[2616] The term corm is applied by English writers to the short, fleshy, bulb-shaped base of an annual stem, either lateral as in Colchicum, or terminal as in Crocus. By many continental botanists, the corm of Colchicum is regarded either as a form of tuber, or of bulb.
[2617] Oesterreichische Zeitschrift für praktische Heilkunde, 1856, Nos. 22-24; also Wiggers, Jahresbericht der Pharm. 1856. 15.
[2618] This is the average obtained during ten years in drying 16 cwt., in the laboratory of Messrs. Allen and Hanburys, London.
[2619] The Bitter Hermodactyl of Royle is not in our opinion the produce of a Colchicum at all; see also Cooke in Pharm. Journ. April 1, 1871.
[2620] Ann. des Sciences Nat., Bot., iv. (1855) 132; abstract in Pharm. Journ. xv. (1856) 465.
[2621] London Medical Repository, Aug. 1, 1820.
[2622] Pharm. Journ. ix. (1867) 249.
[2623] Proc. Americ. Pharm. Assoc. 1867. 363.
[2624] The common Smilax aspera L., of Southern Europe, is a plant which presents such diversity of foliage, that if like its congeners of Tropical America, it were known only by a few leafy scraps preserved in herbaria, it would assuredly have been referred to several species.
[2625] Kunth, Synopsis Plant. i. (1822) 278.—Smilax officinalis is a large, strong climber, attaining a height of 40 to 50 feet, with a perfectly square stem armed with prickles at the angles. The leaves are often a foot in length, of variable form, being triangular, ovate-oblong, or oblong-lanceolate, either gradually narrowing towards the apex or rounded and apiculate, and at the base either attenuated into the petiole, or truncate, or cordate. They are usually 5-nerved, the 3 inner nerves being prominent and enclosing an elliptic area. The flowers are in stalked umbels. A fine specimen of the plant is most luxuriantly growing since many years in the Royal Gardens, Kew, but has not flowered.
[2626] We owe them to the kindness of H. J. Kemble, Esq., who procured them, with specimens of the root, from the Government garden at Castleton.
[2627] Figured in Nees von Esenbeck’s Plantæ Medicinales, suppl. tab. 7.
[2628] Lamarck, Encyclopédie méthodique, Bot., vi. 1804. 468.
[2629] Flor. Bras. i. (1842-71) tab. 1.
[2630] It must not be supposed that all species of Smilax are capable of furnishing the drug. There are many, even South American, which like the S. aspera of Europe, have thin, wiry roots, which would never pass for medicinal sarsaparilla.
[2631] Monographiæ phanerogamarum, i. (1878) 6-199.
[2632] Pages 18 and 88 of the work quoted in the Appendix.
[2633] Parte primera de la Chronica del Peru, Sevilla, 1553, folio lxix.—a translation for the Hakluyt Society in 1864, by Markham, who observes that Cieza de Leon never himself visited Guayaquil.
[2634] Curationum medicinalium centuriæ quatuor, Basileæ, 1556. 365.
[2635] De Pudendagra lue Hispanica, libri duo, first published at Toulouse in 1553, and many times reprinted. We have consulted the Antwerp edition of 1564, with which Cardano’s work is printed. The latter is said to have first appeared in 1559.
[2636] Basileæ, 1559, fol.
[2637] Flückiger, Documente (quoted at p. 404, note 7) 24.
[2639] Herball, enlarged by Johnson, 1636. 859.
[2640] We have been kindly permitted to examine the fresh root of the large plant of Smilax officinalis in the Royal Gardens, Kew; and have found that it agrees in appearance and in structure with Jamaica sarsaparilla.
[2641] For more particulars consult Vandercolme, Histoire bot. et thérapeut. des Salsepareilles, Paris, 1870, 127 pp., 3 plates; and Otten, in Dragendorff’s Jahresbericht, 1876. 74.
[2642] Pharm. Journ. xii. (1853) 470, with figure.
[2643] We noticed 66 rolls of it from Pará, offered for sale 15 Dec. 1853.—D. H.
[2644] The connexion between Jamaica and Central America dates back from the time of Charles II., during whose reign (1661-85), the king of the Mosquito Territory, a district never conquered by the Spaniards, applied to the governor of Jamaica for protection, which was accorded. The protectorate lasted until 1860, when Mosquitia was ceded to the government of Nicaragua.
[2645] Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, i. (1707), introduction, p. lxxxvi.
[2646] Blue Books—Island of Jamaica for 1870 and 1871.
[2647] Journ. of Linn. Soc., Bot., iv. (1860) 185.
