T' -''■-':;% ^ -. . I ■ ,, J -, V '*,'.'*• V.-; U.' kit*' 4 '^-ir. -li .iiKAJ !-^'*';''«' ZZ,^ ( HARMACOGRAPHIA. PHARMACOGRAPHIA HISTOEY OF THE PEINCIPAL DEUGS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN, MET WITH IN GREAT BRITAIN AND BRITISH INDIA FPJEDEICH A. FLUCKIGER DANIEL HANBUEY, F.E.S. AND PniL. DR., PROFESSOR IN TOE UNIVERSITV JFELLOW OF THE LINNEAN AND CHCEMICAI, OP STRASSBURG. SOCIETIES OF LONDON. M A C M I L L A N AND CO. LAN 1874. [77tc lliijht of Translation and Reproduction, is reserved.} LONDON : E. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL. PEEFACE. Pharmacographia, the word which gives the title to this book, indicates the nature of the work to which it has been prefixed. The term means simply a writing about drugs ; and it has been selected not without due consideration, as in itself distinctive, easily quoted, and intelligible in many languages. Pharmacographia, in its widest sense, embodies and expresses the joint intention of the authors. It was their desire, not only to write upon the general subject, and to utilize the thoughts of others ; but that the book which they had decided to produce together, should contain observations that no one else had written down. It is in fact a record of personal researches on the principal drugs derived from the vegetable kingdom, together with such results of an important character as have been obtained by the numerous workers on Materia Medica in Europe and America. Unlike most of their predecessors in Great Britain during this century, the authors have not included in their programme either Pharmacy or Therapeutics ; nor have they attempted to give their work that diversity of scope which would render it inde- pendent of collateral publications on Botany and Chemistry. While thus restricting the field of their inquiry, the authors have endeavoured to discuss with fuller detail many points of interest which are embraced in the special studies of the pharmacist ; and at the same time have occasionally indicated . the direction in which further investigations are desirable. A few remarks on the heads under which each particular article is treated, will explain more precisely their design. The drugs included in the present work are chiefly those which are commonly kept in store by pharmacists, or are known in the drug and spice market of London. The work vi PREFACE. likewise contains a comparatively small number which belong to the Pharinacopceia of India : the appearance of this volume seemed to present a favourable opportunity for giving some more copious notice of the latter than has hitherto been attempted. Supplementary to these two groups must be placed a very few substances which possess little more than historical interest, and have been introduced rather in obedience to custom and for the sake of completeness than on account of their intrinsic value. Each drug is headed by the Latin name, followed by such few synonyms as may suffice for perfect identification, together in most cases with the English, French, and German designation. In the next section, the Botanical Origin of the substance is discussed, and the area of its growth, or locality of its pro- duction is stated. Except in a few instances, no attempt has been made to furnish botanical descriptions of the plants to which reference is made. Such information may readily be obtained from original and special sources, where moreover, figures of the plants may not unfrequently be found. Under the head of History, the authors have endeavoured to trace the introduction of each substance into medicine, and to bring forward other points in connexion therewith, which have not hitherto been much noticed in any recent work. This ha.s involved researches which have been carried on for several years, and has necessitated the consultation of many works of general literature. The exact titles of these w^orks have been scrupulously preserved, in order to enable the reader to verify the statements made, and to prosecute further historical inquiries. In this portion of their task, the authors have to acknowledge the assistance kindly given them by Professors Heyd of Stuttgart, Winkelmann of Heidelberg, Monier Williams of Oxford, Diimichen of Strassburg ; and on subjects connected w^ith China, by Mr. A. Wylie and Dr. Bretschneider. The co- operation in various du'cctions of many other friends has been acknowledged in the text itself. In some instances the Formation, Secretion or Method of Collection of a drug, has been next detailed : in others, the section Iliatonj has been immediately followed 1>y the PREFACE. vii Description, succeeded by one in which the more salient features of Microscopic Structti^re have been set forth. The authors have not thought it desirable to amplify the last- named section, as the subject deserves to be treated in a special work, and to be illustrated by engravings. Written descriptions of microscopic structure are tedious and uninteresting, and however carefully drawn up, must often fail to convey the true meaning which would be easily made evident by the pencil. The reader who wishes for illustrations of the minute structure of drugs may consult the works named in the foot-note.^ The next division includes the important subject of Chemical Composition, in which the authors have striven to point out to the reader familiar with chemistry, what are the constituents of greatest interest in each particular drug, — what the characters of the less common of those constituents, — and by whom and at what date the chief investigations have been made. A knowledge of the name and date provides a clue to the original memoir, which may usually be found either in extenso or in abstract, in more than one periodical. It has been no part of the authors' plan to supersede reference to standard works on chemistry, or to describe the chemical characters of substances which may be easily ascertained from those sources of infor- mation which should be within the reach of every pharma- ceutical inquirer. In the section devoted to Production and Commerce, the authors have given such statistics and other trade information as they could obtain from reliable sources ; but they regret that this section is of very unequal value. Duties have been abolished, and a general and continuous simplification of tariffs and trade regulations has ensued. The details therefore that used to be preserved regarding the commerce in drugs, exist no longer in anything like their former state of completeness : hence the fragmentary nature of much of the information recorded under this head. ■"^ Berg (Otto) Anatomischer Atlas zur 'pliarmazeiitischen WaarenTcunde, BerliB, 1865. 4to. with 50 plates. Fllickiger (F. A.) Grundlagen der pharmaceiitischen Waarenkimde, Einleitnng in das SUidiiim der Pharmacognosie, Berlin, 1873. 8vo. Planclion (Gustave) Traite loratique de la determination des drogues sim2:)les d'origine vegetcde, Paris, 1874. 8vo. (in progress). vlii PREFACE. The medicinal uses of each particular drug are only slightly mentioned, it being felt that the science of therapeutics lies within the province of the physician, and may be wisely relin- quished to his care. At the same time it may be remarked that the authors would have rejoiced had they been able to give more definite information as to the technical or economic uses of some of the substances they have described. What has been written under the head of Adulteration IS chiefly the result of actual observation, or might otherwise have been much extended. The authors would rather rely on the characters laid down in preceding sections than upon empirical methods for the determination of purity. The heading Substitutes has been adopted for certain drugs, more or less related to those described in special articles, yet not actually used by w^ay of adulteration. A work professing to bring together the latest researches in any subject will naturally be thought to contain needless inno- vations. Whilst deprecating the inconvenience of changes of nomenclature, the authors have had no alternative but to adopt the views sanctioned by the leaders of chemical and botanical science, and which the progress of knowledge has required. The common designations of drugs may indeed remain un- changed : — hellebore, aconite, colchicum, anise and caraway, need no modernizing touch. But when we attempt to combine with these simple names, words to indicate the organ of the plant of which they are constituted, questions arise as to the strict application of such terms as root, rhizome, tuber, corm, seed, and fruit, about some or all of which a diversity of opinion may be entertained. It has been the authors' aim to investigate anew the field of Vegetable Materia Medica, in order as far as possible to clear up doubtful points, and to remove some at least of the uncer- tainties by which the sul)jcct is surrounded. In furtherance of this plan they have availed themselves of the resources offered ])y Ancient and Modern History ; nor have they hesitated to lay under contribution either the teaching of men eminent in science, or the labours of those who follow the paths of general literature. How fiir they have accomplished their desire, remains fur the puV)lic to decide. CONTENTS, Preface Explanations Thermometric Table I.