Ocimoides, which some call Philetærium. Its root is useless, but the seed is composed of subtile matter, and is desiccative without pungency.
Commentary. Matthiolus held it to be a species of lychnis, but this opinion is rejected by Dodonæus. Sprengel agrees with Lobelius and Dalecampius in referring it to the Saponaria ocimoides. This is one of the most disputed articles of the ancient Mat. Med. Of the conjectures which have been made respecting it, the most probable then is that it was either a species of Lychnis or Saponaria. See Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 630, 760.) We are disposed to acquiesce in opinion with those who hold it to be the Saponaria ocimoides. Dioscorides says of it, that its seed when drunk in wine is calculated to benefit those who have been stung by scorpions, and is useful for the bites of all other kinds of reptiles, and that it is given in sciatica with myrrh and pepper. (iv, 28.) Galen states its character in nearly the same terms as our author. It is not described by Aëtius, by Hippocrates or Celsus, nor, as far as we can discover, by any of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, whose notice of it is entirely made up from Dioscorides and Galen. (i, 93.) It has been long unknown to our Dispensatory, and does not occur in the Pharmacopœia of the modern Greeks.
Having thus given a brief account of all the Simple Substances described by the Greek and Roman writers on the Materia Medica, we are now called upon to supply what information we can procure regarding the additions made to their list by the Arabians. This, we need scarcely say, is a field of research, which, having been hitherto but little cultivated, is attended with difficulties of a particularly formidable nature; for, although we have been enabled to avail ourselves of the learned labours of Professor Sprengel, Dr. Royle, Dr. Ainslie, and of certain other oriental scholars who have touched cursorily upon these matters, we have been more thrown upon our own resources on the present occasion than at any other stage of our progress in executing this work. We trust, then, that our readers will receive with peculiar indulgence our present essay, which, however imperfect, will be found, if we mistake not, to have opened up a mine of valuable knowledge from which some more skilful labourer in the same line will yet draw additional stores of information to the profession. Of course it will be readily seen, that we do not pretend to give an account of all the articles introduced into the practice of medicine by the Arabians; that, even if we were possessed of the requisite knowledge of the oriental languages, would evidently be out of the question within our narrow limits. For Ebn Baithar alone, if his laborious work were properly explored, would furnish a large volume of new matters added by his own individual exertions to the accumulated treasures of his predecessors; but, of the articles first treated of by him there are unfortunately many which are but very doubtfully determined, and not a few which are left wholly undetermined by his translator Dr. Sontheimer. And here it is but right that we should acknowledge that the translation itself would have been to us “a sealed book” if our learned friend, Professor Blackie, of Aberdeen, had not come to our assistance, and in so far made up for our own very imperfect acquaintance with the German language. But, besides the stores of Ebn Baithar, there is much in those of Avicenna, Serapion, Rhases, and Haly Abbas, which still remain to be unfolded by some fortunate savant who is acquainted both with the languages of the East and the sciences of the West.
It may be proper to mention, that the articles which are here described are set down in the same order as the notices of them were composed, because we could not satisfy ourselves with regard to any methodical arrangement which would conveniently apply to them and be in unison with the general plan of this work.
A recent writer on the Materia Medica gives the following description of Ambergris: “The substance called Ambergris (ambra grisea) is procured from the Cachalot or spermwhale. In this country it is used as a perfume only; on the continent it is employed in medicine. It appears to be the indurated fæces (perhaps somewhat altered by disease) of the animal. Mr. Beale collected some of the semi-fluid fæces, and found that the dried mass had all the properties of ambergris. It is a solid, opaque, grayish, striated substance, having a pleasant musk-like odour, and which is derived from the squid (sæpia moschata) on which the animal feeds.” Pereira (Mat. Med. 1392.) No one who compares this account of ambergris with what is said of it in the extracts we have given from Serapion and Avicenna under Electrum, can entertain a doubt that these authors were well informed as to the nature of this substance. Ebn Baithar gives a similar account of the origin of ambergris. He says, it is furnished by sea monsters which swallow it and vomit it up again. It swims on the surface of water, and the blackish kind is of little value. He calls it the most excellent of all aromatics, and praises it for strengthening the heart and brain, and for curing cramp and similar complaints. Among other powers which it possesses, it is said to be intoxicating. (i, 210, 405.) See also Haly Abbas (Theor. v, 33.) The Greeks and Romans would appear to have been unacquainted with this species of Amber until after the Arabian period. It is accurately described by Symeon Seth, as we have already stated above in the commentary on Electrum. He holds it to be a good cordial and stomachic medicine.
As this article is now but little known in this country, it may be proper to prefix some account of it from recent authorities. Lewis writes of it thus: “Lapis Bezoar orientalis, oriental Bezoar stone, supposed to be produced in the pylorus or in a cavity at the bottom of the fourth stomach of an animal of the goat kind, which inhabits the mountains in different parts of Persia.” (Mat. Med. 217.) But Bontius is, perhaps we may say, the most accurate of the modern authorities who have described the oriental bezoars. He describes them as being alvine concretions which form in goats or gazelles, and have generally a little piece of chaff as a nucleus. He had also seen them taken from the bodies of monkeys. (Med. Ind. c. 45.) See further Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 179, 136.) Now, it is certain that these Bezoars were much used in medicine by the Arabians as they are in the East at the present day; and yet, as far as we have been able to discover, they are not described in any of the Arabian works on the Mat. Med., with the exception of Ebn Baithar, and his account of them is very indistinct and unsatisfactory. We may gather from his description, however, that the term was applied to more substances than these alvine concretions. One of his authorities speaks of the best kind being found in the heart of the stag. Like all his countrymen, he recommends the bezoar as an amulet and an antidote to poisons. (119.) Indeed the term Bezoar would appear to have been used as signifying alexipharmical. See Avicenna (ii, 2), and Serapion (c. 441.) Frequent mention of it occurs in the works of the Arabians. See Haly Abbas (pluries); Rhases (Cont. l. ult., and xxxv, 6, 8, 1); Avicenna (iv, 6, 1, 4.)
