Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/119

Rh on account of the caruncula of their seed. To Fumarieae they approach in the general aspect of their flowers; but if my theory of the structure of that order be admitted, their resemblance would not be so great as it appears to be. Leguminosae are, notwithstanding their perigynous stamens, an order with which Polygalaceae have great affinity : the irregularity of corolla is of a similar nature in both; there is in Leguminosae a tendency to suppress the upper lateral petals in Erythrina, as in Polygala; the ascending direction of the style and a cohesion of stamens are characters common to both orders. Many additional observations are made by St. Hilaire and Moquin—Tandon to the same effect. These authors, moreover, compare this order with Rutaceae; but they appear to have finally decided upon the vicinity of Sapindaceae being its true position; remarking that "the calyx of Sapindaceae is unequal the corolla very irregular, and the ovary of Schmidelia is usually 2-celled and 2-seeded like that of Polygala. Moreover, the greater part of the genera of that order have, with a calyx of five divisions, a corolla with four petals, and the place of the fifth is manifestly vacant. This suppression is not exactly the same as what is observed in the corolla of Polygala, where there is only 3 petals with 5 sepals; but the suppression has more analogy with what concerns the stamens, since with a quinary number in the calyx each order has eight antheriferous filaments."

. As already observed, this is most general, every part of the world being able to boast of some species, peculiarly its own. The genus Polygala is found in all climates, from the equinox to the polar circles, and in every variety of soil, from the burning sands and plains of Coromandel, to the Peat bogs of the northern mountains, and no where met with in greater beauty, than on the dry chalk hills of Kent. The other genera are more limited in their range. Salomonia has as yet only been met with in Asia, but extends from China to the Malabar Coast, being more or less met with in all the intermediate countries. Soulamia, is as yet only known to exist in the Moluccas. Xanthophyllum has a range nearly as wide as Salomonia, extending from Java, (whence Blume has three species which he had published under the generic name of Jackia) through Silhet, Ceylon, and Coromandel, to Malabar, but has not yet been met with out of Asia. Most of the other genera are American, but Muraltia is confined to the Cape of Good Hope.

Were the properties of the species of Polygala in accordance with virtues expressed in the name, (Poly gala 'Much milk,' in allusion to their supposed power of augmenting the flow of that secretion) truly valuable would they be in many situations, but we have no proof of their possessing such powers. Generally speaking, bitterness, combined in a greater or less degree with cathartic properties, have been found in those species which have been subjected to trial, especially Polygala amara, on which account, it is esteemed in chronic bowel complaints after active inflammatory symptoms have subsided. But the diseases for the cure of which they have attained their greatest repute, are those of the chest, requiring expectorants, on account of their action on the mucous membrane of the bronchi. In such cases, if inflammatory symptoms exist, they must in the first instance be reduced by bleeding. The senega, or snake-root of America, (Polygala senega) is the species which has attained the highest repute for its medical properties, and especially as a remedy in diseases of the chest, but notwithstanding it has been highly extolled in such cases, and no doubt in many instances deservedly, there is still much uncertainty as to its real merits. Among the aborigines of America, it is administered in cases of snake bite, and it was from observing its effects in relieving oppression of breathing in such cases, that analogy led Dr. Tennant to recommend its employment in deseases of the chest. A species met with on the Himalaya mountains P. crotalarioides is used by the inhabitants of these hills as a remedy in snake bite in like manner as P. senega, is by the Americans. Such being the case, it appears somewhat remarkable, that of all the long list of Indian species, about 20 in number, that not one of them, with that exception, is mentioned as being employed in native practice, and yet, I cannot help thinking, that some at least of the Indian species, enjoy properties analogous to those found in both the European and American ones.

A peculiar vegetable principle, called Senegen has been discovered by one chemist, (Gehlen) and a different one by another, (Reschier) which he has called Polygaline, but it is still uncertain whether they are not the same. A third (M. Folchi) has procured a sub-