JPAKT II.

Materia Medica. — Moschus.

389

exceeds thirty feet in height, is covered with a brownish greybark: the leaves are numerous, on short footstalks, cordate,*serrated, veined, about three inches long, and nearly as broad;rough on the upper surface, which is of a deep green colour,and covered with minute warts; and paler and villous under-neath. The male flowers, which are on the same tree as thefemale, are in close roundish catkins, composed of caducousflorets, which consist of four concave, oval, erect, calycinalleaves, inclosing four filaments bearing simple anthers: thefemale flowers contain a roundish germen, crowned with twodivaricated styles furnished with simple stigmas, inclosed in acalyx of four ovate, concave, erect leaves; which, after flower-ing, swell, become succulent and coloured, investing the seed;and many of them being crowded together on one peduncle,form a spurious compound berry, that has the appearance of areal succulent berry, composed of a number of smaller berries. 1Qualities. — Mulberries are inodorous, have a sweet acidu-lous taste, and abound with a deep blood-ved juice. Hermb-stadt found that their acidulous quality depends on the presenceof tartaric acid, and I find they contain also jelly and mucus.

Medical properties and uses. — This fruit is cooling and lax-ative; and, when not too ripe, allays thirst, and proves exceed-ingly grateful in febrile diseases. It is seldom, however, usedmedicinally; and when eaten too freely as an article of food, isapt to occasion diarrhoea.

Officinal preparation. Syrupus Mori, L.

MOSCHUS. Syst. Nat. Gmelin. i. 172.CI. 1. Ord. 5. Mammalia Pecora.G. 28. Horns none. Fore teeth eight in the lower jaw. Tusks one

on each side in the upper jaw, projecting out of the mouth.Sjiecies. M. moschiferus. The Musk Deer. Pennant Quadr. 56.

t. 10. f. 1.Officinal. Moschus, Lond. Edin. Dub. Musk.' Syn. Muse (F.), Bisam (G.), Muschio (/.). Almizcle (S.), Meshk {Arab.and H.).

The animal from which musk is obtained, is an inha-bitant of the alpine mountains of the east of Asia, par-ticularly of the Himala. mountains, which divide Thibet fromIndia, where it is known by the name of Custern. It is asolitary animal, living among the rocks, and frequenting thehighest tops of the snowy peaks: very timid, and difficultto be taken. The length of the full grown animal scarcelyever exceeds three feet, and in its general aspect it resemblesthe deer; the head is not very unlike that of a hog; theeyes are black and full; and, projecting from the upper jaw,

1 It is a curious fact, that two mulberry trees grow ing near each other, beargenerally more fruit, and that of a finer quality, than is produced by solitary trees.This is supposed to be owing to the male flowers in one of the trees being moreeffective than those of the other.

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