(ii, 183.) Avicenna describes it as being an Indian medicine possessing
virtues resembling those of beer. He says it is hot in the second degree,
and dry in the first; is attenuant, proves serviceable in pains of
the joints and in gout; is aphrodisiacal and alexipharmic. (ii, 295.)
Serapion calls it a species of satyrion (orchis?). He calls it an Indian
medicine, little used in his country. He says it resembles hermodactyls
in the cure of arthritic diseases or of gout, and that it engenders
semen, but hurts the testicles. Its bad effects are best corrected by
mustard; its dose two drachms. Ebn Baithar, in this instance, supplies
no additional information. After what we have stated of it, we need have
no hesitation in agreeing with Sprengel that it is the _orchis morio_,
or at all events some species of that genus. As Serapion does not quote
any Greek authorities under this head, it may be inferred that he held
it to be distinct from the _orchis_ of Dioscorides and his followers.
Several species of this genus are still used in India as medicines. The
famous _salep_ is procured principally from the _O. mascula_. See Royle,
Lindley, and Pereira.
_Mial_, or _Storax humida_.
The liquid Storax is described distinctly by Avicenna, who states that
one species of it exudes from the tree and the other is got by boiling;
that the former is of a lighter colour and is highly valuable, whereas
the other is darker and is less esteemed. Some, he says, held it to
be beneficial in cerebral diseases, but this opinion he rejects, as
it induces vertigo. See under _Storax_. He quotes only from Arabian
authorities. (ii, 2, 423, 615.) Both kinds of storax are treated of
largely by Serapion. (De Simpl. 46), and are noticed by Rhases. (Contin.
l. ult. i, 687.)
It is still disputed what tree it is which produces the Liquid Storax.
According to Sprengel and most modern authorities, until of late, it was
held to be the _Altingia excelsa_. Dr. Pereira, however, shows that this
is a doubtful point, and mentions that Dr. Lindley holds that the liquid
storax of the shops is produced by the _liquid ambar orientale_. But in
his recent publication on the ‘Vegetable Kingdom,’ Dr. Lindley says,
“Liquid storax is thought to be yielded by the Dammar pine.” (p. 229.)
Landerer has recently shown that it is obtained from Storax officinale.
(Pereira, Mat. Med. 1325, 2d ed.)
_Kadi._
It is described by Serapion as being a plant which grows in Arabia, from
which the aromatic oil of Kadi is formed. He gives a curious description
of it, but does not mention any medicinal purposes to which it was
applied. (De Simpl. 40.) It would appear that it is also described by Ebn
Baithar (i, 337.) He describes it as being a species of palm, which it
resembles in all respects, and says that a fragrant oil is prepared from
it. Its country is Arabia. He quotes on it Rhases, in his ‘Continens’ and
‘Treatise on Smallpox,’ but we have been unable to discover the passages
which he refers to. His authorities describe, in glowing colours, the
virtues of this substance, and more especially of its wine, in smallpox.
What species of palm it was we are unable to say decidedly.
_Meizaragi._
Serapion gives a full account of it upon the authority of Abugerit and
Abir, who agree in recommending it in arthritic diseases. They give
minute directions for using it in electuaries, pills, and decoctions.
Its dose with sugar is one drachm. They mention that, when put into
rivers, it intoxicates fish. (De Simpl. 365.) Avicenna describes the
_Mehezeheregi_, as being a tree like esula (_spurge?_); and says it is
hot and dry in the third degree, and intoxicates fish when thrown into a
river. He adds, that it is carminative and phlegmagogue, and is useful in
gout, sciatica, and arthritis. (ii, 2, 480.)
We need have no hesitation in agreeing with the best authorities, that
it is cocculus indicus, or the seed of _Menispermum cocculus_ L., i. q.,
_Anamirta cocculus_ of Lindley. (See Veg. Kingd. 309.) He says of it,
that it contains a most venomous principle, the picrotoxine, and that in
its pericarp is found the not less formidable alcaloid menispermine. See
also Gray (Pharmacop. 119), and Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 132.) Both these
authors mention of it, that it is used to intoxicate fish. See, further,
an excellent account of the cocculus indicus in Pereira (M. M. 1326.) It
was used by the Hindoo physicians for the cure of nervous diseases. See
Wise (System of Hindoo Med. 557.) Dr. Royle is somewhat doubtful whether
the cocculus was known to the Arabian physicians, but upon the whole
inclines to this opinion. (Mat. Med. 249.)