— PH^^NOGAMOUS OE FLOWEKING PLANTS. Dtcotuktions. Eanunculace^ Eadix Hellebori nigri . , Ehizoma Coptidis Semen Staphisagrite Eadix Aconiti Folia Aconiti Eadix Aconiti Indica heterophylli Ciinicifngse MAGNOLIACEiE Cortex Winteranus Fructus Anisi stellati Menispermace^ Eadix Calumbse ... Pareira Brava Cocculus Indicus ... Gulancha ... Berberide^ ... Cortex Berberidis Indicus Ehizoma Podophylli Pap AVERAGES Petala Ehceados ... Capsilae Papaveris Opium Crucifer^ Semen Sinapis nigrae albse Eadix Armoraciee Canellace^ Cortex CanelloB albie PAGE V xvi xvii 1 1 3 5 7 11 12 14 15 17 17 20 22 22 25 30 32 33 33 35 37 37 38 4C 61 61 64 66 68 CONTENTS. BlXINE.S Semen Gynociirdix' PoLYGALEyE Radix Senegse KrameritB . . GUTTIFER^ Cambogia Oleum Garcinia3 .. JJlPTEROCARPE^ Balsamum Dipterocarpi Malvaceae Eadix Althtese Fructus Hibisci esculent! STERCULIACEiE Oleum Cacao LlNE^ Semen Lini Zygophylle^ Lignum Guaiaci .. Eesina Guaiaci RUTACE^ Cortex Angostura3 Folia Buchu Eadix Toddalise .. AuRANTIACEiE Fiuctus Limonis .. Oleum Limonis .. Bergamottse Cortex Aurantii . . Oleum Neroli Fructus Beloe SlMARUBE^ Lignum Quassise .. BURSERACE^E ... Olibanum ... Myrrha Elemi MELIACEiE Cortex Margosoo .. Soymida) . . RnAMXACBiE Fructus Ehamni . . Ampeltde/E Uvoj passaj Anacardiaceve Mawticlie ... Tcrebinthina Cliia LeguminoSj-e ... Herba Scoparii Somen Fa-ni-grtoci Tragucantha Eadix Glycynbizii' CONTENTS. xi PA.GE Succus Glycyrrhizic ... '159 Oleum Arachis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 163 EadixAbii 164 Setae Mucimaj 165 Semen Physostigiiiatis ... .... ... ... ... ... ... ... 167 Kiiio 170 Lignum Pterocarpi ... ... ... ... ... ..-. ... ... 175 Balsam am Tolutanum ... ... ... 177 Peruvianum ... 179 Semen Bonducellse ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 185 Lignum Hsematoxyli ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 186 Folia Sennee 189 Fructus Cassifs Fistulse 195 Tamarindi Pulpa 197 Balsamuni Copaiba ... ... ... 200 Gummi Acacias ... ... ... ... ... 206 Catechu 213 EoSACEiE 216 Amygdalas dulces ... ... ... ... ... ... 216 amaree ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 219 Fructus Pruni 223 Cortex Pruni serotinas ... ... ... 224 Folia Lauro-cerasi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 226 Flores Koso 228 Petala Eosse Gallicce 230 centifolise ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 232 Oleum Eosee 233 Fructus Eosae caninse ... ... ... ... ... ... 238 Semen Cydonise ... ... ... 239 Hamamelide^ , 241 Styrax liquida 241 Myrtage^ ... ... ... ... 247 Oleum Cajuputi ... ... ... 247 Caryophylli , ' 249 Fructus Pimentee ... ... ... ... ... 255 Granate^e 257 Cortex Granati fructus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 257 radicis 259 CucuebitacetE ... .... ... 260 Fructus Ecballii 260 Colocvnthidis ... ... ... ... ... ... 263 XjMBBLLIFERiE ... ... ... 264 Herba Hydrocotyles ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 264 Fructus Conii 266 Folia Conii 268 Fructus Ajo wan ... ... , ... ... .... ... ... ... ... 269 Carui , 271 Foeniculi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 274 — : Anisi 276 Eadix Sumbul .... 278 Asafcetida , ... ... 280 Galbanum ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 285 CONTENTS. Animoniiicum Fructus Anethi . . , Coriandri Cumini . . Cafrifoliace^ Flores Sambuci . . RUBIACE^ Gambler Cortex Cinchonae Eadix Ipecacuanhge VALERlANACEiE Radix Valerianse CoMPOSITiE Radix Inulae Pyrethri Flores Anthemidis Santonica ... Radix Arnicse Taraxaci Herba Lactucee virosse Lactucarium LOBELIACE^ ... Herba Lobelias Ericace^ Folia Uvae Ursi . , EBENACEiE Fructus Diospyri Styracb^ Eesina Beuzoe Oleace^ Manna Oleum Olivae Apocyneje Cortex Alstonite . ASCLEPIADE^ ... Radix Hemidesmi Cortex Mudar Folia Tylophorse . LOGANIACE^ ... Nux Vomica Semen Ignatii Radix Sj)igeli8e .. GfiNTIANEiE Radix Gentiante ., Herba Chirata3 CONVOLVULACE.'E Scammonium ■Radix Jalapa; Semen Kaladame SOLANACE^ Stipes Dulcamara; Fructu.s Cap.sici ., CONTENTS. xiii PACK Radix Belladoimfle 409 li'olia Belladonna; ... ... ... ... 411 Ilerba Stramonii ... ... ... . • ■ 412 Semen Stramonii ... ... ... ... ... ••• ■•■ •■• 414 et Folia Daturse albc-B 415 Folia Hyoscyami ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . ■ ■ ■• - 416 Tabaci 418 SCROPHULARIACE^ ' 422 Folia Digitalis 422 ACANTHACE^ 424 Herba Andrographidis ... ... ... ... 424 Sesames 425 Oleum Sesami 425 Labiate ••• ••• ••• ' 428 Flores Lavandulae 428 Herba Menthfe viridis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 431 piperita ... ... ... ... ... 432 Pulegii 436 Thymi vulgaris ... ... ... ... ... ... 437 Eosmarini ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 438 Plantagine^ 440 Semen Ispaghulse ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 440 POLTGONACE^ 442 Radix Rhei , 442 Myristice^ 451 Myristica ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 451 Macis 456 Laurace^ ... 458 Camphora ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 458 Cortex Cinnamomi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 466 Cassise ligneee ... ... ... 474 Bibiru 481 Radix Sassafras 483 Thtmele^ 486 Cortex Mezerei 486 ARTOCARPACE./E 487 CaricEe ... ... ... ... ... ... 487 MORACEJE 489 Fructus Mori 489 Cannabine^ ... 491 Herba Cannabis 491 Strobili Humuli ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 495 Glandulse Humuli ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 498 Ulmace^ ... 500 Cortex Ulmi ... ; . 500 fulvse 501 EuPHORBIACEiE 502 Euphorbium ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 502 Cortex Cascarillfe ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 505 Semen Tiglii 508 Ricini 510 Kamala ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 515 xiv CONTENTS. PAGE PiPERACE.E 519 Fructus Piperis nigri ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 519 longi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 524 Cubeba3 526 Herba Matico 531 Aristolochiace^ 532 Radix Serpentariaa ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 532 CUPULIFER^ 534 Cortex Quercus ... ... ... ... ... 534 Gallse Halepenses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 536 SantalaceyE , 540 Lignum Santali ... ... ... .,, ... ... ... ... ... 540 CoNIFBRiE ... ... ... ... . . ... 545 Terebintliina vulgaris ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 545 ^^ Veneta ... 549 Cortex Laricis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 553 Terebintliina Canadensis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 552 — Argentoratensis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 555 Pix Burgundica ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 556 liquida ... ... ... ... 560 nigra ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 564 Fructus Juniperi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 565 Herba Sabinse ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 567 iitlonocotBleiJons. Oannace^ 569 Amylum Marantge ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 569 ZiNGIBERACEiE 574 Ehizoma Zingiberis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 574 Curcumas ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 577 Galangas ... ... ... ... ... ... 580 Fructus Cardamomi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 582 ORCHIDACEiE 592 Salop ' 592 Vanilla 595 IridacE/E 598 Rliizoma Iridis 598 Crocus 601 PALMiE 607 Semen Areca^ 607 Sanguis Draconis 609 Aroide^ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 613 Rhizoma Calami aromatici ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 613 LlLIACEiE 616 Aloe 616 BulbusSciUai 627 MELANTHACEiE 630 Rhizoma Veratri albi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 630 vii'idis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ()32 Semen Sabadillie ... 633 CONTENTS. Cormus Colchici' ... Scmeu Colchici . . . Smilace/e Radix Sarsaparilkv Tuber Cliiniu (Iramine/e Saccharum Hordeum decorticatum Oleum Andropogouis Rhizoma Graminis PAflK G3(i G38 639 639 6.48 649 649 657 660 663 II.— CEYPTOGAMOUS OB FLOWEELESS PLANTS. Lycopodiace^e Lycopodium FiLICES Rhizoma Filicis LiCHENES Lichen Islandicus Fungi Secale cornutum . Alg^e Chondrus crispus Fucus amylaceus ©^allogens. 665 665 667 667 670 670 672 672 679 671 689 EXPLANATIONS. Thermometer — The Centigrade Thermometer has been alone adopted. A table comparing its degrees with those of Fahrenheit's scale is given opposite. Polarization — Most essential oils, and the solutions of several substances described in this book are capable of effecting the deviation of a ray of polarized light. The amount of this rotatory power is greatly influenced by various causes, and can hardly be regarded as constant in many essential oils. As to alkaloids and other compounds of organic origin, the deviation much depends upon the nature and quantity of the solvent. The authors have thought it needful to record in numerous cases the results of such op- tical investigations, as determined by the Polar istrohometer invented by Wild of St. Petersburg, and described in Poggen- dorfF's Annalen der Physih und Chemie, vol. 122 (1864) p. 626; or more completely in the Bulletin de VAcademie imperiale des Sciences de St. Petershourg, tome viii. (1869) p. 33. Measurements— The authors regret to have been unable to adopt one standard system of stating measurements. They have mostly employed the English inch : the accompanying wood-cut will facilitate its comparison with the French decimal scale. The word millimetre is indicated in the text by the contraction mm. ; micromillimetre, signifying the thousandth part of a millimetre, and only used in reference to the microscope, is abbreviated thus, mhm . INCHES CENTIMETRES m — o z 1 I — « J y — a — -J PI UJ Ui ■ z — -J a: — d 4 to 1- — Ul 2 2 ^ TWELFTHS 1 1 1 1 1 I ' _i ^ 0 == OR LINES 1 1 i II s ■ ^^ 7 3 '=' (n = 8 = IXTEENTHS ill ill ill 9 10 4 = TABLB for comparing the degrees of the Centigrade Thermometer loith those of Fahrenheit's Scale. CENT. FAHR. CENT. FAnii. CENT. FAiin. CENT. FAiin. — 29° — 20-2'^ + 41° + 105-8° + 111 + 231-8 -f 181 -\- 357-8 28 18-4 42 107-6 112 233-6 182 359-6 27 16-6- 43 109-4 113 235-4 183 361-4 26 14-8 44 111-2 114 237-2 184 363-2 25 13-0 J5 113-0 115 239-0 185 365-0 24 11-2 46 114-8 116 240-8 186 366-8 23 9-4 47 116-6 117 242-6 187 368-6 22 7-6 48 118-4 118 244-4 188 370-4 21 5-8 49 120-2 119 246-2 189 372-2 20 4-0 50 122-0 120 248 0 190 374-0 19 2-2 51 123-8 121 249-8 191 375-8 18 0-4 52 125-6 122 251-6 192 377-6 17 + 1-4 53 127-4 123 253-4 193 379-4 16 3 2 64 129-2 124 255-2 194 381-2 15 5-0 55 131-0 125 257-0 195 383-0 14 6-8 56 132-8 126 258-8 196 384-8 13 8-6 57 134-6 127 260-6 197 386-6 12 10-4 58 136-4 128 262-4 198 388-4 11 12-2 59 138-2 129 26i-2 199 390-2 10 14-0 60 140-0 130 266-0 200 392-0 9 15-8 61 141-8 131 267-8 201 393-8 8 17-6 62 143-6 132 269-6 202 395-6 7 19-4 63 145-4 183 271-4 203 397-4 6 21-2 64 147-2 134 273-2 204 399-2 5 23-0 65 149-0 135 275-0 205 401-0 4 24-8 66 150-8 136 276-8 206 402-8 3 26-6 67 152-6 137 278-6 207 404-6 2 28-4 68 154-4 138 280-4 208 406-4 1 30-2 69 156-2 139 282-2 209 408-2 0 32-0 70 158-0 140 284-0 210 410-0 + 1 33-8 71 169-8 141 285-8 211 411-8 2 35-6 72 161-6 142 287-6 212 413-6 3 37-4 73 163-4 143 289-4 213 415-4 4 39-2 74 165-2 144 291-2 214 417-2 5 41-0 75 167-0 145 293-0 215 419-0 6 42-8 76 168-8 146 294-8 216 420-8 7 44-6 77 170-6 147 296-6 217 422-6 8 46-4 78 172-4 148 298-4 218 424-4 9 48-2 79 174-2 149 300-2 219 426-2 10 50-0 80 176-0 150 302 0 220 428-0 11 51-8 81 177-8 151 SOS -8 221 429-8 12 53-6 82 179-6 152 305-6 222 431-6 13 55-4 83 181-4 153 307-4 223 433-4 14 67-2 84 183-2 154 309-2 224 435-2 . 