Jesuit's Bark Tree.
Arbor Peruviana.
A small tree, native of South America, which has not yet got into our gardens. The trunk is as thick as a man's leg, and its bark is grey. The branches are numerous and irregular, and their bark is of a browner colour, but with the same tinge of grey. The leaves are long and large, three inches in length, and half as much in breadth, and of a pale green colour: they are pointed at the end, but not at all indented at the edges. The flowers are small, and their colour is a pale purple: they stand in great clusters together; they are long, hollow, and open at the end, where they are a little divided. The fruit is a dry capsule, of an oblong figure.
The bark is the part used. Besides its certain efficacy against agues and intermitting fevers, it is an excellent stomachic and astringent; nothing is better to strengthen the appetite, and in overflowings of the menses, and all other bleedings, it is of the greatest efficacy. It is best given in powder. The tincture is to be made in brandy, but it is not nearly so good as the substance; when it is given for disorders of the stomach, the best way is to pick fine pieces of the bark and chew them.