_Nux Vomica._
We have briefly treated of the _Nux Vomica_ as a poison in another
place (Vol. II, 241.) We have now to say of it, that it was also used
medicinally as an emetic. For example, Haly Abbas treats of it in his
chapter on Medicines which procure Vomiting. (Pract. ii, 65; see also
Pract. x, 12.) Serapion, in like manner, treats of it in his chapter on
Emetic Medicines. (vii, 36.) Thus he gives the following formula for
an emetic: “℞. Concarned (cardamomi?), nucis vomicæ, seminis raphani,
omnium ān ʒ j. Terantur et dentur in potu cum aqua mellis et decoctione
anethi.” Serapion treats of it also in his work ‘On Simples,’ where he
states, that “easy vomiting” may be induced by administering it agreeably
to the formula which we have just quoted from his other work. He adds,
that perhaps it will also loosen the bowels. Abram, another of his
authorities, likewise says, that given to the amount of two drachms, with
two drachms of dill or of fennel seed, and drunk with warm water, it will
produce vomiting and loosen the bowels. (De. Simpl. 163.) Ebn Baithar’s
authorities give an interesting account of the _Nux Vomica_, from which
it is clear that it was frequently used as an emetic, along with fennel,
natron, mustard, &c. in hydromel.
Dr. Pereira, upon the authority of Dale (Pharmacol.), decides that the
Strychnos Ignatia was the nux vomica of Serapion. But, notwithstanding
our great respect for his opinions, we cannot agree with him in the
present instance. For, considering how common the nux vomica is in Persia
(Ainslie, Mat. Ind.), there is a strong presumption that the Arabians
cannot have been unacquainted with it, and it is not pretended that the
nux vomica is treated of by them by any other name unless it were the
_methel_, which we will presently show it not to be, nor is it attempted
to be shown when and how the misapplication of the term originated.
See, however, in support of Dr. Pereira’s views, Parkinson (Theatre of
Plants, 1601.) It is also proper to mention, that the learned Geoffroy
calls the Faba sancti Ignatii the _nux vomica legitima_. But as it is
admitted by the best authorities on toxicology, that St. Ignatius bean
is much more energetic in its action than nux vomica (see Christison,
644, and Orfila, ii, 276), there is still less probability of its having
been used medicinally than the other. See further in support of the
views we are advocating, Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 250.) We may mention also
in conclusion, that the nux vomica was used as an emetic by the Hindoo
physicians, more especially in the case of poisoning. See Wise (Hindoo
Med. 402.)
_Nux Methel._
We have briefly alluded to this substance (_Datura Methel_) as a poison
elsewhere. (Vol. II, 241.) Serapion, quoting from Arabian authorities,
compares its nut to the nux vomica, and its seed to that of mandragora:
its bark, he adds, is rough, its taste pleasant and unctuous, and its
virtues cold in the fourth degree; if given in a small dose (_kirat_ or
_siliqua_?) it intoxicates strongly, and if two drachms are given it
proves fatal at once. Rhases, as quoted by him, says it is a narcotic,
a sedative, and perhaps emetic medicine, and that it proves fatal in
large doses, and in small intoxicates. He directs its pernicious effects
to be counteracted by taking warm butter, and thus producing vomiting,
and otherwise treating the case in the same manner as in poisoning by
mandragora. (De Simpl. 375.) Rhases, in his work entitled ‘Ad Mansor.,’
says of the nut methel, that it is a dangerous medicine, which induces
stupor, nausea, vomiting, and inebriety. (iii, 30.) His account of it
in his ‘Continens’ is very brief. Avicenna describes it in his ‘Mat.
Med.’ as being a nut similar to the nux vomica, and having seed like the
citron (?). Like the others, he says it inebriates, induces stupor, and
is inimical to the brain and heart. In the dose of a drachm he says it
proves fatal. (ii, 2, 501.) Ebn Baithar’s authorities give a full account
of it, but differing little from the others already given. One of them
says, that a drachm will kill on the spot, and in small doses it induces
stupor, vomiting, and loss of sense. They direct these bad effects to
be counteracted by the administration of an emetic of natron (soda), by
giving wine and pepper, and keeping up the heat of the body. The Hindoo
physicians held that it is alexiterial. See Susruta and Wise (Hindoo Med.)
An excellent modern authority says of the _Datura Metel_, that “its
seeds are narcotic, more powerful than the _Datura Stramomium_, and
produce temporary idiotcy.” Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 52.) Dr. Lindley,
after describing the _Datura Stramonium_ as a violent narcotic, says of
the _Metel_, that it has a similar action. (Veg. Kingd. 619.) Comparing,
then, the effects of the _Nux Methel_, as described by the ancient
authorities with those of the _Datura Methel_, as given by those recent
authorities, we cannot hesitate in recognising their identity.
