COMMENTARY. It would appear indisputably to be the _Sebesten-plum_, or fruit of the _Cordia Myxa_. Whether or not this tree be also the _Persea_ of Dioscorides (i, 187), has been much disputed. See Sprengel (in Dioscor. l. c.) and Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 628.) We are inclined to doubt their identity, and of this there can be no question, if the authority of Pliny be held of any weight in this case, for he evidently distinguishes between the _persea_ and _myxa_. (H. N. xv, 11, 12.) Neither Celsus, Galen, Aëtius, nor Oribasius has noticed this article by name. The sebesten-plum is described by the Arabian authorities without their making any reference to the Greek authorities, as is their wont. See Serapion (c. 8); Avicenna (ii, 2, 638); and Rhases (Contin. l. ult. iii, 42.) The barbarous translation of Avicenna begins thus, under the head of sebesten: “Sebesten et nominatur mukeita.” For mukeita we suppose the proper reading would be _myxa_. The Arabians describe the sebesten-plum as being a mild laxative fruit, which quenches thirst and soothes the breast. It is praised by Serapion as a laxative and cooling remedy in coughs; as a refrigerant medicine for ardor urinæ, and an anthelminthic. The sebestens continued long to hold a place in our English Dispensatory, and retained the character which the ancients had given them. See Quincy (130.) Μυρίκη, Myrica, _the Tamarisk_, is possessed of incisive and detergent powers, without being manifestly desiccative; it has also some astringency. The decoction of it, therefore, when drunk, is useful in diseases of the spleen; and it likewise cures the toothache. The fruit and bark of it nearly approach to galls in powers. The ashes of the tree are more desiccative. * * * * *