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.)
_Azedarach._
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.)
_Anacardium._
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.)
_Diudar._
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.)
_Sandaracha_, or _Gum vernix_.
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.)
_Karabe_, or _Populus_.
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.)
_Tembul_ and _Faufel_.
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.)
Now there can be no doubt that the former of these is the _piper betel_,
and the latter the _areca catechu_. The nuts of the latter, which modern
authorities describe as resembling the nutmeg, are cut into slices, and
along with the leaves of the betel constitute the famous masticatory
of the East called _betel_. For an account of these two substances,
consult in particular Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 268, 465); Royle (Antiq. of
Hindoo Med. 85); Pereira (M. M. 616); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 137); Meyen
(Geograph. of Botany, as edited by the Ray Society.)
_Chubabe_, or _Cubebæ_.
Avicenna under this head refers to the _carpesium_ of Galen, but it
evidently was a different substance. Some, he says, had called it
refrigerant with some heat, but he holds it to be truly hot and dry in
the second degree. He calls it aperient and attenuant, and recommends
it in putrid ulcers of the members and gums, as a medicine which clears
the voice when held in the mouth, and as a deobstruent of the liver
in _engorgement_ thereof; as a cleanser of the urinary passages, as a
diuretic medicine which promotes the discharge of gravel and stones of
the kidneys, and of the bladder, and he adds, “Sputum masticantis eam
delectat eam cum qua habetur coitus.” (ii, 2, 134.) Rhases also, through
some mistake, quotes Galen under this head, and gives exactly the same
account of its medicinal powers as Avicenna. (Contin. l. ult. i, 242.)
Serapion under this head gives Dioscorides’s description of the wild
myrtle with further references to Galen and Paulus, but concludes by
saying that he was sensible Dioscorides had not treated of cubebs. (De
Simpl. 288.) Ebn Baithar mentions that certain of the authorities had
taken it for the _carpesium_. He says it renders the breath fragrant and
cures affections of the bladder. He further quotes Ebn Sina (Avicenna?)
as stating that it enhances the delight of coitus. (i, 344.) By the way,
Dr. Pereira mentions that the Indians still take them to excite the
sexual feelings. We would beg to refer for further information on this
subject to his excellent account of the _Piper Cubeba_. (754.) See also
Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 204), and Royle (M. M. 562.)
_Usnen._
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 713); Serapion (De Simpl. 257); Rhases (Contin. l.
ult. i, 753.) This term is used rather vaguely by the Arabian authors,
but there can be no doubt that it comprehended the _salsola fruticosa_.
They call it abstergent, cleansing, and aperient, and recommend it as an
emmenagogue, and in difficulty of urine and dropsy. Rhases says it is
of a hot and dry nature, and is purgative, deobstruent, and corrosive.
(Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) The _confectio de usnen_ of Serapion containing
fourteen other ingredients mostly of an aromatic nature, is recommended
by him for debility of the stomach. (De Antidot. 71.)
_Fagara_, or _Fagre_.
See Serapion (De Simpl. c. c.); Avicenna (ii, 2, 260); Rhases (Cont. l.
ult. i, 312.) Serapion’s authorities compare it to the vetch, and say of
it that it is hot and dry in the second degree, and is stomachic. Isaac
ebn Amran describes it as having a small, black, round grain within,
and a red one without, as forming a good gargle in fætor of the mouth,
and entering as an ingredient into powders and ointments. Avicenna’s
description of it is to the same effect; he says, however, that it is
hot and dry in the third degree. He recommends it as an astringent,
stomachic, and hepatic medicine. Rhases’s account of it is very short,
but not far different from the others. Dr. Lindley describing the
_Xanthoxylon hastile_, says of it, “that its capsules and seeds are
employed in Northern India for intoxicating fish; they are also given as
the faghuret of Avicenna. The X. piperitum and Avicennæ are used in China
and Japan as antidotes against all poisons; they would undoubtedly in
many cases be of considerable use as a stimulant remedy.” (Veg. Kingd.
473.) See further Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 270), and Royle (M. M. 326.)
