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OBSERVATIONS
ON fOME OF THB
REMEDIAL  PROPERTIES
SIM ABA     CEDRON,
AND ON ITS
^mplflgnunt  in  $narnutt*nt  $*tou.
j
BY
S.  S.  PURPLE,  M.D
late physician to the new york dispensary ; member of the new york academy 0»
  medicine; of the new yobk pathological society; of the American medical
     association; of the new york historical society; honorary membek
       of the new york state medical society; corresponding mem-
          ber of the epidemiological society of london, etc.
Mit\  Illustrations.

         NEW-YORK:        . L
SAMUEL S.  &  W.  WOOD.
              1854. 
4 
f radial QWxMiau m  %  $UmtfiM  fropdmi

                       OF

         SIMABA  CEDEON.
 It will be remembered by those who take especial interest in
 investigations which relate to vegetable materia medica, that
 about 185Q the attention of the medical public was particu-
 larly called to " cedron," as an invaluable specific  for the
 bites of venomous snakes.   In  the spring of  1852, Burtis
 Skidmore, Esq., of this city, placed in my possession, for ex-
 amination, two of the kernels.   This was my first acquaint-
 ance with " cedron," for  at  this time I  had  not seen Mr.
 Hooker's description and figure of the tree and cotyledons.*
 From the limited opportunity which these seeds furnished
 me of observing  their effects in an obstinate  case of inter-
 mittent  fever, I became strongly  desirous of testing its
 virtue on an extensive scale in this disease.  Such an oppor-
 tunity I  failed in obtaining until September, 1853, when  I
 received from Dr. J. A. Magrath,  of Kingston, Jamaica,  a
package, containing about a pound of the  cotyledons.

  * London Jour, of Botany, 1850, and Pharmaceutical Jour, and  Transac-
tions, vol. x. p. 344. 
4
   During the  autumn  of 1853, cases of intermittent fever
 were not of unfrequent occurrence in this city, especially in the
 vicinity of Canal  and Hudson  streets, and, in  fact,  in  the
 neighborhood of most of the " main sewers " in different sec-
 tions of the city.  It is not  our intention  to stop here and
 offer an explanation of the causes which  are, and must  be,
 from necessity, continually at work in producing  intermittent
 fever in this city.   This would require a searching investiga-
 tion into our whole system of drainage and supply, and would
 in no way answer the objects for which this paper is writ-
 ten.  As before stated,  cases of fever were not of unfrequent
 occurrence, and during  the  months of September,  October,
 and November, nine cases were treated with the article under
 consideration.   Of this number, six were recent, and three
^,were of long standing, having cwtfoonofiilly resisted quinine,
 Fowler's solution, and all the usual  means resorted to  in
 the treatment  of  the disease.  Of the six recent cases, five
 yielded readily and permanently to the remedy,  in doses and
 at periods that will be particularized in the following cases ;
 while  the remaining one resisted, successively,  emetics, ce-
 dron,  quinine, Fowler's solution, etc., and finally yielded
 permanently to bebeerine and nux vomica combined.   Of the
 three  cases of  long standing,  and previously treated  by dif-
 ferent remedies, unsuccessfully,  two yielded permanently to
 cedron, and one yielded temporarily, returning under the
 use of the remedy, but finally yielded permanently to cedron,
 after the administration of an  emetic, followed by ten grains
 of  pil. hydra, in divided doses.
   Case 1.—Mrs. E., aged 38 years, of nervous sanguine tem-
 perament, rather feeble health,  the mother of five children,
 resided in Newark, N. J., during the summer of 1852, and
 there contracted intermittent fever, from which she  slowly
 recovered under the use of quinine, having experienced three
 relapses in the course of the season.  In the month of Sep-
 tember, 1853, having resided  in this city nearly a year, she
 was again attacked with the quotidian  form of the disease,
 and consulted me in the intermission between the third and 
5
 fourth paroxysm.   She was ordered, as there was consider-
 able  gastric derangement, fifteen grains  pil.  rhei. comp., to
 be taken immediately; and  after the  next paroxysm of
 fever, to take ten grains of the cedron in powder every two
 hours.  At the  period of the  next (the fifth) paroxysm, she
 complained of  slight  headache, but experienced no  chill.
