Bark generally astringent, tonic, and stomachic. 
 
 Salix nigra, L. Willow. Grows along streams; Rich- 
 land, Gibbes ; vicinity of Charleston ; collected in St. 
 John's ; Newbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Bell's Pract. Diet. 403 ; U. S. Disp. 622. See work of 
 younger Michaux, Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 337 ; Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi. 185; Griffith, Med. Bot. 583; 
 Schoepf, Mat. Med. 43 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii. 671. The 
 willow is supposed to furnish us with one of .the best sub- 
 stitutes for Peruvian bark; the S. alba, which may be 
 included among the many varieties found in the Confeder- 
 ate States, and which are not yet accurately distinguished, 
 seems to be held in high estimation. But this species also, 
 is considered valuable ; the bark possessing some power as 
 a purgative, anti-intermittent, and vermifuge. It also 
 furnishes the principle called salicin, which, from the 
 
335 
 
 results of late experiments, is found to be much less 
 valuable than quinia, but is a good bitter tonic. See Journal 
 Phil. Coll. Pharm. for the mode of preparation. Bark of 
 the root and branches is officinal. It is tonic and some- 
 what astringent. Decoction made with one ounce of bark 
 to one pint of boiling water; dose 2 fluidounces. It 
 should be boiled ten minutes, and strained while hot. 
 Dose of salicin from 2 to 8 grains and increased. It might 
 well attract attention as a substitute for quinine. The 
 large stems of this tree are light and durable, and are used 
 for the timbers of boats. 
 
 There are several other species in the Confederate States. 
 The willow — osier willow (see article in Farmer and 
 Planter, Sept., 1861), is cultivated extensively in Germany, 
 France, and Belgium for making baskets, hats, screens, 
 etc., etc. After most careful experiment it has been found 
 that the best species to introduce into the Confederate 
 States for the purpose, are the Salix forbeyana, Salix purpu- 
 rea, purple willow, and Salix triandra, long-leaved willow. 
 Forbes' loillow is very productive and hardy, one of the 
 most valuable species for common work, where unpeeled 
 rods are used. It does not whiten well. 
 
 Purple wilioio. — Experiments have shows that this species 
 is the most valuable and profitable for osiers in this country. 
 With good ordinary culture its shoots will average ten feet 
 in length ; will thrive best in deep, moist soil, where it will 
 easily yield from four to live tons per acre of the most 
 excellent rods, well qualified for the finest work. The 
 purple willow, aside from being the most valuable for man- 
 ufacturing all the finest kinds of willow-ware, is the best 
 species for hedges, and is most extensively used for that 
 purpose in Germany and Holland. The leaves and the 
 bark being so very bitter will not be touched by cattle, while 
 the shoots may be formed into any shape, and the hedge 
 thereby made impregnable. Fine hedges or screens of 
 twenty-five feet in height may be grown from willow cut- 
 tings of this species in five years, thus affording almost 
 immediate shelter, so indispensable at all seasons of the 
 
336 
 
 year. We have seen, the writer adds, screens in Russia, of 
 the willow, forty feet high, surrounding parks from three 
 to four hundred acres in extent, affording the most perfect 
 shelter against the sweeping winds and storms. Its soft, 
 green, and glossy foliage will make it an object of great 
 beauty and attraction. 
 
 The last mentioned, the Salix triandra, long-leaved willow, 
 will grow with almost equal vigor in any soil of depth ; 
 ripens its shoots very early, and whitens beautifully; is 
 tough and pliable, and a general favorite with our German 
 basket-makers for split-work. This willow is most exten- 
 sively cultivated in Germany by the thousands of acres. 
 Its cultivation is highly esteemed by the people, and much 
 encouraged by the government. 
 
 Salix caprea, though not valued as an osier, is deserving 
 of attention, as it will grow in wet situations where other 
 trees will hardly exist. It furnishes food for bees at a time 
 when it is most needed. In early spring, before other 
 flowers appear, this tree is a mass of dazzling bloom, most 
 eagerly sought after by bees. This willow is also valuable 
 for hoops. 
 
 The cuttings, in our climate, should be prepared in fall or 
 early winter, and if planted at that time the ends will form 
 the callosity preparatory to sending out roots. In setting 
 the cuttings in the ground prepared for them, care should 
 be taken to have them set deep enough ; a small portion 
 only should remain above ground ; the strongest roots 
 always start from the lower end of the cutting or set ; by 
 doing so the most vigorous growth will be obtained. 
 
 In establishing a willow plantation, cuttings of vigorous 
 upland growth, that have had an abundance of room, 
 should only be purchased and used, and, if obtainable, 
 select wood of one year's growth, with a portion of two 
 years wood from the lower extremity. Deep soils, free 
 from standing water, but yet so soft that ploughing is 
 impracticable, will grow enormous growths of 6'. triandra, 
 requiring no further cultivation but keeping the weeds 
 down for the first year or two, after which time the willows 
 
337 
 
 will be of sufficient strength to take care of themselves, and 4 
 provide for their own shade and well-being. We have in, 
 the Confederate States large districts of deep alluvium, 
 often inclining to swamps, which are so much drained as to- 
 do away with their swampy character, and with no other 
 preparation than removing the trees, may make excellent 
 willow plantations. Sir J. W. Hooker observes: "The 
 many important uses rendered to men by the different 
 species of willow serve to rank them among the first in the 
 list of our economical plants." The editor of the Southern 
 Farmer and Planter then quotes a statement by W. P. 
 Rupert, of Geneva, N". Y., showing a net profit of $533 per 
 acre from planting the osier willow. 
 
 See, also, Chaptal's Chemistry applied to Agriculture for 
 method of planting willow along borders of land -liable to 
 inundation, to lessen the force of the water, to strengthen 
 the soil, and reclaim the land. A border of willow and 
 poplar is planted over the banks or along the sides of the 
 watercourses, and the plants are cropped at the tops so as 
 to increase the thickness of their growth. 
 
 In a paper in Patent Office Reports on Agriculture, p. 46, 
 1851, by W. G. Haynes, of Putnam county, 1ST. Y., it is 
 stated that four or five million dollars worth of willow 
 were imported annually into the United States from France 
 and Germany. The prices ranged from $1 to $1 30 per ton 
 weight. The writer coufines his attention to the "three 
 kinds best adapted for basket-making, farming, tanning, 
 and fencing." He says: "The Salix viminalis is that speci- 
 men of all others best adapted for basket-makers. An acre 
 of this properly planted, and cultivated upon suitable soil, 
 will yield at least two tons weight per year." See paper 
 for yield. The people of England, till 1808, relied entirely 
 for their supply upon Continental Europe. The Salix alba, 
 or Bedford willow, is much planted by the Duke of Bed- 
 ford. "The bark is held in high estimation for tanning, 
 the wood for shoemakers' lasts, boot-trees, cutting-boards, 
 gun and pistol stocks, and house timber; the wood being 
 fine grained, and susceptible of as fine a polish as rose- 
 22 
 
338 
 
 wood or mahogany. An acre of this kind of wood, ten 
 years old, has sold in England for ,£155." The " Salix alba 
 is extensively used by retired tradesmen who build in the 
 country for the purpose of securing shade in a short time, 
 and by the nobility around their fish-ponds and mill-dams, 
 and along their watercourses and avenues. This is the 
 principal wood used in the manufacture of gunpowder in 
 England." See, also, article "Hempi" It requires twelve 
 thousand cuttings to plant one acre. Much land worth for 
 little else might be planted in willow. 
 
 The next species is the & caprea, Huntingdon willow, 
 "which is a good basket willow, and is used extensively in 
 England by the farmers for hoop-poles and fencing. Their 
 manner of planting when for fencing is by placing the 
 ends of the cuttings in the ground, and then working 
 them into a kind of trellis-work, and passing a willow 
 withe around the tops or ends, so as to keep in shape for 
 the first two years. They cut the tops off yearly, and sell 
 them to the basket-makers, thus having a fence and crop 
 from the same ground." Another description of fence is 
 also made from the Salix caprea, " known in England by 
 the name of hurdle fences, which may be removed at the 
 pleasure or discretion of the proprietor." See article 
 "Charcoal," in Wilson's Rural Cyc. The dogwood and 
 alder are also used for making gunpowder. See, # also, 
 Ure's Dictionary of Arts. In most of the large manufac- 
 tories the charcoal is distilled from iron vessels, by which 
 means it is obtained in a state of considerable purity, and 
 the other products are saved. See " Pinus." 
 
 A variety of the S. viminalis, called the velvet osier, is 
 the very best for basket-making. In England, Wilson 
 says, an acre of osier will yield greater profit than one of 
 wheat. The Salix purpurea, as was stated, is also valuable. 
 "The cutting of a basket twig should be made slopingly 
 within three buds of the point whence the shoot issued ; 
 and the cutting of a hoop willow may be made so low as 
 to leave only the swell at the bottom of the shoot. Basket 
 twigs are commonly sorted into three sizes, and tied into 
 
339 
 
 bundles of each two feet in circumference : and when they 
 are to be peeled, they are set on their thick end, a few 
 inches deep in standing water, and left there till com- 
 monly the latter part of the following May. The apparatus 
 for peeling is simply two round rods of iron, nearly half an 
 inch thick, sixteen inches long, and tapering a little up- 
 ward, welded together a little at one end, which is sharp- 
 ened, so that it may be easily thrust down into the ground. 
 When thus placed in a piece of firm ground, the peeler sits 
 down opposite to it, and takes the willow in the right hand 
 by the small end, and puts a foot or more of the great end 
 into the instrument, the prongs of which he presses to- 
 gether with the left hand, and with the right draws the 
 willow toward him, by which operation the bark will at 
 once be separated from the wood; the small end is then 
 treated in the same manner, and the peeling is completed. 
 After being peeled they will keep in a good condition for a 
 long time, till a proper market be found. Rural Cyc. 
 
 Charcoal made of willow or oak is a useful antiseptic 
 agent, possessing the power of absorbing gases, and useful 
 in dyspepsia and ill-conditioned states of the gastrointes- 
 tinal mucous membranes. It is also used as a mechanical 
 laxative, in doses of ten to fifteen grains. It is supposed 
 to act as a prophylactic in yellow fever. In preparing it, 
 the common charcoal from green wood is reduced to pow- 
 der. This is reheated and burned to ignition in a. tightly 
 covered vessel. It is then kept for use in closely stopped 
 bottles, as it will absorb moisture and gases from the 
 atmosphere. It is used also as a general purifyer. Brack- 
 ish water strained through a layer of sand and powdered 
 charcoal is made sweet and pure. 
 
 For making gunpowder charcoal, the lighter woods, such 
 as the willow, dogwood, and alder answer best; and in their 
 carbonization care should be taken to let the vapors freely 
 escape, especially toward the end of the operation, for 
 when they are reabsorbed, they greatly impair the com- 
 bustibility of the charcoal. The charcoal of some wood 
 contains silica, and is therefore useful for polishing metals. 
 
340 
 
 Dr. Mushet published the following table of the quantity 
 of charcoal yielded by different woods : 
 
 Chestnut 23.2 of charcoal — glossy black, compact, firm. 
 
 Oak 22.6 black, close, very firm. 
 
 Walnut 20.6 dull black, close, firm. 
 
 Holly 19.9 dull black, loose, and bulky. 
 
 Beech 19.9 dull black, spongy, firm. 
 
 Sycamore 19.7 fine black, bulky, moderately firm. 
 
 Elm 19.5 fine black, moderately firm. 
 
 Norway pine 19.2 shining black, bulky, very soft. 
 
 Sallow or willow. .18.4 velvet black, bulky, loose, soft. 
 
 Ash 17.9 shining black, spongy, firm. 
 
 Birch 1 7.4 velvet black, bulky, firm. [_Am. Farmer's Enc. 
 
 On the subject of Nitre, and the materials for gunpow- 
 der, I will introduce the following from Chaptal's Chemis- 
 try applied to Agriculture, p. 153, and may reproduce 
 portions or all of Prof. Leconte's paper on nitre beds. 
 Different kinds of wood, he says, yield coal of very differ- 
 ent quality; the best coal is heavy and sonorous, and is 
 produced from wood of very compact fibre. The heat it 
 affords is quick and strong, and its combustion, though 
 vigorous, lasts a long time. The charcoal of the green 
 oak of the South burns at least twice as long as that of 
 the white oak of the North, and the effects produced by 
 the heat it affords are great in the same proportion. 
 
 The light, porous, white woods afford a brittle, spongy 
 coal, of less weight, and which may be easily reduced 
 to powder; this coal consumes quickly in our fireplaces, 
 but is useful for some purposes, particularly in the manu- 
 facture of gunpowder, for which use it is prepared by the 
 following process : a ditch of five or six feet square and 
 of about four in depth is dug in a dry soil; the ditch 
 is heated by means of a fire made of split wood; the shoots 
 and leaves are stripped from the young branches of elders, 
 poplars, hazels, and willows, of which the coal is to be 
 made, and as soon as the ditch is sufficiently heated the 
 branches are thrown gradually in ; when carbonization is 
 at its height the pit is covered over with wet woollen cloths. 
 This charcoal is more light and inflammable than that of 
 
341 
 
 the denser woods, and is susceptible of being more easily- 
 arid completely pulverized. M. Proust, who has made 
 numerous experiments to ascertain the kinds of plants 
 which furnish the best coal for powder, found that pro- 
 cured from the stalk of hemp to be preferable to any other. 
 
 The most perfect process of carbonization is by means of 
 a close apparatus: for this purpose a stone or brick building 
 is constructed, of eighteen to twenty-five feet square; this 
 is matted over, and the inside of it lined with a brick wall ; 
 through the extent of it cast-iron cylinders are laid in such 
 a manner that one of the two ends shall have an external 
 communication, while the other carries the smoke into 
 one of the chimneys. As soon as the building is filled 
 with the wood for carbonization the cylinders may be 
 heated. The vapor which is distilled from the wood is 
 received into sheet-iron pipes, placed in the top, which 
 convey it into tubs where it is condensed. Count Chaptal 
 esteems this to be the best and most economical apparatus 
 for making charcoal ; besides, it allows the preservation of 
 the pyroligneous acid, which brings a good price, and may 
 also be purified and converted into vinegar. 
 
 In England charcoal is prepared in two different w T ays. 
 In one, billets of wood are formed into a heap, which is 
 covered with turf, and a few small openings only left for 
 the admission of the air requisite to maintain it in a state 
 of low combustion after it is lighted. When the whole 
 heap is on fire, the holes are stopped, and after the mass 
 has cooled the residue is charcoal. This is substantially 
 the method adopted on our plantations. In the other 
 mode, the wood is distilled in iron cylinders, in which case 
 the products are pyroligneous acids, and empyreumatic oil ; 
 and what remains in the retort is charcoal. The quantity 
 of the distilled products, as well as of the charcoal, de- 
 pends on the kind of wood employed. One hundred parts 
 of dried oak yields of pyroligneous acid, 43. parts ; carbon- 
 ate of potassa, 4.5 parts; empyreumatic oil, 9.06 parts; 
 charcoal, 26.2" parts. Farmer's Encyc. See also "Quercus" 
 and " Pinus," in this volume. 
 
342 
 
 The following advertisement appeared in the papers dur- 
 ing the year 1862 : 
 
 To Contractors. — Willow wood wanted. — Five hundred 
 cords willow will be contracted for, to be delivered on the 
 line of the canal, at the government powder factory, at 
 Augusta, Gra., at the rate of not less than one hundred and 
 fifty cords per month, commencing the 1st of December 
 next. The willow may be of any size, the smaller branches 
 being preferred; the larger sticks must be split into parts 
 not larger than the arm. It must be cut into uniform 
 lengths of three feet, and each cord will measure fourteen 
 feet long, three feet high, and three feet broad, containing 
 one hundred and twenty-six cubic feet. The bark must be 
 carefully peeled off at the time of cutting. 
 
 Purification of water by charcoal. — The reader is referred 
 to Chaptal's "Chemistry applied to Agriculture" for much 
 that is practical in the domestic economy of our planta- 
 tions in the South on the manufacture of wine, brandy, 
 etc. In his chapter on the "means of preparing whole- 
 some drinks for the use of country people" he gives the 
 following method for rendering impure water pure. It 
 would be found of great service at the present time, and 
 our generals in the field might thus, at little cost, purify 
 water for the use of their camps, for want of which simple 
 expedient moves, possibly disastrous, have often to be made 
 in face of an enemy. "The water made use of is often 
 muddy, or has a bad smell, either of which faults may be 
 corrected by filtering it through charcoal ; the process 
 may be performed in the following manner: place a large 
 cask upright, in the coolest situation you can command, 
 knock out the head, and form in the bottom of it a bed of 
 clean sand upon which place one of charcoal, and above 
 these fasten securely a double head pierced with holes. 
 When this is done the cask may be immediately filled 
 with the water which is to be purified. The filtrated fluid 
 may be drawn off by means of a stop cock placed at the 
 bottom of the bed of sand; it will be found to have be- 
 come clear and inodorous in its passage through the sand 
 
343 
 
 and charcoal. The preservation of this apparatus requires 
 but little care; when the charcoal ceases to produce the 
 desired effect it must be either well washed or replaced by 
 a new portion." This plan can be put in practice by any 
 one, and at any time. 
 
 Salix Babilonica. Weeping willow^. Completely natural- 
 ized in South Carolina. 
 
 It forms one of our most beautiful and graceful orna- 
 mental trees. Only the pistillate plant is found here ; and 
 hence it does not mature its fruit as the others do. 
 
 Populus alba. White poplar. Introduced. 
 
 This is an aquatic plant, yet will grow on dry soils. It 
 is easily propagated by suckers, grows rapidly, is very tena- 
 cious of life, and is one of the trees planted to prevent the 
 encroachment of the sea or rivers, by being planted with 
 willows on the margin. See Salix. 
 
 The poplar has a very white, light wood, very suitable 
 for flooring ; also eminently suited, on account of its light- 
 ness, for the manufacture of trays, bowls, etc. "It is excel- 
 lently adapted for the purposes of the bellows-maker, and 
 of the manufacturer of wooden soles of shoes ; as good for 
 light carts ; as excellent for laths and packing-cases ; as 
 very superior for wooden constructions under water ; and 
 in fact as available for an almost innumerable variety of 
 purposes, from the mean ones of fuel and poles to the 
 noble ones of tools and furniture. Pontey even asserts it 
 to be perfectly suitable for almost every article usually 
 made of mahogany, and quite capable of being stained 
 and doctored into a very close imitation of that valuable 
 wood." Wilson. The wood of our wild, tulip-bearing 
 poplar (Liriodendron) is adapted to similar purposes, being 
 light, and easily worked, and used by the cabinet-maker 
 for many purposes. It is stated in the Farmer's En- 
 cyclopaedia that by splitting the wood of the white pop- 
 lar into thin shavings like tape or braid, the stuff called 
 sparterfe, used for hats, is manufactured. These shavings 
 
344 
 
 are always made from green wood. One workman can, 
 with the aid of a child to carry off the shavings, keep 
 several plaiters employed. This might be made a source 
 of successful industry in the Confederate States. 
 
 Upon examining the excrescences caused by an insect in 
 large numbers on the leaves of the cotton-wood tree (P. 
 heterophylla, L.), I find them possessed of .great bitterness, 
 and suggest an examination into their tonic properties. 
 
 Balsamaceje. 
 
 Liquidambar styraciflua, L. Sweet-gum. Diffused. Fl. 
 March. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 273 ; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 184 ; 
 Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 303 ; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. 
 vi, 190 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 562 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 798 ; 
 Linn. Veg. M. Med. In former times the resin was used 
 in scabies ; and it is said (Am. Herbal, by J. Stearns) to be 
 useful in resolving hard tumors in the uterus. The In- 
 dians esteemed it an excellent febrifuge, and employed it 
 in healing wounds. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 
 128, and the Supplem. 1846 ; Ann. de Montpellier, 1805, 
 327; Journal de Pharm. vii, 339, and vii, 568; Bull, de 
 Therap., Oct. 1833, where D. L'Heritier proposes to treat 
 blennorrhagias and leucorrhceas with liquid styrax. A 
 kind of oil, called copalm, is extracted from it in Mexico, 
 which, when solidified, is called copalm resin ; this is an 
 excitant of the mucous system, and it is given in chronic 
 catarrhs, and in affections of the lungs, intestines, and 
 urinary passages. This is cordial and stomachic ; it excites 
 both perspiration and urine; it is also used in perfumery. 
 In South Carolina and Georgia the temperature is not high 
 enough for this tree to furnish much gum. Dr. Griffith 
 experimented with it in the latitude of Baltimore, and ob- 
 tained a small quantity by boiling the twigs and branches ; 
 he found that it exists in greatest abundance in the young 
 trees just before the appearance of the leaves. It is about 
 the consistence of honey, of a yellow color, and of a pleas- 
 ant, balsamic odor and taste. The tree is of rapid growth, 
 
345 
 
 and is ornamental — frequently assuming the appearance of 
 a sugar-loaf. The wood is soft, but not durable. A decoc- 
 tion of the inner bark of the gum in a quart of milk, or a 
 tea made with boiling water is one of the most valuable 
 and useful mucilaginous astringents that we possess (Dr. 
 Richard Moore). It can be employed with advantage in 
 cases of diarrhoea and dysentery. I have discovered that 
 the leaves also of the gum, as well as those of the myrtle, 
 are exceedingly rich in tannin, and would advise them to 
 be used while green as a substitute for oak bark. They 
 can always be obtained in the greatest abundance. As the 
 result of my comparative experiments, these, with the leaves 
 of the sumach, possessed more tannin than any other leaf. 
 See " Tannin.''' The chinquapin, given with milk, is a use- 
 ful astringent; see, also, blackberry (Rubus) and dogwood 
 {Cornus). The gum of the sweet-gum, mixed with suet, is 
 used by the vegetable practitioners in the treatment of itch. 
 
 Leaves of native trees for Tanning Leather recommended in 
 place of Oak bark. — Compelled by sickness to make a tem- 
 porary sojourn in St. John's, Berkley, S. C, during the 
 months of October and November, 1861, I had the leisure 
 to make some experiments upon the relative amount of the 
 astringent principles in the leaves of several of our most 
 abundant native trees. The reputed power of the dogfen- 
 nel and other plants for the rapid tanning of leather attract- 
 ed my attention to the subject. I publish the following, 
 that the green leaves may be collected and used before they 
 fall. They can be much more readily obtained than oak 
 bark. I made two series of experiments, with a solution of 
 each leaf in boiling water, in separate test-glasses. After 
 they had remained a sufficient time for the coloring matters 
 and the astringent principles to be extracted, I subjected 
 each to the appropriate reagents. Solutions of iron as well 
 as gelatine were employed, which responded perfectly, and 
 gave delicate shades of difference. The leaf, well chewed 
 and tasted, also gives a very good idea of its astringency, 
 and consequently affords an approximation to the tannin 
 
346 
 
 and gallic acid it contains. It will be seen that the leaves of 
 the sumach, sweet-gum, myrtle, blackberry, Cleihra tomen- 
 tosa and Andromeda nitida (both abundant in our damp pine 
 barrens, along the margin of ponds), and the fruit of the 
 unripe persimmon, contain the largest amounts of tannin, 
 and perhaps gallic acid. 
 
 I took special care to select trees, for the most part, which 
 grew plentifully, and I particularly recommend those just 
 mentioned to be used in lieu of oak bark for tanning 
 leather, on account of their abundance and the ease with 
 which the fresh leaves can be gathered, and because of the 
 scarcity of the oak, and the injury to these raluable timber 
 trees. If the oak is deprived of its bark the wood should 
 always be converted into ashes. 
 
 Strange to say, the clogfennel (JSupaiorium fceniculaceum?) 
 occupied a very inferior position as a tanniniferous plant. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. 
 
 (Relative amount of Astringency expressed by numerals.) 
 
 1. Clethra alnifolia, L. (G. lomenlosa, Lam.) Diffused in 
 damp pine lands. 
 1. Andromeda nitida. 
 
 1. Fruit of unripe Persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana) ; 
 color of solution, bluish black. 
 
 2. Sweet-Gum (Liquldambar styraciflua). 
 2^. Swamp Myrtle (Myrica eerifera). 
 
 3. Sweet Swamp Bay, or Laurel (Magnolia, glauca). All 
 the above rich in tannin. 
 
 4. Oak Leaves, Black Jack (Quercus nigra, L.) 
 
 5. Leaves of Persimmon. 
 
 6. Sassafras (Laurus Sassafras), a trace. 
 
 7. Prinos Glaber (ink-berry). Tannin not very evident. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 1. Sumach (Rhus copallina L. and R. Glabra. 
 
 2. Blackberry (Rubus villosus and trivialis), both very rich 
 in tannin. 
 
 3. Sweet leaf (Hopea tinctoria), tannin slightly present. 
 
347 
 
 4. Dogfennel. (Eajpatorium fceniculaceum), a trace. 
 
 5. Sassafras, a trace. 
 
 6. Gall of the earth (Prenanth.es alba), very bitter ; tannin, 
 none. 
 
 Both the leaves and the excrescences on the leaves of the 
 smooth Sumach (Rhus glabra), growing along streams in 
 the upper districts, are very rich in tannin, and should be 
 used. 
 
 The Alder (Alnus serrulata), abundant along watercours- 
 es, is also astringent. The reader can find a list of the 
 plants and trees yielding tannin in lire's "Dictionary of 
 Arts, Manufacture, and Mines." See also Oak (" Quercus") 
 and Sumach ("Rhus"), in this volume. 
 
 CALLITRICHACEyE. 
 
 Callitriche verna, "W. 1 Water chickweed. Grows 
 
 " heterophylla,~E[\. Sk.. /in shallow water. Collected 
 in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 326. It is considered by the planters 
 a valuable diuretic remedy in dropsy. The tincture of the 
 whole plant in spirits is employed. A decoction is given 
 to horses when diuresis is desired. 
 
 Santalales. 
 
 Nyssa aquatica,Jj. Black-gum; tupelo; sour-gum. The 
 roots are immersed in inundated soils; collected in St. 
 John's; observed in Fairfield district; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; Newbern. 
 
 The roots are white, spongy, and light, and are sometimes 
 used in the Confederate States as a substitute for cork. 
 
 The genus exhibits a constant peculiarity of organization 
 ("the fibres are united in bundles and interwoven like a 
 braided cord"), hence the wood is extremely difficult to split, 
 unless cut into billets — much used for hubs of wheels ; also 
 preferred for the sideboards of carts. Am. Sylva. Trays, 
 bowls, dippers, mortars, and other utensils are manufactured 
 from it. I had recommended it as a suitable material for 
 
348 
 
 shoes in my article in DeBow's Review, August, 1861, and 
 have since had a number made from the wood of the roots 
 for negroes residing on plantations in South Carolina. A 
 friend from St. Paul's parish recommends that only the sole 
 of the shoe be made of wood, an inch in thickness, cowskin, 
 with the hair turned inside, being nailed on this over a last. 
 To make the back of the shoe of wood also, gives pain to 
 the wearer. The wood should be well seasoned, or it will 
 crack ; boiling will prevent this if the fresh wood is used. 
 Very neat and well fashioned shoes, I am told, have been 
 manufactured by gentlemen in Abbeville and other dis- 
 tricts of South Carolina out of this wood. In the Charles- 
 ton Courier, October, 1861, it is advised that when the 
 black-gum is used as a substitute for leather, "for complete 
 protection against moisture, a slip or inner sole and lining 
 of any water-proof material may be added." 
 
 I introduce the following from the "Farmer and Planter," 
 as not inappropriate. Every one. who has visited Europe 
 has seen the sabot worn by the peasantry: 
 
 A good thing for our negroes. — It cannot be denied that a 
 number of diseases must result from the wearing of leather 
 shoes by our negroes, when engaged in out-door operations 
 during cold weather, or in wet situations. In Germany, 
 Belgium, and France, in order to prevent those evils, at 
 least to some extent, the use of wooden shoes has long since 
 been introduced, and they are extensively worn by the 
 whole farming and laboring population. 
 
 The governments of Europe have very much encouraged 
 the manufacture of the same, and their preference over 
 leather shoes is much recommended by all boards of agri- 
 culture and of health. There is hardly an operation on 
 the farm and about the farm-houses, the garden, etc., in 
 which they could not be most profitably used. They are 
 perfectly secure against the penetration of water, and being 
 always dry, will keep the feet warm, and thereby prevent 
 many diseases. They are light and easy to wear, of a 
 pleasant appearance, may be blackened or varnished. 
 They can be worn with or without stockings; and, with 
 
349 
 
 many other advantages, they combine such durability as 
 to last almost a lifetime, at a cost of from twenty-five to 
 thirty-seven cents. 
 
 They are certainly entitled to the attention of the farm- 
 ing and laboring population of the South. The wood for 
 their manufacture is to be had in great abundance in most 
 of our Southern states. 
 
 The following, addressed to the editors of the Charleston 
 Courier, is on the same subject: 
 
 Shoes without leather. — I saw the last autumn, at the store 
 of Messrs. Howes, Hyatt & Co., shoe and leather dealers, 
 in the City of New York, a plantation brogan, differing from 
 the old shoe, in having soles of some light, tough wood — 
 the root of the swamp poplar, 1 think. The proprietors 
 told me that they had patented the invention a year or two 
 previous, and would warrant the brogan to outlast the best 
 of the leather-soled. They said that they had large orders 
 from planters on the Mississippi, who had tried them, and 
 found that they were warmer, more durable, and more im- 
 pervious to water than the leather-soled. The soles were 
 made by machinery. The upper leather was first securely 
 tacked to the inner sole, and the under sole securely fasten- 
 ed to the upper by about one dozen iron screws, securing 
 the upper leather between the two soles. 
 
 With soles of wood and uppers of canvas we can be in- 
 dependent of leather in the present scarcity of that article 
 in our Confederacy. 
 
 Mr. W. Gilmore Simms suggests to me the use of the 
 tupelo, on account of its lightness, for making cartridge- 
 boxes. 
 
 Birds are fond of the fruit of this genus. 
 
 ThymelacEjE. (The Mezereum Tribe.) 
 
 According to Lindley, the great feature of this tribe is 
 the causticity of the bark, which acts upon the skin as a 
 vesicatory, and causes excessive pain in the mouth when 
 chewed. 
 
350 
 
 Dirca palastris, L. Canada leatherwood. Diffused; grows 
 near Augusta at Colleton's Neck (Ell.); Bartram found it 
 near Savannah. PI. Feb. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 659 ; U. S. Disp. 1253 ; 
 Coxe's Am. Disp. 259; Shec. Flora Carol. 513; Big. Am. 
 Med. Bot. ii, 157; Barton's Collec. 32; Griffith, Med. Bot. 
 563 ; Raf. Med. Fl. i, 158. The berries are said to be nar- 
 cotic and poisonous, and the bark has a nauseous odor and 
 acrid taste, yielding its virtues to alcohol; eight grains of 
 the powdered bark will produce violent vomiting, followed 
 by purging. When applied to the skin, it blisters like 
 mezereon. The juice has been applied to the nerve of a 
 painful tooth with relief, and in diseases where acrid masti- 
 catories are serviceable. Bigelow says the decoction is 
 sudorific and expectorant, and he considers it a good sub- 
 stitute for senega. The bark is also uncommonly tough, 
 and was used by the Indians for cordage; the wood is very 
 hard and pliant. 
 
 Its twigs are remarkable for toughness, are as strong 
 and pliable as those of the lime tree, and are employed in 
 America for the manufacture of various small articles. Its 
 bark, also, has a homogeneous character with the twigs, and 
 is used for making ropes and baskets; and both, but espe- 
 cially the twigs, occasion the plant to be popularly called in 
 Canada leatherwood. This plant is an excessive favorite 
 with snails ! Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 
 Laurace^;. [The Cinnamon Tribe.) 
 The qualities of the species of this order are uniform, 
 being universally aromatic, warm, and stomachic. 
 
 Sassafras officinale, Nees. 1 Sassafras. Diffused in up- 
 Laurus sassafras of Ell. Sk. / per and lower country ; Va. 
 
 Fl. March. 
 
 Bell's Pract. Diet. 411; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 320; Dray- 
 ton's View, 68; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 341; IT. S. Disp. 
 640; Royle, Mat. Med. 518; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 
 253; Cullen's Mat. Med. ii, 200 and 579; Big. Am. Med. 
 
351 
 
 Bot. ii, 142; Murray's Apparat. iv, 835; Kalm's Travels, 
 11; Hoffman's Obs. Phys. Chem. 31; Clayton's Phil. Trans, 
 viii, 332; Bremaine, "Sassafralogia," in 1627; Woodv. 
 Med. Bot.; Griffith's Med. Bot. 552; Thornton's Farn. Herb. 
 The plant contains an essential oil, obtained by distillation, 
 which is heating, sudorific, and diuretic, and which is used 
 to disguise the taste of medicines. In the Supplem. to 
 Diet, de M. Med. 426, 1846, it is reported that the essential 
 oil, when placed in a temperature of 40° Fahr., will form 
 crystals, which, being exposed to heat, return to pure oil: 
 from the Report in the Lond. Med. Journal vii, 2501, 831; 
 Researches on the Ess. Oil of Sassafras, in the Comptes 
 Rendus Hebd. des Sc. de l'Acad. des Sc. xviii, 705. After 
 the conquest made by the Spaniards in Florida sassafras was 
 used in the treatment of syphilis, the warm infusion being 
 applicable in cutaneous disease, by acting on the emuncto- 
 ries. The root is employed in this state, in combination 
 with guaiac, sarsaparilla, and China briar {Smilax), in the 
 formation of diet drinks. It is diaphoretic and diuretic, 
 useful in rheumatism, and Alibert speaks highly of it in 
 gout. The pith of the young branches, according to Eberle, 
 contains a great deal of mucilage; which is "an exceedingly 
 good application in acute ophthalmia, and no less useful in 
 catarrhal and dysenteric affections;" it is not affected by 
 alcohol; Griffith (Med. Bot. 552) also speaks favorably of it 
 as an application to inflamed eyes, being effectual in the re- 
 moval of the irritation so constant in this complaint. It is 
 advantageously given as a demulcent drink in disorders of 
 the respiratory organs, bowels, and bladder; being more 
 efficacious than that prepared from the leaves of Bent (Sesa- 
 mum Indicum). It might be used as a substitute for acacia. 
 The oil extracted from this plant is one of the heaviest of 
 the volatile oils. Dr. B. S. Barton states that it has been 
 found an efficacious application to wens. Coll. i, 19. G. 
 Velsch, "Lignum sassafras et radice diversum," Miscel. 
 Cur. Nat. 332, 1670; C. J. Trew, Brevis Hist. Nat; Arboris 
 Sassafras dicta? (Nova acta Acad. Nat. Cur. ii, 271); G. D. 
 Ebret de Arboribus Sassafras dictis et Londini cultis (Nova 
 
352 
 
 acta ii, 236); Obs. on the Sassafras, in Obs. sur la Physique, 
 xxiv, 63; Bonastre, Mem. sur l'Huile volatile do Sass. 
 (Journal de Pharm. xiv. 645.) And, also, A. Buchner upon 
 the Crystallization of the Oil of Sassafras. 
 
 The roots yield a drab color with copperas; no doubt a 
 much lighter shade may be obtained by alum or vinegar as 
 a mordant. I believe that any of our plants containing 
 either tanning or colored juices may be used as dyes. Iron 
 increases the shade by forming tannate or gallate of iron. 
 See " JRhus", etc. 
 
 The leaves of sassafras contain an unusual proportion of 
 mucilage, which would readily serve as a substitute for 
 gum arabic, flax, slippery elm, Bene, etc. Two or three 
 leaves, dissolved in water, yield a mucilaginous drink. I 
 made great use of the tea prepared with sassafras root, 
 gathered extemporaneously, while Surgeon to theHolcombe 
 Legion, S. C. Vols. It was given whenever a warm, aro- 
 matic, mucilaginous tea was required, in fever, pneumonia, 
 bronchitis, catarrhs, mumps, etc. The nurse detailed for 
 each company procured the materials upon the spot where 
 the company or regiment was posted. It served every pur- 
 pose of the articles usually supplied by the medical 
 purveyors of the army. The pith of the sassafras is also 
 medicinal. 
 
 The spice bush' '{Benzoin odoriferum, Nees. Laurus b., L.) 
 was much used by the soldiers from the upper part of the 
 state for making a pleasant aromatic tea. Many brought 
 the plant with them. It is tolerably well diffused over the 
 Confederate states, on banks of streams and low woods. 
 In camp sassafras tea was often drunk daily by many of the 
 officers and soldiers as a favorite substitute for green tea, 
 It is thought to purify the blood, but the impression that it 
 tends to impair the health and intellect if persisted in must 
 be erroneous. The oil it contains is diuretic. 
 
 I have since read the following in the Farmer's Encyclo- 
 paedia : 
 
 " The wood stripped of its bark is very durable, strong, 
 and resists worms, etc. It forms excellent posts for gates. 
 
353 
 
 Bedsteads made of it are never infested with bugs. It is, 
 however, only occasionally employed for any useful pur- 
 pose, and never found in the lumber-yards of large towns. 
 The pith and dried leaves of the young branches of the 
 sassafras contain much mucilage, resembling that of the 
 okra plant, and are extensively used in New Orleans to 
 thicken pottage, and make the celebrated gumbo soup. In 
 Virginia, and other Southern states, the inhabitants make a 
 beer by boiling the young shoots of the sassafras in water, 
 to which a certain quantity of molasses or sugar is added, 
 the whole being left to ferment. The beer is regarded as 
 a wholesome and pleasant drink during summer. So is an 
 infusion of the bark of the roots, which is much drunk for 
 the cure of cutaneous and other disorders." 
 
 A cheap and wholesome beer for the use of soldiers, or 
 as a table beer, is prepared from the sassafras, the ingre- 
 dients being easily obtained. Take eight bottles of water, 
 one quart of molasses, one pint of yeast, one tablespoonful 
 of ginger, one and a half tablespoonful of cream of tartar, 
 these ingredients being well stirred and mixed in an open 
 vessel ; after standing twenty-four hours the beer may be 
 bottled, and used immediately. The reader interested in 
 the manufacture of beer, ale, porter, etc., will find the 
 methods detailed in Solly's Rural Chemistry, lire's Dic- 
 tionary of Arts and Manufactures, and in Wilson's Rural 
 Cyclopaedia. 
 
 I add the method of preparing 
 
 The French Army Beer. — The following is the recipe of 
 the beer that has been introduced into the French army 
 upon the recommendation of the Medical Board. It is de- 
 scribed as a very wholesome beverage, of pleasant and 
 refreshing taste, and promoting digestion in a remarkable 
 degree. It may prove an agreeable beverage both in and 
 outside of the army: 
 
 Water 100 litres about 1 00 quarts. 
 
 Molasses 500 grammes about 1 pound. 
 
 Hops 100 grammes about 3 ounces. 
 
 Marshmallow root 50 grammes , . .about 1| ounce. 
 
 Yeast 50 grammes about lj- ounce. 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 Make an infusion of the hops and marshmallow root 
 with abput twenty times their weight of the boiling water. 
 Another part of the water is used to dilute the molasses, 
 and another to dilute the yeast. All the fluids are then 
 mixed, and put into a vessel for fermentation. After five or 
 six days it will be ready for use 
 
 The following modification of the recipe may sometimes 
 be preferable: 
 
 Water 100 litres 100 quarts. 
 
 Honey 800 grammes 1 lb. 10 oz. 
 
 Brown sugar 800 grammes 1 lb. 1 oz. 
 
 Hops 300 grammes 9 oz. 
 
 Yeast 50 grammes 1^ oz. 
 
 I have no doubt the mucilaginous leaves of the sassafras 
 or the Bene would serve as a substitute for marshmallow. 
 See also "Persimmon" (Diospyros), "Apple," and "Hop," 
 in this volume, for manufacture of domestic liquors. 
 
 Benzoin odorifemm, Nees V. Ess. "> Spice bush ; fever 
 
 Laurus benzoin, L., Ell. Sk. J bush. Grows along 
 
 rivulets. 
 
 Collected in St. John's, Charleston district; Richland, 
 Prof. Gibbes; Newbern. Fl. April. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 51; U. S. Disp. 1233; 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 201; Griffith's Med. Bot. 553; Barton, 
 295. This is another of our highly aromatic, indigenous 
 shrubs; the bark is, besides, stimulant and tonic; "exten- 
 sively used, in North America, in intermittent fevers." 
 
 This tree contains a remarkable amount of aromatic prop- 
 erty in every portion of it: it yields benzoin. Benzoin is 
 also found in our grasses, Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet 
 scented vernal grass), Holms odoratus and Mellilotus offici- 
 nalis — the principle which appears to give fragrance to hay 
 and pasture land, and which is communicated undecom- 
 posed to the urine of the cow. Wilson's Rural Cyc. The 
 berries contain an aromatic oil, which is esteemed in some 
 parts of the country as an application to bruises, rheumatic 
 limbs, etc. It is said to have been employed, during the 
 
355 
 
 Revolutionary war, as a substitute for allspice, B. S. Barton 
 states that an infusion of the twigs has been found effica- 
 cious as a vermifuge; the flowers are employed in the place 
 of those of the sassafras. 
 
 A decoction of the plant forms an excellent diaphoretic 
 drink in pneumonias, colds, coughs, etc., and as such may 
 be largely used among our soldiers in service. 
 
 The soldiers of the upper country of South Carolina, 
 serving in the Holcombe Legion, of which I was Surgeon, 
 came into camp fully supplied with the spice bush for 
 making a fragrant, aromatic, diaphoretic tea. This, and a 
 tea prepared from the sassafras, I used entirely as a substi- 
 tute for gum arabic and flaxseed in colds, coughs, pneumo- 
 nias, etc. See "Sassafras" and " Ulmus fulva." Soldiers 
 may supply themselves with these, as they move camp, in 
 any locality. 
 
 Laurus geniculaia, Walter. Pond spice. Grows around 
 ponds; vicinity of Charleston; Newbern. This, also, is 
 aromatic. 
 
 Amstolochiaceve. [The Birthwort Tribe.) 
 Generally tonic and stimulating. 
 
 Aristolochia serpentaria, L. Serpentaria; snakeroot. Dif- 
 fused. Richland; 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; Cul- 
 len, 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 
 
356 
 
 Carol. 203; Lincl. Nat. Syst. Bot. 206; Bart. M. Bot. 251; 
 Woody. Med. Bot.; Griffith's Med. Bot. 829; Linn. Veg. 
 M. Med. 166; Bull Plantes Ven. de France, 83; Thornton's 
 Fam. Herb. This plant is well known as a tonic, diuretic, 
 and diaphoretic, of great value in the low stages of fever, 
 as in typhus, 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 ex- 
 anthematous diseases, where the eruptions are tardy. The 
 infusion is serviceable in restraining vomiting; much use is 
 made of this plant among the negroes in South Carolina, 
 particularly in the low stages of pneumonia, to which they 
 are particularly liable. I have 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 requires. 
 Its effects are increased by combining it with camphor. Dr. 
 Thornton (Fam. 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 tincture of opium, may be 
 given every hour. It is said to add much to the efficacy of 
 bark. 
 
 Several vegetable infusions surpass even sea-salt in anti- 
 septic power. Sir John Pringle says that several bitters, 
 such as serpentaria, chamomile, or Peruvian bark, exceed 
 salt, he inferred, one-hundred and twenty times — "flesh re- 
 maining long untainted when immersed in their infusions; 
 camphor is more powerful than anything else." Wilson's 
 Rural Cyclop. This antiseptic power of certain vegetable 
 substances should be compared with their medicinal effects 
 when prescribed internally. All the articles just mentioned 
 are, it will be remembered, employed in typhoid and low 
 fevers. Among vegetable products vinegar is also antisep- 
 tic, and in the latter stages of low forms of fever, dysentery, 
 etc., is highly useful. Among the astringents possessed of 
 antiseptic properties, the tannin may be the potent agent, 
 on account of its affinity for albumen and gelatine. 
 
357 
 
 Aristolochia hastata. Rich, shaded soils. Fl. June. 
 IT. S. Disp. 658; Am. Journal Pharm. xiv, 121. It is said 
 to be similar in properties to the A. serpentaria. 
 
 AristolocMa sipho. Shec. Fl. Carol. 205. Similar in prop- 
 erties to the others. 
 
 Asarum Canadense, L. Wild ginger ; Canada snakeroot. 
 Rich 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 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 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. 
 Bot. 206; Griffith's Med. Bot. 527. An aromatic, stimu- 
 lant tonic and diaphoretic, "applicable in similar cases with 
 serpentaria." It is employed in cases requiring a medicine 
 of this class, and is used in colic where no inflammation 
 exists. It is valuable in colds, coughs, and female obstruc- 
 tions as a warm, diffusible stimulant and diaphoretic; some- 
 times combined with snakeroot and puccoon root (Sanguina- 
 ria<). Dr. Firth gave it with benefit in the tetanus of 
 children arising from cold. The leaves, dried and pow- 
 dered, have powerful errhine properties. They were once 
 considered actively emetic (Shec. Fl. Carol. 219) ; but this 
 has been denied by Bigelow and Barton, op. cit. 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 pungent, volatile oil, and a resin which communi- 
 cate 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. 
 
 This plant may be given either in powder, tincture, or 
 
358 
 
 infusion ; dose of powder, thirty grains. It may be boiled 
 in milk and drunk freely. A syrup may also be made. 
 
 Asarum Virginicum. Heart snakeroot. 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." 
 Probably 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, vertigoes, etc.; one 
 scruple of the fresh or one drachm of the dried root and 
 leaves was employed as an emetic and cathartic. 
 
 Asarum arifolium, Mich. Grows in shaded, rich soils ; 
 collected in St. John's, Berkley; near Whitehall PI.; vicinity 
 of Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 217. This, no doubt, partakes of the 
 properties of the others, if it is not identical ; Linnaeus 
 proposes it as a substitute for hyppo ; 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 former, 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 paraly- 
 sis of the mouth and tongue was cured by one application 
 of it." 
 
 Amarantace^. (The Amaranth Tribe.) 
 
 The leaves of many of the species are wholesome and 
 mucilag-inoua. 
 
359 
 
 Achyranthes repens, Ell. Forty-knot. Drffused; grows 
 in Fairfield district, and in the streets of Charleston. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 311. It is possessed of well 
 marked diuretic properties, and is employed in ischuryand 
 dysury, and in the gravelly complaints of old persons. In 
 Fairfield 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. 
 
 Salsola kali. Saltwort. 
 
 Among the plants used in procuring soda in Spain are 
 "the different species of Salsola, Salicornia, and Batis mari- 
 tima. The Zostera maritima is burnt in some places on the 
 borders of the Baltic. In this country (Scotland, see Thorn- 
 ton's Fam. Herbal) we burn the various species of fuci, and 
 in France they burn the Chenopodiurn maritimurn. 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 Confederate States we have all the 
 above plants, save C. maritimurn. Little doubt, however, 
 exists in my mind that our several species of Chenopodiurn, 
 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). Of Salicornia, the species are found on the 
 coast of Florida, and northward. Batis maritima, L. "Salt- 
 marshes, Apalachicola, and northward." Zostera marina, 
 L. West Florida, and northward. (Chapman's So. Flora). 
 See " Sapiudus," in this volume. 
 
 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 
 
360 
 
 on oar western coasts, and burned to yield soda for the 
 manufacture of glass, and for other purposes. It grows 
 freely from seed, and does not require any great nicety of 
 management, yet never has been carefully cultivated." 
 Rural Cyc. See also " Fucks," in this volume, for method 
 of preparing barilla and soda from sea-weeds. 
 
 I introduce the following brief process for the manufac- 
 ture of soda, as we have several plants in the Confederate 
 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 iu the earth; this is heated with 
 split wood, and the saline plants are afterward thrown 
 gradually in. Combustion is continued during seven or 
 eight days; the ashes become fused in the pit, and remain 
 in this state till the end of the process, when the combus- 
 tion is completed; the whole is allowed to cool, and then 
 the block of soda is divided into large pieces for the mar- 
 ket." "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 combines. 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." Chaptal 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 Mediterranean are 
 the Salicornia Europea, the Salsola tragus, the Stalice limonium, 
 
361 
 
 the Atriplex poriulacoides, the Salsola kali. "We have grow- 
 ing in South Carolina and Georgia the Salsola kali, and the 
 Staliee 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 Sal- 
 sola all in one tribe, and each rich in potash or soda. The 
 fumitory (Fumaria) is one of the plants richer in potash 
 than the wormwood (Chenopodium). 
 
 Salicornia herbacea, L. Glasswort. Salt marshes along 
 coast of Georgia and Carolina. 
 
 We have two species of this genus, which is celebrated, 
 commercially, 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 fuci in the manu- 
 facture 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." 
 
 Chenopodiace^e. (The Goose-foot Tribe.) 
 Some are wholesome, others possess an essential oil, which 
 is tonic and antispasmodic. The beet and spinach, cultivat- 
 ed in the Confederate States, belong to this order. 
 
 Atriplex laciniata, L. Jagged sea-orach. 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. 
 According to Schoepf, it is used as a substitute for gam- 
 boge in dropsy and asthma. 
 
 Chenopodium anthelminticum, L. Jerusalem oak; worm- 
 seed. Diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton; ISTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Linnaeus, Veg. M. Med.; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 
 274; Eberle, Mat. Med. 218; Ell. Bot. i, 331; Chap. Therap. 
 
362 
 
 and Mat. Med. ii, 71 ; Drayton's View of South Carolina, 
 65; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 191; U. S. Disp. 206; Bart. 
 M. Bot. ii, 183; Am. Journal Pharm. v, 180; Bergii, Mat. 
 Med. i, 183; Griffith's Med. Bot, 538. It is well known as 
 "one of our most efficient indigenous anthelmintics," adapt- 
 ed to the expulsion of lumbrici in children. Eberle em- 
 ployed 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 be used, 
 or a decoction of the leaves in milk, a wineglassful at a 
 dose. The dose of the 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 Caro- 
 lina and Georgia for their anthelmintic properties, the 
 seeds being collected in the fall. 
 
 The wormwood (Artemisia) of which there is a species 
 (A. caudata) growing in Florida and northward, is said to be 
 rich in potash. The Chenopodium, of which we have several 
 species, although not belonging to the same natural family, 
 is perhaps equally rich in the substance. The "wormwood 
 is highly recommended to be converted into charcoal, to be 
 used in the manufacture of gunpowder." See "Salix." In 
 fact, all the Chenopodiums (goose-foot) are also rich in alka- 
 line salts, potash, etc., and may be used for its manufacture. 
 The Persian insect powder, a species of Pyrethrum (or Per- 
 sian chamomile), destroys insects with great certainty. I 
 think it likely that some of the plants just mentioned, the 
 milfoil {Achillea millefolium), the tansy ( Tanaceium vulgare), 
 or ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare, L.), all growing in 
 the Confederate States, may possibly be found to answer 
 the purpose of destroying insects, lice, etc., on plants and 
 animals. They contain a pungent oil. There is a notice of 
 the Pyrethrum (roseu/n, purpureum, and carneum) in Patent 
 Office Reports, 1857, 129. I would advise experimenting 
 with our native plants. 
 
 See Dasistoma for plant hostile to insects. 
 
363 
 
 I have several times stated that the allied Artemisia, worm- 
 wood, was exceedingly rich in potash. The natural affini- 
 ties are here borne out, for the family Chenopodiocece 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 re- 
 port. They should receive the attention of the nitre manu- 
 facturers. Nitrate of potash "is found in the common 
 horseradish, in the nettle, and the sunflower." Farmer's 
 En eye. 
 
 Chenopodium botrys, Ph. Jerusalem oak of some. Grows 
 near Columbia. Fl. August. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 206; Le. Mat. Med. 235; Ed. and Vav. Mat. 
 Med. 304; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 181; Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. ii, 225 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 388 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. 
 250. The juice is similar to the other, being carminative, 
 pectoral, emmenagogue, and vermifuge; the essential oil is 
 antispasmodic, tonic, and vermifuge. An infusion, as 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 table- 
 spoonful, in molasses, to children affected with worms, or 
 the seeds are reduced to a powder, and made into an elec- 
 tuary with syrup. See Milne, Inch Bot. 76 ; Linn. Veg. 
 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 gener- 
 ate 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 ambrosioides, Ph. Vicinity of Charleston, 
 Bach; grows in Georgia, according to Pursh ; Newbern. 
 Fl. July. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. The essential oil of this is also 
 tonic and antispasmodic. U. S. Disp. 206. Plenk reports 
 five cases of chorea cured by the infusion made with two 
 
364 
 
 drachms to one ounce of water, of which a cupful 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. Martius in the injection of 
 the mucous membrane of the lungs. MM. Rilliet and Bar- 
 thez used it in the chorea of infants particularly. Ann. des 
 Sci. Nat. xii, 220; Bouchardat, Ann. de Therap. 1844; Ga- 
 zette de Med. de Saltzburg, Bill. Med. xii, 516. It is found, 
 by chemical analysis, to possess various products, the most 
 important 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. 
 
 Chmopodium album, L. Richland, L. Gibbes ; vicinity of 
 Charleston, Bach. 
 
 M6r. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 223; Phys. Med. 
 Trans., Calcutta, ii, 40. It is a sedative and diuretic; used 
 in hemorrhoids. Chevallier remarks the singular fact that 
 the C. valvaria, a foreign species, exhales pure ammonia dur- 
 ing its whole existence. This is the only observation on 
 record of a gaseous exhalation of azote by perfect vegeta- 
 bles, and the facility with which this principle is aban- 
 doned by ammonia may, perhaps, explain the presence of 
 azotic products in the vegetable kingdom. Ann. des Sci. 
 Nat. i, 444; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 209. It might be inter- 
 esting 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. vulmria exhaling ammonia is corrob- 
 orated by the above observation. I have just 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. The sugar-maple is 
 
365 
 
 very rich in potash, probably the other maples also. See 
 Salsola, Quercus, Zea, Phytolacca, etc., in this volume. 
 
 Phytolaccacejs. (The Virginia Poke Tribe.) 
 
 ' Phytolacca decandra, L. Poke. Diffused 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; Murray's App. Med. iv, 335; Kalm, Travels in K Am. 
 p. 197; Graffenreid, Mem. Berne, iii, 185; Schcepf, M. Med. 
 71; Browne, Hist. Jamaica, 232; Amsen. Acad, iv; Miller's 
 Diet., art. Phyt. Dec; Sprogel, Diss. Cirven. 24; Beckman, 
 Com. 1764, 9; Allioni, Flora Ped. ii, 132; Franklin's Works, 
 i ; Cutler, Mem. Am. Acad, i, 447 ; Rush, 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. lxii, 71; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 298; 
 Coxe, Am. Dis. 486; Liud. Nat. Syst. Bot. 210. The juice 
 of the leaves or berries, inspissated in the sun to the con- 
 sistence 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. Stearns.) Mixed 
 with brandy, it is extolled in the cure of rheumatism, eas- 
 ing 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 tablespoonfuls. 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 some- 
 times 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 remedy in chronic 
 and syphilitic rheumatism, and for allaying syphilitic pains." 
 By some thought to be more useful than guaiac. The de- 
 coction has been used in scrofula also. A spirit distilled 
 from the berries killed a dog in a few moments by its vio- 
 lent emetic effect; and, according to De Candolle, it is a 
 
366 
 
 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 in- 
 jured the flavor!" Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 210; Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. states that two spoonfuls 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 hemorr- 
 hoids; for the latter affection, an infusion is injected per 
 rectum. Drs. Jones and Kollock, of Georgia, assure us 
 (adds Merat) that they cure syphilis with it, in all its stages, 
 without the use of mercury. Dr. Rush 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, lxii, 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 resin 262, 
 starch 20, potash 2, a small quantity of fixed oil, and 66. o 
 of woody 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 pro- 
 duced 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. Dr. Griffith has also used 
 it with success in syphilitic 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 Travaux de l'Acad. de Rouen, 
 188, 1838; Comptes Rendus Hebdom. des Sci. iv, 12, Janu- 
 ary, 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 affecting the scalp, 
 as psora, tinea capitis, etc. Dr. Bigelow was successful with 
 it, and Dr. Haynard cured cases in which sulphur had fail- 
 ed. A gentleman informs me that he has frequently seen 
 
367 
 
 the sores of secondary syphilis heal up by the application 
 of a strong decoction of the roots. Dr. Braconnot consid- 
 ers the yellow liquor produced by the juice of the berries 
 one of the most delicate tests of the presence of acids. Dr. 
 Shultz procured from half a bushel of the berries six pints 
 of spirits, sufficiently strong to take fire and burn with 
 readiness. The root of the plant should be dog in autumn, 
 sliced, dried, and kept in close-stopped bottles. 
 