This article is so important, that we shall be excused if we dwell upon it at some length. It is well known to be a secretion procured from several trees of the genus Laurus in the East; but more particularly from the tree which has been named Camphora officinarum. Serapion is the ancient authority who gives the fullest account of Camphor. In the first place, owing no doubt to his using some interpolated translation of Dioscorides into Syriac, he quotes him as stating that it is procured from India and China and is produced in most abundance during seasons when there is much thunder. One of his Arabian authorities, Isaac Ebn Amram, gives a distinct account of the origin of camphor and a description of the qualities of the different kinds of it, with a brief notice of the mode of clarifying it by sublimation, which is the process by which it is still produced. As to its medicinal virtues, he holds it to be cold and dry in the second degree, and says it is applicable in cases of inflammations, vertigo, and cholera; in fumigations with myrrh, rose-oil, and sandal-wood; that it is anaphrodisiac, induces premature hoariness of the hair; that in a masticatory with lettuce, it cures the hot intemperament of the brain and induces sleep; removes vertigo; stops hemorrhages from the nose and all fluxes in general; and, in short, that it is a common ingredient in all fumigations and ointments. Rhases, as quoted by him, pronounces camphor to be cold and attenuate (volatile?); says it is calculated to remove hot intemperaments in the head and the whole body; when too much used that it induces insomnolency; that it brings on coldness of the kidneys and bladder; coagulates the semen, and engenders coldness, and principally in the colder members of the body. Another Arabian authority, Meseab, calls it cold and dry in the third degree, and recommends it in epistaxis as a masticatory with raisins. Mesarugie, another authority, says, in large doses it induces indigestion and stops the formation of semen. Another of his Arabian authorities, Aben Mesuai (Mesue the elder?) says, it is astringent of the bowels, induces premature hoariness of the hair, and is useful in hot apostemes. Aben Amram, as quoted by him, says, Camphor is cold in the third degree, and is useful when applied to inflamed parts with rose-water, and comforts the members of the body and the senses; and is useful in cholera along with other astringents. He gives a quotation from the ‘Medicina Antiqua’ to this effect, that camphor is an astringent of the bowels, and that its use induces hoariness of the hairs. (De Simplicibus, 344.) Avicenna’s account of it is much more succinct; he describes several species of it; says it is procured from a very large tree capable of giving shelter to a multitude of animals; that he had often seen the wood of it, and that it was white, brittle, light, and contained in its pores some vestiges of camphor. He holds that its nature is cold and dry in the second degree. He recommends it in exactly the same cases as Serapion does, namely, in inflammatory complaints, epistaxis, hot vertigo, and acute ophthalmy. He also, like Serapion’s authorities, holds that it is anaphrodisiac and represses fluxes. (ii, 2, 130.) Rhases gives a brief account of camphor upon the authority of Misib, Mesarguil, and Bimasui; the first of whom merely recommends it in fluxes; the next relates of it that an acquaintance of his took six drachms of camphor at one dose, which impaired his digestion and brought on impotence without inducing any other complaint; the third, like some of Serapion’s authorities, represents it to be cold and dry in the third degree, and recommends it for fluxes, and further says that it induces premature hoariness of the hair. (Contin. l. ult. i, 147.) In another work he calls it cold, humid, and subtile (volatile?), and gives it the same characters as the other authorities. (Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) Mesue gives a formula for troches of camphor, which he recommends in ardent fevers, heat of the bile and of the blood, hot intemperaments of the stomach and of the liver, for intense thirst, jaundice, phthisis, and hectic. (De Trochiscis. i.) Haly Abbas frequently recommends camphor in the course of his works, but we have not been able to discover any distinct account of it in the very barbarous translation of his Materia Medica. Ebn Baithar gives a very circumstantial account of the formation of camphor on the tree which produces it, and describes its characters very accurately. He says it is cold and dry in the second degree, and is useful in hot intemperaments and bilious headaches. Like some of the others quoted above, he says it is produced most abundantly in times of thunder. In an over-dose, he says, it is anaphrodisiac, and induces sleeplessness, and relates a case in which it destroyed the tone of the stomach, and occasioned impotence. He says it is used in collyria, and as a sternutatory, and to stop the hole in a carious tooth. Symeon Seth is the only one of the Greek authorities that treats fully of camphor (caphura.) He says it is cold and dry in the third degree; that it is the gum or tear of a tree growing in India; that the tree which produces it is said to be very large, so that a hundred men could be sheltered by its shade; that it is produced on the mountains near the sea; and that the wood of the tree is light and fistulous. He recommends camphor as being most useful in acute diseases, in headaches from heat, and in inflammations, especially those of the liver; says that it induces coldness of the kidneys and spermatic vessels, and coagulates the blood. He mentions a test of its purity. (De Alimentis.) Myrepsus in one place mentions the herb camphor, but it is doubtful whether he means the substance we are treating of;—most probably not. (De Unguent, iii, 46.)
Serapion, in the first place, gives a pretty accurate description of it, and states the localities from which it is procured, namely, India, Babylonia, and Arabia. Upon the authority of Aben Mesuai he states it to be of a sweet taste, and laxative of the bowels, and says it has virtues to extinguish the sharpness of the blood, that it relieves apostemes and boils in the mouth, and is useful in jaundice and pains of the liver. In a dose of three to ten drachms he says it is cholagogue and laxative. Abengnefit, as quoted by him, says it purifies the nerves. Rhases, as quoted by him, says it is laxative and efficacious in apostemes, especially those of the throat. (De Simpl. xii.) Avicenna’s account of it is but little different from that of Serapion. Having described it, he says it is of an equal temperament as to heat and cold, but is of a moistening nature, and that in action it is resolvent and laxative. It is useful, he says, in hot apostemes of the bowels, and especially of the throat when a gargle of it is prepared with a decoction of nightshade. He praises it in a liniment for gout and arthritic pains. He speaks well of it in dyspnœa. He says it cleanses the liver, and is of use in jaundice and pain of the liver. He says it is a gentle laxative, bringing away heated bile and phlegm, and opens the bowels safely without griping. (ii, 2, 192.) Badagorius, as quoted by Rhases, says of cassia fistula, that it is alterative, an evacuant of bile, and a cleanser of the blood. The son of Mesue, as quoted by the same, recommends it, like Serapion, in jaundice, pain of the liver, of the throat, &c. Priscianus, as quoted by Rhases, says it is a safe purgative to pregnant women, brings away bile, clears away jaundice, and is efficacious in pain of the liver and throat. Marsenuce (?) recommends it in the same affections of the throat as the others. (Contin. l. ult. i, 187.) Of all the ancient authorities, Mesue the younger gives the fullest account of it, but it is in nearly the same terms as Serapion’s. His description of it is full and accurate. Any injurious action which it has, he says, may be removed by the mixture of myrobalans, rhubarb, the water of mastich, and spikenard; and in dryness of the bowels by mixing almond oil with it. Diuretics also are said to determine it to the urinary passages. He says it is useful to add some laxative to it. As to its virtues, he says it cleanses the blood, allays all sharpness in it, assuages thirst, with the juice of endive, &c., clears the stomach, brings away yellow bile and phlegm, and that safely, also purges the breast and throat, and is useful in heat of the kidneys, when taken with diuretics and the infusion of liquorice, that it prevents the formation of stones, and is useful in ardent fevers. (De Simpl. vi.) Ebn Baithar also gives a very elaborate and correct account of this article, but as it is nearly the same as that of Mesue, we need not say much about it. He calls it a well-known tree growing in Egypt; says in moderate doses it is a safe purgative, even to pregnant women, but in large doses occasions hypercatharsis. If the root is not sound, it is apt to produce disturbance of the bowels. He says it purges hot bile, softens the breast, and cleanses the nerves, &c. (i, 401.) Actuarius describes it by the name of the Black Cassia, and recommends it as a gentle purgative both alone and with other medicines. (Meth. Med. v, 2.) It occurs among the ingredients in the antidotes of Myrepsus. See Antidot. (i, xi.) Of course the article we have been treating of will be recognised as being the Cassia fistula L., the pudding-pipe tree, or purging cassia. The pulp of the pods is still sometimes used in medicine as a gentle purgative. See Paris (Pharmacol. i, 271); Pereira (M. M. 1172); Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 150); Royle (M. M. 355.)