[2648] Vice-Consul Smith on the commerce of Ecuador—Consular Reports, presented to Parliament, July, 1872.
[2649] Yearbook of Pharm. 1878. 136.
[2650] See Christophson, in Dragendorff’s Jahresbericht, 1874. 155.
[2651] Elements of Mat. Med. ii. (1850) 1168.
[2652] “Sankira,” p. 783 in the first work quoted in the Appendix; another fig. will be found in Nees von Esenbeck’s Plantæ medicinales, Düsseldorf, 1828.
[2653] Trimen’s Journ. of Bot. i. (1872) 102.—S. glabra and S. lanceæfolia have been figured by Seemann in his Botany of the Herald, 1852-57, tabb. 99-100. S. China is well represented in the Kew Herbarium, where we have examined specimens from Nagasaki, Hakodadi, and Yokohama; from Loochoo, Corea, Formosa, Ningpo; and Indian ones from Khasia, Assam, and Nepal.
[2654] Edit. by Conrad Gesner, fol. 212 of the work quoted in the Appendix.
[2655] ... Bericht der Natur ... der Wurtzel China, Würzburg, 1548. 4°.
[2656] The earliest of which is by Andreas Vesalius, Epistola rationem, modumque pro pinandi radicis Chymae (sic!) decocti, quo nuper invictissimus Carolus V. imperator usus est, Venet., 1546.
[2657] Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for 1872, pp. 34, 154, and the same for 1874.
[2658] See p. 324, note 2.—We quote this statement with reserve, knowing that both Chinese and Europeans sometimes confound China root with the singular fungoid production termed Pachyma Cocos. The first is called in Chinese Tu-fuh-ling,—the second Fuh-ling or Pe-fuh-ling.—See Hanbury, Pharm. Journ. iii. (1862) 421; and Science Papers, 202. 267.—F. Porter Smith, Mat. Med. and Nat. Hist. of China, 1871. 198; Dragendorff, Volksmedicin Turkestans in Buchner’s Repertorium, xxii. (1873) 135.
[2659] De Candolle’s monograph, quoted at p. 705, note 4, may be consulted on the above species.
[2660] Erdkunde von Asien, ix. West-Asien, Berlin, 1840. pp. 230-291.
[2661] The learned investigations of Heyd, Levantehandel, ii. (1879) 665-667, afford exhaustive information about the medicinal history of sugar.
[2662] The production which the English translators of the Bible have rendered Sweet Cane, and which is alluded to by the prophets Isaiah (ch. xliii. 24) and Jeremiah (ch. vi. 20) as a commodity imported from a distant country, has been the subject of much discussion. Some have supposed it to be the sugar cane; others, an aromatic grass (Andropogon). In our opinion, there is more reason to conclude that it was Cassia Bark.
[2663] Lib. ii. c. 104.
[2664] Bretschneider, Chinese Botanical Works, 1870. 46.
[2665] Ritter, l.c. 286.
[2666] P. 57 of the book quoted in the Appendix.
[2667] Le Calendrier de Cordoue de l’année 961, par R. Dozy, Leyde, 1873. 25. 41. 91.
[2668] There are several in the neighbourhood of Malaga.
[2669] Riedesel, Travels through Sicily, Lond. 1773. 67.
[2670] Marin, Commercio de’ Veneziani, v. 306.
[2671] Rogers, Hist. of Agriculture and Prices in England, i. (1866) 633. 641.
[2672] Ordonnances des rois de France, ii. (1729) 535.
[2673] Several other varieties of sugar occurring in the mediæval literature are explained in the Documente (quoted at page 404, footnote 7) p. 32.
[2674] Yule, Book of Ser Marco Polo, ii. (1871) 79. 171. 180. &c.
[2675] Letters of Christ. Columbus (Hakluyt Society) 1870. 81-84.
[2676] De Candolle, Géogr. botanique, 836.
[2677] The value of the sugar exported from Natal in 1871 reached the astonishing amount of £180,496 and £135,201 in 1876.
[2678] Yet owing to the gold discoveries, the propagation of the cane in Australia was little thought of until about 1866 or 1867, when small lots of sugar were made.
[2679] Consul Rogers, Report on the Trade of Cairo for 1872, presented to Parliament.
[2680] Expériences chymiques faites dans le dessein de tirer un véritable sucre de diverses plantes qui croissent dans nos contrées, par Mr. Marggraf, traduit du latin—Hist. de l’Académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres, année 1747 (Berlin 1749) 79-90.
[2681] And also that of milk sugar, which was then much used on the Continent to adulterate cane-sugar.
[2682] Produce Markets Review, March 28, 1868.