 From this time she was ordered ten grains of cedron, in
 powder, three times daily, for ten days.  She  had no return
 of the disease, and enjoyed, after, her usual health.
    Case 2.—Mr. B., book-keeper in a bank, aged 27, of spare
 habit, contracted intermittent fever on Staten Island, in the
 fall of 1852, which yielded to  quinine.   Late in the summer
 of 1853 he was  again the subject of the disease, and con-
 sulted me some four weeks after the occurrence of the first
 paroxysm.  Relying upon his own judgment, he had already
 taken quinine, in the same doses as the  fall previous, with
 the effect of temporarily arresting the disease.  Its return,
 after  an interval of nine days, led him  to resume the  use of
 the quinine in increased doses, until singing of the ears con-
 vinced him of the  propriety of consulting a physician.  At
 the time of  his first visit, finding that there existed  much
 tenderness or pressure over the epigastrium, slight yellow-
 ness of the conjunctiva, and  tongue coated with  brown fur
 in the centre, with red tip and edges, he was  ordered  thirty
 grains of ipecac, in powder, with ten grains of calomel.  This
 portion operated freely as an emeto-cathartic, and after the
 succeeding paroxysm of ague, he was ordered ten grains of
 cedron, reduced to powder by grating the seed on a putmeg
 grater,  every three  hours.  The paroxysm  of ague, which
 was expected, at its usual period, was  delayed some  two
 hours, and was somewhat less in severity and shorter  in du-
 ration than that which succeeded the action of the emetic.
 As there existed some pain in the bowels, which was sup-
 posed to arise from  the action  of the cedron, he was ordered
 the same amount as before, every four hours, combined with fif-
teen drops tinct. opii. oonap.  These directions were steadily
 adhered to for four days, when the paroxysms of ague hav- 
6
ing ceased, he was directed  to omit the paregoric, and use
the same amount of cedron three times a day.  These orders
were followed for some two weeks, when the further use of
the medicine was suspended.  Mr. B. has had no  return of
the disease.   At no time did he complain of singing in the
ears, or any other  unpleasant sensations,  except the slight
griping pain in the bowels, which could  be attributed to the
action  of the cedron.
  Case 3.—M. S., aged 29 years, by profession an accountant,
of spare habits, and strong nervous temperament, in the sum-
mer of 1852, contracted intermittent fever, of the quotidian
variety, at Morrisania, where he was then residing.   His at-
tending physician put him upon the use  of quinine, which,
in the course of five days, arrested the paroxysms  of ague.
Remaining, however, exposed to the same causes, the disease
returned  in the course of the third week, when he was again
put upon its use, with the effect of arresting the disease, al-
though more tardily  than on the previous occasion.  From
this time he remained free from the disease,  until  January,
1853, when, from domestic causes, his usual  health having
become considerably impaired, he  was attacked with the dis-
ease, with much greater severity than on either of the pre-
vious  occasions. Tonics,  combined with quinine, were or-
dered him by his medical attendant.   These were persever-
ingly used, for a period of four weeks, with but slight bene-
ficial effects, and, meantime,  his general  health had become
still more impaired by the disease.  Seeing that something
more was required to  arrest  the  paroxysms, he was,  very
properly, ordered an ipecac,  emetic, which was followed by
blue pill, in five grain doses,  three  times daily, until  two
paroxysms (the fourth day) had passed by, when he was or-
dered  Fowler's solution, accompanied with  a liberal  diet
and, during the well day, a moderate use of London porter.