If the work of Serapion (De Simplicibus) which we possess, be the production of the elder Serapion (and after being long familiarly acquainted with it we are inclined to think so), he is undoubtedly the first author who has described senna as an article of the Materia Medica. First on his own authority he describes very accurately the pods, stalks, and seeds of the plant. On the authority of Isaac Ebn Amram he recommends it for removing the inquietude accompanying melancholy, for aches and disturbances of the nerves, for alopecia, phthiriasis, chronic headache, scabies, pustulæ parvæ, pruritus, and epilepsy. Abix, another authority, declares it to have great power of purging black and yellow bile, and of acting as a cordial when mixed with suitable medicines such as violets. His last authority under this head is Rhases, who says that senna and fumitory purge adust humours, and prove useful in scabies and pruritus. (De Simpl. 58.) Under the head of sahane Avicenna briefly notices an article which he recommends as being abstergent and desiccant in pruritus and scabies, in pain of the neck, fetid breath, and watery stomach (waterbrash?). This account we are inclined to think must refer to senna. (ii, 2, 651.) Rhases gives almost exactly the same description of the sahane. (Contin. l. ult. i, 596.) In his work ‘Ad Mansor.’ (viii, 54), he gives the account of Sene quoted above from Serapion, and again at ‘Divis.’ (i, 144.) Haly Abbas describes it accurately in his chapter on Purgatives. (Pract. ii, 54.) He recommends it as a medicine which purges both yellow and black bile, and is useful in gout and rheumatism, and in colics when mixed with raisins, oil of almonds, &c. Mesue describes senna as the folliculus of a plant resembling the tare. The best part of the plant, he says, is the folliculus (legume?), and next the leaves; and both these parts are said to be best when of a green colour. As senna has a tendency to weaken the stomach by its operation, he recommends it to be mixed with ginger, sal gem, Indian salt (sugar?), and cordials. He quotes Galen (through some mistake, as is generally supposed) as recommending it boiled in the soup of fowls. He also speaks of giving it in whey, or in milk, or in must, that is to say, the fresh juice of the grape. The last of these preparations he praises as cleansing the brain and senses, and creating joy. He also speaks favorably of a decoction of it with prunes and spikenard. As to its virtues, he says it readily purges black and adust bile, cleanses the brain, heart, liver, spleen, the senses, and lungs, proves deobstruent and dispels sorrow. He also speaks favorably of the leaves when applied to the head in the bath as improving the senses of sight and hearing, and as proving a remedy to fevers arising from black bile, and to chronic fevers. (De Simpl. xv.) Ebn Baithar gives an interesting description of it. He says in Arabia it is used as a dye, and that its leaves are mixed with those of the plant now called Lawsonia inermis. He calls it cholagogue and melanogogue, says it penetrates the inferior extremities, and purges them in cases of gout. He also praises it in scabies, epilepsy, and a great many other diseases. By some mistake he quotes Paulus. He says it is better in decoction than in powder. The dose of the latter is from two to three drachms, of the former from four to seven drachms. (i, 57.) Actuarius says of sene, that it purges moderately in doses of one drachm. (Meth. Med. v, 8.) Sene occurs as an ingredient in several of the antidotes of Myrepsus, as c. 112, 465, 472. Under this head we would beg, before concluding, to refer the reader to Ainslie’s Mat. Ind. (i, 205). It will be there seen that in Æthiopia senna is still used as a dye.
Rhases gives extracts from Badigorius, Oribasius, Mesue, and others on the virtues of this substance, which he represents as being lithontriptic, styptic, and alexipharmic. He says it is called calmuris in Greek. (Contin. l. ult. i, 121.) Serapion gives extracts from Dioscorides and Galen under this head, but there seems no reason to suppose that they were at all acquainted with this article. He recommends it as being cooling and incisive, and a strengthener of the stomach and liver. He also praises it in all fluxes. (De Simpl. 229.) Ebn Baithar calls it astringent, stomachic, and hepatic, and says it binds the bowels and quenches thirst. He recommends it in diarrhœa connected with weakness of the liver, and in diseases of the stomach and uterus. See also Avicenna (vi, 9.) The berberry (Berberis vulgaris) is recommended by Gerard, Parkinson, and all our old herbalists as an astringent medicine in diseases of the stomach and liver. Even at the present day it is admitted to possess these virtues. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 102) and Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 438.) The former of these seems to acknowledge it as the Oxyacantha of the Greeks, but we think incorrectly. Dr. Royle supposes the Lycium Indicum of Dioscorides to be the berberry. It seems to us more probable, however, that the berberry was but the succedaneum of the lycium. See Schröder (Chemical Dispensatory, 475.)
Rhases calls it stomachic. (Antid. iii.) Serapion having described it, upon the authority of Isaac ebn Amram says of it, that it is hot and dry in the third degree, is useful to phlegmatic persons, and in humidity of the stomach (waterbrash?); promotes digestion by its heat and the solution which it occasions in the stomach, and thus relieves colic, gives fragrance to the breath, and warms the kidneys; it sets the semen in commotion, and when a piece of it is held in the mouth, it occasions erections of the membrum virile. The same virtues in the same cases are assigned to it by Aben Mesuai, and also Aben Mesabah, who recommends it in flatulent colic and eructations. (De Simpl. 332.) Avicenna, having described it, delivers the same account of its medicinal powers as Serapion, that is to say, he holds it to be hot and dry in the second degree, of subtile parts and carminative, says that it renders the breath fragrant, is good for the stomach, promotes digestion, is useful in colic and pains of the kidneys, and is aphrodisiacal. (ii, 2, 314; v, 2, 6.) The same account of it is given by “the Son of Mesue,” in the ‘Continens’ of Rhases (l. ult. i, 323.) In the pharmaceutical work of Myrepsus there is an “antidotus a Galanga,” which is said to be beneficial in affections of the stomach and spleen, and in indigestion; also for singultus, acidity of the food in the stomach, cachexia, dropsy, and coldness of the whole body: it contains cloves, ginger, cinnamon, galangal, &c. (i, 63; also, 222.) Ebn Baithar ascribes the same virtues to it as Serapion; thus he says it is a wonderful aphrodisiac, promotes digestion, cures colic, is carminative, and so forth. Although now little used, galangal root is not yet wholly unknown to the writers on the Materia Medica. Dr. Pereira says of “radix galangæ officinalis; its odour is agreeably aromatic, its taste peppery and aromatic. It is the rhizome of the Alpinia Galanga Roxb.” (Mat. Med. 698.) See also Lewis (Mat. Med. 452); Hill (Mat. Med. i, 447); Quincy (72); Gray (Suppl. to the Pharmacop. 26); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 166.) There are two species of galangal, which Dr. Lindley refers to the alpinia racemosa and galanga. He says of them, “the warm and pungent roots of the greater and lesser galangals are not only used by the Indian doctors, but are considered useful in coughs, given in infusion.” (Ibid.) On the Galangal see further Ainslie (Mat. Ind., i, 140.)
In order to understand this subject it will be necessary in the first place to see the descriptions of these substances given by modern authorities. Dr. Pereira says of the former of these: “The Zeduary root (Radix Zeduariæ officinalis) of English druggists appears to me to agree with Professor Guibourt’s description of round Zeduary (Zeduaria rotunda). It is the sliced tuber of Curcuma Zeduaria Rox. It has a warm, aromatic, bitter taste, and an aromatic odour.” (Mat. Med. 698.) And of the Zerumbet the same author says: “Cassamunar root is considered by English druggests to be identical with Zerumbet root. (Private information; also, Gray, Pharmacop.) It appears to me to be the Turmeric-coloured Zeduary of Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 490.) Is it the product of Zinziber Cassamuniar Roxb.? The Zerumbet root which I received from my friend Dr. Royle is very similar in shape to a curved and arched piece of long turmeric.” (Mat. Med. 698.) Dr. Ainslie gives an interesting disquisition on the Zeduary of which he describes three species: 1. Zeduary Kæmpferian (Kæmpferia rotunda.) 2. Zeduary Zerumbet (Curcuma Zerumbet.) 3. Zeduary turmeric-coloured (Curcuma and Amomum Zeduaria.) We shall now be better able to ascertain the meaning of the ancient descriptions of these substances. Serapion describes separately the Zerumbet Zeduaria and Zerumbet, but in such terms that one is at a loss to see any real distinction between them. (De Simpl. 172, 271.) He calls Zeduary an odoriferous tree for which cinnamon is often substituted. He refers to Galen and Paulus, but what passages in their works he alludes to it is not easy to discover. He describes it as being a great tree which grows on Mount Lebanon, and produces no fruit, but has the odour of citron, and is hot and dry in its nature, and is astringent so as both to open and astringe the bowels. Mesarugie, one of his authorities, compares its virtues to those of nutmeg; praises it as being sternutatory, and also stomachic and hepatic. This, without doubt, is the Zeduary, and the Zarnabum of Avicenna, who describes it separately from the Zerumbet, but mentions that the latter is much the same as the Zeduary. (ii, 2, 736, 738.) Rhases, in like manner, compares the Zerumbet to the Zeduary as being possessed of similar powers. He treats most fully of the former, recommending it as being alexipharmic, a good application to apostemes, &c. (Contin. l. ult. ii, 765.) Ebn Baithar treats fully of the Zerumbeth, which he describes minutely, and compares it to the great Cyperus. He says it is called camphor-root in the West. He calls it alexipharmical, cordial, intoxicating; an excellent medicine in inflation of the uterus, and possessed of emmenagogue and diuretic powers. He says it is good in affections of the liver and surrounding parts. It is said to determine downwards when applied to the soles of the feet in complaints of the head, to prove useful in leprosy when rubbed into the part affected, and to remove impotence. He also treats separately, and at considerable length, of the Zeduaria nigra. (ii, 95.) From the above account it will be seen that these two substances were nearly allied to one another, and in fact there is no doubt that the one was often taken for the other. See further Moses Charras (Royal Pharmacop. 68); Gray (Pharmacop. 26.) The Zeduary was often used as a succedaneum for the costus (Pemberton, Dispensatory, 340) in the composition of the Mithridate, and hence these two substances have been sometimes erroneously taken for the same. See also Manardus ad Mesue (De Trochiscis, 154); and Quincy (English Dispensatory, 483.)
