ELEIS GUINEENSIS. (Jacq.)
ELE.—PALM-TREE.
This species is spread all over South-America; it prefers cultivated and sunny regions. Its trunk, which is from 25 to 30 feet high, is covered by the persistent bases of the leaves. The top-leaves form a thick tuft; they are large, pennate, with numerous folioles, ensiform, alternate and sessile, attached to a strong rachis or spike the petioler portion of which is garnished with long and sharp prickles. The flowers are monœcious with a papyraceous perianthus having six divisions. The male flowers have six stamens and three internal, erect and converging folioles. They form ramose spathes in fusiform masses, placed between the bases of the leaves. The female flowers are scattered; the ovary is sub-cylindrical, surmounted by a short style with a bilobate stigma. The fruit is oval, oleaginous, of a reddish yellow, surrounded by a hard and angular pericarp. We have had it drawn of a large size in comparison to the tree.
The fruit is triturated.
First day (in the morning).—1. Ennui when alone. Bitter eructations. Nausea. Drowsiness in the day-time. 5. Heat in the face. Throbbing pain in the nape of the neck. (In the afternoon): pain in the middle of the chest, as if pricked by pins. The breathing is embarrassed. Hammering pain all through the head. 10. Vacillating gait. Loss of appetite. Beating at the left arm, as if drumming on it with the finger.
Second day.—Swelling of the right leg. Pain at the foot when walking, whenever the foot touches the ground. 15. The same pain is felt when touching the sole of the foot with the hand. Itching all over. He feels strong and healthy. Small vesicles on the swollen leg. They break when pressed upon, a little fluid spirting out. 20. Similar vesicles break out on the left leg, arm and on various other parts of the body, without any swelling. Merry mood, and laughter, even when alone. Remembrance of a former shipwreck. Pain at the right knee as from a blow. Pains at the right leg as if stung. 25. Continual itching all over. Pain as if contused at the right side of the chest. Swelling, roughness and itching of the skin of the right leg. The skin seems to be thicker. Acute pain at the lower past of the left leg, as if a penknife had been thrust in.
Third day.—30. The leg is less swollen. Colic after taking a cold drink. Sadness. Pain at the bend of the knee, as from a blow. Desire to vomit. 35. Violent colic. Weakness of the legs. At candle light the sight becomes confused; when writing he makes the letters much larger than usual. Throbbing pain in the calves. Breathing embarrassed, with a sigh. 40. Hammering pain at the tibia, nape of the neck and right foot. Pains in the right shoulder, as from a blow. The sight is weaker than before. Shuddering. White urine. 45. Blackish stool. Constrictive pain around the neck as if a string were tied round. Good appetite. Out of humor. Disobedient. 50. Wants to cry (weep).
Fourth day.—The foot swells up more and more. Hammering pain in the foot all the time. Lancinations in the throat when swallowing. Pain in the abdomen, with sensation as if bruised. 55. Throbbing toothache. Prickling in the larynx when drawing breath. He approaches his hand to the fire without burning himself, whereas another person got burnt at the same distance. An hour after, he feels very keenly that he had been burnt. Stinging pain in the throat when swallowing saliva.
Fifth day.—60. Bad smell in the mouth, after drinking water. Cough with lancinations in the sides. Heat in the tongue when taking dinner, so violent that he was obliged to stop eating.
Sixth day.—The swelling of the leg increases. The vesicles on the right leg and foot have dried. Other vesicles break out on the left leg and arm.