  136. SENNA is a drug, the dried leaves of an annual plant (Cassia senna) which grows in various parts of Africa and Asia. The stems of this plant are woody, and not unlike those of a shrub. The leaves are winged, and the leaflets oval, smooth, and pointed. The flowers, which grow in lengthened clusters, and are of pale yellow colour, are succeeded by oblong, compressed, and kidney-shaped pods. The cultivation of senna is carried on to considerable extent in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and Upper Egypt, from several of which countries it has, from time These leaves have long been in use in Eastern countries as a medicine; and their repute, though not so great as in the East, is very considerable in Europe. They are administered in various ways; and the pods have the same effect as the leaves. A kind of senna has of late been cultivated, with success, in Italy and some of the southern parts of France. 137. The OFFICINAL CASSIA is a somewhat cylindrical pod, about an inch in diameter, and a foot or more in length, the fruit of a tree (Cassia fistula) which is cultivated in Egypt, the East and West Indies, and South America. This tree is forty or fifty feet high, and much branched. Its leaves are winged, with five pair of leaflets, somewhat oval, pointed, smooth, and of pale green colour. The flowers are large, yellow, and grow in oblong clusters. The pods are divided, by transverse partitions, into numerous cells, each containing one seed. These pods are in request on account of the black, sweetish, but somewhat acid pulp, which is contained in their cells, and which is used, in many cases, as a mild opening medicine. It is customary in Egypt to pluck the pods before they are quite ripe, and to place them in a house, from which the external air is, as much as possible, excluded. They are then laid in beds about six inches deep, having palm leaves interposed betwixt them. On the two following days the whole are sprinkled with water; and, in the course of about six weeks, they are in a fit state to be packed for sale. The East Indian and West Indian cassia somewhat differ, both in appearance and qualities. Of the former the pods are smoother, smaller, and have a thinner 138. LIGNUM VITÆ and GUIACUM are the wood and resin of a large West Indian tree (Guiacum officinale, Fig. 77) which has winged leaves in two sets upon one footstalk, and regular flowers of five petals. The usual height of this tree is between thirty and forty feet. The leaves consist of two, three, and sometimes four pairs of leaflets, which are somewhat oval, and of shining dark green colour. The flowers spring, in clusters, from the division of the smaller branches; the petals are of a rich blue colour, and the stamens are crowned with yellowish anthers. The wood, resin, bark, and even the flowers of this tree, are all of use either in the mechanical arts or in medicine. The former, which is yellow towards the outside, of deep blackish brown colour in the centre, and so compact and heavy as to sink, when immersed in water, is chiefly employed in the West Indies for the wheels and cogs of sugar mills. It is also formed into mortars, bowls, and domestic utensils of various kinds, for which, on account of its hardness, and not being liable to warp, it is peculiarly valuable. Lignum vitae is chiefly imported into this country from Jamaica, in logs or pieces of four or five hundred pounds' weight each, and is in great request for school-boys' rulers, and numerous articles of turnery ware. A decoction of the wood, when rasped, is occasionally administered as a medicine in rheumatic and gouty affections. The resin of this tree is sometimes obtained by wounding the bark in different parts. It exudes through the wounds; and, when sufficiently hardened by exposure to the sun, is taken off, and packed in small kegs for exportation. Sometimes it is obtained by sawing the wood into billets, each about three feet in length, which are then bored with an augur longitudinally, and laid upon a fire, in such position that the In the West Indies, the bark, flowers, and fruit, are each employed in medicine; and of these the former is frequently used instead of soap for washing, in which process it gives a good lather. 139. BALSAM OF TOLU is a reddish yellow, thick, and pellucid substance, of fragrant odour, which is obtained from a tree (Toluifera balsamum) which grows in South America. This tree is of considerable height; and has somewhat oval leaves, each on a short foot-stalk. The flowers are numerous, and in lateral branches; and the fruit is a round berry. The name of this balsam has been obtained from its being chiefly procured from the province of Tolu, on the north coast of South America, near the isthmus of Panama. Incisions are made in the bark of the trees, at a particular season of the year, and a resinous fluid of yellowish white colour oozes out. This is collected in small gourd shells. At first it is about the consistence of treacle, but it thickens by being kept; and by age it becomes hard and brittle. Its smell is peculiarly grateful, somewhat resembling that of lemons; and its taste is warm and sweetish. On being chewed, it adheres to the teeth. This balsam is used in medicine both in the form of a tincture, and a syrup; and, in its medicinal virtues, it agrees with most other balsams. The syrup of Tolu is used in several medicines; and is also made into lozenges, which may be procured of almost any chemist, and which are considered serviceable in appeasing the irritation occasioned by severe coughing. 