There seems to be no doubt that this is the article which Ebn Baithar means to describe (i, 272). He calls it a spicy plant which comes out of Yemen and India. He describes two kinds, and says of them that they are hot, fragrant, and astringent, and hence prove stomachic and promote digestion. He says they are useful in epilepsy and faintings, and cure headaches in a sternutatory. He describes the smaller kind as being weaker but more attenuant than the larger. We are not aware of the grains of paradise, or Guinea grains, as they are sometimes called, being described by any other of the ancient authorities. We need scarcely remark that they are now well known, and occasionally used in the practice of medicine. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 27); Pereira (Mat. Med. 697); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 167.)
We have shown in the proper place that the Macer of the Greeks and Romans was not mace. The Arabian authorities, it is true, in describing Mace quote what the Greeks had written on Macer, but this does not prove their identity, for many such instances of confused reference occur in their works. Avicenna says, upon the authority of Mesue, that mace is the cortex (meaning, of course, the involucre) of nux moschata. He recommends it as a good stomachic, hepatic, and uterine medicine, and says it proves an astringent in fluxes of the bowels and in dysentery (ii, 2, 448.) The nutmeg, or nucleus of the myristica officinalis, he says, is of the size of a gall, brittle, having a fine rind (involucre), and a sharp smell. He recommends it as a styptic in complaints of the liver, spleen, and stomach, and in difficulty of urine. In oils he says it is a sedative of pain, and also in pessaries, and it stops vomiting. (ii, 2, 495.) He quotes no Greek authorities under this head. Rhases, in his ‘Continens,’ says briefly of the nux moschata, that it resembles cloves, and is good for the stomach and liver. (l. ult. 507.) In his other work (Ad Mansor. iii, 30,) he calls it hot and dry, and recommends it as an astringent in coldness of the stomach and liver. Mesue, in his electuary of lignum aloes, which he recommends for affections of the heart, stomach, and coldness of the liver, mentions nutmeg and mace as two of its ingredients. (De Electariis, i.) The ancient writer, however, who gives the fullest account of these articles is Serapion, who under this head quotes only from Arabian authorities, namely, Aaron, Isaac ebn Amram, Aben Mesuai, Miseaben, Albasari, and Rhases. They all agree in representing them to be aromatic and astringent, useful in flatulence and other complaints of the stomach, in fetid breath, indigestion, and enlargements of the spleen and liver. (De Simpl. 161.) Ebn Baithar’s extracts under this head are principally from Rhases and Avicenna. He evidently disapproves of the opinion of those that held Macer and Mace to be identical. On the nutmeg and mace we would beg to refer to Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 202, 249.) It will be there seen that the Hindoos still use these articles as cardiac, hepatic, and stomachic medicines. It appears doubtful to us whether the Greeks and Romans were at all acquainted with the nutmeg. For we have always suspected the genuineness of the last chapter but one of Aëtius, which contains a number of Indian aromatics not to be found elsewhere in the works of the Greek authorities. Our suspicions, which are of old date, have been much strengthened by the discovery that many of the formulæ contained in that chapter as given in the Latin translation are wanting in the two MSS. of Aëtius in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This we have positively ascertained through the kindness of Dr. Greenhill, who examined this part of these MSS. at our request to ascertain the fact. It may be well to take this opportunity of stating that with the original of the last eight books of Aëtius we have no personal acquaintance further than from a cursory examination of these MSS. during a very brief visit to Oxford in 1845. In the MS. named ‘Canon. Gr.’ (109), the nuces Indicæ are called κάρυα Ινδικά. From what we have stated above, it must now be obvious that we have arrived at the positive conclusion that the νάσκαφθον of the Greek Mat. Med. was not mace. (See the Commentary on this article.)
According to Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 268) the first mention of the Cocos nucifera, or cocoa-nut, occurs in the Itinerary of Abuzeid and Wahab. No mention of it is made in the works of the Greek writers on medicine. The Arabians describe it minutely as an article of food, so that it ought to have been noticed by us in our Commentary on the 81st sect. of Book I. Rhases treats of it very fully as a dietetical article, and also as a medicine, saying of it that it purges away the tapeworm, that the oil of it is useful both internally and externally in pains and flatulence of the back, loins, knees, and in hemorrhoids; and he further quotes Bemasuy in confirmation of this character of it. All his authorities held it to be a hot and dry medicine. (Cont. l. ult. i, 506.) Avicenna gives, almost word for word, the same account of it. The flesh of the cocoa-nut, he says, is intensely white, and its juice sweet; and when there is not much juice in it, we are to understand that it is old. The inner bark, he says, is to be taken off, as being wholly indigestible. He recommends it in exactly the same complaints as Rhases does, only as a vermifuge he does not say that its oil brings away the tapeworm, but ascarides and lumbrici. (ii, 2, 498.) Serapion gives a somewhat fuller description of the cocoa-nut, which he knew to be the fruit of a palm-tree, but otherwise his account of it is the same as that of the two authorities already quoted. Of his Arabian authorities, one says that it is laxative, and another that it is astringent. (De Simpl. 228.) Haly Abbas recommends the Nux Indica as a comforter of the nerves in hemicrania, paralysis, and epilepsy. (Pract. ii, 38, 248.) Mesue notices the “oleum ex nuce Indica,” which, he says, is useful in nervous pains, purges the lungs and chest, clears the voice, fattens, and engenders semen. (De Oleis, i.) Ebn Baithar gives an interesting account of the cocoa-palm both as a medicine and an article of food. He says its milk is at times intoxicating and aphrodisiac, and that it is useful in certain complaints of the urine, in tænia and other intestinal worms. The reader will find it interesting to compare the above account of the cocoa from the ancient authorities with what Ainslie says of it in his work, ‘Materia Indica,’ i, 451; and Dr. Lindley in his late admirable publication on the ‘Vegetable Kingdom,’ (136.)
It has been supposed that under this head Avicenna (ii, 2, 112), and other oriental writers, have included either that species of Palm called Borassus flabelliformis; or another congener, Hyphæne Thebaica. See Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 272); Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 452); Royle (Antiq. of Hindoo Med. 90); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 136.) The term, however, was applied to other substances, as we have stated under the proper head.