Under  this treatment, there  occurred soon  a  decided  im-
provement in Mr. S.'s case, and, although at the end of two
weeks, he had no distinct  ague-chill, yet there  remained  a
periodical headache, accompanied  with fever, and  neuralgic 
7
pains in the facial and inferior maxillary nerves.  These, un-
der the use of carbonate of iron and vegetable tonics, almost
entirely disappeared, and from this time until the succeeding
October, with the exception of an occasional chill,  or  ague
paroxysm, he continued to attend to his usual business.
   In the latter part of September, 1S53, Mr. S. spent about a
week on Staten Island, and, immediately on his return to this
city, was seized with the tertian form of intermittent fever,
for the cure of which, in the course of four weeks,  he  took
an ipecac, emetic, quinine,  Fowler's solution, nux vomica,
and pil. hydrar., followed again by quinine, with but slight,
or temporary benefit. His general health having now become
considerably reduced, he was almost  ready to despair  of a
cure being effected in his case.
   On the 2d of November, I was first consulted in regard to
the treatment of the case, and, as he had  but two days pre-
vious taken  an emetico-cathartic, and  there was but  little
chylopoietic  derangement, he was immediately put upon the
use of cedron in powder, and in twenty grain doses, every
four hours in the  froth of porier, with  directions to  suspend
the remedy only  during the hot  stages  of the disease.   For
four days he steadily persevered in the use of  cedron, and at
the end of this period, as there was a marked improvement
—the  paroxysms of  fever having nearly ceased, and as  there
was present slight diarrhoea, accompanied with griping  pains
in the  bowels—the cedron was diminished to ten grain doses,
each dose of which  was  combined with fifteen drops of tinct.
opii camph.    This  treatment was continued for three days,
when all evidence of paroxysmal symptoms had disappeared.
Mr. S. was now ordered ten grains of cedron every morning,
with a view  to its tonic effect,  for  I had become satisfied
that it possessed  decided tonic properties, especially in those
states  of the system which call  for the  use of columba, gen-
tian, and other vegetable tonics.  Under this  treatment, he
gradually and permanently convalesced, and has since had
no return of  the  disease.
   Case  4.—A. N., aged 19 years, of marked bilious temper- 
8
ament, and  robust constitution,  on the 26th of July, 1853,
sickened with what he supposed  was a bilious attack, which,
under domestic treatment, continued three days, when he
was seized with a severe fit of ague, about  11 o'clock, a.m.,
which was  followed with  much  febrile excitement, intense
pain in the head, etc., which, in  its turn, was succeeded by
profuse sweating.   With  this paroxysm, all sickness passed
off, and the next day he considered himself in usual  health.
On the second day from the first  ague fit,  at m. he  sickened
again,with a paroxysm, the same  as two days previous, when,
for the first  time, he consulted me.  Believing his attack to
be intermittent fever, he was ordered to take of cedron  in
powder, as  much as could  be held upon  a Spanish  shilling
piece, every four hours, for forty-eight hours, omitting it only
during  the  succeeding paroxysm, if it should occur.  He
took as directed, in  all, ten doses, with the  effect of  perma-
nently arresting the disease.    He has since had no return of
intermittent  fever.
   Case 5.—A little girl,  aged about six years, daughter of
Mr. H., of 29th street, was observed to complain, every other
forenoon, of  being chilly,  which  condition was  followed by
headache and fever.  She was subjected to domestic treatment
for a week or  more, when the paroxysms of ague became
well marked, and the fever was accompanied  by  delirium.
When first seen by  me, the centre  of her tongue was coated
with a brownish-yellow, the  tip being red ;  she complained of
lassitude,  and  considerable  pain in the epigastric  region.
She was ordered ten grains of pulv. rhei, with three grains of
calomel, which produced  three  evacuations of the bowels.
She was then directed to take a teaspoonful of the following
mixture every four hours :  pulv. cedron, thirty grains ; simple
syrup, two ounces ; paregoric, one drachm.  These directions
were carried out for thirty-six hours, and as the next  parox-
ysm did not recur, she was  ordered a teaspoonful  morning
and evening.  Her  recovery was complete, and although ap-
parently exposed to the same causes, she has since had no re-
turn of the disease. 