_Rachaba_, or _Nux Mechil_.
One of Serapion’s authorities states that an Arab had told him that it
is a great tree, like the nut-tree, having leaves like a great fig, and
fruit like small pomegranates, and speaks very indistinctly about its
being Pharoah’s nut; but it is difficult, from his language, to make
out what he says on that point. He says it is sweet, has a pleasant
smell, and is eaten by shepherds and others. He mentions that some had
confounded it with the nux vomica; but he concludes by saying that
whoever will compare the descriptions of the rachaba and nux vomica must
see the difference. (De Simpl. 164.) From this description it is quite
clear that this cannot be the nux vomica, but rather one of the eatable
figs, probably the _ficus benjamina_.
_Nux Henden_, or _Banden_.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 79) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 496.) According to the
latter it is a grainy mass, like the vetch, white, inclining to yellow,
which is brought from Barea and Chorasan, and of which a wine is made
with honey. He quotes Paulus (by some mistake we suppose) as saying of
it that it is refrigerant, extinguishes inflammation, and is slightly
desiccant. It suppresses fluxes of blood, fattens, cures impetigo, and
is aphrodisiac. Serapion’s authorities give a more lengthy description
of it, but do not supply many more particulars. Rhases, one of them,
calls it the fat of the earth, and the rock of the earth, and another
calls it pigeon’s root. They all agree that it makes an excellent wine,
which forms semen, fattens the body, and is aphrodisiac. They also state
that it stops fluxes, and causes vomiting. Ebn Baithar’s account of it
is nearly the same as Serapion’s. He says it is called honey earth in
Andalusia. (i, 274.) Sprengel suggests—how correctly we leave it to our
readers who are better acquainted with the productions of the East than
we can pretend to be, to determine—that it is the _Garcinia Mangostena_,
or Mangosteen, a fruit which has the reputation of being the finest in
the world. The description of it, given by Serapion, as far as we can
judge of it from the barbarous Latin translation, would certainly seem
to agree in some striking points with that of the mangosteen. Compare it
with ‘Loudon, Encycl. of Gardening,’ 1531.
_Meisce_, or _Mes_.
See Serapion (De Simpl. c. 116); Avicenna (ii, 2, 481); Ebn Baithar (ii,
465.) It is described at some length, and in nearly the same terms by
all these authors. They call it a small grain like a vetch, of a green
colour, and say that some used it for fasils, and that it was wholesome
but not very nutritious. They say of it that it is cold, and rather
desiccant, useful in catarrhs and coughs, and as a plaster to bruised
and torn parts. In our edition of Serapion it is marked as _mango_ in a
very old looking hand-writing, and it is recognised as the _Phaseolus
mango_ by Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 266), and by the German translator of Ebn
Baithar.
_Horon_, or _Bombax_.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 66) and Ebn Baithar (i, 305.) Abuhanifa, one
of Serapion’s authorities, says that some medical men had informed him
that cotton grows on trees like quinces. So at least we understand the
passage; but as it is very curious, and also very obscure, it may be well
to give the Latin translation: “Dixerunt mihi quidam medici de kelbe
quod _coton_ nascitur inter eos in arboribus quæ sunt sicut arbores
antipsicorum.” Compare Pliny (H. N. xii, 10.) The next of Serapion’s
authorities, Aben Mesuai, recommends the juice of it in the diarrhœa of
children. Mescha says its seed is beneficial in coughs and good for the
breast. Albasari says of it that it is good for clothes, and that its
juice is an excellent application in cutaneous diseases of the face.
Rhases also, as quoted by him, recommends it in the same cases, and
further says of it that it is aphrodisiac. Ebn Baithar’s authorities
also give an interesting account of it, recommending it in much the
same cases as those of Serapion, namely in infantile diarrhœa, and as
an application to cutaneous diseases; and he further states that it was
used to burn warts, no doubt like the raw flax, often mentioned in the
works of Hippocrates. The leaves are said to have been useful in uterine
complaints, and in gout mixed with rose-oil. Clothes prepared from it
are much praised by the author. There can be no doubt from what we have
stated, that it must have been the _Gossypium arboreum_ or _herbaceum_,
most probably the latter. See Meyen (Geogr. Botany.) From Ainslie’s Mat.
Ind. it will be seen that oil prepared from the former is still used for
cleaning the skin of spots, and that the leaves are given for the cure of
diarrhœa. (ii, 284.)