 Dr. R Moore, of Sumter district, S. C, informs me that 
 the berries of the poke in alcohol or whiskey, a dessert 
 spoonful repeatedly given, has been found one of the most 
 efficient remedies we possess in rheumatism. Dr. Ballard, 
 of the same district, has used it with satisfactor}' results for 
 fifty years. It is very generally employed in this way by 
 many. The root is commonly 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. 
 
 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 during the present year (1862). The " Solferino " 
 color is obtained from it. With alum to fix the color, I 
 have used the juice of the pokeberry as a red ink. The 
 directions to the printer for this volume were written with 
 this ; before adding alum I found that the red color was 
 fugitive. I consider it, prepared as above, an excellent 
 substitute for carmine ink. 
 
 The juice of the leaf of the garden Tanya makes an 
 indelible dark brown dye. I would suggest that the addi- 
 
tion of nitrate of silver, sulphate of iron, or alum would 
 make an indelible ink for marking linen. 
 
 Polygonace^i. [The Buckwheat Tribe.) 
 The leaves and roots are generally acid and agreeable. 
 
 Rumex crispus, L. Dock. Grows around buildings; 
 diffused; collected in St. John's; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Ell. Bot. 414 ; IT. S. Disp. 606. The decoction is astrin- 
 gent, alterative, and tonic, uniting a laxative power with 
 these, and resembling rhubarb in its mode of operation. 
 It has been used with success as an alterative in itch and 
 syphilis ; the powdered root with milk, or as an ointment, 
 is applied externally in scabies. 
 
 Dr. N". S. Davis, formerly of New York, " is satisfied 
 from his experiments and observations that the chief value 
 of dockroot ' consists in its alterative and gently laxative 
 qualities.' As an alterative he esteems it to be 'fully 
 equal to the far-famed sarsaparilla.' Quod est demonstran- 
 dum." Dunglison. 
 
 It is recommended as a dentrifice, especially where the 
 gums are spongy. A decoction of the roots is used as a 
 coolins: alterative — no doubt on account of the saline con- 
 stituents of this genus. The expressed juice is applied to 
 ringworm and eruptive diseases. 
 
 It is supposed that our species possess all the virtues of 
 the officinal ; 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. 
 
 Rumex aeetosella, Walt. Flora Carol. Sorrel. Sheep's- 
 sorrel. Abundant in sandy pastures ; collected in St. 
 John's ; Richland, Gibbes ; ]STewbern. Fl. June. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 605 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 279 ; Ed. and Vav. 
 Mat. Med. 536 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 300 ; Griffith, Med. 
 Bot. 546. This is also considered one of the most valuable 
 of the species. It is refrigerant and diuretic, and is em- 
 ployed as an article of diet in scorbutic complaints; the 
 
369 
 
 young shoots may be eaten as a salad; but it is said to 
 prove injurious in large quantities, on account of the oxalic 
 acid existing in it. The acid taste is owing to binoxalate 
 of potash and tartaric acid ; this is almost destroyed by 
 drying. 
 
 The bruised plant is often applied to sores, and it is 
 thought to be very active in allaying inflammation — doubt- 
 less owing to its saline constituents. 
 
 Plants containing vegetable acid. — The acids vary during the 
 several stages of vegetation — these are the oxalic, citric, ma- 
 lic, tartaric, gallic, acetic, Prussic, etc. Oxalic acid has been 
 found by M. Deyeux 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 varieties of rhubarb (Chaptal). I have seen its 
 peculiar crystals in the several plants put under the micro- 
 scope. It is used in detecting the presence of lime, and its 
 power of dissolving rapidly the oxide of iron makes it 
 useful in stamping cotton cloths. " 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 removing ink spots from cloth. 
 
 The astringency of the root of the dock is due to tannic 
 acid, and the acidulousness of the leaves to tartaric acid 
 and the binoxalate of potash. 
 
 Wilson observes of the Rumex acetosa, the " common 
 dock" of England, which is closely related to our H. aeeto- 
 sella, that it has been celebrated from very ancient times for 
 its cooling, antiscorbutic, diuretic, and gratefully esculent 
 properties. The expressed juice of its leaves, or a decoc- 
 tion of them in whey, aflbrds 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 pre- 
 ventive of scurvy. It is also much used as a salad, and as 
 a season for soups, broths, etc. Rural Cyc. Now that we 
 know the composition of the juices of the sorrel we can 
 24 
 
 ■a 
 
370 
 
 well understand to what to ascribe its cooling and diuretic 
 properties. There is an Italian proverb which says that the 
 "sorrel always grows with the thistle " — the leaves of the 
 first being particularly grateful when applied over parts 
 irritated by the stings of the last. Our plant is not so use- 
 ful as the English one. 
 
 Humex obtusifoUus,~L. \ Common dock. Diffused; around 
 " dwaricatus, Ell. / buildiegs ; introduced. 
 
 " A decoction of its root is highly efficacious in obstinate 
 cases of the kind of skin disease called ichthyosis, and 
 when taken in large quantity — as well, indeed, as the decoc- 
 tion of any of the fusiform dockroots — it acts as a purga- 
 tive, in the same manner as the powder or the tincture of 
 Turkey rhubarb." Wilson's Rural Cyc. Our various 
 species of Humex may upon examination be found to be 
 capable of supplying the place of cathartics, now so diffi- 
 cult to obtain. 
 
 Humex sanguineus, Walt. Flora Carol. Dragon's blood. 
 Grows around Charleston ; ISTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. 240. The root is astringent, sto- 
 machic, and eccoprotic. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 65. This 
 and the seeds are used in dysentery and wounds ; referred 
 to in Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 136, as a mild 
 astringent. Journal de Med. xxiii, 415. Dr. "Wood, in the 
 XL S. Disp. 606, says that it may be used indiscriminately 
 with the officinal. 
 
 Humex Briiannicus, Walt. Swamps and along streams. 
 Fl. May. U. S. Disp. 606. 
 
 Polygonum punctatum, Ell. Sk. } Water pepper ; Smart- 
 " hydroviperoides, Ph. > weed; Biting knotweed. 
 
 " hydropiper,Mx. ) Grows in damp, rich 
 
 soils ; collected in St. John's, where it grows abundantly ; 
 
 observed in Charleston ; Richland, Gibbes ; Newbern. Fl. 
 
 July. 
 
371 
 
 Eb. 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 Yen. de France, 140, the 
 young leaves are said to ease the pain of gout, and the 
 decoction is used with great success for dissipating old 
 ulcers. Dem. £lem. de Bot. iii, 2(57. The expressed juice 
 is an excellent diuretic, and is applied to putrid ulcers; 
 u aqua hujus stillatltia efficax est ad comminuendum calculam 
 etiam vesica?." See Ray's Catalogus Plantarum, 230. This 
 plant is, however, more remarkable for its power in 
 amenorrhoea. 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 is 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. It is stated in the Flora Scotiea, 
 207, that it is found a convenient and useful 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. iij 
 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 equal length. The stipules are long, 
 truncate, and fringed, with the margin and midrib of the 
 leaves slightly scabrous. 
 
 A writer from Manchester, S. C, 1862, recommends for 
 our sick soldiers in camp the use of this plant in dysentery, 
 thus : " Draw a tea strong enough to taste peppery, and 
 use instead of water, with or without sugar, hot or cold, 
 as the patient may prefer. It may be drunk freely, having 
 no unpleasant effect. It may be gathered and dried in the 
 
 * Mr. P., of Charleston, informs me that he has repeatedly found an ointment 
 made with the leaves give immediate relief when applied to piles in an irritable 
 and painful condition. 
 
372 
 
 shade or used fresh. Some years ago, when that disease 
 raged in the village where I lived, I used it only in my 
 household, every case recovering with scarcely impaired 
 strength. The tea being astringent keeps up the strength. 
 
 Polygonum aviculare, L. Knotgrass. Diffused ; 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 ; U. S. Disp. 558. According to the encyclopaedia 
 the root is powerfully astringent, and is used in diarrhoea, 
 and in uterine hemorrhage. Dem. de Bot. iii, 268 ; Linn. 
 Veg. M. Med. 72 ; Am. Herbal, 164. It is stated in the 
 Supplem. to the Diet, de M. Med. 1846, 578, that Dr. Bour- 
 geois 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 diarrhoea, using a strong 
 decoction for a month or more ; he reports nine cases 
 cured which had 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 reputation in these diseases in former times. It was 
 said to be emetic and purgative, useful in hernia, and in 
 arresting the vomiting of blood, and was regarded as an 
 excellent vulnerary in moderating fluxes, diarrhoea, and 
 dysentery. Griffith, in his Med. Bot. 546, observes that the 
 emetic property so unusual in this genus is thought by De 
 Candolle to reside in the testa. Thunberg, in his "Voy- 
 age," mentions that in Japan they obtain a color from it 
 similar to that from indigo. 
 
 Polygonum polygama, Vent, and Malt. ") Grows in san- 
 " parvifolia, Mx. / dy pine barrens; 
 
 Richland district. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 129 ; U. S. Disp. 558. In small 
 doses it is tonic ; in large laxative and diaphoretic. Bige- 
 
373 
 
 low says the infusion is useful in imparting tone to the 
 digestive organs. 
 
 Polygonum convolvulus, and scandens, L. Grows in dry 
 soil and pastures ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of 
 Charleston. Fl. August. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 547. " The seeds closely resemble 
 buckwheat, and may be substituted for them." 
 
 Polygonum fagopyrum. Buckwheat. Cultivated in the 
 Confederate States. 
 
 Rheum palmatum, and emodii. Rhubarb. Ex. 
 
 I insert this plant and Beta here, being unable at this 
 time to place them in the natural system. The cultivation 
 of rhubarb, rosemary, sage, rue, chamomile, 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 ascribed to a better mode of drying. Rural Cyc. See 
 a paper translated by E. G. Smith, in Patent Office Re- 
 ports, 1848, p. 604, for varieties, mode of cultivation, and 
 relative value. 
 
 In Patent Office Reports, 1855, p. 25, is another paper 
 on the cultivation of the medicinal rhubarb (P. palma- 
 tum). " 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 top-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, 
 injured by a superabundance of moisture. In the month 
 of August, or before, the seed-stalks should be cut off, 
 which ought always to be done on the withering of the 
 radical leaves, and the crowns of the plants should then be 
 
374 
 
 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 con- 
 tain the entire juice and virtue of the plant. They are cut 
 transversely into pieces of moderate size, and this should 
 not be delayed. These are then placed on long tables or 
 boards, and turned three or four times a day, in order that 
 the yellow, viscid juice may incorporate with the substance 
 of the root. They are then hung up to diy, 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 find an 
 excellent account of the success with which it was raised 
 in England, of good quality, in Thornton's Family Herbal. 
 Consult Pereira's Materia Medica, and other treatises on 
 the subject. The importation of rhubarb into the Confed- 
 erate States was enormous, and it commands a very high 
 price. The greatest difference exists in the quality of the 
 roots. Turkey rhubarb imported from Russia is the best. 
 I will state in passing that the Report for 1855 also contains 
 notices of the best mode of cultivating many other medici- 
 nal plants — such as the rhatany, gall-nut oak, Iceland 
 moss, liquorice, quassia, senna, gum arabic, etc. 
 
 Beta vulgaris. Beet. Mangel-wurzel. Introduced. 
 
 Vinegar is quite important to us in the present exigency. 
 The following method will enable us to supply the place of 
 imported vinegar: the juice of one bushel of beet, which 
 is easily obtained, will make from five to six gallons of vin- 
 egar, 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 into a barrel, cover the bung with gauze, and set 
 it in the sun, and in fifteen or twenty days it will be fit for 
 use. The best vinegar is thus made. Boston Cultivator. 
 
375 
 
 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 be easily made with the refuse or over-ripe figs, 
 which are ready to be converted into vinegar. The juice 
 of the watermelon can no doubt be as easily converted 
 into vinegar or boiled down into a syrup like molasses. 
 
 The following is the ordinary process of extracting sugar 
 from the beet: the roots are reduced to a pulp by pressing 
 them between two rough cylinders. The pulp is then put 
 into bags, and the sap it contains is pressed out. The 
 liquor is then boiled, and the saccharine matter precipi- 
 tated by quick-lime. The liquor is now poured off', and to 
 the residuum is added a solution of sulphuric acid, and 
 again boiled. The lime united with the acid is got rid of 
 by straining, and the liquor is then gently evaporated, or 
 left to granulate slowly, after which it is ready for under- 
 going the common process of refining raw sugars. The 
 French manufacturers have acquired so much experience, 
 adds Wilson, that from every one hundred pounds of beet 
 they extract twelve pounds of sugar in the short space of 
 twelve hours. 
 
 The Silesian or white beet is said to be the most profita- 
 ble. The reader interested in preparation of sugar from 
 cane or beet may consult Boussingault's Rural Chemistry, 
 Law's ed. 123, 1857, lire's Diet, of Arts and Manufactures, 
 Wilson's Rural Cyclopaedia, and Chaptal's Chemistry ap- 
 plied to Agriculture. In France the same land from 
 which the beet has been cut is planted in wheat with ad- 
 vantage to the latter. As the cultivation of the beet may 
 be undertaken at no distant date, I insert this brief plan 
 by a correspondent of the Southern Field and Fireside : I 
 will give you my plan of planting and culture of beets. In 
 the first place I have my ground broken up deeply ; then I 
 have the ground covered over with stable manure ; have it 
 ploughed 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 
 
376 
 
 rows eighteen inches apart, and the hills one foot apart; 
 and then they will grow without any trouble. In cultivat- 
 ing them I have the grass and weeds cut up between the 
 rows. I have raised beets on the above plan that weighed 
 five and six pounds apiece. 
 
 It has been observed that beets containing sugar fre- 
 quently underwent a change during winter, by which the 
 sugar entirely disappeared, and "was replaced by saltpetre." 
 Chaptal. See, also, paper by Prof. Leconte, of the South 
 Carolina College, on mode of formation of nitre beds; also, 
 consult Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, 
 article "Nitrate of Potash." 
 
 Coccoloba uvifera, Jacq. Sea-grape. South Florida, along 
 the coast. Chapman. 
 
 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. Wil- 
 son's Rural Cyc. 
 
 Menispermace^e. [The Coeculus Tribe.) 
 
 Menispermum Canadense, L. Moon-seed; yellow parilla ; 
 yellow sarsaparilla. 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 H. W. Ravenel, 
 Esq., to be this. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1275. It is said to be much used in Virginia 
 by physicians ; and in domestic practice, as a substitute for 
 sarsaparilla, in scrofulous and cutaneous affections. Ryd- 
 del, 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 How- 
 ard'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 system. 
 
377 
 
 Pyrolaceje. [The Winter-green Tribe.) 
 
 Chimaphilamaculata,~Pursh.. | Spotted winter-green. Pip- 
 
 Pyrola, " Linn, jsissewa. Shaded soils ; dif- 
 
 fused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; 
 ISTewbern. 
 
 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. 
 andVav. Mat. Med. 320; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 
 380; U. S. Disp. 208; Bart. Collec. ii, 21; Lind. Nat. Syst. 
 Bot. 219; TT. S. Disp. 207; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 281. 
 See P. umbellata. "Ev€ry 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 particu- 
 larly useful in those cases attended with disordered diges- 
 tion and general debility, for in these its tonic properties 
 and general acceptability to the stomach prove highly use- 
 ful auxiliaries to its diuretic powers. It has been success- 
 fully administered in ascites, in dysuria and ischuria, gravel, 
 strangury, hematuria, acute rheumatism, and in various 
 intermittent disorders. The Indians considered it of uni- 
 versal efficacy; but employed 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 inter- 
 nally, and locally as a wash. The decoction and watery 
 extract are employed. 
 
 In our present need for tonics and diuretics, in dropsy, or 
 swelling following low and protracted fevers among our 
 soldiers, no plant will be found more serviceable than the 
 pipsissevva. It is aromatic, tonic, and diuretic. It can be 
 easily collected around our camps, in shady woods, in al- 
 most every part of our Confederacy. 
 
 The black alder (Alnus serrulata) is an astringent diuretic. 
 The catkins or flowerets, dissolved in whiskey, is a domestic 
 
378 
 
 remedy in South Carolina — relied on by many, Dr. B.. 
 Moore informs me, in gonorrhoea in place of copaiba. Pills 
 of pine gum are given together with it. The C. umbellata, 
 pipsissewa, grows in North Carolina, and northward. 
 
 Chimaphila umbellata, Nutt. North Carolina, and north- 
 ward. 
 
 Both the C. umbellata and maculata are used. Dr. Thomp- 
 son says of the P. umbellata: "It is diuretic and tonic. It 
 has been given successfully in ascites, after digitalis and 
 other diuretics had failed; and has also proved serviceable 
 in acute rheumatism and intermittents. It produces an 
 agreeable sensation in the stomach soon after it is swal- 
 lowed; increases the appetite, and acts powerfully on the 
 kidneys." The whole plant is decocted. 
 
 One of these plants may be used extemporaneously in 
 our camps 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 almost every locality where a regiment 
 is pitched. See " Eupatoriwn" "Persimmon," "Dog- 
 wood," etc. 
 
 In a pamphlet issued from the Surgeon-General's office, 
 it is stated that the C. umbellata "should not be gathered, 
 as it is inferior." 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. I have found the spotted winter-green valu- 
 able as a tonic diuretic. 
 
 Pyrola rotundifolia. Grows in South Carolina. See Chi- 
 maphila. 
 
 MONOTROPACE^!. 
 
 Monotropa uniflora. Fit-root. Grows in roads ; attached 
 to roots; collected in St. John's; Newbern. 
 
 This is used by the steam practitioners. See Ploward's 
 Impr. Syst. Bot. Med. 339. 
 
379 
 
 Ericaceae. (The Heath Tribe.) 
 Generally astringent and diuretic. 
 
 Andromeda mariana, L. Dry soils. Richland; vicinity 
 of Charleston. Fl. May and July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1238, App.; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 
 i, 289; Coxe, Am. Disp. 84; Shec. Flora Carol. 156. It is 
 employed in domestic practice; a remedy for herpes. The 
 decoction is used as a stimulating wash for ulcers and 
 ground itch, to which negroes are liable. The honey which 
 bees extract from this is slightly poisonous. See Nichol- 
 son's Journal, 163. 
 
 Andromeda nitidi, Walt. Grows in damp, pine land, bogs ; 
 collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston. 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, 
 deprived of their pith, form good pipe-stems, see Cliftonia; 
 and the bark, with copperas, yields a purple dye. Upon 
 examination I find that the leaves contain a great deal of 
 tannin. See " Liquidambar," sweet-gum, for detail of ex- 
 periments. 
 
 Andromeda arborea, L. l Sour-wood, sorrel tree; clif- 
 Oxydendron arbor enm, D.C. j fused; grows in upper dis- 
 tricts. I collected it in St. John's, and Spartanburg district, 
 S. C. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1227. The leaves, when chewed, allay thirst. 
 A decoction of the bark and leaves is also given as a tonic. 
 
 Andromeda speciosa, Mich. Vicinity of Charleston. Bach. 
 U. S. Disp. 1228. It is said to be a powerful errhine. 
 
 Andromeda angustifolia, Ph. Vicinity of Charleston. 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 223. This and the A. mariana are 
 said to be poisonous to sheep. 
 
 Clethra alnifolia, L. (C. tomentosa, Lam.) Abundant in 
 wet pine lands and swamps throughout the Confederate 
 States. 
 
880 
 
 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 " IAquidambar " for 
 detail of experiments. 
 
 Gaultheria procumbens, Ph. Spicy winter-green ; par- 
 tridge-berry ; mountain-berry. Grows in the mountains of 
 South Carolina, Dr. MacBride ; ISTewbern. Fl. May. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 345 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 29 ; Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. Bot. 221 ; Bart. M. Bot. i, 178 ; Kalm, Amcen. Acad, 
 iii, 14 ; Bart. Collec. i, 19 ; Raf. Med. Fl. i, 202 ; Griffith, 
 Med. Bot. 425. It possesses stimulant aromatic properties, 
 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 beneficial in amenorrhcea. attended with debility, 
 and in promoting the mammary secretion when deficient. 
 In the Revolutionary war it was used as a substitute for 
 tea. The berries, which are aromatic and pleasant, are 
 employed to flavor spirituous liquors. An infusion of them 
 in brandy is a convenient and useful substitute for the ordi- 
 nary bitters. An essential oil is obtained from the leaves 
 by distillation. From Mr. Procter's examination (Am. 
 Journal Pharm. viii, 211 ; and ix, 241) it is shown to pos- 
 sess acid properties, and to have the same composition as 
 the salitilate of methylene. It is one of the heaviest of the 
 essential oils, having a specific gravity 1.173, with a burn- 
 ing, aromatic taste, mixing with alcohol or ether in all 
 proportions. This is found also in the Betula lenta, some of 
 the Spiraeas, etc. It is applied with good effect to diminish 
 the sensibility of nerves affected by carious teeth, and to 
 disguise the taste and smell of nauseous medicines. 
 
 Rhododendron maximum, L. Mountain laurel; wild rose- 
 bay. Grows among the mountains. Fl. July. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 221. "It is well known to be pos- 
 sessed of poisonous properties." Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 
381 
 
 M. Med, vi, 75. Employed with success in chronic rheu- 
 matism, gout, and glandular enlargements. The petioles 
 act as a sternutatory. Coxe, Am. Disp. 526; Big. Am. 
 Med. Bot. iii, 103. It is a resinous astringent, its 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 consid- 
 erable power as an errhine. The purple variety, one of 
 the most beautiful, grows in South Carolina. 
 
 A writer under the signature of "Cunio" commmuni- 
 cates 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, Ten- 
 nessee, many years since, I can state that the wood of the 
 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 Car- 
 olina, as "possessing a wood much used for mechanical 
 purposes, being hard and dense." See Amelanchier for sub- 
 stitutes for boxwood, which is costly. 
 
 Rhododendron punctatum, L. and Ph. Grows at the head 
 branches of rivers in South Carolina and Georgia; "Tugo- 
 loo 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. 
 
 Kalmia latifolia, L. Calico bush ; ivy bush. Grows 
 along rivers in upper districts ; Richland, Gibbes ; at Sis- 
 ter'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 
 
382 
 
 Travels, i, 335; Barton's Coll. i, 18, 48; and ii, 26; Thach- 
 er's Disp. 247; Thomas' Inaug. Diss., Raf. ii, 16; Griffith, 
 Med. Bot. 528. The leaves are poisonous and narcotic, 
 and animals have been poisoned by eating them. It is 
 said that death has been occasioned by eating the flesh of 
 partridges and pheasants that had fed on them. Dr. Shoe- 
 maker publishes two cases ; see 1ST. Am. Med. and Surg. 
 Journal. Thomas, in Inaug. Diss. Phil. 1802, reports cases 
 of obstinate diarrhoea cured by a decoction, thirty drops 
 being taken four times a day. The leaves have been ad- 
 vantageously used in syphilis, and extensively applied in 
 tinea, psora, and cutaneous affections. Dr. Barton states 
 that nervous symptoms have resulted from the external use 
 of the strong decoction, thirty drops taken internally six 
 times a day producing vertigo. Dr. Bigelow detected in 
 the leaves tannin, a resinous matter, and gum. Besides 
 these, Dr. Stabler finds a volatile oil of a narcotic odor 
 and nauseous smell, supposed to be the active principle : 
 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 nar- 
 cotic property ; hence he supposes it suitable to cases of 
 hypertrophy of heart, and other diseases, when it is neces- 
 sary to decrease the action of that organ ; and from the 
 tannin present that it is peculiarly fitted for cases of hem- 
 orrhage, 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 every two or three hours. If these observations are 
 confirmed it will give the plant a high reputation as a 
 sedative, and attention is invited to it. The wood is much 
 used for mechanical purposes, being hard and dense. 
 
 Kalmia hirsuta, Walt. Grows in wet pine barrens ; vi- 
 cinity of Charleston. PI. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 483. The leaves are used by 
 negroes, and the poorer white people, as a cure for itch, and 
 for the mange in dogs. A strong decoction is applied 
 
383 
 
 warm to the eruptions, which occasions much . smarting ; 
 and it seldom requires more than one application to effect 
 a cure. 
 
 Kalmia angustifolia, L. Sheep laurel. Barren hills ; upper 
 districts. Chapman. 
 
 The leaves of the Kalmia (angustifolia ?) 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 duration (Torrey). In this it appears 
 closely to resemble the Armenian azalea (Johnston's Chem- 
 istry 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. The Azalea pontica, a kin- 
 dred shrub, is said to be the source of the narcotic quality 
 for which the Trebizond honey is famous. 
 
 VaccinacejE.' (The Bilberry Tribe.) 
 
 Bark and leaves are astringent, slightly tonic, and stimu- 
 lating. 
 
 Vaccinium macrocarpon. Ait. (Oxycoccos.) American cran- 
 berry. Grows in North Carolina, and northward. 
 
 The cranberry, useful for their ascescent, cooling proper- 
 ties, 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 pre- 
 served perfect for several years merely by drying them a 
 little in the sun, and then putting them up closely in clean 
 bottles. They also keep well in fresh water. The red- 
 fruited variety yields a juice which has been employed to 
 stain paper or linen purple. 
 
384 
 
 Vaccinium arboreum, Marsh. Farcle-berry. Grows in 
 damp soils; diffused; collected in St. John's; vicinity of 
 Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 496; Griffith, Med. Bot. 431. 
 The bark of the root is very astringent, and is employed in 
 diarrhoea and bowel complaints. The leaves also are astrin- 
 gent, and a decoction, as tea, is given in diarrhoea and dys- 
 entery, and as a wash in sore mouth; the fruit is more 
 palatable, and equally as efficacious. 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, simply 
 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 in the same way. 
 Most of the species possess qualities similar to this one. 
 Some of those in South Carolina bear fruit very pleasant to 
 the taste, and are generally known as huckleberries. I re- 
 gard the wood as uncommonly hard and close. 
 
 Primulace^. (The Primrose Tribe.) 
 
 More remarkable for beauty and fragrance than for their 
 sensible properties. 
 
 Anagallis arvensis, L. Red chickweed; scarlet pimpernel. 
 Nat. on Sullivan's island. Collected in St. John's, Berkley. 
 Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1227; Le. Mat. Med. i, 80; Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. i, 276; Orfila, Toxicologic, ii, 275; Woodv. 
 Med. Bot.; Mem. Acad. Royale de Med. 18 Mars. aim. 1826. 
 The flowers close at the approach of rain, and occasions the 
 plant to be called the "poor-man's weather-glass." Rural 
 Cyc._ 
 
 This plant enjoyed great reputation at one time, and was 
 said to possess sudorific, vulnerary, antiepileptic, and anti- 
 hydrophobic virtues. Woodville states that it is acrid and 
 poisonous. It was considered very valuable for the bite of 
 serpents, but more particularly in hydrophobia, given in 
 
385 
 
 the form of powder in doses of two drachms. See the re- 
 port 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 himself yielded to this opinion. It 
 "really possesses highly energetic powers, for Oriila de- 
 stroyed 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 ulcers, and internally in vis- 
 ceral obstructions, dropsy, epilepsy, and mania. 
 
 Samolus valerandi, L. Brookweed. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; grows in morasses ; collected in St. John's, Charleston 
 district. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 201; Journal Gen. 
 de Med. lii, 413; Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 121. Lemery says 
 it is an antiscorbutic, aperient, and vulnerary. 
 
 Sapotace^e. (The Sapotilla Tribe.) 
 
 Bumelia lycioides, 1 £\\.$k.. Ironwood. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton, Bach; very rare in St. John's, Berkley; a tree on Sa- 
 razin PL (Mrs. I. S. Porcher's). PI. 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 by great density and hard- 
 ness. 
 
 Ebenace,e. (The Ebony Tribe.) 
 Wood generally hard and black. 
 
 Diospyros Virginiana. Persimmon. Diffused ; grows 
 abundantly 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 deL. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 657; Ann. Chim. de Montp. 
 
 xxiv, 247; Shec. Flora Carol. 510; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 
 
 25 
 
386 
 
 227; Griffith, Med. Bot. 436. An astringent and styptic. 
 The inner bark is used in intermittent fever, in diarrhoea, 
 and with alum as a gargle in ulcerated sore throat. The 
 powdered bark can be used wherever an astringent is re- 
 quired. The unripe fruit is exceedingly astringent; em- 
 ployed while fresh, or dried in the sun and powdered, it is 
 very valuable in diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, and uterine 
 hemorrhage. It forms a convenient and useful prescription 
 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 
 ripens. (Am. Journal Pharm. xii, 157.) The juice, in the 
 unripe state, is said to be preferable to oak bark for tan- 
 ning ; 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 fermentation a quantity of 
 spirits; a beer is made of it, and mixed with flour, a pleas- 
 ant bread. I have used the wood for engraving. Every 
 tree of slow growth seems to me to have a dense and hard 
 wood, because the rings are close together, though the con- 
 sistence of the interspaces varies in different plants. See 
 "Amelanchier." Persimmon bark with iron yields a dye, the 
 color depending on the mordant used. See " Rhus ;" also 
 Treatises on Calico printing and on Dyeing, Ure's Diet, of 
 Arts and Manufactures, and Wilson's Rural Cyc. Processes 
 are there described. Upon testing for tannin the leaves of 
 the persimmon I find very little, but a great deal in the un- 
 ripe fruit. See detail of experiments under sweet-gum, 
 " Liquidambar." 
 
 I am informed by a friend that the persimmon makes a 
 particularly fine brandy. He tells me that a variety of 
 persimmons are occasionally met with in Sumter district, 
 S. C, with fruit almost twice the size of the ordinary 
 plant. I have known of a large-fruited variety from 
 Cooper river also. They were found near Claremont and 
 the river. Ale, also, can be made with the different species 
 of gentian, and in England they use G. lutea and purpurea 
 
387 
 
 as substitutes for hops. The persimmon should be used in 
 camps as an astringent. See " Castanea" 
 
 To make Persimmon Seer. — Gather the persimmons per- 
 fectly ripe and free from any roughness. Work them into 
 large loaves with bran enough to make them consistent ; 
 bake them so thoroughly that the cake may be brown and 
 dry throughout, but not burned. They are then lit 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 bush- 
 els. 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. See Thorn- 
 ton's Southern Gardener, p. 138. W. Gilmore Simms, Esq. 
 writes me word that the persimmon beer manufactured in 
 Orangeburg district,' S. C, by the Hon. J. M. Felder, 
 equalled the best sparkling "Jersey Champagne." The 
 latter is generally made of apples, and is a species of car- 
 bonated cider. See "Apples," "Hops," "Sassafras," for 
 method of manufacturing useful liquors. 
 
 The following, from the Southern Cultivator, was pub- 
 lished in the Charleston Mercury : 
 
 Persimmon Beer. — The best persimmons ripen soft and 
 sweet, having a clear, thin, transparent skin, without any 
 rough taste. A good ripe persimmon is a delicious morsel; 
 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 delightful 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 very best receipts for making 
 the beer: sweet ripe persimmons, mashed and strained, 
 one bushel; wheat bran, one half-bushel. Mix well to- 
 gether, 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 
 
388 
 
 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 beer, when properly made, in a warm room, 
 is an exquisitely delightful beverage, containing no alcohol, 
 and is to 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 suf- 
 ficient 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, fermentation will be promoted 
 by occasionally putting a warm brick or stone in the barrel. 
 The addition of a few honey locusts, roasted sweet po- 
 tatoes, 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 recommended as a portable and useful astringent to be 
 used by our soldiers in camp to prevent dysenteries and 
 diarrhoeas. 
 
 (1862). The ripe fruit of the persimmon. May-apples, 
 figs, etc., are also useful with a basis of molasses or honey 
 in making vinegar. 
 
 Hopea linctoria, L. Sweet-leaf. Diffused ; grows spar- 
 ingly in the low country ; vicinity of Charleston, Bach.; 
 collected in St. John's, Berkley; Ward swamp; Newborn. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 437. The root is esteemed a valuable 
 stomachic. Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 177. Its leaves afford 
 a yellow 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. This does not seem to be the 
 genus Hopea belonging to the order .Dipteracece, which fur- 
 nishes such valuable resins. 
 
389 
 
 StyracacEjE. (Styrax Tribe.) 
 
 Styrax. Several species grow in the Confederate 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. 
 
 Symplocas tincloria, 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 
 sweet-leaf, is used for yielding a yellow dye. Rural Cyc. 
 
 AquifoliacEuE. (The Holly Tribe). 
 These are generally astringent. 
 
 Prinos verticillatus, L. Black alder; winter-berry. Damp 
 soils. Fl. May. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 874 ; Wild. Spec. Plantaruin, 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 eminent degree the proper- 
 ties of the vegetable astringents and tonics, combined with 
 antiseptic powers highly spoken of." They are extensively 
 prescribed in some parts of the country in diarrhoea, and 
 as a corroborant in dropsy. The leaves are employed as a 
 substitute for tea. The plant was used by the Indians. It 
 may be taken 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, 
 
390 
 
 having employed it on several occasions. Dr. Meara, in 
 the Phil. Med. Museum ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 434 ; Coxe r 9 
 Am. Disp. 500. 
 
 Prinos glaber, L. Inkberry. Grows in damp soils, along 
 bays; Richland district; collected in St. John's. Fl. 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 chemical examination I find very little 
 tannin in the leaves. See sweet-gum (Liquidambar) for 
 detail of experiments. 
 
 Ilex opaca, L. Holly. Diffused ; in rich soils ; New- 
 bern. Fl. May. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot.' 432; U. S. Disp. 1263. I am 
 informed by 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 berries are serviceable as an emetic. It is asserted by 
 some to possess properties fully equal to those of the /. 
 aquifolium of Europe, the inner bark of which also yields a 
 viscid substance called birdlime ; its leaves are esteemed as 
 a diaphoretic in the form of infusion ; employed in catarrh, 
 pleurisy, small-pox, etc. Its febrifuge virtues are supposed 
 to depend on a bitter principle, ilicin, and the berries are 
 considered purgative,' diuretic, and emetic. The good 
 effects resulting from the use of the I. opaca, in diseases 
 affecting the mucous passages, may be owing to the 
 substance 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. 
 
 Birdlime can be made from holly and mistletoe ; also 
 from elder. The bark and juice are used. See process 
 described in Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures, 
 article "Birdlime." I have often noticed the mucilaginous 
 
391 
 
 taste of the holly root {Ilex opacd), and have used it, 
 chewed, for colds and coughs. It is also a pleasant, agree- 
 ahle hitter, mucilaginous tonic. It is extensively employed 
 i»i this way by many persons in South Carolina, also a tea 
 made with the root. I would particularly recommend the 
 holly root as an .^article for the relief of colds and coughs. 
 It increases the appetite, and is a tonic. The leaves of the 
 Ilex opaca, like the Ilex dahoon and Ilex 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 generally 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 
 drained off it is laid in masses in the earth, covered with 
 stones, and left to ferment during a fortnight or three 
 weeks. When thus changed into a kind of mucilage it is 
 taken from the pit, pounded in mortars until reduced to a 
 paste, washed and kneaded in river water until freed from 
 all extraneous matter. It is left in earthen vessels four or 
 five days to purify itself by fermentation, and it is then 
 put up for use or commerce. In every kingdom or dis- 
 trict there is a different mode of preparing this substance. 
 The mode employed by M. Bouillon Legrange 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 
 common 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 
 
392 
 
 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 with as much goose or capon's grease as will 
 make it run. Add two spoonfuls of strong vinegar, one 
 of oil, and a small quantity of Venice turpentine, and let 
 the whole boil for a few moments 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 petroleum ; 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 differs from it essentially in the acetous acid which it 
 contains ; in being very slightly animalized ; in the mucil- 
 age and extractive matter which may be obtained from it; 
 in the great quantity of resin which it yields by means of 
 nitric acid; and in its solubility in ether. See, also, 
 Wilson's article on "Bird-catching" for the various 
 methods of ensnaring game. See " Yiscus " in this paper. 
 Our Ilex opaca is said to resemble closely the English 
 holly {I. aquifolium). It has a hard, white wood, with a fine 
 grain. Among many trees and plants which I have exam- 
 ined, with a view to testing their relative hardness, I do not 
 rank the holly so high as others. The English holly is said 
 by Wilson to be very retentive of its sap, which renders it 
 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 
 
393 
 
 shade, hence used by cabinet-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 ma}' be turned to a great 
 number of purposes by turners, engineers, cabinet-maker's, 
 philosophical-instrument makers, and others. Next to box- 
 wood, the pear tree is the best wood, says Wilson, for en- 
 graving upon, as it is compact, and stands the tool well. 
 Rural Cyc. I do not think that I found our I. ojmca 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 so 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. til. 
 
 Ilex cassina, Mich. ~i Yaupoh ; cassina; emetic- 
 
 " vomitoria, L. and Ait. j holly; grows near the sea- 
 coast; Newbern. Fl. March. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 591 ; see I. vomito- 
 ria. Linn. Veg. Mat. Med.; U. S. Disp. 1263, App. ; Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot. ; Ell. 8k. of Bot. of South Carolina, ii, 682. 
 The leaves act as a powerful 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 infusion, 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 
 sea-coast for a supply. They considered it one of their 
 most powerful diuretics. (Bart. Coll. 38.) The inhabitants 
 of North Carolina purify 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 reader 
 to the Ceanothus Americana, New Jersey tea tree. The 
 leaves of the common holly [Ilex opaca) are also recom- 
 mended by some as a substitute for tea; and I would call 
 
394 
 
 attention to the fact that the famous plant used so exten- 
 sively in Paraguay, Mate or Paraguay tea, is an Ilex (L Par- 
 aguaiensis, plants of which have been introduced by Lieut. 
 Page, and distributed. See a notice of it in Patent Office 
 Reports, 1854, p. 34, and 1859, p. 15. Mate is univer- 
 sally drunk in many of the South American States, and 
 almost fabulous properties are attributed to it. "It is un- 
 questionably aperient and diuretic, and produces effects 
 very similar to opium. * * * 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 re- 
 semblance does exist between this and the kindred plant, 
 the cassina, from which also was prepared a "black drink," 
 which was used by the Indians of North America in their 
 ceremonials. The mode of preparation may be lost to us. 
 
 The Yaupon is sometimes referred to as I. vomitoria. The 
 Indians drank it very strong, and in copious draughts, at a 
 certain period of the year, in order to purify themselves. 
 It acted as an emetic. The Matt of Paraguay is not iden- 
 tical, says a recent writer, with our 1. cassina. Lawson, in 
 his account of this plant, in his Travels in Carolina (pp. 
 90, 91, London, 1709), celebrates 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 In- 
 dians Cassina), is the Indian tea, used and approved by all 
 the savages on the coast of Carolina, and from them sent to 
 the westward Indians, and sold at a considerable price." 
 "The savages of Carolina bore this tea in veneration above 
 all the plants they are acquainted withal," p. 221. "As for 
 purgings 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. cassina, of Walter. 
 
 The preparation of Mate" is very simple. It can be gath- 
 ered during the whole year. It is collected in the woods — 
 "a process of kiln-drying is resorted to upon the spot, and 
 
395 
 
 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, de- 
 nuded of their bark, are always 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 cultivated. 
 See, also, Ceanothus and Thea viridis. 
 
 Ilex dahoon, Walt. Also called cassina. Grows in swamps ; 
 it is said to possess properties similar to those of the I. cas- 
 sina. 
 
 Ilex myrtifolia, Walt. Grows around ponds, in flat, pine 
 barrens, forty miles from Charleston ; ISTewbern. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Johnson, of Charleston, informs me that this 
 is used to some extent in domestic practice in South Caro- 
 lina, as a diuretic in dropsy. 
 
 CuSCUTACEiE. 
 
 Cuscuta Americana, Linn. Dr. Engleman, of St. Louis, 
 has determined that we have not the C. Am. 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. Love-vine. Grows in damp soils ; col- 
 lected in St. John's; Hewbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 527; Flora Med. des 
 Antilles, ii, 334; Shec. Flora Carol. 485. 
 
 This is said to be laxative and hydragogue. It imparts 
 a yellow dye to cloth. The vine may be snapped in pieces, 
 and the divisions will retain a separate existence, throwing 
 out new tendrils, and reattaching themselves to surround- 
 ing objects. 
 
396 
 
 Convolvulace^i. ( The Bindweed Tribe.) 
 
 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 seam- 
 mony, etc., plants belonging to this order. 
 
 Ipomcea nil, Pursh. | Grows in dry soil;, vicinity of 
 Convolvulus, Sprengel. /Charleston; St. John's; Newbern. 
 
 Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 409. The root was 
 
 employed by the ancients as a purgative. 
 
 Convolvulus, Ell. Sk. | Wild potato vine ; found 
 
 Ipomcea panduratus, of late bot. J in dry pine barrens; col- 
 lected in St. John's, Charleston district, where it grows 
 abundantly; Newbern. 
 
 Coxe, Am. Dis. 226; Barton's Collec. ii, 49; Ell. Bot. 
 Med. Notes, i, 254; XL 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 be very serviceable in calculous com- 
 plaints. It is employed with great success by Dr. Harris, 
 of New Jersey, in these and in other affections as a substi- 
 tute 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 or the decoction may be used. 
 
 Convolvulus macrorrhizus, Ell. | Vicinity of Charleston ; 
 
 Ipomcea of Michaux. /dry soils. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 408; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 253; Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 406; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 
 140. This is thought to resemble jalap. De Candolle men- 
 tions the root as possessing purgative properties (Essai); 
 and the expressed juice was said to be very active. Lind. 
 Nat. Syst. Bot. 231; Flore Med. des Antilles, 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 considerable quantity of farinaceous 
 matter. 
 
397 
 
 Convolvulus Jfilapa. 
 
 It has been supposed by some that the officinal jalap 
 may be obtained from plants growing within the limits of 
 the Confederate States, but late researches have almost dis- 
 proved it. See XL S. Disp. ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. 
 
 Batatas edulis, Chois. "» Sweet potato, and its varie- 
 
 Convolvulus batatas, Cult, j ties. 
 
 This valuable plant is cultivated to a large extent in the 
 Confederate 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 informa- 
 tion 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 Dr. 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 maj r be grated when 
 raw and the pulp made into a pudding; they are sometimes 
 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 M. Med. Supplem. 1846, 205. See 
 Depuy's Memoire sur la culture de la patate, Bordeaux, 
 1801 ; Lelieur de Ville-sur Arce, Mem. sur la culture de 
 la patate et du ma'i's, Paris ; Gosse, Culture de la patate 
 (Biblioth. Univ. de Geneve, iii, 1818); Roberts' Note on 
 the culture of the potato in the Mem. de la Soc. Roy. 
 dAgric. 1841; Southern Agriculturist, Charleston, passim. 
 
 In Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 169, is an illustrated 
 paper on the Dioscorea batatas, or Chinese yam, recom- 
 mended as a substitute for the potato. See Dioscorea 
 villosa in this volume. 
 
 The Cantharis vittata, or blistering fly, can be found on 
 the potato, and I have myself produced blistering by ap- 
 
398 
 
 plying them to the hand. I collected the flies from vines 
 growing on Daniel's island near Charleston. Mr. Town- 
 send Glover, in a valuable paper illustrated with wood-cuts 
 in Patent Office Reports, 1854, page 59, states that he found 
 a species of cantharis, C. strigosa, in large numbers on the 
 cotton plants near Columbia, S. C, in the month of Sep- 
 tember. I have little doubt that the Confederate States 
 could be easily supplied with blistering ointment from 
 these flies. 
 
 The reader interested in the appearance, nature, and his- 
 tory of the "insects injurious and beneficial" to plants 
 and vegetables, is referred to the paper cited. Those in- 
 festing the cotton plant, the peach, the vine, garden vege- 
 tables, etc., are all described. I am indebted to Mr. Glover 
 for drawings of these. See, also, Patent Office Reports, p. 
 88, 1855, in which the papers are continued. 
 
 A Substitute for Spanish Flies. — The present scarcity of 
 Spanish flies for medical use in blister plasters makes a 
 proper substitute a desideratum. A writer in the Savan- 
 nah Republican says we have in this country many repre- 
 sentatives of the same genus, and enumerates the blister- 
 ing beetle, or potato fly, so prevalent in our gardens, and 
 so injurious to vegetation, as efficacious. He says : 
 
 The blistering plaster and Cantharides of medicine are 
 prepared from the Spanish flies, Cantharis vesicatoria, which 
 are collected in Spain and Italy in large quantities for ex- 
 portation. We have in North America many representa- 
 tives of the same genus. Several species have been used 
 for the same purpose, and in this immediate neighborhood 
 the Cantharis vitlata, var, striped blistering beetle, com- 
 monly called the potato fly. The blistering beetles have 
 been enumerated among the insects directly beneficial to 
 man, on account of the important use made of them in 
 medical practice ; yet the gardeners in our neighborhood 
 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 
 
399 
 
 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 under side of the 
 body, the legs (excepting the first joint, which is yellow- 
 ish), the antennae,, or feelers, are black. Its length is from 
 five to eight lines, its breadth of body two lines. The 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 col- 
 lected. They should be killed by throwing them 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 Theraputics, says that the Cantharis 
 vittata, Lytta vittata, potato fly, is somewhat smaller than the 
 Spanish fly (Cantharis vesicatoria), 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 July 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 carefully 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. 
 marginata; 0. atrata, common in Northern and Middle 
 
400 
 
 states; but C. vittata is the only one that is officinal, op. cit. 
 sup. In England, according to Pereira, the blistering bee- 
 tle 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. 
 
 Potato Coffee. — I have seen this used on several planta- 
 tions in lower Carolina as a substitute for coffee. It is one 
 of the best when carefully made by our Southern matrons. 
 The following is given as the mode of preparing 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 w T ater ; it is mixed 
 well until all is wet; boiling water is added, and it is set- 
 tled like coffee. 
 
 The mucilaginous liquor prepared from potatoes washed 
 and grated, the fecula being allowed to remain at the bot- 
 tom of the vessel, is used for cleansing silk, woollen, and 
 cotton goods without 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 paintings. 
 
 Among the plants for supplying starch, none is superior 
 to the sweet potato — the red-skin variety, white within, is 
 preferred. Large supplies are made upon our plantations 
 by grating and washing out the starch granules, then dry- 
 ing. See Maranta arundinacea in this volume for mode of 
 making starch; also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufac- 
 tures, 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. 
 
 IIydroleace^e. 
 Itydrolea quadrivalvis. Immersed in ponds; collected in 
 St. John's. Fl. July. 
 
 A bitter principle exists in this genus. 
 
401 
 
 LiOBELIACEjE. 
 
 Lindley states that all are dangerous or suspicious, in 
 consequence of the excessive acridity of their milk. 
 
 Lobelia inflata, L. Indian tobacco ; lobelia ; emetic-root. 
 Grows in Spartanburg and Abbeville districts, and in 
 Georgia. Ft. August. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 219 ; U. S. Disp. 434 ; Barton's 
 Collec. 36, 56 ; Thacher's IT. S. Disp. 267; Frost's Elems.; 
 Mat. M6d. 83. This is one of the most valuable of our 
 indigenous plants, well known as a nauseating diaphoretic 
 and expectorant, possessing some narcotic power, and act- 
 ing particularly on the bronchial mucous membranes. The 
 infusion of the flowers promotes urine, diaphoresis, and 
 the discharge of the lochia ; used also in convulsions 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 tinc- 
 ture, in small doses, is used to prevent colic and croup in 
 infants, just sufficient to produce slight nausea. The plant 
 in spirits is given largely in the bite of serpents and in- 
 sects, and the tincture applied externally is said to relieve 
 the pain caused by the stings of spiders and insects. See 
 the "Cherokee Physician." The infusion 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. Chap- 
 man, Bigelow, and Barton spoke of it as a very active and 
 dangerous plant. Supplem. 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. Elliotson cured two cases in four days with the alco- 
 26 
 
402 
 
 holic tincture in a sufficient quantity of distilled water. 
 It has been found in Europe very useful in chronic bron- 
 chitis, aphony, and nervous affections of the bronchia, and 
 in laryngitis and hooping-cough. It has been administered 
 in convulsions, tetanus, and dance of St. Guj 7 . Mer. 
 Supplem. See also Lancet, February 23, 1838. The In- 
 dians used it as tobacco, and this is a convenient way of 
 administering it. Rufz, d'empoisonnement pratique par 
 les 2^"egres, 139; Sigmond on the properties of L. inflata 
 and syphilitica, in Journal de Chim. Med. ix, 587, 1833 ; 
 Glasgow Med. Journal, May, 1828; Bidault de Villiers, 
 notice sur l'emploi du Lob. inflat. dans l'asthme et comme 
 emetique, Nouv. Biblioth. Med. v. 226. Lobeline has been 
 extracted from it: Phil. Journal Pharm. 1834. Dr. Proctor 
 found it also to contain an odorous volatile principle, a 
 peculiar acid, lobelic, 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 os uteri. Eberle employed it with success in a case of 
 strangulated hernia; he considers the root and inflated 
 capsule the most powerful parts of the plant. Am. Journal 
 Med. Sc. xvii, 248. Some have doubted whether it pro- 
 duces its effects in the same way as tobacco. Dr. Cutler, 
 who introduced it, says if the leaves be held in the mouth, 
 they induce giddiness and pain in the head, with agitation, 
 and finally nausea. Both Dr. Randall and himself found it 
 very efficacious in asthma, and employed it as a speedy 
 expectorant in catarrh ; the latter did not observe any 
 narcotic effect ensue from it in moderate doses. In Xew 
 England the infusion has been used advantageously in 
 leucorrhcea. The active principle is extracted by water 
 and alcohol; hot water is said to impair its emetic power; 
 te?i 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 
 
403 
 
 form in which it is usually prescribed in asthma, repeating 
 it several times a clay, and desisting when headache or 
 nausea ensues. Coxe, Am. Disp. 373 ; Big. Am. Med. 
 Bot. i, 179 ; Cutler, Mem. Am. Acad, i, 484; Schcepf, 128; 
 Mass. Report, vi; Griffith's Med. Bot 419; Raf. Med. Fl. 
 ii, 22. 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 cardamom, etc., fail to relieve, we 
 know to be immediately dissipated 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 re- 
 quired, and where there was a tendency to spasmodic 
 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 repeatedly, almost daily, throughout a long 
 attack of pneumonia, must certainly be injurious; it is, 
 nevertheless, adopted by some practitioners. 
 
 Lobelia syphilitica, L. Mountains of Carolina and Geor- 
 gia; jSVwbern. Fl. September. 
 
 Bart. M. Bot.; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 268. In the 
 Dem. Elem. cle Bot. ii, 92, it is spoken of as an acrid and 
 purgative plant: " Se guerissont de la verole en buvant 
 line decoction de cinq a six racines." Am. Herbal, 208. 
 The Indians employed the decoction internally and topi- 
 cally for lues; they communicated their opinion of its vir- 
 tues in this respect to Sir W. Johnson, who published it in 
 the April number of the Amam. Acad.; "Woodv. Med. Bot. 
 177; Kalm. L. C. ; Linn. Veg. M. Med. ; Thornton's Fam. 
 Herbal, 727. Dr. Wood, in the U. S. Disp. 436, allows its 
 emetic, diuretic, and cathartic properties, but denies it any 
 value in syphilis. Dr. Chapman states that it is beneficial 
 in dropsy. It is less powerful than the L. inflata, but more 
 diuretic and diaphoretic ; its diuretic effects are produced 
 by free doses, purging or vomiting as it is augmented. 
 
404 
 
 From an analysis by M. Boissel, it is found to contain a 
 fatty, butyraceous matter, sugar, mucilage, a volatile bitter 
 substance, some salts, etc. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iv, 138 ; Des Bois de Rochefort, Mat. Med. ii, 212 ; 
 Diet, des Drogues, iii, 378. For analysis, see Journal de 
 Pharm. x, 623 ; Kalm. Description du Specifique contre 
 le Mai. Venerien, in the Mem. de l'Acad. de Storck, xii, 
 1750. 
 
 Lobelia cardinalis, L. Cardinal flower. Grows in inun- 
 dated soils, roots often immersed ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 collected in St. John's, Charleston district; Richland, Prof. 
 Gibbes ; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 268 ; Drayton's Views, 77 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 436; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iv. 137; 
 De Candolle'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 as efficient as the pinkroot. 
 (Spigelj llaryland.) 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 Co fee Tribe.) 
 
 The grand features of this order are powerful febrifugal 
 properties in the bark and emetic in the root. Quinquina 
 represents the first and ipecacuanha the second. 
 
 Pinckneya jmbens, Mich. Georgia bark. "Found from 
 New river, South Carolina, along the sea-coast to Florida." 
 Vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Named in honor of Gen. 
 C. C. Pinckney. Fl. June. Plants sent to me by Dr. F. 
 P. Pope from Bluffton, S. C. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 267 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 1830 ; U. 
 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 
 
405 
 
 not distress the stomach, though to two 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 com- 
 pleting his examination. The attention of those residing 
 where it may be found is invited to it as a substitute 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. 
 
 Mitchella repens, L. Mitchella ; partridge-berry. Vicin- 
 ity of Charleston ; grows in shady swampy lands ; collected 
 in 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. The "Cherokee Doctor" 
 declares that the " decoction taken freely is an excellent 
 article to facilitate childbirth. It should be used daily 
 for two or three weeks before that period ! " The fruit is 
 slightly acid, and is edible. 
 
 Cephalanthus occidentalis. Button-bush. Grows along 
 rivulets in damp soils ; collected in St. John's ; specimens 
 from Aiken ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 187; 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 obsti- 
 nate coughs. Merat notices it as an anti-venereal. A 
 writer in the "Mercury" says: "The root of the button- 
 wood or crane willow, a shrub which is conspicuous in our 
 swamps in the spring, when boiled with honey and cum- 
 frey, 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." 
 
 Cojfea Arabica, L. Coffee. Exotic. 
 
 Should the culture of coffee be attempted in the Con- 
 
406 
 
 federate States, I would refer the reader to Patent Office 
 Reports, Agriculture, 1858, p. 313, for an instructive con- 
 densed report on the mode of cultivation in Jamaica, 
 Central America, and other countries, with the mode of 
 planting, harvesting, curing, etc., etc. See "Potato " and 
 "Rye" for substitutes for coffee. 
 
 RuBiACEiE. [The Madder Tribe.) 
 
 Rubia tinctorium. Madder. 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 Reports, 1858. It 
 serves to show the consumption of certain articles, the 
 demand for them, and the consequent 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, dye- 
 ing, etc.; a plant which might be cultivated within our 
 limits. See method, Patent Office Reports, 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 hispidulum (Rubia JBrownii, Mx.), 
 grows from Florida to jSTorth Carolina. G. verum, found 
 in England, contains so much pigment 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 some- 
 times employed both for coloring and flavoring milk in- 
 tended for cheeses;" hence called cheese-rennet. Rural 
 Cyc. 
 
 Since writing the above I see it stated by Pursh that the 
 Indians use our G. tr(fidum, L. (G. tinctorium) for dyeing 
 their porcupine quills, feathers, leather, etc., of a beautiful 
 red color. 
 
407 
 
 Oldenlandia, Houstonia, Medyotis. These plants, growing 
 abundantly in the Confederate States, and belonging to the 
 madder tribe, should be experimented with for tinctorial 
 purposes. 
 
 CAPRiFOLiACBiE. {The Honeysuckle Tribe.) 
 
 Independently of the fragrance and beauty of these 
 plants, astringent and purgative properties are possessed 
 by some of them. 
 
 Triosteum perfoliatum, Linn. Fever-root ; wild ipecacu- 
 anha; wild coffee ; horse gentian. 
 
 Bart. M. Bot. i, 59 ; Barton's Collec. 29 ; Ell. Bot. Med. 
 Notes, i, 271 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 91 ; Raf. Med. Fl. i, 
 59 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 353. This plant acts as a gentle 
 but certain cathartic, particularly when combined with cal- 
 omel, 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 influ- 
 enced by age. Rafinesque says the leaves are also diapho- 
 retic ; and it is stated by Dr. Muhlenberg that the hard 
 seeds, properly prepared, are a good substitute for coffee. 
 Randall, in his communication to the Linnsean 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. 
 
 Triosteum angustifolium, Linn. Grows in South Carolina. 
 Dr. Tinker's weed. 
 
 Griffith Med. Bot. 353. Possesses properties similar to 
 those of the T. perfoliatum, 
 
408 
 
 Lonicera semjpervirens, Ait. and T. and G. \ "Woodbine. 
 