9
  Remarks.—In  addition  to the foregoing cases, reported,
and alluded to as treated in the fall of 1S53, I have  treated
six cases during the past  summer, (1854)  exclusively with
cedron, with the following results :  Four with cure, prompt
and permanent,  one passed from my observation before the
result was known, and the remaining one is still under ob-
servation, having  resisted  emetics,  quinine,  and  beberine,  ^/
previous to consulting me.
  From  these results and those obtained in neuralgic cases,
which we think unnessary to detail, there  can hardly arise
a doubt but that the cotyledons of the Simaba cedron, one of
which is here represented, possess decided anti-periodic prop-
Convex surface of a Cotyledon of Cedron.        Flat surface of a Cotyledon of Cedron.
erties.  And in this belief we do not stand alone.  Dr. Ces-
pedes, of Bogota;  M. Herran, of France; Dr.  P. Smith, of
San Francisco, Cal.;  and Dr. Magrath, of Jamaica, W. I.;
have each  testified, as will be seen hereafter, to its decided
medicinal virtues in this respect.
  Dr. Magrath, of Kingston, Jamaica, has used it extensive-
ly not only in the treatment of intermittent  fever, but also
in yellow fever.  In this latter disease, he writes me, that it
appears as useless as  quinine, or any other remedy to asskt
the progress of the disease, in most of the cases in hospital,
although it was  thought that the skin  of those who were
taking it, was less dark or congested, than those who did not
take it.  His mode of giving it in intermittent fever, was in
powder,  or in pills, in ten grain doses every three hours, for
twenty-four or thirty-six  hours, and with the effect of suc-
cessfully arresting the disease; he always gave it during the 
10
intermission, and it almost always prevented a second parox-
ysm if it failed in the first.
   Thus it will be seen that the evidence which  has  already
accumulated in regard to this plant, points to the fact that it
possesses important anti-periodic properties.  And  perhaps
upon further investigation, it may be found to be a valuable
substitute for quinine—a desideratum long sought after.  Our
own  observations  have been confined to the  cotyledons in
powder in intermittent, and in tincture in neuralgia,  dys-
pepsia, and  chronic derangements of  the stomach, involving
impaired digestion.  In these conditions  we are satisfied  that
it possesses curative  properties equal to  columba,  quassia,
or  any of the vegetable tonics, and in view of these proper-
ties, we feel assured that it is worthy of an exalted position
among this classification of  the vegetable Materia Medica.
   To M. Planchon, according to  Hooker, belongs the merit
of giving a name  and botanical station to the  cedron plant.
In his truly excellent Revue de la Famille des Simaroubees* he
first described this plant from Mr. Purdie's specimens in  Mr.
Hooker's Herbarium.   For the following description  and fig-
ure, we are indebted to the London Journal of Botany, as be-
fore cited.

  Simaba cedron, Planch.; trunco erecto ramis subumbellato-capitatis,
foliis longissimis pinnatis glabris sub-20-jugis  cum impari, foliolis subco-
riaceis eliptico-lanceolatis  acuminulatis basi  obliquis, racemis  elongatis
compositis ramis rufescenti-subvelutinis, drupis magnis ovalibus  solitariis.
—S. Cedron, Planchon in Hooker's Lond. Jour. Bot. vol. vi. p. 5G6.
  Hab.—New Grenada.  Banks (near San Pablo) of the Magdalena W.
Purdie, Isle de Caybo, coast of the Pacific, Thomas Seemann.
  Descr.—The height of the tree is not exactly stated, but it does not
probably exceed twenty feet, with an erect undivided trunk not more than
six  inches in diameter, crowr.ed witli a dense and somewhat umbellate
head of branches.  Leaves glabrous, two feet and more long, pinnated with
twenty or more  alternate, rarely opposite sub-coriaceous, sessile leaflets
4-6 inches long, accuminulate, oblique (or inasquilateral) at the base, pen-
ninerved ; the rachis is terete, terminated  by an odd leaflet.   Racemes
two feet or more  in length, strict, branched, the main rachis and branches
* I^ondon Journal of Botany.  Vol. v. p. 566. 