_Musa._
See Serapion (De Simpl. 84); Avicenna (ii, 2, 484); Ebn Baithar (ii,
535.) According to Serapion’s first authority, Aben Mesuai, it is hot
in the middle of the first degree, and moistening in the end of it,
little nutritious, and has the property of being useful in heat of the
breast, lungs, and bladder, and softens the bowels; if much used, it
creates a load on the stomach, and obstruction in the liver, and if taken
by a person of a cold temperament in great quantity, he ought to take
hydromel, oxymel, or prepared ginger with it. Another of his authorities,
Sindaxar, says it promotes the growth of the fœtus in utero. A third,
named Alchalebemen, says it is a good medicine for the chest and the
kidneys, and is diuretic. The book on ancient medicine, as quoted by
him, says of it that it is aphrodisiac, and heavy on the stomach; and
Avicenna’s account of it is so similar that it would not be worth while
to give an exposition of it. Ebn Baithar describes it minutely as being a
species of Palm. Its medicinal characters, as stated by him, are nearly
the same as those given above from Serapion. There can be no doubt that
it is the _Musa paradisiaca_, or common plantain tree. On it the reader
may find it interesting to consult Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 316), and Loudon
(Encycl. of Garden. 1530.) The plantain tree is briefly noticed by
Theophrastus (H. P. iv, 5), but does not occur in the works of the Greek
and Latin physicians.
_Granum Kelkel_, or _Alkelkel_.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 302); Serapion (De Simpl. 275); Rhases (Contin.
l. ult. i, 378); Ebn Baithar (ii, 315.) Serapion’s authorities say of
it that it is hot and moistening, increases the secretion of semen,
especially when taken with the oil of sesame; that when taken in too
large a dose, it induces cholera, and after other food occasions vertigo.
The account of it given by Rhases and Avicenna is little different. The
latter says of it that it is fattening, and comforts relaxed bodies. Ebn
Baithar gives a very minute description of it; he says he planted it in
his own country, and that it produced fruit. He ascribes the same good
and bad effects to it as Serapion. When roasted, he says, it does not
engender bad chyme. Its seeds are said to be aphrodisiac. We suppose
there is little or no doubt that it is the _Cassia tora_. On the modern
use of it by the Hindoos, see Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 405.)
_Lehibach_, or _Lahiba_.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 425); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 389.) Rhases quotes
Galen as saying of it that it has powers like horehound. We are at a
loss to say what substance he alludes to among the Simples of Galen.
Another authority quoted by him seems to say that a portion of it flung
into a lake containing fish, will make them swim on the surface, and
Avicenna confirms this statement. Avicenna further says it is emetic
and hydragogue. We would refer it with Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 249) to the
_Mussaenda frondosa_.
_Gilbenee._
Avicenna compares its seed to turbith, and its operation to hellebore.
He says when given to the amount of half a drachm it operates as an
emetic, and that one drachm may prove fatal. He mentions the case of a
paralytic person who took it, and having vomited was thereby cured. He
adds of it that it also acts as a purgative (ii, 2, 282.) It is evidently
the _gilbeuce_ of Rhases, who in like manner describes it as a powerful
emetic, the operation of which resembles hellebore, and is useful to
paralytics. More than a drachm of it, he says, given in a dose, may
occasion death. (Ad Mansor. iii, 30.) It appears decidedly to be the
_Cerbera manghas_ L., i. e. _Arbor lactaria_, Rumphius. See Sprengel (R.
H. H. i, 252); Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 261.) Dr. Lindley says of it: “The
kernels of _Cerbera manghas_ are emetic and poisonous; the milky sap
is purgative; the leaves and bark are used in Java as a substitute for
senna.” (Veg. Kingd. 600.)
_Kustberkush._
Avicenna gives a description of it which appears to us very
unsatisfactory, but which determines Sprengel to refer it to the _Tamarix
orientalis_. He calls it hot and dry in the second degree, and attenuant.
(ii, 2, 371.)
_Nefrin_, or _Nerfin_.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 506); Serapion (De Simpl. 187.) Avicenna compares
it to the narcissus, and says it resembles the jasmine in virtue, but is
weaker than it. He recommends it in coldness of the nerves, and as a cure
in noises and pains of the ears, and in toothache. He also recommends
it externally in headache, inflammations of the throat and tonsils, and
for stopping vomiting and hiccup. Serapion compares it to the rose and
jasmine, and recommends it in pleurisy and pains of the womb. Rhases, as
quoted by him, says that in Chorasan he had seen it given to the extent
of two drachms as a purgative. It seems highly probable that it is the
_Narcissus orientalis_.
_Muluchia._
Avicenna (ii, 2, 194); Serapion (De Simpl. 149); Ebn Baithar (ii, 537.)
Avicenna’s description of this article, which he also calls “Olus
Judaicum,” would seem to decide that it is the _Corchorus olitorius_ or
Jews’ mallow. The other two authorities quoted above are not so precise
in their description of it. It is more properly an article of food than
of medicine. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 372), and Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii,
387.)