_Artamita._
Avicenna gives such a description of it as fully justifies Sprengel in
deciding it to be the _Cyclamen Persicum_. He recommends it in diseases
of the joints, as a sternutatory, and for the cure of hiccup, and says of
it that it is alexipharmic and produces abortion. (ii, 2, 61.) It is in
use with the Hindoo physicians. See Wise (System of Hindoo Med.)
_Vertz._
From Serapion’s account of it there seems no doubt that it is the
_Memecylon tinctorium_. He gives a very minute description of three
species which grow in Arabia and India, and mentions that some held the
root of one of the species to be the curcuma. They are all remarkable for
containing colouring matter. He recommends them for the cure of leprosy,
pruritus, and pustula. (De Simpl. 170.) Rhases briefly describes it
by the name of _vars_. He says two kinds, the yellow and the red, are
brought from Yemen, and that they are collected upon trees like pounded
saffron. (Contin. l. ult. iii, 110.) Avicenna describes it by the name
of _gures_. (ii, 2, 291.) His description is very similar to that given
by Rhases, and he recommends it in the very same cases as Serapion. Ebn
Baithar gives a very full and interesting description of it both as a dye
and as a medicine, but we need not enter into an exposition of his views,
since they scarcely differ at all from the account of it given above
from Serapion. We may just mention that he says clothes dyed with it are
aphrodisiac. See Vol. I, 585. The memecyls constitute a genus of plants
still well known in India as dyes and articles of food and medicine. See
the works of Royle and Lindley.
_Mahaleb._
See Serapion (De Simpl. 44); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 442); Avicenna
(ii, 2, 471.) It appears to be undoubtedly the _Prunus Mahaleb_, that is
to say, the _Cerasus Mahaleb_ of Miller, Angl., “rock,” _or_ “perfumed”
cherry. Serapion applies to it what Dioscorides and Galen had written on
the _phillyrea_; after which he gives the opinions of several Arabian
authorities who recommend it as a medicine to expel the superfluities of
the system and intestinal worms, and as being useful in gout, and as a
lithontriptic. One of them, Isaac ebn Amram, describes the varieties of
it very circumstantially. Avicenna and Rhases give a similar account of
it.
_Jesemin_ and _Zambach_.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 176); Rhases (Contin. xxii, 838; l. ult. i, 369);
Avicenna (ii, 2, 611); and Ebn Baithar (591.)
Serapion describes them under the same head, the one as having a white
flower, and the other a yellow, of which the latter is the weaker in
its powers. It is got, he says, from Babylonia, where there is another
species which has a sky-blue colour. His authorities recommend it
principally in phlegmatic complaints, and more particularly in those
of old persons, and as an application in impetigo and other cutaneous
diseases of a like nature. He says it induces headache when administered
to persons of a hot temperament. Avicenna gives a very similar account
of these two plants, and neither Rhases nor Ebn Baithar supplies any
additional information regarding them; the latter, however, gives a very
interesting account of them. He says of the yellow species that it was
used for dyeing the hair. Like the others, he speaks favorably of it,
and especially of its oil in complaints of a cold nature. The latter
species, in all probability, was the _jasminum sambac_, still well known
in the East as a perfume. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 651); Gray (Suppl. to
Pharmacop. 59); and Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 242.) Whether the other be the
_humile_ or _officinale_, we are unable to determine.
_Secacul._
See Serapion (De Simpl. 89) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 663.) From the
description which they give of it, there can be no doubt, we think, that
it is the _pastinaca secacul_, Russel; that is to say, the Tordilium
orientale, _secacul dictum_ of Miller. (Gard. Dictionary.) They agree in
saying that it is decidedly aphrodisiac, more especially when preserved
with honey. Avicenna concludes his notice of it with stating that
_buzeiden_ is used instead of it. In another part of his work he gives
very sensible directions for preparing _secacul conditum_, that is to
say, “preserved secacul.” (v, 1, 8.) Although, as we have stated above,
we think there is little or no doubt that the secacul was a species of
tordylium, it is proper to acknowledge that the learned commentators on
Mesue are much divided in opinion respecting it. (De Electariis, i, 95.)
_Buzeiden._