quassia's Usage Examples:

The bitterness is imparted by such substances as bitter orange rind, gentian, rhubarb, quassia, cascarilla, angostura, quinine and cinchona.

Jamaica quassia is imported into England in logs several feet in length and often nearly one foot in thickness, consisting of pieces of the trunk and larger branches.

The treatment consists in the use of enemata containing quassia, carbolic acid, vinegar or turpentine or even common salt.

These pests can be kept in check by syringing with nicotine, soft-soap and quassia solutions, or by "vaporising" two or three evenings in succession, afterwards syringing the plants with clear tepid water.

Those which act upon the alimentary canal: Simple bitters such as quassia wood, columbo root, taraxacum, gentian, chiretta, and many others, irritate gently the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels, and by increasing the secretions improve the appetite and digestion.

The original quassia was officially recognized in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1788.

The wood contains no tannin, and for this reason quassia, like chiretta and calumba, may be preserved with iron.

Substances containing tannic or gallic acid turn black when compounded with a ferric salt, so it cannot be used in combination with vegetable astringents except with the infusion of quassia or calumba.

Since that date this wood has continued in use in Britain under the name of quassia to the exclusion of the Surinam quassia, which, however, is still employed in France and Germany.