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The Pomegranate

Punica Granatum THE HE pomegranate was for very long considered, like the guava, a member of the Myrtle Family, now more commonly reckoned of the Lythraceæ or Loosestrife Family, and the guava is in reality its namesake since "Psidium" was derived from the Greek for "Psidion," or Pomegranate. "Punicum malum," by which the ancients also designated the latter, indicates a Carthaginian residence and neither the fig, the grape nor olive was a greater favourite from its beauty, medicinal value, or as a food accessory (although the pomegranate has not the solid elements which would enable subsistence upon that alone as with the others just named) in those earlier centuries of the world.

The rind, flowers and root are all astringent. The rind has not infrequently been recommended in decoction or powdered form: valued as a gargle in sore throat, and also as of use in dysentery and intermittent fevers. Commercially it has served in tanning leather, as have the flowers as a dye.

Each part seems to partake of the qualities of the others, as, for instance, the bark of the tree also has been noted as a dye and the flowers for medicine. The ancient Asiatics and Europeans, the negroes of the West Indies and Mohammedan physicians of India seem all to have recognised the value of the root bark as a vermifuge.

The seeds have demulcent qualities but are very objectionable where the fruit is used as a food accessory (as it may be in numerous ways): these must be removed by pressing the pomegranate through a sieve but the seeds must not be crushed in so doing for, broken, they are not pleasant in flavour.