Glans unguentaria, _Nut Ben_; its inner and, as it were, fleshy parts have detergent and incisive powers along with astringency: and therefore when drunk with honeyed water, to the amount of a drachm weight, it occasions vomiting and loosens the lower belly. But when taken with oxycrate it is of use for obstructions of the viscera. It proves detergent in affections of the skin when rubbed in with vinegar. Its bark is very astringent. * * * * * COMMENTARY. There can be no dispute that this is the ben nut, the term ben being derived from the Arabians. The tree from which it is procured is said to be the _Hyperanthera moringa_ Vahl. See Ainslie (Mat. Med. i, 197.) It is further called _Myrobalanum_, but the coincidence of name must not lead the reader to identify it with the myrobalans of the Arabians, of which we shall have occasion to give some account in another place. Pliny gives an interesting account of it, representing the Arabian as being the best oil in quality, and the Troglodytic or Ethiopian, as the worst. (H. N. xii, 47.) Being principally used in unguents, it has often got the name of glans unguentaria. Dioscorides writes fully of its medicinal properties, recommending it in particular inwardly, as an emetic and purgative, and externally, as an application to various cutaneous diseases, such as psora and leprosy (iv, 157.) Celsus recommends it in several places as an ingredient in emollient ointments, more especially for indurations of the spleen (iv, 9; v, 18, 4.) The Arabians, especially Avicenna and Serapion, treat of it at great length, but in nearly the same terms as Dioscorides and Galen. Of late years nut ben has been excluded from our Dispensatories; but our older authorities in modern times confirm the characters of it given above from Dioscorides, that is to say, that it acts both as an emetic and a purge, but in the latter capacity slowly and with pain. See Hill (Mat. Med. 4, 94); Rutty (Mat. Med. p. 52.) Βάκχαρις, Baccharis, _Spikenard_, is a fragrant herb, like cinnamon, used for garlands. It is acrid; and its root when boiled is deobstruent, diuretic, and emmenagogue. But its leaves being astringent are beneficial in fluxes. * * * * * COMMENTARY. Regarding this much disputed article, the predominance of authority, as we think, is in favour of its being some species of _Conyza_. Old Gerard gives it the English names of ploughman’s spikenard and cinnamon-root, and repeats the characters of it given by the ancient authorities. It has been long since expelled from our Dispensatories. Galen, in his Commentary on the Glossa Hippocratica, mentions that the name is applied both to a herb and a Lydian ointment. It does not occur in the works of Celsus nor in those of the Arabians. Our author draws his characters of it from Dioscorides, who recommends it, among other purposes, as being emmenagogue and promoting parturition (iii, 44.) Βαλάυστιον,