15 69-0 85 185-0 155 311-0 225 437-0 16 60-8 86 186-8 156 312-8 226 438-8 17 62-6 87 188-6 157 314-6 227 440-6 18 64-4 88 190-4 158 316-4 228 442-4 19 66-2 89 192-2 159 318-2 229 444-2 20 68-0 90 194-0 160 320-0 230 446-0 21 69-8 91 195-8 161 321-8 231 447-8 22 71-6 92 197-6 162 323-6 232 449-6 23 73-4 93 199-4 163 325-4 233 451-4 24 75-2 94 201-2 164 327-2 234 453-2 25 77-0 95 203-0 165 329-0 235 455-0 26 78-8 96 204-8 166 330-8 236 456-8 27 80-6 97 206-6 167 332-6 237 458-6 28 82-4 98 208-4 168 334-4 238 460-4 29 ^ 84-2 99 210-2 169 336-2 239 462-2 30 86-0 100 212-0 170 338-0 240 464-0 31 87-8 101 213-8 171 339-8 241 465-8 32 89-6 102 215-6 172 341-6 242 467-6 33 91-4 103 217-4 173 343-4 243 469-4 34 93-2 104 219-2 174 345-2 244 471-2 35 95-0 105 221-0 175 347-0 245 473-0 36 96-8 106 222-8 176 348-8 246 474-8 37 98-6 107 224-6 177 350-6 247 476-6 38 100-4 108 226-4 178 352-4 248 478-4 39 102-2 109 228-2 179 354-2 249 480-2 40 104-0 110 230-0 180 356-0 250 482-0 PHARMAGOGEAPHIA. CORRIGENDA. Page 55, 9th line from top, /or 1871, read 1869. „ 141, 7th line from bottom, for Fritz, read Fitz. „ 213, 7th line from top, alter formula thus 2(Ci^H^^0")Pb + 2(Ci2H22Qn)_ „ 394, 24th line from top, for Brufnels, read Brunfels. „ 495, 13th line from bottom, /or humili read humuli. For convenience of correspondence, the postal address of the authors IS ajypended. They would gladly receive inquiries, suggestions, or further information : — Professor Fluckiger, Strassburg, Germany. Daniel Hanbury, Clapham Common, near London. P H AEMi^Qpt^^lRAP HI A L—TUMNOGAMOVS or FLOWERING PLANTS. irntgUtrtin^, EANUNCULACE^. RADIX HELLEBORI NIGRI. Radix Ellebori nigri, Radio:. Melampodii ; Black Hellebore Root ; F. Racine d'Ellehore noir ; G. Schwarze Niesivurzel. Botanical Origin — Helleborus niger L., a low perennial herb, native of sub-alpine woods in Southern and Eastern Europe. It is found in Provence, Northern Italy, Salzburg, Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia, and Silesia, as well as, according to Boissier, ^ in Continental G-reece. Under the name of Christmas Rose, it is often grown in English gardens on account of its handsome white flowers, which are put forth in mid-winter. History- — -The story of the daughters of Proetus, king of Argos, being cured of madness by the soothsayer and physician Melampus, who administered to them hellebore, has imparted great celebrity to the plant under notice.^ But admitting that the medicine of Melampus was really the root of a species of Hellehorus, its identity with that of the present plant is extremely improbable. Several other species grow in Greece and Asia Minor, and Schroff ^ has endeavoured to show that of these, H. orientalis Lam. possesses medicinal powers agreeing better with the ancient accounts than those of H. -niger L. He has also pointed out that the ancients employed not the entire root but only the bark separated from the woody column ; and that in H. niger and H. viridis the peeling of the rhizome is impossible, but that in H. orientalis it may be easily effected. 1 Flora Orientalis, i. (1867; 61. ^ Zeitschr. cl. Gesellsch. d. Aerzte zu JVier. ^ See the list of theses and memoirs on 1860, No. 25 ; Canstatt's Jahresbericht for Hellebore given by Merat and De Lens 1859. i. 47. — 1860. i. 55. Diet. iii. 472, 473. 2 RANllNCVLACEM. According to the same authority the hellebores ditler extremely in their medicinal activity. The most potent is H. orientalis Lam. ; then follow H. viridis L. and H. fcetidiis L. (natives of Britain), and H. 23iirpurascens Waldst. et Kit., a Hungarian species, while H. niger is the weakest of all.-^ Description — Black Hellebore produces a knotty, fleshy, brittle rhizome which creeps and branches slowly, forming in the course of years an entangled, interlacing mass, throwing out an abundance of stout, straight roots. Both rhizome and roots are of a blackish brown, but the younger roots are of lighter tint and are covered with a short woolly tomentum. In commerce the rhizome is found with the roots more or less broken off and detached. It is in very knotty irregular pieces, 1 to 2 or 3 inches long and about ^ to ^ of an inch in diameter, internally whitish and of a horny texture. If cut transversely (especially after macera- tion), it shows a circle of white woody wedges 8 to 12 in number, surrounded by a thick bark. The roots are unbranched, scarcely yV of an inch in diameter. The younger when broken across exhibit a thick bark encircling a simple woody cord ; in the older this cord tends to divide into converging wedges which present a stellate appearance, though not so distinctly as in Actcea. The drug when cut or broken has a slight odour like that of senega. Its taste is bitterish and slightly acrid. Microscopic Structure — The cortical part both of the rhizome and the rootlets exhibits no distinct medullary rays. In the rootlets the woody centre is comparatively small and enclosed by a narrow zone somewhat as in sarsaparilla. A distinct pith occurs in the rhizome but not always in the rootlets, their woody column forming one solid bundle or being divided into several. The tissue contains small starch granules and drops of fatty oil. Chemical Composition — The earlier investigations of Black Hellebore by Gmelin, and Feneulle and Capron, and of Eiegel indicated only the presence of the more usual constituents of plants. Bastick on the other hand in 1852 obtained from the root a peculiar, non-volatile, crystalline, chemically-indifferent substance which he named Hellcborin. It is stated to have a bitter taste and to produce in addition a tingling sensation on the tongue ; to be slightly soluble in water, more so in ether, and to dissolve freely in alcohol. Marm^ and A. Husemann extracted helleborin (1864) by treating with hot water the green fatty matter which is dissolved out of the root by boiling alcohol. After recrystallization from alcohol, it is obtainable in shining, colourless needles, having the composition Q36jj42Q(i^ It is stated to be highly narcotic. Helleborin appears to be more abundant in H. viridis (especially in the older roots) than in H. niger, and yet to be obtainable only to the extent of 0-4 per mille. When it is boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, or still better with solution of zinc chloride, it is converted into sugar and Helleboresin, C^^H^^O'*. Marm(i and Husemann succeeded in isolating other crystallized principles from the leaves and roots of H. niger and H. viridis, by precipitation with phospho-molybdic acid. They obtained firstly a ' Between 7>i4rpMrrt,9Cf;yis and w((5f«r, Schroff Boissier holds to be simply H. orientalis places U. ponticus A. Br., a plant which ,Lam. RHIZOMA COPTIDIS. 3 slightly acid glncoside which they named Hellebor&in. It occurs only in very small proportion, but is rather more abundant in H. niger than in H. viridis. When boiled with a dilute acid, helleborein, C^^^H^^O^^, is resolved into Helleboretin, C^^H-'^O^ of a fine violet colour, and sugar, (ji2jj24Qi2_ j|3 jg remarkable that helleboretin has no physiological action, though helleborein is stated to be poisonous. An organic acid accompanying helleborin was regarded by Bastick as probably aconitic (equisetic) acid. There is no tannin in hellebore. Uses — Black Hellebore is reputed to be a drastic purgative. In British medicine its employment is nearly obsolete, but the drug is still imported from Germany and sold for the use of domestic animals. Adulteration — Black Hellebore root as found in the market is not always to be relied on, and without good engravings, it is not easy to point out characters by which its genuineness can be made certain. In fact to ensure its recognition, some of the German pharmacopoeias require that it should be supplied with leaves attached. The roots with which it is chiefly liable to be confounded are the following : — 1. Hellehorus viridis L. — Although a careful comparison of authenti- cated specimens reveals certain small differences between the roots and rhizomes of this species and of H. niger, there are no striking characters by which they can be discriminated. The root of H. viridis is far more bitter and acrid than that of H. niger, and it exhibits more numerous drops of fatty oil. In German trade the two drugs are supplied sepa- rately, both being in use ; but as H. viridis is apparently the rarer plant and its root is valued at 3 to 5 times the price of that of H. niger, it is not likely to be used for sophisticating the latter. 