There is no doubt that we are indebted to the Arabians for our first knowledge of this important medicine. Serapion, in describing this article, quotes only from Arabian authorities, which implies that he held the Greeks to have been unacquainted with it. Its leaves are said to resemble those of the willow. His first authority, Abohanifa, says it grows in Cæsaria; and his next, Aben Mesuai, says its fruit, which is of a ruddy colour, and has much pulp, is brought from India. In temperament it is said to be cold in the third degree, and has the power of purging yellow bile gently, and of repressing its pungency; of stopping vomiting, and removing pruritus. His other authorities, Abugerig, Mesebab, and Mesarugie, give a similar account of it. (De Simpl. 348.) Rhases writes of it in nearly the same terms: thus, he says, it extinguishes yellow bile, opens the bowels, removes thirst and vomiting, and strengthens the stomach. Its action is said to be similar to that of prunes. (Contin. l. ult. i, 699.) On his own authority Rhases says of Tamarinds in another place, that they are of a cold nature, loosen the bowels, repress intense bile and blood. (Ad Mansor. iii, 49.) Avicenna calls Tamarinds cold and dry in the second degree, says they are laxative, and more attenuant than prunes, and contain less juice: that they stop excessive vomiting, and thirst in fevers, and brace the stomach when it is relaxed. They are beneficial, he adds, in syncoptic fevers, and other disorders in which it is necessary to open the bowels gently. (ii, 2, 691.) Mesue describes Tamarinds as being acidulous dates, or the fruit of wild palms growing in India. He gives a very minute description of them, which we need not copy. As to temperament he says, they are cold and dry in the second degree; and in order to correct their bad effects in cold affections of the stomach, he directs them to be mixed with mace, spikenard, mastich, fennel, parsley, endive, &c. He further directs their action to be increased by giving them in the whey of goats, the infusion of fumitory or of hops. He gives very minute directions for preparing Tamarind whey, both simple and compound. As to its virtues, he says, it brings away bile, represses the ebullition of it, and the heat of the blood, is beneficial in inflammation of the liver and stomach, quenches thirst, removes all heat connected with it, is useful in jaundice, stops vomiting, and is a good medicine in acute fevers which require to be repressed. Being of a weak nature, Tamarinds, he says, require to be given to the amount of from two to five ounces. (De Simpl.) Ebn Baithar’s description of Tamarinds is full and accurate, but does not contain anything of importance in addition to the information which we have extracted from the other authorities who preceded him. (See Vol. I, 212.)
We have stated under the head of Balanus, that the Greek authorities before the Arabian period were entirely unacquainted with the stone fruits which now bear the name of Myrobalans. As these substances are now scarcely known in this country, we shall find it convenient again, in the present instance, to give, in the first place, a brief account of them from modern authorities. They are well described by Geoffroy, Alston, the Commentators on Mesue, and many other writers on the Mat. Med. They held a place in the British Dispensatory as late as the time of Quincy, and are described by Boerhaave in his Mat. Med. They have not lately been used in the practice of medicine either in Europe, or by our English physicians in the East Indies, as far as we have been able to learn. Five species are described by all writers on them, both ancient and modern, namely, the Citrine, Belleric, Chebulic, Emblic, and Indian. For a particular description of them see Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 262); Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 236), and Royle (Antiq. of Hindoo Med.) According to the last of these authors, the Black or Indian, the Yellow or Citrine, and the Chebulic, are the product of the Terminalia Chebula; the fourth or Beleric, of the T. Belerica, all belonging to the natural tribe of medicines now called Combretaceæ; while the fifth or Emblic is the fruit of the Phyllanthus Emblica, now called Emblica officinalis. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 280.) We shall now be able to apprehend the descriptions of the ancient authors.
Rhases quotes several Arabian and Indian authorities on Myrobalans. The Citrine or Yellow, according to Badigorias (Pythagoras?), is cholagogue, and the Black stomachic. The other authorities quoted by him agree in generally holding that myrobalans are cholagogue and stomachic, and that they are useful in hemorrhoids and palpitation of the heart. Sarac, the Indian, recommends them as purgative and stomachic medicines in mental diseases, hemorrhoids, headache, dropsy, and diseases of the spleen. They all seem to be agreed in holding that myrobalans are possessed of a purgative power compounded with astringency. (Contin. l. ult. i, 473.) In his other works he recommends myrobalans for purging yellow bile, and melancholy or black bile, and also as astringents. (Divis. i, 144, and Ad Mansor. viii, 54.) In the latter work he says, that in order to purge, the proper dose of citrine myrobalans is from ten to twenty drachms. Avicenna describes four species of myrobalans, namely, the Citrine, unripe, the black Indian, the Kebulic, and the Chinese, meaning by the last, we suppose, the Emblic, or fruit of the Emblica officinalis. He describes minutely their specific differences, and states of their general virtues as medicines, that they are cold in the first degree and dry in the second; that they all extinguish yellow bile, and are useful in bilious complaints; that the black brightens the colour, and all kinds are useful in leprosy. He recommends them in diseases of the eyes, and in those of the chest accompanied with palpitation and sorrow. He also states several minute distinctions among them as to medicinal powers, which we do not think it necessary to enter upon. (ii, 2, 449.) Serapion writes very elaborately on myrobalans, of which he describes four species, the Citrine, the Black or Indian, the Kebulic, and the Chinese citrine (Emblic?). The authorities quoted by him are generally agreed, that myrobalans possess astringency with bitterness, purge bile and whet the stomach; are cordial, and prove useful in melancholy, &c. Sarac, the Indian, as quoted by him, maintains of myrobalans, that they are hot and astringent, and at the same time eccoprotic, that they strengthen the senses and the nerves, are useful in leprosy, colic, old hemorrhoids, vertigo, and dropsy, and that they induce nausea and vomiting. Honain gives minute directions for the preparation of them, but these we shall not enter upon. Some apothecaries, he says, fall into the mistake of selling Kebulic myrobalans of a black colour for the true black kind. For the true black myrobalans, he says, are brought from India, whereas of the Kebulic, some are yellow and others black according to the time of their growth at which they are gathered from the trees. He gives very minute directions for administering them with other substances, such as prunes, Sebesten plums, jujubes, and the like; but as most of these substances are not now much known, it would not be interesting to most readers to learn his remarks on this subject. (De Simpl. 107.) Mesue also gives a very elaborate and circumstantial account of myrobalans, which our necessary limits prevent us from giving at full length. He ranks them with the Blessed Medicines (medicinis benedictis); for, he adds, in loosening the bowels, they do not weaken but strengthen the stomach, heart, liver, and the whole body. The only bad effect, he says, which they ever produce, is obstruction. Their operation, he adds, is wonderfully increased by combining them with scammony. He says, of all the kinds, that they are cold in the first degree and dry in the second. His directions for correcting any bad effects from the use of them, and for increasing their operation, are most circumstantial, and bespeak an intimate acquaintance with the subject. He eulogises them in the strongest terms, declaring that they restore youth, improve the complexion, the breath, and the perspiration, impart joy and hilarity, strengthen the stomach, heart, and liver, are useful in palpitations, cleanse the stomach, are useful in hemorrhoids, extinguish heat in cholera, and this more especially the citrine. He also speaks favorably of them in a prescribed preparation for complaints of the eyes, and for tertian and bilious fevers. The Kebulic, he says, are phlegmagogue, and especially the prepared kinds; they improve the sight, cleanse and comfort the stomach, and are useful in dropsy and chronic fevers. The Black bring away black and adust bile, are useful in melancholy and palpitations, clear the colour, cure leprosy, remove sadness, and are beneficial in quartans. The dose from two to five drachms. (De Simpl. ii.) He treats separately of the Emblic and Belleric, but we need not enter upon his account of them. And here we would refer our readers to Costa’s commentary on this part of Mesue, as containing all the interesting information which can be gleaned from ancient authors on the subject of myrobalans. For the other Arabians, see Haly Abbas (Pract. ii, 54); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (pluries); and Avenzoar (Antidot.) None of these supply much that is important after what we have given from the other authorities. Of the Greek writers on medicine, Actuarius is the only one that gives any distinct account of myrobalans, and he professes to derive his information from “the wise barbarian doctors,” meaning the Arabians. He first describes the Citrine, the Kebulic, and the Black or Indian, and represents them as possessing purgative powers, combined with some astringency and tonicity. Besides these three kinds he mentions, as possessing purgative powers of a like nature, two medicines, which he calls empelilez and empletze, by which he no doubt meant Emblic and Belleric. (Meth. Med. v, 8.) The five kinds of myrobalans, namely, the Citrine, the Kebulic, the Indian, the Belleric, and the Emblic, occur in one of the antidotes of Nicolas Myrepsus, who recommends them in various remittent and intermittent fevers. (i, 24.) Myrobalans have always been much esteemed by the Hindoo physicians. See the Susruta, and Wise’s Book on Hindoo Medicine (pluries.)