11
clothed with minute ferruginous, velvety down, chiefly towards the apices ;
branches short, solitary or  clustered; pedicels bracteolated.   Calyx mi-
nute, cup-shaped, obscurely 5-toothedferuginous-downy.  Corolla of five,
linear, obtuse or  retuse, spreading petals, pale brown and  downy exter-
nally.   Stamens ten, short, arising from the back of as many staminiferous
scales,  which are erect, and approximate  in  a tube.  Anthers oblong,
introrse.  Ovaries five, seated upon a columnar gynophore, downy.  Styles
five, united into one, above the base, and exceeding the stamens in length.
 Ovules, one in each ovary.   Fruit,  very large, solitary  (by abortion)
drupe of an oval  form, oblique  at  the top, and having a scar below the
summit, indicating the former site of the style.  The soft portion of the
fruit seems, in the preserved state, not to have been very soft  and fleshy,
it is  lined  with  a horny endocarp.   Seed large,  solitary, suspended, its
integument membranaceous, with a conspicuous chalaza.  Albumen, none.
 Embryo, conform with the  sides.   Cotyledons very large, fleshy, white
 when fresh.
  a, branch of a raceme; b, a leaf; c, scale, bearing  a stamen; d, ovaries, with the gyno-
phore ; e, transverse section through the five ovaries, magnified; f, fruit cut round trans-
versely, so as to  exhibit the transverse seed; g, the dotted line shows the outline of the
entire  fruit; h,  transverse section  of the seed; i, a cotyledon, in the state which it is
exported :—nat. size. 
12
   In regard to the history of its introduction into practice, we
have nothing certain.   M. Herran,* Charge d'Affaires de la
Republique de Costa Rica,  in France, says that "it was only
in 1828, that the native Indians brought to  the  market of
Carthagena, some seeds of cedron.   To prove  their infalli-
ble virtue, they submitted animals and themselves to be bit-
ten by the most dangerous serpents, called Toboba Corlia, de la
Montague, etc., and the promptitude with which the poison
was neutralized, was so marvelous that a single seed sold for
a doubloon, (eighty-three francs)." ********
" During my long  sojourn in  Central America, I had  re-
course to the  seeds of cedron, successfully, in eight different
cases." *************   "I have
also successfully employed this medicine in intermittent  fe-
vers, which had resisted sulphate of quinine."
   Sir W. J. Hooker, who has given by far the most complete
and scientific account of the cedron to  be found,t says " By
whom  it was first  brought  into notice in Europe,  I  am
not aware, but my earliest information  respecting it was  de-
rived from Mr. Wm. Purdie, late botanical collector for the
Royal  Gardens, Kew, and now curator  of the  Botanic Gar-
den, of Trinidad.  At Bagota, Mr. Purdie had  made the  ac-
quaintance of Dr. Cespedes, an intelligent physician of the
country, who  directed his attention to the plant in question,
and who forwarded to me a drawing with very fair analysis
of the flower  and fruit."   ******  In his future
journey ings, Mr. Purdie did not fail to  search  for the plant
in its native woods, and on his way to the province of Anti-
gua, near the Magdalena, he wrote word, July 1846 : 'I have
had the good fortune to detect the celebrated cedron, a small
tree with habit of the Jamaica Mountain-Pride, (Mela Azeda-
rach).   The seeds are here much  sought after, and sold at
one  real  each cotyledon,  being  considered  an  invaluable

  * Comptes Rendus.  Vol. xxxi. p. 141 2.
  t Vide Description and figure of the Cedron of the Magdalena River, (Sima-
ba  cedron, Planchon).  By Sir W.J. Hooker, D.C.L., F.R.S.—London Jour.
of Botany, 1850. 