 Caprifolium, Ell. Sk. J 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 L. caprifolium of Linn, are styptic and acrid ; 
 the flowers diuretic ; the latter in decoction calm the pain 
 of colic (coliques ou tranchees) following childbirth. 
 
 Diervitta trifida, Mcench. and T. and G. ^ Bush honey- 
 " Canadensis, Ell. Sk. Muhl. \ suckle. Grows 
 
 Lonicera diervilla, Linn. ) in the moun- 
 
 tains of South Carolina and Georgia. Fl. June. 
 
 Dem. Eem. de Bot. iii, 554. The leaves possess a nar- 
 cotic principle, inducing nausea, and are recommended as 
 a gargle in catarrhal angina. The decoction calms the 
 pain attending the disease ; taken largely it causes stupor 
 and catalepsy. 
 
 Sambncus Canadensis, Linn. Elder. Grows abundantly 
 in South Carolina along fences, and in rich, damp soils ; 
 diffused ; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 248 ; Bell's Pract. Diet. 404 ; Dray- 
 ton's View, 55; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 325; U. S. Disp. 625; 
 Eoyle, Mat. Med. 423 ; Cullen, Mat. Med. ii, 534 ; Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 196 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 
 354. " The leaves are fetid, emetic, and a drastic purga- 
 tive;" the plant acting in the same way as the European 
 species, the S. nigra ; the leaf-buds also operating as a pow- 
 erful purgative. The flowers are excitant and sudorific, 
 and are used in the form of an ointment as a discutient. 
 The inner bark is a hydragogue cathartic and emetic, act- 
 ing well in dropsy, and as an alterative in various chronic 
 diseases. The purgation which results from its employ- 
 ment is sometimes, however, too severe. The berries are 
 diaphoretic and aperient, and are used as a remedy in 
 
409 
 
 rheumatic 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. 
 According to Mr. Cozzens, the ripe berries afford a delicate 
 test for acids and alkalies. 
 
 The leaves of the English elder (S. nigra) are noxious to 
 insects, 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 
 larger 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 afterward distilled." "Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. It would be interesting to ascertain to what 
 extent our species share the above properties. 
 
 Composite. 
 
 These embrace four orders, all of which are distinguished 
 by bitterness, which in the different sections is variously 
 combined. In the order Asteracejs it assumes a particular 
 character, being united with a resinous principle; in the 
 Cynarace^e this bitterness depends upon the mixture of 
 extractive with a gum, which is sometimes yielded in great 
 abundance; the Chichorace,e 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. Fl, July, 
 
410 
 
 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. 
 
 Liatris odoratissima, Walt. Wild vanilla. St. John's, S. 
 C. ; Wassamasa swamp ; North Carolina, near sea-coast 
 (Croom). 
 
 Very aromatic. Used for scenting cigars. The aroma is 
 abundantly given out when trodden upon by horses' feet. 
 
 Liatris squarrosa, W. Crows in pine lands; collected in 
 St. John's; Richland district; vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 1273; Journal de Chim. Med. v, 419. "Y 
 sont usitees contre la morsure des serpens." Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. iv, 97. 
 
 Liatris scariosa, W. Grows in pine lands ; vicinity of 
 Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1273, Appendix. It is employed in gonor- 
 rhoea, and as a gargle in sore throat. 
 
 Liatris spicata, W. Crows in wet pine lands ; collected 
 in St. John's, Charleston district; vicinity of Charleston; 
 iSTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1272. One of the "rattlesnake's masters." 
 Dr. Barton said that all the tuberous-rooted Liatres were 
 active plants. 
 
 This plant, called " button-snakeroot" by some, is report- 
 ed to be a stimulant, diuretic, and expectorant; also pos- 
 sessing powers as an anodyne ; it is consequently given as 
 a remedy in colic, the tincture or the decoction of the root 
 being employed — said to resemble senega snakeroot, and 
 to excite a flow of saliva when chewed. 
 
 Eupatorium perfoliatum, Linn. Thoroughwort ; boneset. 
 Grows in damp soils ; diffused ; Richland district ; common 
 in low country. Fl. July. 
 
 Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. i, 387, and ii, 435 ; Bell's 
 
411 
 
 Pract. Diet. 197 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 303 ; Pe. Mat. 
 Med. and Therap. 389; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 216; 
 Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 216 ; Royle, Mat. Med. 445 ; U. 8. 
 Disp. 319 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 197 ; Big. Am. Med. 
 Bot. i, 34 ; Thacher's Am. Disp. 217 ; Am. Med. Record, 
 iii, 331; Barton's Essay to Mat. Med. 28; Ball, and Gar. 
 Mat. Med. 315 ; Schcepf, Mat. Med. 121 ; Guthrie, in An- 
 nal. of Med. iii, 403 ; Anderson's Inaug. Thesis, New York ; 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 177 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 
 271; "Shec. Flora Carol. 549; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 133; Lind. 
 Nat. Syst. Bot. 253. A warm infusion of this plant is 
 emetic, sudorific, and diaphoretic ; employed cold as a tonic 
 and febrifuge. The hot decoction may be given in the hot 
 stages of fevers without exciting the system. Small quan- 
 tities of the cold infusion, repeatedly given will, it is said, 
 >purge, and are prescribed in constipation. The leaves and 
 flowers, in powder, also purge, given in doses of ten to 
 twenty grains. The discharge of bile is promoted by it. 
 It has been repeatedly prescribed with advantage in rheu- 
 matism, typhoid pneumonia, catarrhs, dropsy, and in the 
 influenza which prevailed at the North, and which was de- 
 scribed b} 7 Dr. Rush ; he also used it with great success in 
 the yellow fever of 1798 ; and Dr. Chapman found it one 
 of the most effectual remedies in the epidemic called the 
 "break-bone fever." Graves, of Dublin, has made much 
 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 fevers, and in the ty- 
 phoid pneumonia so prevalent among them. In a few cases 
 which have come under my observation, I have found this 
 and the senega snakeroot [Poly gala senega) convenient and 
 useful prescriptions in this disease; the latter, with tartar 
 emetic solution, to promote expectoration ; and the former, 
 with flaxseed tea, as a stimulant diaphoretic, combining 
 them with spirits of turpentine when it has assumed the 
 typhoid form. From its action on the capillaries, it has 
 been recommended in chronic cutaneous diseases. Barton 
 
412 
 
 said it possessed no power in this regpect ; but in the hands 
 of Dr. Zollickoffer it has proved eminently successful in 
 tinea capitis, given in combination 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 beginning of the war, to be the very best of our indige- 
 nous antiperiodics as a substitute for quinine. It is thought 
 to be superior in this respect to either poplar bark (Lirioden- 
 dron tulipifera), willow (Salix), or dogwood. It is also an 
 excellent stimulating diaphoretic in low fevers. 
 
 The plants just mentioned, the blackberry, chinquapin, 
 (Ga&tama) and dogwood to be used as astringents, the 
 gentians, pipsissewa, Sabbatia, etc., as bitter tonics, can 
 easily be obtained by our soldiers while in camp, and they 
 will be found to fulfil all the indications required in most 
 cases of fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, 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 suffice. The Podo- 
 phyllum (wild jalap) will supply the purgative ; therefore, 
 with the possession of opium and calomel, the surgeon in 
 the field can himself obtain almost everything desired, and 
 with comparatively little aid from the Medical Purveyors. 
 Our chief desiderata now are the preparations of potash, 
 viz : nitrate chlorate and bicarbonate, and sup. carb. of soda. 
 We may procure soda from our Salsola kali. 
 
 The winter-green (Chimaphila umbellata) is both tonic and 
 
413 
 
 diuretic, and may be given with advantage in dropsy. In 
 examining* (1862) the excrescences produced by an insect on 
 nearly all the leaves of the cotton-wood tree [Populus hete- 
 rophylla, L.) I find them possessed of an intensely bitter 
 principle, 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. 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 extract- 
 ed, 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." 
 
 Eupatorium purpureum, L. Purple thoroughwort; gravel 
 root. I have a specimen from Abbeville district from Mr. 
 Reed ; Richland district ; collected in St. John's, Charles- 
 ton 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 prop- 
 erties somewhat similar to those of the Eup. per/. 
 
 Eupatorium teucrifolium, W. and T. and G. 1 Wild 
 
 " verbencefolium, Ell. Sk. j horehound. 
 
 Grows in damp soils ; collected in St. John's. Fl. August. 
 
 Michaux, Flora Amer. ii, 98 ; U. S. Disp. 319. This is 
 tonic, diaphoretic, diuretic, and aperient. A popular 
 remedy in intermittents. See observations of Dr. Jones, 
 of Georgia. It may be substituted in some cases for the 
 Eup. perfol. 
 
 Eupatorium rotimdifolium, L. Grows in dry pine barrens ; 
 collected in St. John's, Berkley ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Richland district. Fl. July and August. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 177 ; Journal Gen. 
 
414 
 
 de Med. xxxvi, 111. The infusion is said to be useful in 
 consumption. See Dr. Mitchell's letter. 
 
 Ewpatorium fceniculacewn, Willd. Dog-fennel. 
 
 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 dog- 
 fennel has been applied to the ox-e}-ed daisy (Leucanthe- 
 mum vidgare, Lam.), and to the wild chamomile (JSIaruta, 
 cotida), or stinking Mayweed. Since my publication advis- 
 ing the myrtle as a material for tanning, I see a notice of 
 its being used by Mr. Cummings for the purpose. 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 insects and bugs by strewing on the floors of 
 cellars and dairies. 
 
 The Tallahassee Floridian (1861) says : 
 
 " Leather tanned by the new process. — "We have seen a 
 specimen of kip leather said to be tanned by Isaac Bier- 
 field, of aSTewberry, S. C, in twenty days, with his dog- 
 fennel preparation. The sample was soft and pliable, and 
 had all the appearance of being equal to the best French 
 leather. We understand that our shoemakers so pro- 
 nounce it. 
 
 "Everybody knows what dog-fennel is, and will be glad 
 to learn that it is of some account after all. The weed 
 grows 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. 
 
 Aster iortifolius, Mx. Mouse-ear. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; grows in dry pine barrens : collected in St. John's. 
 
415 
 
 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 cordifolium. Grows in rich lands. Fl. August. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 387. It possesses antispasmodic prop- 
 erties. A small species (Diplopappus Unarifolius, Hooker, 
 Aster, Ell. Sk.) grows in pine barrens, St. John's, S. C, the 
 leaves of which contain an unusual amount of silica ; they 
 are employed to polish horns, and as a substitute for sand- 
 paper. 
 
 Erigeron Canadense, L. Colt's-tail ; flea-bane. Common 
 in damp, sandy soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; Richland, Gibbes ; Kewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Royle, 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 ; D6m. £lem. de Bot. 200 ; 
 Raf. Med. Fl. 
 
 This is a stimulant tonic, diuretic, and astringent, 
 employed with marked success in dropsy and diarrhoaa; it 
 is much used by the vegetable practitioners in the latter 
 disease ; they give a teacupful of the infusion of the herb 
 in hot water every two 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 volatile oil among 
 its constituents, from whence its beneficial action in the 
 diseases specified may be inferred. An infusion of the 
 powdered flowers is antispasmodic, and is employed in 
 hysterical and nervous affections. The oil obtained from 
 the plant possesses extraordinary styptic properties. The 
 dose of the powder is thirty grains to one drachm. 
 
 Erigeron Philadelphicum, L. iSTon. Ell. Frost-root. Com- 
 mon in pastures ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of 
 Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Liud. Nat. Syst/Bot. 253; Shec. Flora Carol. 537; 
 
416 
 
 Royle, Mat. Med. 447; Bart. M. Bot. i, 234; IT. 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 diseases. It was a favorite prescription in 
 Philadelphia in dropsy, and Dr. Wistar recommends it in 
 hydrothorax complicated with gout. 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 ; vicin- 
 ity of Charleston. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 396. It is similar in properties to 
 the jE7. annuum, a favorite diuretic in the dysuria of chil- 
 dren — used by Physick and Dewees in painful micturition 
 dependent on nephritis. This also yields a styptic oil 
 similar to that afforded by the E. Canadense. 
 
 Erigeron pusilum, Grows in pastures and cultivated 
 soils ; collected in St. John's. Fl. June. 
 IT. S. Disp. 316. 
 
 /o odora, Ait. Golden rod. Grows in rich soils, 
 among the mountains, and in the upper districts, accord- 
 ing to Ell. Collected in St. John's also; Newbern. Fl. 
 October. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. 437 ; IT. S. Disp. 679 ; 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 189. An aromatic, moderately 
 stimulant, and carminative plant, 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 unpleasant 
 medicines. Merat states that the infusion is also employed 
 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 aromatic, volatile 
 oil collects, and an essence may be made by dissolving this 
 in proof spirits. This will also stop vomiting and correct 
 the taste of medicines, even laudanum and castor oil ; 
 
417 
 
 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. According to 
 Pursh, the dried flowers are a pleasant and wholesome 
 substitute for tea. 
 
 Solidago Canadensis, L., ) Margin of fields. Used in 
 " ^mocera, Ell. J 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 afford 
 very strong fibres if treated in the same manner as hemp. 
 
 Solidago sempervirens, L. Narrow leaf golden-rod. Grows 
 in wet lands ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. September. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 437. Very effica- 
 cious in the cure of wounds. 
 
 Inula helenium. Elecampane. Mountains of North Caro- 
 lina. Chap. Introduced. 
 
 Inuline, a vegetable substance of closely kindred nature 
 to starch and dextrine, was discovered by Rose in Elecam- 
 pane, and takes its name from the old botanical designation 
 of that plant (I. helenium). It is spontaneously deposited 
 from a decoction of the roots of Elecampane, and it consti- 
 tutes 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 solu- 
 ble 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 com- 
 pletely melts, acquires new properties, and becomes solu- 
 ble both in cold water and in alcohol. Boussino;ault 
 showed that it is not colored by iodine, while acetic acid, 
 which is without action on starch, produces with inuline 
 27 
 
I 418 
 
 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 inu- 
 line. It is, therefore, 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 Wil- 
 son's Rural 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 camphorous. The 
 taste at first is glutinous and somewhat similar to that of 
 rancid soap ; upon chewing it becomes warm, aromatic, 
 and bitter. In its medical properties, elecampane is tonic 
 and gently stimulant. By the ancients used in diseases of 
 females ; in the United States mostly confined to diseases 
 of the lungs. It has also been extolled when applied ex- 
 ternally for the cure of itch, tetter, and other diseases of 
 the skin. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Baccharis halimifolia, Jj. Sea myrtle; consumption weed. 
 Grows along the sea-coast ; collected in St. John's, where 
 it is found in abundance ; vicinity of Charleston ; JSTew- 
 bern. Fl. October. 
 
 Shec. Flora. Carol. 256. This plant is of undoubted 
 value, and of very general use in popular practice in South 
 Carolina, as a palliative and demulcent in consumption and 
 cough ; I have frequently seen it used with advantage, and 
 have often heard those employing it confess the benefit de- 
 rived from it. A strong decoction of the root may be 
 drunk several times a day. It is slightly bitter and mucil- 
 aginous 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 indige- 
 nous plants possessed of unequivocal utility, is unnoticed 
 in the dispensatories and other works. 
 
419 
 
 Pterocaulon pycnostachyum. Grows abundantly in dry 
 pine barrens; collected in St. John's, Berkley. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 324. Much use is made of this 
 plant in St. John's, Berkley, as an alterative; it is supposed 
 to be possessed of decided value. It is well known as the 
 blackroot of the negroes. A decoction of the root is given 
 several times a day. 
 
 Xanthium strumarium,~L. Burr; burdock. Grows abun- 
 dantly in cultivated lands ; collected in St. John's, Berk- 
 ley; vicinity of Charleston; Richland, Gibbes. Fl. Au- 
 gust. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 970 ; Dioscorides, 
 lib. iv, 133. It has been used in scrofula. The only works 
 in which we have been able to find any account of it are 
 the Dem. filem. de Bot. iii, 91, where the leaves are said to 
 be astringent, the seeds diuretic, and the expressed juice 
 useful in affections of the bladder, and as an auxiliary 
 remedy in the treatment of ringworm ; also in Linnaeus, 
 Vegetable Mat. Med. 172, according to which it is found 
 beneficial in herpes and in erysipelas ; 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 South 
 Carolina or Georgia, so far as I can ascertain. The plant 
 is considered a nuisance by farmers, as the burrs get entan- 
 gled in the wool of sheep, from which they are with diffi- 
 culty removed. 
 
 Verbesina Virginica, Linn. Grows along fences ; collect- 
 ed in St. John's; Richland district. Fl. July. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 380. The root, in decoction, is said 
 to be a powerful sudorific. 
 
 Ambrosia arteiyiisicefolia, "W. Rag-weed. Grows in culti- 
 vated lands and pastures; collected in St. John's, Charles- 
 ton district. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 227. The plant is 
 ueed in fevers in Maryland as a substitute for quinine; a 
 
420 
 
 tincture is made, or the juice given with whiskey. It is 
 very bitter, and is thought to be useful. 
 
 Ambrosia trifida, Linn. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 387. A plant has been noticed by 
 Dr. Robertson (Am. Journal Med. Sci. xii, 382, new series), 
 which appears to be this, which is highly beneficial in ar- 
 resting excessive salivation. 
 
 Eclipta erecta, Linn. T. and Gray. 1 Collected in St. 
 " procumbens, Ell. Sk. J John's; dry soils; 
 
 vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 387. It is said to stain the hair black. 
 
 Helianihus tuberosus. Artichoke. Cultivated in South 
 Carolina. 
 
 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, produce meteorism ("meteorizations mortelles"). 
 Nouv. Biblioth. Med. viii, 426. 
 
 In Patent Office Reports, p. 578, 1848, a paper on the 
 culture of the Jerusalem 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 
 as 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 con- 
 tain, 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 po- 
 tato." 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 
 
421 
 
 the green stalks equal, as regards nutritious qualities, 
 31.250 kilogrammes of our hay. The stalks of the arti- 
 ehoke 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 product of field cul- 
 ture has. To prepare them for use they are cut in two, 
 and made up into fagots. This fuel is especially adapted 
 for heating ovens or furnaces." 
 
 It bears a great amount of cold. It can be left in the 
 ground all winter, and does not easily suffer from heat. It 
 is well adapted even to dry and poor soils. The article 
 which I condense 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 tol- 
 erable 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 
 affected 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 artichoke was known as an esculent plant 
 by the Romans, but neglected in the dark ages, till it again 
 came into notice in the sixteenth century. Almost all 
 parts of this plant, he says, may be rendered useful. The 
 leaves yield an extract which may be substituted 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 propor- 
 
422 
 
 tion 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. ; Thae'r's 
 Science of Agriculture. 
 
 Among our best plants which may be cultivated for 
 starch may be mentioned the potato, .wheat, rice, arrow- 
 root (Maranta arundinacea), corn, etc. For methods, see 
 Ure, and domestic receipt books. 
 
 Helianthus annuus. Sunflower. Cult. 
 
 Evaporation takes place in plants to an inconceivable 
 degree under certain circumstances. It is known by the 
 experiments of Dr. Hales that a sunflower plant will lose 
 as much as one pound fourteen ounces by perspiration in 
 twelve hours. " Taking all things into account, a sunflower 
 perspires seventeen times more than a man." 
 
 The French make a moxa out of the pith of the sun- 
 flower. The English use for this purpose cotton dipped in 
 a solution of saltpetre. 
 
 A few years since Commander Maury 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 nutritous. One hundred pounds of the seed of the 
 sunflower are said to yield forty pounds of oil. The refuse 
 after expression furnishes excellent food for cattle. "From 
 the leaves of the plant cigars are manufactured, of singular 
 pectoral qualities. The stalk affords a superior alkali." 
 (Mrs. Ellsworth.) 
 
 The following I extract from the Farmer's Encyclopaedia: 
 
 "An acre of land will contain twenty-five thousand sun- 
 flower plants, twelve inches distant from each other. The 
 produce will be according to the nature of the soil and 
 mode of cultivation ; 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 
 
423 
 
 in lamps, and for the manufacture of soaps. The marc, or 
 refuse of the seeds after the oil has been expressed, made 
 into cake, will produce fifteen hundred 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 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), we 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 : 
 
 "Sunflower seed and ground-nut 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 substitute, and the oils of cotton 
 seed, sunflowers, and pea-nuts have been favorably men- 
 tioned. How far either will serve as a substitute we do 
 not know; but certainly the oil extracted from some one or 
 all of them might subserve some useful end. 
 
 " We recollect that some years ago the cultivation of the 
 sunflower was strongly urged in an agricultural periodical 
 for various useful purposes ; first, for a bee pasture ; 
 secondly, the seeds were good for poultry, or the manufac- 
 ture of oil; and then, after the oil was expressed, to be 
 compressed into oil-cake for cow-food and fattening hogs ; 
 the leaves for fodder and the stalk for wrapping paper. In 
 the present condition of the country, these suggestions 
 may not be without value. 
 
 " The manufacture of oil from cotton seed, we believe, 
 has been carried on for some time in !N"ew Orleans, and 
 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 great profit, as well as serve most of the 
 purposes for which oil is used." 
 
 Anthemis. See Maruta. 
 
424 
 
 Maruta cotula, D. C, T. and G. "I Wild chamomile ; 
 
 Anthemis, Ell. Sk. J May -weed. Grows 
 
 in dry soils; collected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; liTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 741 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. i, 741 ; Ed. and Yav. Mat. Med. 263 ; IT. S. Disp. 
 278 ; Shec. Flora Carol. 171 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 398. A 
 tonic, diaphoretic, and emetic; resembling chamomile in 
 its effects, to which it is full} 7 equal, but more nauseous. 
 It is one of our most useful domestic remedies, and is 
 given in numerous diseases. It is also possessed of some 
 power as an antispasmodic. A decoction acts as a sudor- 
 ific and anodyne, and is given in colds and hysterical 
 attacks. Merat mentions it as a substitute for assafcetida, 
 that it is employed as an antihysteric, and is recommended 
 in rebellious bilious fever. Dr. Ash by speaks of it as a 
 prompt and powerful vesicant when bruised and applied to 
 the surface as a poultice. Barton and Rafinesque had con- 
 veyed a different impression concerning it. Dr. Ashby 
 adds that unlike blisters caused by other vegetable irri- 
 tants, the vesications readily heal. Journal Phil. Coll. 
 Pharm. Every part of the plant is fetid and acrid, has 
 minute resinous dots upon its surface, and when much 
 handled blisters the skin. Rural C} 7 c. The flowers of the 
 medicinal chamomile are powerfully antiseptic — one hun- 
 dred and twenty times superior to salt. 
 
 Achillea millefolium, L. Milfoil; yarrow. Grows in damp, 
 rich soils; collected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; ISTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1225, Appendix; Le Mat. Med. ii, 108; Ed. 
 and Vav, Mat. Med. 267; Bergii, Mat. Med. 738; Hoff- 
 mann, "De Prfestantia 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. Linnaeus informs us 
 
425 
 
 that the inhabitants of Delecarnia mix it with ale in place 
 of hops, and think it imparts to the liquor an intoxicating 
 quality. 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. Buckwald 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 infu- 
 sion, taken inwardly, with the outward application of the 
 leaves, cut fine, will dissipate dreadful wounds — cicatrizing 
 them rapidly. Stahl, Diss, de Therap. ; Hoffman, "De 
 Pnestant. Remed." 18 ; Linnaeus, Flora Shec. 299. Besides 
 the astringent, it possesses a mild, antispasmodic, 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 
 effects. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, 
 p. 5. See Analysis in Bull, des Sci. Med. de Ferus, xxii, 
 119, and xxvi, 253; Soc. de Med. Botanique de Londres, 
 1830. 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 involun- 
 tary 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. This plant 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." 
 
 Tanacetum vidgare, L. Tans}^. Sparingly nat. in North 
 Carolina. Chap. 
 
 Plant emits a strong but not unpleasant odor, and has a 
 
426 
 
 bitter taste; said to possess tonic, cordial, and anthelmintic 
 properties. Rural Cyc. See, also, medical authors. Plant 
 yields an oil, and is culinary and medicinal. 
 
 Leucanthemum vulgare, Lam. and T. and G. \ Ox-eyed 
 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, L. J daisy; white 
 
 weed. Natural in upper districts; collected in St. John's 
 Charleston district; 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 em- 
 ploy 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 
 oft' in a short time. Bull. Acad. Brux. viii, 234. 
 
 Antennaria margaritacea, R. B. T. and G. T Cat -weed; 
 
 Gnaphalium margaritaceum, L. Ell. Sk. - / life - everlast- 
 ing. Grows among the mountains of South Carolina; 
 vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Fl. Sept. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1258. It is employed in popular practice in 
 diseases of the chest and bowels, and is externally applied 
 as a fomentation to wounds and bruises. Schoepf says it 
 possesses anodyne properties. 
 
 Gnaphalium polyeepkalum, Mx. Cat-foot. Diffused in 
 upper and lower country. Grows in pastures; collected in 
 St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; •STewbem. Fl. August. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1258; Matson's Veg. Pract. 275. "It proba- 
 bly possesses little medicinal virtue." A popular remedy 
 in hemorrhagic affections, and as a fomentation in bruises 
 and languid tumors. The infusion is employed by the 
 vegetable practitioners in fever, influenza, fluor albus, and 
 consumption. Acting probably as a warm sudorific. It 
 has a pleasant, aromatic, and slightly bitter taste when dry. 
 
 Arnica nudicaulis, Ell. Grows in damp, pine barrens; 
 vicinity of Charleston, Bach; St. John's, S. C; Florida; 
 Richland, Gibbes. 
 
427 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 409. It is supposed that this may be 
 used as a substitute for the European species, the A. Mon- 
 tana, which is well known as a powerful plant, possessing 
 stimulant properties ; directed with peculiar energy to the 
 brain and nervous system. It also produces an emetic and 
 cathartic effect, and is much used by the Germans in paral- 
 ysis, amaurosis, and other nervous diseases. 
 
 Senecio aureus, Ell. Sk. Ragwort.- Mountains of South 
 Carolina. Fl. July. 
 
 II. S. Disp. 1295. It is said by Schcepf to have been a 
 favorite vulnerary with the Indians; the juice of the plant 
 in honey, or the seeds in substance, are employed. 
 
 Onicus benedictus, T. and G. \ Nat. along the sea-coast, 
 
 Centaur ea benedicta,~L. J near Beaufort; collected in 
 
 St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. August. 
 
 Trous. et Pid. Traite de Therap. etc., i, 253 ; Pe. Mat. 
 Med. ii, 408 ; Ed. and Yav. 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. i, 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 said to be invaluable in anorexia, weak stomach, 
 impaired by irregularities of diet, atony, jaundice, and ter- 
 tian fevers ; Thorn. Fam. Herbal, 725 ; Dem. Elem. de Bot. 
 iii, 115. It is used, also, in chronic diarrhoea and in gout. 
 Woodv. he. cit. A decoction "possesses marked tonic 
 properties;" a large dose acting as an emetic, and occasion- 
 ing 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 rec- 
 ommended 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 prin- 
 
428 
 
 ciple. By keeping, a salt is produced upon the surface 
 resembling nitre. See Hist, des Sc. de Berlin, 79; and 
 Duncan's Edinb. New Dispensatory. 
 
 Cynara scolymus. Jerusalem artichoke. Ex. Cult. 
 
 I call attention to this plant, as it grows luxuriantly in 
 the Confederate States. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de 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 this state as 
 a tonic and diuretic in dropsy; the leaves are steeped in 
 rum, of which a wineglassful is administered three times a 
 day; among the negroes I have frequently seen it pre- 
 scribed 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 spoonfuls 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, pharmaceu- 
 tist to the hospital 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 chronic jaundice, and 
 Perroton, of Lyons, also administered it frequently in the 
 same disease. Revue Med., Nov. 1845. 
 
 Taraxacum de)is-leonis,Desf., T. and Gray. \ Dandelion. 
 
 Leontodon taraxacum,, Ell. Sk. / Collected in 
 
 St. John's, Berkley; I have observed it growing in the 
 streets of Charleston and New York; Newbern. 
 
 Watson'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; IT. S. Disp. 706; Le. Mat. Med. i, 396; Brande, Diet. 
 
429 
 
 Mat. Med. and Pharm. v, 632; Woodv. 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 Mch. Culpepper, gent, "Student 
 in Physic and Astrology," p. 109. 
 
 The root is deobstruent, cathartic, and diuretic. "Good 
 in obstructions of the viscera, scirrhosities 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 substitut- 
 ed for coffee by the poorer inhabitants ; they say the differ- 
 ence between this and the imported article can scarcely be 
 distinguished. Murray's Apparat. Med. Withering men- 
 tions that when a swarm of locusts destroyed vegetation on 
 the Isle of Minorca the inhabitants subsisted on this plant. 
 The great Boerhaave entertained a favorable opinion of it; 
 and Bergius found it useful in derangement of the biliary 
 apparatus from gall-stones, etc. Mat. Medica. Delius, de 
 taraxaco praBsertim aquse, etc. Dr. Mendelstaed cured black 
 jaundice (l'ictere noir) with it. Van Swieten, in his Com- 
 ment., Zimmermann, and Storck spoke of it in jaundice and 
 hypochondriacal affections. Later writers have confirmed 
 these opinions expressed by those living at an earlier period. 
 Dr. Wood, in the IT. S. Disp., says that his experience in 
 derangements of the biliary secretions has been decidedly 
 in its favor, it being particularly valuable in chronic hepa- 
 titis. Eberle 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 indurated, it has 
 been prescribed with advantage. It has been employed, 
 likewise, in affections of the spleen, uterine obstructions, 
 
430 
 
 chronic cutaneous disorders, etc. "When its diuretic effect 
 is desired, it is advised that it be given in combination with 
 supertartrate of potash. This plant is supposed to be pos- 
 sessed 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 em- 
 ployed to some extent in New York for these purposes, 
 constituting an important ingredient of diet drinks. It 
 may be easily obtained, and might be found of much ser- 
 vice to practitioners residing in the country. 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 sum- 
 mer morning an evident motion of the filaments is percep- 
 tible. See MSS. Lect. of Dr. Hope. 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, 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 wineglassful; 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 
 diuretic effect. The leaves and roots of this plant are bit- 
 ter, and contain a bitter milky juice. I have given the 
 extract largely during five years attendance at the Marine 
 Hospital, Charleston; and I ascertain that the extract 
 certainly produces a laxative effect given in from ten to 
 Shirty grains — the same, or a much larger quantity, dissolved 
 in water, proved diuretic. In this way I account for the 
 different qualities ascribed to it. There was always a ten- 
 dency 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 
 
431 
 
 given, from two to six ounces, twice, thrice, or oftener in 
 the day ; and infusions 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 the juice, or of the 
 infusions of the plant, that he believed they were capable 
 of removing most obstructions of the viscera that were to 
 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 reme- 
 dies had failed; and that he had seen hardness of the liver 
 removed by patients eating, daily, for some months, of a 
 broth 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 the 
 ascites, and in cases of gall-stones." (Thornton's Herbal, 
 677.) The yolk and yellow of eggs undoubtedly produces 
 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. I have seen a physician in Charleston 
 send to the ISTorth for the fresh plant while it grew abun- 
 dantly at his own door. Leontodon contains caoutchouc. 
 
 Cichorium intybus. — Wild endive; chiccory. Introduced. 
 As this plant is cultivated to some extent in the Confeder- 
 ate 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 
 substances that ever have been used for the purpose of the 
 adulteration of coffee, not excepting even water — as it is 
 obtained in London. In the case of all low-priced coffee — 
 of all coffee purchased by the poor — adulteration with chic- 
 cory yields profit to the grocer simply because it yields pleas- 
 ure 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 possi- 
 bly more, certainly not less wholesome. Coffee that chic- 
 
432 
 
 cory would spoil is bought by none of the poor, and by a 
 portion only of the middle classes. We do not advocate 
 secret adulteration, but we would have the adulteration to 
 be made open, and all people to understand distinctly that 
 since chiccory is altogether wholesome it is a matter that 
 depeuds upon the taste and the pocket whether they will 
 buy coffee 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 sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Chiccory is better known to many of us when growing 
 wild in many parts of England on dry, chalky soils under 
 the name of the wild endive; it belongs to a tribe of com- 
 posite plants called "the Cichoracese," in which are inclu- 
 ded, 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 coffee. Every part of the plant is per- 
 fectly wholesome — the root when fresh is tonic, and in large 
 doses slightly aperient. Chiccory is cultivated extensively 
 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 Eng- 
 land 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 cultivation ; 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 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 carrots are, in the first autumn 
 after sowing. 
 
 The great demand for chiccory has led to its very exten- 
 
433 
 
 sive cultivation in this country; considerable sums of money- 
 have been expended on the kilns and machinery required to 
 prepare it for the markets, and a large amount of capital is 
 at the present time profitably employed upon this new 
 branch of English agriculture. It is not unimportant to 
 notice that the cultivation of chiccory requires and remuner- 
 ates the use of lands worth from five pounds to eight pounds 
 per acre; that so far from exhausting the soil, wheat may 
 be grown upon it after chiccory with the greatest advantage ; 
 that it furnishes occupation for a very large number of la- 
 borers, including women and children, and at a time of year 
 when the fields aflbrd 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 
 substitute 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 grower are 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 goftee flavor r 
 but it makes a rich and wholesome vegetable infusion of a 
 dark color, with a bitterish sweet taste, which would prob- 
 ably be preferred by a rude palate to the comparatively 
 thin and weak, and at the same time not very palatable in- 
 fusion 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 renders it to very 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 infi- 
 28 
 
434 
 
 nitely better stuff than any pure coffee that can be had at 
 the same price. Any one with a sensitive taste, and a suffi- 
 cient 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 by no means in this position. Coffee, with an admix- 
 ture of genuine chiccory (which we take care to procure 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 ex- 
 plicitly state. We can afford to sell, and do sell a finer 
 coffee when mixed with chiccory than we can sell in its pure 
 state at the same price; and the superiority of the coffee in 
 conjunction with the fulness of the chiccory, in our opinion, 
 decidedly gives greater satisfaction to the public. 
 
 It is, however, a rule that will bear harshly on the com- 
 forts of the poor if coffee is to be sold only in its pure state, 
 and chiccory 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 by ounces. Moreover, the chiccory cof- 
 fee 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 necessity of two purchases 
 would suggest the idea of greater cost, lead to a desire for 
 more economy ; 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 proportion 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," says Thaer, in his Principles of Agri- 
 culture, "which have been proposed as substitutes for coffee, 
 and which when roasted and steeped in boiling water yield 
 an infusion resembling coffee, chiccory is the only one 
 which has maintained its ground. It has been used in this 
 
435 
 
 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 Office Reports, 1854, p. 348, is a briet notice 
 of the mode of cultivating chiccory. A variety which the 
 French call Chicor&e sauvage h 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 Con- 
 federate States during its great scarcity, I may mention 
 rye, raw yam potato, cut into small fragments, roasted and 
 parched, okra seed, and corn flour parched and ground, cot- 
 ton seed, the ground-nut, Bene, etc., which have all been 
 tried. 
 
 Lactuca elongata, Muhl. } Wild lettuce. Damp soils; 
 " longifolia, Mx. / collected in Charleston dis- 
 trict; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 421; Ann. de Therap. Ann. 1843; Woodv. 
 Med. Bot. 75-31 ; see L. virosa, Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iv, 10. 
 
 It is said to act as an anodyne, and to produce discharge 
 by the kidneys and skin, being similar in its effects to the 
 L. virosa of Europe; according to others, it is destitute of 
 narcotic power; see M. Aubergier's experiments. 
 
 Nabalus fraseri, D. C. and T. and G. V Gall of the earth, 
 Prenanthes alba, Ell. Sk. J Grows in damp 
 
 pine lands; collected in St. John's; Richland; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; Newbern. 
 
 The root is excessively bitter; it is used in domestic prac- 
 tice in this state as a tonic. I would invite further ex- 
 amination. 
 
436 
 
 Sonchus oleraceus, L. Common sow-thistle. Diffused; 
 collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; JSTewbern. 
 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 increases 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 cool- 
 ing nature, are applied outwardly as an emollient cataplasm, 
 and are found serviceable in inflammatory swellings, car- 
 buncle, 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 Cyc. 
 
 Plantaginace^;. (The Bib-grass Tribe.) 
 
 The herbage slightly bitter and astringent. 
 
 Ptarttago major. Plantain. Nat. Collected in St. John's, 
 Berkley, near the Santee river; 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 Se. 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 oc- 
 casioned by walking, and that the whole plant was esteemed 
 useful in healing and consolidating ulcers and recent wounds, 
 and as a dressing for blisters and sores. The leaves no 
 doubfrmake 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 collyrium was made 
 with a decoction of the seeds. Thornton's Fam. Herb.; 
 
437 
 
 Woodv. Med. Bot.; Dem. Elena, 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 Util. Phil. Nat. ii, 150; Petzolat, 
 Eph. Nat. cur. cent, 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. Sup- 
 plem. 1846, 567; Rev. Med. Juin, 1837, 399. Dr. Perret 
 communicated to the Soc. des Sc. Med. de Lausanne a re- 
 port on the beneficial effects derived from the root in vari- 
 ous 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 tu- 
 mors. 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 refrigerant, diuretic, deobstruent, and somewhat as- 
 tringent. A chemical analysis would be desirable, as it is 
 probable that a narcotic principle exists in it. 
 
 Plantago lmiceolata,VYi. Ribwort; snake plantain. Grows 
 around Charleston and Savannah; collected in damp mead- 
 ows in St. John's, Berkley; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 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 
 qualities; part are tonic and astringent, and part acrid and 
 caustic in the highest degree. 
 
 Statice limonium, Torrey. V Marsh rosemary. 
 
 " Caroliniana, 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 
 astringents;" much used in New England for all the pur- 
 
438 
 
 poses 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 antiseptic power. 
 Its chief popular application is to aphthous and ulcerative 
 affections of the mouth and fauces. Dr. Balies, of Massa- 
 chusetts, found it highly serviceable in eynanche maligna: 
 he used a decoction of the roots both internally and locally, 
 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 in- 
 admissible. From the experiments of Prof. Y. Mott, in an 
 inaugural thesis spoken favorably of by Dr. Bigelow, it 
 proved serviceable in chronic dysentery after the inflamma- 
 tory 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. limonium; 
 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, decoction, or tincture. Alco- 
 hol is a better solvent of the properties of the root than 
 water. The infusion with cold water is preferable to that 
 with hot. 
 
 Ehretiace^e. 
 
 Heliotropium Indicum. Turnsole. Michaux found it at 
 the Eutaw battle-ground, St. John's, Berkley ; and Mr. 
 Oemler in the Dutch Fork, in Richland district. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M! Med. iii, 462. It 
 has been employed in the cure of headache. See Walke- 
 naer, "Voyage," xii, 469. It is used in Guinea and in 
 India. The juice is applied to eruptive surfaces, opthal- 
 mias, etc. Ainslie, Mat. Med. Ind. ii, 414. Rottboll, after 
 Sprengel, says it is a vulnerary, employed in some coun- 
 tries to arrest flooding. Hist, de la Med. iv, 467 ; Abbet, 
 Guyane, i, 117. 
 
439 
 
 Boraoinaceje. {The ISorage Tribe.) 
 
 Characterized by soft, mucilaginous, and emollient prop- 
 erties. Some are said to contain nitre, a proof of which is 
 shown by their frequent decrepitation when thrown on the 
 fire. Lindley. 
 
 Lithospermum arvense, L. Bastard alkanet. Introduced. 
 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 Cyc. 
 
 Cynoglossum amplexicaule, Mx. 1 Hound's tongue. Wild 
 " Virginicum, L. j comfrey. Grows in shady 
 
 spots ; Richland and Charleston districts. Fl. June. 
 
 The root is mucilaginous, and much emplo} 7 ed in domes- 
 tic practice for complaints of the lungs, and externally for 
 poultices in sprains, bruises, etc. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 489. According to Clayton, the root 
 is astringent, and is administered in diarrhoea. The leaves 
 intoxicate when smoked as tobacco. According to Griffith, 
 it is stated that the root may be used as a substitute for 
 comfrey. Med. Bot. 500. 
 
 Cynoglossum officinale, L. Introduced. Waste grounds, 
 North Carolina, and northward. Chapman. 
 
 The leaves, when touched, emit a pungent and disagree- 
 able odor, like that of mice in a trap. The plant is eaten 
 by goats, but is disliked by all other domestic animals. Its 
 roots have astringent and narcotic properties — regarded as 
 antiscorbutic. Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 
 Lamiace^e or Labiate. ( The Mint Tribe.) 
 
 These do not contain a single unwholesome or even sus- 
 picious species ; their tonic, cordial, and stomachic quali- 
 ties are due, according to Lindley, to the presence of an 
 aromatic, volatile oil, and a bitter principle. 
 
440 
 
 Mentha tenuis. American spearmint. Cult. 
 
 It is an antispasmodic, and is said by Culpepper to be 
 also an aphrodisiac. English Physician, by Nieh. Culpep- 
 per, gent, " Student of Physic and Astrology," p. 214. It 
 is considered by the steam and vegetable practitioners a 
 specific in allaying nausea and vomiting. Thompson's 
 Practice, and Matson's Veg. Pract. 286. 
 
 Melissa officinalis. Balm. Introduced. 
 
 The balm, sage, mint, and other aromatic plants, for the 
 most part cultivated in our gardens, need scarcely more 
 than a reference. The melissa is cultivated for bees. The 
 reader is referred 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. 
 
 Mentha piperita, L. Peppermint. Introduced. 
 
 We have also the round-leaved mint (M. rotundifolia) — 
 introduced. 
 
 They abound in resinous dots, which contain an essential 
 oil. The pleasant, aromatic, antispasmodic properties of 
 these labiate plants are well known. They flourish within 
 the Confederate States, and the essence and mint water can 
 be extracted in any quantity. In Patent Office Reports, 
 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 containing aromatic oils 
 can be raised at the South in sufficient quantities to supply 
 all demands. An establishment such as that at New Leba- 
 non, New York, and at other localities, for the cultivation 
 of medicinal and useful plants on an extensive scale, should 
 now receive consideration. See my paper in De Bow's Re- 
 view, August, 1861. . . 
 
 Ijycopus Europeus, Eat. M. ^ Water horehound. Nat. in 
 " angustifolius, and V damp soils; collected in St. 
 " sinuatus, Ell. Sk. J John's ; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. PL July. 
 
441 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 25; U. S. Disp. 437; Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 168; Matson's Veg. Pract. 250; 
 Milne, Ind. Bot. 34. This is reputed to give an indelible 
 stain to whatever it touches. Hoffmann says the gypsies 
 use it to disguise themselves. It has been highly spoken 
 of on the Continent of Europe in intermittent fevers; Prof. 
 Re, 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. Eurojjeus in allaying fever. Dr. Brof- 
 fiero's note in the Repertorio Medico Chirurg. 832, and 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 505. It is emplo3 7 ed by the vegeta- 
 ble practitioners in diarrhoea, atonic conditions of the di- 
 gestive organs, and as a cleansing wash for sores. I 
 would invite attention to this and the following, which are 
 easily obtained. 
 
 Ly co-pus Virginicus, Mich. Bugle-weed; Virginian ly co- 
 pus. Diffused; collected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity 
 of Charleston; Richland district. Fl. August. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 168. It has been 
 administered internally with great success in hemorrhage 
 aiid haemoptysis ; and in phthisis it lessens the force of the 
 circulation. Iu the diseases first mentioned Dr. Silliman 
 verifies the results obtained b}^ Linstey — twent}^ 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 Journal des Sc. Med. 154. 
 According to Dr. Ives, of New Haven, it' is a mild narcotic. 
 Drs. Pendleton and Rogers, of New York, obtained favor- 
 able effects from it in incipient phthisis and hemorrhage 
 from the lungs. See New York Med. and Phys. Journal 
 i, 179; U. S. Disp. 436; Raf. Med. Fl. 11. As a direct 
 sedative, it is useful in diminishing the frequency of the 
 pulse, quieting irritation, and allaying cough. Practition- 
 ers, 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 
 
442 
 
 the pulse; its use, however, not being attended with the 
 disagreeable symptoms sometimes accompanying the em- 
 ployment of the latter. An infusion may be given ad libi- 
 tum, made with one ounce of the herb macerated in a pint 
 of boiling water. It imparts a black color to linen, wool- 
 len, and silk. This plant grows abundantly in the lower 
 country of South Carolina. 
 
 Salvia lyrata, L. Caucer-weed. Grows in shady, rich 
 lands ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Richland district; Xewbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Ell. Bot, Med. Notes, i, 31. " The fresh radical leaves of 
 the plant, 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. The H. 
 venosum is announced as a certain remedy against the bite 
 of the rattlesnake. 
 
 Salvia officinalis. Sage. 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 experiments of Ellinger, is possessed of marked anti- 
 spasmodic power : it strengthens the circulatory, cutane- 
 ous, and digestive functions ; stimulates the action of the 
 nerves, and has a decided effect upon the cephalic organs 
 (see Merat and authors) ; prescribed as a stomachic, and in 
 catarrhal and cellular infiltration, and used as a gargle in 
 mucous angina and fungous ulcers. u Cur moriaiur homo 
 cui salvia crescit in hortof became an adage, so much confi- 
 dence was formerly reposed in the plant. Its reputation is 
 most extensive in domestic practice, the warm infusions 
 being given as a sudorific, and in promoting the menstrual 
 discharge. The plant is said to have great power in resist- 
 ing 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, 
 
443 
 
 Methodus Medend. 37. Baron Yan Swieten also found it 
 efficacious in restraining the inordinate flow of milk after 
 weaning children. In the English Physician, p. 295, the 
 quaint author, Nich. Culpepper, gent., "Student in Physic 
 and Astrology," mentions it as an aphrodisiac: "Helpeth 
 conception and hinders miscarriage." "Jupiter claims 
 this, and bids me tell you it is good for the liver and to 
 breed blood!" The essential oil deposits camphor in abun- 
 dance, hence employed as a friction in rheumatism, paraly- 
 * sis, etc. Journal de Pharm. xvi, 574. 
 
 I introduce the following on the cultivation of 
 Sage. — The cultivation of this herb is among the most 
 profitable of the market gardener's products. Large quan- 
 tities 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 usu- 
 ally retailed in the markets of our larger cities, an acre of 
 sage plants will yield a return of over seven hundred dol- 
 lars; 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 
 replanted at distances of about one foot each way. As 
 soon as it has grown so as to begin to show form 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. 
 
 Monarda punctata, L. Dotted monarda ; horsemint ; 
 origanum. Grows in rich and damp soils ; collected in St. 
 John's, where it is found abundantly ; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; Richland district ; Spartanburg. Fl. August. 
 
 Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. ii, 302; Ell. Bot. Med. 
 Notes, 30 ; IT. S. Disp. 462 ; Am. Med. Record, ii, 496 ; 
 
444 
 
 Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 360 ; Mer. and de L: Diet, de M. 
 Med. iv, 444 ; Bull des Sci. Med. de Ferns, xi, 302. This 
 is another of our very aromatic indigenous plants, possess- 
 ing stimulant aud carminative powers, and regarded as a 
 very popular emmenagogue among those residing 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 efficient in allaying nausea 
 and vomiting in bilious fevers. Dr. Chapman mentions 
 cases 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 Phila- 
 delphia; see his essay; among other affections in hemi- 
 plegia and paralytic diseases, in the sinking state of epi- 
 demic typhus, in cholera infantum, where there is prostra- 
 tion 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 ! 
 
 Thymus vulgaris. Ex. Cultivated in South Carolina. 
 A well-known warm aromatic. 
 
 Collinsonia Canadensis. Gravel root ; horseweed ; knot- 
 weed; Canadian collinsonia. Grows in the mountains of 
 South Carolina. 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 says it possesses tonic, astringent, diuretic, and dia- 
 phoretic powers ; the root in substance, even in small 
 doses, is said to irritate the stomach, and produces vomit- 
 ing; the active principle is volatile, so that it is best em- 
 ployed, in the fresh state. The decoction is efficacious in 
 catarrh of the bladder, leucorrhoea, gravel, dropsy, etc., 
 
445 
 
 and as a cataplasm to internal abdominal pains. IT. S. 
 Disp. 1248. Merat says, Diet, de M. Med. ii, 364, that in 
 America it merits the name all heal (gu&rit tout), having the 
 properties referred 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 con- 
 tused leaves are applied to bruises, lividities (les meurtris- 
 seurs), pains in the stomach, and as an application to erup- 
 tions 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 employed as a friction in rheumatism. See 
 account of it by Dr. Hooker, of New Haven, Ann. Linn. 
 Soc. Dr. H. thinks the infusion should be made with a 
 gentle heat, in a close vessel. The best preparation is sup- 
 posed to be the essential oil, which is said to be an excel- 
 lent tonic, given with benefit in low fevers, exhaustion of 
 the forces, etc. This plant certainly merits further notice. 
 
 Collinsonia anisata. Griffith's Med. Bot. 515. 
 It possesses an odor somewhat similar to that of anise- 
 seed, having the properties of the C. Canaden. 
 
 Collinsonia scabra. Rough-leaved collinsonia. 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, 
 astringent, and diuretic. See C. Canaden. 
 
 Cunila mariana, Mx. Dittany ; Maryland cunila. 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 infusion forms a pleasant and refreshing drink ; 
 
446 
 
 it is diaphoretic, and is employed in fevers and colds. A 
 gentleman in Spartanburg district, S. C, tells me that 
 in his day "everybody cured everything with dittany." 
 Doubtless they took less mercury and drastic purgatives in 
 consequence. 
 
 Hedeoma pulegioides, Pursh. Pennyroyal ; tickweed. 
 Grows in the upper districts, and among the mountains of 
 South Carolina ; abundant in Spartanburg, S. C. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 365; Bart. M. Bot. ii, 165; Lincl. Fat. "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 aromatic, given in flatulent colic, and sick stom- 
 ach; also as a stimulant diaphoretic in catarrhs and rheu- 
 matism. The warm infusion is a convenient and useful 
 prescription, which is largely employed in popular practice 
 in promoting the menstrual discharge. It is said that the 
 plant, or the oil extracted from it, is an effectual remedy 
 against the attacks of ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. 
 
 Prunella vulgaris. Heal-all. Grows in dry soils; col- 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley. Fl. July. 
 ' Le. M. Med. ii, 245; Med. Diet, by Carr, art. Brunella ; 
 U. S. Disp. 1291 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 276 ; Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 520. This plant, though pos- 
 sessing some power as a stimulant, has fallen into disre- 
 pute. It was also used as an astringent in affections of the 
 throat. 
 
 Scutellaria lateriflora. Mad-dog scull cap; hood wort. Grows 
 along ditches; Richland, Gibbes; collected in St. John's; 
 Elliott says it is found in the mountainous districts. 
 
 Watson's Pract. Physic, 386 ; IT. S. Disp. 1294, Appen- 
 dix ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 274 ; Bulletin de 
 la Faculte, vii, 191, aim. 1820, where Spalding's (of Geo.) 
 report concerning its antihydrophobic 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. 
 
, 447 
 
 Scutellaria integrifolia, L. Diffused in swampy soils : col- 
 lected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston. Ft. June. 
 U. S. Disp. 1294. 
 
 Nepeta caiaria, L. Catnip. Nat. in upper districts ; col- 
 lected also in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Le. Mat. Med. ii, 130 ; II. S. Disp. 191 ; Ed. and Vav. 
 Mat. Med. 216 ; Bergii, Mat, Med. ii, 540 ; Mer. and cle L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. iv, 592 ; Dem. Eletri. cle Dot, 248 ; Am. 
 Herbal, 26. This plant is possessed of stimulant, tonic, 
 and warm aromatic virtues. Employed in popular prac- 
 tice in colds, asthma, amenorrhcea, chlorosis, hysteria, and 
 the flatulent colic of infants ; in the latter condition this 
 herb is universally employed. It was also used in yellow 
 fever, and, like many others, enjoyed an ephemeral repu- 
 tation as a remedy in hydrophobia. An iufusion 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. Guastamachia had used the 
 N. 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 
 Chirm 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, Berkley; in the Santee swamps, near Somerset PL; 
 vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 682. The organiza- 
 tion of the peduncle is peculiar. See observations on cer- 
 tain phenomena attending the plant called the D. Ameri- 
 canum. Acad, des Sci. 276, 1702. It is supposed to pos- 
 sess a "cataleptic power." "Pourvues de cette singuliere 
 faculte," namely: " la propriete, de la cataleptique, e'est-a- 
 
448 , 
 
 dire, de garder la position dans laquelle on place la fleur." 
 Siippiem. to Diet. Univ. de M. Med. 252, 1846. 
 
 Dracocephalum Virginianum, L. Grows in the mountains 
 of South Carolina. 
 
 Its properties are similar to those possessed by the pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 Leojiurus cardiaca, L. Motherwort. Nat. Grows around 
 buildings ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 " The leaves are deobstruent, laxative, diaphoretic, em- 
 menagogue, antihysteric, 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 Russia as a preservative against hydrophobia. 
 In the "Indian Materia Medica" it is stated that "an 
 infusion of the plant is a stimulant, 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 for a soothing tea. See 
 Linden, " Tilia." 
 
 Marrubium vulgare. Ex. Nat. Ilorehound. 
 
 Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 284; Watson's Pract. 
 Physic, 118 and 332 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 273 ; Trous. 
 et Pid. Mat. Med. ; Traite de Therap. 308 ; Royle, Mat. 
 Med. 470 ; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 89 ; U. S. Disp. 452 ; Ball, 
 and Gar. Mat. Med. 358; Matson's Veg. Pract.; Cullen, 
 Mat. Med. ii, 154 ; Bergii, Mat. Med. ii, 558 ; Wooclv. Med. 
 Bot. In the United States, it is used only as a warm, 
 aromatic stimulant. The leaves are tonic and somewhat 
 laxative, and are employed in colds, asthma, hysteria, and 
 meuorrhagic diseases. The warm infusion acts as a sudor- 
 ific, and is applicable as a palliative in phthisis and perip- 
 neumonia, but is not allowed the possession of any very 
 decided powers. In the Supplem., however, to the Diet. 
 
449 
 
 Uni. de M. Med. 457, 1846, it is said to be certainly useful 
 in chronic rheumatism, one ounce and a half of the infu- 
 sion being given morning and evening. See, also, the 
 Journal des Connaissances Medic. Dec. 10, 1836. Ferrein 
 notices the root as an excellent vermifuge. Mat. Med. i, 
 279, iii, 312; and Desbois de Rochefort says the decoction 
 of three or four ounces is a good remedy in taenia. Dr. 
 Cutler asserted that the infusion was a very useful applica- 
 tion in salivation. Am. Herbal, by J. Stearns, LL.D. 
 Griffith states that obstinate catarrhs are much benefited 
 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 children and infants 
 suffering with colds and coughs. Given during the day 
 with opiates, and nitre at night, it restores appetite, is 
 expectorant and duretic, and thus removes the slight re- 
 mains of cold and fever so frequent with children. If the 
 fever is a prominent symptom ipecacuanha should also be 
 used. Besides, it may perform a most important role in 
 taking the place of more active and injurious drugs. I 
 know of no better remedy for colds and coughs than the 
 juice of horehound sweetened and given during the day. 
 
 Verbenacete. [The Vervain Tribe.) 
 Callicarpa Americana, Mx. French mulberry. Collected 
 in St. John's, Berkley, in dry soils ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Richland district; Newbern. 
 
 Drayton's View of S. C. 62. This is said to be useful in 
 dropsical complaints. It bears very pretty red berries, 
 29 
 
450 
 
 growing in wliorls around the stem, which are slightly 
 sweetish to the taste. I could not extract much coloring 
 matter from their skins with vinegar or alum. 
 
 Verbena urticifolia, L. Kettle-leaf vervain. Common in 
 damp soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. 
 Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1301. Boiled in milk and water, and com- 
 bined with the inner bark of the white oak, it is advan- 
 tageously used in poisoning from the sumachs (Rhus). Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 868 ; Journal de Med. lxx, 
 529. 
 
 Verbena hasiata, L. Vervain ; Simpler's joy. Middle 
 districts of South Carolina, and in Georgia ; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; ISTewbern. 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 examined. 
 
 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. ]STat. x, 426. 
 
 Pedaliace2E. (The Oil Seed Tribe.) 
 
