(Quassia Simarouba _Cortex_.)
_Simarouba Bark._
QUALITIES. _Form_, long pieces a few inches in breadth, and folded
lengthwise; fibrous, rough, and scaly; and, when fresh, of a pale yellow
colour on the inside. _Odour_, none; _Taste_, bitter, without any
astringency. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. Its virtues are principally connected
with extractive matter; it does not contain any tannin or gallic acid.
SOLUBILITY. Alcohol and water take up all its active matter. MEDICINAL
USES. It has been considered tonic, and has been used with advantage as
such in intermittent fevers. To _Dr. Wright_ we are principally indebted
for a knowledge of its powers. It has been much commended in the latter
stages of dysentery, after the fever has abated, and the tenesmus
continues with a sinking pulse. Alibert says that it has been used with
much success at the hospital of St. Louis, in diarrhœa, following
scurvy, and intermittent fever. DOSE, ℈i to ʒss, but it is more
conveniently given in the form of infusion, which see. OFFICINAL
PREPARATIONS. _Infus: Simaroubæ._ L.
The Dublin college has admitted the wood of this tree into their materia
medica, but it is perfectly inert.