Though the Arabians would certainly appear to have been the first to introduce the substance now used medicinally under this name, it is impossible to believe that the Greeks and Romans can have been wholly unacquainted with it. It, we need scarcely inform our professional readers, is procured principally from the Ornus Europæa or flowering ash, either by incision, or the puncture of an insect. The ancients, however, applied this term to a variety of the thus, as we have stated in the preceding commentary on this section, and also to the honey-dew described in Vol. I, pp. 178, 179 of this work. We have further mentioned under the head of Elæomeli, that it probably was some species of manna. Altogether then the term we are now considering is often a puzzle in reading the works of the ancient authorities. See further Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 209); Sprengel (R. H. H.); Pereira (M. M. 928); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 547, 617, 737, 341, 342.) Even the Arabians, who appear to have been perfectly well acquainted with its medicinal properties, confound it with the honey-dew, and seem to say that it falls from heaven upon the trees. Serapion describes it by the name of Tereniaben or mel roris, and says it falls from above upon certain trees, and resembles granulated honey. Its virtues he states, upon the authority of Isaac ebn Amram, to consist in opening the bowels, and moistening the chest, and he adds that it suits with persons of a hot temperament, especially when dissolved in water of jujubes, or of prunes. His other authorities recommend it in the same complaints, and also in the inflammation of ardent fevers and for quenching thirst. The dose is said to be from ten to twenty drachms. (De Simpl. 10.) We may mention that Serapion and all the other authorities mention that manna is found most abundantly on thorns. Avicenna’s account of this subject is so like to that of Serapion that it would be superfluous to give any abstract of it. (ii, 2, 694.) Rhases also gives nearly the same description of manna upon the authority of Abinerog, Mesaurice, Mesue, and Chuz. (Contin. l. ult. i, 711.) All these authorities represent it as being a gentle purgative and expectorant, and as being useful in acute and intermittent fevers. In another of his works (Ad Mansor. ix, 14), treating of hoarseness and coryza, he prescribes an expectorant decoction, one of the ingredients of which is “manna, quam aërium appellant.” In his chapter on angina (ix, 51) he prescribes a laxative medicine containing tamarinds, cassia fistula, and “manna quam veteres mel aërium appellant.” Mesue gives an elaborate account of the origin, characters, temperament, and virtues of manna, which is well worth consulting, although it contains nothing of any great importance in addition to what is stated above on the authority of Serapion, Avicenna, and Rhases. He would appear moreover to confound the manna thuris with the manna of the ash. Like the other authorities, he holds manna to be a gentle cholagogue, and says it softens the throat, the chest, the bowels, and quenches thirst. The dose from six to fifteen drachms. (De Simpl. 8.) We have not found anything further of interest in the works of Averrhoes, Haly Abbas, and Ebn Baithar. The last of these says the Ros Melleus is a substance which falls upon trees in Chorasan; that it is useful in ardent fevers, moistens the chest, proves more detergent than sugar, cools thirst, improves the memory, purges yellow bile, &c. He evidently alludes to the true manna of the ash. Actuarius mentions cassia fistula and manna as two purgative medicines which may be safely given to children and pregnant women. (Meth. Med. v.)
There can be no doubt that it is the Convolvulus Turpethum. Rhases recommends turpeth for purging crude and recrementitious humours from the knees and other joints. His two authorities, Mesue the elder, and Chuz, give it the same character. (Contin. l. ult. i, 729.) Avicenna, after describing it, represents it as being efficacious in diseases of the nerves and joints, as being phlegmagogue, and if mixed with ginger, as bringing away crude humours. (ii, 2, 701.) Serapion confounds it with the tripolium of Dioscorides and Galen, as we have stated under that head. Upon the authority of Aben Mesuai he assigns it the property of purging viscid phlegm, but says that it brings on mental depression by its horrid taste, and, therefore, it ought not to be taken alone. Other Arabian authorities, quoted by him, give it the same character. He describes the medicine very minutely, and the marks by which we may determine whether it be sound or not. The dose is from one to two drachms. (De Simpl. 337.) Haly Abbas treats of it in his chapter on purgatives, but confines himself principally to a description of the medicine itself. (Pract. ii, 2, 557.) The ancient author who has treated most fully of turpeth, is Mesue the younger in his work ‘De Simpl.’ (11.) He gives a circumstantial description of it, and full directions for correcting its bad qualities by mixing it with other substances, such as scammony, dates, ginger, almonds, &c. He recommends it principally as a phlegmagogue, and an evacuant of gross humours in diseases of the joints, and as a preservative from leprosy and other diseases of the skin. It has been much disputed whether or not the turpeth of Mesue be the same as that of the other Arabians. (See his Commentators l. c.) We see little reason for questioning their identity. We have not found anything additional of much interest in the great work of Ebn Baithar under this head. The turpeth of Actuarius is the root of the pityusa, that is to say of the Euphorbia pityusa. (Meth. Med. v, 9.) Dr. Ainslie, treating of the Convolvulus turpethum, says: “Our present article had long a place in the Mat. Med., but of late years has fallen into disuse. Alston (M. M. ii, 530) speaks of turpeth as being a strong resinous cathartic, recommended in his days in gout, dropsy, and leprosy.” (Mat. Ind. ii, 384.) It is still known in the shops as a rough purgative. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharm.) We are satisfied that it was not known to the Greeks before the Arabian period, that it was neither the Tripolium, as we have already stated, nor yet the Alypias, as some have supposed. It has been long used as a purgative medicine by the Hindoo physicians. See Wise (Hindoo Med. 145.)
Serapion gives a very lengthened account of the Dend hayse, and describes two species of it. He speaks of part of it being poisonous, and states that it purges strongly, and induces tenesmus. A person who has taken of it is directed to vomit, to take butter and milk in drink with astringents of a demulcent nature, such as purslane, gum Arabic, &c. He mentions that it is a medicinal herb much used in India and Babylonia, along with other purgatives, but he adds that it induces great debility in that hot and dry country, whereas in Yemen, where the heat is attended with great rains, no class of medicines answer so well as that which possesses astringent and laxative powers combined, such as turpeth, myrobalans, manna, and the like. But dend, he says, answers only in cold countries like Seni (China?). When it brought on hypercatharsis, he says, he directed his patient to sit in a cold hip-bath, and to get cold water dashed over his body. (De Simpl. 388.) Avicenna’s description of dende is mostly taken from Serapion. He directs it to be administered only in a cold country, and along with substances calculated to restrain its violent operations, such as starch and saffron. He says it purges humours and phlegm from the joints. (ii, 2, 215.) We have not been able to discover any traces of it in the works of Haly Abbas, Rhases, Mesue, nor Averrhoes. Ebn Baithar, however, treats of it fully. He says, or at least his German translator makes him say, that it is the Ricinus, and not an Euphorbia, as some had supposed. He gives a minute description of three kinds—the Chinese, the Indian, and the Arboreus; and of these the first is said to be the best and strongest in its purgative operation. It is said to be hot, sharp, and oily, and to purge the body effectually, especially the humours in the joints. It is not given, he says, in hot countries, such as Irak, the sea-coast, the land of Egypt, and Yemen, because fluxes in these countries are common, and owing to the relaxation of the body, it cannot bear this violent medicine. One of his authorities, Honain, wisely remarks that in all hot countries severe medicines ought to be avoided. Minute directions are given for counteracting its deleterious effects. It is said to act as a hot drastic purgative, and to excoriate the intestines. Its bad effects are best counteracted by an emetic, butter, gum lac, and other demulcents. We used to think there could be little or no doubt but that Sprengel was right in referring it to the strychnos colubrinus; but of late, certain authorities, for whom we feel much respect, have held it to be the Croton Tiglium. See Royle (Antiq. Hind. Med. 36; Mat. Med. 552); Pereira (739); and Sontheimer apud Ebn Baithar. We still think that the lignum colubrinum is at least as applicable to the dende. It has been used medicinally in modern times. See Hill (Mat. Med. 693); Gray (Pharmacop. 58); and Pereira (922.) Pereira mentions that he had analysed it, and found that it contains nearly the same ingredients as St. Ignatius’ Bean. Dr. Lindley calls the tree, which furnishes the lignum colubrinum, the Strychnos ligustrina, and mentions of it that it had been used in paralysis of the extremities, and as an anthelminthic. (Veg. Kingd. 603.) Dr. Royle mentions (M. M. l. c.) that when in India the seeds of the croton tiglium were given him as the dund of the Arabians. Is it not more probable that they were merely meant as the succedaneum of the dende?