 Sesamurn Indicum. ~) Bene. Introduced by the Africans. 
 " Orientate. J Fl. July. . 
 This is the sesame of the Anabasis, mentioned also by 
 Dioscorides, Theophrastus, and others. The seeds contain 
 an abundance of fixed oil as tasteless as olive, and for 
 which it may be substituted ; it is said to be used ex- 
 tensively in Egypt and Arabia. Lind. Nat. Syst. 280; U. 
 S. Disp. 661. Merat says that in Egypt they drink large 
 
451 
 
 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 application 
 to furfuraceous eruptions. In India it is regarded as an 
 emmenagogue and as provocative of abortion ; employed in 
 cutaneous affections and ophthalmia; a solution is given 
 in colic and dysentery, and used as an application for soft- 
 ening the skin. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 332, 
 and the Supplem. 1846, 657, according to which it is also 
 becoming an object of considerable commercial impor- 
 tance, being substituted for olive oil in the manufacture of 
 Marseilles soap. See Essay of M. Hardy, Revue 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 it was found beneficial 
 in a dysentery which prevailed in 1803. We have seen it 
 given to some extent, and with great advantage, in New 
 York, in diarrhoea and dysentery, particularly in these 
 affections as they occur in children; two or three of the 
 leaves, thrown in water, are 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 
 made with sugar into a very nice candy. It might be 
 made a source of profit to raise the plant in the Con- 
 federate 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 be- 
 comes 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 
 
452 
 
 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 practised 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 sas- 
 safras leaf contains more mucilage than the Bene, and that 
 both should be gathered and cured for winter use in mak- 
 ing 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 manu- 
 factured into oil. It yielded thirty-nine gallons of clear 
 oil and about live quarts of refuse oil, or about two and a 
 half gallons to the bushel. In consequence of the mill im- 
 parting the flavor of flaxseed he could not use it as a salad 
 oil, for which purpose he was confident it would be su- 
 perior, when pure, to the adulterated imported olive oil. 
 It was used, however, as a substitute for castor oil. All 
 who used it praised it for its gently purgative effect, and 
 because it was free from the nauseous taste peculiar to 
 castor oil. Twenty bushels is believed to be a moderate 
 estimate 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 
 mucilage to be used in diarrhoea and dysentery is testified 
 to by all persons who have used it. For this purpose two 
 or three leaves are soaked in a tumbler of water and ad- 
 ministered repeatedly. 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 our soldiers in camp. Planters should collect and 
 cure all the leaves at their disposal. At page 838 of the 
 same volume another paper on the Bene is to be found. 
 It is there stated that the plant will throw out a great pro- 
 fusion of leaves by breaking off the top when it is half 
 grown. 
 
453 
 
 Nelson quotes Miller on the Bene, as cultivated by the 
 African negroes in South Carolina: "The inhabitants of 
 
 CD 
 
 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 becomes 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 seeds 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." Rural Cyc. 
 
 The seeds of the Bene, the myrtle, and the tallow tree, 
 with the fruit of the ground-nut (Arachis) might afford use- 
 ful material to the soap manufacturers within the Confed- 
 erate 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 
 estimate of the average quantity of oil yielded by the dif- 
 ferent oleaginous seeds : colewort, winter rape, and other 
 species of 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 Ure's Dictionary of 
 Arts. I have little doubt that the Chinese tallow tree 
 (StUUngia sebifera) introduced and growing around Charles- 
 ton is richer than any above mentioned. Hickory 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 difficult to extract the oil (1862). 
 
 The plants most commonly cultivated for the produc- 
 tion of oil belong to the genus Brassica; all plants of this 
 genus produce seeds containing considerable quantities of 
 
454 
 
 oil, and are sometimes 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 degener- 
 ated variety of autumnal rape or cole seed, but really a 
 distinct species. "Thaer's Principles 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 campestris) 
 requires a dry soil. I introduce this information here 
 because the plant might be cultivated to great advantage 
 in the Confederate States for supplying oil, and because 
 Thaer adds at the conclusion of his paper that the seeds of 
 the ruta. baga, or Swedish turnip, which is already grown 
 extensively throughout the Southern states, 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' 
 excellent plant for fodder. The seed does not mature well 
 in South Carolina. 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. The rape is 
 grown and produces well in Clarendon district, S. C, Mr. 
 Sanders informs me. It will produce seed. 
 
 I would particularly advise the extensive introduction 
 and cultivation of the rape in the Confederate States, both 
 because it grows and matures well, and because of the 
 amount of oil the seeds afford, which would supply what- 
 ever is necessary in making soap (for processes, see Ure'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 the support of his slaves. 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 
 
455 
 
 32° Fahr. The white or yellow seed (lire'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 Dictionary for paper on the subject of the 
 oils, mode of obtaining, etc. Also 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 information on "seed crushing" and extraction 
 of all oils. Ure 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 Aveight. " It forms an excellent 
 lamp oil, and is much employed 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 great- 
 est 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. 31etropolitana, under "Oil-press," a quarter of 
 seed (whose average weight is four hundred pounds) is said 
 to yield twenty gallons of oil. ISTow, 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, it deposits 
 masses of white stearine along with a brownish powder. 
 This stearine is very difficult of saponification. The 
 reader is referred to the last paragraph of p. 297 of Ure's 
 Dictionary, vol. ii, and all of p. 298, ending at word 
 "Dutch plan," top of p. 299; and on the subject of oils, 
 
456 
 
 soap, candles, starch, and sugar, I would refer to the same 
 work, where many of the best processes are 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, forming soap with the alkalies, and burning and 
 evaporating at different temperatures. It is the last char- 
 acteristic particularly which establishes that difference 
 among them by which they are divided into fixed and 
 volatile oils. The fixed oils are contained 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 principles 
 contained in the fruit submitted to compression. It is 
 particularly 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 press- 
 ure 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 em- 
 ployed 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 pressure ; 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 manufacto- 
 ries, and there the fine oils would but imperfectly replace 
 those of a coarser kind; thus, by perfecting the produce 
 
457 
 
 the usefulness of it would be lessened. ' When oil is to be 
 extracted for domestic purposes it is without doubt desira- 
 ble that it be obtained as pure as possible, but that which 
 is destined to be employed in the trades and in manufac- 
 tures, 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 prod- 
 ucts to the wants and tastes of consumers. When mucil- 
 age 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 de- 
 prived of fluidity the oil flows off 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 effects 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 clearness. But before using the 
 oil it ia 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 become 
 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 in- 
 creases the use of them, as they can in this way be 
 
458 
 
 employed as varnishes for covering bodies which it is 
 necessary <to preserve from air and water, or as the 
 recipients of colors to be used in painting upon cloth, 
 wood, or metal. The best drying oils are those of flax- 
 seed, nuts, and poppies. Linseed oil will dissolve at 
 boiling temperature one-quarter of its weight of that oxide 
 of lead known in commerce by the name of litharge. It 
 becomes brown in proportion 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 facilitate the operations in all establishments 
 for carding and spinning wool. It is by the use of oil that 
 the play of all machinery is rendered more regular and 
 easy, and that friction is moderated, 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 distributed 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; chamo- 
 mile, 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 perceived 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 
 
459 
 
 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 by distillation or 
 expression. When the oil is contained in vesicles upon 
 the surface of the rind, as in those of the lemon and berga- 
 mot, 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 undis- 
 turbed for a few days, when the pulp will settle at the bot- 
 tom 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 em- 
 ployed from preference in new distillations. It is customary 
 to make use of a narrow straight-necked vessel as a re- 
 ceiver; 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 distil- 
 lers 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 sub- 
 stances. They are likewise used in the manufacture of var- 
 nishes, from the readiness with which they dissolve colors, 
 and from their quick evaporation after being applied." 
 
460 
 
 At Cannes, in the south of France, I have myself wit- 
 nessed 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. 
 
 Bignoniace^;. (The Trumpet-flower Tribe.) 
 
 Bignonia crucigera, Walt. (N. A.F.) 1 Rich, shaded soils; 
 " capreolata, L. and Ell. Sk. / collected in St. John's, 
 Berkley; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. March. 
 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 278. See B. crucigera, Walt. The 
 root and vine, in infusion or decoction, answer the purpose 
 of sarsaparilla. It is detergent and alterative, aperient, 
 diuretic, and sudorific, used in syphilis, chronic rheumatism, 
 and in derangements 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 appears to be possessed of instinct; it shoots up to the 
 highest tops of trees before sending out a branch. 
 
 Bignonia catalpa, Mx. 1 Catalpa. Grows in the upper 
 Cataljja cordifolia, Ell. Sk. J 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 Thun- 
 berg and Keempher, as well as those of Brera, have given 
 incontestable evidence of the advantages resulting from its 
 use in asthma. The decoction of the fruit is also employed. 
 See Gazette Medicale, 8, 1834; Journal de Chim. Med. x, 
 164. Ksempher says he also applied the leaves to the pain- 
 ful part. Poultry are said to thrive on and to be fond of 
 the seeds. The timber makes durable posts. I find no 
 notice of the plant in the American works. The honey 
 collected from the flowers is somewhat poisonous — resem- 
 bling, though less active, that collected from the yellow 
 jessamine. See following. 
 
461 
 
 Gelseminum sempervirens, Juss. Jessamine. Grows in 
 swamps; diffused through the alluvial regions. It is ob- 
 served 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 properties to a very considerable 
 degree." 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 effect on the nervous system has been repeatedly 
 observed. 
 
 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. Mays, of South Carolina, 
 has contributed one of these. Drs. Ford and White used 
 the tincture of the root as they did that of the Vercdrum 
 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. I regret my inability at this 
 moment to make direct reference to the authorities. Stille's 
 Therap. and Dunglison's New Remedies may be consulted. 
 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 which I published in Ch. Med. 
 Journal. The active principle, gelseminine, is much used 
 latterly by a certain school of practitioners at the North 
 and West, with other substances of similar nomenclature. 
 
 I give the following statement of the method of extract- 
 ing 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 
 
462 
 
 rose, of jessamine, violet, etc., are possessed of a more fee- 
 ble odor, and being obtained from the flowers of their re- 
 spective plants, require much care in their preparation. 
 This is done by spreadiug 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 employed appears to 
 be saturated with the oil of the flowers, when this last is 
 separated by digesting the wool in alcohol." "Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. ; consult, also, Ure's Dictionary of Arts, and 
 Chaptal's Chemistry applied to Agriculture; also Bene 
 (Sesamum) in this volume. I have seen in the south of 
 France young girls manufacturing essence of rose. Our 
 Southern matrons do not lack jessamine flowers or rose 
 petals for making perfumes, essences, rose-water, etc. 
 
 VALEMANACEiE. (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 relations with the officinal valerian. 
 
 Acanthaceje. ( The Justicia Tribe.) 
 
 Huettia strepens, L. Grows in pine barrens ; collected in 
 John's ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Ainslie, ii, 153 ; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 285. The leaves 
 are said to be subacrid. 
 
 Orobanchace^:. (The Broom-rape Tribe.) 
 Orobanche uniflora,, L. Squaw-root; cancer-root; broom- 
 rape. Grows in pine barrens in the middle district. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1282. It is said to possess properties similar 
 to the following : 
 
 Orobanche Virginiana, L. \ Beech-drop. Grows on 
 
 JEpiphegus Americana, Nut-tall. J beech trees exclusively; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. August. 
 
463 
 
 U. S. 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 ingredi- 
 ents of a secret remedy for cancer, known as Martin's can- 
 cer powder. This is supposed to possess some of the pow- 
 erful astringency belonging 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 
 affections, ulcers, etc. 
 
 ScrophulariacEjE. (The Figwort Tribe.) 
 
 Generally acrid and bitterish, sometimes dangerous in 
 their properties. 
 
 Verbascum ihapsus, Walt. Mullein. Diffused; grows in 
 pastures, upper and lower country of South Carolina ; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Le. Mat. Med. ii, 440 ; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 295 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 735; Watson's Pract. Physic, 202; Royle, Mat. Med. 
 493 ; Journal de Chim. Med. ii, 223 ; Home, Clin. Experi- 
 ments 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 contain 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 
 convulsions of infants, in ardor urinse, and wherever the 
 indication 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. ltllem. de Bot. ii, 
 135; Milne, Ind. Bot. 293. The leaves of mullein, warmed 
 and applied to the feet, have given relief to those affected 
 with gout; and the distilled water of the flowers has been 
 
464 
 
 used effectually in diseases of the skin; Merat says in ery- 
 sipelas and colics. Scopoli relates that in Carniola mullein 
 is esteemed valuable in the pulmonary complaints affecting 
 cattle (hence called cow's lungwort). "The roots, both 
 recent and dried, have the property of fattening poultry, 
 even to obesity." Thornton's Fam. Herbal, 238. It is 
 useful in stopping or diminishing diarrhoeas of long stand- 
 ing, and often in easing pain of the intestines, which is ac- 
 counted for by the anodyne, emollient, and gently astrin- 
 gent qualities of the plant. Woodv. Med. Bot. ii, 343. 
 Linnaeus states, in his Veg. Mat. Med. 31, that fish will 
 become so stupefied by eating the seeds as to allow them- 
 selves to be taken. See, also, the JEsculus 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 
 feeblj 7 anodyne emollient dressing for sores, and are much 
 used by the poorer class. 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, are reputed valuable in the treatment of agues 
 by the herbalists. See "Indian Guide to Health." Taken 
 internally, the dose is four ounces, one ounce of the leaves 
 being added to one pint of water. It would be desirable 
 to obtain an analysis of this plant. 
 
 Verbascum lychnitis, L. Grows iu South Carolina, accord- 
 ing to Dr. Muhlenberg. Fl. July. 
 
 Dem. filem. 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 iu this disease, in pectoral 
 affections, and in colics ; no doubt beneficial, from its 
 sharing the possession of the narcotic principle ascribed to 
 the V. thapsus. 
 
 Griffith states that the flowers are said to destroy mice. 
 Med. Bot. 517. 
 
 Verbascum blatiaria. Moth mullein. Grows abundantly, 
 
465 
 
 according to Elliott, in the middle and upper districts ; 
 sparingly in the lower; collected in St. John's, Berkley; 
 near the bridge at the Big Camp, on the Santee canal; 
 vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Fl. March. 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 86^ 
 
 Serophularia nodosa, Linn. (Prodrom.) V Vicinity of 
 
 " Marylandica, Ell. Sk. J Charleston, Bach. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 518. It is vulnerary and soothing, 
 when applied as a poultice to ulcers, burns, etc. 
 
 Chelone glabra, L. Snake-head. Grows in damp soils ; 
 Richland district; collected in St. John's, Berkley; viciu- 
 ity, of Charleston; Xewbern. 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 vegetable practitioners as an anthelmintic ; also in 
 jauudice, in hepatic disorders generally, and in constipa- 
 tion. It is prescribed as an alterative and tonic in impure 
 conditions of the blood — 'the decoction, powder, or tincture 
 used. 
 
 Digitalis -purpurea. Digitalis ; foxglove. 
 
 It is stated in one of the gazettes that this plant grows 
 native around Charleston! See Shec, Flora Carol. 305. 
 Elliott makes no mention of it; neither does Bachman in 
 his Catalogue. The power this remarkable species pos- 
 sesses of diminishing the force of the circulation is well 
 known. It sometimes proves violently emetic and purga- 
 tive. See authors. 
 
 Gratiola officinalis, j Hedge hyssop. Kafr- 
 
 " Virginiea, of Mx. Ell. Sk. J ural. Abundant along 
 
 the margins of ditches; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. April. 
 
 Bull. Plantes Ven 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 
 
 30 
 
466 
 
 purge excessively (des superpurgations extremement dan- 
 gereuses). 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 sdfd to be powerfully anthelmintic, and was 
 highly spoken of by the celebrated Boerhaave, by Hoff- 
 mann, and Dureau. ' ; Relieves dropsy in the chest." Lind. 
 K"at. Syst. 291. According to Vauquelin, the purgative 
 property depends upon a peculiar substance analogous to 
 resin, but differing from it in being soluble in hot water. 
 
 Graiiola awed, Muhl. Vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 519. It is said to be fully as power- 
 ful as the above, as a substitute for which it is employed; 
 attention is called to it. 
 
 jDaiysioma pubeseens, Benth. • \ Abundant in rich, dry 
 
 Gerardia Flam, L. and Ell. Sk. J woods. 
 
 This plant, it is said, will prevent the attacks of yellow 
 and other flies upon horses; probably owing to its great 
 viscidity. See '•'•Juglans." It is pubescent and highly vis- 
 cous. It has very little taste, unless chewed for some time. 
 Upon a subsequent examination (1862) of the G. Flava, I 
 find that each hair with which the plant is covered secretes 
 from a gland at its summit a tenacious, gummy substance, 
 to which insects may adhere. Under the microscope it is 
 an interesting object. The leaves of the English elder 
 (Sambucus nigra') "kill several species of noxious insects, 
 offend and banish moles, and are greedily eaten by sheep." 
 Our Lysima.chias should be examined, as the leaves and 
 flowers of L. Nummularia, steeped in oil, have the power of 
 destroying insects and worms which infest granaries. 
 
 Veronica officinalis. Speedwell. Grows in South Caro- 
 lina, according to Pursh. Fl. May. 
 
 Linn. Veg. Mat. Med. 1. This is tonic and pectoral; 
 used in asthmas and coughs, four spoonfuls of the ex- 
 pressed juice being given in the form of tea. Indig. Bot. 
 
467 
 
 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 monographs on it; the latter 
 affirms that he cured a very violent case, where suffocation 
 arose from catarrhal affection, by introducing through the 
 mouth, by a funnel, the vapor of a decoction of Veronica, 
 mixed with vinegar. It contains tannin. Mer. and de L. 
 Diet, de M. Med. vi, 875; Flore Med. vi, 845. It is al- 
 luded 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 re- 
 quire examination to regain the confidence once placed in 
 them; all being liable to the fluctuations which have char- 
 acterized some that are now considered our most valuable 
 agents. 
 
 Veronica peregrina, Mx. ISTeckweed. Vicinity of Charles- 
 ton; l"Tewbern. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 517. In some portions of the United 
 States it is supposed, to be very efficacious ; and is used 
 internally, and externally as a wash in scrofulous tumors 
 on the neck. 
 
 Veronica Virginica, L. 1 Virginian veronica. Grows in 
 
 Leptandra, Nutt. J the mountain valleys. Fl. Au- 
 
 gust. 
 
 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, Gulver's root, and the proba- 
 bly erroneous botanical name [Leptandra alba), the author 
 of a work professing to describe the Indian mode of treat- 
 ing diseases, entitled the "Cherokee Physician," recom- 
 mends the plant as aue efficient purge: "operating with 
 mildness and certainty;" peculiarly adapted to typhoid and 
 bilious fevers. Dose, a large teaspoonful of the root in a 
 
468 
 
 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 concen- 
 trating 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 West- 
 ern states. An emetic decoction is made by the vegetable 
 practitioners with the Leptandra root: half a pound Amer- 
 ican 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 teaspoonfuls of the powder may be given 
 in an ounce of boiling water, to be repeated. 
 
 Veronica ariagaUis, Mich. Brook pimpernel; long-leaved 
 brook-lime. Grows in South Carolina, according to Pursh. 
 Nat. Fl. July. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 130. The infusion is diuretic, 
 antiscorbutic, and vulnerary. 
 
 Solanace^e. ( The Nightshade Tribe.) 
 
 Leaves are narcotic and exciting — tubers generally whole- 
 some. 
 
 Capsicum annuum. Pepper. Cultivated in South Caro- 
 lina. • 
 
 Its properties are well known. It may be used as an 
 external irritant in place of mustard. 
 
 Solanum nigrum, L. Deadly nightshade. Grows in rich 
 soils; collected in St. John's, Charleston district; vicinity 
 of Charleston; ]S"ewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Trous. et Pid. Mat. Med. i, 206; IT. S. Disp. 304; Eberle, 
 Mat. Med. ii, 89; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 343; Poyle, 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; 
 
469 
 
 Journal de Chim. Med. iii, 422 and 541 ; Eouv. Journal de 
 Med. x, 67; Alibert, Nouv. Elems. de Therap. i, 417. The 
 berries are an active narcotic poison ; one grain of these, in 
 augmented doses, is used as a remedy for increased flow of 
 urine. It is indicated in diseases affecting the bladder, re- 
 bellions ulcers, etc. Milne, Ind. Bot. 315; Bull. Plantes 
 Ven. de France, 155; Bern. £lem. de Bot. ii, 139. When 
 swallowed, headache, violent distortion of limbs, and delir- 
 ium supervene. Rucke mentions a case of a family having 
 eaten the leaves, and being attacked with swelling of the 
 face, accompanied with burning heat, followed by gangrene. 
 Forskall, in his Flora JEgypt. Arabica, says that an appli- 
 cation of the bruised leaves acts as a specific in the disease 
 termed by the Arabs bulla, and, applied with hog's lard, 
 cures whitlows. Cgesalpinus states that the juice, or a de- 
 coction, proved useful in inflammation of the stomach. Gat- 
 aker, in his "Observations on the Use of the Solanum," 
 commenced by giving a grain, which acted gently as an 
 evacuant by sweat, urine, and stool; if the dose was too 
 large, it produced vomiting, profuse perspiration, or too 
 copious a discharge by the kidneys, or diarrhoea, and some- 
 times 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, hemor- 
 rhoids, etc., and as a cataplasm in spasmodic retention of 
 urine, and in catarrh of the bladder, no doubt producing 
 beneficial 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 cancerous tumors, and is applied with advantage in 
 herpetic, syphilitic, and scorbutic eruptions. Given inter- 
 nally, 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 Bioscorides, iv, 56. By 
 the analysis of Besfosses, the berries furnish an alkaloid 
 called solanine, possessed of marked properties. jNouv. 
 Journal de Med. x, 67; Journal de Chim. Med. iii. 541, 
 
470 
 
 Dunal says it induces dilatation of the pupil by friction, as 
 completely as it is accomplished by belladonna. Auc. 
 Journal de Med. vi, 150; Hist. Med. des Solane, by Dunal. 
 It has been doubted whether it produces any impression 
 upon epileptic patients. Botanique Med. 292. The fumes 
 arising from the burning of the fresh fruit are valuable in 
 curing toothache. Gazette of Health, May, 1824. The 
 juice furnishes a reactive agent, which indicates at the same 
 time acids and alkalies, according to S. Boullav, Bull, des 
 Pharm. ii, 576; and in the Observs. on different English 
 species by Bromsfield. See also Desfosses, Chem. Anal, of 
 the narcotic principle, followed by some cases illustrating 
 the action of that principle; 'Revue Med. iv. 463. Griffith, 
 Med. Bot. 482, says that it appears to possess the same prop- 
 erties 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 lactucarium. Toxicol. Gen. ii, 190. It may be employed 
 in the same description of cases as the bittersweet. Eberle 
 thinks it is by far too much neglected. 
 
 Solarium. Caroline?! se, Michaux. Horse-nettle. Diffused ; 
 collected in St. John's, in pine barrens; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton ; Xewbern. Fl. August. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 410. Valentine em- 
 ployed it in tetanus (non traumatique). The juice of five 
 or six 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 the S. Carolinen.sc" (in French). Journal Gen. de Med. 
 xl, 13. They did not have it in sufficient quantities to re- 
 peat the experiment; with us it is abundant. It possesses 
 some reputation among the negroes in this state as an 
 aphrodisiac-. 
 
 Solanum mammosum, Pursh. Vicinity of Charleston. 
 Lind. ISTat. Syst. 295. The decoction of the root is bitter, 
 and is esteemed a valuable diuretic. Ainslie, M. Med. 291 : 
 
471 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 483. It bears a 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. 
 
 Solamcm Virginianum, Pursh. Grows in sandy soils; A'i- 
 cinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Stearns' Am. Herbal, 154. The leaves are anodyne; the 
 juice of the whole plant is sharp and corrosive, and inspis- 
 sated 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 herpes. From this statement, it appears to resem- 
 ble in its properties the 8. nigrum. 
 
 Solanum tuberosum. Cult. Irish potato. It is said to 
 have been originally carried to Europe from Virginia. Bald- 
 win 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 les enfans de nos provinces, nourris avec ces racines, 
 ont le ventre gros, dur, et sont sujets a des glandes tume- 
 fiees!" Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 295, where it is mentioned 
 that the root, in a state of putrefaction, 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. 488. 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 Irish as well as the sweet potato, rice, etc., contain 
 starch in large amount, and it is easily obtained. See " Ma- 
 ranta," arrow-root, in this volume. 
 
 The following is a method of clemming silks with potatoes : 
 three Irish potatoes are pared into thin slices, and well 
 washed ; pour on them a half-pint of boiling water, ana* 
 
472 
 
 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 applicable to cloth, velvet, or 
 crape. 
 
 Solatium lycopersicum. Ex. Cult. Tomato. 
 
 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 pro- 
 duce vomiting, from an alkaline principle which exists in 
 them; they also contain calcareous sulphates, extractive, 
 and a coloring matter, combined with a volatile oil. See 
 analysis in Journal de Pharm. xviii, 106; Griffith's Med. 
 Bot. 483. The alkaloid principle contained in the leaves is 
 analogous to, if not identical with solanina. A peculiar oil 
 and an annualized extractive are also ascribed to it' by 
 other observers. Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. 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 families in the following manner: mash the fruit, 
 strain the juice through a coarse towel, season with salt, 
 boil in a pewter or tin vessel until one-third is evaporated; 
 then spread on a flat surface and expose to the sun till it 
 looks like a paste. When ready to store away put writing 
 paper over the paste, wet in vinegar. This is a plan used 
 by the ladies in South Carolina. The watery parts are all 
 evaporated, and a small portion is enough to season soup, 
 broths, etc. The economical value of the plant is well 
 known. The seeds are irritant to the mucous coat of the 
 digestive organs, but the laxative effect is corrected by the 
 juice, which darkens the, excreta as if a salt of iron had 
 been taken. The use of the fruit tends to promote consti- 
 pation and prevent diarrhcaa. 
 
473 
 
 Phy satis pubescens. Grows in sandy soils; collected in 
 St. John's. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 296 ; Journal de Chim. 
 Med. vi; 210. It is supposed that the species bearing this 
 name in Europe and America are different. The former is 
 interesting. 
 
 Phy salts viscosa, L. ^ Ground -cherry. Diffused; 
 " obscura, Mich. V grows along roads; collected in 
 " pubescens, W. ) St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of 
 Charleston. Fl. Aug. 
 
 This is said by Clayton to be actively diuretic. 
 
 Atropa physaloides. Grows around buildings; in rich 
 soils. Fl. Aug. 
 
 This plant would probably be found upon examination 
 to be possessed of some medicinal qualities. 
 
 Nicotiana tabacum, W. Tobacco. Introduced. 
 
 This plant grows in South Carolina and Georgia. . In 
 the lower portions of the latter state it is planted as an arti- 
 cle of trade. Its properties are well known. See authors. 
 
 Tobacco should be more extensively cultivated for home 
 use, particularly for the comfort of our negroes in Carolina, 
 Georgia, and Alabama. I have seen it springing up, and 
 bearing abundantly near Stateburg, South Carolina; it 
 was flourishing without culture. Consult Johnson's Chem- 
 istry of Common Life, vol. ii, p. 32, for an interesting 
 account of tobacco; the papers in the Lancet during the. 
 controversy on the subject of the use of tobacco; also the 
 British and Foreign Med. Chirug. Review. In the manu- 
 facture of Killickinick tobacco in Virginia they add sumach 
 leaves, which lessens the strength. See a paper on the 
 "Cultivation of Cuba Tobacco," by J. M. Hernandez, of 
 St. Augustine, Florida, in Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 
 212; the best mode of preparing it is also treated of. The 
 ashes of tobacco contain a large proportion of potash. 
 The residuum of ash after burning is very great, as any 
 
474 
 
 one can observe by noticing what remains when a cig;ar is 
 consumed. The plant also yields ammoniacal salts. A full 
 account of the amount of tobacco produced in the several 
 states, and of the culture and mode of preparation may be 
 found in the Farmer's Encyc. from the Farm Register. 
 
 Datura stramonium. Linn. Jamestown weed; thorn- 
 apple; stramonium. Diffused; grows abundantly in upper 
 and lower districts; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Trous. et Pid. Traite de Therap. et de M. Med. i, 230 ; 
 Orfila, Traite de Toxicol. Journ. Univ. des Sci. Med. 47, 
 227 ; Ell. Bot. 276 ; Drayton's View, 63 ; Edin. Med. and 
 Surg. Journal vii and viii, 1812; Trans. Med. Chirurg. Soc. 
 Edin. i, 285; Archives Generates de Med. iv, 373; Med. 
 Chirurg. Trans. Loud, vii, ann. 1806 ; Bell's Pract, Diet. 434; 
 Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 80; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 438; Pe. 
 Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 308;. Frost's Elems. Mat Med. 
 460; IT. S. Disp. 688; Watson's Pract. Physic, 197; De 
 Cand. Phys. Veg. i, 354; Bayle, Bill. Therap. ii; Big. Am. 
 Med. Bot. i, 17; "Wooclv. Med. Bot. 74, 197; Trait6 de 
 Chimie, 81, 319; Paris's Pharm.; Bart, Essay Form. Mat. 
 Med. 48; New England Med. and Surg. Journ. iv, 226; 
 Med. Chirurg. Trans, vii, 2; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 
 346; CuMen, Mat Med. ii, 281; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 122; 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 593; Bull, des Sci. 
 Med. de Ferns, xi, 197; Lindeustolpe, de Venenis, 531, op. 
 tit.; Sauvage, Xosol. ii, 430; Greding, in Ludwig's Adver- 
 saria, i, 345; Murray's Apparat. Med. i, 670; Fowler, in 
 Med. Comment, v, 161 ; Adhelius, cit, in Med. Com. Phil. 
 Trans. Abridg. vi, 53; Rush, in Phil. Trans, i, 384; SchoBpf, 
 Mat. Med. 25; Wedinburg, Med. Comment, iii, 18; Bev- 
 erly's Hist. Virginia, 121; Med. and Phys. Journal, xxv, 
 xxvi; Cooper, in Caldwell's Thesis, vol. i; Shec. Flora 
 Carol. 497; Mew York. Med. Repos. ii, 27; Lind. Nat, 
 Syst. Bot. 294. 
 
 A well-known narcotic and antispasmodic, employed in 
 mania, epilepsy, chorea, tetanus, and palsy. 
 
 Bergius frequently saw maniacs restored to perfect sane- 
 
475 
 
 ness of mind, which they never afterward lost, by the 
 continued use of the extract of our common stramonium; 
 and by the same means he effectually cured the delirium 
 so often attendant upon childbirth, where every other 
 remedy had proved abortive. Bull, des Plantes Ven. et 
 Suspect, de France, i, 38; Dem. IClem. de Bot. ii, 75; 
 Milne, Ind. Bot. 285. Adhelius states that of fourteen 
 patients who suffered under epilepsy and nervous affec- 
 tions in a hospital at Stockholm, eight were completely 
 cured, five relieved, and only one received no benefit. 
 Thornton's Fam. Herb. 188; Woodv. Med. Bot. ii, 339; 
 Storck, i, c. 5 ; Karnes in Comm. Nov. 1733, p. 251 ; Lob- 
 sten, Epistle ad Gurren, Plantes Yen. Alsat. Eph. Nat. 
 Cur. cent, ix, obs. 94; Huckel in Comm. Nov. 1744, 14; 
 Barrex, Essai sur l'Hist. Nat. de la France, 48 ; Buchner, 
 Misc. Phys. Mat. 122. The seeds are soporific, and are 
 said to induce delirium and a partial forgetfulness, and to 
 be used by women in the East for purposes herein stated, 
 viz: u Ab India alia inebriantia et aromatica in electuarium recip- 
 itur semen, ad grata phantasmata cienda, et, ui quidem vohmt, 
 quo ad cetera patranda, tanto audaciores evadant." Ksempher, 
 Exotic, 650. " Somnumfacit adeo profundum ut impune pudi- 
 citia puellce violari possit, quce hoc toxicum, sumserit." Haller, t. 
 c. " A mulleribus iiifidis Turcis gynecceis inclusis, ad consopticn- 
 dos et dementandos maritos, quo aliorum mqjis desideratorum 
 ajnplexibus satientur, usurpari, et Hamburgi a vetula sic honest- 
 am feminam, quo se inscm mazchum admitteret, intoxicatam nar- 
 ratm\" See Lindenstolpe, de Venenis, 531 ; Mer. and de 
 L. Supplem. to Diet, de M. Med. 238, 1846. Dr. Begbie 
 has given the extract with great success, in doses of one- 
 quarter to one-half grain every four hours, in many cases 
 of neuralgia. Iievue Med. iii, 57, and iv, 414. Dr. Fott 
 relates the case of a young lady who was cured in six 
 weeks of tic douloureux bv usine' eiffht to fifteen drachms 
 of the tincture. Gazette de Sante, Janvier, 1830, p. 8 ; 
 Emploi du Stramonium dans 1'Asthme Nerveux, Paris, 
 1835. Series of observations in relation to the use of the 
 dried leaves as a purgative in the treatment of asthma (in 
 
476 
 
 French). Bull, de Therap. vi, 12, 336. Ducros' Observa- 
 tions on the efficacy of the leaves of Dat. stramonium in a 
 case of angina pectoris, from the Bull, de Therap. vii, 93. 
 Serres' Observations on the employment of extract of Stra- 
 monium in facial JSTeuralgia. Bull, de Therap. xiv, 51. F. 
 Moreau, Mem. on treatment of Hallucination by Stramo- 
 nium, in Gazette Medicale, 373, 1841; see, also, Biblio- 
 theque de Therap. by M. Bayle, ii, 249. Lindley, in his 
 ^Natural S} 7 stem, says it is more particularly applicable in 
 "mania without fever." The remedies for poisoning by 
 this plant are a speedy emetic, the free use of vegetable 
 acids, strong coffee, etc. Dr. Fisher, President of the 
 Massachusetts Medical Society, found stramonium useful, 
 remarks Bigelow, in those cases of epilepsy which are 
 diurnal or have regular returns. It was unsuccessful in 
 those which did not observe any regular period. In tic 
 douloureux of long standing it is advised that it be taken 
 in large doses, and that the system be kept under its 
 influence. The leaf, prepared and smoked as tobacco, has 
 been found to act as a palliative in asthma; the root being 
 less useful in this respect. From the observations of Br. 
 Marcet, Phys. Guy's Hosp., taken internally it had proved 
 very effectual in removing acute pains, as in those arising 
 from chronic diseases, acute uterine affections, for instance. 
 Decided benefit was obtained from it in four cases of 
 sciatica, and in two others complicated with syphilitic 
 pains. Eberle used it in this disease with entire success; 
 and he states that his trials with it in rheumatism were 
 exceedingly flattering. Dr. Chapman administered it in 
 dysmenorrhoea. The employment of the ointment in 
 allaying pain was known as far back as the time of 
 Gerarde, 1597. It is efficacious in changing the condition 
 and promoting cicatrization ; acetate of lead being employ- 
 ed with the ointment as an application to painful and 
 irritable ulcers and hemorrhoidal tumors. Preparations of 
 stramonium applied to the eye, it is well known, diminish 
 sensibility and dilate the pupil. I have seen the extract 
 employed to a large extent in the New York Eye Infirm- 
 
•477 ' 
 
 ary, in which institution it has entirely taken the place of 
 belladonna as an application for dilating the pupil. Its 
 virtues reside in an extractive principle, which is dissolved 
 by water. The powder should be kept in closely stopped 
 bottles ; the juice may be pressed out of the leaves with a 
 bag. The ointment ma}' be made with a pound of the 
 fresh leaves simmered in three of lard until the leaves 
 become crisp, then strained, and cooled gradually. Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot. 461. Its peculiar properties depend upon 
 a principle called daturia, very analogous to hyoscyamia, 
 slowly dilating the pupil and exercising a poisonous influ- 
 ence. Mr. Morries, in Ed. Med. and Surg. Journal, xxxix, 
 379, has described an empyreumatic oil obtained from it, 
 closely allied to that from the foxglove. Stramonium is 
 stated to be an acro-narcotic, very similar to ( belladonna, 
 but acting in a more marked manner upon the secretory 
 functions. Chapman says it is considered useful rather in 
 allaying the excessive mobility of the system than in tend- 
 ing to the absolute cure of the complaint; referring to its 
 effects in mania and epilepsy. Dr. Marcet regards its 
 operation on the bowels as relaxing rather than astringent. 
 The ointment has been recommended in nymphomania, to 
 lessen venereal excitement. The dose of the powdered 
 leaves is one grain, of the seeds half a grain ; of the 
 extract of the seeds one-quarter of a grain, from the 
 leaves one grain ; of the tincture ten drops, to be increased 
 if necessary. The tincture is made with four ounces of the 
 bruised seed to two pints of diluted alcohol — macerate for 
 fourteen da}s. In dilating the pupil with the extract, pre- 
 liminary to an examination of a diseased eye by the catop- 
 tric test, I have repeatedly found it to allay supra-orbital 
 pains. To relieve the latter, so often a distressing concomi- 
 tant, we frequently prescribe it, with equal parts of 
 mercurial ointment and thirty grains of mur. morphise, as 
 a local application. The plant while young and tender is 
 readily collected and eaten as a salad by soldiers in camp. 
 
 Datura tatula, L. Purple thorn-apple. Grows around 
 Charleston. El. July and September. 
 
478 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 690. "It possesses very much the same 
 properties as the D. stramonium." Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. 599. The decoction of the leaves is employed in 
 leprosy. Diet, des Drogues, ii, 56. Said to be aphrodisiac. 
 
 GENTiAtfACEiE. (The Gentian Tribe.) 
 Characterized by intense bitterness. 
 
 Gentiana JElliottii, Chap. Fl. \ Sampson's snakeroot. 
 " Gatesbm, Ell. J Damp soils along rivu- 
 
 lets ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; grows 
 in Georgia also ; l^ewbern. Fl. September. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 138 ; U. S. Disp. 348 ; Bell's 
 Pract. Diet. 218; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 
 361 ; Coxe, Am. Disp. 304 ; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 
 359; Griffith, Med. Bot. 461. An excellent bitter tonic, 
 "little inferior to the European gentian," introduced to 
 notice by Dr. McBride, of St. John's, Berkley, South 
 Carolina. It is frequently prescribed with advantage in 
 pneumonia attended with typhoid symptoms, and in dys- 
 pepsia. The virtues reside in a bitter extractive principle, 
 soluble in water and alcohol. It may be advantageously 
 combined with chalybeates. It is employed to some extent 
 in popular practice in this state, and is found of much 
 service as a substitute for bitters. The decoction is the 
 form prescribed in pneumonia. The saturated spirituous 
 tincture is advised in dyspepsia and in debility of stomach, 
 in doses of one-quarter to one-half of a fluidounce. The 
 root is officinal ; dose of the powder from fifteen to thirty 
 grains. The compound infusion is made with one-half 
 ounce of the root, orange peel and coriander each one 
 drachm, cold water twelve fluidounces, macerate for twelve 
 hours; dose, one fluidounce. Dose of extract, ten to thirty 
 grains. Given before meals it invigorates the stomach, 
 increases the appetite, and prevents acidification of the 
 food. 
 
 For extraction of "bitter principle" in plants, see Rural 
 Cyc. 435, vol. i. It is believed by many that the use of bit- 
 
479 
 
 ters in spring and autumn will counteract the action of 
 malaria." They certainly prevent debility, and increase the 
 digestive and nutritive powers, and thus indirectly act as 
 prophylactics, even when they possess no positive virtue 
 as antiperiodic agents. The various species of gentian, 
 thorough wort, sabbatia, dogwood, poplar bark, willow, pip- 
 sissewa, or winter-green, wild cherry bark, sarracenia, etc., 
 supply useful bitters. They may be collected and prepared 
 by any one. Cold water extracts bitters, and alcohol may 
 also be added to preserve the infusion. 
 
 Gentiana purpurea, rubra, and lutea are used in England as 
 substitutes for hops. No doubt our species would serve the 
 same purpose; at any rate, they will give a bitter tonic 
 property when used in the manufacture of ale, beer, etc. 
 
 Gentiana ochroleuca, W. Grows in damp soils ; collected 
 in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. September. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 340. It possesses properties some- 
 what similar to the above. 
 
 Gentiana, saponaria, L. \ . . 
 
 G. catesbeei, Walt. J ^ lcimt ^ ot Ctoayiepton, 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 461. 
 I 
 
 Gentiana quinqueflora, Frl. This and the G. sap. are 
 esteemed fully equal to the imported gentian. In large 
 doses they are said to be laxative ! 
 
 Sabbatia angular is, Pursh. \ Am. centaury. Grows in 
 Chironia, Linn. j low soils along rivulets ; col- 
 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 385; Chap. Therap. and Mat. 
 Med. 438; ii, 417; U. S. Disp. 611; Pe. Mat. Med. and 
 Therap. ii, 344; Royle, Mat. Med. 475; Eberle, Mat. Med. 
 i, 307. See Chironia, Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 147 ; Bart. 
 M. Bot. 1255 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat, Med. 1176 ; Barton's 
 Collec. i, 15; Lincl. Nat. Syst. Bot. 297; Griffith's Med. 
 Bot. 459 ; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 529. " This is a pure 
 
480 
 
 bitter, with tonic and stomachic properties." Bigelow does 
 not hesitate to attest its utility; and Eberle considers it one 
 of the most valuable of our indigenous remedies of this 
 class ; employed in domestic practice in intermittent fever, 
 but principally to invigorate the stomach and alimentary 
 canal. Barton says it was given with success in certain 
 stages of the yellow fever. The cold infusion of one ounce 
 of the herb to one pint of boiling water, taken in doses of 
 a wineglassful every two hours, may be used, or thirty 
 grains to sixty grains of the powder, which also acts as a 
 vermifuge. The decoction, extract, and tincture may be 
 used. 
 
 Sabbalia stellaris, Ph. (Prodrom.) V Grows in damp soils; 
 " gracilis, Mich. Ell. Sk. JXewbern; vicinity of 
 Charleston; collected in St. John's; sent to me from Ab- 
 beville by Mr. Reed. It possesses properties similar to the 
 above. 
 
 Frasera Carolinensis, Walt. ^ Am. Colombo. Found in 
 " Walteri, Mich. /Fairfield and Abbeville dis- 
 
 tricts ; Xewbern. 
 
 Ell. Bot. McBride's Xote, i, 205; Drake's Cincinnati, 86; 
 Bart. Veg. Mat. Med. iii, 107 ; Raf. Med. Fl. i, 196 ; Coxe, 
 Am. Disp. 297; Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 534; Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 291 ; Griffith's Med. Bot. 463. 
 "A pure, powerful, and excellent bitter, destitute of 
 aroma." Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. In the recent state it is 
 said to possess considerable emetic and cathartic power; 
 the root is employed as a tonic and febrifuge, and is sub- 
 stituted for the officinal Colombo with equal advantage, 
 given during the convalescence from fevers. By the anal- 
 ysis of Mr. Douglas, Am. Journal Pharm. vi, 157, it con- 
 tains bitter extractive, gum, tannin, gallic acid, resin, fatty 
 matter, sugar, etc. Griffith, in Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. 
 iii, 269. In the recent state it is employed as a substitute 
 for rhubarb, in doses of thirty grains to one drachm of the 
 infusion of one ounce of the root to one pint of boiling 
 
481 
 
 water, of which a wineglassful may be taken three times a 
 da} r . It should be collected in the autumn of the second or 
 spring of the third year. The root before being dried should 
 be cut in transverse slices. An infusion is made with one 
 ounce of the bruised root to one pint of boiling water; 
 dose, one or two iiuidounces. It is also useful prescribed 
 as a tonic. This plant holds a deservedly high rank 
 among our native tonics, and I would recommend its 
 employment to those residing in localities where it may be 
 found. The tincture is given as a tonic, and the powdered 
 plant applied externally to ulcers in the form of a poultice 
 for its antiseptic powers. 
 
 Spigeliace^. (The Wormseed Tribe.) 
 Shigella Marylandiea, Walter. Pink-root. Abundant in 
 the lower portions of South Carolina ; collected in St. John's ; 
 vicinity of Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Lining, Essays and Obs. Phys. Lit. South Carolina, i, 386 ; 
 Garden's Essay Phys. and Lit. iii, 145 ; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 
 237; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 377; Chalmers on the Weather 
 and Diseases of South Carolina, i, 67; Frost's Elems. Mat. 
 Med. 187; Le. Mat. Med. ii, 377; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 
 142; Home, Chirm Exper. 420; Murray's App. Med. i, 548; 
 Royle, Mat. Med. 469; Thompson's Inaug. Diss. Fenella, 
 Journal de Pharm. ix, 197 ; Griffith, Phil. Journal Pharm. 
 1833; Bell's Pract, Diet. 433; Ed. and Vav. Mat. Med. 5%; 
 Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 344; U. S. Disp. 680; Ball. 
 and Gar. Mat. Med. 334; Bergii, Mat. Med. i, 96; Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 502; Coxe, Am. Disp. 128 
 and 558; Bull, des Sci. Med. de Ferus, xi, 301; Lind. Nat. 
 Syst. Bot, 299; Bart. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 80; Woodv. Med. 
 Bot. ii, 289. See Dr. Brocklesby's Obs. Med. 282; Grif- 
 fith's Med. Bot. 466. This plant is a well-known indigenous 
 anthelmintic, possessed of narcotic and cathartic powers. 
 Dr. Barton found it also useful in the fevers of children not 
 proceeding from verminous irritation, as from those, for in- 
 stance, consequent upou hydrocephalus. The root contains 
 a heavy, gross, and volatile oil, a small quantity of resin, a 
 31 
 
482 
 
 peculiar bitter substance, spigeline, albumen, gallic acid, salts, 
 etc. See Anal. Journal de Pharm. ix, 197. According to 
 Feneuille, spigeline is bitter, nauseant, and purgative, and 
 produces a sort of intoxication (ivresse). The root is much 
 more active in the recent state. With senna, it forms the 
 well-known and efficacious remedy called worm-tea: com- 
 posed of spig. half an ounce; senna two drachms; savin 
 half a drachm, and manna two drachms — to be infused in 
 a pint of water and strained, of which one to two ounces 
 may be given to a child. This dose does not excite narcotic 
 symptoms. Chalmers' Hist, of South Carolina. Dr. Lin- 
 ing, of South Carolina, gave twelve grains of the root of 
 this plant to an infant morning and evening; ten to twenty 
 grains may be given to one of seven, and one drachm to an 
 adult, repeated two or three times a day; or an ounce of 
 the root infused in one pint of water, of which a half may 
 be taken by an adult, and one or two spoonfuls by a child. 
 When a full dose is given at night, it is well to follow it by 
 a purge in the morning. Dr. J. P. Thomas informs me that 
 his children drink the pink-root tea habitually as a bever- 
 age, and prefer it to the hyson; and in this way it proves 
 prophylactic against worms. 
 
 Apocynace^e. 
 It contains species with purgative, acrid, and febrifugal 
 properties. 
 
 Forsteronia diffbrmis, D. C. (Prodrom.) I A vine; found 
 
 Echites " Walter, and Ell. Sk. / sparingly in 
 
 South Carolina; collected in St. John's, Berkley, on Sarra- 
 zin PI. (Mrs. I. S. Porcher's); found also in the vicinity 
 of Charleston. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 51. With milk, it 
 is used as a wash for freckles. The juice is said to be suffi- 
 ciently caustic to destroy warts and scirrhous excrescences. 
 Any portion of the plant will coagulate milk. 
 
 The juice of our species of Echites and Forstercfuia (E. 
 difformis, Ell. and Walt.) should be examined, for from this 
 
483 
 
 genus is obtained the highly poisonous Woorari (from E. 
 subereeta) growing in Jamaica. 
 
 Apocynum cannabinum, L. ) Indian hemp; dog's-bane; 
 
 A. pubesccns, Ell. Sk. /old Amy-root; grows along 
 
 fences in wet soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of 
 Charleston; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Bell's Pract. Diet, 61; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 365; 
 Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. v, 136; Am. Journal Med. Sci. 
 xii, 55; Dr. Griscom, in op. til; IT. S. Disp. 108; Am. Med. 
 Rev. iii, 197; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 338; Mer. and de 
 L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 368. This is a powerful emeto-ca- 
 thartic, producing diaphoresis, and expectoration, inducing 
 also a tendency to sleep, independent of the exhaustion con- 
 sequent upon vomiting. The evacuations brought on by it 
 are large, feculent, and watery'; and they are succeeded by 
 perspiration. Am. Journal Med. Sci. loc. tit : "It diminishes 
 the frequency of the pulse, and induces drowsiness." This 
 plant is one of our most powerful hydragogue cathartics 
 and diuretics, and has frequently cured aggravated cases of 
 ascites. It acts so decidedly in draining the system that 
 Dr. Rush called it the "vegetable trocar." We have seen 
 it used with advantage in dropsy by Dr. V. Mott among his 
 clinical patients; he employs it in all cases of tonic dropsy, 
 being too active for those of an atonic character, where iron 
 would have been advisable. Dr. Knapp states, in his Inaug. 
 Thesis, that fifteen to twenty grains of the powdered root 
 would induce vomiting; he gave it in intermittent fever, in 
 pneumonic affections, in dysentery, and as an alterative in 
 enteritis. It acts as a sternutatory, and the fresh juice has 
 been employed as an external application in some cutane- 
 ous affections. By chemical analysis, it is shown to contain 
 tannin, gallic acid, gum-resin, wax, fecula, and a bitter prin- 
 ciple, apoc.yne. Merat states, in the Supplem. to the Diet, 
 de M. Med. 52, 1846, that the preparation called apocyne 
 combines all its valuable constituents. Revue Med. Oct. 
 1833, and Journal de Chim. Med. x, 95 et 567; see, also, 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 449. The decoction, made with one 
 
484 
 
 ounce of the root in one pint of boiling water, is given in 
 doses of a wineglassful three times a day. The bark fur- 
 nishes a fibre resembling hemp, of a whiter color, and supe- 
 rior in durability; and the decoction affords a permanent 
 dye, brown or black, according to the mordant used. It is 
 given to some extent in domestic practice in the lower por- 
 tions of this state, and is called by the negroes "General 
 Marion's weed," from its having been a favorite remedial 
 agent in the camp of the partisan leader. 
 
 "This plant has been proved by Prof. Thouin, of Paris, 
 to possess a stronger fibre than that of hemp; and it is used 
 by the American Indians for making cordage, fishing nets, 
 and coarse cloth. The name alludes to the noxiousness of 
 the juice to dogs." Rural Cyc. See Urliea, Linum, Ascle- 
 pias, for plants containing textile fibres. We have also A. 
 androscemifolium. In St. John's, Berkley, S. C, this plant 
 is known as "Amy root," and is esteemed to possess great 
 virtues in arresting intermittent fevers — used as a substitute 
 for quinine. It is generally given steeped in whiskey, or a 
 decoction may be drunk as a tea. I am told by residents 
 that the plant is also purgative, and it affords a singular 
 example of a bitter and a purgative united, hence its appli- 
 cability as a stomachic in constipation, dyspepsia, and de- 
 praved conditions of the nutritive organs. A subject of 
 violent asthma assures me that the decoction gives her more 
 relief than any other agent tried, possibly by promoting 
 digestion. See next species. 
 
 Apocynam androscemifolium, L. Dog's-bane. Grows in 
 damp, rich soils; vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 148; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. i, 868; Coxe, Am. Disp. 85; Kalm's Travels, 326; 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 450. Thirty grains of the powder of 
 the recently dried root is emetic and diaphoretic, causing 
 scarcely any previous nausea; so that it is suitable for 
 evacuating the contents of the stomach without producing 
 exhaustion or relaxation of the muscular system. It oper- 
 ates in this way as effectually a$ two-thirds of the quantity 
 
485 
 
 of ipecacuanha. The active property is diminished by 
 keeping. As a diaphoretic, it is best combined with one 
 grain of opium. Dr. Zollickoffer considers it a useful 
 tonic in doses of ten to twenty grains. The Indians use it 
 in lues venerea. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. It is 
 also employed by the vegetable practitioners. See How- 
 ard's Imp. Syst. Bot. Med. 291. It is supposed to contain 
 a bitter extractive principle, a coloring principle, soluble 
 in water, caoutchouc, and a volatile oil. The wounded 
 plant emits a copious milky juice. 
 
 The properties mentioned above closely resemble those 
 ascribed to the "Amy root" (A. cannabifium) by residents 
 of St. John's, South Carolina, viz: a laxative united with a 
 bitter principle. 
 
 ASCLEPIADACE^. 
 
 Roots generally acrid and stimulating. Some of them 
 emetic. 
 
 Gonolobus macrophyllus, Mich. Variety a and b. Col- 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of Charleston. FL 
 July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 328 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iii, 409; Ann. du Museum, xiv, 464. It is one of the 
 substitutes for colocynth. Merat says: "Cette apocynee 
 des Stats Unis passe pour fournir le sue avec lequel les 
 sauvages de ce pays empoisonnent leurs Heches." 
 
 Asclepias tuberosa, W. \ Pleurisy root, but- 
 
 " decumbens, of some Bot. J terfly-weed. Grows 
 abundantly in pine barrens; collected in St. John's; New- 
 bern. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 127; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 347; 
 Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. i, 351 ; Ed. and Vav. Mat. 
 Med. 345; Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 219; Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, 
 i, 326; Big. Am. Med. Bot. ii, 65; Thacher's IT. S. Disp., 
 art. A. tuberosa; Bart. M. Bot, i,. 244; Lind. Nat. Syst. 
 Bot. 304; Am. Med. Record, iii, 334; Frost's Elems. Mat. 
 
486 
 
 Med. 217; Bell's Pract. Diet 82; Cullen, Mat. Med. i, 6; 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 467; De Cand. Prodro- 
 mus, 458; Shec. Flora Carol. 220; Barton's Collec. 48; 
 Lind. JTat. Syst. Bot. 304. This plant is actively diapho- 
 retic and expectorant, without being stimulant, "It has 
 the singular property of exciting general perspiration with- 
 out increasing in any perceptible degree the heat of the 
 body." (Lindiey, see A. decumbens.) In large doses it is 
 purgative. It has been advantageously used in rheuma- 
 tism, in most pectoral affections, catarrh, subacute pneu- 
 monia, and in phthisis, as a palliative. It has also beeu 
 favorably employed in dysentery. Shecut says that thirty 
 grains of the powdered root at a dose was much esteemed 
 in this disease. Dr. McBride, of St. John's, Berkley, South 
 Carolina, experimented largely with it in pleurisy, gener- 
 ally finding it to act with advantage. Eberle used it; and 
 Dr. Parker employed it for twenty years with continued 
 confidence. In a communication from Dr. John Douglass, 
 of Chester district, South Carolina, we have the results of 
 the experiments of Mr. McKeown, who believes it expec- 
 torant, tonic, diaphoretic, and sudorific; and who has em- 
 ployed it with benefit in pectoral affections; he considers 
 that a teaspoonful of the powdered root in hot water, often 
 repeated, acts as a safe and useful substitute for the prepa- 
 rations of antimony; he has also observed that the same 
 quantity of the root, with half the amount of snakeroot 
 (Aristoloch serp.), given several times a day for several days 
 will induce soreness of the mouth, with free and copious 
 salivation; this soon subsides, without any of those disa- 
 greeable results which follow the administration of the 
 mercurial preparations. Should this effect be constant, it 
 might be made of great service. The powdered root has 
 been employed as an escharotic, for restraining the growth 
 of fungous flesh in ulcers. When the diaphoretic effect is 
 desired the decoction of one ounce of the root to one 
 quart of water is best, given in doses of a teacupful every 
 two hours. Dose of powdered root, twenty grains to one 
 drachm several times a day; 
 
487 
 
 In the neighborhood of Camden, South Carolina, the 
 root of silk-weed (pleurisy root) is much relied on in rheu- 
 matism. The root is macerated in brandy. It is believed 
 by many that it has a marked influence in promoting the 
 excretion of bile, and the tincture is said by those who use 
 it to have a laxative effect. It is used as a substitute for 
 calomel. This testimony, recently obtained (1862), will be 
 found to correspond with what was written by me long 
 since of the pleurisy root (A. tuberosa), in my report on 
 Med. Bot, S. C. 1849. 
 
 From a work reputed to contain the practice of physic 
 among the Cherokee Indians, entitled the "Indian Guide 
 to Health," I quote the following, which adds little to our 
 previous knowledge: "Few articles in the Indian materia 
 medica maintain a higher standing than pleurisy root. It 
 acts as a mild purgative on the bowels, but it is more par- 
 ticularly and inestimably valuable in producing expectora- 
 tion, or throwing off" mucus from the throat and lungs, 
 and in causing perspiration or sweating when other reme- 
 dies fail. This root possesses one remarkable power — 
 given in proper quantities it affects the skin and produces 
 perspiration without heating the body or increasing circu- 
 lation. It is a valuable article in diseases of the lungs 
 generally. Its use in a strong decoction often gives relief 
 to pain in the chest, stomach, and intestines, by promoting 
 perspiration and assisting digestion." 
 