13
specific for the bites of snakes, for intermittents and stomach
complaints generally.  The bark and wood also abound in
a high degree with the bitter principle.'  The dried speci-
mens sent by Mr. Purdie were further accompanied with the
following note: ' The cedron  has  an erect stem not more
than six inches in diameter, crowned by an umbelate mass of
branches, with large handsome pinated foliage ; so highly are
the seeds prized here for  their powerful medicinal virtues,
that they cannot be purchased for less than two reals, or one
shilling each.   I have had the testimony of medical men in
Bagota in favor of their properties, and Dr. Cheyne has fre-
quently tried them with success.  Dr. Cespedes, some years
ago, was  sent expressly on a mission from Bagota  to  the
locality of this plant, which is in  woods immediately be-
hind the village of San Pablo, on the banks of the Rio Grand
de  Magdalena.'    The cedron is,  however, probably more
extensively distributed than  Dr. Cespedes and  Mr.  Purdie
imagine, especially to  the westward towards the Pacific,
in New Grenada.  Another collector of Kew Gardens, then
and still on board of H. M. surveying ship  " Herald,"  (Capt.
Kellett, commander), transmitted specimens to Kew the fol-
lowing year, 1847, from the Isle de Caybo."
   Mr. Berthold Seeman, the  historian of the voyage  of the
" Herald," whilst engaged in the  exploration of the canton
of Alange, and on his road to the village of Remedios  on the
29th  of  January, 1849,   " found the Cedron, a  tree," he
says, " which has  gained great celebrity and is well deserving
of particular notice.   The most ancient record of it  which
I can find, is in the  ' History of the Buccaniers,'  an old
work published in London in the year 1699.  Its use as an
antidote for  snakes, and  its  place of growth are there dis-
tinctly stated; but whether on the authority of the  natives
or accidentally discovered by the  pirates,  does not appear.
If the former was the case, they must have learned it while
on some  of their cruises on the Magdalena, for in  the Isth-
mus,  the very existence of the tree  was unsuspected, until
about 1S45, when Don Juan  de Ansoatequi ascertained that 
14
the cedron of Panama and Darien was identical with that of
Chartagena.  * * *  *  In the Isthmus it is generally found on
the out-skirts of forests in almost every part of the country ;
but in greater abundance in  Darien and  Vraguas, than in
Panama.  The natives  hold it in great  esteem, and always
carry a piece of the seed about with them.  When any one
is bitten, a little mixed with water, is applied to the wound,
and about two grains, scraped in brandy, or  in the absence
of that, into water, is administered internally.   By pursuing
this treatment, the bites of venomous snakes, scorpions, cen-
tipedes, and other noxious animals, have been unattended by
dangerous consequences.  Doses of it have proved beneficial
in cases of intermittent fever. ****** Each  seed, or
cotyledon, I should rather say, is sold  in the chemist  shops
of Panama for two  or three  reals (about Is. or Is.  6d, Eng-
lish),  and sometimes a much higher price is given for them."*
  Dr. Peter Smith,  of the City Hospital, of San Francisco,
received a letter dated Nov. 22d, 1849, from Don Jose ^bal-
dia, Govenor of Panama,t in which it  is stated that,  " the
tree which produces the fruit,  and is called the ' cedron? is
described in the scientific work of Dr. Cespedes, one of their
own naturalists.   *   *   *  *  The tree grows abundantly
in humid places, and as the wood is inapplicable to the uses
of life, and the fruit neglected  by animals on account  of its
bitterness, an abundant supply is predicted."
  I might here state that the first specimens I saw, those pre-
sented me by Mr. Skidmore, were obtained at Panama.
  Dr. Horner, of the U. S. N., statesf " that Dr. Smith, of San
Francisco, used for the cure of chronic dysentery and  inter-
mittent fever, the kernels of the cedron, a  fruit obtained at
Panama.  *  *  *  *   He gave them scraped in  the dose
of ten or more grains,  and thought them equally as efficacious
as quinine.   The cedron has great celebrity among the peo-
ple of the Isthmus,  for the cure of snake  bites, and  he  states

  * Vide Narrative of the Voyage of H. M. S. Herald, etc., during the years
1845-51.  By Berthold Seeman, F.L.S. Vol. ii. p. 74, 75.  London : 1853.
  f Philadelphia Medical Examiner.  Vol. vii. N. S. p. 140.   \ Ibid, p. 91. 