2. Adcea spicata L. — In this plant the rhizome is much thicker ; the rootlets broken transversely display a cross or star. The drug has but little odour ; as it contains tannin its infusion is blackened by a persalt of iron, which is not the case with an infusion of Black Hellebore. RHIZOMA COPTIDIS. Radix Coptidis ; Coptis Boot, Mishmi Bitter, Mishmi Tiia. Botanical Origin — Coptis Teeta Wallich, a small herbaceous plant still but imperfectly known, indigenous to the Mishmi mountains, eastward of Assam. It was first described in 1836 by Wallich.^ History — This drug under the name of Mahmira is used in Sind for inflammation of the eyes, a circumstance which enabled Pereira^ to identify it with a substance bearing a nearly similar designation mentioned by the early writers on medicine and previously regarded as the root of Chelidonium majus L. Thus we find that Paulus ^gineta in the 7tla century was ac- quainted with a knotty root named Ma/iipa?. Ehazes who according to Choulant died in a.d. 923 or 932, mentions Mamiran, and it is also noticed by Avicenna a little later as a drug useful in diseases of the eye. 1 Trans, of Med. and Phys. Soc. of C'al- ^ PJiarm. Journ. xi. (1852) 294. cutta, viii. (1836) 85. B 2 4 RANUNCULACHM Ibn Bay tar in the 13tli century called the drug Mamiran and Uruk, and described it as a small yellow root like turmeric, coming from China. Other writers of the middle ages allude to it under the name of Memeren. Hajji Mahomed in the account of Cathay which he gave to Kamusio {circa a.d. 1550) says that the Mambroni chini, by which we understand the root in question, is found in the mountains of Succuir (Suh-cheu) where rhubarb grows and that it is a wonderful remedy for diseases of the eye.^ In an official report published at Lahore in 1862,^ Mamiran- i-chini is said to be brought from China to Yarkand. The rhizome of Coptis is used by the Chinese under the names Hiumig-lien and Chuen-lien.^ It is enumerated by Cleyer^ (1682) as " radix pretiosa amara" and was described in 1778 by Bergius ^ who received it from Canton. More recently it was the subject of an interesting notice by Guibourt "^ who thought it to be derived from Opliioxylon seriocntinum L., an apocyneous plant widely removed from Coptis. Its root was recom- mended in India by Maclsaac '' in 1827 and has been subsequently employed with success by many practitioners. There is a rude figure of the plant in the Chinese herbal Pun-tsao. Description — Tita, as the drug is called in the Mishmi country whence it is sent by way of Sudiya on the Bramaputra to Bengal, is a rhizome about the thickness of a quill occurring in pieces an inch or two in length. It often branches at the crown into two or three heads, and bears the remains of leafstalks and thin wiry rootlets, the stumps of which latter give it a rough and spiny appearance. It is nearly cylindrical, often contorted, and of a yellowish brown colour. The fracture is short, exhibiting a loose structure with large bright yellow radiating woody bundles. The rhizome is intensely bitter but not aromatic even when fresh. It is found in the Indian bazaars in neat little open-work bags formed of narrow strips of rattan, each containing about half an ounce. We have once seen it in bulk in the London market.^ Microscopic Structure — Cut transversely the rhizome exhibits an inner cortical tissue, through which sclerenchymatous groups of cells are scattered. The latter are most obvious on account of their bright yellow colour. In the woody central column a somewhat concentric arrange- ment is found, corresponding to two or three periods of annual growth. The pith, not the medullary rays, begins to be obliterated at an early period. The structure of the drug is, on the whole, very irregular on account of the branches and numerous rootlets arising from it. The medullary rays contain small starch granules, while the bark as well as the pith are richer in albuminous or mucilaginous matters. Chemical Composition — The colouring matter in which the 1 Yule, Cathay and the way thither ° Mat. Med. ii. (1778) 908. (Hakluyt Society) i. (1866) p. ccxvi. « Hist, dcs Brog. ii. (1849) 526. '^ Davies, Re-port on the trade, of the '' Trans, of Med.and Phys.Soc. of Calcutta, countries on the N. W. boundary of India, iii. (1827) 432. Lahore, 1862. » '^y^^Q cases were offered for sale as Olen '^ Otherwise written Hooiglane, Chonlin. or Mishm^e by Messrs. Gray and Clark, drug- Chynlen, Chouline, Souline, £ic. brokers, 25 Nov. IS.'iS. * Specimen Medicince Sinicce, Med. Simp. No. 27. SEMEN STAPHISAGRljli. 5 rhizome of Coptis abounds, is quickly dissolved by water. If the yellow solution obtained by macerating it in water is duly concentrated, nitric acid will produce an abundant heavy precipitate of minute yellow crystals, which if redissolved in a little boiling water will separate again in stellate groups. Solution of iodine also precipitates a cold infusion of the root. These reactions as well as the bitterness. of the drug are due to a large proportion of Berherine, as proved by J. D. Perrins.^ The rhizome yielded not less than 8|- per cent., which is more than has been met with in any other of the numerous plants containing that alkaloid. As pure berberine is scarcely dissolved by water, it must be combined in Coptis with an acid forming a soluble salt. Further researches are requisite to determine the nature of this acid. In some plants berberine is accompanied by a second basic principle : whether in the present instance such is the case, has not been ascertained. Uses — The drug has been introduced into the Pharmacopoeia of India as a pure, bitter tonic. Substitutes — Thalictrum foliolosum DC, a tall plant common at Mussooree and throughout the temperate Himalaya at 5000 — 8000 feet, as well as on the Khasia Hills, affords a yellow root which is exported from Kumaon under the name Momiri. From the description in the Pliarmacopceia of India, it would appear to much resemble the Mishmi Tita, and it is not impossible that some of the observations made under the head History (p. 3j may apply to Thalictrum as well as to Coptis. In the United States the rhizome of Coptis trifolia Salisb., a small herb indigenous to the United States and Arctic America, and also found in European and Asiatic Kussia, is employed for the same purposes as the Indian drug. It has been recently shown to contain berberine and another crystalline principle.^ SEMEN STAPHISAGRIiE. Stavesacre ; F. Staphisaigre ; Gr. StephansJcorner, Ldusesamen Botanical Origin — Delphinium Staphisagria, L.^ a stoul erect, biennial herb growing 3 to 4 feet high with palmate, 5- to 9-lobed leaves, which as well as the rest of the plant are softly pubescent. It is a native of Italy, Greece, the Greek Islands and Asia Minor growing in waste and shady places ; it is now also found throughout the greater part of the Mediterranean regions and in the Canary Islands, but whether in all instances truly indigenous is questionable. History — Stavesacre was well known to the ancients. It is the arypoTepT] crra4nialionis, Venet. 1510. lib. vi. c. 108. 3 ^4,t„; (/^ c/umie et de Phys. lii. (1833) 352. RADIX ACONITI. 7 addition of chromic acid an abundant precipitate of chroniate of del- phinine. The same solution likewise furnished copious precipitates when bichloride of platinum,^ iodohydrargyrate of potassium or bichro- mate of potassium were added. We ascertained that pure acetate of delphinine gives the same reactions with these tests. By repeating the above treatment on a larger scale we obtained crystals of delphinine of considerable size, and also a second alkaloid, not soluble in ether, pro- bably Couerbe's staphisaine. In 1864, Darbel in a thesis ^ published at Montpellier, announced the existence of a third alkaloid which he termed Staphisagrine — a name which unfortunately has been also applied to staphisaine. By exhausting stavesacre seeds with boiling ether, we got 27 per cent, of fatty oil, which continued fluid even at — 5° C. It concreted by means of hyponitric acid, and is therefore to be reckoned among the non-drying oils. The drug air-dry contains 8 per cent, of hydroscopic water. Dried at 100° C, and incinerated it left 8*7 per cent, of ash. Nothing exact is known of the Delphinic acid of Hofschlager (about 1820) said to be crystalline and volatile. Commerce — The seeds are imported from Trieste and from the south of France, especially from Nismes, near which city as well as in Italy (Puglia) the plant is cultivated. Uses — Stavesacre seeds are still employed as in old times for the destruction of j)&diculi in the human subject, for which purpose they are reduced to powder which is dusted among the hair. Dr. Balmanno Squire ^ having ascertained that ^wurigo senilis is dependent on the presence of pediculus, has recommended an ointment of which the essential ingre- dient is the fatty oil of stavesacre seeds extracted by ether. It is plain that such a preparation would contain delphinine. Delphinine itself has been used externally in neuralgic affections. Stavesacre seeds are largely consumed for destroying the pediculi that infest cattle. RADIX ACONITI. Tuber Aconiti ; Aconite Boot^ ; ^.Racine d'Aco?iit ; G. Uisenhutknollen, Sturmliutknollen. Botanical Origin — Aconitum Napellus L. — This widely- diffused and most variable species grows chieiiy in the mountainous districts of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. It is of frequent occurrence throughout the chain of the Alps up to more than 6500 feet, the Pyrenees, the mountains of Germany and Austria, and is also found in Denmark and Sweden. It has become naturalized in a few spots in the west of England and in South Wales. Eastward it grows throughout the whole of Siberia, extending to the mountain ranges of the Pacific coast of North America. It occurs in company with other species on the Himalaya at 10,000 to 16,000 feet above the sea-level. The plant is cultivated for medicinal use and also for ornament. ^ The platinic compound is in fine micro- ^ Pharm. Journ. vi. (1865) 40.5. scopic crystals. ■* We use the word root as most in ac- ^ Recherches chimiques et physiologiques cordance with the teaching of English sur les alcaloides du DelphinWyTn Sta]ihis- botanists. axfrkc. 