 The milky juice exuding from Asdepias, Leontodon, Lac- 
 duea, and the EuphorbiacecB yield caoutchouc. I would sup- 
 pose that the queen's delight {Stillingia), which is abundant, 
 would also furnish it. It might be procured from those 
 which give a large exudation of milk when cut. I have 
 collected and dried the juice of Asdepias. "When any of 
 these plants are incised there exudes a milky juice which 
 by exposure to the air gradually lets fall concrete caout- 
 chouc. The juice is pale yellow, thick, and similar to 
 cream. When spread in thin layers on a solid body it soon 
 becomes solid caoutchouc, amounting to forty-five per cent, 
 of the weight of juice. The black color is owing to 
 
488 
 
 the method of drying it after it has been spread upon 
 moulds." Wilson's Rural Cyc., art. " Caoutchouc. 1 ' Ure's 
 Diet, of Arts contains full descriptions of processes, adapt- 
 ability, etc. Caoutchouc is insoluble in water, alcohol, 
 acids, or alkalies. By long boiling in water it softens and 
 swells up. It is slightly soluble in ether. 
 
 The downy substance attached to the seed of the silk- 
 weeds may be used for many purposes — for stuffing beds, 
 cushions, etc. 
 
 Asclepias incarnata, W. "Grows in the valleys among 
 the mountains of South Carolina," Elliott; vicinity of 
 Charleston, Bach.; Xewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Bisp. 126; Journal Phil. Coll. Pharm. iv, 283; 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. -±55. Br. Griffith speaks of it as a use- 
 ful emetic and cathartic ; and Br. Tully says it may be 
 given advantageously in asthma, catarrh, and syphilis ; no 
 doubt very similar in properties to the A. decumbens. 
 
 Asclepias verticillata, L. Dwarf milk-weed. Collected in 
 St. John's, Berkley; Xewbern. 
 
 This is a domestic remedy in repute for the bite of 
 snakes. It is said by those who have used it in the upper 
 districts of South Carolina to be very deservedly celebrated. 
 These plants emit a milky juice when bruised ; with the 
 aigrette of the seeds, a fleecy down one or two inches in 
 length, somewhat resembling silk, it has been proposed to 
 make cloth. 
 
 Asclepias cornuti. Becaisne. 1 Virginian swallow-wort; 
 
 A. syriaca, L. J Virginian silk. Fields and 
 
 roadsides ; Xewbern. Chap., and Croom's Cat. 
 
 The flowers are highly fragrant, especially in the morn- 
 ing and the evening, and "are gathered in their native 
 country while the clew is on them, for the purpose of 
 making sugar. The young shoots in spring are a very 
 good substitute for asparagus; the down of the pods serves 
 well for stuffing pillows and cushions, for making thread 
 
489 
 
 and cloth, and for some other purposes ; the fibrous matter 
 of the stems is abundant in quantity, excellent in flax-like 
 quality, and is used and highly appreciated in some parts 
 of North America for making thread, cordage, fishing nets, 
 and cloth. It has been successfully experimented with as 
 an agricultural plant in France and Germany. It may be 
 propagated either by transplanting roots in rows about two 
 feet apart or by sowing seeds." Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 Many of the milk-weeds have strong fibres. The above 
 only confirms a note in Prof. Gibbes' "Catalogue" as fol- 
 lows: the cortical fibres of many possess great strength, as 
 is easily proved by the attempt to break their stems. From 
 those of the A. syriaca a number of articles have lately 
 been manufactured at Salem, Mass. — such as thread, net- 
 ting, bags and purses, tapes, socks, knotting for fringes, 
 etc. The silk from the pods forms an excellent article for 
 stuffing cushions, pillows, mattresses, etc. Mixed with cot- 
 ton it may be spun into yarn for gloves and socks. It is 
 used in making artificial feathers and flowers. Bonnets, 
 capes, and tippets of very handsome appearance are made 
 by sewing the tufts in overlapping rows on cotton or silk. 
 In Germany, in 1785, the cultivation of the A. syriaca was 
 begun with six plants, and in eight years there was a plan- 
 tation of thirty thousand, which yielded eight hundred 
 pounds of silk the first crop, three hundred and fifty-five 
 the second, and six hundred the third. In the same 
 country, a paper was made from the cortical fibres which 
 was distinguished with difficulty from that made from 
 rags. See Silliman's Journal, vol. xxviii, p. 380, and an 
 article in the Horticultural Register, by Dearborn, in which 
 he also gives an account of his mode of cultivation of the 
 same plant for its young shoots, which he considers nearly 
 equal to asparagus. Loc. cit. sup. From nearly all the spe- 
 cies of silk-weed the down from the seeds may be collected. 
 They abound in almost every portion of the Confederate 
 States. 
 
 The Indian doctors use the root of the silk-weed as a di- 
 uretic decoction in gonorrhoea. The root is said to be 
 
490 
 
 emetic and cathartic, and is used in dropsy. The A. curas- 
 savica, L. curasoa, which grows in South Florida (Chap.), 
 is possessed of emetic and sudorific qualities. 
 
 Oleace^e. (The Olive Tribe.) 
 This order is said by Lindley to offer one of the few 
 instances of oil being contained in the pericarp, it being 
 in most other plants yielded by the seeds. 
 
 Olea Mzropea. European olive. Introduced. 
 
 This well-known plant, of which it has been said "Olea 
 prima omnium arborum est," is cultivated in Charleston as a 
 garden plant, and matures its fruit. A tree in Lamboll 
 street bears fruit of good size, which I have seen made into 
 excellent "olives" for table use; also pickled. Repeated 
 attempts have been made to cultivate the olive, and little 
 doubt exists that with greater efforts it may become a valu- 
 able oil-bearing plant. In Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 
 28, is a brief statement of several efforts to introduce 
 the olive into South Caroliua, Georgia, and other Southern 
 states. A paper was also published on this subject by 
 Judge King, of Charleston. In 1755 Mr. Henry Laurens 
 imported and planted olives, capers, limes, ginger, etc. 
 The latter is still easily raised in our gardens in South 
 Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In 1785 the olive was suc- 
 cessfully grown in South Carolina. It is not easily propa- 
 gated from seeds. A colony of Greeks, settled at East 
 Florida, had planted the olive, and sixty years ago it is said 
 there were large trees marking the site of that settlement. 
 The tree was also cultivated by Mr. Cooper, of St. Simons, 
 and Mr. Spalding, of Georgia. See a paper in Southern 
 Cultivator, p. 7, vol. iii; also Jefferson's letter to Drayton, 
 in his Memoirs. 
 
 As this plant is an important one, and experience con- 
 cerning its propagation in the Confederate States is difficult 
 to obtain, I add the following statement of Mr. R. Chis- 
 olm, Beaufort district, S. C. : 
 
 " My olive trees were imported from the neighborhood 
 
491 
 
 of Florence, by the way of Leghorn, in 1833, and consist 
 of two kinds — the small, round, esteemed best for oil, and 
 a much larger and more oval-fruited sort, which turns 
 white before it becomes purple, the latter having been sent 
 as stalks to engraft the other upon. The winter of 1834-5 
 was an excessively cold one, and injured to the roots all 
 the orange trees of the South, and some of them so severely 
 that they never afterward sprouted ; yet I do not recollect 
 that my olive trees suffered at all — certainly, none were 
 killed. No cold which we have experienced since has 
 ever caused them to shed a leaf, whereas our orange 
 trees have suffered much, and about four years since barely 
 escaped being killed to the ground. My olive trees are 
 planted in a rather flat, clayey piece of land, quite near the 
 salt water, and but little elevated above high tides. In 
 Italy, I believe, it is generally thought that this tree does 
 not thrive well far from the sea, but does best on what they 
 call a fat soil, which contains more or less clay. From 
 what I have seen of it on sandy soils in this vicinity it has 
 proved not very fruitful. Finding that my trees grew very 
 slowly, and not expecting to derive profit enough from 
 them to pay for their culture, the idea occurred to me of 
 trying to cultivate the sweet potato, field and cow-peas 
 among them, hoping that the expense of cultivating the 
 olive might be covered by these means. The land was 
 well manured every year in June and cultivated with one 
 or the other of these crops, in such a manner as the other 
 operations of the plantation would render convenient, 
 generally, however, with sweet potatoes, irrespective of ro- 
 tation. The result has much more than answered my ex- 
 pectations, as I very seldom failed to make a fair crop of 
 potatoes, and the trees have grown vigorously, and rapidly 
 come into bearing, and have continued to bear good crops 
 of fruit every year, occasionally abundant ones ; while in 
 Europe the habit of almost every variety of this tree is 
 to bear only in alternate years. As the olive ripens during 
 the months of October and November, at a time when we 
 are straining every nerve to save most of our other crops, 
 
492 
 
 no attempt has ever been made to gather all the fruit; but 
 one year enough was gathered, pounded in a mortar and 
 the oil pressed out, to justify me in saying that I produced 
 a very clear and good looking article, which was exhibited 
 about two years since at the Fair at the South Carolina 
 Institute. The only use that has yet been made of the 
 olives is to pickle them while green, in a full grown state, 
 in August or September, for which purpose they seem 
 admirably adapted. A few may now be found on sale, 
 which are preferred to those imported. The recipe for 
 pickling was obtained from France, and is as follows: 
 'For each pound of the fruit take a pound of strong ashes 
 (those of the hickory wood are the best we have) and an 
 ounce of good slacked lime; mix the lime and ashes with 
 water until a soft paste or mortar is formed, into which 
 stir or imbed the olives, and finish by covering the 
 whole mass with a layer of dry ashes. Let them lie in 
 this state until all the bitumen is extracted, which may 
 be known by the stones slipping readily out of the pulp 
 when squeezed between the forefinger and thumb, for 
 which purpose a few may be tried once an hour, or oftener 
 if desired. The length of time required for this will 
 depend entirely upon the quality of the ashes and lime, 
 and may vaiw from two to three hours to as many days. 
 As soon as the olives have been deprived of their bitter- 
 ness they must be washed clean and put to soak in fresh 
 water, which must be changed about once an hour for 
 twenty-four hours, when the taste of potash will have been 
 removed and the water cease to be discolored. The olives 
 must then be put into bottles or jars, and a strong brine 
 put over them made from good rock or alum salt. This 
 brine will generally require to be changed several times, in 
 consequence of becoming ash-colored, after which the 
 bottles must be sealed air-tight, and if kept in a cool, dry, 
 dark place the olives will keep good for years.' Olives 
 carefully cured after this plan will be found less salty than 
 those pickled in France which are usually sold in this 
 country, and will retain much of the nutty flavor of pure 
 
493 
 
 olive oil. I do not think that the making of oil from the 
 olive will be likely to prove sufficiently profitable to be 
 pursued in this country for many years, as labor is expen- 
 sive, and other crops will necessarily take the lead unless 
 the price of labor or soil in Europe should be increased, 
 when there will, consequently, become a greater demand." 
 
 The oil is obtained of two or three qualities. The 
 virgin oil is that which spontaneously separates from the 
 paste of crushed olives. This is purified for watchmakers 
 by placing in a vial containing in it a slip of sheet lead. In 
 Sicily the olives are beaten from the tree. It is allowed to 
 ferment in bins or receptacles. It is then conveyed to a 
 mill, ground into a paste under heavy stones, and chaff or 
 small straw occasionally thrown in to retain the oil. The 
 pulp is then rammed into round, flat baskets, made of a 
 strong kind of rush, and submitted to a press. "When the 
 oil ceases to run from a first pressing, the baskets are 
 removed, their contents again pressed under the mill, 
 returned to the baskets, submitted to the press again. Hot 
 water is sometimes thrown over the mass to increase the 
 flow of oil, the latter being subsequently skimmed from 
 the surface. What is finally left in the baskets, after the 
 third pressure, is refuse material, used for lamps by curriers 
 and tanners. To procure the best oil no fermentation 
 should be used. Consult Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Patent 
 Office Reports, 1859, p. 114. 
 
 We have the Oka Americana growing in the Confederate 
 States. The fruit matures near Charleston, but not in St. 
 John's, Berkley. 
 
 Oka Americana. Devil-wood ; American olive. I have 
 collected it near Charleston, Eutledge's farm, and at Sarra- 
 zin (Mrs. I. S. P.), St. John's, S. C. I have never seen 
 berries except near Charleston. Rare and ornamental. 
 
 The wood has a fine and compact grain, and when per- 
 fectly dry it is excessively hard and very difficult to cut 
 or split; hence is derived the name of devil-wood. On 
 laving bare the cellular intes-uments of the bark its natural 
 
494 
 
 yellow hue changes instantaneously to a deep red, and the 
 wood, by contact with the air, assumes a rosy complexion. 
 Michaux**suggests that experiments be made to test the 
 nature of this active principle. Am. Sylva ; Farmer's 
 En eye. 
 
 Chionanthus Virginica, Walter. Old-man's beard; poison 
 ash; fringe tree. A very ornamental plant; collected in 
 the swamps of St. John's, Berkley ; vicinity of Charleston ; 
 Kewbern. Ft, April. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. jSTotes, i, 6. An infusion of the roots is 
 given in long standing intermittents. It is tonic and feb- 
 rifugal, with some acro-narcotic properties ; used in the 
 form of cataplasm as an application to wounds and ulcers. 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 44. 
 
 Fraxinus acuminata, La. M. ' Grows in rich swamps ; St. 
 John's; I^ewbern. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 673. The wood is light, elastic, 
 and strong; used by carriage and cabinet makers and 
 wheelwrights. 
 
 Fraxinus Americana, L. White ash. 
 
 In the Confederate States we have the white, red, green, 
 blue, and water ash. Wilson says that F. Americana differs 
 in few respects from the English ash, F. excelsior, which in 
 England is used for every conceivable purpose by the 
 farmer, turner, cabinet-maker, wheelwright, and for fire- 
 wood. "The bark of the tree is used for tanning calfskins, 
 and for dyeing green, blue, and black; the ashes of the 
 trunk, root, or branches are comparatively rich in potash." 
 Coal was also made from it. The leaves of the F. Ameri- 
 cana "are said to be so highly offensive to the rattlesnake 
 that that formidable reptile is never found on land where it 
 grows; and it is the practice of hunters and others having 
 occasion to traverse the woods in the summer months to 
 stuff their boots or shoes with white ash leaves as a pre- 
 ventive of the bite of the rattlesnake." 
 
495 
 
 Class II. GYMNO SPERMS. 
 
 Conifers or Pin ace.e. {The Fir Tribe.) 
 
 One of the most important orders, whether we view it in 
 reference to its timber or its secretions. 
 
 Pinus palustris, L. ) Long-leaved pine. The specilic 
 " australis, Mich, f name is a misnomer, as it grows 
 on high land. Grows along the sea-coast in the tertiary 
 region, and within one hundred and twenty miles of the 
 ocean. 1 have observed it in the lower part of Fairfield 
 district; iTewbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Bell's Pract. Diet. 359; V. S. Disp. 709 ; Pe. Mat. Med. 
 ii, 167; Ball, Gar. M. Med. 309; Royle, Mat. Med. 564. 
 This is the most valuable of the pine trees, and from it the 
 largest amount of tar, pitch, and turpentine is obtained. 
 The spirits of turpentine is a well-known and valuable dif- 
 fusible stimulant, diuretic, and anthelmintic, in large doses 
 acting as a laxative. It is from this species that the Boston 
 turpentine is obtained, which enters into the composition 
 of a soap of very superior quality. This tree shoots up into 
 a straight shaft, devoid of branches sometimes for fifty or 
 sixty feet ; the heart is very durable, and the wood is em- 
 ployed for almost every purpose. It is, indeed, one of the 
 great gifts of God to man. 
 
 The forests of pine are not only useful but beautiful. 
 The characteristic moan of the winds through their branch- 
 es, their funereal aspect, almost limitless extent, and the 
 health-giving influences which attend their presence, all 
 contribute to make the pine an object of peculiar interest 
 to the people of the Southern states. The terebinthinate 
 odor of the tree, some electrical influence of its long, spear- 
 like leaves, a certain modification of "ozone" (an allo- 
 typic condition of oxygen, see Faraday's examinations), 
 are severally esteemed to modify the atmosphere and 
 diminish the effects of malaria. They also create a me- 
 chanical barrier to the ingress of malaria, and hence the 
 
496 
 
 pine land residences, though contemned for their sterile 
 aspect, have proved a blessing to the Southern planters in 
 affording a comparatively safe refuge from the unhealthy 
 emanations of the neighboring plantations. The seeds of 
 the loug-leaf pine are edible and nutritious, and are largely 
 consumed b} r hogs. 
 
 I need not describe the processes for making tar. It is 
 a very compound substance (see Rural Cyc), and contains 
 modified resin, oil of turpentine, empyreumatic oil, acetic 
 acid, charcoal, and water, and when inspissated by boiling 
 is converted into pitch. It is extensively used in the cord- 
 age, caulking, and sheathing of ships, to preserve them 
 from the weather. It is of great service in many of the 
 arts and medicinal usages connected with agriculture. I 
 will add what Wilson states of its economical employment, 
 as it ma}' be made of great service on our plantations and 
 in veterinar}" medicine. It serves well as a paint to coarse- 
 kinds of boarding and paling, but is improved in its use 
 by the addition of tallow or other coarse fat. It is applied 
 as a covering to cuts on animals and to parts affected by 
 the fly. It serves, either alone or in combination with 
 some fatty substance, to defend the sore or diseased feet of 
 cattle from being further injured by wet or abrasion ; when 
 spread upon coarse cloth it is a prime covering for broken 
 horns, and makes an excellent application to various kinds 
 of wounds and punctures in cattle. It is given internally 
 to horses as a remedy for cough, also as a detergent and 
 local remedy for scaly and eruptive diseases. Rural Cyc. 
 It is used to cover the lower surface of posts to prevent 
 their rotting, and grain soaked in it is not eaten by birds. 
 Tar water was formerly much used in medicine, but at 
 present wood naphtha and pyroligneous acid, etc., are more 
 commonly employed. 
 
 The buds of the pine or the inside barks steeped in 
 water is a favorite domestic remedy on our plantations for 
 colds and coughs. Bits of fat pine steeped in gin are also 
 used. A decoction of the inside bark is given daily as a 
 remedy in chronic diarrhoea. Pills of resin are often 
 
497 
 
 employed as a simple diuretic. Resin also enters into the 
 composition of strengthening plasters. 
 
 A preparation with rosin, to preserve leather and shoes, 
 is recommended by Col. Macerone, in the Mechanic's 
 Magazine, 1848. I hope it will be found useful to our 
 soldiers and others : 
 
 A cheap and easy method to preserve the feet from wet and the 
 boots from wear. — A pound of tallow and a half-pound of 
 rosin are put into a pot on the fire, and when melted and 
 mixed it is applied while hot, with a brush, to the leather 
 previously warmed. This must be done thoroughly and 
 repeatedly. If it is desired that the leather should receive 
 polish, dissolve an ounce of beeswax with an ounce of 
 turpentine, to which add a teaspoonful of lamp-black ; a 
 day or two after the leather has been treated with the 
 tallow and rosin rub over it the wax and turpentine, 
 but not before the fire. Tallow or any other grease 
 becomes rancid and rots the stitching as well as the 
 leather, but the rosin gives it an antiseptic quality which 
 preserves the whole. Boots or shoes for the soldier, as w T ell 
 as for all who go much in the wet, should be so large as to 
 admit of wearing in them cork soles — cork being a bad 
 conductor of heat. 
 
 Wilson in his Rural Cyc, articles "Fuel" and "Char- 
 coal," gives the best mode of preparation, including the 
 quality and yield of several trees. See Salix, in this 
 volume, for manufacture of charcoal. 
 
 Lamp-black is obtained by the turpentine manufacturers 
 " from the combustion of the refuse of their operations in 
 furnaces appropriated to that purpose. The smoke depos- 
 its itself on the sacking which is hung up ; it is swept off 
 and sold for common use without further preparation. 
 The lamp-black in this state contains some oil, which is 
 separated by being heated to redness in a close vessel." 
 This may be easily made in our large turpentine distilleries 
 throughout the Confederate States. 
 
 The chief consumption of charcoal is as fuel. It is also 
 employed as a tooth powder and to purify tainted meat. 
 
 R9 
 
498 
 
 No mode of preparation for the first of these objects is 
 at all necessary, and for the two last it must merely be 
 reduced to a fine powder. It forms a part of all reducing 
 fluxes. It is the basis of most black paints and varnishes. 
 It is used to polish brass and copper, and is an excellent 
 clarifier. It is used in farriery, in combination with lin- 
 seed meal, as an antiseptic cataplasm for cracked heels and 
 foul and fetid ulcers. Powdered charcoal must be heated 
 to redness in a covered crucible, with an opening in the 
 middle of the cover, and kept in that state till no flame 
 issues out; it must then be withdrawn, allowed to cool, 
 and then put into close vessels. Whenever either wine, 
 vinegar, or other fluid is to be clarified it is simply to be 
 mixed with the liquor ; a froth appears at the surface, and 
 after infiltration it is pure and colorless. Charcoal is also 
 used as a valuable manure, fully described in Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. Charcoal and sand placed in the bottom of a 
 barrel or hogshead will purify water passed through it. 
 (See Salix). It is generally believed that it will prevent 
 contagion, yellow fever, etc., if taken during the preva- 
 lence of an epidemic. It is also used as a mild mechan- 
 ical laxative in dyspepsia with foul stomach. See medical 
 authors. Its power of absorbing gases and vapors is well 
 known. 
 
 Creosote, also a product of the pine, is obtained from 
 " crude pyroligneous acid and the heavy portion of the oil 
 of wood tar, sometimes called the essence of tar, and used 
 in the preservation of meat, the flavoring of hams, and as a 
 remedial agent for its constringing effect." It coagulates 
 albumen. Fresh meat suspended over creosote will be 
 preserved. Wilson's Rural Cyc; Ure's Diet.; and medical 
 authors. Pyroligneous acid, obtained from the pine, is 
 used in preserving meat rapidly in lieu of the slow process 
 of "smoking." 
 
 Vinegar and acetic acid, obtained from pyroligneous 
 acid, is purified by converting it into acetate of soda and 
 decomposing that salt by means of sulphuric acid. The 
 acetic acid, after being distilled, is lowered by water, 
 colored, and used as vinegar. 
 
499 
 
 Turpentine is now one of the most universally employed 
 of remedial agents ; it is quite surprising to how great a 
 diversity of conditions it is applicable ; all these depend 
 naturally, however, upon its natural properties. See 
 Trousseau's " Therapeutique,'' Stille's Mat. Med., and re- 
 cent authors. As an external rubefacient, a stimulant, an 
 astringent, a stimulating diuretic and laxative, it admits 
 of frequent application. In the arts, also, and as a material 
 in the manufacture of soap, as a resin, and for the produc- 
 tion of light, it is equally worthy of attention. To burn 
 turpentine in lamps it only requires purification by redis- 
 tillation, and a burner which will give increased oxygen 
 for the consumption of the large amount of carbon which 
 it contains. 
 
 The fumes of turpentine inhaled will cause irritability of 
 the kidney if breathed. I have been called to attend sev- 
 eral negroes with dysuria and bloody urine from sleeping 
 aboard a boat laden with resin and turpentine in defective 
 barrels. "Turpentine is one of the best means of chasing 
 away fleas whether from place or animal, and a bed of very 
 fine shavings of some wood which abounds in turpentine 
 is one of the easiest and most effectual means of banishing 
 them from dogs." Wilson's Rural Cyc. See, also, u Ju- 
 glans." See "iTv/rm," Rural Cyc, for preservation of tim- 
 ber; also Boussingault's Rural Econ. and Agricult. Chem- 
 istry. "Wilson states that the oil of turpentine is almost a 
 specific for spasm in the bowels of the horse. 
 
 That variety of long-leaved pine which acquires a reddish 
 hue from growing in certain soils, and is known by the 
 name of red pine, is most esteemed, and in the opinion of 
 some shipwrights is as solid and durable on the sides of 
 vessels as the white oak, but is said to form less perfect 
 joints at stem and stern. It is also in great request at the 
 North for flooring boards. The long-leaved pine supplies 
 what is known as naval stores both to the United States 
 and Europe. Rural Cyc. Pyroligneous acid, obtained 
 from the pine, is used in preserving meat rapidly in lieu of 
 the slow process of "smoking." 
 
500 
 
 Turpentine and rosin are both abundant within our lira- 
 its. An excellent English "mixture to render leather vjater- 
 proof" is made with turpentine. In the present scarcity of 
 leather and exposure of our soldiers, I think its introduc- 
 tion not inappropriate. It is used by the punt-shooters in 
 the fenny parts of England : melt together in an earthen 
 pipkin half a pound of tallow, four ounces of hog's-lard, 
 two ounces of turpentine, and as much beeswax; make the 
 boots thoroughly dry and warm, and rub in the mixture 
 well with a little tow as hot as the hand can bear, or else 
 hold the leather over a very gentle fire till it has thorough- 
 ly imbibed the mixture. Another mixture for the same 
 purpose, and used by fishermen, soldiers, and others, is 
 made thus: Burgundy pitch (rosin?) and turpentine each 
 two ounces, tallow four ounces; or half a pound of bees- 
 wax, a quarter of a pound of rosin, and a quarter of a 
 pound of beef suet. The leather must be dry and the mix- 
 ture warm. Oil of lavender also prevents leather from 
 moulding. 
 
 To make cloth water-proof with turpentine. — In making cloth 
 water-proof for negroes in picking cotton when the weed 
 is wet from rains or dews, and also for tents, the following 
 method is adopted: "To every gallon of spirits of turpen- 
 tine put two and a half pounds of beeswax, boil well in a 
 pot, remove the fire, and while it is hot put in the goods; 
 move it about until it is well saturated, then hang it up to 
 dry. It will require one gallon of turpentine to every 
 eight yards of goods." It is more pliant than India-rubber. 
 
 Candle for war times, made with rosin. — "A model eco- 
 nomical candle, sixty yards long, for use of soldiers in 
 camp, which will burn six hours each night for six months, 
 and all that light at a cost of a few cents, is made as fol- 
 lows: take one pound of beeswax, and three-fourths of a 
 pound of rosin, melt them together, then take about four 
 threads of slack-twisted cotton for a wick, and draw it 
 about three times through the melted wax and rosin, and 
 wind it in a ball; pull the end up, and you have a good 
 candle." 
 
501 • 
 
 A preparation of turpentine, probably turpentine redis- 
 tilled, called Terebene, is manufactured at Camden, South 
 Carolina, and largely used as a burning fluid since the 
 blockade. The price is moderate ; it gives a good light, 
 but requires a modification of the old kerosene chimney. 
 "Palmetto oil," so called, is probably pure turpentine. 
 Prof. P. A. Porcher has used and recommends turpentine, 
 and I have known others who have employed it for months 
 as a burning fluid; it is not explosive. In using these 
 highly carbonaceous agents an abundance of air must be 
 admitted to the wick to consume the excess of carbon, 
 which would otherwise be thrown off as smoke or de- 
 posited as lamp-black ; an extra amount of oxygen is of 
 course required to increase the combustion. Lamp-black 
 is prepared from the imperfect destruction of turpentine in 
 large burners with suitable apparatus to collect it; it may 
 be made in the Confederate States with profit. 
 
 An economical "soap without grease" is made with rosin: 
 to four gallons of strong lye add ten pounds of distilled 
 rosin, or eight pounds of pure gum not distilled and free 
 from trash, boil steadily until there is no rosin to be seen, 
 and if the quantity of lye is not sufficient add more, and 
 continue to add until the rosin disappears, boiling until it 
 makes a brown jelly soap. This soap has been extensively 
 made in St. John's, South Carolina, during the past year 
 (1862), and is stated to be "equal to the best soap made with 
 grease." I am induced to insert here the following, also, 
 which has been successfully repeated in the country par- 
 ishes of South Carolina since the blockade:. Tallow candles 
 equal to star. — To two pounds of tallow add one teacupful 
 of good strong lye from wood ashes. Let it simmer over a 
 slow fire, when a greasy scum collects on the top, which 
 should be skimmed off and used in making soap, with 
 which it is closely related. A pure tallow candle with a 
 small wick may then be moulded, which is said to equal 
 sperm caudles. A little of the juice of the prickly pear 
 or beeswax will render the tallow harder, and the wicks 
 steeped in a little spirits of turpentine will make them 
 burn brighter. 
 
• 502 
 
 The following preparation of coal tar I append on account 
 of its utility in camps and hospitals. Pyroligneous acid is 
 itself a well known disinfectant: 
 
 Antiseptic Powder. — To correct the offensive odors of 
 wounds, mix one hundred parts of calcined plaster of Paris 
 and two parts of coal tar. Rub well together. Sprinkle 
 this upon the wound once or twice daily. This has been 
 fully tested for years in the Bellevue hospital. 
 
 Decoction of the leaves of the pine tree sweetened, to be 
 freely drunk warm when going to bed at night or cold 
 during the clay, is very much used as a domestic remedy 
 for colds and coughs. The holly root [Ilex o-paca) chewed, 
 and a tea made of the blade of the Indian corn, are also 
 given for colds; the latter also in intermittent fevers, it is 
 said with much success. 
 
 Duration of wood impregnated ivith sulphate of copper. — A 
 paper upon this subject, translated from the bulletin of the 
 Horticultural Society of the Seine, is published in the 
 Farmer and Planter, p. 306, October, 1861. It is impreg- 
 nated with sulphate of copper by M. Boucherie's process, 
 which consists in causing a solution of the sulphate of cop- 
 per to penetrate to the interior of freshly cut woods, which 
 preserves them indefinitely from decay. AIL woods do not 
 permit penetration equally. " The beech, elm, and fir 
 readily admit all kinds of salts into their tissue. The oak 
 impregnates completely its sap wood, while the heart of the 
 tree absorbs absolutely nothing," so that that part of the 
 tree which was thrown away may with this process be 
 made useful. Sulphate of copper was found to be superior 
 to corrosive sublimate. "The process of the injection of 
 wood with the salts of copper is as simple as easy. For 
 those woods intended for rods, it consists in plunging the 
 base of a branch furnished with leaves into a tub contain- 
 ing the solution. The liquid ascends into the branches by 
 the action of the leaves, and the wood is impregnated with 
 the preservative salt. As for logs, the operation consists 
 in cutting down the tree to be operated upon ; fixing at its 
 base a plank which is fixed by means of a screw placed in 
 
503 
 
 the centre, and which can be tightened at will when placed 
 in the centre of the tree. This plank has on the side to be 
 applied to the bottom of the tree a rather thick shield of 
 leather, cloth, pasteboard, or some other substance, intend- 
 ed to establish a space between it and the wood, sufficient 
 for the preserving fluid to keep in contact with the freshly 
 cut surface of the tree. The liquid is brought there from a 
 tub or other reservoir by the help of a slanting pole made 
 on the upper side of the tree, and in which is put a tube 
 adapted at its other extremity to a spigot in the upper 
 reservoir, which contains the solution. A pressure of five 
 metres suffices, so that the instant the sap of the tree is 
 drawn away it escapes and is replaced by the liquid satu- 
 rated with sulphate of copper. As soon as the operation 
 terminates, and it lasts for some hours for the most difficult 
 logs, the wood can be sold and put to any use." M. De- 
 caisne enumerates the immense advantage which this proc- 
 ess would procure to horticulture. Boxes, frames, green- 
 houses, supports, etc., submitted to the deleterious action 
 of all the exterior agents which destroy them so rapidly, all 
 can acquire an almost indefinite duration, and thus furnish 
 a very great economy of time and money. M. Decaisne op- 
 poses the process by simple immersion. M. Audry asserts 
 that even cloths, curtains, etc., exposed to the weather, 
 " last eight years after being immersed in a solution of one 
 kilogramme of the salt to eight litres of water." 
 
 On the subject of the difference between dry and wet 
 wood, I quote from a paper in Southern Field and Fireside 
 on "Economy in the use of salt," by the editor. It is ap- 
 plicable to the present wants of the Southern Confederacy: 
 " Last year we killed a vicious bullock in September, when 
 the weather was hot and dry. The meat was cured with a 
 trifle of salt, and we have some of it now, which is as sweet 
 and good as dried beef can be. All the larger bones were 
 cut out and partly used for making soup and partly for 
 making soap. The rib pieces were dried with the bones in 
 the meat, which was generally cut into slices. The drying 
 was done over a wood-coal fire, and not over a wood fire — - 
 
504 
 
 a distinction worth remembering." Ashes are sometimes 
 used a substitute for salt in curing meat. 
 
 On economy in plants, manures, etc., during non-impor- 
 tation of guano: "Weeds, leaves of trees, and all the succu- 
 lent plants which grow so abundantly in ditches and waste 
 lands, under hedges and by the roadside, if cut or pulled 
 when in flower, and slightly fermented, furnish from 
 twenty to twenty-five times more manure than straw does. 
 These plants carefully collected furnish to the agriculturist 
 an immense resource for enriching his lands. Besides the 
 advantages arising from the manure furnished by these 
 plants, the agriculturist will find his account in preventing 
 the dissemination of their seeds, which by propagating in 
 the fields deprive the crops of the nourishment of the soil. 
 The turf that borders fields and highwa} r s may be made to 
 answer the same purpose by cutting it up with all the roots 
 and the earth adhering to them, rotting the whole in a 
 heap and carrying the mass upon the field, or what is still 
 better, by burning it and dressing the land with the prod- 
 uct of the combustion." The alkaline salts are most 
 abuudant, it will be remembered, in green, herbaceous 
 plants. M. DeSaussure has observed that the ashes of 
 young plants that grew upon a poor soil contained at least 
 three-fourths of their weight of alkaline salts, and that 
 those of leaves of trees which grew from their beds con- 
 tained at least one-half. The ashes of the seeds contain a 
 greater proportion of alkaline salts than those of the plants 
 that produced them. M. Pertuis found that the trunks of 
 trees afford less ashes than the branches. Chaptal's Chem- 
 istry, p. 97. The scrub oak ( V. catesbcei) is said to yield 
 ashes very rich in potash. 
 
 Pinus rigida, L. Pitch pine. Vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 207. From the P. palustris and from this 
 species tar is extracted, which contains two principles valu- 
 able in medicine, viz : picromar and creosote. It is used in 
 chronic cough and bronchial inflammation. Tar water had 
 great reputation at one time, and is really not devoid of 
 
505 
 
 some value. The vapor also is employed in bronchial dis- 
 eases, and the ointment in tinea capitis and psoriasis. The 
 resin from these species is frequently made into pills, and 
 taken for colds by those residing in the country — among 
 whom also it,is frequently employed with success in chron- 
 ic blennorrhagia. A medical friend informs me that in one 
 individual who took the pine gum in large quantities it 
 produced an irritation of the urethral mucous membrane, 
 similar to that resulting from the use of the spirit when 
 improperly given. 
 
 Pinus nigra, Aiton. Black spruce ; fir. Confined to 
 the high ridges of the Alleghany mountains. Fl. May. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 710; Ell. Bot. ii, 641. From this species the 
 essential oil of spruce is obtained ; prepared by boiling the 
 young branches and evaporating the decoction ; it has a 
 bitterish, astringent, acidulous taste. The tall, slender 
 bodies of this tree are used for the spars of vessels. 
 
 Pinus strobus, L. White or Weymouth pine, northern 
 pine. Found in the declivities of the mountains of South 
 Carolina, in the dark, sphagnous swamps along rivulets. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 The wood is soft, fine grained, and light, and free from 
 turpentine. It is used for the inner work of houses, for 
 boxes, cabinets, etc. "Preferred for the masts of vessels to 
 all other wood." 
 
 The wood has little strength, gives a feeble hold to nails, 
 and is liable to swell from humidity in the atmosphere ; 
 but on the other hand it is soft, light, easily wrought. In 
 ornamental work and carving of every description the 
 white pine is used; in fact, wherever a light wood is 
 required. Masts are also made of it, and are exported to 
 Liverpool, though not fully equal to those from Riga. 
 The bowsprits and spars are made of white pine. Rural 
 Cyc. In Eaton's Botany, a work published at the North, 
 it is stated that " perhaps nine-tenths of the boards used in 
 America are of this species." This, however, is incorrect, 
 
506 
 
 as a large quantity of timber is obtained from our long- 
 leaved pine. 
 
 Pinus glabra, Walter's pine. St. John's, S. C, H. W. R.; 
 common spruce pine of our swamps. 
 
 It is comparatively light and soft, and might serve as a 
 substitute for northern pine, so much in demand for the 
 manufacture of the inner work of houses, cabinets, presses, 
 cases, etc., and particularly as a light material for boxes for 
 the transportation of merchandise. The poplar is also 
 very light and suitable for similar purposes. The loblolly 
 pine (P. taeda) is also useful for making tables, presses, etc., 
 containing little turpentine. A decoction of the inner 
 bark of the spruce pine acts on the skin, and is used in 
 rheumatism, coughs, colds, etc. It is also employed as 
 a fomentation in swellings and sprains. Pinus inops, which 
 I collected at Reidville, Spartanburg, S. C, resembles 
 somewhat our lower country spruce, and is sometimes 
 so called. It never attains the same height. 
 
 Pinus tceda, L. Abundant along the sea-coast ; collected 
 in St. John's ; grows in Georgia; I^ewbern. Fl. April. 
 
 Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 161 ; IT. S. Disp. 709. This also yields 
 turpentine. Frankincense is said to be got from this 
 species. 
 
 Abies balsamea, ) American silver fir, or Balm 
 
 " balsamifera, Mich. / of Gilead tree. Grows on the 
 
 Pinus balsamea, Willd. ) summits of the mountains of 
 South Carolina. Fl. April. 
 
 Griffith Med. Bot. 605; U. S. Disp. 710. From this 
 elegant species the Canada balsam is obtained ; receiving 
 this name, though containing no benzoic acid. Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de M. Med. v. It is used as an external appli- 
 cation to wounds. 
 
 Abies Canadensis, \ Hemlock spruce. Confined to the 
 Pinus, Linn. / highest mountains. 
 
507 
 
 Ell. Bot. ii, 641. The bark is valuable for tanning, 
 though inferior to that of the oak. 
 
 Abies nigra, Poir. Black spruce. High mountains of 
 North Carolina and northward. 
 
 The tops of its branches yield the best kinds of essence of 
 spruce for the manufacture of spruce beer. Its young stems 
 and the upper parts of its old stems are light, strong, and 
 elastic, and are much used in America for the spars and 
 topmasts of ships. Its large roots and the lower parts of 
 its old stems are sometimes employed as substitutes for 
 oak in making the knees and other bent parts of ships. 
 Its timbers are exported to the West India islands and to 
 Britain for making packing boxes, herring barrels, and 
 other similar articles. Its resin is comparatively scarce and 
 poor, and does not suffice for yielding turpentine or Hue 
 pitch. Wilson's R. Cyc. 
 
 Abies alba, Mx. White spruce. High mountains of 
 North Carolina and northward. 
 
 The root fibres are macerated, stripped, and made into 
 cordage by the North American Indians. Wilson's R. 
 
 Cyc. ° 
 
 Thuja occidentalis, L. American arbor vitse. Confined 
 to the mountain districts, along streams ; Fl. May . 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1301 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 609. The leaves 
 and twigs have a balsamic odor ; the decoction was used in 
 intermittent fevers, and, according to Schcepf, in cough, 
 scurvy, and rheumatism ; Boerhaave employed the distilled 
 water in dropsy. The leaves are said to form an excellent 
 irritating ointment, which has proved useful in rheuma- 
 tism ; and the oil has been given with success as a vermi- 
 fuge. The wood is said by Michaux to be the most 
 durable which our forests produce ; fences for enclosures, 
 rail posts, etc., are made of it. Said to be indigenous, and 
 to grow abundantly on the banks of the Hudson ; "rocky 
 banks on mountains of Carolina." Chapman. Prof. L. 
 
508 
 
 R. Gibbes expresses to me his doubts of its being found in 
 the mountains of Carolina. 
 
 " It makes the finest ornamental hedge known to the 
 climate. It requires pruning every year, attains any re- 
 quired height, and is very compact and beautiful." A 
 writer, B. F. Maurice, of Kings county, 1ST. Y. (in Patent 
 Office Reports, 1855, p. 316, see papers on "live fences"), 
 states that he has hedges from two to fourteen years 
 growth, from one to ten feet high, that will compare favor- 
 ably with any in this country or in England. It is easily 
 and readily cultivated by la}-ers. If the hedge is for orna- 
 ment, considerable care is required in trimming. A hedge 
 should be pruned every year. See, also, "Wild orange" 
 (Cerasus Caroliniana), in this volume. The arbor vitse, when 
 it can be grown large enough, as in Canada, furnishes one 
 of the hardest and most durable of woods, adapted to all 
 the purposes of the turner and machinist, for the con- 
 struction of posts, fences, etc. "Fences made of it last 
 three or four times longer than those constructed of any 
 other wood." Wilson. The leaves are employed like the 
 savin (Juniperus) in making a stimulating ointment. If 
 the grain is close and compact it may be found to suit the 
 purposes of the wood engraver. See " Amelanchier " for 
 wood for engraving. In Canada, the thin, narrow pieces of 
 wood which form both the ribs and the bottom of the bark 
 boats are taken from this wood, because it is pliant enough 
 for the purpose when fresh, and also because *it is very 
 light. The wood is considered one of the best for the 
 use of lime-kilns. Its branches are used in Canada for 
 brooms, which leave their peculiar scent in all the houses 
 where they are used. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 Sehubertia of later Bot. 1 Bald cypress. 
 
 Cupressas disticha, L. and Ell. Sk. / Grows in swamps in 
 the lower portion of South Carolina and Georgia ; vicinity 
 of Charleston ; St. John's. 
 
 . Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 229, 652; 
 see the Cultivateur, ii, 668, for an article upon the cypress. 
 
509 
 
 Recherches sur l'histoire du Cypres, Ann. de Hortic. xv, 
 37 ; Strauss, Mem. sur le Cypres, Montpellier, 1841 ; 
 Mirbel, Abridg: des Voyages, xiii, 396; S. T. Cubieres' 
 Mem. on the Cypress of Louisiana (in French), Paris 
 1809. This remarkable tree, lifting its giant form above 
 the others, gives a striking feature to our swamps. They 
 seem like watch-towers for the feathered race. 
 
 For a description see Michaux, N". Am. Sylva, Shee. 
 Flora Carol. 484. The seeds are said to possess an odorif- 
 erous principle; a rich balsam of a deep red, inclining to 
 black, is obtained by boxing the tree, and from the nuts 
 and fruit by distillation. It is applied to cuts and wounds, 
 and is possessed of valuable balsamic properties ; the cones 
 are also balsamic, and the resin from them is diuretic and 
 carminative. This is undoubtedly one of the most valua- 
 ble timber trees that we possess. The wood is soft, and 
 rather fine grained, resisting the action of weather and the 
 changes of terriperature remarkably well ; hence used for 
 making the interior work of houses, posts, shingles, staves, 
 etc. Barton mentions that boats from eight to twelve feet 
 diameter and eighty feet straight shaft are made out of a 
 single trunk. See, also, Ell. Bot. for a description; and 
 also an elaborate paper in the April number of the Am. 
 Journal of Science for 1848, by Drs. Dickeson and Brown, 
 a committee from Louisiana, appointed by the Association 
 of Geologists and Naturalists. Cypress leaves boiled dur- 
 ing several hours afford a fine, durable, cinnamon color. 
 The tree should be felled in winter. 
 
 Oupressus tkyoides, L. (White cedar.) Said to grow 
 around the savannas in Horry and Williamsburg districts; 
 Newbern. 
 
 Ell. Bot. ii, 644 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 610. The infusion 
 is reputed to be stomachic, and in the warm state diapho- 
 retic. The wood is soft, fine grained, light and durable, 
 and is adapted for purposes similar to the above. The 
 young trees are easily handled and transported, and are 
 
510 
 
 particularly suited for telegraph poles. Shingles from this, 
 sometimes called juniper shingles, last for forty years. 
 
 Juniperus Virginiana, Linn. Cedar. Grows in upper 
 and lower districts ; jSTewbern. Fl. March. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 49; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 184; Fr. 
 Elems. 195; U. S. Disp. 413; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iii, 698 ; Mich. K Am. Sylva, iii, 221 ; Am. Journal 
 Pharm. xiv, 235; Thacher's Disp. 247; Lind. Nat. Syst. 
 Bot, 316; Griffith, Med. Bot. 607; Supplem. to the Diet, 
 de M. Med. 1846, 406; Bull, de l'Acad. Roy. de Med. vi, 
 478; S. Cubieres' Mem. on the Red Cedar of Virginia, in 
 French, Paris, 1805; Nicolet's Essai on the Physiol, and 
 Chemistry of genus Juniperus; see Journal de Pharm. 
 xxvii, 309, and Bonastie's note on a volatile oil from the 
 Virginia cedar, in Journal de Pharm. xxi, 177, 1834. 
 
 The bark is employed in Abyssinia, under the name of 
 Bisenna. The expressed oil is very useful as an application 
 to rheumatic pains and swellings of the joints. One bushel 
 of the dried shavings, heated in an inverted iron vessel, 
 will yield a half-pint of oil. A decoction of the berries 
 promotes diaphoresis, and is also beneficial in rheumatic 
 pains, stiff joints, etc. It acts very much as savin, being 
 stimulant and emmenagogue, and employed in catamenial 
 obstructions. 
 
 The cedar berry is used in a popular remedy for dropsy, 
 which is claimed by some to be highly efficacious. We can 
 readily understand the reason that it may prove useful when 
 we remember its close alliance with the juniper berry. It 
 is as follows : take one handful of the seed of the cedar, 
 the same of mullein, the same of the root of dogwood; 
 put into two quarts and a pint of water, boil down to one 
 quart, and add one gill of whiskey. Dose, a wineglassful 
 night and morning. A cerate is made for keeping up the 
 irritation and discharge from blisters; this is quite ser- 
 viceable, and is prepared by boiling the fresh leaves in 
 twice their weight of lard, with the addition of a little 
 wax. The fungoid excrescences on this tree are thought to 
 be anthelmintic. 
 
511 
 
 The wood of this tree is well known. It is sometimes 
 dug up in the mud of our swamps in a perfect state of 
 preservation. It is aromatic, light, soft, bearing exposure, 
 to water and weather, and suitable for all kinds of cabinet 
 work, in the construction of posts, staves, the inner work 
 of houses, and particularly in the building of boats. Cedar 
 boxes are not infested by insects, moths, etc., and are used 
 for storing away woollens. The leaves also prevent the 
 attacks of insects when spread over cloth. 
 
 Class III. ENDOGENS, OR MONOCOTYLEDONS. 
 
 MARANTACEiE. ( The Arrow-root Tribe.) 
 
 Maranta Arundinacea. Bermuda arrow-root. Cultivated 
 in South Carolina for domestic use. » 
 
 U. S. Disp. 449; Royle, Mat. Med. 585; Bell's Pract, 
 Diet. 48. See authors. The root is grated, washed, and 
 then dried in the sun on flat dishes. 
 
 In a report to the Patent Office by Robert Gamble, of 
 Florida, published in volume of 1851, p. 326, he says : 
 
 "The Bermuda arrow-root flourishes throughout South 
 Florida, producing, even in the pine lands, from 200 to 300 
 bushels to the acre, the quantity beiug largely increased 
 when planted on rich lands. The yield of merchantable 
 arrow-root flour obtained by very imperfect mills is from 
 six to eight pounds to the bushel — worth from 25 to 30 
 cents per pound. Along our Atlantic coast south of 27° 
 the Cumpti, or Indian arrow-root, grows spontaneously, giv- 
 ing results nearly equal to that of Bermuda, with the ad- 
 vantage that it requires no cultivation. The sole labor 
 consists in bringing it from the forest lands and conveying 
 it to the mill, the simple stirring occasioned by the digging 
 being sufficient to secure a better crop than the one just 
 removed. The Sisal hemp grows readily and luxuriantly, 
 
512 
 
 even upon our pine lands, and will eventually become a 
 valuable staple, but in the multitude of others it is at pres- 
 ent overlooked. So, also, the Palma Christi, which be- 
 comes a tree, and is perennial." See "Jerusalem artichoke" 
 (Cynara), and "Potato" (Convolvulus), for substances yield- 
 iug starch. P. 0. Reports on Agriculture, p. 324, 1858, 
 contain a condensation of a report before the Am. Pharm. 
 Assoc, by R. M. Batty, of Rome, Ga., on the "Production 
 and Manufacture of Arrow-root in the South," with an ac- 
 count of the apparatus used in rasping. It is made a staple 
 crop by one or two gentlemen near St. Mary's, and 2,900 
 pounds of Georgia arrow-root was sold in Savannah in one 
 year. It can be raised by any farmer or planter. "Costing 
 no actual money expended, the consumption of it as a die- 
 tetic article is unrestrained, and it supplies the place in great 
 measure of corn starch, farina, Irish moss, gelatine, and 
 even rice and flour, in the preparation of delicacies for the 
 table, as well as the invalid's chamber." The yield of roots 
 of all sizes t<* the acre is about 150 bushels. Col. Hallows, 
 St. Mary's, Ga., has gone largely into the field culture, and 
 has erected extensive buildings and machinery. Another 
 species of plant grows wild also in South Florida, from 
 which Florida arrow-root is made. It is called coonti, and 
 is described in the New Am. Enc. as a species of sago 
 palm- (Zamia integr if olid). A fecula was formerly prepared 
 and used by the Florida Indians from the Chamcerops ser- 
 rulata, or saw palmetto. 
 
 The cultivation of the arrow-root is precisely that of the 
 sweet potato. A rich, fresh, sandy soil, a large, full bed, 
 the seed (roots) placed six inches deep and a foot apart, 
 careful hoeing and keeping the bed up, constitute the 
 culture. The seed roots should be planted as soon as the 
 spring is confirmed — with us (Ga.) about the middle of 
 March. The smaller tubers or roots are to be selected for 
 seed, and are best preserved by placing ten to fifteen bush- 
 els in a conical heap, stacking closely around them a layer 
 of corn-stalks, and placing over the whole a coating of two 
 or three inches of earth. The object is to keep up a 
 
513 
 
 uniform temperature, and to avoid dampness and the 
 extremes of heat and cold. The plants are allowed to 
 grow until the leaves and stems are slightly affected by the 
 frost, the roots are then to be dug as potatoes, the larger 
 selected for manufacture and the smaller for seed. Those 
 intended for manufacture are to be stacked in heaps of 
 twenty to twenty-five bushels in the same way as directed 
 for the seed roots. They must be carefully protected from 
 cold, as the fecula is changed by freezing. 
 
 The following is the mode of manufacturing for family 
 use: the roots are washed, the scales on the outside re- 
 moved by hand with a knife, and then again washed and 
 placed in a tub of pure water. The next operation is to 
 rasp down the roots by pressing them endwise against the 
 circumference of the rasping machine. (P. 0. Reports, 
 1858, see plate vi.) This machine consists of two wooden 
 discs, framed as large pulleys, about three and a half feet in 
 diameter, placed six inches apart and covered with strong 
 tinned iron, punched from within like a coarse nutmeg 
 grater. It revolves around a central axis of wood with as 
 great a velocity as can be given without throwing off the 
 water from its circumference. A large trough is placed 
 under the wheel, which is kept nearly full of water, the 
 wheel dipping into the trough about six inches. As the 
 wheel revolves the grated pulp is washed off into the 
 trough, and when it becomes too thick the mass is passed 
 into a largie tub and the trough refilled with fresh water. 
 The pulp collected in the tub is then pressed by hand until 
 the fecula is separated from the fibre, and after removing 
 the latter the fecula is allowed to settle to the bottom. 
 The next and most important operation is to pour off the 
 water from the sediment, and when the latter has become 
 pretty firm, to break it carefully into cakes and with a large 
 knife blade to remove from the bottom all sand and other 
 impurities. The cleansed portion is then to be resuspend- 
 ed in a tub of pure water, allowed again to settle, again 
 dried and cleansed. This operation must be repeated until 
 the fecula settles in a perfectly white and clean cake. On 
 33 
 
514 
 
 the careful performance of this part of the manufacture 
 depends the excellence of the article. The cakes are next 
 to be broken up and placed upon cotton cloth stretchers 
 until thoroughly dry and pulverulent, when the powder 
 should be firmly packed in boxes or barrels. Air-drying 
 in the shade is preferable to sun-drying, and dust must be 
 sedulously avoided. Whatever the scale of manufacture 
 and the machinery used, the essential points are : 1st, 
 maturity of the roots; 2d, cleansing the roots before rasp- 
 ing; 3d, rasping so as completely to separate the fecula 
 from the fibre ; 4th, separating the fecula from sand and 
 all other impurities by frequent agitation and subsidence ; 
 5th, thorough and careful drying to avoid mustiness or 
 mildew ; 6th, packing so as effectually to exclude the air. 
 The principle of separating fecula being the same, any 
 labor-saving machinery adapted to the manufacture of po- 
 tato starch may be applied to arrow-root. On a large 
 scale there would be great economy in driving several rasp- 
 ing machines by an engine, agitating the feculent mass 
 from the rasper in large vats, filtering through cloths, dry- 
 ing by hot air in large buildings furnished with cloth 
 stretchers, etc. Tinned iron is used for the rasping part of 
 the mill, and wooden vessels for washing and precipitation. 
 The reader will consult the article cited for the best mode 
 of cultivation. The writer quotes from Mr. Hamilton 
 Cooper or Col. Hallowes, I believe, as follows : " There is 
 no secret in making arrow-root. The great requisition, 
 after the roots have been well washed and reduced to a 
 fine pulp, is an abundance of water together with great 
 cleanliness, and until the hands are well trained, the con- 
 stant vigilance of the master. The latter is more or less 
 necessary at all times. The pulp is passed at one opera- 
 tion through three sets of sieves of different degrees of 
 fineness, put into motion by machinery, and using an 
 abundance of water. As it is strained the fluid runs into 
 vats, where it is allowed to settle, water drawn ofi' and 
 fresh water added, stirring up the sediment thoroughly. 
 This process is repeated a second time, and it is then 
 
515 
 
 strained through sieves of the finest bolting cloth, again 
 washed with successive portions of water, allowed to settle 
 in tubs, water decanted, and the tubs removed to the dry- 
 ing house, where the fecula, when settled into a solid mass, 
 is broken up and placed on frames of convenient size, 
 covered with cotton shirting, which are carried into the 
 drying room, heated artificially, and allowed to remain 
 eighteen to twenty-four hours, taken out, allowed to cool, 
 and put into bins ready for packing. I use boxes contain- 
 ing about one hundred pounds each. In the course of the 
 process of the manufacture I have attempted to describe 
 three thousaud gallons of water are used daily, all of which 
 is furnished by a well of the purest water, not exceeding 
 twelve feet in depth. The use of tank water, it is thought, 
 may be the cause of the pearly appearance of Bermuda 
 arrow-root, or the greater maturity of the plant. lire 
 says it requires eleven months to mature in the island of 
 St. Vincent." "What is called Portland sago is made from 
 the Arum maculatam ; we have two species in the Confeder- 
 ate States. See "Arum," in this volume. 
 
 I have seen the plant cultivated and the arrow-root pre- 
 pared on the plantations in St. John's, Berkley, S. C. The 
 great value of arrow-root as an article of food for the 
 sick and convalescent, and its consequent great utility to 
 our armies in the field, make it particularly desirable that 
 its culture should be extended at this time. I therefore 
 introduce the following directions by the late Governor 
 Seabrook of South Carolina. The method of culture is 
 simple, and is as follows : upon a piece of ground moder- 
 ately high, and of a loose soil, make small beds three feet 
 asunder, and at the distance of every two feet drop one 
 seed, which should be covered about two inches deep. 
 The middle of March is the proper season for planting, 
 and no care or attention is subsequently required but to 
 keep the plants free from grass and weeds. After the first 
 frost they should be dug, and when you have selected the 
 seed it is necessary for their preservation that they should 
 be buried at least one foot in some dry and warm spot. 
 
516 
 
 The preparation of the root for food is tedious, and in eon- 
 sequence of the toughness of the outer coat it would be 
 advisable to perform the operation as speedily as possible 
 after digging. As soon as this is effected, grate the roots 
 in a clean vessel of water, then pass the contents thereof 
 through a sieve ; this must be repeated, taking care to 
 change the water at every successive operation so long as 
 any coarse particles remain in the sieve. The water is 
 then allowed to settle, and if it exhibits a clear and natural 
 appearance the sediment is in a fit state to be be dried, 
 which should be done, if possible, in the sun, and in a 
 confined situation, where no dust can reach it. To a table- 
 spoonful thus prepared pour on a pint of boiling water, 
 stirring it at the same time briskly, to which add a little 
 sugar and nutmeg, and you will then have a jelly pleasant 
 as it is healthful. Boiled with milk it is excellent. 
 
