B. says that Pursh states that the sweet-scented goldenrod (Solidago odora) “has for some time [i. e. before 1817][185] been an article of exportation to China, where it fetches a high price.” And yet it is known to very few New-Englanders.
“No botanist,” says B., “even if in danger of starving in a wilderness, would indulge his hunger on a root or fruit taken from an unknown plant of the natural order Luridæ, of the Multisiliquæ, or the umbelliferous aquatics. On the contrary he would not feel a moment’s hesitation in regard to any of the Gramina, the fruit of the Pomaceæ and several other natural families of plants, which are known to be uniformly innocent in their effects.”
The aromatic flavor of the checkerberry is also perceived in the Gaultheria hispidula, in Spiræa ulmaria and the root of Spiræa lobata, and in the birches.
He says ginseng, spigelia, snake-root, etc., form considerable articles of exportation.
The odor of skunk-cabbage is perceived in some North American currants, as Ribes rigens of Michaux on high mountains.
At one time the Indians about Quebec and Montreal were so taken up with searching for ginseng that they could not be hired for any other purpose. It is said that both the Chinese and the Indians named this plant from its resemblance to the figure of a man.[186]
The Indians use the bark of Dirca palustris, or leather-wood, for their cordage. It was after the long-continued search of many generations that these qualities were discovered.
Of tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum) B. says, after speaking of its poisonous qualities: “Yet the first person who had courage and patience enough to persevere in its use, until habit had overcome his original disgust, eventually found in it a pleasing sedative, a soother of care, and a material addition to the pleasures of life. Its use, which originated among savages, has spread into every civilized country; it has made its way against the declamations of the learned, and the prohibitions of civil and religious authority, and it now gives rise to an extensive branch of agriculture, or of commerce, in every part of the globe.” Soon after its introduction into Europe, “the rich indulged in it as a luxury of the highest kind; and the poor gave themselves up to it, as a solace for the miseries of life.” Several varieties are cultivated.
In return for many foreign weeds, we have sent abroad, says B., “the Erigeron Canadensis and the prolific families of Ambrosia and Amaranthus.”
“The Indians were acquainted with the medicinal properties of more than one species of Euphorbia.”