[2683] 2,255,249 quintals (one quintal = 108 lb. avdp.) in 1876.
[2684] 120,030 hhds (one hogshead = 1,792 lb.) in 1876.
[2685] 114,968,384 lb. in 1876.
[2686] 38,013 hhds. in 1876.
[2687] 29,074 hhds. in 1876.
[2688] Stems of American sugar cane, dried at 100° C., yielded 4 per cent of ash, nearly half of which was silica.—Popp, in Wiggers’ Jahresbericht, 1870. 35.
[2689] The plan of obtaining a syrup by macerating the sliced fresh cane, has been tried in Guadaloupe, but abandoned owing to some practical difficulties in exhausting the cane and in carrying on the evaporation of the liquors with sufficient rapidity. Experiments for extracting a pure syrup by means of cold water from the sliced and dried cane, seem to promise good results.—See a paper by Dr. H. S. Mitchell in Journ. of Soc. of Arts, Oct. 23, 1868.
[2690] Annales de Chimie et de Physique, v. (1865) 350-410.—See also, for Cuba, Alvaro Reynoso Ensayo sobre el cultivo de la caña de Azúcar, Madrid, 1865. 359.—For British Guiana, Catal. of Contributions from Brit. Guiana to Paris Exhib. 1867. pp. xxxviii.-xli.
[2691] Aconitic Acid (p. 11) has been met with by Behr (1877) in West Indian molasses.
[2692] It is commonly stated that three parts can be dissolved in one of cold water; but this is not the fact.
[2693] A word of Sanskrit origin, corrupted from the Canarese sharkari.
[2694] Journ. de Pharm. i. (1865) 270.
[2695] Consul Kortright, in Consular Reports presented to Parliament, July 1872, p. 988.
[2696] Introduced into Europe in 1850, by M. de Montigny, French Consul at Shanghai.—Sicard, Monographie de la Canne à sucre de la Chine, dite Sorgho à sucre, Marseille, 1856; Joulie, Journ. de Pharm. i. (1865) 188.
[2697] How the word Treacle came to be transferred from its application to an opiate medicine to become a name for molasses, we know not. In the description of sugar-making given by Salmon in his English Physician or Druggist’s Shop opened, Lond. 1663, treacle is never mentioned, but only “melussas.”
[2698] Landolt, Zeitschr. für analyt. Chem. vii. (1868) 1-29.
[2699] On Chinese Botanical Works, etc., Foochow, 1870. 7. 8.
[2700] Metapontum lay in the plain between the rivers Bradano and Basento in the gulf of Taranto.
[2701] He actually examined wheat, not barley; we assume the chemical constitution of the two grains to be similar.
[2702] Wittstein, Vierteljahresschr. für prakt. Pharm. xii. (1863) 4-23.
[2703] Major-General Munro has at our request investigated the botanical characters of the fragrant species of Andropogon, and examined a numerous suite of specimens in our possession. The synonyms in foot-notes are given upon his authority.
[2704] A. Martini Thwaites, Enum. Plantarum Zeylaniæ nec aliorum.—Fig. in Bentley and Trimen’s Med. Plants, part 28 (1878).
[2705] A. citratum A.P. De Candolle, Catalogus Plantarum Horti Botanici Monspeliensis, 1813; A. Schœnanthus Wallich, Plant. Asiat. rariores, iii. (1832) tab. 280; Roxburgh, Flora Indica, i. (1820) 278, quoad observationes, sed non quoad diagnosis.
[2706] Ventenat, Jardin de Cels, 1803. tab. 89; A. Martini Roxb. Flor. Ind. i. (1820) 280; A. pachnodes Trinius, Species Graminum, iii. (1836) tab. 327; A. Calamus aromaticus Royle, Illustrations of Bot. of Himalayan Mountains, 1839. tab. 97.
[2707] Ephemerides Naturæ Curiosorum, cent. v.-vi. (1717), appendix 157.
[2708] Pharmacopœia of India, 1868. 465.
[2709] Straits Settlements Blue Book for 1872, Singapore, 1873. 465.
[2710] Mem. of Chem. Soc. ii. (1845) 122.
[2711] In addition to which, there were “842 dozens and 33 packages” of the same oil shipped to the United States. One ounce equal to 31·1 grammes.
[2712] The foliage of the large odoriferous species of Andropogon is used in India for thatching. It is eaten voraciously by cattle, whose flesh and milk become flavoured with its strong aroma.
[2713] 50 cases, containing about 2250 lb., imported from Bombay, were offered as “Rose Oil” at public sale, by a London drug-broker, 31 July, 1873.