 When starch is obtained from any other plant than one 
 of the grains, as from potatoes, corn, flag, bryony, horse- 
 chestnut, wild orchis, dogbane, burdock, iris, heubane, 
 patience, ranunculus, etc., it is known by the name of 
 fecula. Chaptal describes two processes for extracting 
 starch, by washing with cold water and by fermentation, 
 the latter being more efficient: 
 
 When starch is to be extracted by cold water, the sub- 
 stance must either be reduced to the state of flour or be 
 broken so that the pulp can be acted upon by the water. 
 In the first place the flour of wheat is kneaded with water 
 till it takes the consistency of a stiff paste; this is placed on 
 a cloth stretched tightly over a tub and cold water thrown 
 upon it; the kneading with the hand is continued till the 
 water runs off* clear ; the fecula is carried off" by the water 
 and deposited at the bottom of the tubs; the wafer retains 
 in solution the sugar and the extractive matter of the 
 farina, while the insoluble gluten alone remains upon the 
 filter ; the deposit is washed to free it from any foreign 
 substance, and then dried. When it is not wished that the 
 substance containing the fecula should be reduced to flour, 
 it may be broken in a mortar or under a millstone, or it 
 
SI? 
 
 may be grated; the pulp is then to be placed upon a very 
 fine horse-hair sieve and water thrown upon it till it runs 
 off clear, care being taken to stir the pulp constantly with 
 the hand and to squeeze it hard. When the substance 
 from which the fecula is to be extracted is fleshy and of a 
 loose, spongy texture, it can be reduced to a pulp by 
 means of a press ; the juice thus expressed deposits the 
 fecula, which must be carefully washed in order that the 
 noxious principles contained in it may be perfectly sepa- 
 rated. The whiteness and excellence of the fecula depends 
 upon its being thoroughly washed. 
 
 Fermentation is the means most commonly employed for 
 extracting starch from grain, but this operation will pro- 
 duce only alcohol if care be not taken in mixing the acid 
 with the grain to prevent the spirituous fermentation. 
 This acid is made by mixing with a bucket of hot water 
 wvo pounds of baker's yeast, to which is added two days 
 after several buckets of hot water ; in forty-eight hours 
 from that time the acid will be sufficiently developed. 
 This acid, which is called by the starch manufacturers sure 
 water, is thrown into a hogshead having one end taken out. 
 The hogshead is then filled half-full of common water, into 
 which flour is stirred till it is full ; the whole is then left 
 to macerate during ten days in summer and fourteen in 
 winter. The sufficiently advanced state of the maceration 
 may be known by a deposit being formed and the liquor 
 above it remaining clear, while the surface is covered with 
 foam or fat water. The water and foam are drawn off, and 
 the deposit is thrown into a sack of haircloth, which is 
 placed in a tub and water thrown over it till it runs off 
 without any cloudiness. The substance remaining in the 
 bag, which is only the coarsest part, serves as food for 
 cattle. At the end of two or three days the water floating 
 above the deposit formed in the tub is drawn off, and a 
 part of it preserved to serve as sure water for succeeding 
 operations. 
 
 In order to have good starch, the water must be washed 
 in a great deal of water and well mixed ; two or three 
 
518 
 
 days after the water for the remaining washings may be 
 thrown on. The deposit which forms presents three layers, 
 differing widely in their quality ; the first is principally 
 composed of fragments, and is taken oft' as food for cattle 
 or to fatten hogs with. The second layer is generally 
 formed of the mealy part of the vegetable mixed with 
 some other substances ; the product of this layer is known 
 under the name of common starch. The third layer con- 
 tains the purest and heaviest starch, but in order to give it 
 all the qualities it ought to possess it must be washed with 
 water, and the water afterward separated from it by filtra- 
 tion through a sieve of silk, so as to free it from all impu- 
 rities. "With these precautions starch may be obtained 
 fitted for any use. As soon as the starch has been well 
 washed it is put into baskets lined with linen to be well 
 drained. It is afterward divided into loaves, and the dry- 
 ing finished by exposing it. in the open air upon laths. 
 Before packing for sale, the surface of the loaves, which is 
 slightly colored, is scraped, and the drying of them is com- 
 pleted in the sun or in a stove. Starch acted upon by sul- 
 phuric acid is converted into sugar, and in this state may 
 be made to undergo the vinous fermentation ; a few years 
 since extensive establishments were formed in France for 
 supplying numerous distilleries with the fecula of the 
 potato which had been treated in this manner. 
 
 Amarillidace^:. (The Narcissus Tribe.) 
 
 Some of these are poisonous, and Lindley says that it is 
 one of the few of the monocotyledonous orders in which 
 any poisonous properties are found. 
 
 Agave Sisalana. Sisal hemp. 
 
 This gigantic plant has been introduced into Florida by 
 Dr. Henry Perriue, who was consul at Yucatan. It is said 
 by W. C. Dennis, of Key West (P. O. Reports, 1855, p. 
 243), to delight in arid, rocky land, which contains a super- 
 abundance of lime. It is adapted probably only to the 
 south of Florida, where it can be cultivated during the 
 
519 
 
 absence of frost. It does not require a great deal of cult- 
 ure, but grows on arid, rocky soil around Key "West unfit- 
 ted for any other purpose. "In fact, the land on these 
 keys and much of it on the southern point of the penin- 
 sula is nearly worthless for every other agricultural pur- 
 pose, so far as known, yet there are thousands of acres in 
 this region where a ton of clean Sisal hemp can be made 
 to the acre yearly, after the plant has arrived at such an 
 advanced state of maturity as will allow the lower leaves 
 to be cut from it, which takes in this climate from three 
 to five years to grow, according to the goodness of the 
 soil. Nor is there any longer a doubt as to the good- 
 ness of the fibre, a number of tons having already been 
 collected and sent to market, where it readily brought 
 within a half cent to a cent per pound as much as the best 
 kind of Manilla hemp ; that is, in the neighborhood of 
 two hundred and fifty dollars per ton." See article cited 
 for method of planting and preparing. " About a thou- 
 sand plants should be set on an acre, and from young ones 
 coming up from the long lateral roots ; if these be kept at 
 proper distances it will be seen that the same land requires 
 no replanting if coarse vegetable manure be applied from 
 time to time. After the plant is of sufficient growth the 
 lower leaves are cut off" at proper times, leaving enough on 
 the top to keep it healthy. These leaves are composed of 
 a soft, watery pulp, and are from two to six feet long, and 
 in the middle from four to six inches wide, being frequent- 
 ly three inches thick at the but, but having the general 
 shape of the head of a lance. They contain a gum, which 
 is the chief cause of their being rather troublesome in 
 separating the fibres from the pulp. Neither the epidermis 
 nor this pulp is more than a powder after becoming dry if 
 the gum- be entirely crushed and washed out." 
 
 This is a most important fact in relation to the mauner 
 to be adopted to cleanse the fibres from the pulp. As 
 these are continuous, and parallel, and imbedded in it, I feel 
 certain that a system of passing the leaves through a series 
 of heavy iron rollers firmly set, something after those used 
 
520 
 
 in crushing sugar-cane, and throwing water on the crushed 
 leaves, in jets or otherwise, in sufficient quantities to wash 
 out the gum (which is perfectly soluble in it), will thor- 
 oughly clean out the fibres, without any loss, so that after 
 they are dry, and have been beaten to get out the dust, they 
 will be fit for market; at any rate, the right plan for sepa- 
 rating the fibres has not yet been discovered, although 
 there has been enough done at it to show that they can be 
 got at a profit. 
 
 I obtain the following statements from the Patent Office 
 Reports, 1856, p. 252, by W. C. Dennis: "The plant evi- 
 dently requires dry, hot weather, as well as a dry soil; for 
 since I have observed its growth I have never seen it suffer 
 from drought in the driest and hottest weather and in the 
 most arid spots, provided its roots could find a plenty of 
 the right kind of soil. The meteorological record for the 
 last twenty-five years shows that this plant is well adapted 
 to these keys and the southern extremity of the peninsula, 
 for such winters as the two designated are evidently rare. 
 
 "It would seem that there are lands enough in Florida, 
 south of the limit where the frost would injure this plant, 
 to grow it in sufficient quantities for the present and pros- 
 pective wants of the country, and that, too, in a frontier 
 region which it is of national importance to settle. As far 
 as known, these lands are not well adapted to an extended 
 range of agricultural products, yet I am certain that the 
 tropical agaves in all their varieties will flourish here in 
 the greatest perfection. 
 
 "Mr. Hermonds, of Indian river, Florida, says that Sisal 
 hemp grows well there, and has contiuued to thrive well 
 for years. He thinks that my last year's estimate of the 
 product per acre is too low for that region. The experi- 
 ments I have made within the past year in getting out a 
 number of tons of this fibre convince me there are but few 
 difficulties in accomplishing this work cheaply. These 
 experiments prove that if all the vesicles of the leaves are 
 ruptured by crushing or rolling, the pulp and gum are 
 easily washed out either by salt water or fresh. The plan 
 
521 
 
 which I found most successful was to roll the leaves, being 
 careful to rupture all the vessels, then confine these crushed 
 leaves in an open-work wooden frame or box, which I 
 placed in such a manner that the tides forced the sea-water 
 through them both at the ebb and flow. In this manner 
 the gum and pulp were so far washed out in from three to 
 six days (according to the temperature of the air and water) 
 that by beating the fibres a little after they were dry they 
 were fit for market.* 
 
 "Mr. Hermonds mentioned as a tested fact that steeping 
 the crushed leaves in boiling water, even for a few minutes, 
 at once dissolved the gum and cleaned the fibre. This 
 renders it almost certain that where a steam-engine is used 
 to propel rollers and crush the leaves the waste steam can 
 be rendered effective to clean this hemp by blowing it off 
 between the rollers, aided by a little water in a jet, while 
 the leaves are passing through. 
 
 "The amount of the imports and consumption in this 
 country of fibres similar to Sisal hemp in 1854 was over 
 $2,500,000, of which more than $1,500,000 was for Manilla 
 and Indian hemps, and over $1,000,000 for gunny bags and 
 cloth, jutes, etc. 
 
 "I am of opinion that this hemp can be cleaned, and 
 cheaply, by running the leaves through a series of powerful 
 rollers, having water dashed on them during the operation ; 
 and this plan would be much facilitated in this region 
 from the fact that the gum of the leaves seems equally 
 soluble in salt water as in fresh. But experiment must 
 decide which of the methods would be the best. Care 
 must be taken not to allow the leaves or fibres to come in 
 contact with the mud or other substances which will stain 
 them while they are in a damp state; and it will be well to 
 have them in the sun, or strong light, while under the proc- 
 ess of cleaning and drying; for the juice of the plant is 
 both a saponaceous and a bleaching fluid. 
 
 "Last year I spoke of the fact that the celebrated pulque 
 
 * Would not this method be objectionable on account of the difficulty of drying 
 the fibre or the materials manufactured therefrom? 1>. .t. b. 
 
Jt 
 
 522 
 
 plant [Agave pulque) was introduced by Dr. Perrine. It 
 grows enormously large here where there is sufficient depth 
 of soil, and although I presume that the mean temperature 
 is too high to make from it the Mexican drink, yet alcohol 
 could be distilled from its juice, and probably the leaf can 
 be made to yield a cheap and abundant material for paper. 
 The ancient Aztec made much of the paper on which his 
 picture-writing was transcribed out of the leaves of one or 
 more of the varieties of the agave; and this pulque plant 
 most likely is one of the kinds; for its thick, fleshy leaves, 
 containing very fine fibres, are sometimes eight feet long 
 and from seven to eight inches broad." 
 
 Agave Vir g mica, L. Called by negroes rattlesnake's mas- 
 ter. Grows in damp soils; collected in Wassamasaw, St. 
 John's; vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 Ell. Bot. i, 402. A domestic remedy for flatulent colic; 
 used in Charleston district for the bite of the rattlesnake. 
 
 Amaryllis atamasco, L. Atamasco lily. Grows in damp 
 soils; collected in St, John's, Berkley; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. 
 
 Ell. Bot. i, 884. This is supposed to produce the dis- 
 ease in cattle called "staggers." 
 
 Pancratium maritimum, Walt. I " Seen by Catesby in the 
 " Carolinianmn, L. j Parachucla savanna, St. 
 
 Peter's parish," Ell.; collected on Cooper river, St. John's, 
 Berkley. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 179 ; Dioscorides, 
 lib. ii, c. 168. Pliny also speaks of it, lib. xvii, c. 12. The 
 bulbs are bitter and emetic, and are useful in dropsy. 
 Loiseleur, Manuel des Plantes Indigenes, 19. In the expe- 
 rience of one writer forty grains of the powder produced 
 vomiting five times. 
 
 ILemodoracejE. ( The Blood-root Tribe.) 
 
 Bilatris tvnetoria, Ph. 1 Newbeni . Florida . 
 
 Lachnanthes, Ell. Sk. J 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 622. The root is astringent and 
 
523 
 
 tonic. It is distinguished, says Wilson, for yielding a 
 beautiful dye; hence the name. Rur. Cyc. 
 
 Burmanmace^e. 
 
 Tripterella ccerulia, L. Blue tripterella. Grows near Sa- 
 vannah and Purysberg ; collected in St. John's, Berkley, 
 near Pinopolis ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. ISTov. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 331 ; Nuttall, in Acta, Philacl. 723. 
 A flavor like that of green tea is discernible in this plant. 
 
 Iridace^i. (The Corn-flag Tribe.) 
 
 Iris versicolor, L. Var. a and b. Blue flag. Grows in 
 bogs, morasses, and inundated land; collected in St. John's ; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Coxe, Am. Disp. 354 ; Lind. ISTat. Syst. Bot. 333 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 405 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot v 105 ; Bartram's Travels, 
 451 ; Cutler's Mem. Am. Acad. 405, 6 ; Ell. Bot. 146 ; Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 659; Frost's Elems. 279. 
 
 The expressed juice is acrid, and has been employed as a 
 local application ; it is also purgative, and sometimes occa- 
 sions distressing nausea like sea-sickness, accompanied with 
 prostration of strength. The plant is, however, more re- 
 markable for its diuretic powers. It was prescribed by Dr. 
 McBride with great success in dropsy, combining it with 
 the button snakeroot (Eryngium yuccifolium). The propor- 
 tions are as follows : root of blue flag one ounce ; button 
 snakeroot two drachms ; water half a pound ; which is to be 
 boiled down to one pint and taken in divided doses. See 
 Bigelow. This does not disturb the stomach, and was used 
 with success in cases of hydrothorax conibined with an- 
 asarca. Bartram said the root was considered by the 
 Indians a very powerful cathartic, and it was found in arti- 
 ficial ponds made for the purpose near their villages. See 
 his Voyage dans la partie sud de l'Amerique Septentri- 
 onale, ii, 322, and the Supplem. to Mer. and de L. 1846. 
 According to Bigelow its active chemical constituent seems 
 to be a resin, which separates as a white precipitate when 
 
524 
 
 water is added to the alcoholic tincture. The plant is 
 much employed in domestic practice in St. John's, Berkley, 
 in dropsy. 
 
 Iris Virginica. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 625. It is said to possess properties 
 similar to those of the I. versicolor. 
 
 Bromeliace^e. (The Pineapple Tribe.) 
 
 TiUandsia usneoides, Linn. Long moss. Grows within the 
 tertiary districts of South Carolina ; I have observed it as 
 high up as Columbia ; j^ewbern. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 748 ; Journal de 
 Pharmacien, iii, 185. It is stomachic, purgative, and even 
 diuretic. Employed in hemorrhoids. Op. cit. I see no no- 
 tice of it in the American works. Great use is made in 
 South Carolina of this plant when dried in stuffing chair 
 cushions, mattresses, etc. It gives to the trees in winter 
 quite a venerable and pleasing aspect, and is an indication 
 of great moisture. 
 
 Orchidace^:. ( The Orchis Tibe.) 
 
 Some species of orchis are said to possess aphrodisiac 
 properties. The roots when boiled are farinaceous and eat- 
 able, furnishing an article of food. Attention is invited to 
 those growing in the Confederate States, among which are 
 several beautiful species. 
 
 Bletia verecunda, IS. Elliott is doubtful whether it grows 
 in South Carolina. Mich, cultivated it near Charleston. 
 Fl. Aug. 
 
 Lind. Xat. Syst. Bot. 239. The cormus is said to be 
 stomachic and tonic: see Browne's Jamaica. 
 
 Bletia aphylla. Xutt. 
 
 The tuberous root, as well as the whole plant, contains a 
 great deal of gum and starch. It has a gummy taste, and 
 is closely related with Aplectrum hiemale (Corallorrhiza of 
 
525 
 
 Ell.), which has the name putty-root, probably from the 
 same property of gummmess and adhesiveness. The 
 granules of the tirst named can be seen with the micro- 
 scope. I have ascertained that it forms an excellent gum 
 in place of Spalding's glue or gum-arabic. Paper united 
 by means of it tears before it will separate. It should 
 be well broken up in a little water. 
 
 Gypripedium pnbesce?is, W. Yellow lady's slipper; yellow 
 moccason. l^ewbern. 
 
 Griffith, Med. B'ot. 640. It is employed by the Indians, 
 and held in high estimation in domestic practice as a 
 sedative and antispasmodic, acting like valerian in alle- 
 viating nervous symptoms ; said to have proved useful 
 in hysteria, and even in chorea. A teaspoonful of the 
 powder is taken at a dose. Op. cit, and Raf. Med. Fl. 140. 
 More use might be made of this tea as a cpiieting agent in 
 place of paregoric; see "Tilia." 
 
 PALMACEiE. (The Palm Tribe.) 
 
 Chamcerops serrulata, L. Saw palmetto. Grows on the 
 coast of South Carolina, and at Blythe's island, in Georgia. 
 Mr. Elliott says that it extends also through the pine lands 
 of that state. 
 
 Shec. Fl. Carol. 435. The pulp is very sweet, but is pos- 
 sessed of a purgative property, often producing a copious 
 evacuation attended with griping. 
 
 A correspondent, "F. I. S," of Charleston "Mercury," 
 from Waresboro, Ga., writes as follows in adding to our 
 "resources: " 
 
 "You speak of black moss for mattresses. Our common 
 saw palmetto leaves, when split into shreds with a fork or 
 hackle, boiled, and dried in the sun one or two days, make 
 a light, clean, healthy, and durable mattress. Let me sug- 
 gest that palmetto pillows would be cheap and comfortable 
 for our soldiers on the coast ; their corn and flour sacks 
 would in the absence of anything better furnish ready- 
 made pillow ticks. Our negroes are busily employed in 
 
526 
 
 making light, durable, and handsome palmetto hats for our 
 soldiers — quite a protection from the sun's burning rays in 
 the heavy drills of this and the next two months. A bed 
 made from a downy swamp plant, which our people call 
 cat's tail, took a premium at the late Agricultural Fair in 
 Carolina. 
 
 Chamcerops palmetto, Mich. ) Tall palmetto. Cabbage 
 
 Corypha palmetto, "Walter. / tree. Grows along the sea- 
 coast; vicinity of Charleston. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 432. 
 
 From this noble and characteristic tree is derived the 
 well known armorial emblem on the escutcheon of the 
 State of South Carolina. It scarcely needs any description 
 at my hands. It has been carried in the fore-front of bat- 
 tle by every regiment in the service of the state from 
 Mexico to Manassas. The leaves are employed in the 
 manufacture of hats, baskets, mats, etc. Forts, wharves, 
 conduits, and structures under water are made of the logs, 
 which do not splinter. The cabbage, or expanded embryo, 
 may be classed among the " most delicious vegetables pro- 
 duced for our tables." The tree, however, perishes when 
 deprived of these. State enactments should forbid their 
 destruction, for ere long when the supply is exhausted the 
 tree will still be absolutely required. Griffith says (Med. 
 Bot. 614) that the bark contains taunin. 
 
 Pieces of the spongy part of the stem afford a very good 
 substitute for scrubbing brushes, and are much used in 
 Carolina and Georgia. The leaves of the smaller species 
 afford excellent and durable thatch for covering barns and 
 outhouses ; and the younger leaves of the cabbage tree are 
 manufactured into beautiful light and durable hats. Since 
 the war (1862) the tree has been highly useful for this pur- 
 pose. The repent caudex of the saw palmetto (Farmer's 
 Encyc), being torn from the surface of the earth, cut into 
 proper lengths, dried, and burned to ashes, produces the 
 greatest quantity of potash of any known vegetable. The 
 drupes, or large berries of this species, which are of the 
 
527 
 
 size and figure of dates, and as sweet, afford good and 
 nourishing food to the Indians and hunters. Thej are not 
 palatable to white people till they become accustomed to 
 them. Op. cit. 
 
 Sabal adansonii, Guerns. V Dwarf' palmetto. Swamps in 
 " pumila,~E\l. flower districts. 
 
 Excellent fans may be made of the leaves. The " bane 
 and antidote " are both present in abundance in the same 
 locality — mosquitoes and the palm-like leaves of the dwarf 
 palmetto ! 
 
 Melanthacb^. (The Colchicum Tribe.) 
 "Poisonous in every species." 
 
 Melanthium Virginicurh, "W. Grows in wet soils. 
 
 Griffith, Med. 641. In infusion it is an effectual anthel- 
 mintic. It will operate as an active poison. The decoc- 
 tion, used as a wash, is a certain but somewhat dangerous 
 cure for the itch. 
 
 Chamcelirium Carolinianum, Willd. (K'th's En. PL' 
 
 Iielonias dioica, Ph. and Ell. Sk. 
 
 Common blazing star. Grows in damp pine barrens ; 
 collected in St. John's, Berkley, Charleston district, near 
 Pinopolis ; vicinity of Charleston ; ISTewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Lind. Hat. Syst. 348; Ell. Bot. i, 423; De Cand. and 
 Dubug. 472, an. 1828; Matson's Veg. Pract. 218. The 
 infusion is anthelmintic and the tincture tonic. Prof. 
 Ives recommends it as efficient -in checking nausea and 
 vomiting. The Indian women employed this plant in pre- 
 venting abortion. It is used by the vegetable practitioners 
 in debility of the digestive organs, given in doses of a half- 
 teaspoonful of the powder in warm water three times a 
 day. The root when chewed relieves cough. 
 
 Amianthus musccetoxicum, Gray in K'th's En. PI. \ Fly 
 Helonias erythrosperma Mx. and Ell. Sk. J poison. 
 
 Grows in rich, shaded soils ; collected in St. John's, Berk- 
 
528 
 
 ley; near Brunswick, PI. (T. W. Peyre's, Esq.); vicinity 
 of Charleston. Fl. May. 
 
 Ell. Bot. 421. "A narcotic poison, employed in some 
 families to destroy the house-fly. The bulbs are triturated 
 and mixed with molasses. The flies, if not swept in the 
 fire, or otherwise destroyed, revive in the course of twenty- 
 four hours." I would invite others to an examination of 
 this plant as a remedial agent. 
 
 Veratrum viride, \ Itch-weed ; Indian poke ; 
 
 " album, Mich. J white hellebore. Abbeville 
 
 district, S. C. ; grows in mountain streams. 
 
 Lind. Kat. Syst. 348. "An acrid emetic and powerful 
 stimulant, followed by sedative effects." Big. Med. Bot. 
 ii, 125. Dr. Tully also says it is a deobstruent or altera- 
 tive, an acrid narcotic, an emetic, an epi spastic, and an 
 errhine ; found very useful in gout, rheumatism, diseases 
 of lungs, and some complaints of the bowels. Osgood, in 
 the Am. Journal Med. Science, states that it is perfectly 
 certain in its operation, and is, in all respects, analogous to 
 colchicum, which it should supersede. Bigelow states that 
 in his hands it has arrested the paroxysm of gout, and has 
 given relief in some cases of protracted rheumatism. It 
 has been externally employed, in the form of ointment, in 
 many cutaneous affections. Mr. Worth in gt on, who made 
 a full analysis, found veratria, gallic acid, extractive, etc. 
 See Am. Journal Pharm. IS". S. iii ; Dr. Osgood's examina- 
 tion, Am. Journal Med. Sci. 1885, and Am. Journal 
 Pharm. i", 202, N". S. ; Griffith, Med. Bot. 644; Am. 
 Journal Pharm, 1ST. S. iv, 89; Raf. Med. Fl. 585. The 
 tincture or the extract is the best form of administration ; 
 the dose of the first is thirty drops, of the latter one-third 
 of a grain, gradually increased. Kalrn says that corn 
 soaked in a strong decoction will be protected against the 
 encroachment of birds ; those that eat of it becoming 
 giddy fall to the ground, and thus deter others. The 
 plant is considered eminently deserving the attention of 
 the profession. 
 
529 
 
 The above was written in my report printed in 1849. 
 The great value of this plant is now. fully recognized as a 
 depressor of the heart's action. It is also emetic and 
 expectorant. As it is scarce, our other species, V. inter- 
 medium, growing in Florida, and V. parvifolium of Mx., 
 found in the mountains of North Carolina, should be 
 examined. Many of the recent journals and medical 
 treatises contain full descriptions of the application of the 
 V. viride to the treatment of typhoid and yellow fevers, 
 pneumonia, etc. See Charleston Medical Journal for Drs. 
 Ford and White's paper on the treatment of yellow fever 
 with this agent. The same journal contains papers by 
 Norwood and others on the employment of this powerful 
 sedative. Its discovery is encouraging to those who be- 
 lieve that the same perseverance and enlightened skill 
 which gave us quinine, morphia, ai;d chloroform, may add 
 still more conquests as greater familiarity is attained with 
 the vegetable wealth of our country. The dose of the 
 tincture of V. viride is three to four drops, cautiously in- 
 creased. The remedy for an overdose is alcoholic stimu- 
 lants. Dr. Norwood, of South Carolina, deserves great 
 credit for establishing the method of using the V. viride. 
 His tincture is made by macerating eight ounces of the 
 dried root in sixteen ounces of alcohol for two weeks ; 
 dose, from six to eight drops, repeated cautiously every 
 three hours, gradually increasing till its effects are pro- 
 duced. The roots should be collected in autumn ; they 
 deteriorate. 
 
 Veratrum parvifolium and angustifolium. Both are found 
 in South Carolina; they are probably active, and should 
 be examined. 
 
 Gyromia Virginica, \ Indian cucum- 
 
 Medeola " Linn, and Ell. Sk. / ber ; Virginian 
 
 medeola. Grows in moist soils ; generally found under 
 
 beech trees ; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 274. Pursh states that the root was eaten 
 34 
 
530 
 
 by the Indians. Dr. Barton thought it useful in dropsies. 
 Bart. M. Bot. ; Liud. jSTat. Syst. Bot. 318. It enjoys some 
 reputation as a hydragogue. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iv, 270 ; according to which it is esteemed a very 
 active diuretic. De Cand. Essai, 293. 
 
 Trillium sessile, L. Rare ; grows in rich shaded soil ; 
 collected in St. John's, Berkley, near "Wantoot PL; vicin- 
 ity of Charleston ; I have observed it on the Ashley road. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 348. '< Roots generally violently 
 emetic." 
 
 Liliace^e. ( The Lily Tribe.) 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Erythronium Americanum, L. V Dog's-tooth violet ; ad- 
 " lanceolatum, Ph. jder's tongue. Grows in 
 
 the upper districts and in • Georgia ; sent to me from 
 Abbeville by Mr. Reed. Fl. April. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 318 ; Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 151 ; Mer. and 
 de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. iii, 147; .Coxe, Am. Disp. 269; 
 Bart. Flora F. Am. 133 ; Griffith, Med. Bot. The recent 
 bulbs are emetic when powdered and given in doses of 
 twenty to forty grains. When dried or cooked they 
 become eatable. The berries are said to be more active 
 and certain in their operation than the root. 
 
 Yucca Jilamentosa, L. Bear-grass. Diffused ; I have col- 
 lected it in Sumter district, S. C. 
 
 A tincture of the roots is much employed in rheuma- 
 tism. The " Cherokee doctors " use it in the form of a 
 poultice of the roots, or a salve, as a local application in 
 allaying inflammation. 
 
 The fibre is uncommonly strong, and is used for various 
 purposes on our plantations : for making thongs for hang- 
 ing up the heaviest hams, bacon, etc. I do not know 
 whether it has been tried as a substitute for hemp and 
 cordage, as Mr. W. G. Simms suggests in a letter to me. 
 
 I have since (July, 1862) seen an article in the Charles- 
 
531 
 
 ton Courier, entitled " Confederate Flax," in which it is 
 stated that Mr. D. Ewart, of Florida, had presented for 
 exhibition " specimens of scutched fibre, and of cordage 
 and twine of different sizes, made from the very common 
 plant familiarly known as bear-grass, or Adam's needles." 
 He also communicated the processes employed in reducing 
 it to cordage. The Columbus (Ga.) Sun, of a later date, 
 reports a coil of rope made by Mr. Jas. Torrey, which was 
 pronounced by competent authority to be equal to Ken- 
 tucky rope. The plants in the above instance were rotted 
 and prepared by a negro boy. 
 
 Gov. Call (see Southern Cultivator, p. 27, vol. 5, 1847), 
 in stating that the bear-grass is an evergreen, says that it 
 may be prepared for use at any season, as it sustains no 
 loss or depreciation by remaining in the ground. Six 
 months growth will give a plant of good size, and the 
 hemp made from such a plant will be as long and possess 
 quite as much strength as that made from plants of older 
 growth. But it will have fewer leaves, and consequently 
 produce less fibre. It will require planting but once in a 
 lifetime, and with but little culture will produce abundant 
 crops of five or six tons per acre. "After boiling the 
 leaves and putting them up in small bundles of convenient 
 size for the purpose, I have passed them through an ordi- 
 nary wooden sugar mill, dipping them in water at each 
 passage until the surplus matter has been removed, leaving 
 the fibres perfectly cleansed, unimpaired, and ready for 
 use." It can be propagated by cutting the roots like the 
 sweet potato. The same number contains a report from 
 the Secretary of War upon the same subject. Congress 
 allowed Dr. Perrine a grant of land in Florida for the 
 purpose of raising Sisal and other hemp plants. His 
 death defeated the enterprise. 
 
 Allium Ccmadense,W . Onion-tree; meadow garlic. Grows 
 in damp soils ; Newbern. 
 
 Griffith, Med. Bot. 653. It is employed as a substitute 
 for the common garlic, and it is said to be fully as efficient. 
 
532 
 
 Its top bulbs are greatly prized for pickling, being consid- 
 ered of superior flavor to the common onion for that pur- 
 pose. For cultivation, see Farm. Encyc, Gr. W. Johnson. 
 Most of the exotic alliaceous plants, the leek, onion, garlic, 
 etc., are cultivated in the Confederate States. Cotton or 
 wool wet with the juice of garlic, and applied in the ear, is< 
 said to relieve deafness. The juice or syrup is given to 
 infants with colic ; a few drops being used in place of 
 paregoric. Said to be both stimulant and carminative. 
 
 Allium Carolinianum. "Wild garlic. 
 
 Several species of alliaceous plants grow within the Con- 
 federate States. The juice of garlic acts medicinally as an 
 expectorant. It is a strong cement for broken glass and 
 china. Preparations of garlic will expel snails, grubs, 
 moles, worms, etc., placed near their haunts. Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc. 
 
 Schoenotyrion Jlichauxii, Torr. Swamps and pine barrens; 
 Florida, and westward. Chap. 
 
 The bulbous, roots of this and the Molina Georgiana, Mx., 
 are allied to the squill, and should be examined. 
 
 Aletris fariuosa, L. Star-grass ; unicorn root. Diffused 
 in damp pine lands ; collected in St. John's ; vicinity of 
 Charleston ; INTe wbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 92 ; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. 
 ii, 121 ; Frost's Elems. 283 ; Mer. and de L. Diet, de Mat. 
 Med. i, 161; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 353; Clayton's Phil. 
 Trans. Ab. viii, 333; Cutler, Am. Acad, i, 435; Griffith, 
 Med. Bot. 623. " The root is tonic and stomachic in small 
 doses, but one of twenty grains occasions nausea, with a 
 tendency to vomit." Lind. Nat. Syst. Bigelow knew of 
 no plant exceeding this in genuine, intense, and permanent 
 bitter. Pursh says it is an excellent remedy in colic ; 
 Cullen, in chronic rheumatism ; and Dr. Thacher, in 
 dropsical affections. Infused in vinegar, it is given in 
 intermittent fever attended with dropsical accumulations. 
 
533 
 
 The decoction of the root and leaves in liberal doses is 
 much employed in popular practice in the lower portions of 
 South Carolina. The root is quite resinous, and is sup- 
 posed to contain a portion of extractive matter, hence its 
 use in coughs and colds, as it does not at the same time 
 impair the tone of the digestive organs. It is said to pro- 
 duce soreness of the mouth. Ten grains act as a tonic. 
 The tincture is the strongest preparation. It is employed 
 by the vegetable practitioners. See Howard's Imp. Syst. 
 Bot. Med. 285. 
 
 Aletris aurea, Walter. Yellow star-grass. Grows in sim- 
 ilar situations; collected in St. John's, Berkley, near 
 Pinopolis : vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, i, 39 ; Frost's Elems. 283 ; U. S. 
 Disp. 67. It is purgative and nauseating in large doses, 
 probably possessed of properties similar to the above. 
 
 Convallaria majallis. Lily of the valley. According to 
 Elliott, grows on the highest mountains of South Carolina. 
 
 Bull. Plantes Yen. de France, 164. The powder of the 
 leaves is said to be a very active sternutatory. Dem. El6m. 
 de Bot. by Gillibert, ii, 6. Some practitioners order the 
 powder of the leaves in epileptic affections, depending upon 
 verminous influence. The flowers furnish a good deal of 
 essential oil. "We have tried with success a powder 
 of the flowers in inveterate pain of the head." Trans, 
 from op. ait. This was taken in the nostrils as snuff. Dr. 
 Wood, in the U. S. Disp. 1249, confirms the assertion ir. 
 reference to the power the flowers possess of exciting 
 sneezing. They have a delightful odor, resembling that of 
 musk, and when dried and powdered are much employed 
 as a sternutatory, acting sometimes quite violently. Ac- 
 cording to Merat they are esteemed in nervous headaches 
 and vertigo; and when pulverized are emetic and purgative. 
 See Diss. Botanico Med. Inaug. de Lilium. Conval. 1718? 
 Al Torfii ; Diss. Inaug. at Gottingen, 1757 ; one by Misdorf, 
 in 1742; and another by Schultze, in the same year. Shec, 
 
534 
 
 in his Flora Carol. 431, states that the dried flowers are nar- 
 cotic. "The extract of the root and flowers possesses pur- 
 gative properties similar to aloes." The poultice of the root 
 enjoys some celebrity for taking away the marks of bruises, 
 etc. With the addition of lime to the leaves a beautiful 
 green color is obtained. The dose of the simple distilla- 
 tion of the flowers is four ounces ; when powdered sixty 
 grains ; of extract two to three grains. The berries are 
 large, and scarlet colored. The plant is much admired and 
 cultivated throughout Europe. The dried flowers have a 
 narcotic odor, and when pulverized they provoke sneezing, 
 and may be used as a sternutatory. Rural Cyc. 
 
 Convallaria multiflora, \ Solo- 
 
 Polygonatum multiflorum., Desfont. and Ell. Sk. / mon's 
 seal. Grows in damp soils. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 1249. This is used in similar cases ^vith the 
 European species (the Con. polygonatum), the root of which 
 was employed as a cosmetic, and which according to Her- 
 mann is a good remedy in gout and rheumatism. See 
 Kouv. Journal de Med. v, 209. Thirty grains of the dried 
 root is given in Russia as a preventive against plague. 
 Bull des Sc. Med. v, 209. 
 
 Polygonatum biflorum, L. \ This, Convallaria majalis (lity 
 P. pubescens, Pursh. /of the valley), and species of 
 the genus Smilacina (Solomon's seal), growing in the Con- 
 federate States, yield starch from their roots. I have often 
 noticed the tuberous roots of Convallaria bifiora. Starch is 
 abundant in them. 
 
 Uvular ia perfoliate, L. Grows in damp soils ; collected 
 in St. John's. Fl. June. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 641. The roots of the different spe- 
 cies are subacid and mucilaginous when fresh ; and a 
 decoction of them has been employed as a domestic remedy 
 in sore mouth and in affections of the throat ; also consid- 
 ered as alexipharmic in snake bites. The roots are, how- 
 
535 
 
 ever, edible when cooked, and the young shoots are a very 
 good substitute for asparagus. See, also, Smilax. 
 » 
 JJvularia sessiliflora, L. Collected in St. Stephen's parish, 
 in damp soils. Fl. July. Similar in properties to the above. 
 
 Asparagus officinalis, L. Ex. Wat. on banks of Cooper 
 river; vicinity of Charleston, Bach. Fl. May. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. Supplem. 1846, p. 73. 
 A preparation in the shape of a syrup was much in vogue 
 as a powerful sedative in palpitation of the heart, used 
 by Broussais. Journal de Pharm. xix, 667. Its diuretic 
 property is well known. Revue Med. 1838, p. 409. See 
 M. Locliberts on its culture, and an account of the alco- 
 holic fermentation from the branches, in the Journal de 
 Med. Militaire. 
 
 Asparagus for coffee.-^-L\eb'ig states that asparagus con- 
 tains, in common with tea and coffee, a principle which he 
 calls taurine, and which he considers essential to the health 
 of those who do not take strong exercise. By this a writer 
 in the London Gardener's Chronicle was led to test aspara- 
 gus as a substitute for coffee. He says : " The young shoots 
 were not agreeable, having an alkaline taste. I then tried 
 ripe seeds, and they, roasted and ground, make a full fla- 
 vored coffee, not easily distinguished from fine Mocha. 
 The seeds are easily freed from the berries by drying them 
 in a cool (warm, I suppose he means) oven, and then rub- 
 bing them on a sieve. There is in Berlin, Prussia, a large 
 establishment for the manufacture of coffee from acorns 
 and chiccory, the articles being made separately. The 
 chiccory is mixed with an equal weight of turnips to ren- 
 der it sweeter. The acorn coffee, which is made from 
 roasted and ground acorns, is sold in large quantities, and 
 frequently with rather a medicinal than an economical 
 view, as it is thought to have a wholesome effect upon the 
 blood. Acorn coffee is, however, made and used in many 
 parts of Germany for the sole purpose of adulterating 
 genuine coffee." Annual of Scientific Discovery. 
 
536 
 
 Commelinace^e. ( The Spiderwort Tribe.) 
 Commeliria communis, Pursh. Grows in pine barrens ; 
 collected in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston ; ISTewbern. 
 Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 272. In Cochin 
 China it is said to be employed as a refrigerant and relax- 
 ant ; prescribed in constipation and strangury. The flower 
 is of a beautiful blue, and Ksempher says that a color like 
 ultramarine might be obtained from it. 
 
 Alismace.33. {The Water Tlantain Tribe.) 
 All are aquatic plants, and many contain a fleshy rhizome 
 which is eatable. 
 
 Sagittaria sagittifolia, Mich. V Arrow-head. Grows in 
 " latifolia, ~W, J rice fields; collected on Coop- 
 
 er river ; I have specimens from Sumter district ; vicinity 
 of Charleston, Bachman ; Kewbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 153 ; Journal Comp. 
 des Sc. Med. xix, 143. The leaves are acrid, and it is pro- 
 posed to employ them in dispersing scrofulous ulcers. 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 416. The Chinese are said to cul- 
 tivate it on account of the bulbous roots, which are eaten. 
 It was employed as food by the Indians. Wade's PI. Rari- 
 ores, 80. It is said that the leaves, applied to the breasts 
 of nursing women, will tend to dispel the milk. Griffith's 
 Med. Bot. 619. The fecula is like arrow-root (Maranta 
 arund.), and has been used for similar purposes. 
 
 The root of this plant is often of great length. In China 
 it is used as an article of food. ~No doubt it contains starch. 
 Our canna (C. flacida) very probably yields starch, for the 
 arrow-root, u tous les mois," from C. eoccinea, makes a stiffer 
 jelly than that from the Maranta or Florida arrow-root. 
 
 Alisma plantago, L. I Water plantain. 
 
 A. trivialis and parviflora of Pursh. J Ditches and ponds; 
 Georgia, and northward. 
 
 It is used by the vegetable practitioners as a demulcent 
 
537 
 
 astringent in affections of the bowels, and by the "Chero- 
 kee doctors" as an external application to "sores, wounds, 
 bruises, swellings, etc.," being employed as a poultice and 
 wash. 
 
 Junce^e. {The Rush Tribe.) 
 Juncus communis, Mey, in Kuuth's En. PI. \ Soft rush ; bul- 
 " effusus, Linn, and Ell. Sk. /rush. Grows 
 
 in bogs and morasses; Kewbern. Fl. May. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. 531. Cultivated in Japan for making 
 floor mats, chair bottoms, etc. It is sometimes employed 
 in South Carolina for similar purposes. The pith, when 
 dried and oiled, will -serve as a wick. A decoction of the 
 plant is said to be diuretic. 
 
 Smilace^. (The Smilax Tribe.) 
 Smilax pseudo- China, L. China-briar. Grows in swamps, 
 along streams; collected in St. John's, Berkley; jSTewbern. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 700; IT. S. Disp. 634; Pe. Mat. 
 Med. and Therap. 133; De Cand. Prodrom. i, 351; Frost's 
 Elems. Mat. Med. 228. The decoction is alterative ; in large 
 doses emetic. It is much used in portions of the Confed- 
 erate States in the composition of diet drinks, and it is 
 considered one of the best substitutes for sarsaparilla. 
 Griffith. Med. Bot. 660, states that the Indians employed 
 the fecula of this, as well as that of the S. caduca, laurifolia, 
 and tamnoides — all indigenous to South Carolina. 
 
 The roots of this plant contain a good deal of starch. 
 They are, consequently, to a certain extent light and porous, 
 and are used to make pipes with, also by our soldiers in 
 camp in tlie manufacture of an extemporaneously prepared 
 beer. The root is mixed with molasses and water in an 
 open tub, a few seeds of parched corn or rice are added, and 
 after a slight fermentation it is seasoned with sassafras. 
 The young shoots of the China-briar are eaten as aspara- 
 gus, with which they are closely allied. They impart the 
 same odor to the urine, and probably contain asparagine. 
 
538 
 
 Lawson, in his "Travels in Carolina," says: "The root 
 is a round ball, which the Indians boil and eat." Croom 
 states in the notes to his " Catalogue," p. 48, that these roots 
 become in time of scarcity an important article of food to 
 the southern Indians. The Seminoles, of Florida, obtain 
 from them, by maceration in water, their red meal, and from 
 the roots of Zamia integrifolia their white meal, "which have 
 subsisted them in part during their late campaign." 
 
 The seeds of the berries are exceedingly hard, and are 
 used as beads. I have seen a necklace made with them re- 
 sembling coral, which may well be called "Indian coral." 
 
 Smilax sarsaparilla, L. \ Rich soils ; Abbeville district ; 
 " glauea, Walt, j Fl. July. 
 
 U. S. Disp. 634; Woodv. Med. Bot. 161. This does 
 not appear to be the officinal sarsaparilla, though it proba- 
 bly shares the alterative virtues belonging to the genus. 
 Thornton's Fain. Herbal, 241 ; Journal de Pharm. xvi, 38 ; 
 Frost's Elems. Mat. Med. 223. It is supposed to be possessed 
 of undoubted efficacy, given in diet drinks and alterative 
 mixtures combined with the China-briar, and used in syph- 
 ilis and chronic rheumatism. Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. iii, 79; Humboldt's Voyage, viii, 378; Analysis in 
 Journal de Chim. Med. i, 215. A principle has been de- 
 rived from it, called smilacine. Journal de Pharm. xvi, 501, 
 and xviii, 324. From Bartley's examination, in the Edin. 
 Med. Journal, xvi, 473, the virtues appear to reside in the 
 cortical part; hence, it is best extracted by the cold infusion. 
 Biblioth. Med. xxvi, 119. According to these writers, it is 
 considered a powerful sudorific and alterative, indicated 
 when you wish to produce diaphoresis, as in rheumatism of 
 the joints; and this agrees with the experience of those 
 who have tried it in the Confederate States. J. Pope, Re- 
 cherches upon the different species of Sarsaparilla, in Journal 
 Gren. de Med. xci, 300, and Thunberg's Mem. on the quan- 
 tity of extractive matter furnished by the species. 
 
 Smilax caduea, L. Arouud ponds, and in rich shaded 
 
539 
 
 soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; New- 
 bern. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 375. Some have 
 asserted that it furnishes caoutchouc. See Hist. Nat. Pharm. 
 ii, 590. 
 
 Smilax tamnoides, L. Grows in dry soils ; collected in St. 
 John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. vi, 384. The root of 
 this also, says Merat, is employed in the form of decoction 
 to purify the blood. 
 
 Smilax herbacea, L. Grows in rich wooded soils ; collected 
 in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
 This species has been used for its alterative properties. 
 
 Smilax ovata, Ph. and Ell. Sk. Grows on the sea-shore, 
 Ell.; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
 Ell. Bot. Med. Notes, ii, 698. Remarkable for the fra- 
 grance of its flowers. 
 
 Dioscc-REACEiE. (The Yam Tribe.) 
 
 Dioscorea villosa, L. "Wild yam. Grows in damp soils; 
 collected in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. July. 
 
 Griffith's Med. Bot. 659. The decoction of the root, ac- 
 cording to Riddell, in a late paper, Synops. Flo. West. St. 
 93, is eminently beneficial in bilious colic: one ounce is 
 added to one pint of water, and half of this is taken at a 
 dose. He says it acts with great promptitude, and that Dr. 
 Neville places much reliance on the tincture as an expecto- 
 rant; it is likewise diaphoretic, and in large doses emetic. 
 Attention is invited to its employment. 
 
 See illustrated papers in Patent Office Reports, p. 169, 
 1854, and p. 250, 1856, on the Chinese yam (Dioscorea ba- 
 tatas) which bears a large tuber, like the potato, and yields 
 starch, sugar, etc. The roots do not require to be stored in 
 cellars, though this may be done ; they are dug in the fall. 
 I have seen it growing at Col. J. B. Moore's, near State- 
 
' 540 
 
 burg, S. C. The root is said to be "voluminous, ricb in 
 nutritive matter, and can be cooked in every respect like 
 the common potato, and even be eaten in the raw state." 
 The yam cultivated at the South is Dioscorea sativa; another 
 species raised here, D. alata, weighs sometimes thirty pounds. 
 
 Araceje. (The Arum Tribe.) 
 
 An acrid principle generally pervades this tribe, existing 
 in some of them to a high degree. 
 
 Ariscema atroreubens, Blum, in K'th's En. PL ~» Wake rob- 
 
 Aritm triphyllum, L. Ell. 8k. J in ; Indian 
 
 turnip; dragon-root. 
 
 Grows in rich soils; collected in St. John's; vicinity of 
 Charleston; Newbern. Fl. June. 
 
 Eberle, Mat. Med. ii, 437 ; Chap. Therap. and Mat. Med. 
 ii, 41; U. S. Disp. 123; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 78; 
 Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 52; Am. Journal Pharm. xv, 83; 
 Thacher's U. S. Disp., art. A. triphyllum, 153; Cullen, 
 Mat. Med. ii, 211 and 554; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. 
 Med. i, 460; Coxe, Am. Disp. 121; Schcepf, Mat. Med. 
 133; Rush, ii, 301; Barton's Collec. 29; Shec. Flora Carol. 
 273; McCall, in Phil. Med. Journal, ii, 84; Cutler, Am. 
 Acad, i, 487; Lind. Fat. Syst. Bot. 364; Matson ' s Yeg. 
 Pract. 295, and Thompson's Steam. Pract. It is said to be 
 similar in its action to the A. maculatum. Dr. Meara 
 affirms that it does not act on the general circulatory, but 
 only on the glandular system, which it stimulates greatly, 
 and the secretions of which it augments. Dr. Wood says 
 it stimulates the secretions of the skin and lungs also. It 
 is used advantageously in diseases of the mucous mem- 
 branes, particularly pertussis and asthma. "In the chronic 
 asthmatic affections of old people it is a remedy of very 
 considerable value." The powder of the fresh root, made 
 into a paste with honey or syrup, and placed in small 
 quantities upon the tongue so as to be gradually diffused 
 over the mouth and throat, is said to have proved useful in 
 the aphthous sore throat of children. Dr. Thacher em- 
 
541 
 
 ployed it in this affection, and adds that it is of approved 
 efficacy in rheumatism. "Milk in which the acrid princi- 
 ple of the A. trifihyl. has been boiled has been known to 
 cure consumption!" De Cand. cit. in Lind. The sliced 
 root has been used as an application for poisoning by the 
 ivy {Rhus). Lindley remarks of some of this class that 
 "•the spadixes disengage a sensible quantity of heat when 
 they are about to open." An ointment, made by stewing 
 the fresh root in lard, is applied in scald-head, in ringworm, 
 and other eruptions and cutaneous diseases, acting as a 
 stimulant. The root is a decided expectorant. Agardh 
 considers that the acrid principle, which, notwithstanding 
 its fugacity, has lately been obtained pure, is of great power 
 as a stimulant. In corroboration, I would mention my 
 having produced vesication merely by rubbing the stem of 
 the Arum Walteri (South Carolina species) in contact with 
 the unbroken skin; and I observe that both species are 
 very irritating to the fauces. By chemical analysis (Am. 
 Journal Pharm. xv, 83) it contains, besides the acrid princi- 
 ple, from ten to seventeen per cent, of starch, which may 
 be obtained from it as white and as delicate as from the 
 potato; also albumen, gum, sugar, extractive, lignin, and 
 salts of potassa and lime. Bigelow states (i, 59) that the 
 starch is prepared by pouring repeatedly portions of water 
 Over the fresh root reduced to a pulp by grating, and 
 placed on a strainer, the farinaceous part being ^carried 
 through, and leaving the fibrous behind. Dr. McCall, of 
 Georgia, found it to yield one-fourth part its weight of 
 pure amylaceous matter, which is white, delicate, and nu- 
 tritive. See, also, the experiments of Bigelow to extract 
 the acrimonious principle of the fresh root. The root may 
 be preserved if kept buried in the sand. Dose of recently 
 dried root, ten grains mixed with gum-arabic, sugar, and 
 water, in the form of emulsion, repeated and increased. 
 During scarcity of food almost any substance that contains 
 starch, even though it be associated with bitter or noxious 
 principles, may furnish material for bread. "From the 
 acorn a kind of meal is produced which makes excellent 
 
542 
 
 bread, provided that a little barley meal be mingled with it 
 to counteract its astringent qualities. M. Parmentier ex- 
 tracted the farina or starch of the bryony, the iris, gladiolus, 
 ranunculus, fumaria, arum dracunculus, mandragora, col- 
 chicum, filipendula, and hellebores, etc. It is only neces- 
 sary to cleanse these roots, to scrape and pound them, and 
 then to soak the pulp in a considerable quantity of water; 
 a white sediment is deposited, which when washed and 
 dried is a real starch. M. Parmentier converted these dif- 
 ferent starches into bread by mingling them with an equal 
 portion of potatoes reduced into pulp, and the ordinary 
 dose of wheaten leaven ; the bread had no bad taste, and 
 its quality was excellent." "Wilson's Rural Cyc. We have 
 in the Confederate States several species of the genera men- 
 tioned above. See index to this volume; also, " Zizania" 
 or Canada rice. A knowledge of these plants may prove 
 serviceable in case of an emergency. 
 
 Peltandra Virginica, Raf. (Kunth, En. PI.) ~» Common in 
 Arum Virginicum, L. j swamps; col- 
 
 lected in St. John's, Berkley; vicinity of Charleston. PL 
 May. 
 
 Stearns' Am. Herbal, 133. Property probably similar 
 to those of the above. "Powerfully stimulant, diuretic, 
 and diaphoretic. Stimulates the solids, promotes the se- 
 cretiorr»of perspiration, urine, etc.; good in languid, phleg- 
 monous habits, in relaxation and weakness of the stomach, 
 loss of appetite, in jaundice, hysterical and hypochondria- 
 cal complaints, rheumatism, pains, and obstinate head- 
 aches unattended with fever." Dose, ten grains, with sixty 
 grains of gum-arabic, twenty of spermaceti, and eight of 
 sugar. 
 
 Arum maculatum. I find that this species is not a native 
 of the Confederate States; but the indigenous A. irvphyllum 
 is said to possess precisely the same properties ; so I will 
 allow it to remain. 
 
 Bull. Plantes Ven. de France, 83. "The leaves, being 
 
543 
 
 eaten by three children, produced horrible convulsions," 
 swelling of the tongue, etc. One author mentions that he 
 uses the root with great success in rheumatic pains, in doses 
 of six to twenty grains of fresh root, three times a day. 
 The emulsion is more sedative. The dry root is quite nu- 
 tritious, serving as an article of food. Catalogus Planta- 
 rum, 28. The decoction of the root with hone}^ is a power- 
 ful expectorant, and is useful in asthma. {JExpectorat enim 
 validissime crassas lentasque excreationes.) The Catalogus 
 Plantarum of Ray, furthermore, expresses this high opin- 
 ion: " Remedium est prcestantissimum et minime fallax adversus 
 venenum et pestem, astkmaticos maxime juvat, hernias curat et 
 urinam ciet." See, also, the Historia Plantarum Paii, p. 1208. 
 The root, dried and powdered, has been sold as a cosmetic, 
 under the name of cypress powder; said also to possess a 
 soporific quality, and to be used in washing linen. Linn. 
 Veg. Mat. Med. 168 ; Woodv. Med. Pot. 75. The recent 
 root, according to Orfila, will cause the death of a dog in 
 thirty-six hours. Toxicol. 298; Ancien. Journal de Med. 
 xxxiv, 529. See Diet, des Drogues, i, 355, for chemical 
 analysis. Portland sago is made from the root. Encycl. 
 Plants, 800. The bad effects resulting from the use of the 
 Arum are alleviated by the administration of buttermilk 
 and oily liquors. Shecut, in his Flora Carol., speaks of its 
 great reputation as an effectual remedy in cachectic cases, 
 in weakness of stomach, and fixed rheumatic pains. The 
 fresh root, externally applied, is a good substitute for Span- 
 ish flies. Dr. Lewis, in the Fam. Herbal, 751, asserts that 
 neither water nor spirit extracts its virtues, the fresh root 
 being best administered in substance, in the form of a bolus 
 or emulsion, or by heating it up with resin or gum, and 
 keeping in pill. Geoffroi alludes to it as a valuable stom- 
 achic, for restoring lost appetite; useful in chlorosis, jaun- 
 dice, and hysterical affections. He says that by boiling the 
 root in vinegar it becomes powerfully diuretic. Bergius 
 reports the root as of great service, mixed with an alkaline 
 aromatic, in cases of obstinate periodical headache, when 
 the pulse is slower than natural without fever. Journal de 
 
544 
 
 Pharm. xii, 158. Merat, in the Diet, de Mat. Med., endor- 
 ses the opinions generally expressed above. IT. S. Disp. 
 123; Big. Am. Med. Bot. i, 52. Sir J. E. Smith, in his 
 
 Introd. to Botany, says that it is asserted by that at 
 
 the period of inflorescence, between 4 and 10 o'clock, p. m., 
 the flower is actually "hot," causing the thermometer to 
 rise several degrees. 
 
 Symplocarpus fceiidus. (Pothos of Mx.) Skunk cabbage. 
 
 A fetid plant, supposed to possess some antispasmodic 
 power. The root, chewed, produces a prickling sensation 
 in the mouth. 
 
 Orontium aquaticam, Mx. Golden-club. Roots often im- 
 mersed; common in lower country; collected in St. John's. 
 Fl. May. 
 
 Lind. Nat. Syst. 365. "The root is acrid, but becomes 
 eatable by roasting." Both the seeds and roots were eaten 
 by the Indians. 
 
 Typhace^e. (The Bulrush Tribe.) 
 