Serapion treats of this substance under the same head with two others, bel and sel. The bel has never been well ascertained, but Sprengel and Ainslie are agreed that the sel is the Ægle marmelos, on which see Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 458.) And now with regard to the Fel, Serapion describes it as a fruit having an external covering like a filbert, containing a grain like that of the larger pine, its colour being intermediate between yellow and white, and it, he adds, is the part which is administered. He says it relieves the inflation of hemorrhoids. (c. 261.) Avicenna gives exactly the same account of Fael, which in the glossarium is described as being “radix seu fructus nenufaris Indi.” He calls it a well-known Indian medicine, useful in relaxation of the nerves, and in inflation of hemorrhoids. He says his virtues are like those of the apples of mandragora. (ii, 2, 251.) Rhases, in like manner, says briefly of Fel that it is a well-known Indian medicine, having powers like those of mandragora. (Contin. l. ult. i, 298.) Dr. Ainslie writes of it thus: “The croton nuts were known to the Arabian physicians by the name of fell (Serapion 261), and were formerly brought to England under the name of Molucca grains.” (Mat. Ind. 106.) Sprengel also in his R. H. H. refers the Fel to the Croton Tiglium. Dr. Hill says of the Molucca grains: “The grana tiglia are of the ricinus kind; they are the nucula cathartica quarta Moluccana purgatoria,” &c. See further p. 540, and Geoffroy (iii. 5, 30.) Certainly it appears to us that the medicinal virtues of the Fel, as given above by Serapion, Rhases, and Avicenna, do not agree well with the known powers of the croton tiglium. We cannot, however, pretend to determine what substance the Fel was.
Avicenna describes the two kinds of sandal wood (lignum pterocarpi santalini) still well known in practice. He says it is a cold and dry medicine, which repels determinations to parts, and this more especially the red. The diseases he most particularly recommends it in are, palpitation of the heart, fevers, weakness of the stomach, and this both in liniments and in draughts. The white, he says, is useful in hot fevers. (ii, 2, 649.) He quotes Galen under this head, but his translator is sensible of this being a mistake. Serapion describes the white, the yellow, and the red kinds of sandal-wood, and gives a very circumstantial account of them. He says sandal-wood is brought from Sini (China?). The various authorities quoted by him concur in giving the different kinds of sandal-wood the same characters as Avicenna, representing it as being useful in complaints of the stomach, and in cardiac disease; and mixed with camphor and rose oil as an external application in hot vertigo when rubbed into the temples. They also agree in representing it along with other cooling plants as being serviceable in gout. The sandal-woods, in short, they all hold to be cold in the third degree and dry in the second. (De Simpl. 346.) Rhases gives a brief account of the red and white sandal-woods, which his authorities recommend in weakness of the stomach, and pain of the head; and also for palpitation of the heart in fevers, when rubbed over the stomach, and for erysipelas when rubbed into the face. (Contin. l. ult. ii, 1, 609.)
Avicenna describes it as being a well-known tree, having fruit like the Lotus Arbor (Celtis Australis?). He says it is a very large tree, and that its flower is hot in the third degree, and dry in the end of the first, and that it is possessed of deobstruent powers; and the decoction of its leaves kills lice in the hair and strengthens it. Its fruit is bad for the stomach and chest. It is anthelminthic, and useful in colics and in pituitous fevers along with fumitory and myrobalans. (ii, 2, 17.) Rhases gives the same account of the assedarach. (Contin. l. ult. i, 89.) It is barely mentioned by Serapion as being a large tree, but we have not been able to discover it in his Mat. Med. The Arabian authorities of Ebn Baithar give an elaborate account of it, representing it as being dangerous to persons who take it in large doses, but in smaller ones useful for various purposes, and more especially for promoting the growth of the hair. (i, 30.) There can be no question that it must have been the Melia azedarach or “bead tree.” Dr. Ainslie says of it that “in India the bark of the melia azedarach has been ascertained to possess powerful tonic and antifebrile virtues,” and that “it is ordered for almost every purpose that the cinchona is in Europe.” (Mat. Ind. i, 70, ii, 454.) See further on the tree, Miller (Dictionary); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 464); and Crantz (Mat. Med. iii, 40.) The last of these says of it, that he had “read in the Encyclopedia (!!) that it kills lice, &c.” The azedarach is frequently noticed in the Susruta. See also Wise’s Book of Hindu Medicine. (119.)
On this see Serapion (De Simpl. 356); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 47); and Avicenna (ii, 2, 40.) Of these authorities Avicenna describes it most minutely. They all recommend it in mental diseases, and especially in loss of memory, and say it is useful in coldness of the nerves, in paralysis, and spasms. Avicenna recommends it as a fumigation to hemorrhoids. Without doubt it is the Semicarpus Anacardium, or “marking nut tree” of commerce. It has been used in modern practice, but has now fallen into disuse. See Hill (Mat. Med. 490.) Rhases quotes Galen on the anacardium, referring, as we suppose, to his χρυσοβάλανος. (De Comp. Med. sec. gen. viii.) That the latter was the semicarpus anacardium seems not unlikely. See Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 209.) It is briefly noticed also by Myrepsus and Actuarius under the name of ξανθοβάλανος. And further, it is deserving of remark that anacardia occurs as an ingredient in one of our author’s antidotes (c. 170, Ed. Basil.) To say the least then, it appears doubtful whether the Greeks were wholly ignorant of these substances as stated by Matthiolus. (Comment. in Dioscor. 189.)
Avicenna says of it that it belongs to the genus abhel (sabina?) and is called the Indian pine; that it is pungent, and contains a milk which is hot and occasions thirst. He adds that it is good for relaxation of the nerves, paralysis, &c., also for cold apostemes (chronic inflammations?) of the brain, apoplexy, and catalepsy. He concludes by stating of it that it is lithontriptic, binds the bowels, and that its decoction removes relaxation of the anus. (ii, 2, 213.) In the Glossarium of Avicenna (l. c.) reference is here made to Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 31), but we can find no notice of the Diudar there, nor in any part of the works of Rhases. Ebn Baithar’s account of this article is taken literally from Avicenna. Dr. Royle has ingeniously pointed out the correspondence both of name and characters between the Diudar of the Arabians and the Pinus Deodara. (Antiquity of Hindoo Med. 36.) See also Lindley (Veget. Kingd. 228.)
