COPTIS TEETA. Wallich.
mistimes, teeta, . ASSAM. I . . . Cuts.
The golden thread root plant of Assam, is a native of the mountainous regions bordering on Upper Assam, and its root is in high repute among the Mishmee, Lamas, and Asssmese. Quantities are sent down to Assam in neat little lxiskets with open meshes, made of narrow strips of rattan, and measuring :3 to 4 inches in len,gth by 21- in breadth and in width ; each ba.sket contains about 1111 ounce of small pieces of the root, from 1 to 3 inches long. The taste is intensely and purely bitter, very lasting, with only a slight aroma. On masti cation, tho root tinges the saliva yellow. In North America, the Coptis trifolia is much em ployed as a bitter tonic. Coptis teeta root brings a very high price, and is deemed a tome remedy of the greatest value. Its influence in restoring appetite, and increasing the digestive powers, aro very re rkable. It did not seem to exercise any febrifuge virtue, but under ita influence several patients recovered from acute diseases, manifestly awl very rapidly improved in strength. The dose was 5 to 10 grs. of the powder, or an ounce of the infusion thrice only. Latterly, medical officers have used it as a substitute for quinine, both in remittent fever and in common agues. The tinc ture is a bitter tonic, and its flavour and colour are much more agreeable than the tincture of colomba.—.Beng. Phan ; Beng. Disp. ; Voigt. COQUILL.A. NUTS are produced in the Brazils by Attalea funifera, Martins, the Cocos lapidea of Gcertner, and the latter title is highly descriptive. The plant might advantageously be introduced into S. Asia. The coquilla nut shell is nearly solid, with two separate cavities, each containing a hard, flattened, greasy kernel, generally of a disagreeable flavour ; the cells occasionally enclose a grub or chrysalis, which consumes the fruit. The pa,ssages leading into
the chambers are lined with filaments or bristles, and this e,nd of the shell terminates exteriorly in a covering of these bristles, which conceal the passages ; this end is consequently almost use less, but the opposite is entirely solid, and ter minates in the pointed attachment of the stalk. Scimetimes the shell contains three kernels, less f requently but one only, and a coquilla nut has been seen entirely solid. The substance of the shell is brittle, hard, close, and of a hazel brown, some times Marked and dotted, but generally uniform. Tfii01: -die action of sharp turning tools it is very agreeable to turn, more so than the cocoanut shell ; it may be eccentric turned, cut into excel lent screws, and it admits of an admirable polish and of being lacquered. They are extensively used for the handles of bell-pull.s, small tops, tbe knobs of walking-sticks, umbrellas, and other articles. In addition to the nuts, a coarse black fibre is obtained from the dilated base of the petioles. It is partly used for consumption, partly exported to Europe, tied np in bundles of several feet in length, and sold in London under this name at about £14 the ton. It is manufactured into cordage in its native countries, and as it is light, cables made of it do not .sink in the water. In 1850, about 250,000 nuts were imported into Eng land, and sold at 30s. to 40s. the 1000.—Seeman ; Holtzapfel ; Poole's Stat. of Cont. p. 98.