_Moschus._
Musk, the inspissated secretion of the follicle in the prepuce of the
_Moschus moschiferus_ L., would appear to be first mentioned in the
works of Aëtius (xvi, 122), who gives formulæ for various fumigations
(suffumigia) containing a great many aromatics, and among them musk. But
as we have already had occasion to state, we entertain strong suspicions
that the concluding chapters of this author may be spurious. Indeed, as
this important article is not noticed by authors subsequent to Aëtius,
such as Oribasius, it would appear to us that this circumstance is the
strongest possible presumption, that the passage in Aëtius had been
added after the Arabian period of medicine. There is one notice of it
also by our author, but it also has a suspicious appearance. (p. 292,
ed. Basil. See also 296.) Serapion gives a long account of it, first
upon the authority of Abuhanifa, who calls the animal the musk gazelle,
and says its habitat is in the countries of _Tumbasci_ and _Sini_, by
which he probably means Thibet and China. Of these the better kind, he
says, is that procured from Thibet, as the animal in that country lives
on fragrant herbs, and the inhabitants are better acquainted with the
process of extracting it from its follicles. And, moreover, he says, the
Sinenses (Chinese?) are apt to adulterate their musk. The animal which
produces musk, he adds, does not differ in figure, colour, nor horns from
other gazelles, and the best musk is procured after it is full grown.
He then gives an anatomical description of its canine teeth, and of the
modes of catching it by snares, gins, and by shooting it with arrows; and
also the manner of extracting the musk from the animal after its death.
But the best musk, he says, is procured from the animal when it is in a
state of orgasm, and rubs its follicles against a rock until the musk
drops out of them. The inhabitants of Thibet (homines de Thebeth) know
the places where the animal feeds, and collect the musk thus procured
from them. This, he remarks, is the finest musk of all, and is reserved
for royal personages and held in high esteem. This authority concludes by
saying that in the region of _Thebeth_ there are many cities, but that
the one, from which musk is procured, is that city which is properly
called _Thebeth_. His next authority is Alcholabama, who calls musk hot
in the second degree, and dry in the third. The following one, Aben
Mesuai, says of it, that it comforts the heart and internal viscera, both
when drunk and when applied externally in plasters. His next authority is
Honain, who recommends musk in diseases of the eyes. The others supply
little additional information on it, but in general recommend it in
diseases of the brain. He says the Persian doctors applied the oil to
the member as an aphrodisiac. (De Simpl. 185.) Rhases recommends musk in
headache, and all cold affections of the head, and also as a stomachic.
(Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) In his ‘Continens’ he quotes from several Arabian
authorities, all of whom give it the characters already stated, and
recommend it most especially in diseases of the brain and eyes. (l. ult.
i, 483.) Avicenna gives an accurate description of it, as far as we can
judge from the wretched translation of his works. He recommends it in
errhines with saffron, and with a little camphor for vertigo, and other
affections of the brain. He also thinks favorably of it as a cordial
in affections of the heart, and in melancholy. He concludes by saying
of it that it is alexipharmic, especially in cases of poisoning with
napellus. (ii, 2, 452.) See also his treatise (de Med. cordial., ii.)
There does not appear any distinct mention of it in the works of Mesue
the younger. It occurs frequently as an ingredient in the antidotes
of Myrepsus. Ebn Baithar gives a very full description of it and its
medicinal virtues, but it agrees so well with the description of it by
Serapion, that we need not enter much into particulars. He recommends it
particularly in diseases of the eyes, and says that the oil of it is a
useful application to piles, and when rubbed into the genital member, is
strongly aphrodisiac. It is, moreover, said to be an excellent cordial.
Of the Greek authorities Symeon Seth is the only one that gives anything
like a distinct account of musk. He describes three kinds, of which the
best is procured from a city east of Chorasan called _Trepet_ (Thibet?).
The next in quality is the Indian, and the worst is that which is
procured from the Sines (Chinese?). All the kinds, he says, are formed in
the umbilicus of an animal with one horn, resembling the gazelle. Like
Serapion he states that it is got from the animal while in a state of
sexual orgasm. Musk, he says, is hot and dry in the third degree, and of
a volatile nature. As to its medicinal powers, it strengthens weak parts,
and is beneficial in cold intemperaments of the head, but injurious in
hot. It is adapted for the recovery of persons in a fainting fit, in loss
of strength, and in affections of the heart. (De Alimentis.) An antidote
of musk occurs in Actuarius. (Meth. Med. v, 6.)
_Volubilis._