140. BENZOIN or GUM BENJAMIN, is a concrete or solid and fragrant balsamic substance, the produce of a tree (Styrax benzoe) which grows chiefly in the island of Sumatra. This tree has oblong leaves which taper to a pointy and are smooth on the upper surface, and downy beneath. The flowers are in loose bunches; they usually hang all on the same side; and are generally closed, which gives them the appearance of buds. In some of the northern parts of Sumatra, particularly near the sea coast, there are several extensive plantations of Benzoin trees. The seeds or nuts are sown in the rice fields, and they afterwards require no other attention than that the surrounding shrubs should be cleared away from about the young plants. When the trees have attained the age of six or seven years, incisions are made into the bark; and from these the balsam exudes, in the form of a thick, whitish, resinous juice. By exposure to the air, this juice soon hardens; it is then pared from the bark with a knife or chisel. For the first three years the trees yield the purest resins: this is of a white colour inclining to yellow, is soft and fragrant. Afterwards, for the next seven or eight years, an inferior sort is yielded; this is of reddish yellow colour, degenerating to brown. At length the trees, unable to bear a repetition of the process, are cut down, and split into pieces. From these is procured by scraping, a still worse sort of benzoin, which is dark-coloured, hard, and mixed, more or less, with parings of the wood and other impurities. The inferior sorts of benzoin are exported to Arabia, Persia, and some parts of India, where they are burned, to perfume, with their smoke, the temples and the houses Benzoin is brought for sale to the mercantile parts of Sumatra, in large cakes, covered with mats. In order to pack it in chests, it is necessary to break these cakes, and to expose it to the heat of the sun. The greater part of the benzoin which is brought to England is re-exported to countries where the Roman Catholic and Mahometan religions prevail; to be there burned as incense in the churches and temples. The annual exportation of benzoin from London to Mogadore only has been estimated at 30,000 pounds' weight per annum. That which is consumed in England is chiefly employed in medicine, in perfumes, and as cosmetics. It constitutes the basis of what are called Turlington's or Friar's balsam, and Jesuit's drops; the salutary effects of which, particularly in healing recent wounds, is well known. This balsam is composed of benzoin, balsam of Tolu (139), Socotrine aloes (107), and rectified spirit of wine. Benzoin is also used in the preparation of what is called ladies' court plaster; but in this it is supposed to be unnecessary if not prejudicial; not only as it renders the plaster more difficult to be moistened, previously to its application, but as the irritating quality of the benzoin may in some instances dispose a fresh wound to fester. The mode of making court plaster is very simple. Five ounces of isinglass are dissolved in a pint of water. A quantity of thin black sarsnet being then stretched on a frame, a warm solution of the isinglass is applied with a brush equally over the surface; and, when dry, this is repeated a second or third time. It is finally brushed over with a weak solution of benzoin in spirits of wine, which communicates to it a pleasant aromatic smell. If powdered benzoin be put into an earthen vessel over a slow fire, and the fumes of it be made to sublime into a paper cone fixed to the top of the pot, the 141. STORAX is a fragrant, concrete, or solid balsam, that is obtained from a tree (Styrax officinalis) which grows in the Levant, and in some parts of Italy. This tree grows to the height of twenty feet and upwards: it is much branched, and has broad, alternate, oval leaves, somewhat pointed, smooth above, and downy beneath. The flowers are large, white, in clusters on short footstalks, and terminate the branches. The best storax is obtained from Asiatic Turkey, in small transparent masses, of pale red or yellowish colour, and generally abounding in whitish tears, resembling those of benzoin. The drug, however, which is commonly sold in the shops as storax, consists of large, light pieces, very impure, from the saw-dust with which it is mixed. The mode of obtaining this balsam is similar to that employed for benzoin (140): incisions are made in the trees, and, on its oozing from the wound, it is scraped off, and collected together to be packed for sale. It was formerly customary to enclose it in reeds. Storax is one of the most fragrant of the balsams, and is much used in some countries in perfumes, and for fumigation. It is also compounded in various ways with other substances, for medicinal use. 142. LOG-WOOD is a dark red wood, chiefly used in dyeing; and imported from Honduras, and some of the islands of the West Indies. The log-wood tree (HÆmatoxylon campechianum, Fig. 43) is from sixteen to twenty-four feet high, and, both in the trunk and branches, is extremely crooked. The branches are spinous, and the leaves winged, with, in general, four or five pair of leaflets, which are somewhat heart-shaped. The flowers are if a reddish yellow colour, small, and numerous. The district of Honduras in North America has long been celebrated for the production of log-wood, which grows wild chiefly in forests where the soil is moist, or near the banks of rivers and lakes. The cutting of it In the year 1715 some seeds of the log-wood tree were introduced into the island of Jamaica; and this wood is now chiefly employed in that island as a fence against cattle. As an article of commercial export, it does not appear to answer so fully as could have been wished; yet, in morassy parts of the island, it grows in considerable luxuriance. Few kinds of wood are of more solid texture than this. Hence arises its weight, which is so great that it will sink in water. Its predominant colour is red, tinged with orange and black; and its hardness such that it is capable of being polished, and is scarcely susceptible of decay. For exportation to Europe, it is cut into billets or logs, each about three feet in length. The chief use of log-wood in this country is for dyeing green, purple, blue, and black colours, according to the different ingredients with which it is employed. It gives a purplish