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.)
_Bdellium._
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.
_Tamarindi._
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.)
_Myrobalani._
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.)
_Manna._
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.)
_Turpeth._
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.)
_Dende._
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_?
_Fel._
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.
_Santalum rubrum._