It is to be remarked, on the outset, that Serapion and Avicenna in treating of the vernix do not make any reference to Dioscorides and Galen, as is their wont, from which it may be inferred that they did not recognise it as one of the articles which had been described by their Grecian masters. Serapion’s Arabian authorities on this head are, Albugerig, Aben Mesuai, Badegoras, Mesarugie, Abrix, Alabari, Rhases, and Isaac Eben. They agree in recommending it in fumigations for catarrhs, for stopping immoderate menstruation, drying fistulæ; as an anthelminthic, and remedy for hemoptysis and hemorrhoids. One of his authorities (Isaac Eben) describes it as being a gum of a yellow colour, like the karabe, and says it is brought from the land of the Christians. He adds, respecting the karabe, that Galen says it is the gum haur romane (populi Romanæ [?]). Whether by this he meant amber, we shall inquire presently. Avicenna says of the sandaracha or vernix, that it is hot and dry in the second degree, and that it has some astringency, and the power of stopping hemorrhages. He says it is used for removing obesity, for drying fistulæ, that the smoke of it cures catarrhs, and is the best of all remedies for toothache; that it cures palpitation as well as the karabe, stops fluxes of blood, cures humid asthma, and is used by wrestlers to strengthen the breath. It is good, he concludes by saying of it, in diseases of the spleen, and its fumes cure old sores and hemorrhoids. (ii, 2, 619.) It may be proper to remark here, that although Avicenna applies the term sandarach both to realgar and gum vernix he does not fall into the mistake of confounding these substances with one another. This will be clearly seen by comparing ii, 2, 48, with l. c. The Latin translation of the chapter in Rhases’s ‘Continens,’ on Sandarach, is so particularly barbarous, that some passages of it are scarcely intelligible to us, albeit we have spent more time than most people in poring over these most unclassical productions. It is clear, however, that his Arabian authorities recommend vernix in exactly the same cases as Serapion and Avicenna do, namely, in fumigations for asthma and coryza, as a drying application to fistulæ and hemorrhoids, as a stimulant in diseases of the eyes, and as a remedy for defluxion and fluxes of blood from the womb. (Contin. l. ult. i, 610.)
Dr. Lewis, treating of the Juniperus, says, “In the warmer climates, particularly on the coasts of Africa, there exudes from a larger species of juniper a resinous juice which concretes into semi-pellucid, pale, yellowish tears, resembling mastich, but larger; the sandaracha and gummi juniperi of the shops, called by some, from the use to which it is principally applied, vernix. It has been given internally against hemorrhages, old fluxes, and ulcerations; but is principally employed externally in corroborant, nervine, and traumatic applications.” (Mat. Med. ii, 24.) Recent authorities have decided that the gum sandarach is not the product of the juniperus communis, as usually supposed, but of the Callitris quadrivalris. See Pereira (Mat. Med. 727); and Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 229.) On the vernix see further Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 201.)
Is this the same as the Cedria of the Greeks and Romans? See Dioscorides (i, 105); Galen (De Simpl. vi.) We are inclined to think that it either was the same, or, at all events, that both were procured from trees of the same genus. See the description of the Cedria given by Pliny (H. N. xxiv, 11) with the notes of Harduin. We have stated under Cedrus that it generally signifies a large species of juniper. And further, upon comparing the medicinal uses of the cedria as given by Pliny (who follows Dioscorides closely) with those of the Sandarach as given above from the Arabians, no one can doubt that they must apply to the same thing, or at least to substances of a like kind. The cedria must not be confounded with cedrium described by Pliny. (H. N. xvi, 21.) The latter would appear to have been a liquid procured from the wood by distillation or boiling. There appears much probability in the conjecture of Berzelius that the cedrium was a sort of pyroligneous acid. Pliny says it was used for embalming dead bodies. (l. c.)
Avicenna describes it as being the gum of a tree called haur romana (populus Romana?), resembling vernix, of different colours, and when of a ruddy colour attracting chaff and other small objects. He says the gum is like the flower of the tree in virtues but colder, being astringent in the case of all fluxes, especially bleeding from the nose, and hemoptysis. He agrees with Rhases and Serapion that it is a good periapt in cases of hot apostemes. He recommends it as a good cordial medicine, and one which is useful in affections of the stomach and bowels. (ii, 2, 364.) He treats of the other parts of the poplar separately, and also gives a distinct chapter on Ambra, and in his work ‘De Med. Cord.’ he treats separately of Ambra and Karabe. Serapion under the head of haur romi first gives abbreviated translations of Dioscorides’s and Galen’s descriptions of the black poplar (ἄιγειρος), and then a translation of an extract said to be from Paulus, but which we cannot trace in the works of our author. In that extract Karabe is called the gum of the haur romi; it is said to be astringent, and to be confounded by some with the sandarach, and that it was called the funeral gum because the Latins used it in burials. He concludes by giving extracts from several Arabian authorities regarding its medicinal characters, which agree in the main with those given above from Avicenna. (De Simpl. 276.) He gives a perfectly distinct chapter on Ambra (c. 196.) Rhases has a chapter on the “haur seu fagus,” which, except that it does not contain the pretended extract from Paulus, is made up from almost the same authorities as the one of Serapion which we have just discussed. Karabe, it is said, is the gum of the tree. (Contin. l. ult. i, 256.) Although there is a good deal of confusion in the accounts of Karabe contained in these extracts, we think it impossible to avoid drawing the conclusion that the authorities meant to apply it to the resin of some balsam poplar, probably some variety of the Populus nigra, or dilatata. It would be a great mistake then to identify the Karabe with amber. Indeed, Ebn Baithar distinctly says that amber is not the gum of the black poplar as had been supposed, which he clearly establishes by showing that the characters of the gum poplar, as given by Dioscorides and Galen, by no means accord with those of amber (succinum.) See further under Electrum, Sandarach, and Ambra grisea. It is proper to mention that although our opinion with regard to the Karabe be as we have stated, most of our modern authorities have set it down as being identical with the succinum. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 215); Royle (Mat. Med. 648); Pemberton (Dispensatory, 102.) We are persuaded, however, that whoever will carefully read the ninth chapter of the first part of Avicenna’s work “on Cordial Medicines,” must agree with us that he held the Karabe and Ambra to be totally different substances, and a careful study of Mesue (De Electariis) will confirm this conclusion. The gum or resin of the black poplar is mentioned by Schroeder. (Chemical Dispensat. 442.)
We treat of these substances under one head for a reason which will become apparent before the conclusion of our article upon them. Tembul, according to Avicenna, is cold in the first degree and dry in the second; it is astringent and desiccant; it strengthens the gums, and for this purpose is constantly chewed by the Indians; it also strengthens the stomach, and for this purpose also is frequently chewed by the same people. (ii, 2, 699.) Haly Abbas gives a very similar account of it; he says it is brought from India, and that seafaring men made much use of it, because they lived much upon fish. (Pract. ii, 36, 207.) Ebn Baithar treats of it at great length. One of his authorities, Abuthanifa, says it improves the state of the mouth. Elmasudi gives an interesting description of it; he says it renders the breath fragrant, improves the mouth, and even the mind, and he says further of it that it reddens the teeth. Elgafaki says it cures bleeding and swelling of the tonsils, being of an astringent and desiccant nature. Elscherif calls it hot in the first, and dry in the second degree, and says it produces exhilaration of spirits, and cures flatulence. He describes minutely the Indian mode of using it. The author himself under this head warns his readers not to confound the plant used in his time for the tembul, with the true tembul, which he says was seldom brought from India in his days because it lost its virtues by being carried to a distance. (ii, 200.)
Faufel, or Avellana Indica, is described by Serapion’s authorities as being like the nutmeg, and as having a slight degree of heat with some bitterness. Its virtues are said to be like those of the sandal tree. It is recommended as an application to hot apostemes. Some of his authorities call it hot and dry, and all seem to agree in holding it to be astringent. One of them, Mesarugie, says that it suits with toothache and scabies of the eyebrow. Mesue says it strengthens the teeth, represses the gums when swelled, and is useful in swelling of the eye. (De Simpl. 345.) Avicenna describes it as being cold with some astringency, and as being useful in hot apostemes of a gross nature, and inflation of the eye. (i, 2, 256.) Ebn Baithar calls it a palm, and says of it that it is a gentle purgative, makes the breath fragrant, is a cordial, and strengthens the gums and teeth. (i, 267.)