The bark yielded the German chemists 6 per cent. of ash, chiefly carbonate of calcium. The bitter principle has not yet been isolated. An aqueous infusion is not blackened by a persalt of iron.
Commerce—Canella alba is collected in the Bahama Islands and shipped to Europe from Nassau in New Providence, the chief seat of trade in the group. In 1876 the export of the bark amounted to 125 cwt.
Uses—The bark is an aromatic stimulant, now but seldom employed. It is used by the West Indian negroes as a condiment.
BIXINEÆ.
SEMEN GYNOCARDIÆ.
Chaulmugra Seed.
Botanical Origin—Gynocardia odorata R. Br. (Chaulmoogra Roxb., Hydnocarpus Lindl.), a large tree[320] with a globular fruit of the size of a shaddock, containing numerous seeds immersed in pulp. It grows in the forests of the Malayan peninsula and Eastern India as far north as Assam, extending thence along the base of the Himalaya westward to Sikkim.
History—The inhabitants of the south-eastern countries of Asia have long been acquainted with the seeds of certain trees of the tribe Pangieæ (ord. Bixineæ) as a remedy for maladies of the skin. In China a seed called Ta-fung-tsze is imported from Siam[321] where it is known as Lukrabo and used in a variety of cutaneous complaints. The tree affording it, which is figured in the Pun-tasao (circa a.d. 1596) has not been recognised by botanists, but from the structure of the seed it is obviously closely related to Gynocardia.[322]
The properties of G. odorata were known to Roxburgh who, Latinizing the Indian name of the tree, called it (1814) Chaulmoogra odorata. Of late years the seeds have attracted the notice of Europeans in India, and having been found useful in certain skin diseases, they have been admitted a place in the Pharmacopœia of India.
Description—The seeds, 1 to 1¼ inches long and about half as much in diameter, are of irregular ovoid form, and more or less angular or flattened by mutual pressure; they weigh on an average about 35 grains each. The testa is thin (about ¹/₅₀ of an inch), brittle, smooth, dull grey; within there is a brown oily kernel, marked with a darker colour at its basal end. The weight of the kernel is, on an average, twice that of the testa. The former encloses in its copious, soft albumen a pair of large, plain, leafy, heart-shaped cotyledons with a stout radicle. The taste of the kernel is simply oily.