Ignatius' Beans, SAINT

Ignatius' Beans, SAINT, the seeds of the Ignatia amara, formerly Strychnos Ignatii, a tree of the natural order Loganiaceæ, and nearly allied to that which produces Nux vomica (q.v.), a native of Cochin-China and of the Philippine Islands. The fruit is of the size of a large pear, and contains about twenty brownish seeds, of about the size of olives, rounded on one side, and somewhat angular on the other. They contain strychnia, but no brucia, and their medicinal uses are similar to those of nux vomica.