 Typha latifolia, L. Cat-tail; reed mace. Morasses and 
 stagnant waters, often immersed; collected in St. John's; 
 vicinity of Charleston ; Newbern. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. t. vi, 795; Journal de 
 Chim. Med. iv, 179; Journal de Pharm. xii, 564. This 
 plant receives an extended notice in European works. The 
 root is eaten as a salad. See, also, Lightfoot's Fl. Scotica, 
 ii, 339. A jelly also is extracted from it. Aublet assures 
 us it is good in gonorrhoea and chronic dysentery. See an 
 analysis in Journal de Pharm. xii, 564, and xiv, 221. Little 
 crystals of phosphate of lime are found in the stems. It is 
 said also to be abundant in fecula. Decouv. des Russes. iii, 
 450; Gmelin, Flora Siberica, i, 25-139. See Vignal's Essay 
 on the treatment of wounds with the pollen or aigrettes of 
 the Typha, which it is proposed to use as a substitute for 
 cotton (in French^ Paris, 1803. The bark has been em- 
 ployed in the fabrication of hats, and with cotton in making 
 
545 
 
 gloves; and some have recommended it in making China 
 paper. See the Diet, de M. Med. The down has been 
 used to stuff mattresses. Linnsefts informs us that the coop- 
 ers in Sweden employ the stalks to bind their casks with. 
 In England they use the Scirpus laGustris, and in Italy the 
 Car ex acuta (all South Carolina species, which see) to fasten 
 the timber in the joints. The stalks are opened longitudi- 
 nally, and placed between the interstices, so as effectually 
 to prevent the escape of fluids. Those who manufacture 
 turpentine and rice barrels might fiucl these plants of much 
 service in this respect — serving the purpose much better 
 than the strips of wood shaving generally employed to ren- 
 der the seams tighter. I would invite further attention to 
 the Typha for the several purposes alluded to. It is stated 
 (Courier, 1863) that paper is made from this plant in New 
 York. 
 
 Sparganium. ramosum, Huds. ) Lagoons and ditches ; 
 
 S. Americqnum, Ell. / Florida, and northward. 
 
 The herbage of the branchy species of burr-reed {Sparga- 
 nium) is softer and more pliant than that of the reedy plants, 
 and serves well in combination with some of them in pack- 
 ing. I have been surprised that more use is not made of 
 such plants by merchants and packers. The unripe burr^ 
 are very astringent; a strong decoction is employed for va- 
 rious purposes as an astringent. See Darlington's Flora 
 Cestrica. 
 
 ACORAC.E. 
 
 Acorns calamus, L. Sweet-flag; calamus. Diffused in 
 bogs and morasses ; I have collected it in Fairfield and in 
 Charleston districts; vicinity of Charleston, Bach; ISTew- 
 bern. 
 
 Le. Mat. Med. i, 251; Pe. Mat. Med. and Therap. ii, 76; 
 Royle, Mat. Med. 602; Hoffmann's Obs.Phys. Chim. i, obs. 
 i; Ell. Bot. Notes, i, 403; U. S. Disp. 145*; Ed. and Vav. 
 Mat. Med. 281; Ball, and Gar. Mat. Med. 431; Bergii, Mat. 
 Med. 287; M6r. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 63; Woodv. 
 35 
 
546 
 
 Med. Bot.; Ann. de Chim. lxxxi, 382; Coxe, Am. Disp. 18; 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 96. This is a very pleasant, aromatic 
 stimulant and stomachic; esteemed as a stimulating tonic 
 in atonic conditions of the stomach and bowels; in the 
 East as a powerful aphrodisiac and carminative. Ed. and 
 Yav. state that it has been administered successfully in in- 
 termittent fever: " On l'a beaucoup vante pour combattre 
 les symptomes cerebraux qui accompagnent la seconde pe- 
 riode des fievres dites ataxiques." Dr. Thompson says, from 
 his own experience, he finds it one of the most useful adju- 
 vants to bark and quinine ; given also, combined with mag- 
 nesia, in the flatulent colics of infants. In the Supplem. to 
 Mer. and de L. 18-46, 10, Dr. Endelicher assures us that the 
 root is an excellent remedy in chronic gout: "qu'elle apaise 
 les douleurs, qu'elle assouplit les articulations" — adminis- 
 tered in powder, from eighteen to twenty grains every two 
 hours. Annal. de Med. and note, sur quelques plantes de 
 l'Aube, Mem. de l'Aube, 1841. The fresh root, candied, is 
 said to have been employed in large quantities as a preserv- 
 ative in epidemic diseases. Thornton's Fam. Herb. 354. 
 The root is used in vertigo. Linn. Veg. M. Med. 64; Grif- 
 fith, Med. Bot. 620. See Anal, by Trommsdorf ; Ann. Clin- 
 ique, xvii. From which it appears to contain volatile oil, 
 resin, extractive, etc. Thompson, in his M. Med., says that 
 the oil differs from other volatile oils in not dissolving 
 iodine. 
 
 The root of this powerfully aromatic plant is much used 
 as a flavoring substance throughout the Western states for 
 making bitters, particularly the compound tincture of gen- 
 tian. See treatises on the Mat. Med. "It is a principal 
 medicament in the preparation of the medicated malt 
 liquors called herb ales, and is supposed to be the ingre- 
 dient used by the French for giving flavor to their snuff 
 called Lt let violette. The whole plant has been used for tan- 
 ning leather, and in Poland it is strewed on the floors of 
 the upper and middle classes of society when they are 
 about to receive company, in order that the leaves may be 
 bruised by the feet of the guests, and fill the rooms with 
 
) i 547 
 
 an agreeable odor." Rural Cyclopaedia, p. 40. The dose 
 of the root is from ten tq twenty grains. An infusion of 
 the root is made with one ounce to one pint of boiling 
 water. Dose, a wineglassful. 
 
 NaiadacEjE. {The Pond-weed Tribe.) 
 Zostera marina, L. Eel-grass. West Florida, and north- 
 ward; deep salt water coves. Chapman. Not in any cata- 
 logue of the plants in St. John's, S. C. 
 
 This marine herb with creeping stems is just attracting 
 great attention in England (1862) as a substitute for cotton. 
 The result is doubtful, as the amount to be obtained is 
 perhaps inadequate. The papers are filled with accounts 
 of the plant. 
 
 Substitutes for Cotton. — The London Index says : 
 Some new " substitute for cotton," which is to cost noth- 
 ing, to make the fortune of the inventor, and to reopen 
 the mills of Lancashire, is discovered every week. The 
 inventors are mostly persons who know nothing of cotton 
 spinning, and they forget, invariably, that a material which 
 costs nothing when supposed to be useless and gathered 
 by handfuls might become almost as dear as silk if there 
 were a manufacturing demand for hundreds of millions of 
 pounds weight of it. The following remarks by a "Med- 
 allist in Botany" deserve notice: 
 
 "I have obtained samples of most of the fibres proposed, 
 and I have submitted them to careful examination under 
 the microscope. I find them all to be varieties of woody 
 fibre, more or less split up or divided, varying in the 
 length and thickness of the fibrillre. The fibres of all the 
 specimens I have seen are nevertheless uniform in the fol- 
 lowing particulars : they are all solid and inelastic or brittle, 
 with joints and rough edges, showing where the bundles of 
 fibrillse have been torn apart. Having some practical 
 acquaintance with cotton* spinning and weaving, I assert 
 that the above qualities render woody fibre unfitted to be 
 used as a substitute for cotton without a considerable mod- 
 ification of our machinery. The fibres which have been 
 
548 f 
 
 exhibited may probably be useful as substitutes for linen, 
 if they can be largely produced at a cheap rate ; but the 
 woody fibre (from which all the proposed substitutes, I feel 
 confident, are drawn) can never be a perfect substitute for 
 cotton, which consists of vegetable hairs, hollow, elastic, 
 ribbon shaped, and spiral, with smooth edges and surfaces. 
 If we want a substitute for cotton we must not look for it 
 in woody fibre." 
 
 PiSTiACEiE. ( The Duckweed Tribe.) 
 Spirodelia polyrrhiza, Schleid. in Kunth's En. PL ) Water 
 Lemma " W. and Ell. Sk. / flaxseed. 
 
 Santee canal. Fl. July. 
 Lightfoot's Fl. Scotica, ii, 538. The " leaves sink to the 
 
 bottom of the water in winter and rise in the spring." The 
 
 Lemna or duckweed destroy fish by covering so closely the 
 
 surface of ponds as to exclude the air. 
 
 Zea Mays. Maize ; Indian corn. (Introduced in this 
 place irregularly.) 
 
 Corn is certainly one of the most nutritious of the cerea- 
 lia with which man has been blessed. In one hundred 
 pounds of corn there are ten of oil ; the grain and meal 
 are prepared in a great variety of ways, and the whole 
 plant adapted to many useful purposes in the arts, in med- 
 icine, and in domestic economy. The article Zea, in the 
 Rural Cyc, is full of information compiled from numerous 
 authorities ; he refers to the manufacture of coarse paper 
 from the husks. Blade tea is quite a favorite diaphoretic 
 used recently by many in the Confederate States in fever — 
 its antipe^odic properties doubtful. Corn meal rubbed 
 into fresh meat will preserve it fresh several days during 
 hot weather ; a light covering with bran or a series of 
 dustings with oatmeal will be equally efficient — methods 
 so easily put in practice that a knowledge of them may 
 prove serviceable at present. 
 
 In the Patent Office Reports, 1855, p. 158, there is a 
 communication on "Bread crops," on the value and use of 
 
549 
 
 the maize as an article of food, on its preparation for 
 bread in place of wheat flour, and on the ..economy of mix- 
 ing rye with corn. It is stated from a foreign report that 
 a "bread composed of two-thirds rye and one-third maize 
 is about ten per cent, cheaper than bread made of pure 
 rye." A method is given to prevent the souring of maize 
 flour. In our armies it is a universal subject of complaint 
 that corn meal, or flour, is not given to the soldiers in place 
 of wheat, as it is nutritious and much more easily and 
 better cooked. Besides, the Southern soldier is for the 
 most part more accustomed to corn bread. The "Boston 
 brown bread," a useful hygienic preparation, contains two 
 parts of corn to one of rye meal, and is made in the follow- 
 ing manner: "To three quarts of mixed meal are added a 
 gill of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful 
 of saleratus, and either a teacupful of home-brewed or half 
 a teacupful of brewer's yeast. This bread continues good 
 and wholesome as long as any other bread is usually kept; 
 but like other preparations of corn it is preferred warm, 
 and is generally eaten fresh, or after being toasted. Like 
 all other kinds of corn bread it is an acceptable substitute 
 not only for the bread made of other grains but for the 
 vegetables which use has made desirable at the noonday 
 meal." ' 
 
 A chemical analysis of the corn-cobs is given by Prof. 
 C. T. Jackson, volume Patent Office Reports, 1855, p. 
 163, and a paper on green corn for fodder, p. 168. It 
 maybe planted as a substitute for northern hay. "The 
 amount of green food which may thus be grown under 
 favorable circumstances seems almost incredible. An acre 
 contains forty-three thousand five hundred and sixty square 
 feet; if, therefore, but one such stalk were to grow upon 
 each foot, there would be over seventy-six tons produced 
 to the acre." The Northern varieties are recommended to 
 be planted at the South for this purpose. Land that will 
 produce two tons of hay will yield, it is supposed, ten tons 
 of corn fodder for leaves, roots, etc., suitable for man and 
 horse in periods of scarcity. See "Alopecurus" and u An^ 
 thoxanthum," in this volume. 
 
550 
 
 Mr. J. H. Salisbury, in a prize essay published by the 
 New York State. Agricultural Society, and quoted in Nor- 
 ton's Elements of Practical Agriculture, states that there is 
 in the cob of this grain two per cent, of gluten and gum, 
 and one or two per cent, of sugar, with a little starch. It 
 has, therefore, some importance of its own as food. In 
 Patent Office Reports, 1848, p. 355, it is stated in a report 
 from Richmond, Massachusetts, that "corn-stalks, well 
 secured and cut fine, furnish an agreeable and healthy 
 food for horses and neat cattle ; for the latter, if when cut 
 they are scalded by pouring on warm water, they are 
 almost equal to what they are when green, especially for 
 cows, causing them to produce milk of almost the richness 
 of June. They are worth when well cured six dollars per 
 ton, when hay is worth ten dollars; straw is worth from 
 four dollars and fifty cents to five dollars per ton. Large 
 quantities of straw are annually manufactured into paper, 
 and the demand for this purpose probably increases its 
 price some fifteen or twenty per cent." 
 
 On the subject of general economy, in absence of supply 
 of Northern hay, I introduce the following in an article on 
 corn-stalks for fodder by a correspondent of the Country 
 Gentleman, 1861. It is advised to be cured, cut up entire, 
 and fed to cattle. The editor of the Southern Field and 
 Fireside says: "For the last six years, while residing on a 
 farm in Georgia, we have followed the Northern plan of 
 cutting up corn near the ground, curing the stalks and 
 corn in shocks, then husking or shucking the corn, and 
 feeding the stalks and blades together. This we regard as 
 much better economy than to pull fodder and leave the 
 whole stalks in the field. If we had many cattle to feed, 
 we should procure a machine for cutting the stalks, steam 
 them a little, and add a little meal of some kind. .We have 
 fed dairy cows in this way with satisfactory results. Good 
 clover hay is worth more than any corn fodder for cows 
 and horses, pound for pound." See, also, same paper, May 
 4, 1861, for article on cultivation of hay. Corn-stalks are 
 also very useful as manure, when composted with a little 
 
551 
 
 caustic lime, as it is a plant-food of considerable value. 
 "Dr. Spengle found eighty-eight pounds of ashes in one 
 thousand pounds of corn-stalks. Corn-cobs are rich in 
 potash, and yet one often sees them wasted in wood-lots or 
 the highway." The cob yields almost as much ashes as 
 the tobacco plant. 
 
 In the Richmond Examiner, 1862, a lady of Fluvanna 
 county, Virginia, communicates the following substitute 
 for soda: "To the ashes of corn-cobs add a little boiling 
 water; after allowing it to stand for a few minutes, pour 
 off* the lye, which can be used at once with an acid (sour 
 milk or vinegar). It makes the bread almost as light as 
 soda." I have seen this preparation made and used in St. 
 John's, South Carolina, 1862. It is, strictly speaking, a 
 potash mixture, has precisely the taste of a strong solution 
 of bi-carbonate of potash, and could be used in cough mix- 
 tures to correct acidity, and wherever an alkaline solution 
 is required. It would also serve the purposes of "concen- 
 trated lye." The bread made with it is excellent. For 
 manufacture of soda, see "Salsola kali." 
 
 An economical mode of making soap with corn-shucks, 
 which a correspondent in the Southern Field and Fireside, 
 March 8, 1862, saj-s "has been tried and approved by sev- 
 eral persons," I insert as follows: "Take one gallon of 
 strong lye, add a half-pound of shucks, cut up fine. Let 
 the shucks boil in the lye until they are reduced to shreds. 
 Then fish the shreds out, and put half a pound of crack- 
 ling grease in, or six ounces of lard, and boil until it is 
 sufficiently thick to make good soap." The amount of 
 potash in the blade and shuck of corn observed in the table 
 I have inserted from Ure's Dictionary may explain the 
 value of this substance. I am informed that soap has been 
 made satisfactorily from the corn-shuck, as above described, 
 in Sumter district, South Carolina. I will add the follow- 
 ing: to make twenty pounds of cheap, hard soap from 
 four pounds, the Southern Field and Fireside directs four 
 pounds of turpentine soap, half-pound of soda, add two 
 gallons of water, boil ten minutes, add a spoonful of salt, 
 
552 
 
 and boil ten minutes more. I insert the following, believ- 
 ing that the ashes of the corn-cob, on account of the potash 
 it contains, would serve in place of those from hickory: 
 
 Preserving Meat. — Ashes prepared from green hickory 
 wood, combined with salt in the proportion of one-third to 
 two-thirds by measurement, and applied in the ordinary way 
 of salting meat, in ordinary quantity, will save pork fully 
 as well as salt alone, and give a delicacy of flavor to bacon 
 made from it which saltpetre or sugar pickle will not im- 
 part. Mix the ashes and salt thoroughly, in the above 
 proportions, and use the mixture as salt alone is commonly 
 used. There is no experiment in this, and no one need 
 hesitate to rely on it. 
 
 Beer may be made from corn thus : " Take one pint of 
 corn and boil it until it is soft, add to it a pint of molasses 
 and one gallon of water ; shake them well together and 
 set it by the fire, and in twenty -four hours the beer will be 
 excellent. When all the beer of the jug is used add 
 more molasses and water. The same corn will answer for 
 months, and the beer will be fit for use in twelve hours by 
 keeping the jug where it is warm. In this way the ingre- 
 dients used in making a gallon of beer will not cost over 
 six cents, and it is better and more wholesome than cider. 
 A little yeast greatly forwards the working of the beer:" 
 Agricultural paper. To make small beer : " Nine quarts of 
 water, three pints of bran, and a few hops ; strain and cool 
 to milk-warm, then put in a few raisins, one pint of mo- 
 lasses, let them stand one night, and strain and bottle it." 
 
 An excellent substitute for coffee. — For a familj- of seven or 
 eight persons, take a pint of well toasted corn meal and add 
 to it as much water as an ordinary sized coffee-pot will 
 hold, and then boil it well. We have tried this toasted 
 meal coffee, and prefer it. Many persons eannot drink 
 coffee with impunity, and we advise all such to try the 
 receipt. They will find it more nutritious than coffee, and 
 quite as palatable. The above is from a correspondent of 
 the Raleigh Register. See rice (Oryza sativa) for the use 
 of corn and rice as substitutes for coffee. 
 
553 
 
 The "newspapers" (1862) continue to report that "blade 
 tea" is excellent in fevers, and that "raw corn m.eal, mixed 
 with water to drink, removes superfluous bile and cures 
 fever!" " Green corn and wheat make useful starch, and 
 rice starch gives lawns and colored articles a look of new- 
 ness unsurpassed." 
 
 Oil of a fine quality is manufactured from corn. "It is 
 said to burn with a clear, steady light, in every respect 
 equal to sperm or lard oil, without the smoke which usually 
 attends vegetable oils, and will not congeal in the coldest 
 weather." A liquor, well known as corn whiskey, is also 
 distilled from t^e fermented grain. 
 
 Thaer says "The use of unripe maize for the manufac- 
 ture of sugar has lately been again recommended, on the 
 ground that maize is better adapted for this purpose than 
 beet root. I have long been of opinion that of all plants 
 which can be raised in this country, maize is better suited 
 to the purpose in question ; the syrup extracted from it is 
 before crystallization decidedly superior to that of the beet 
 root." Principles of Agriculture, p. 485. In the Confed- 
 erate, States where the sugar-canes have been so generally 
 introduced the problem may be differently solved. As 
 it may become a matter of great interest I insert the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Making sugar of corn. — Extracts from the remarks on the 
 manufacture of corn sugar, by Wm. Webb, of Wilmington, 
 Delaware, May, 1862 : 
 
 The raw juice of maize, when cultivated for sugar, 
 marks 10° on the saccharometer, while the average of 
 cane juice (as I am informed) is not higher than 8°, and 
 beet juice not over 3°. From nine and three-quarter 
 quarts (dry measure) of the former I have obtained four 
 pounds six ounces of syrup concentrated to the point suit- 
 able for crystallization. The proportion of crystallizable 
 sugar appears to be larger than is obtained from cane juice 
 in Louisiana. This is accounted for by the fact that our 
 climate ripens corn perfectly, while it but rarely if ever 
 happens that cane is fully matured. In some cases the 
 
554 
 
 syrup has crystallized so completely that less than one-sixth 
 part of molasses remained. This, however, only happened 
 after it had stood one to two months. There is reason to 
 believe that if the plant were fully ripe, and the process of 
 manufacture perfectly performed, the syrup might be en- 
 tirely crystallized without forming any molasses. Without 
 any other means for pressing out the juice than a small 
 hand mill, it is impossible to say how great a quantity of 
 sugar may be produced on an acre ; but the calculations 
 made from trials on a small scale leave no room to doubt 
 the quantity of sugar will be from eight hundred to one 
 thousand pounds. • 
 
 I have been informed by Mr. Ellsworth that Monsieur 
 Pallas, of France, had discovered in 1839 that the saccha- 
 rine properties of maize were increased by merely taking 
 off the ear in its embryo state. An experiment, however, 
 which I instituted to determine the value of this plan 
 resulted in disappointment. The quantity of sugar pro- 
 duced was not large enough to render it an object. The 
 reasons of this failure will be sufficiently obvious on 
 stating the circumstances. It was found that taking the 
 ear off a large stalk, such as is produced by the common 
 mode of cultivation, inflicted a considerable wound upon 
 the plant, which injured its health, and of course lessened 
 its productive power. It was also found that the natural 
 disposition to form grain was so strong that several succes- 
 sive ears were thrown out, by which labor was increased 
 and the injuries to the plant multiplied. Lastly, it ap- 
 peared that the juice yielded from those plants contained a 
 considerable portion of a foreign substance not favorable 
 to the object in view. Yet, under all these disadvantages, 
 from one hundred to two hundred pounds of sugar per 
 acre may be obtained. The manifest objections detailed 
 above suggested another mode of cultivation, to be em- 
 ployed in combination with the one first proposed. It 
 consists simply in raising a greater number of plants on 
 the same space of ground. By this plan all the unfavor- 
 able results above mentioned were obviated, a much larger 
 
555 
 
 quantity of sugar was produced, and of a better quality. 
 The juice produced by this mode of cultivation is remark- 
 ably pure and agreeable to the taste. The sweetness of 
 the corn-stalk is a matter of universal observation. Our 
 forefathers, in the Revolutionary struggle resorted to it as 
 a means to furnish a substitute for West India sugar. 
 They expressed the juice and exerted their ingenuity in 
 efforts to bring it to a crystallized state ; but we have no 
 account of any successful operation of the kind. In fact, 
 the bitter and nauseous properties contained in the joints of 
 large stalks render the whole amount of juice from them 
 fit only to produce an inferior kind of molasses. I found 
 on experiment that b}^ cutting out the joints, and crushing 
 the remaining part of the stalk, sugar might be made, but 
 still of an inferior quality. The molasses, of which there 
 was a large proportion, was bitter and disagreeable. 
 
 From one to two feet of the lower part of these stalks 
 was full of juice, but the balance, as it approached the top, 
 became dryer and afforded but little. From the foregoing 
 experiments we see that in order to obtain the purest 
 juice and the greatest quantity we must adopt a mode of 
 cultivation which will prevent the large and luxuriant 
 growth of the stalk. The planting should be done with a 
 drilling machine. One man, with a pair of horses and an 
 instrument of this kind, will plant and cover in the most 
 perfect manner from ten to twelve acres in a day; the rows 
 (if practicable, let them run North and South) two and a 
 half feet apart, and the seed dropped sufficiently thick in 
 the row to insure a plant every two or three inches. A 
 large harrow, made with teeth arranged so as not to injure 
 the corn, may be used with advantage soon after it is up. 
 The after culture is performed with a cultivator, and here 
 will be perceived one of the great advantages of drilling; 
 the plants all growing in lines, perfectly regular and 
 straight with each other, the horse-hoe stirs the earth and 
 cuts the weeds close by every one, so that no hand-hoeing 
 will be required in any part of the cultivation. It is part 
 of the system of cane-planting in Louisiana to raise as full 
 
556 
 
 a stand of cane upon the ground as possible, experience 
 having proved that the most sugar is obtained from the 
 land in this way. As far as my experience has gone, the 
 same thing is true of corn. 
 
 The next operation is taking off the ears. Many stalks 
 will not produce any; but whenever they appear they 
 must be removed. Any time before the formation of grain 
 upon them will be soon enough. Nothing further is neces- 
 sary to be done until the crop is ready to be cut for grind- 
 ing. The stalks should be topped and bladed while stand- 
 ing in the field. They are then cut, tied in bundles, and 
 taken to the mill. The mills used for grinding the Chinese 
 sugar corn will answer every purpose. The tops and blades 
 when properly cured make an excellent fodder. 
 
 On the whole, there appears ample encouragement for 
 perseverance. Every step in the investigation has increased 
 the probability of success, no evidence having been discov- 
 ered why it should not succeed as well if not better on a 
 large scale than it has done on a small one. 
 
 1. In the first place it has been satisfactorily proved that 
 sugar of an excellent quality, suitable for common use 
 without refining, may be made from the stalks of maize. 
 
 2. That the juice of this plant, when cultivated in a 
 certain manner, contains saccharine matter remarkably 
 free from foreign substances. 
 
 3. The quantity of this juice (even supposing we had no 
 other evidence about it) is sufficiently demonstrated by the 
 great amount of nutritive grain which it produces in the 
 natural course of vegetation. It is needless to expatiate on 
 the vast advantages which would result from the introduc- 
 tion of this manufacture into our country. 
 
 The process which has been employed in the manufac- 
 ture of maize sugar is as follows : the juice, after coming 
 from the mill, stood for a short time to deposit some of its 
 coarser impurities. It was then poured off, and passed 
 through a flannel strainer, in order to get rid of such mat- 
 ter as could be separated in this way. Lime-water, called 
 milk of lime, was then added, in the proportion of one or 
 
557 
 
 two tablespoonfuls to the gallon. It is said by sugar man- 
 ufacturers that knowledge on this point can only be 
 acquired by experience ; but I have never failed in making 
 sugar from employing too much or too little of the lime. 
 A certain portion of this substance, however, is undoubt- 
 edly necessary, and more or less than this will be injurious, 
 but no precise directions can be given about it. The juice 
 was then placed over the fire and brought nearly to the 
 boiling point, when it was carefully skimmed, taking care 
 to complete this operation before ebullition cMmenced. 
 It was then boiled down rapidly, removing the lum as it 
 rose. The juice was examined from time to time, and if 
 there was any appearance of feculent particles which would 
 not rise to the surface it was again passed through a flan- 
 nel strainer. In judging when the syrup is sufficiently 
 boiled a portion was taken between the thumb and finger, 
 and if when moderately cool a thread half an inch long 
 could be drawn it was considered to be done, and poured 
 into broad, shallow vessels to crystallize. In some cases 
 crystallization commenced in twelve hours ; in others not 
 till after several days ; and in no case was this process so 
 far completed as to allow the sugar to be drained in less 
 than three weeks from the time of boiling. The reason 
 why so great a length of time was required I have not yet 
 discovered. There is no doubt that an improved process 
 of manufacture will cause it to granulate as quickly as any 
 other. 
 
 The stripping the ears from the corn is esteemed by some 
 essential in the production of sugar, though not in the pro- 
 duction of a much smaller quantity of excellent molasses. 
 The principal labor consists in stripping off the leaves, 
 which should be done before the stalks are cut. Dr. Wau- 
 dain, of Delaware, says (So. Cult. p. 26, vol. i) that the 
 corn should be planted as broom-corn is commonly planted 
 — very close in the row, probably a stalk every four inches. 
 
 At a meeting of the French Academy M. Biot read the 
 report of a committee, which paper contained the follow- 
 ing statements : of the corn-stalks experimented upon the 
 
558 
 
 ears had been removed from one portion and left to grow 
 on others. The juice obtained from the stalks which had 
 been castrated yielded twelve per cent, of sugar ; that ex- 
 pressed from the stalks on which the ears had been permit- 
 ted to grow thirteen per cent. ; so that so far as France is 
 concerned the results of former experiments may be fal- 
 lacious. "The juice of maize contains as much if not 
 a larger proportion of sugar than that of sugar-cane." 
 Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 The r«fter interested will find the several numbers of 
 Southen*Cultivator, vols, i, ii, iii, and iv. See pp. 17, 
 19, and 25, aud 90 of vol. i, a large number of papers on 
 this subject. I regret that I can only refer to them. Hun- 
 dreds of pounds of sugar were made by several persons. 
 Six hundred to six thousand pounds can be made from one 
 acre. It must be far easier to ciystallize than that from 
 sorghum. It has been advised to take off the tassel instead 
 of the ear in order to increase the saccharine principle. 
 Twenty-five gallons of juice make four gallons of syrup, and 
 a gallon of juice will produce one and one-quarter pounds 
 of sugar. The corn is not lost as fodder, and the salted 
 refuse is also good. The boiling of the syrup should be 
 commenced immediately after the corn is cut. The high 
 price of sugar and molasses adds increased importance to 
 this subject. I obtain the following from the Louisville 
 Courier : 
 
 Paper. — The manufacture of paper from the leaves of 
 Indian corn is becoming extensive in Austria. The paper 
 is said to be tougher than ordinary paper made from rags, 
 while it is almost wholly free from silica, which makes 
 paper produced from straw so brittle. 
 
 If the above be true it is a discovery of immense impor- 
 tance to the United States. We consume more paper than 
 any other nation, and have Indian corn to make it of. If 
 Indian corn paper be tougher than rag or straw paper it is 
 just what we need, and our already monstrous corn crop, 
 which in 1850 was 592,071,000 bushels to 100,485,000 bush- 
 els of wheat, and is mainly devoted to feeding our immense 
 
559 
 
 herds of live stock, will be greatly extended, and paper go 
 down in price. 
 
 Paper, from Indian corn leaves. — The London Daily Tele- 
 graph gives the following account of paper-making from 
 Indian corn leaves, which promises to make a revolution in 
 the paper business if only half is true that is stated, and 
 we do not see any reason to doubt its correctness : 
 
 "Recent experiments have proved Indian corn to possess 
 not only all the qualities necessary to make a good article, 
 but to be in many respects superior to rags. The discovery 
 to which we allude is a complete success, and may be ex- 
 pected to exercise the greatest influence upon the price 
 of paper. Indian corn, in countries of a certain degree of 
 temperature, can be easily cultivated to a degree more 
 than sufficient to satisfy the utmost demands of the paper 
 market. Besides, as rags are likely to fall in price owing 
 to the extensive supply resulting from this new element, 
 the world of writers and readers would seem to have a 
 brighter future before it than the boldest fancy would have 
 imagined a short time ago. 
 
 " This is not the first time that paper has been manufac- 
 tured from the blade of Indian corn ; but strange to say, 
 the art was lost, and required to be discovered anew. As 
 early as the seventeenth century an Indian corn paper 
 manufactory was in full operation at the town of Bievi, in 
 Italy, and enjoyed a world-wide reputation at the time ; 
 but with the death of its proprietor it seems to have lapsed 
 into oblivion. Attempts subsequently made to continue 
 the manufacture were baffled by the difficulty of removing 
 the flint, and resinous, and glutinous matter contained in 
 the blade. The recovery of the process has at last been 
 effected, and is due to the cleverness of one Herr Moritz 
 Diamant, a Jewish writing master in Austria, and the trial 
 of his method on a grand scale, which was made at the 
 Imperial manufactory of Schlogelmuhle, near Grlognitz, 
 Lower Austria, has completely demonstrated the certainty 
 of the invention. Although the machinery, arranged as it 
 was for the manufacture of rag paper, could not of course 
 
560 
 
 fully answer the requirements of Herr Diamant, the results 
 of the essay were wonderfully favorable. The article pro- 
 duced was of a purity of texture and whiteness of color 
 that left nothing to be desired; and this is all the more 
 valuable from the difficulty usually experienced in the 
 removal of impurities from rags. The proprietor of the 
 invention is Count Carl Octavio Zu Lippe "Wessenfeld, and 
 several experiments give the following results : 
 
 "1. It is not ouly possible to produce every variety of 
 paper from the blades of Indian corn, but the product is 
 equal and in some respects even superior to the article 
 manufactured from rags. 
 
 " 2. The paper requires but very little size to render it fit 
 for writing purposes, as the pulp naturally contains a large 
 proportion of that necessary ingredient, which can at the 
 same time be easily eliminated if desirable. 
 
 "3. The bleaching is effected by an extraordinarily rapid 
 and facile process, and indeed for the common light-col- 
 ored packing paper the process becomes entirely unneces- 
 sary. 
 
 u 4. The Indian corn paper possesses greater strength 
 and tenacity than rag paper, without the drawback of 
 brittleness, so conspicuous in the common straw products. 
 
 f 5. No machinery being required in the manufacture of 
 this paper for the purpose of tearing up the raw material 
 and reducing it to pulp, the expense both in point of power 
 and time is far less than is necessary for the production of 
 rag paper. 
 
 "Count Lippe having put himself in communication 
 with the Austrian Government an Imperial manufactory for 
 Indian corn paper (maishalm papier, as the inventor calls it) 
 is now in course of construction at Pesth, the capital of 
 the greatest Indian corn-growing country in Europe. An- 
 other manufactory is already in full operation in Switzer- 
 land, and preparations are being made on the coast of the 
 Mediterranean for the production and exportation on a 
 large scale of the pulp of this new material." 
 
 Manufactures from corn-shucks. — A foreigner has filed his 
 
561 
 
 application in Washington (with specimens) for a patent 
 for various uses made of maize shucks. The varieties 
 include yarn, maize cloth, paper of beautiful qualities 
 (white and colored), from silk to parchment texture, maize 
 flour, etc. 
 
 Soap it is said can be made from corn-shucks by pouring 
 strong lye over them, boiling, taking out the strings, and 
 supplying more material. 
 
 Graminace^e. (The Grass Tribe.) 
 Well known for their great value for many purposes. 
 
 Anthoxanthum odoratum, L. Probably imported; found 
 near Savannah river, and around Charleston. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 316 and 514. It has 
 been used as a tonic and cordial. The fragrance, according 
 to the analyses of Vogel, depends upon the presence of ben- 
 zoic acid. Lind. Hat. Syst. 319. 
 
 This grass, as well as JSolcus odoratus, contains benzoic acid 
 (Wilson). It is thought to improve the quality of mutton. 
 "From its dwarfy growth, and the close sward it forms, it is 
 recommended to be sown on lawns or ornamental grounds." 
 In Patent Office Reports on Agriculture, 1854, p. 22, some 
 information is given concerning some of the best grasses 
 for pasturage suitable to this country. 
 
 The spurry (Spergula arvensis) is introduced, but grows 
 abundantly in our fields. In Germany and France it is 
 much cultivated as a winter pasturage for cattle; mutton, 
 as also the milk and butter of cows fed with it, are stated 
 by Thaer to be of very superior quality. It is usually sown 
 on stubble fields after the grain crops have been removed. 
 "But the principal use to which this plant can be applied 
 in this country is as a green manure on poor, dry, sandy, 
 or worn out soils." See article cited. See, also, in Patent 
 Office Reports, Agriculture, p. 187, an account of the couch- 
 grass (Triticum repens), by C. E. Potter, of I^ew Hampshire: 
 "It is a stocky, hardy, sweet plant, and if properly cut and 
 cured will command a higher price in the market where it 
 36 
 
562 
 
 is known than the herds'-grass or timothy." Besides, it is 
 easily propagated from roots on poor lands — even on pine 
 plains. It is very difficult, however, to eradicate. The writ- 
 er states that is heavier than any other grass when dried, 
 and will produce more weight of fodder upon a given space. 
 The reader interested in the best grasses to be planted 
 for hay to supply the loss of Northern hay can consult arti- 
 cle on "Textile and Forage Crops," Patent Office Reports, 
 1855, p. 252. See, also, Patent Office Reports, 308, 1858, on 
 the cutting and curing of hay. The Southern planter can 
 here obtain information which may aid him in substituting 
 native for the imported. There are two grasses planted in 
 Holland that I think fit to cite here, as they may be made 
 useful where drainage is employed, or banks formed to pre- 
 vent the encroachment of water, viz : the sand or sea-side 
 lime grass (Elymus arenarius), which Sir H. Davy found to 
 contain one-third of its weight of sugar, hence called the 
 "sugar-cane of Great Britain." It is too hard and coarse 
 to be eaten by animals, unless cut up. "The purpose for 
 which this plant is generally employed, and for which its 
 creeping, matted roots fit it in an eminent degree, is for 
 binding loose sands when sown with the sea-reed (Arundo 
 arenaria), to prevent the encroachment of the sea. The 
 world renowned dikes of Holland owe much of their 
 strength and durability to the protection afforded by these 
 remarkable plants." See Patent Office Reports, 1854, p. 
 26. We have two species of Elymus growing within the 
 Confederate States. See article "After grass" in Wilson's 
 Rural Cyc, for method of raising grass and hay to advan- 
 tage, procuring a double crop, the combination of grasses, 
 etc. Law's Practical Agriculture, and Loudon's Encyc. of 
 Agriculture; Wilson's articles "Agricultural seeds" and 
 " Grasses," " Agrostis" etc.; Sinclair's Hortus Grameneus 
 Wobernensis, and Richardson's Essay on Fiorin (fiorin is pro- 
 duced from an aquatic grass, Agrostis stolonifera longiflord). 
 Alopecurns pratejisis, meadow or tall grass, which is found 
 in the Confederate States, is much cultivated as a grass in 
 Europe ; it is much relished by horses and cattle. For wet 
 
563 
 
 soils Agrostis, and the Poa can be cultivated with great ad- 
 vantage, furnishing the greatest yield. In England they 
 plant a mixture of the most valuable grasses upon scientific 
 principles, upon land ill adapted for any other product, using 
 lime, etc. See article cited, also Rural Cyc, article "Barren 
 soils," for plants best adapted to such soils. See, also, Ben- 
 zoin." The Agrostis stolonifera latifolia (Fiorin) is considered 
 by many in England as the best and most productive grass 
 to sow on wet meadows ; it is said to yield enormous crops, 
 and it vegetates during the cold portions -of the year. It 
 has been a subject of much discordant opinion. See Rich- 
 ardson's Essay on Agriculture, and his Memoir on "Fiorin 
 grass." 
 
 "Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, article "Food of Animals," 
 gives a list of the plants which are entirely avoided by all 
 animals; also the leaves of certain trees and plants which 
 can be used as substitutes for hay, when it is scarce, as fol- 
 lows: the leaves of elm, mulberry, ash, hornbeam; the 
 lime trees (Tiliri), the common maple and sycamore; the 
 common acacia (Robinia pseudacacia) ; the willows, the 
 poplars, the birches, beeches, plane trees, chesnuts, oaks, 
 dogwood (Cornus); hazel (Corylus) ; furze (Ulex), and the 
 vine are frequently used, he says, for this purpose on the 
 Continent, in places where they happen to be plentiful. 
 The green leaves of a tolerably large number of vegetables 
 are annually cultivated on a large scale, either as food for 
 man or for cattle, such as the leaves of maize, beet root, 
 cabbage, carrot, parsnip, potato, and some others, all of 
 which may be used for this purpose. Op. cit. So, also, the 
 roots of a great many plants — the turnip, carrot, etc. 
 
 In our present difficulty of obtaining provisions for man 
 and horse, many of these articles might be obtained by sol- 
 diers, detailed for the purpose from regiments in the service, 
 particularly for the use of the cavalry horses. It is only 
 necessary to know precisely what are the leaves or roots 
 which are edible. See u Zea." Consult Rural Cyc, articles 
 "Grasses," "Hay," "Hay -making," for much information 
 on forage crops and grasses, etc. 
 
564 
 
 Lolium temulerdum, L. Bearded darnel, Kyle. Grain 
 fields of North Carolina. (Chap.) 
 
 Johnston, in his "Chemistry of Common Life," vol. ii, 
 classes this among the intoxicating substances that are 
 liable to get mixed up with rye or wheat, and render it 
 poisonous. It "creeps occasionally into our fermented 
 liquors and our bread." It grows abundantly in corn- 
 fields, and is cut with the grain. "They have been long 
 known to possess narcotic and singularly intoxicating prop- 
 erties. When malted along with barley, which when the 
 grain is ill cleaned sometimes unintentionally happens, they 
 impart their intoxicating quality to the beer, and render it 
 unusually and even dangerously heady. When ground up 
 with wheat and made into bread -they produce a similar 
 effect, especially if the bread be eaten hot. Many instan- 
 ces are on record in which effects of this kind, sometimes 
 amusing, and sometimes alarming, have been produced by 
 the unintentional consumption of darnellecl bread or beer. 
 A recent case occurred, on Christmas day, 1853, at Roscrea, 
 in Ireland, where several families, containing not less than 
 thirty persons, were poisoned by eating darnel flour in 
 their whole meal bread. They were attacked by giddiness, 
 staggering, violent tremors, similar to those experienced in 
 the delirium tremens produced by intoxicating liquors, viz: 
 impaired vision, coolness of the skin and extremities, par- 
 tial paralysis, and in some cases vomiting. By the use of 
 emetics and stimulants, all were recovered, though greatly 
 prostrated in strength. The narcotic principle in these 
 seeds has not yet been discovered. When distilled with 
 water they yield a light and a heavy volatile oil; but that 
 the narcotic virtue resides in these oils has not yet been 
 shown. No volatile alkali like the nicotin of tobacco has 
 been detected in the water and oils which distilled over." 
 Page 148. 
 
 Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, affirms the highly dangerous 
 properties of the darnel. Its seeds being about the same 
 size as wheat are often exceedingly difficult to be sepa- 
 rated, and when they "find their way with the wheat into 
 
565 
 
 bread flour they prove highly noxious to man, injuring his 
 health, and sometimes producing delirium, stupefaction, 
 and other symptoms of poisoning." "It fearfully deterio- 
 rates many samples of foreign wheat." I insert this, also, 
 because many of these symptoms, caused by eating bad 
 flour, have been ascribed to ergot. The people of whole 
 provinces in France were affected, and a commission had 
 to be sent to inquire into the cause, which was ascribed to 
 ergot. See "Ergot" "Ergote-tici," 
 
 Panicum dactyloji, L. ) Bermuda grass. Common 
 
 Digitaria " Ell. Sk. J in the low country; vicinity 
 of Charleston. Fl. Aug. 
 
 Dem. £lem. de Bot. iii, 289. The root is used in the 
 shape of a ptisan, as an aperient, and diuretic. The extract 
 is said to purge like manna. It is eaten by dogs to pro- 
 cure vomiting. The plant contains a nutritive principle. 
 
 Panicum lialieum, Walt. Large-spiked panicum. Grows 
 in ponds and damp soils; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. 
 Sept. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 286. Detersive and mucilagin- 
 ous; eaten by birds, but said to be injurious to man. Mer. 
 and de L. Diet, de M. Med. v, 182. 
 
 Phleum pratense, Linn. Timothy grass. Grows on Sul- 
 livan's island. It is supposed to be a valuable grass. 
 
 On the subject of substitutes for Northern hay, see "Cul- 
 tivation of hay, cutting, and curing," Patent Office Re- 
 ports, 1858, p. 308. Grass for hay should be cut at that 
 period when the largest amount of gluten, sugar, and other 
 matters soluble in water are contained in it. That period 
 is not, generally speaking, when the plants have shot into 
 seed, for the principal substance is then woody fibre, which 
 is insoluble in water, and therefore unfitted for being as- 
 similated in the stomach. It has been ascertained that 
 when the grass first springs above the surface of the earth, 
 the chief constituent of the blades is water, the amount of 
 
566 
 
 solid matter being comparatively trifling ; as its growth 
 advances, the deposition of a more indurated form of car- 
 bon gradually becomes more considerable, the sugar and 
 soluble matter at first increasing, then gradually diminish- 
 ing, to give way to the deposition of woody substance, the 
 saccharine juices being in the greatest abundance when the 
 grass is in full flower, but before the seed is formed. Many 
 of the natural pasture grasses — timothy grass (Phleum 
 pratense) — are exceptions to this rule. The culms of the 
 latter "are found to contain more nutritious matter when 
 the seed is ripe than those of any other species of grass that 
 has been submitted to experiment; the value of the culms 
 simply exceeds that of the grass when in flower in the pro- 
 portion of fourteen to five." 
 
 Holcus sorghum. Guinea corn; Indian millet, or doura 
 corn. 
 
 This plant, a native of India, has been for a long time 
 cultivated with great success on the plantations in South 
 Carolina and Georgia, and it grows throughout the South- 
 ern states. The seed are produced in great abundance — 
 they are pounded and eaten by the negroes, and are fed to 
 poultry. The Guinea corn makes excellent brooms, and it 
 affords one of the best materials to supply the demand, not 
 only during the present difficulties, but, I trust, in the 
 future also. A brief paper on its culture can be found in 
 the Patent Office Reports, Agricult, 1854, p. 161, by & T. 
 Sorsby, of Alabama. The reddish-brown variety is much 
 more prolific than the white, as it matures early. "The 
 plant grows well on the poorest soils, and makes a good 
 crop on our limestone rock, where there is enough of it 
 disintegrated to support the stalk." It needs but little cul- 
 ture ; after it gets a start it defies weeds and grass, and will 
 make a crop in spite of every disaster. "It is sometimes 
 cut green for soiling cattle aud mules, and if properly done", 
 so as not to injure the buds near the ground, it may be cut 
 several times in a season. It is also cured and made into 
 fodder or hay. The stalks are sometimes cut before frost 
 
567 
 
 and put into barns, and then fed to stock. They remain 
 green for months, and do not ferment nor spoil so soon as 
 Indian corn or other grain." This plaint will therefore 
 serve as a substitute for Northern hay. 
 
 Sorghum vulgare, Pers. Doura corn. Cultivated. 
 
 It is said to yield a larger bulk of seed per acre than any 
 other cereal grass whatever, not even excepting maize. It 
 has a nutritive quality about equal to that of average sam- 
 ples of British wheat; it yields a beautiful white flour 
 when crushed ; and it may without any deterioration be 
 mixed or ground up with wheaten flour, though it differs 
 from wheat, and has some affinity to oats in containing a 
 large quantity of casein. See Wilson's Rural Cyc. The 
 broom-corn is S. saccharatum ; the Guinea corn S. cernuum, 
 Willd, according to Chapman's So. Flora. 
 
 Mr. N". P. Walker, late principal of the Institute for the 
 Blind, at Cedar 'Springs, near Spartanburg, S. C, 'writes 
 word that brooms are manufactured in large quantities by 
 the blind from broom-corn grown in the vicinity. 
 
 Sorghum saccharatum. Chinese sugar-cane. (Sorgho sucre.) 
 M. De Montigny, the French consul, introduced into 
 Europe the Chinese sugar-cane. Its juice furnishes three 
 important products, namely : sugar, which is identical with 
 that of cane, alcohol, and a fermented drink analogous to 
 cider. The density varies, and the proportion of the sugar 
 contained in it, from ten to sixteen per cent., a third part of 
 which is sometimes uncrystallizable. To this quantity of 
 uncrystallizable sugar this juice owes its facility of readily 
 fermenting, and " consequently the large amount of alcohol 
 it produces compared with the saccharine matter, observed 
 directly by the saccharometer." Climate makes a great 
 difference in the amount of sugar this plant yields. "As 
 the molasses, too, is identical with that manufactured from 
 the cane, it may be used in the distillation of rum, alcohol, 
 and the liquor called ' tapa,' which resembles brandy. It 
 will be remembered, too, that in the manufacture of brandy 
 
568 
 
 or alcohol the uncrystallizable sugar can be turned to ac- 
 count, which in a measure would otherwise be lost. Anoth- 
 er advantage consists in. the pureness of the juice, which 
 when thus converted, from the superiority of, its quality 
 can be immediately brought into consumption and use." 
 The alcohol produced by onty one distillation is nearly des- 
 titute of foreign flavor, having an agreeable taste somewhat 
 resembling noyau, being much less ardent or fiery than 
 rum. M. Vilmorin observes that the sugar is most abun- 
 dant at the putting forth of the spikes, but the proportion 
 of the sugar in the stalks continues to increase until the 
 seeds are in a milky state. See Patent Office Reports, 
 Agricult., 1854, p. 223. I have seen excellent molasses 
 made from this plant in South Carolina by ordinary mills. 
 The flavor and taste was equal to good quality of treacle, 
 and it furnishes a most nutritious and useful food for 
 negroes. In Patent Office Reports, 1855, pp. 280-284, are 
 two statements by residents of New York and Penns}dva- 
 nia on the planting of the sorghum, also a republication of 
 Gov. J. H. Hammond's early experience with it. The 
 plant attains from ten to fourteen feet in height. I found 
 that in the City of Charleston, on a bit of ground which was 
 too wet to mature any vegetable, and subject to the tides, 
 this plant grew to a great height, even when closely sown. 
 I am convinced that it is particularly suitable to be planted 
 as a substitute for hay, and particularly in lands even too 
 wet for corn. It also grows well on high dry land. One of 
 the writers just referred to thinks it will be of great benefit 
 to every section of the country, "not only as a green feed 
 during the hot months, but after being cut up and cured 
 like the corn plant; its stalks may be steamed during the 
 winter and given to horses, oxen, or cows, which will com- 
 mence eating at one end and never leave them till entirely 
 consumed." 
 
 Gov. Hammond had a rude mill put up with two beech- 
 wood rollers. Ten canes selected, the heads of which were 
 fully matured, yielded three quarts of syrup. The juice 
 tested by the saccharometer showed that the youngest had 
 
569 
 
 rather the most and the oldest rather the least saccharine 
 matter; he made syrup "equal to the best we could obtain 
 from New Orleans." Lime-water of the consistency of 
 cream was put to every five gallons of the cold juice. "A 
 good sugar mill, with three wooden rollers, may be erected 
 for less than twenty-five dollars, and a sugar boiler that 
 will make thirty gallons of syrup a day, may be purchased 
 in Augusta for less than sixty dollars." Since the period 
 at which this was written, great improvements have been 
 made in machinery, etc. 
 
 IsTo doubt, sufficient cane for syrup, and tobacco for the 
 use of negroes should be raised on every plantation. Syrup 
 made by Mr. J. T. White, near Charleston, which I tasted, 
 was as palatable as need be. Patent Office Reports, 1857, 
 contain chemical researches by Prof. C. T. Jackson (p. 185) 
 upon the Sorghum. It was also determined that the " Chi- 
 nese and African sugar-canes, broom-corn, and doura are 
 only varieties of a primitive species, the AndrojDogon sor- 
 ghum of authors, or allowing the genus Sorghum to stand, 
 Sorghum, vulgare. These plants should not be allowed to 
 amalgamate. The saccharine secretions of one variety will 
 be diminished by cross fecundation with another not produc- 
 ing an equal amount; and the saccharine qualities peculiar 
 to one may be lost by planting in a soil or climate differing 
 from that which has brought them forth in unusual quality. 
 If their cultivation as a forage crop, and a syrup and sugar- 
 producing plant shall prove profitable, the use of the grain 
 in the form of flour, as well as food for stock, may consid- 
 erably diminish the cost of productions. Bost. Soc. ISTat. 
 Hist. Proc. Molasses and sugar are both powerfully anti- 
 septic, and may be used in place of salt. Wilson states 
 "that a comparatively small quantity of sugar, without any 
 salt will, if applied to the muscular parts of the open fish, 
 preserve salmon, cod, and whiting for several days, and im- 
 part to them no disagreeable taste." Rural Cyc. 
 
 Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, of South Carolina, in an ex- 
 amination of the sugar-bearing capacity of the Chinese 
 sugar-cane, expresses himself with great moderation. He 
 
570 
 
 reminds the reader that there are two well known varieties 
 of sugar, viz : glucose, or grape sugar (a sugar moderately 
 sweet, and difficult of crystallization), and cane sugar, with 
 a very sweet taste, and easily crystallized. The first form 
 occurs most abundantly in fruits, the latter in the sugar- 
 cane, the beet root, the watermelon, maple, etc. Now the 
 cane sugar is easily convertible into grape sugar, and in all 
 processes for extracting the former, one important aim is to 
 prevent this transformation. "For instance, were we to 
 take the juice of the sugar-cane (containing about twenty 
 per cent, of crystallizable sugar) and concentrate it, with- 
 out subjecting it to the action of lime, or some other defe- 
 cating agent, fully half of the sugar would be rendered 
 un crystallizable, and there would be only a small yield of 
 sugar, but a large amount of molasses." So the impurities 
 must be regarded which may give rise to the alteration 
 mentioned, and the yield of sugar may depend upon the 
 care and skill in working the juices. Dr. Smith then asserts 
 that the juices of the cane deteriorate when kept, and ad- 
 vises that no time be lost after cutting in expressing the 
 juice. By etfaminirig with polarized light (the most accu- 
 rate method), the juice being previously clarified by acetate 
 of lead, he says, "this result settles the question that the great 
 bulk of the sugar contained in the Sorgho is crystallizable or cane 
 sugar -proper. " The difference of opinion which has existed 
 on this subject no doubt arose, it is added, from the fact 
 that different degrees of care had been taken in the con- 
 centration of the juice, or that a more or less perfect proc- 
 ess of defecation was resorted to. He used Soleil's polar- 
 izing saccharometer. 
 
 Dr. Smith then speaks of the processes for separating the 
 sugar. Not successful with the method transmitted by Mr. 
 Wray through the Patent Office, he prefers the following : 
 warm the fresh juice rapidly to 120° F.; then add to each 
 gallon of juice three ounces of lime, first slacking it with 
 five or six times its weight of water, then bringing the tem- 
 perature up to 200°. It is then filtered, and carbonic acid 
 passed through the juice, afterward filtered and evaporated 
 to a proper consistency for crystallization. 
 
571 
 
 Each time that the juice is filtered if it be allowed to 
 pass through well washed animal charcoal, the syrup may 
 be made very clear and the sugar prepared from it will be 
 perfectly white. During the evaporation the temperature 
 should at no time exceed 215°. It often happens that we 
 have days and even weeks for the crystallization to take 
 place ; but it may always be hastened by adding to the 
 thick syrup when cool a few grains of brown sugar or a 
 little pulverized white sugar. "It must not be forgotten 
 that sugar making is an art, and cannot be practised by 
 every one with a mill and a set of kettles ; also, in extract- 
 ing sugar from one vegetable, we are not to expect to apply 
 successfully those methods practised on other vegetables. 
 It was not by applying to the beet root the method of ex- 
 tracting sugar from the cane that France is now able to 
 produce 120,000,000 pounds of sugar from that root. 
 "What was necessary, for the beet root is doubtless required 
 for the sorgho, viz: a thorough study of its nature, with a 
 process of extracting the sugar specially adapted to it." 
 Another observer, from Missouri, says that a proper mill 
 for grinding the cane would consist of three cast iron 
 rollers placed horizontally, so that the cane when passed 
 through the mill would come out quite dry. Then a set of 
 iron kettles made broad and shallow, ranged in a furnace 
 so that evaporation might be accomplished more rapidly, 
 would be a near approximation to the true method of 
 grinding the cane and making molasses. 
 
 That the reader may appreciate some of the difficulties 
 in the crystallization of sugar, and perhaps obviate them 
 thereby, I will condense some passages from the article on 
 " Sugar " in Wilson's Cyc. It applies as well to the prob- 
 lem of the sugar-producing powers of the Sorghum : 
 
 All acids have the effect of rendering sugar uncrystal- 
 lizable. This is the case with citric, tartaric, and oxalic 
 acids, which completely and forever destroy in sugar the 
 property of crystallization. Alkaline substances also pre- 
 vent the crystallization of sugar when mixed in excess. In 
 the manufacture of sugar, therefore, from the expressed 
 
572 
 
 juice of the cane, the beet, or any other sacchariferous 
 plant, the quantity of sugar will be less, and that of mo- 
 lasses greater, whenever too much lime is used in the first 
 purification of the juice. In pressing sugar-cane the juice 
 which runs from the mill passes directly into a large 
 boiler, in which, for purification, it is heated but not boiled 
 with lime. The use of this alkaline earth has a twofold 
 object — to neutralize the acetic acid which exists ready 
 formed in the woody part of the cane and is pressed out by 
 the mill together with the saccharine juice, and to clear this 
 juice from various foreign matters mingled with it. By the 
 application of gradual heat these impurities form a cake 
 with the lime at the surface of the resinous liquid, which is 
 drawn off* clear and conveyed to the first boiler. After 
 going through several successive boilers, in each of which 
 it is boiled to a thicker consistence, it at length becomes a 
 thick, dark syrup, when it is put into shallow, fiat coolers. 
 The molasses separates from it. In the very damp dis- 
 tricts the cane yields no crystallizable sugar, when the 
 whole of the juice is used in the manufacture of spirits. 
 
 Dr. J. Brown, in 1857, reported from the U. S. Agricul- 
 tural Society as follows, concerning the sorghum canes : the 
 yield of juice in weight of well trimmed stalks was about 
 fifty per cent. The number of gallons of juice required to 
 make a gallon of syrup varied from five to ten, according 
 to the locality, the nature of the soil on which it was pro- 
 duced, and the succulent condition and maturity of the 
 canes. In the province of New Brunswick it required ten 
 to one ; in the rich bottom lands of Indiana and Illinois 
 about seven to one : and in the light lauds of Maryland 
 and Virginia five gallons to one of syrup [observe the 
 effects of climate and latitude]. The yield of syrup per 
 acre varied .from one hundred and fifty to four hundred 
 gallons. The amount of pure alcohol produced by the 
 juice ranged from five to nine per cent. In cases where 
 the plant was well matured and grew upon a warm, light 
 soil, the juice yielded from thirteen to sixteen per cent, of 
 dry, saccharine matter, from nine to eleven per cent, of 
 
573 
 
 which was well defined, crystallized cane sugar, and the 
 remainder uncrystallizable matter or glucose, but that taken 
 from stalks obtained on rich low lands, luxuriant in their 
 growth, yielded considerably less. 
 