15
that they carry it about their persons to have it in readiness
for immediate use when needed.  Dr. Smith gave me a num-
ber of kernels, and one entire pod, which I brought home for
distribution.  While crossing the Isthmus, I would have been
much pleased to find the tree which yields this valuable med-
icine, but I was unable to obtain any accurate description of
it, or  of the places where it grows."
  Dr. Pereira, in the last  edition of his great work, on Materia
Medica, makes no mention of this plant. On the 2d  of Nov.,
1S50, however, he wrote Sir J. W. Hooker, regarding it in the
following words,* "I am not acquainted with any observations
made in England, or even in Europe, respecting the  Simaba
cedron.  *   *  *   #  The  specimen of the seeds  and fruit,
which I possess, were brought a few months ago from Pana-
ma, by a gentleman (not a medical man).   They were given
him by W. Barrington, Esq., an English surgeon at Panama.
The statement accompanying them was to the effect that the
seeds were  much used,  and with great  confidence  by  the
native doctors of  the Panama country, both locally and
internally, as the grand antidote against snake poison.
  " To the taste these seeds are intensely bitter, and doubt-
less like the bitter barks  and woods  of other Simarubaceous
plants (e. gr. Quassia  and Simaruba) they possess the proper-
ties of other bitter tonics, and might be useful in dyspepsia,
and perhaps ague."
  From  all  that we can learn regarding its habitude and
mode  of procurement, we  are led to believe that the only
obstacle in the  way of the  use of cedron in medicine, is its
apparently somewhat limited supply.  We say apparent, for
in a letter  received from Dr. Magrath, we learn that " the
cedron appears to be obtainable in quantity, with some little
difficulty, from Carthagena; but a brisk demand, no doubt,
would cause an equal supply."   The  history of all new
medicinal agents, derived from savage or semi-civilized coun-
tries,  teaches us the  fact,  that at first, the remedy  sought
* London Jour, of Botany, opit. cit. 
16
after is obtained with anucli difficulty;  but we should  not,
from this cause alone, neglect to investigate or enquire  into
its  uses; and should it, according to our belief, be  found
that this article  possesses decided merit, and some advan-
tages over  quinine, we  have no doubt but that some of our
enterprising commercial druggists will find it to their interest
to devise means for its introduction into'  our market.
  Finally:—From the declared experience of various observ-
ers of  the  medicinal effects of the  Simaba cedron, we are
warranted in drawing the following conclusions regarding its
therapeutic action :—
  That it possesses decided  anti-periodic properties, and  is
therefore applicable in the treatment of periodic diseases.
  That it is less likely than quinine to produce the aggre-
gate of encephalic or neuropathic phenomena, induced by
overdoses.
  That it may, in large doses, repeated .often, produce grip-
ing of  the bowels, and even diarrhoea; but that these condi-
tions are easily controlled by appropriate medicaments.
  That, as a  remedy in  intermittent fever, it possesses pro-
perties, in many respects, equal to quinine, and in most cases
is equally adapted to the curation of this disease.
  That, in  the treatment of yellow fever, it does not appear
to possess any particular advantages over quinine, but never-
theless is equally well adapted to fulfill the indications which
call for the use of this latter remedy.
  That it possesses marked tonic properties, and deserves a
prominent place in this classification of the Materia Medica.
  That in  chronic dysentery,  diarrhoea, dyspepsia, and all
states of the stomach, accompanied with impaired or difficult
digestion, its use will be found to be attended with benefit.
  That, should a demand  arise for its use in medicine, it  is
believed that it will  be  found not difficult to obtain a supply,
in quantities sufficient to afford  it at a much less price than
quinine.
  New York, September 1st, 1854.