8 RANUNCULACEM History — The ''Akovltov of the Greeks and the Aconituni of the Romans are held to refer to the genus under notice, if not precisely to A. Napelhis. The ancients were well aware of the poisonous properties of th'e aconites, though the plants were not more exactly distinguished until the close of the middle ages. Aconite has been widely employed as an arrow-poison. It was used by the ancient Chinese,^ and is still in requisition among the less civilized of the hill tribes of India. Something of the same kind was in vogue among the aborigines of ancient Gaul.^ One of the most remarkable facts in the history of the species under notice is that in certain localities its poisonous qualities are not developed, and it is so entirely innocuous that it is used as a potherb ! This was pointed out as long ago as 1671 by Martin Bernhard,^ an eminent Polish physician and botanist, and was confirmed by Linnaeus^ so far as relates to Lapland, where the young shoots of one species are cooked and eaten. It is still more strange to find that while in certain districts of Northern India the roots are collected as a poison, there are others in which the same roots are eaten as "a pleasant tonic." ^ Storck of Vienna introduced aconite into medical practice about the year 1762.^ Description — The herbaceous annual stem of aconite starts from an elongated conical tuberous root 2 to 4 inches long and sometimes as much as an inch in thickness. This root tapers oft' in a long tail, while numerous branching rootlets spring from its sides. If dug up in the summer it will be found that a second and younger root (occasionally a third) is attached to it near its summit by a very short branch, and is growing out of it on one side. This second root has a bud at the top which is destined to produce the stem of the next season. It attains its maximum development at the latter part of the year, the parent root meanwhile becoming shrivelled and decayed. This form of growth is therefore analogous to that of an orchis. The dried root is more or less conical or tapering, enlarged and knotty at the summit which is crowned with the base of the stem. It is from 2 to 3 or 4 inches long and at top from |- to 1 inch thick. The tuber- like portion of the root is more slender, much shrivelled longitudinally, and beset with the prominent bases of rootlets. The drug is of a dark brown ; when dry it breaks with a short fracture exhibiting a white and farinaceous, or brownish, or grey inner substance sometimes hollow in the centre. A transverse section of a sound root shows a pure white central portion (pith) which is many-sided and has at each of its projecting angles a thin fibro-vascular bundle. In the fresh state the root of aconite has a sharp odour of radish which disaj)pears on drying. Its taste which is at first sweetish soon becomes alarmingly acrid, accompanied with sensations of tingling and numbness. Microscopic Structure — The tuberous loot as seen in a transverse ^ F. Porter Smith, Mat. Med. and Nat. * Flor. Lapponica, ed. 2. 1792. 187. Hist, of China, Shanghai, 1871. 2, 3. •'' Munro, quoted by Hooker aud Thoin- '^ Pliny, lib. xxviL c. 76, also xxv. 25. son, Flor. Ind. i. (1855) 58. 2nd part. •* Napellus in Polonia non venenosus — ^ Dc Stramonio, Hyoncyar/io et Aconito, Ephem. Acad. Nat. Curios. Dec. i. ann. 2 Vindob. 1762. (1671) 79. RADIX ACONITI. 9 section, consists of a central part enclosed by a delicate cambial zone. The outer part of this central portion exhibits a thin brownish layer made up of a single row of cells {Jzernscluide, of the Germans). This is more distinctly obvious in the rootlets, which ' also show numerous, scattered, thick-walled cells of a yellow colour. The fibro- vascular bundles of aconite root are devoid of true ligneous cells ; its tissue is for the largest part built up of uniform parenchymatous cells loaded with starch granules. Chemical Composition — Aconite contains chemical principles which are of great interest on account of their virulent effects on the animal economy. The first to be mentioned is Aconitine, discovered by Geiger and Hesse in 1833, and obtainable from the root to the extent of 3 or 4 per mille. Von Planta (1850) assigned to it the formula C^oh^^nO^ ; DuquesneP (1871), whose analysis relates to crystallized aconitine (of A. Napellus) C^*H^*^]S[0^. For many years it was only known in the form of a light, pulverizable, colourless, amorphous mass. In the London Exhibition of 1862, Morson, the well-known manufacturing chemist, whose aconitine had long been held in great repute, exhibited it in large well-defined crystals. On the same occasion small specimens of the crystallized alkaloid were shown by Groves of Weymouth, and also crystallized hydrochlorate, hydriodate, and nitrate, prepared two years previously by a process he afterwards described in print.- About the year 1858 it became known to chemists that a substance was being sold under the name of Aconitine, the properties of which were somewhat diverse from those held to be characteristic of that alkaloid, and there was much doubt and speculation as to its origin. It is now known that this body, which is named Pseud -aconitine, and has been also termed English Aconitine, Napelline (Wiggers), Nepaline (Fliickiger), and Acraconitine (Ludwig), is derived from the aconite called in India Bish (see p. 12), which English manufacturing chemists have long preferred (whenever it could be obtained) to the aconite root of Europe. With these facts in view, and a plentiful supply of each kind of aconite. Groves has re-examined the alkaloids of this drug ; and his experiments, though not yet (January 1874) concluded, have established the following facts : — European aconite root, derived from^. Napellus, afibrds aconitine in two forms, — crystalline and amor-plious. Indian or Nepal aconite root, presumed to be obtained chiefly from A. ferox, yields a closely allied substance. Pseud- aconitine, also under two forms, — crystalline and amor- phous. The characters by which these substances are distinguished have been thus recorded by Mr. Groves." Aconitine, whether crystalline or amorphous, does not fuse or soften in boiling water. Crystalline Pseud-aconitine does not soften in boiling water, but if ■^ Journ. de Pharw. et de Chim. xiv. of Groves was that of A. Napellus. We (1871) 94 ; De V Aconitini cristallisie et des cannot undertake to say whether the crys- preparations d'aconit, quoted in Pharm. tallized aconitine of Morson was this Journ. Jan. 27, 1872. 602. alkaloid, or whether it was that now known ^ Pharm Journ. viii. (1867) 118. — The as Pseud-aconitine. crystallized salt shows that the aconitine ^ Pharm. Journ. Oct. 11, 1873. 293 — 296. 1 0 RANUNCULACEJE. dissolved in an acid and then precipitated by ammonia, the precipitate treated with boiling water coheres and becomes plastic. AmorjjJwus Pseud-aconitine, boiled in water, fuses, becomes sticky, and adheres to the sides of the vessel. Crystalline Aconitine is far more soluble in weak aqueous ammonia^ than its allied alkaloids. The proportions may be roughly stated thus : — cryst. aconitine, 1 part in 500 parts; amorph. aconitine, 1 — 1000 ; cryst. pseud-aconitine, 1 — 2500 ; amorph. pseud-aconitine, 1 — 1500. Aconitine and pseud-aconitine are both deposited in crystals from aqueous ammoniacal solutions. Such a solu^tion of crystalline aconitine speedily undergoes spontaneous decomposition ; that of amorphous aconitine is more stable, while similar solutions of pseud-aconitine are but little prone to change. Crystalline aconitine forms numerous crystallizable salts : crystalline pseud-aconitine appears incapable of affording crystallizable salts. The crystals of aconitine are described by Groves as being entirely different in form from those of pseud-acohitine. According to Duquesnel those of the former are rhombic or hexagonal tables, sometimes short four-sided prisms. Duquesnel who has studied with attention the properties of crystal- line aconitine obtained from A. Napellus grown in Europe, describes it as anhydrous, nearly insoluble in water even at 100° C. When obtained by precipitation from one of its salts, it is in the form of an amorphous, pulverulent hydrate. The crystals of the alkaloid dissolve in alcohol, ether, acetic ether, benzol, and especially in chloroform which is their best solvent ; the solutions have an intensely bitter taste followed by a sensation of pricking and tingling. Crystalline aconitine is freely soluble in dilute acids, easily affording crystallizable salts (especially a nitrate), provided the solution is perfectly neutral ; it also forms crystalline com- pounds with iodine and bromine. Pseud-aconitine is but little soluble in ether (1 in 100), chloroform (1 in 230), or spirit of wine in the cold, but dissolves more freely in those liquids when heated, crystallizing in large prisms from boiling saturated solutions. Solution of pseud-aconitine has a burning but not a bitter taste. In 1857, Hubschmann - announced the discovery in the root of A. Napellus of a new base which he called Napellinc. It is described as a pulverulent, white, amorphous substance, having a bitter and burning taste, easily soluble in water, chloroform, or alcohol, but insoluble in ether or benzol. The substance has an alkaline reaction, and is a stroni; base. Hubschmann subsequently (1867) expressed his belief that napelline was identical with one of the alkaloids he had obtained in 1865 from the root of xi. Lycoctonmn L.,^ and had desciibed as Acolyctine. Groves (1873) has prepared a somewhat similar body from Nepal aconite, but has not yet determined its identity or otherwise with Hiibschmann's napelline — in fact he has expressed the opinion that European and Indian aconite have each its own napelline. Another alkaloid occurring in aconite was announced in 1864 by T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh,'* who named it Acotwlla, but afterwards ^ A solution containing 1| per cent, of markeii, crystallizable alkaloid Lycodonine ammonia. ol^tained from that plant, is not known to ■•^ Fliickiger, in Pharm. Journ. Aug. Vd, occur in any of the blue-flowered aconites. 