The powdered leaves of the Eupatorium glutinosum, under the name of Matico, are used about Quito for stanching blood and healing wounds. A good article on the pharmaceutical and chemical character of matico, by Dr. J.F. Hodges, appeared in the "Proceedings of the Chemical Society of London," in 1845. It is stated, by Dr. Martin, that, like the gunjah, which the East Indians prepare, from the Cannabis Indica, the leaves and flowers of the matico have been long employed by the sensual Indians of the interior of Peru to prepare a drink which they administer to produce a state of aphrodisia. The leaves and flowering tops of the plant are the parts imported and introduced to notice as a styptic, which property seems to depend on their structure and not on their chemical composition.
Quassia.—The quassia wood of the pharmacopœia was originally the product of Quassia amara, a tall shrub, never above fifteen feet high, native of Guiana, but also inhabiting Surinam and Colombia. It is a very ornamental plant, and has remarkable pinnate leaves with winged petioles. This wood is well known as one of the most intense bitters, and is considered an effectual remedy in any disorder where pure bitters are required. Surinam quassia is not, however, to be met with now. That sold in the shops is the tough, fibrous, bitter bark of the root of Simaruba (Quassia) excelsa and officinalis, very large forest trees, growing in Cayenne, Jamaica, and other parts of the West India Islands, where they bear the local name of bitter-wood. Its infusion is used as a tonic. 23 tons of bitter-wood were shipped from Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1851. Quassia acts as a narcotic poison on flies and other insects. Although prohibited by law, it is frequently employed by brewers as a substitute for hops. The duty of £8 17s. 6d. per cwt., levied on quassia, is intended to restrict its use for such a purpose.
Rhubarb.—This most important plant belongs to the genus Rheum. The officinal rhubarb is the root of an undetermined species. There are about thirteen different kinds which are said to yield rhubarb. Lindley enumerates fifteen. I however take Professor Balfour's classification:—
1. Rheum palmatum, native of Bucharia, which has perhaps the best title to be considered the true rhubarb-plant, grows spontaneously in the Mongolian empire on the confines of China.
2. R. undulatum, native of China, which yields much of the French rhubarb.
3. R. compactum, native of Tartary, another species yielding French rhubarb, and often cultivated in Britain for its acid petioles.
4. R. Emodi (Wallich). This species yields a kind of Himalayan rhubarb. Its petioles are much used for their acid properties.
5. R. Rhaponticum, native of Asia. Used in France and Britain in the same way as the third species. It is much cultivated in the department of Morbihan.
6. R. hybridum (Murr). Much cultivated in Germany for its root and in Britain for its stalks.
7. R. Webbianum (Royle). 8. R. Spiceformi (Royle). 9. R. Moorcroftianum (Royle). Himalayan species or varieties.