tinge to watery and spirituous infusions; but all the colours which can be prepared from it are fugitive, and cannot, by any art, be rendered so durable as those prepared from other materials. Independently of its use as a dyeing drug, log-wood possesses considerable utility as an astringent medicine, chiefly under the form of a decoction, or of an extract boiled down to a proper consistence. The price of logwood at Honduras is so low as not usually to exceed 12l. or 14l. Jamaica currency per ton. 143. MAHOGANY is the wood of a well-known tree (Swietenia mahagoni, Fig. 44) of large dimensions, with winged leaves, and small white flowers, which grows in Jamaica and Honduras. The branches of this tree are numerous and spreading. Its leaves are alternate and winged, with four or five pair of leaflets, which are somewhat spear-shaped. The flowers are numerous, small, white, and in spikes or clusters, which arise at the junction of the leaves with the branches. The cutting of mahogany constitutes a principal occupation of the British settlers in the vicinity of Honduras. The gangs of negroes employed in this work consist of from ten to fifty each, one of whom is styled the "huntsman." He is generally selected from the most intelligent of his companions, and his chief employment is to search for these trees in the woods, the principal of which lie adjacent to the river Balize. About the beginning of August, the huntsman is despatched into the woods, and he cuts his way through the thickest parts, to the highest spots he can find. Here he climbs the loftiest tree, and thence attentively surveys the surrounding forest. At this season the leaves of the mahogany trees are of a yellow reddish hue, and an eye accustomed to them can discover, at a great distance, the places where they are most abundant. He now descends, and to such places directs his steps; and, having well marked the way, returns to his companions, to point out the places to them. Here they assemble, and erect, against each tree to be felled, a stage so high as to allow of the tree being cut down at the height of about twelve feet from the ground. The last day of felling the trees is appropriated to festivity; and these people have then a short interval of leisure for comforts in which they seldom can indulge at any other time. After the branches are lopped, and the useless parts of the wood are cut off, the operation commences of conveying the trees, by cattle and trucks, to the water's side, a task of infinite and laborious difficulty. A sufficient number of pieces to form a raft being here collected, they are shoved from the bank into the water, and suffered to float singly upon the current to large cables which are placed across the river at some distance below. As numerous gangs of mahogany cutters are usually employed near the banks of the same river, their trees also float to the same spot. Here therefore the whole are collected, amounting In some instances the profit of cutting mahogany at this settlement has been very great. A single tree has occasionally been known to contain 12,000 superficial feet, and to have produced upwards of 1000l. sterling. The body of the tree is of course the most valuable; but, for ornamental purposes, the limbs or large branches, are generally preferred, their grain being much closer, and their veins being more rich and variegated than those of the other parts. The Honduras mahogany is considered inferior to that produced in Jamaica. In this island mahogany was formerly much more abundant, and consequently much less expensive than it is now, because the low lands have gradually been thinned of such trees as could readily be carried to market, or conveyed on board vessels for exportation. The date of the introduction of mahogany wood into England is 1724. Since this period it has been in very general request for making the more valuable kinds of household furniture. It admits of a high polish, and is excellently adapted for tables, chairs, desks, and other similar articles. In Jamaica, mahogany is employed as a strong and durable timber for beams, joists, planks, boards, &c. Many attempts have been made to stain other kinds of wood so as to resemble it, but none of these have been attended with success. It has been lately discovered that the bark of the mahogany tree may be advantageously employed in medicine, as a substitute for Peruvian bark (62). 144. QUASSIA is a drug, the root of a tree (Quassia amara, Fig. 78) which grows in the West Indies and South America, but particularly in the colony of Surinam. The leaves of the quassia tree are winged, with two pair of oval and somewhat pointed leaflets, and an odd one at the end: these are smooth, deep green above and pale below; and the This drug was first brought into use in Surinam, by a negro whose name was Quassia, and who employed it with great success in the cure of intermittent and other malignant fevers, which prevail in that flat and marshy country. The offer of a valuable consideration induced him to reveal the secret to Daniel Rolander, a Swede, who carried specimens of the wood, together with a branch of the tree, the flower, and fruit, to Stockholm, in 1756. Since this period the drug has been generally employed in Europe; and its efficacy in the removal of many diseases has been perfectly ascertained. Dr. Cullen, however, observes, that though it is an excellent bitter, and that it will do all that any pure or simple bitter can do, yet his experience of it had not led him to think it would do more. Quassia is said to possess antiseptic properties, and consequently to have considerable influence in retarding a tendency to putrefaction. It is also sometimes used instead of hops in the brewing of malt liquor. The root, wood, and bark of the quassia tree are all occasionally employed in medicine, and the bark is said to be more intensely bitter than either of the other two. |
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