1870. 121. '' Pharm. Journ. v. (1864) 317. ^ Hiibschmann's distinct and well- FOLfA AGUNITL 11 sliovved it to be identical with narcotinc. So lixr as we know, it has not been met with by any other chemist ; Groves/ in particular, was unable to find it. The other constituents of aconite root are but imperfectly known. In the preparation of the alkaloids, a dark green mixture of resin and fat is obtained ; it is much more abundant in European than in Nepal aconite (Groves). The root contains Mannite, as proved by T. and H. Smith (1850), together with cane sugar, and another sugar which reduces cupric oxide even in the cold. Tannin is absent, or is limited to the corky coat. The absence of a volatile alkaloid in the root, as stated at page 12, was proved by Groves in 1866. Uses — Prescribed in the form of tincture as an anodyne liniment ; occasionally given internally in rheumatism. Adulteration and Substitution — Aconite root, though offered in abundance in the market, is by no means always obtained of good quality. Collected in the mountainous parts of Europe by peasants occupied in the pasturing of sheep and cattle, it is often dug up without due regard to the proper season or even to the proper species, — a care- lessness not surprising when regard is had to the miserable price which the drug realizes in the market.^ One of the species not unfrequent in the Alps, of which the roots are doubtless sometimes collected, is A. Storckeanum Eeichenb. In this plant the tuberous roots are developed to the number of three or four, and have an anatomical structure slightly different from that of A. Napellus? A, vcoriegatum L., A. Cammarum Jacq., and A. panicula- tum Lam. are blue-flowered species having tuberous roots resembling those of A. Napellus, but according to Schroff somewhat less active. The yellow-flowered A. Antlwra L. and A. Lycodonum L. produce roots which cannot be confounded with those of A. Nopellus L. FOLIA ACONITI. Herba Aconili ; Aconite Leaves; E. Feuilles d'Aconit; G., Eisenhvt- kraut, Stur'nihutkraut. Botanical Origin — Aconitum Najpellus L., see preceding article. History — Aconite herb was introduced into medicine in 1762 by Storck of Vienna ; and was admitted into the London Pharmacopoeia in 1788. Description — The plant produces a stiff, upright, herbaceous, simple stem, 3 to 4 feet high, clothed as to its upper half with spread- ing, dark green leaves, which are paler on their under side. The leaves are from 3 to 5 or more inches in length, nearly half consisting of the channelled petiole. The blade, which has a roundish outline, is divided down to the petiole into three principal segments, of which the lateral are subdivided into two or even three, the lowest being smaller and less ^ Pharm. Journ. viii. (1867) 123. per lb., and a pound we find, contains fully ^ Thus the continental druggists are able 150 roots ! to offer it in quantity as low as id. to 5d. ^ See figure in Berg's Atlas zur pharm. Waarenkunde (1865) fig. 24. 12 RANUNCULACEM regular than the others. The segments, which are trifid, are finally cut into 2 to 5 strap-shaped pointed lobes. The leaves are usually glabrous, and are deeply impressed on their upper side by veins which run with but few branchings to the tip of every lobe. The uppermost leaves are more simple than the lower, and gradually pass into the bracts of the beautiful raceme of dull-blue helmet-shaped flowers which crowns the stem. The leaves have when bruised a herby smell ; their taste is at first mawkish but afterwards persistently burning. Chemical Composition — The leaves contain aconitine in small proportion and also aconitic acid, — the latter in combination with lime. Aco7iitie Acid, C^H^O^ discovered by Peschier in 1820 in somewhat considerable quantity in the leaves of aconite, occurs also in those ai" larkspur, and is identical with the Equisetic Acid of Braconnot and the Citridic Acid of Baup.^ Schoonbroodt ^ (1867) on treating the extract with a mixture of alcohol and ether, obtained acicular crystals, which he thought were the so-called Aconella of Smith. He further found that the distillate of the plant was devoid of odour, but was acid, and had a burning taste. By saturation with an alkali he obtained from it a crystalline substance, soluble in water, and having a very acrid taste. Experiments made about the same time by Groves,^ a careful observer, led to opposite results. He distilled on different occasions both fresh herb and fresh roots, and obtained a neutral distillate, smelling and tasting strongly of the plant, but entirely devoid of acridity. Hence he concluded that A. Nct/pcllus contains no volatile acrid principle. In an extract of aconite that has been long kept, the microscope reveals crystals of aconitate of calcium, as well as of sal ammoniac. The leaves contain a small proportion of sugar, and a tannin striking green with iron. When dried they yield on incineration 16 "6 per cent, of ash. Uses — In Britain the leaves and small shoots are only used in the fresh state, the flowering herb being purchased by the druggist in order to prepare an inspissated juice, — Extractum Aconiti. This preparation, which is considered rather uncertain in its action, is occasionally pre- scribed for the relief of rheumatism, inflammatory and febrile affections, neuralgia, and heart diseases. RADIX ACONITI INDICA. Bish, Bis or Bikh, Indian Aconite Hoot, Nepal Aconite. Botanical Origin — The poisonous root known in India as Bish, Bis, or Bilih ^ is chiefly derived from Aconitun ferox Wallich, a plant growing 3 to 6 feet high and bearing large, dull-blue flowers, native of ^ Gmelin, Chemistry xi. (1857) 402. 7nent to the Pharmacoposia of India (p. 265) ^ Wittstein's Vierteljakrcsschrlft, xviii. to l)c luoro u correct dusif^iiatioii t\v^ill Bikh, (1869) 82. wliicli secins to be u corrupti(jii of iloubtful ^ Pharm. Journ. viii. (1867) 118. origin. We tind that the Arabian writer * The Arabic name Bish or Persian Bis is Ibn Baytar gives the word as Bish (not stated by Moodeen Sheriff in his Supple- Bikh). RADIX ACONITI LNDICJ. 13 the temperate and sub-alpine regions oi' the Himalaya at an elevation of 10,000 to 14,000 feet in Garwhal, Knmaon, JSTepal and Sikkim. In the greater part of these districts, other closely allied and equally poisonous species occur, viz. A. uncinatum L., A. luridum H. f. et Th.,^. ijalviatum Don, and also abundantly A. Napellus L., which last, as already men- tioned, grows throughout Europe as well as in Northern Asia and America. The roots of these plants are collected indiscriminately according to Hooker and Thomson ^ under the name of Bish or Bikh. History — The ancient Sanskrit name of this potent drug, Visha, signifies simply poison, and Ativisha, a name which it also bears, is equivalent to " summum venenum" Bish is mentioned by the Persian physician Alhervi ^ in the 10th century as well as by Avicenna ^ and many other Arabian writers on medicine, — one of whom, Isa Ben Ali, calls it the most rapid of deadly poisons, and describes the symptoms it produces with tolerable correctness.* Upon the extinction of the Arabian school of medicine this virulent drug seems to have fallen into oblivion. It is just named by Acosta (1578) as one of the ingredients of a pill which the Brahmin physicians give in fever and dysentery.^ There is also a very strange reference to it as " Bisch" in the Persian Pharmacopceia of Father Ange, where it is stated ^ that the root though most poisonous when fresh, is perfectly innocuous when dried, and that it is imported into Persia from India, and mixed with food and condiments as a restorative ! Ange was aware that it was the root of an aconite. The poisonous properties of Bish were particularly noticed by Hamilton (late Buchanan) '' who passed several months in Nepal in 1802-3 : but nothing was known of the plant until it was gathered by Wallich and a description of it as A. ferox communicated by Seringe to the Societe de physique de Geneve in 1822.^ Wallich himself afterwards gave a lengthened account of it in his Plantoi Asiatics Bariores (1830).^ Description — Balfour whose figure of A. ferox is the only one that to our knowledge has been published,^*^ describes the plant from a specimen that flowered in the Botanical Garden of Edinburgh as — " having 2 — 3 fasciculated, fusiform, attenuated tubers, some of the recent ones being nearly 5 inches long, and 1^ inches in circumference, dark-browa externally, white within, sending off sparse, longish branching fibres." Aconite root has of late been imported into London from India in considerable quantity, and been offered by the wholesale druggists as Nepal Aconite}'^ It is of very uniform appearance, and seems derived from a single species, which we suppose to be A. ferox. The drug consists ^ Flor. Ind. i. (1855) 54, 57 ; and Introd. '' ylccouoit of the Kingdom of Nepal, Essay, 3. Edin. 1819, 98. ^ Abu Mansur Mowafik ben Ali Alherui, ** Musee Helvetique d'Hist. Nat. Berne, i. Liber Fmidamentorum Pharmacologice, i. (1823)160. (1830) 47. Seligmann's edition. ^ Yet strange to say confused the plant ■* Valgrisi edition, 1564. lib. ii. tract. 