[2714] See p. 267.
[2715] Cuscus, otherwise written Khus-khus, a name adopted by the English in India, is probably from the Persian Khas. Vetti-ver is the Malyalim name of the plant.
[2716] Proc. of Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, Aug. 1873. 161.
[2717] De virtute simplicium, cap. i. (Agrostis).
[2718] De medicamentis, cap. xxvi.
[2719] Tetrabibli primæ, sermo i.
[2720] As in the Herbarius Pataviæ printed in 1485, in which it is said of Gramen—“aqua decoctionis ejus ... valet contra dissuriam ... et frangit lapidem et curat vulnera vesicæ et provocat urinam....”
[2721] Herball, part 2, 1568. 13.
[2722] Archiv der Pharm. 203. (1873) 17.
[2723] Della Cinodina, nuovo prodotto organico, trovato nella gramigna officinale, Cynodon Dactylon.—Opere minori di Giovanni Semmola, Napoli, 1841.—Abstracted in the Jahresbericht of Berzelius, Tübingen, 1845. 535.
[2724] The few particulars may be found in the excellent description of Lycopodium in Luerssen’s “Medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik,” i. (Leipzig, 1878) 635, with figures.
[2725] Schröder, Pharmacopœia Medico-chymica, ed. 4, Lugd. 1656. 538.—Flückiger, “Documente” (quoted p. 404) 63. 68.
[2726] Pharmacologia, Lond. 1693.
[2727] Especially L. annotinum, L. complanatum and L. inundatum.
[2728] Murray, Apparatus medicaminum, v. (1790) 453-471.
[2729] Lib. 4, cap. 156 of the work quoted in the Appendix.
[2730] Medicin-chymische Apotheke, Nürnberg, 1656. 20.
[2731] P. 547 of the work quoted in the Appendix.
[2732] Cornaz, Les familles médicales de la ville de Neuchâtel, 1864. 20.
[2733] Traitement contre le Ténia ou ver solitaire, pratiqué à Morat en Suisse, examiné et éprouvé à Paris. Publié par ordre du Roi, 1775. 4°, pp. 30. 3 plates, one representing the plant, its rhizome and leaves.—Also English translation by Dr. Simmons, London, 1778. 8°.
[2734] Bibliothèque Universelle, xxx. (1825) 205; xxx. (1826) 326.
[2735] For a full account of the growth and structure of that rhizome see Luerssen, Medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik, i. (1878) 504. 561.
[2736] The chemical nature of this body remains to be ascertained. The crystals are probably Filicic Acid, accompanied by chlorophyl and essential oil.
[2737] Journal de Médecine de Bruxelles, 1867 and 1868—also in the Jahresbericht of Wiggers and Husemann, 1869. 21.
[2738] Cetraria from cetra, an ancient shield of hide, in allusion to the circular apothecia.
[2739] These names are generally applied in Scandinavia and Iceland to the smaller cryptogams, as lichens, true mosses, lycopodium, etc.
[2740] Hist. stirpium, quoted in the Appendix.
[2741] Bergius, Materia Medica, Stockholm, ii. (1778) 856.
[2742] Flückiger, Documente, quoted at page 404.
[2743] Murray, Apparatus Medicaminum, v. (1790) 510.
[2744] For an exhaustive account and figures see Luerssen (quoted at p. 734) p. 176.
[2745] Recherches sur les gonidies des Lichens.—Ann. des Sciences nat. Bot. xvii. (1873) 45-110; 11 plates; also xix. (1874) 314-320.—For a complete abstract of these and all the more recent investigations on this subject, see Luerssen (l.c.) 186 et seq.
[2746] The various mucilages and gums yield from 4 to 20 per cent. of ash, but lichenin yields none.
[2747] Cat. of Spanish Productions,—London Exhibition, 1851.
[2748] Dingler’s Polytechnisches Journal, 197 (1870) 177; also Chemisches Centralblatt, 1870. 607.
[2749] From the French ergot, anciently argot, a cock’s spur.
[2750] Consult Pliny’s Nat. Hist. book 18. ch. 44.
[2751] Kreuterbuch, ed. 1582. 285 (not in the edition of 1560).
[2752] Sylva Hercynia, Francof. 1588. 47.
[2753] Pinax Theatri Botanici, Basil. 1623. 23.
[2754] Hist. Plant. ii. (1693) 1241.
[2755] Stillé, Therapeutics and Mat. Med. ii. (1868) 609.
[2756] From 1825 to 1828 the wholesale price of ergot of rye in London was from 36s. to 50s. per lb., that is to say, from twelve to fifteen times its present value.