 A palatable bread was made from the flour ground from 
 the seeds of this plant, of a pinkish color, caused by the 
 remnants of the pellicles pr hulls of the seeds. By ac- 
 counts from all parts of the country, this plant is univer- 
 sally admitted to be a wholesome, nutritious, and economi- 
 cal food for animals, all parts of it being greedily devoured 
 in a green or dried state bj^ horses, cattle, sheep, poultry, 
 and swine, without injurious effects, the two latter fatten- 
 ing upon it equally well as upon corn. 
 
 Paper of various qualities has been manufactured from 
 the fibrous parts of the stalk, some of which appears to 
 be particularly fitted for special use, such as bank notes, 
 wrapping paper, etc. 
 
 Prof. C. T. Jackson, in his chemical researches (p. 187, 
 P. 0. Reports, 1857), found by experiment that " it was 
 necessary to defecate the juice of the sorghum before set- 
 ting it to ferment, otherwise the vinous fermentation sets 
 in and converts all the sugar into lactic acid and mannite. 
 Hence, when either vinegar, alcofrbl, or wine is to be made 
 from the juice of this plant, it must first be clarified or de- 
 fecated by lime and heat, and then filtered. When this is 
 done the juice is readily made to undergo the vinous fer- 
 mentation by the addition of a little brewer's yeast, and 
 afterward the returns will serve for yeast to any quantity 
 of the juice that it may be desired to ferment. I mention 
 this because I know that many persons, unaware of the 
 above named facts, have lost the sorghum juice they had 
 endeavored to ferment both for vinegar and wine. At the 
 proper temperature the sorghum juice will undergo the 
 vinous fermentation in from three to five days." Dr. 
 Jackson, though he does not supply the great desideratum, 
 viz : a simple and clear method of obtaining the sugar, is 
 convinced that both the Chinese and the African variety of 
 the sorghum "will produce sugar of the cane type, perfectly 
 
574 
 
 and abundantly, wherever the canes will ripen their seeds." 
 He trusts that even the farmers of the Northern and 
 the North-western states will not be discouraged. He says 
 that if vacuum apparatus could be applied to this manufac- 
 ture it would be far more sure to succeed, and " perhaps in 
 the operations of a large farmer it may not prove an un- 
 profitable investment to set up yacaum pans on his estate, 
 expressly for sugar-boiling. If this cannot be done, we 
 have only to caution the experimenters against burning 
 the syrup, and to ask them to wait at least a week before 
 they expect to see their sugar granulate." 
 
 The following is the plan recommended by Prof Jackson 
 in the "Manufacture of sugar and syrup from the juice:" 
 
 " Omitting as of no immediate practical value to the 
 manufacturer the more refined processes which were em- 
 ployed in determining the amount of saccharine matter in 
 the juice of this plant, I now describe a cheap and econom- 
 ical method of syrup and sugar making, which may be used 
 by the farmer. In the first place, it is necessary to filter 
 the juice of the plant as it comes from the mill, in order to 
 remove the cellulose and fibrous matters and the starch, all 
 of which are present in itwhen expressed. A bag filter, or 
 one made of a blanket, placed in a basket, will answer this 
 purpose. Next we have to add a sufficiency of milk of lime 
 (that is, lime slacked and mixed with water) to the juice 
 to render it slightly alkaline, as shown by its changing 
 turmeric paper to a brown color, or reddened litmus p%per 
 to a blue. A small excess of lime is not injurious. After 
 this addition the juice should be boiled say for fifteen min- 
 utes. A thick, greenish scum rapidly collects on the sur- 
 face, which is to be removed by a skimmer, and then the 
 liquid should again be filtered. It will be of a pale, straw 
 color, and ready for evaporation. It may now be boiled 
 down quite rapidly to about half its original bulk, after 
 which the fire must be kept low, the evaporation to be 
 carried on with great caution, and the syrup constantly 
 stirred to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the ket- 
 tle or evaporating pan. Portions of the syrup are to be 
 
575 
 
 taken out from time to time and allowed to cool, to see 
 if it is dense enough to crystallize. It should be about 
 as dense as sugar-house molasses or tar. When it has 
 reached this condition, it may be withdrawn from the evap- 
 orating vessel, and be placed in tubs or casks to granulate. 
 Crystals of sugar will begin to form generally in three or 
 four days ; and sometimes nearly the whole mass will 
 granulate, leaving but little molasses to be drained. After 
 is has solidified, it may be scooped out into conical bags, 
 made of coarse, open cloth, or of canvas, which are to be 
 hung over the receivers of molasses, and the drainage 
 being much aided by warmth, it will be useful to keep the 
 temperature of the room at 80° or 90° Fahr. After some 
 days the sugar may be removed from the bags, and will be 
 found to be a good brown sugar. It may now be refined 
 by dissolving it in hot water, adding to the solution some 
 whites of eggs (say one egg for one hundred pounds of 
 sugar) mixed with cold water; after which the temperature 
 is to be raised to the boiling point, and the syrup should be 
 allowed to remain at that point for half an hour ; then 
 skim and filter to remove the coagulated albumen, and the 
 impurities it has extracted from .the sugar. By means of 
 bone-black, such as is prepared for sugar refiners, the sugar 
 may be decolored by adding an ounce to each gallon of the 
 saccharine solution and boiling the whole together ; then 
 filter, and you will obtain a nearly colorless syrup. Evapo- 
 rate this as before directed, briskly, to half the bulk, and 
 then slowly until dense enough to crystallize, leaving the 
 syrup as before in tubs or pans to granulate. The sugar 
 will be of a very light brown color, aud may now be clayed 
 or whitened by the usual method, that is by putting it into 
 cones and pouring a saturated solution of white sugar upon 
 it so as to displace the molasses which will drop from the 
 apex of the inverted cone. The sugar is now refined as 
 loaf-sugar. The methods here described are the common 
 and cheap ones, which any farmer can employ. It may be 
 advantageous when operations of considerable extent are 
 contemplated to arrange a regular system of shallow evapo- 
 
576 
 
 rating pans for the concentration of the syrup, similar to 
 those now used in Vermont for making maple sugar. It 
 is now evident that no ordinary methods can compete with 
 those of a regular sugar refinery, where vacuum pans are 
 employed, and evaporation is consequently carried on at a 
 very low temperature. If the planter should raise suffi- 
 ciently large crops to warrant the expense of such an appa- 
 ratus on his farm; he would not fail to manufacture" larger 
 quantities of sugar, and to operate with perfect success in 
 sugar-making ; but this can be done only in the Southern, 
 Middle, or Western states, where extensive farming is com- 
 mon. Those who wish to have their brown sugar clarified 
 can send it to some of the large refineries, where the opera- 
 tion may be completed and the sugar put up in the usual 
 form of white loaves. 
 
 "A very large proportion of our agricultural people will 
 doubtless be satisfied with the production of a good syrup 
 from this plant. They may obtain it by following the 
 methods described in the first part of this paper, or they 
 may omit the lime and make an agreeable but slightly 
 acidulous syrup that will be of a lighter color than that 
 which has been limed. This syrup is not liable to crystal- 
 lize, owing to the presence of acid matter. The unripe 
 canes can be employed for making molasses and alcohol, 
 but, as before stated, will yield true cane sugar." 
 
 I am informed (1862) that the majority of cultivators in 
 the Confederate States have remitted all exertions to make 
 sugar from the African or Chinese sugar-cane. Their yield 
 of syrup, however, proves highly acceptable and remunera- 
 tive. The plants are largely grown, and tend measurably 
 to remedy the scarcity of Louisiana sugars and molasses. 
 
 A cheap and good vinegar can be made from molasses: 
 u To eight gallons of clear rain-water add three quarts of 
 molasses; turn the mixture into a clean, tight cask, shake it 
 well two or three times, and add three spoonfuls of good 
 yeast or the yeast cakes. Place the cask in a warm place, 
 and in ten or fifteen days add a sheet of common wrapping 
 paper, smeared with molasses, and toru into narrow strips, 
 
577 
 
 and you will have a good vinegar. The paper is necessary 
 to form the 'mother' or life of the liquor." The scientific 
 mode of making vinegar rapidly is to pass the liquor re- 
 peatedly through barrels filled with wood shavings ; any 
 sweet fruits, or roots, such as figs, beets, watermelon juice, 
 etc., add to the bulk and quality; see "Beta" and " Fie us." 
 Sweet substances added to vinegar will increase the quan- 
 tity when exposed to the oxygen of the air for the acetous 
 fermentation to be effected. This is promoted by heat. 
 
 Mr. W. G. Simms writes me word (1863) that he made 
 excellent vinegar during the past summer from both the May- 
 apple and persimmon, thus: three bushels May-apple pulp, 
 carefully crushed out of the sack, five gallons of molasses, 
 three gallons of whiskey ; this with thirty-five gallons of 
 water made forty gallons of fine red vinegar. The persim- 
 mon makes a "beautiful white wine vinegar," thus: three 
 bushels ripe persimmons, three gallons of whiskey, twenty- 
 seven gallons of water. 
 
 The following was communicated to the Charleston Cou- 
 rier (1862) by C. Orr, of Mississippi : 
 
 "I find from experiments I have made that the seed of the 
 sugar-cane (Sorgho sucre) parched and ground as coffee, pre- 
 pared in the usual way, but by being boiled a little longer, 
 make an excellent substitute for coffee, and my own impression 
 is that if it was brought into general use thousands would 
 adopt its use instead of coffee, even if coffee should again 
 be offered at its former low prices, from the fact that all 
 could grow and cultivate it with so little labor, and from its - 
 approaching so near to the best Java." 
 
 Saccharum offieinarum. Sugar-cane ; cultivated in South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana; growing tolera- 
 bly well in the lower portions of South Carolina. Its value 
 is well known. The juice is said to be an antidote for poi- 
 soning by arsenic, and it might be temporarily substituted 
 for the hydrated sesquioxide of iron. 
 
 In Agricultural Reports of the Patent Office, 1855, p. 268, 
 there is a paper on the "Failure of the Sugar-cane in Louisi- 
 37 
 
578 
 
 ana — proposed plan for restoration," etc. A brief history of 
 the origin of the cane is given, and the varietes usually 
 planted. The introduction of new plants by cuttings from 
 British Guiana, or Venezuela, is advised, and the practice 
 of rotation with certain specified plants, viz: wheat, the 
 Chinese yam, the bitter and sweet cassada {Jatrofha), and 
 other fusiform roots, as well as the pea-nut, palma Christi, 
 Bene, etc. 
 
 For sugar from canes, whether Chinese or African, con- 
 sult DeBow's Review, and the Patent Office Reports, 1848, 
 pp. 281 and 512, for long articles with plans, drawings, and a 
 full description; also Olcott's work on the Imphee and 
 Sorgho, with methods of grinding, crystallizing, etc., and 
 translations from the French. In these all the processes are 
 described for preparation of syrup, molasses, best varieties 
 of cane, mode of culture, etc., etc. See, also, Gov. Ham- 
 mond's contributions and experiments in "South Carolina 
 Agriculturist," published by Mr. A. G. Summer, Columbia, 
 S. C, 1856. These papers are too long to admit of their 
 introduction here, and I content myself with directing the 
 inquirer to the best sources of information. Wax is obtain- 
 ed from the surface of the cane by scraping. See Olcott's 
 work for account of its collection in Algeria. 
 
 Oryza sativa. Rice. Cultivated extensively in the lower 
 portion of South Carolina and Georgia, on the Cooper and 
 Santee rivers. 
 
 IT. S. Disp. 1268. The "seeds, being wholly free from 
 laxative power, are adapted to cases of weak bowels, in 
 which there is a strong tendency to diarrhoea." The decoc- 
 tion of rice water is very applicable, as a nutritive drink, to 
 fevers, and inflammatory affections of the stomach, lungs, 
 and kidneys. Rice starch is said to give "lawns and col- 
 ored articles a look of newness unsurpassed." This plant 
 is well known, and largely used as an article of food, and for 
 exportation. See authors for references. Carolina rice was 
 found by Bracconnot to contain 85.07 per cent, of starch, 
 3.60 gluten, 0.71 gum, 0.29 uncrystallizable sugar, 0.13 of 
 
579 
 
 fixed oil, 4.80 veg. fibre, 5.00 of water, and 0.40 of saline 
 substances. Dr. Wood (U. S. Disp.) discredits the opinion, 
 expressed by some, that a rice diet produces injurious effects 
 on the eyes — the condition of myope, for instance. During 
 a residence of some years in both sections of South Caro- 
 lina, my observations have been directed toward this point 
 with special attention. I can safely assert that in the lower 
 country of this state, where rice has long been a favorite 
 article of food — the whites partaking of it every day, and 
 in some form at almost every meal — the number of near- 
 sighted individuals bears a proportion of at least ten to one 
 over those residing in the upper districts, where it is well 
 known that its use has only lately been generally introduced. 
 So far as our experience goes, as well as that of many others, 
 of whom inquiries have been made, scarcely an example 
 can be found of it in the latter portion of the state, which 
 is distinguished from the other by pretty accurately defined 
 limits. If such a relation does exist between the quality of 
 the ingesta and the greater convexity of the cornea, which 
 further investigation and comparison must confirm or reject, 
 it is exceedingly curious, there being as yet not even a hy- 
 pothesis accounting for the modus operandi. It has also 
 been indistinctly assumed to depend upon a long course of 
 luxurious living in the ancestors; and another difference 
 characterizing these divisions of the state tends to corrobo- 
 rate this opinion, and perhaps to throw some light on the 
 existing disparity with respect to the power of vision. This 
 is found in the fact that the seaboard of South Carolina was 
 earliest settled by the Cavaliers and Huguenots, comprising 
 many individuals of large means, who have for several gen- 
 erations been enabled to indulge in most of the comforts 
 and luxuries of life. The case was otherwise with respect 
 to the upper portions, where the inhabitants for some time 
 lived necessarily in a more plain and frugal way. Any ob- 
 jections to the first ground, founded on the assertion that 
 the negroes in the lower country are not affected iu this 
 way, may be anticipated by the reply that we seldom or 
 never know when there is among them such defect in the 
 
580 
 
 power of vision ; and besides, they are in fact not generally 
 furnished with rice as an article of food. The condition of 
 things in Hindostan and China might throw some light on 
 this question. I am informed by a gentleman in whose 
 statements I put implicit confidence that rats infesting a 
 granary where rice was stored were always found to be 
 blind. 
 
 Bread is made of rice flour by the matrons of the Con- 
 federate States. " A quart of rice flour is made into a stiff 
 pap by wetting it with warm water, not so hot as to make it 
 lump ; when well wet add boiling water, as much as two or 
 three quarts; stir it continually until it boils, then add one 
 pint of milk; when cool enough to avoid scalding the yeast, 
 add half a pint of good yeast and as much wheat flour as 
 will make it of a proper consistency for bread ; put it to 
 raise ; when sufficiently risen it will be necessary to add a 
 little more wheat flour. If baked too soft the loaves will 
 be hollow. The bread must stand half an hour or more in 
 a warm place after it is put in the baking pans, and it will 
 rise again almost as much as it did at first. The same 
 mixture, rather thinner, baked in muffin rings makes an 
 excellent bread." (Southern Agriculturist, from a lady.) 
 On the plantations of South Carolina much use is made of 
 rice in this and other ways, and I have inserted the recipe 
 among our other "resources" in times of war and block- 
 ade. See paper on culture of rice in P. O. Reports, 1854, 
 by Gov. R. F. W. Allston, of South Carolina; also article 
 "Rice," Rural Cyc. 
 
 Parched rice has been used as one of the substitutes for 
 coffee (see potato, Convolvulus). A correspondent of the 
 Mobile Register, 1862, says that corn and rice mixed in 
 equal parts, ground, and boiled, make an excellent substi- 
 tute for coffee. As the grain of corn is harder than that of 
 rice it needs more browning, and should be exposed to the 
 heat a few moments before the rice is put in. The writer 
 claims that " the beverage is equal to the best coffee ever 
 drunk! " 
 
 Zizania aquatica. Canada rice ; wild rice. Deep marshes 
 and ponds; Florida, and northward. Chap. 
 
581 
 
 This plant was experimented with by Sir Joseph Banks, 
 by removing it from Canada to England in 1791. At first 
 it conld scarcely endure the climate, but gradually im- 
 proved and became thoroughly acclimated. It became "in 
 fourteen generations as strong and as vigorous as our indig- 
 enous plant." "It abounds in all the shallow streams of 
 North America, feeds immense flocks of wild swans and 
 other water-fowl, contributes largely to the support of the 
 wandering tribes of Indians, and seems destined, in the 
 opinion of Pinker-ton, to become the bread-corn of the 
 North. This grain has become acclimated in Middlesex, 
 producing bland, farinaceous seeds, which afford a very 
 good meal." Wilson's Rural Cyc. p. 80, art. "Acclimation." 
 It would perhaps reward the trouble to experiment with 
 this plant at the South, in order by cultivation to procure a 
 new cereal. Consult, also, Dr. Maoculloch on the Natural- 
 ization of Plants, Quarterly Journal of Science, vols, xxi 
 and xx vi. 
 
 Leersia oryzoides, Swartz. Florida; Columbia; St. John's. 
 
 This grass has been cultivated several years by Dr. 
 S. Stuart at his summer residence near Pendleton. He 
 expresses himself much pleased with it. It affords several 
 cuttings through the season, and seeds late. Gibbes' Cata- 
 logue of Plants, Columbia, S. C. 
 
 Trichodium perennans, Ell. 1 "Walter's grass. Swamps 
 Agrostis perennans. Gray. / and river banks ; Florida ; 
 St. John's parish, S. C. 
 
 This was the grass which was cultivated by Mr. Walter 
 and Mr. Fraser, who published a plate and description of 
 it for the purpose of procuring subscribers in England and 
 this country — the seeds to be furnished at two guineas a 
 quart when five hundred subscribers should have been ob- 
 tained. Mr. Thos. Walter, the author of the Flora Caro- 
 liniana, who resided at his place on the banks of the 
 Santee, near Mexico, in St. John's, Berkley, thus speaks of 
 it under his Cornucopia perennans ; u Gramen undique keve, 
 
582 
 
 saceharinum, cestaiem sustinens, in hyeme vigens, radicibus geni- 
 culisque se cito propagans. Donum inestimable, conditore ad 
 hanc diem, reservation, hoc cevum, me instrumente, locupleia- 
 rvml" Mr. Elliott says of it that "it is a fine, delicate 
 winter grass, but never appears to grow vigorously enough 
 for the scythe, nor will it bear, except in shaded or damp 
 soils, the heat of summer. See notes to Prof. Gibbes' 
 "Catalogue." The writer of this volume, in visiting the 
 ancestral residence of Mr. Walter, noticed this grass still 
 growing in close proximity. 
 
 Spartina juncea, Schreber, Ell. Sk. \ "White rush ; rush- 
 Limnetis of some Bot. / like spartina. Grows 
 
 in the salt water marshes ; vicinity of Charleston ; often 
 immersed. Fl. Aug. 
 
 Dem Elem. de Bot. vi, 655. The flowers are purgative. 
 The oil from the young branches is caustic, and is em- 
 ployed against ringworm, and in cutaneous eruptions gen- 
 erally. The leaves are pungent. "It has been proposed 
 as a cultivated field plant for yielding fibre, and it would 
 produce well on poor, silicious soils, which are unfit for 
 flax or com. Its manufactured fibre is clear, and as strong 
 and soft as that of flax, but is deficient in length. The 
 plant is of small value for forage." Rural Cyc. 
 
 Spartina glabra, Muhl. Cat. Salt marsh grass. Charles- 
 ton ; Newbern. 
 
 Ell. Bot. 96. This plant is greedily eaten by horses and 
 cattle ; and though it affords a good pasturage for out-door 
 stock, yet it is remarkable for a strong, rancid, and pecu- 
 liar smell, affecting the breath, the milk, butter, and even 
 the flesh of animals that feed upon it. During the block- 
 ade of Charleston it has served as an important substitute 
 for Northern hay ; it is also valued as a manure. 
 
 Ammophila arenaria, \ Reed bent-grass. North Carolina ; 
 
 Calamagrostis. j sea-shore. 
 
 This plant (Arundo arenaria) is the most valuable for 
 
58a 
 
 planting on banks and on the sea-shore to prevent the 
 encroachment of the water. It is planted in Holland for 
 this purpose, and in Britain it is protected from destruction 
 by law, on account of its great utility in enabling the sand 
 to resist the action of wind and tide. JElymus arenarius is 
 also protected in Scotland. (Wilson.) 
 
 Avena saliva. Oat. Cultivated in Confederate States. 
 
 See authors. Used as a food for horses. A gruel may 
 be made of it, which is somewhat laxative, and which is 
 employed in fevers. 
 
 Triticum,. "Wheat (gluten). 
 
 The best wheat for making bread is that containing the 
 most gluten. That called Canada wheat in the United 
 States has the highest rank ; so Dr. Beck states in a paper 
 on the subject of the value of breadstuffs, P. 0. Reports on 
 Agriculture. And yet Chaptal asserts that the wheat of 
 southern countries contains more gluten than that of north- 
 ern. Chaptal says that the next grains in order, yielding 
 gluten, are barley, rye, and oats. Gluten may be extracted, 
 says Chaptal, from acorns, chestnuts, horse-chestnuts, ap- 
 ples, quinces, wheat, barley, rye, peas, and beans ; from the 
 leaves of the cabbage, cress, hemlock, lovage, and saffron ; 
 from the berries of the elder, the juice of the grape, etc. 
 It is, however, contained in the greatest quantity in the 
 grain of wheat, and it is from this that it is usually pro- 
 cured. 
 
 In order to extract gluten the flour of wheat must be 
 kneaded into a paste with water ; this paste must be after- 
 ward worked by the hand under a stream of water from a 
 spout till the liquid flows off clear ; the starch, sugar, and 
 all the other principles contained in wheat which are 
 soluble in water, are thus carried off, and there remains in 
 the hands only a soft, elastic, glutinous, ductile, semi- 
 transparent substance, adhering to the fingers after it has 
 lost its moisture, and exhaling an animal odor; this sub- 
 stance is called gluten, or the vegeto-animal 'principle. There 
 
584 
 
 are some very nutritive vegetables, the author adds, in 
 which the starch instead of being combined with gluten, 
 as it is in the bread corns, is united with mucilage ; this is 
 the case with peas, beans, and potatoes. The flour of these 
 will not alone make bread, but it is frequently used in 
 years of scarcity, mixed with that of wheat to increase the 
 quantity of bread. It is not unusual in the domestic econ- 
 omy of our plantations ( to have excellent bread by com- 
 bining the sweet potato (Convolvulus) with wheat flour. An 
 agreeable, sweet taste is thus imparted to the bread. 
 
 The wheat used in making starch in England is either 
 entire or coarsely bruised, and is steeped in cold water till 
 it swells and yields by pressure a milky juice ; it is then 
 subjected to pressure in coarse bags placed in vats filled 
 with water. When all the milky juice is expressed, the 
 bags are removed, the fecula gradually subsides to the 
 bottom, and the supernatant liquid soon ferments and 
 suffers a resolution of the principles dissolved in it into 
 alcohol and acetic acid. The whole, after fermentation, 
 is poured into tubs called frames, and after the fecula sub- 
 sides in these, the supernatant liquid is poured off — the 
 upper part of the sediment, being dirty and discolored, is 
 scraped off — and the rest of the sediment, constituting the 
 main bulk and purest portion of the fecula, is repeatedly 
 well washed, pressed in cloths, and dried by a gentle heat; 
 during the process of drying it so contracts as to form itself 
 into the somewhat regular, small, six-sided columns in 
 which it is sold in the shops. In this comparatively pure 
 state it is of course less suited as an aliment than sago, 
 arrow-root, etc. Wilson's Rural Cyc. Consult, also, Ure's 
 Diet. Arts. In South Carolina wheat flour starch is pre- 
 ferred to that procured from the potato. Rice makes an 
 excellent starch. Parched wheat, rye, and corn have been 
 used, as was said, as substitutes for coffee. The following 
 is offered by a contributor to a newspaper: 
 
 " The best substitute for coffee, and a practical receipt for its 
 preparation. — Take rye, boil it, but not so much as to burst 
 the grain, then dry it either in the sun, on a stove, or a 
 
585 
 
 kiln, after which it is ready for parching, to be used like 
 the real coffee bean. Prepared in this manner it can 
 hardly be distinguished from the genuine coffee. The rye 
 when boiled and dried will keep for any length of time, 
 and consequently can be done at some convenient moment, 
 so as to have it ready whenever wanted for parching." 
 
 Ctenium Americanum, Spreng. 1 Low pine barrens; Flor- 
 Monocera aromatica, Ell. J ida to North Carolina. 
 
 The root of this grass is aromatic and highly pungent. 
 
 Glyccria ftaitans, Poa of Ell. Sk. 1 Floating sweet 
 Festuca of Linn. J meadow-grass ; water 
 
 fescue. Grows in the upper districts ; Newbern. Fl. 
 Aug. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. iii, 307. It furnishes a species of 
 manna. Wilson states that it will yield a considerable 
 produce even on common undrained land. It constitutes a 
 valuable forage for animals. Its seeds form a common 
 and enriching food for fresh water fish, for aquatic fowl, 
 and when gathered and dried they constitute the manna- 
 croup of the shops, and are extensively used as an agree- 
 able and highly nutritious material for soups and gruels. 
 The seeds are shaken out over pieces of cloth. Rural Cyc. 
 
 Poa compress, L. True blue grass. (P. pratensis of others. 
 Both good grasses; growing in Florida, and throughout 
 the Southern states.) 
 
 It is considered, says Dr. Lee, editor of the Southern 
 Field and Fireside, March 8, 1862, as the plant the very 
 " best adapted to stop washing and store up fertilizers in 
 their growth, for feeding stock, and yielding rich manure." 
 It does not require replanting, and grows well on poor 
 granite hills. It prevents all abrasion of the turf by the 
 heaviest rains. It is also not difficult to subdue with the 
 plough. "It makes a good sod and very fertilizing turf, 
 and thus fattens the land, and fattens all kinds of farm 
 stock." These perennial grasses enrich the land more 
 
586 
 
 than forest trees, because "they approximate grain and 
 flesh in their chemical composition more than forest leaves. 
 Cattle that will starve on oak and pine leaves will wax fat 
 on blue grass." See, also, "Southern Homestead." See 
 Dr. Lee's editorials in Southern Field and Fireside, 1861, 
 for much information on the grasses best to be used as fer- 
 tilizers and for food and manure. He recommends the 
 "tall oat grass" (Arrhenatherum avenaceum) and the Texas 
 mesquit grass (Holcus lanatus) introduced from England, 
 called also velvet grass and white timothy. The "Ber- 
 muda grass" is very pertinacious, and is excellent in 
 eradicating nut-grass. 
 
 Among the grasses useful for hay are the herds'-grass, 
 timothy, orchard, and clover. See, also, Southern Field 
 and Fireside, May 4, 1861, for article on "Stalks of corn as 
 substitutes for hay." 
 
 Wilson states that the juice of the upright variety of Poa 
 consists almost entirely of pure mucilage. Rural Cyc. Con- 
 sult papers on the "Grasses," "Hay," etc., Sinclair's Hortus 
 Gramineus Woburnensis, Loudon's Encyclopaedia, etc., for 
 full account of the relative value of grasses. Salt is often 
 mixed with hay which has become wet, as a restorative ; it 
 is then much relished by cattle. 
 
 Festuca duriuscula, L. Fescue grass. Introduced. 
 
 Several species of Festuca grow within the limits assigned 
 to me. See botanical authorities. Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 states that this is one of the best of the native grasses of 
 England for general utility. It thrives there on widely dif- 
 ferent kinds of soil, yields a moderately large bulk of prod- 
 uce, maintains much of its verdure in winter, and resists 
 the usual withering effects of excessive drought and heat 
 in summer. It is well adapted by its winter verdure and 
 fine foliage for forming the sward of parks and the herbage 
 of ornamental sheepwalks; and when raised on a thin, 
 healthy soil, or on poor, silicious sand, it has culms of so 
 very fine and slender a form as to appear well suited to the 
 straw hat manufacture. See op. cit. and the Woburn Ex- 
 
587 
 
 periments. This grass would likely be serviceable when 
 planted on sands subject to inundation. 
 
 Arundinaria gigautea, macrosperma, Mx. Cane. Banks of 
 large rivers ; Lauson in his Travels in Carolina says it does 
 not grow north of James river ; confirmed by Nuttall. 
 Groom's Cat. 
 
 The cane and reed (A. teota, Muhl) are well known and 
 used for many purposes : sometimes slit and made into chair 
 bottoms, weavers' shuttles, and wherever a round, hollow 
 wood is required for cheap tubing, etc. The canes attain a 
 great height and size on our river courses, and are a char- 
 acteristic growth; they once grew luxuriantly throughout 
 the upper country of South Carolina and Georgia, whence 
 the names of the creeks and rivers, but have been almost 
 entirely consumed by animals. See, also, the "History of 
 the upper country of South Carolina," by my friend, Jno. 
 Logan, Ch. 1860. 
 
 Bromus seealinus, W. Chess. Dr. McBride found it in 
 St. John's, Charleston district. Fl. July. 
 
 Flora Scotica, 1087. This is the plant which is said to 
 render the seeds of wheat bitter. Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. i, 672 ; Journal Gen. de Med. lxxxviii, 82 ; Shec. 
 Flora Carol. 297. A good green dye is extracted from the 
 flowers. Griffith, Med. Bot. 662. M. Cordier finds that it 
 is bland in its action ; it was once thought to possess pur- 
 gative powers. 
 
 Bromus purgans, L. Cathartic bromus. Mountains of 
 S. C. Fl. August. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. i, 672. It was said 
 to be anthelmintic, and that forty grains would produce 
 vomiting. Effect uncertain. 
 
 Dactylis glo?nerata, Linn. American orchard-grass ; clus- 
 tered dactylis. James' island, near Charleston. Fl. July. 
 Shec. Flora Carol. 492. This is the species instinctively 
 
588 
 
 sought after and swallowed by dogs and cats when they 
 are inclined to vomit, or to envelop the splinters of bone 
 collected in their stomachs. " It is a valuable grass, and 
 ought to be cultivated with care." 
 
 Cyperace^:. (The Sedge Tribe.) 
 They contain very little fecula or sugar. 
 
 Cyperus articulatus, Mich. Jointed cyperus. "Grows on 
 Hilton Head island, at Ogeechee," Ell.; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. Fl. July. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. ii, 567. In Guinea 
 this is considered one of their remedies for worms. 
 
 Cyperus odoraius, L. River banks ; vicinity of Charles- 
 ton. Fl. August. 
 
 Lind. JSTat. Syst. Bot. 385. The root has a warm, aro- 
 matic taste, and the infusion is given in India as a 
 stomachic. Ainslie, Mat. Med. Ind. 288. 
 
 Cyperus virens, Mx. Sharp grass. If incautiously drawn 
 through the hand the stem will cut severely w r ith its sharp 
 angles. 
 
 Cyperus hydra, Mx. Nut-grass. St. John's ; Newbern. 
 Prof. Holbrook informs me that Gen. Pinckney told him 
 it was introduced, though Elliott does not mention it. Its 
 reproductive power is marvellous, and hence it is a great 
 scourge to the planter, depreciating the value of land. It 
 is with difficulty eradicated by constant hoeing; by this 
 process in its constant efforts to throw its leaves to the 
 light the root becomes exhausted. The experiment has 
 been successfully tried by J. McQueen, Esq., of Georgia, 
 Ell. The destruction of the seeds is also thus secured. 
 
 Scirjjus maritimus, L. V Maritime Scirpus. Marsh- 
 
 " macrostachyus, M. Jes; "Little Ogeechee bridge, 
 Beven miles from Savannah," Ell. Collected in St. John's ; 
 vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
 Dem. Elem. de Bot. ii, 292. Aromatic, and slightly nu- 
 tritive. 
 
Eleocharis palustris, R. Brown. ) Bog maritime 
 
 Scirpus " Linn, and Ell. Sk. j Scirpas ; marsh 
 
 club-rush. Grows in rice fields, often immersed. Collected 
 in St. John's ; vicinity of Charleston. Fl. June. 
 
 Mer. and de L. Diet, cle M. Med. vi, 262. Lemery says 
 the roots are astringent, and that they are employed in 
 decoction in diarrhoea and hemorrhage. It is much used 
 in Europe in the manufacture of chairs, mats, and delicate 
 work, and I would invite the attention of those engaged 
 in similar operations in this country. 
 
 Carex acuta, L. Grows in bogs in the upper districts, 
 often immersed, Lightfoot ; JSTewbern. Fl. April. 
 
 Fl. Scotica, ii, 566. In Italy the leaves are used by 
 glass-makers to bind their wine fiasks, and in the manufac- 
 ture of chair bottoms ; also by coopers to place between 
 the seams of cask heads to render them air-tight. The 
 Typha latifolia and Scirpus lacustris, both found in the Con- 
 federate States, have been used for this purpose. (See 
 these plants.) The makers of turpentine barrels might 
 find them convenient and valuable, supplying the place of 
 the strip of wood shaving I have seen some of them 
 employ. 
 
 Class IV. RHIZAaSTTHS. 
 
 Class V. ACROGENS, OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS. 
 
 In this volume I pass over very lightly the Cryptogamia, 
 Filices, Lichenes, Musci, and Algce, the ferns, lichens, mosses, 
 etc., referring the reader for full details to my report before 
 the Am. Med. Assoc, vol. vii, on the " Medicinal, Poison- 
 ous, and Dietetic Properties of the Cryptogamic plants 
 of the United States," a volume of 126 pages. 
 
 The leaves of ferns, one of the subdivisions of this 
 class, generally contain a thick, astringent mucilage, with 
 
590 
 
 a little aroma ; on which account they may be considered 
 pectoral and lenitive. Lindley states that almost any of 
 them may be substituted for the Adiantum pedatum, and A. 
 capillus veneris, which especially abound in these products. 
 I have observed in the leaves of the Osmurtda regalis, and 
 of several other species, a taste strongly resembling that of 
 spermaceti. 
 
 Equisetace^e. {Horsetail Tribe.) 
 
 Eguisetum Icevigatum. Horsetail. IsTorth Carolina, and 
 northward. The seeds of the horsetail are remarkable for 
 hygrometrical movement. The}' contain a great deal of 
 silica. The dried stems of E. hiemale and E. arvense are 
 imported from Holland for cleaning wooden utensils and 
 polishing cabinet work, turnery, and metallic wares. " This 
 plant might be profitably cultivated for the use of turners, 
 cabinet-makers, and other artificers." "Wilson's Rur. Cyc. 
 
 Polypodiace^;. 
 
 Pteris aguilina, L. Brake. Grows in damp pine lands ; 
 sent to me from Abbeville district by Mr. Reed ; collected 
 in St. John's; vicinity of Charleston; !Newbern. Fl. July. 
 
 Dem. Elein. de Bot. iii, 347. The root is vermifuge and 
 astringent ; and is said to be a remedy for the tape-worm, 
 one ounce of the decoction being used at a dose. This plant 
 contains a very large proportion of alkali. Fl. Scotiea, 656. 
 Its ashes will yield double the quantity of salt afforded by 
 any other plant — forming, therefore, a manure adapted to 
 potatoes. Made into balls with water, it is employed to 
 wash linens. The astringency is so great as to render it 
 useful in preparing leather and kid gloves. 
 
 Wilson, in his Rural Cyc, says that the main interest in 
 British ferns is concentrated in the Pteris, and as it is abun- 
 dant in the Confederate States, I will condense his remarks: 
 it was formerly, he says, in great request for thatch, and 
 usually lasted in that capacity eight or nine years on the 
 north side of a roof, and fifteen or sixteen years on the south 
 side ; but, except in the meanest hovels, it has been super- 
 
591 
 
 seded by heath, straw, tiles, and slates. It was formerly used 
 in considerable quantity in both the glass and the soap man- 
 ufactory, but cheaper and better articles have since supplied 
 its place; still, in the Confederate States we may find it use- 
 ful as a material for a supply of potash and in making lye. 
 The plant also possesses tannin. It is used as a fuel for 
 heating ovens and burning lime; it forms good litter to pro- 
 tect esculent roots in pits during winter. In England the 
 rank growth of the brake is destroyed by irrigation. 
 
 The Adiantum pedatum, L., maiden hair, yields a useful 
 syrup, called by the French "capillaire," which is a refresh- 
 ing beverage mixed with water in fevers. Farmer's Encyc. 
 
 OSMUNDACE^E. 
 
 Osmunda regalis, Mx. Royal fern ; flowering fern. Grows 
 in damp soils; collected in St. John's. Fl. July. 
 
 Wade's PL Rariores, 87. Dr. Stokes says that impres- 
 sions of this fern are observed in nodules of iron-stone in 
 the Colebrookdale iron-works, and that it is the only spe- 
 cies of an indigenous (European) vegetable which has ever 
 been found in a fossil state, all others being of American 
 growth. "Withering, Supplem. to Mer. and de L. Diet, de 
 M. Med. 1846, 536. It is sometimes employed in dropsy, as 
 an astringent in injuries, and by Dr. Heidenreich in the rad- 
 ical cure of hernia; he reports fifty cases ("gueris radicale- 
 ment") after the method of Simon: giving the root in wine 
 internally, and placing upon the hernial ring compresses 
 which have imbibed the decoction of the plant. Journal 
 de Chim. M6d. viii, 395, second series, 1842. In the Diet. 
 Univ. de M. Med. v, 113, its employment in this affection 
 was spoken of. Hermann boasts of it as having a direct 
 action upon the intestinal canal ("bas ventre"), which it 
 purges mildly in doses of two to four drachms of the pow- 
 der. It acts upon the bile, augments digestion, and strength- 
 ens chylification. The extract has been thought peculiarly 
 suited to cases of children affected with caries, mixed in 
 milk or water, and continued for some time. Aubeil's Obs. 
 
592 
 
 sur l'emploi de l'Osmond, Journal Gen. de la Soc. de Med. 
 xlvi, 59, 1843. Lindley, in his Nat. Syst. Bot. 400, states 
 that it "has been employed successfully in doses of three 
 drachms in the rickets." The leaves have been selected to 
 make cradles for delicate children, from some supposed good 
 effects derived from their use. Encyclop. Meth. Botanique, 
 iv, 652. The strong resemblance which I have noticed be- 
 tween the taste of this species and spermaceti is quite marked. 
 The plant seems scarcely to be kuown in this country, and 
 I observe no notice of it in the American works. 
 
 Algle. (Inarticulate.) 
 
 Fucus serratus and F. vesiculosus. — Iodine exists most 
 abundantly in most species of Fucoidece, which form the 
 greatest part of the sea-weeds of our coast. I extract the 
 following from Wilson's Rural Cyc, in order that so use- 
 ful a substance may be made in the Southern Confeder- 
 acy, and also refer the reader to the plants furnishing 
 iodine, which are treated of in my paper in the seventh 
 volume Am. Med. Assoc. Iodine also occurs in the sponge, 
 and in many moluscous animals. But it is from the incin- 
 erated sea-weed or kelp that the iodine in large quantities 
 is obtained. As the soap manufacturers are in the habit of 
 obtaining their soda from kelp, iodine may be procured 
 very economically from the residuums of their operation, 
 according to the process invented by Dr. Ure, which is as 
 follows : 
 
 The brown iodic liquor of the soap-boiler, or the solution 
 of kelp from which all the crystallizable ingredients have 
 been separated by concentration, is heated to about 230° 
 Fahr., poured into a large stone-ware basin and saturated 
 with diluted sulphuric acid. When cold the liquor is fil- 
 tered through woollen cloths; and to every twelve ounces 
 (apothecary's measure) is added one thousand grains of black 
 oxide of manganese in powder. The mixture is put into a 
 glass globe or large matrass, with a wide neck, over which 
 a glass globe is inverted, and heat is applied, which causes 
 the iodine to sublime copiously, and to condense in the up- 
 
593 
 
 per vessel. As soon as the balloon becomes warm another 
 is substituted for it; and when the second becomes heated 
 the first is again applied. The iodine is withdrawn from 
 the globes by a little warm water, which dissolves it very 
 sparingly ; and it is purified by undergoing a second subli- 
 mation. The test made use of for the detection of iodine 
 in any solution is, it is well known, starch; sometimes a 
 few drops of sulphuric acid should be added, and a blue 
 color is obtained if iodine be present. See Rural Cyc, 
 lire's Diet., and works on chemistry and mat. medica. 
 
 Kelp is obtained from the two fact mentioned above, 
 from which also soda is obtained. I will insert the process 
 as given by Wilson, in order that it may be better known 
 by those living on our coasts. He says that on the Scot- 
 tish coast the sea-weed is cut close to the rocks during the 
 summer season, and afterward spread out upon the shore 
 to dry, care being taken to turn it occasionally to prevent 
 fermentation. It is then stacked for a few weeks, and 
 sheltered from the rain, till it becomes covered with a 
 white, saline efflorescence, and is now ready for burning. 
 This is usually accomplished in a round pit lined with 
 brick or stone ; but the more approved form for a kiln 
 is oblong, about two feet wide, eight to eighteen long, and 
 from two to three deep. The bottom of this is covered 
 with brush, upon which a little dried sea-weed is now 
 thrown gradually as fast as the combustion reaches the 
 surface, and should there be much wind it is necessary to 
 protect it by covering the sides with sods; after the whole 
 is burnt the mass gradually softens, beginning at the sides, 
 when it should be slowly stirred up with a heated iron 
 bar, and incorporated till it acquires a semifluid consist- 
 ence. This part of the process requires considerable dex- 
 terity, and if the mass continues dry a little common salt 
 should be thrown on, which acts as a flux. When cold it 
 is broken up, and is now ready for sale. JSTotwithstandiug, 
 the author adds, that kelp contains but two or three per 
 cent, of carbonate of soda, while Spanish barilla often 
 contains twenty or thirty [see "Salsola" and "Salicornia"], 
 38 
 
594 
 
 the manufacture of this article during the Continental 
 war increased prodigiously. Stones were placed within 
 the flood-mark of sandy shores, which became covered 
 with sea-weed. Potash will often supply its place, but 
 -soda is indispensable to the making of plate and crown 
 glass and all hard soaps. The barilla is obtained in France 
 from Salicornia annua, which yields fourteen per cent, of 
 soda. In the Confederate States we have species of all the 
 genera yielding soda and potash, viz.: Salsola, Salicornia, 
 Statice, Atriplex, and Chenopodium, all embraced under the 
 family Chenopodiacece. 
 
 "Sea-ware," or sea-weed, cast upon the shores is largely 
 'Collected and used as manures. They contain a large pro- 
 portion of nitrogenous and saline matters, with earthy salts 
 in a readily decomposable state. They also contain much 
 soluble mucilage. 
 
 Fungi, or Fungace^e. ( The Mushroom Tribe.) 
 
 There are many species among these allowed the posses- 
 sion of medicinal virtues of a high order as well as of 
 great value in the arts, and a rich field is open to the 
 investigator in these interesting departments of natural 
 history and indigenous medical botany. I am compelled 
 to refer the reader for details to the paper before men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Agaricus campestris. Edible mushroom. 
 
 The reader will find in my report to the American Med. 
 Association, vol. vii, 1854, on the Medicinal Properties of 
 the Cryptogamic Plants of the United States, a full and 
 elaborate account of the edible, poisonous, and medicinal 
 fungi. See, also, Eoques' treatise, "Champignons Comes- 
 tibles/' Paris. I introduce portions of a paper from the 
 Patent Office Reports, 1854, on the mode of cultivation 
 of the mushroom : 
 
 " The kind most generally cultivated in the gardens is 
 the '■Agaricus campestris,' which is thus described by McMa- 
 hon: 'The gills of this are loose, of a pinky red, changing 
 
595 
 
 to liver color in contact but not united with the stem; very 
 thick-set, some forked next the stem, some next the edge of 
 the cap, some at both ends, and generally in that case ex- 
 cluding the intermediate, smaller gills. Cap white, chang- 
 ing to brown when old, and becoming scurfy, fleshy, and 
 regularly convex, but with age flat and liquefying in d»cay, 
 flesh white, diameter common ly from one inch to three, or 
 sometimes four or more. Stem solid, one to three inches 
 high, and about one inch in diameter.' Loudon says 
 'The mushroom is a well known native vegetable, springing 
 up in open pastures in August and September. It is most 
 readily distinguished when of middle size by its fine pink 
 or flesh colored gills and pleasant smell ; in a more ad- 
 vanced stance the sfills become of a chocolate color, and it is 
 then more apt to be confounded with other kinds of a dubi- 
 ous quality ; but that species which most nearly resembles 
 it is slimy to the touch, and destitute of the line odor, 
 having rather a disagreeable smell. Further, the noxious 
 kind grows in woods or on the margin of woods, while the 
 true mushroom springs up chiefly in open pastures, and 
 should be gathered only in such places.' Armstrong gives 
 the following directions for cultivating the garden mush- 
 room: 'Prepare a bed early in October, either in a corner 
 of the hot-house, if you have one, or a dry and warm cellar. 
 The width of the bed at the bottom should not be less 
 than four feet, and its length in proportion to the spawn 
 provided. Its sides should rise perpendicularly one foot, 
 Hiid. should afterward decrease to the centre, forming four 
 sloping surfaces. We need hardly say that the material 
 of the bed at this stage of the business must be horse- 
 dung, well forked, and pressed together, to prevent its 
 settling unequally. It should then be covered with long 
 straw, as well to exclude frost as to keep in the volatile 
 parts of the mass, which would otherwise escape. After 
 ten days the temperature of the bed will be sufiiciently 
 moderated, when the straw is to be removed, and a cover- 
 ing of good mould to the depth of an inch laid over the 
 dung. On this the seed or spawn of the mushroom (which 
 38* 
 
596 
 
 are threads or fibres of a white color, found in old pasture 
 grounds in masses of rotten horse-dung, sometimes under 
 stable floors, and frequently in the remains of old hot-beds) 
 is to be placed in rows six inches apart, occupying all the 
 sloping parts of the bed, which is again to be covered with 
 a second inch of fresh mould and a coat of straw. If 
 your bed has been well constructed your mushrooms will 
 be fit for use at the end of five or six weeks, and will con- 
 tinue to be productive for several months. Should you, 
 however, in the course of the winter find its productiveness 
 diminished, take off nearly all the original covering, and 
 replace it with eight or ten inches of fresh dung, and a 
 coat of clean straw. This by creating a new heal will 
 revive the action of the spawn, and give a long succession 
 of mushrooms.' The garden mushroom is eaten fresh, 
 either stewed or boiled, and preserved, as a pickle, or in 
 powder, or dried whole. The sauce commonly called 
 'ketchup' is or ought to be made from its juice with salt 
 and spices. Wild mushrooms from old pastures are gen- 
 erally considered as more delicate in flavor and more 
 tender in flesh than those raised in artificial beds. But 
 in the young or butter mushrooms of the cultivated mush- 
 rooms there is evidently much less risk of deleterious 
 kinds being employed. The soil employed should be vir- 
 gin earth with turf well reduced, neither too dry nor too 
 wet, otherwise it will not be capable of being beaten solid. 
 It must be laid regularly over the beds, two inches thick. 
 From the time of earthing the room or cellar should be 
 kept at a temperature of 50° to 55° Fahr. If higher it 
 will weaken or destroy the spawn ; if lower it will vege- 
 tate slowly, and if watered in that state numbers of mush- 
 rooms will be prevented from attaining perfection. "Water 
 must be applied with extreme caution, being nearly as 
 warm as new milk, and sprinkled over the beds with a 
 syringe or small watering pot. Cold water destroys both 
 the crop and the beds. If suffered to become dry it is 
 better to give several light waterings than one heavy one. 
 Beds thus manas-ed will bear for several months, and a 
 
597 
 
 constant supply kept up by earthing one bed or more every 
 two or three months. If when in full bearing the mush- 
 rooms become long stemmed and weak the temperature is 
 certainly too high, and air must be admitted in proportion 
 as the beds decline. To renovate them the earth must be 
 taken off clean; and if the dung is decayed the dang 
 must be reformed, any good spawn being preserved that 
 may appear y but if the beds be dry, solid, and full of good 
 spawn, a fresh layer of compost three or four inches thick 
 may be added mixed with a little of the old, and beaten 
 solid as before." 
 
 Mushrooms may be grown in a cellar or other vaulted 
 place with equal success, and *iot unfrequently with a great- 
 er advantage, the same rules being adopted; but no fire is 
 necessary, and less water. Antidote to poisonous sorts: all 
 fungi should be used with great caution, for even the edi- 
 ble garden mushrooms possess deleterious qualities when 
 grown in certain places. All the edible species should be 
 thoroughly masticated before taken into the stomach, as 
 this greatly lessens the effects of poisons. "When accidents 
 of this sort happen, vomitiDg should be immediately ex- 
 cited, and then the vegetable acids should be given, either 
 vinegar, lemon juice, or that of sour apples; after which 
 give ether and antispasmodic remedies to stop the excessive 
 bilious vomiting. Infusions of gall-nuts, oak bark, and 
 Peruvian bark are recommended as capable of neutralizing 
 the poisonous principle of mushrooms. It is, however, the 
 safest way not to eat any of the good but less common sorts 
 until they have been soaked in vinegar. Spirits of wine 
 and vinegar extract some part of their poison ; and tannin 
 matter decomposes the greatest part of it. 
 
 The following is a method of raising mushrooms by a 
 gentleman, "R. C," of Beaufort, S. C, which I obtain from 
 an agricultural paper. "I send you a method of raising 
 mushrooms, by which I have very unintentionally succeed- 
 ed in producing an abundance each spring for the past three 
 years, and sometimes during the winter and fall : fence in 
 a spot; strew litter or trash from the woods in it, say one or 
 
508 
 
 two inches thick, and shut up stock cattle in it every night 
 for a week or two any time between January and June. 
 Let the manure remain untouched, and in the fall or winter, 
 if the weather proves mild, an abundance of mushrooms 
 will be produced, which may be eaten without any fear, as 
 only edible ones will grow."' 
 
 A discovery was made some few years since that two or 
 three species of agaricus form by deliquescence an inky 
 fluid which dries into a blister colorefl mass, is capable of 
 being used as a water color for drawing, and retains its 
 color in defiance of all the common chemical agencies. Dr. 
 Coxe, of America, who put the discovery completely to the 
 test, is disposed to think that the deliquescent fungi might 
 be prepared into an excellent India ink; that its dried de- 
 posit, mixed with oil, might probably answer for engravings, 
 and that as the ink appears to be indestructible by any 
 agency short of burning, it might be tried for the filling up 
 of bank notes and other valuable papers. The kinds of 
 agarici which possess the inky property appear to be those 
 designated ocatus, cylmdricus, and porcellaneus. It is this 
 propert}* of blackening which enables us to separate the poi- 
 sonous from the edible. Wilson's Rural Cyclop. See my 
 report Am. Med. Assoc, vol. vii, on Medic. Edible and 
 Poisonous Prop, of Cryptogamic Plants of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Patent Office Reports, 1854, contain papers on the 
 cultivation of the garden mushroom from Armstrong, Lou- 
 don, and others. 
 
 Uredo segetiun and U. fetida. Smut in wheat and corn is 
 prevented by soaking the grains before planting for twelve 
 hours in a solution of lime-water, salt and water, or acids. 
 The taste and smell of smutted wheat is disguised by mo- 
 lasses, hence it is often purchased by those making sweet- 
 ened bread. See a full description in Wilson's Rural Cyc. 
 
 • 
 
 (Ecidium, Uredo, Puccinia, etc. Minute parasitical fungi ; 
 attacking fruit trees, plants, etc. See article in Rural Cyc, 
 
599 
 
 and my report on Medical and Poisonous Properties of the 
 Cryptogamic Plants of United States, Trans. Am. Med. 
 Assoc, vol. vii; also, H. W. Haveners Fungi Carotin. Exsi- 
 cati; Loudon's Encyc. of Plants; Sowerby's English Fungi, 
 and Berkely's Crypt, of England. 
 
 Lycoperdon solidum. Tuckahoe; Indian bread or Indian 
 loaf. 1 have collected it in the fields, St. John's, S. C. It 
 is not mentioned by Chapman. 
 
 This subterranean root or fungus has been described by 
 Clayton and LeConte, and by Dr. McBride, of South Caro- 
 lina, in a communication to the N. Y. Philosoph. Societ^y. 
 See, also, Med. Report, vol. vi, and Farm. Encyc. It is very 
 probably nutritious. Its internal color is white; it resem- 
 bles a brown loaf of coarse bread. 
 
 I am instructed to append the following formulae: 
 
 In coughs, with bronchial or pulmonary irritation: 
 I^s — Tinct. Sanguinaria3...fSj. 
 
 Tinct. Opii f3ij. 
 
 Vini Ipecacuanha? . . .f 5yj . 
 
 Syr. Tolutan fgij. 
 
 Ft. Mist. Xxx or xl gtts. three or four times a day. 
 
 If much inflammatory action be present the following 
 preferred : 
 
 j$r — Tinct. Sanguinarise..fSi. 
 
 Morph. Sulph gr. iss. 
 
 Tinct. Digitalis. 
 Vin. Antimon....a afgss. 
 01. Gaultheria3...gtts. x. 
 Misce. From xx to xl drops twice or thrice daily. 
 
 In general anasarca, with debility : 
 Jfe- — Juniperi Fructi...Sij- 
 Potass. Mtrat....Sss. 
 Vini Albi o ij. 
 
600 
 
 Macerate for twelve hours ; dose two tablespoonfuls twice 
 a day. 
 
 Ayer's Cherry Pectoral: 
 
 jfc — Morph. Acetat gr. iij . 
 
 Tinct. Sanguin. Canaden 3y- 
 
 Yin. Antim. et Potass. Tart. 
 
 Vin. Ipecacuanhse aa^iij. 
 
 Syrup. Pruni Virginiani giij- 
 
 In chronic bronchial disease: 
 
 |Jr — Tinct. Cimicifugse Racemosa. 
 
 Tinct. Sanguinariee a aSj. 
 
 Morphiae Sulph gr. ij. 
 
 Syr. Acacise gij . 
 
 Ft. Mist. Dose, one teaspoonful when the cough is 
 urgent. 
 
 In lithic acid diathesis : 
 
 Jfr — Liquor Potassee fgss. 
 
 Tinct. Humuli fgiss. 
 
 Infusi Columbse fgiv. 
 
 Sjrrup. Aurantii f Sij . 
 
 Ft. Mist. Dose, one tablespoonful twice or three times 
 a day. 
 
 Excellent alterative and cathartic pills, used with advan- 
 tage in all glandular diseases, in anasarca, and in hepatic 
 derangement : 
 
 Jfc — Extracti Podophylli . . 5j . 
 Ext. Aloes Hepat...5iij. 
 
 Gambogise 3j • 
 
 M. Ft. pilulse, lx. 
 
 Cathartic pills : 
 
 Jfc- — Extracti Podophylli 3\j« 
 
 Hydrarg. Chlorid. Mitis..3j. 
 
 01. Cajuputi gtts. vj. 
 
 M. Ft. massa. in pilulas, lx div. 
 
601 
 
 May "be prescribed in cases in which blue mass or mila 
 mercurials are indicated: 
 
 J$r — Podophyllin gr. xv. 
 
 Zinziberis Pulv 3 SS - 
 
 Ext. Gentianse 5ss. 
 
 M. Ft. mass, in pilulas, xxx dir. 
 
 A mild laxative and alterative : 
 
 Jfc — Podophyllin 3j • 
 
 Sacchari Albi..3xix. 
 Triturate and mix thoroughly. Dose from v to x grs. 
 
 •Aperient, in torpor of bowels proceeding from hepatic 
 derangement : 
 
 jfc — Tinct. Sano;uinaripe. 
 
 Tinct. Aloes Comp. a afgij. 
 Ft. Mistura. Dose, from xx to xxx drops twice daily. 
 
 Laxative, in habitual costiveness : 
 
 Jgr — Sanguinarife Pulveris. 
 Ehoei Pulveris. .a a3j. 
 
 Saponis 9'ij. 
 
 Mix with water. Div. in pilulas xxxij. One pill morn- 
 ing and night. 
 
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