2. with A. Napellus, an Indian form of which it. N. (p. 347.) he figured as A. ferox / * Ibn Baytar, Sontheimer's transl. i. ^° Edinb. New Pail. Journ. xlvii. (1849) (1840)199. ^ 366, pi. 5. ^ G\vism.s,, Exotica, 289. i^ The first importation was in 1869, when ® Pharm. Persica, 1681. p, 358, also 17 ten bags containing 1000 lb., said to be and 319. The word bisch is correctly given part of a much lai-ger quantity actually in in Arabic characters, so that of its identity London, were offered for sale by a drug- there can be no dispute. broker. 14 RANUNCULACEjE. of simple tuberous roots of an elongated conical form, 3 to 4 inches long, and \ to If inches in greatest diameter. Very often the roots have been broken in being dug up and are wanting in the lower ex - tremity : some are nearly as broad at one end as at the other. They are mostly flattened and not quite cylindrical, often arched, much shrivelled chiefly in a longitudinal direction, and marked rather sparsely with the scars of rootlets. The aerial stem ttas been closely cut away, and is represented only by a few short scaly rudiments.^ The roots are of a blackish brown, the prominent portions being often whitened by friction. In their normal state they are white and farinaceous within, but as they are dried by fire-heat and often even scorched, their interior is generally horny, translucent, and extremely compact and hard. The largest root we have met with weighed 555 grains. In the Indian bazaars, Bish is found in another form, the tuberous roots having been steeped in cow's urine to preserve them from insects.^ These roots which in our specimen ^ are mostly plump and cylindrical, are flexible and moist when fresh, but become hard and brittle by keep- ing. They are externally of very dark colour, black and horny within, with an offensive odour resembling that of hyraceum or castor. Im- mersed in water, though only for a few moments, they afford a deep brown solution. Such a drug is wholly unfit for use in medicine, though not unsuitable perhaps for the poisoning of wild beasts, a purpose to which it is often applied in India.^ Microscopic Structure — Most of the roots fail to display any characteristic structure by reason of the heat to which they have been subjected. A living root sent to us from the Botanical Garden of Edin- burgh exhibited the thin brownish layer which encloses the central part in A. iVa^e/Zz^s, replaced by a zone of stone cells, — a feature discernible in the imported root. Chemical Composition — The chemical constituents of Indian aconite have been noticed in the previous article. Uses — The drug has been imported and used as a source of aconitine. It is commonly believed to be much more potent than the aconite root of Europe. RADIX ACONITI HETEROPHYLLI. Atis or Aiees. Botanical Origin — Aconitnm, hctcrophyllum Wallich, a plant of 1 to 3 feet high with a raceme of large flowers of a dull yellow veined with purple, or altogether blue, and reniform or cordate, obscurely ^ There is a rude woodcut of the root in iu the Indian liazaars, some of them highly PJuirm. Journ. i. (1871) 434. poisonous, others innocuous. Tlie first or ' A specimen of ordinary Bhli in my pos- poisonous acoiiites he i^oups under tlie head session for two or three years became much Aconilum ferox, wliile the second, of which infested by a minute and active insect of the tliere are three varieties mostly known by the geuus Psocus. — -D. H. Arabic name Jadvdr (Persian Zadvdr), lie '^ Obligingly sent to me in 1867 by Messrs. refers to undetermined sjiecies of Aconilum. Rogers and Co. of Bombay, who say it is the The surest and safest names in most parts only kind there procurable. — D. H. of India for the poisonous aconite roots are •• According to Moodeen Sheriff (Supple- Jh'sh (Aral)ic) ; Bis (Persian) ; Singyd-bis, 'iiient to Pharvi. of Iiulia, pp. '25 — 32, 20;")) MUhd-za}utr,Bachhndg{\\\\\ AmcenUaics, 1712. 808. Physicians. " Flora Jcqionica, 1784. 235. " Grisebach calls it a low shrubby tree, ^ Adansonia, viii. 9 ; Hist, des Plantes, 10—15 feet high. Mr. N. Wilson, late of Magnoliacie.i, 1868. 154. the Bath Botanic Garden, Jamaica, has in- FRUCTUS ANISI ST ELL ATI. iil Japanese trees, holds them to constitute but one species, and the same view is taken by Miquel. The Star-anise of commerce is produced in the high mountains of Yunnan in South-western China where the tree, which attains a height of 12 to 15 feet, grows in abundance.^ The fruits of the Japanese variety of the tree are not collected, and the Chinese drug alone is in use even in Japan. History — Notwithstanding its striking appearance, there is no evidence that star-anise found its way to Europe like other Eastern spices during the middle ages. Concerning its ancient use in China, the only fact we have found recorded is, that during the Sung dynasty, A.D. 970 — 1127, star-anise was levied as tribute in the southern part of Kien-chow, now Yen-ping-fu, in Fokien.^ Star- anise was brought to England from the Philippines by the voyager Candish, about a.d. 1588. Clusius obtained it in London from the apothecary Morgan and the druggist Garet, and described it in 1601.^ The drug appears to have been rare in the time of Pomet, who states (1694) that the Dutch use it to flavour their beverages of tea and " sorbec." * In those times it was brought to Europe by way of Eussia, and was thence called Gardamomum Siberiense, or Anis de Siberie. Description — The fruit of lllicium anisatum is formed of 8- one- seeded carpels, originally upright, but afterwards spread into a radiate whorl and united in a single row round a short central column which proceeds from an oblique pedicel. When ripe they are woody and split longitudinally at the upturned ventral suture, so that the shining seed becomes visible. This seed, which is elliptical and somewhat flattened, stands erect in the carpel; it is truncated on the side adjoining the central column, and is there attached by an obliquely-rising funicle. The upper edge of the seed is keeled, the lower rounded. The boat- shaped carpels, to the number of 8, are attached to the column through their whole height, but adhere to each other only slightly at the base ; the upper or split side of each carpel occupies a nearly horizontal posi- tion. The carpels are irregularly wrinkled, especially below, and are more or less beaked at the apex ; their colour is a rusty brown. • Internally they are of a brighter colour, smooth, and' with a cavity in the lower half corresponding to the shape of the seed. The cavity is formed of a separate wall, ^ millim. thick, which, as well as the testa of the seed, distinctly exhibits a radiate structure. The small embryo lies next the hilum in the soft albumen, which is covered by a dark brown endopleura. The seed, which is not aromatic, amounts to about one-fifth of the entire weight of the fruit. Star-anise has an agreeable aromatic taste and smell, more resembling- fennel than anise, on which account it was at first designated Fceniculum Sinense.^ When pulverised it has a sub-acid after-taste. Microscopic Structure^ — The carpels consist of an external, loose, dark-brown layer and a thick inner wall, separated by fibro-vascular bundles. The outer layer exhibits numerous large cells, containing pale ^ Thorel, Notes wAdicales du voyage d'ex- ^ Rarior. Plant. Hist. 202. ploration du Mekong et de Cochinchine, Paris, ^ Hist, des Drog. pt. i. liv. i. 43. 1870. 31. 5 Redi, Experimenta, 1675, p. 172. ' Bretschneider in [Foochow] Chinese Be- corder, Jan. 1871. 2J2 MENISPERMACEM yellow volatile oil. The inner wall of the carpels consists of woody pro- senchyme in those parts which are exterior to the seed-cavity, and espe- cially in the shining walls laid bare by the splitting of the ventral suture. The inner surface of the carpel is entirely composed of scleren- chyme. A totally different structure is exhibited by this stony shell where it lines the cavity occupied by the seed. Here it is composed of a single row of cells, consisting of straight tubes exactly parallel to one another, more than 500 mkm. long and 70 mkm. in diameter, placed vertically to the seed cavity; their porous walls, marked with fine spiral striations, display splendid colours in polarized light. The seed contains albumin and drops of fat. Starch is wanting in star-anise, except a little in the fruit stalk. Chemical Composition — The volatile oil amounts to 4 or 5 per cent. Its composition is that of the oils of fennel or anise ; it usually solidifies below 2° C. The oils of anise and star-anise, as distilled by one of us, possess no striking optical differences, both deviating very little to the left. We are unable to give characters by which they can be dis- criminated, although they are distinguished by dealers. Star-anise is rich in sugar, which seems to be cane-sugar inasmuch as it does not reduce alkaline cupric tartrate. An aqueous extract of the fruit assumes, on addition of alcohol, the form of a clear muci- laginous jelly, of which pectin is probably a constituent. The seeds contain a large quantity of fixed oil. Commerce — Star-anise is shipped to Europe and India from China. In 1872 Shanghai imported, mostly by way of Hongkong (but from what previous port we have failed to trace), 5273 peculs (703,066tt)), a large proportion of which was re-shipped to other ports of China.^ The same drug, under the name of Bddiydne-khatdi (i.e. Chinese anise), is ca,rried by inland trade from China to Yarkand and thence to India where it is much esteemed. Uses — Star-anise is employed to flavour spirits, the principal con- sumption being in Germany, France, and Italy. It is not used in medicine, at least in England, except in the form of essential oil, which is often sold for oil of aniseed. MENISPERMACE^. RADIX CALUMBiE. Radix Columbo ; Galumba or Colombo Root ; F. Racine, de Colombo ; G. Kalumhawurzel, Colurnbowurzel. Botanical Origin — Jateorhiza palmaia Mievs^ a dioecious perennial plant with large fleshy roots and herbaceous annual stems, climbing 1 Returns of Trade, at the, Treattj Forts in described in the Encyclopidie mUliodique in China for 1872, p. 4—8. 1797 (iv. 99), was divided by Miers into two ^ Synonyms — Menispermtim pahnatuni sjiecian, Jateorhiza jmlvmta iind J. Calumba. LaTtiarck, Cocculus 'j)almatus UC, Menis'per- Oliver in his Flora of Tropical Africa, i. mum Coluinha Roxb., Jateorhiza Calmnha (1868) 42, accepted the view taken by Miers, Miers, /. Micrsii Oliv., Chasmanthera but to avoid confusion abolished the specific Coluraba Baillon. As Ave thus suppress a name palmata, substituting for it that of species admitted in recent works, it is neces- Miersii. At the same time he noticed the sary to give the following explanation. close relationship of the two species, and Menispermum palmalum of Lamarck, first suggested that further investigation might [warrant RADIX CALUMBM 23 over bushes and to the tops of lofty trees. The leaves are of large size and on long stalks, palmate-lobed and membranous. The male flowers are in racemose panicles a foot or more in length, setose-hispid at least in their lower part, or nearly glabrous. The whole plant is more or less hispid with spreading setaa and glandular hairs. It is indigenous to the forests of Eastern Africa between Ibo or Oibo, the most northerly of the Portuguese settlements (lat. 12° 20' S.), and the banks of the Zambesi, a strip of coast which includes the towns of Mozambique and Quilimane. Kirk found it (1860) in abundance at Shupanga, among the hills near Morambala, at Kebrabasa and near Senna, localities all in the region of the Zambesi. Peters^ states that on the islands of Ibo and Mozambique the plant is cultivated. In the Kew Herbarium is a specimen from the interior of Madagascar. The plant was introduced into Mauritius a century ago in the time of the Prench governor Le Poivre, but seems to have been lost, for after many attempts it was again introduced in 1825 by living specimens procured from Ibo by Captain Ow^en.^ It still thrives there in the Botanical Garden of Pamplemousses. It was taken from Mozambique to India in 1805 and afterwards cultivated by Eoxburgh in the Calcutta Garden, where however it has long ceased to exist. History — The root is held in high esteem among the natives of Eastern Africa who call it Kahmib, and use it for the cure of dysentery and as a general remedy for almost any disorder. It was brought to Europe by the Portuguese in the 1 7th century, and is first noticed briefly in 1671 by Francesco Eedi an Italian physician of Arezzo, who speaks of it^ as an antidote to poison deserving trial. No further attention was paid to the drug for nearly a century, when Percival* in 1773 re-introduced it as "a medicine of considerable efficacy . . . not so generally known in practice as it deserves to he." From this period it began to come into general use.- J. Gurney Bevan, a London druggist, writing to a correspondent in 1777 alludes to it as — "an article not yet much dealt in and subject to great fluctuation." It was in fact at this period extremely dear, and in Mr. Bevan's stock-books is valued in 1776 and 1777 at 30s. per lb., in 1780 at 28s., 1781 at 64s., 1782 at 15s., 1783 at 6s. Calumba was admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia. in 1788. warrant their union. The characters sup- I have the support of Mr. Home of Mauri- jiosed to distinguish them inter se are briefly tius, who at my request has made careful these : — In J. palmata, the lobes at the base observations on the living plant and found of the leaf overlap, and the male inflor- that both forms of leaf occur on the same escence is nearly glabrous ; while in J, stem. — D. H. Calumba, the basal lobes are rounded, but ^ Reise nach Mossaniiique, Botanik i. do not overlap, and the male inflorescence is (1862) 172. seto!ie-h.is]iid {" S2Jarsely 2nlose" Mievs). On ^ Hooker, Bat. Mag. Ivii. (1830) tabb. careful examination of a large number of 2970-71. specimens, including those of Berry from ^ " Sono ancora da farsi nuove esperienze Calcutta, and others from Mauritius, Mada- intorno alia radice di Calwnibe, creduta un gascar, and the Zambesi, together with the grandissinio alessifarmaco." — Esperienze in- drawings of Telfair and Eoxburgh, and the tor no a diverse cose naturali, etc. Firenze, published figures and descriptions, I am 1671. 125. convinced that the characters in question * JEssays, Medical and Experimental, hond. are unimportant and do not warrant the ii. (1773) 3. establishment of two species. In this view 24 MENISPERMACE^. Collection^ — As to the collection and preparation of the drug for the market, the only account we possess is that obtained by Dr. Berry/ which states that the roots are dug up in the month of March, which is the dry season, cut into slices and dried in the shade. Description — The calumba plant produces great fusiform fleshy roots growing several together from a short head. Some fresh speci- mens sent to one of us (H.) from the Botanic Garden, Mauritius, in 1866, and others from that of Trinidad in 1868, were portions of cylindrical roots, 3 to 4 inches in diameter, externally rough and brown, and internally firm, fleshy, and of a brilliant yellow. When sliced transversely, and dried by a gentle heat, these roots exactly resemble imported calumba except for being much fresher and brighter. The calumba of commerce consists of irregular flattish pieces of a circular or oval outline, 1 to 2 inches or more in diameter, and |- to |- an inch thick. In drying, the central portion contracts more than the exterior : hence the pieces are thinnest in the middle. The outer edge is invested with a brown wrinkled layer which covers a corky bark about f of an inch thick, surrounding a pithless internal substance, from which it is separated by a fine dark shaded line. The pieces are light and of a corky texture, easily breaking with a mealy fracture. Their colour is a dull greenish yellow, brighter when the outer surface is shaved off with a knife.^ The drug has a weak musty odour and a rather nauseous bitter taste. It often arrives much perforated by in- sects, but seems not liable to such depredations here. Microscopic Structure — On a transverse section the root exhibits a circle of radiate vascular bundles only in the layer immediately con- nected with the cambial zone ; they project much less distinctly into the cortical part. The tissue of the whole root, except the cork and vascular bundles, is made" up of large parenchymatous cells. In the outer part of the bark, some of them have their yellow walls thickened and are loaded with fine crystals of oxalate of calcium, whilst all the other cells contain very large starch granules, attaining as much as 90 mkm. The short fracture of the root is due to the absence of a proper ligneous or liber tissue. Chemical Composition — The bitter taste of calumba, and probably likewise its medicinal properties, are due to three distinct substances, Columhin, Berberine, and Columbic Acid. Columbin or Columha-Bitter was discovered by Wittstock in 1830. It is a neutral bitter principle, crystallizing in colourless rhombic prisms, slightly soluble in cold alcohol or ether, but dissolving more freely in those liquids when boiling. It is soluble in aqueous alkalis and in acetic acid. The presence of Bcrhei^ine in calumba was ascertained in 1848 by Bodeker, who showed that the yellow cell-walls of the root owe their colour to it and (as we may add) to Columbic Acid, another substance discovered by the same chemist in the following year. Columbic acid is yellow, amorphous, nearly insoluble in cold water, but dissolving in alcohol and in alkaline solutions. It tastes somewhat less bitter than ^ Asiatick Researches, x. (1808) 385 ; " Wliolcsale druggists sometimes wash Ainslic, Mat. Med. nf Hindoostan, 298. the drug to improve its colour. PAREIRA BRAVA. 25 columbin. Bodeker surmises that it may exist in combination with, the berberiue. Bodeker has pointed out a connexion between the three bitter prin- ciples of calumba. If we suppose a molecule of ammonia, NH^ to be added to columbin C*^H**0^^ the complex molecule thence resulting will contain the elements of berberine C20H17NO^ columbic acid C^^H^^O^, and water 3 H"0. Among the more usual constituents of plants, calumba contains (in addition to starch) pectin, gum, and nitrate of potassium, but no tannic acid. It yields when incinerated 6 per cent, of ash. Commerce — Calumba root is shipped to Europe from Zanzibar, and from Bombay and other Indian ports. Uses — It is much employed as a mild tonic, chiefly in the form of tincture or of aqueous infusion. PAREIRA BRAVA. Radix Pareirw ; Pareira Brava}- ; F. Bacine de Butua ou de Pareira- Brava ; G. Qrieswurzel. Botanical Origin — Chondodendron tomentosum Euiz et Pav. (non Eichler) {Cocculus Chondodendron DC, Botryopsis platyphylla Miers ^ ). — It is a lofty climbing shrub with long woody stems, and leaves as much as a foot in length. The latter are of variable form but mostly broadly ovate, rounded or pointed at the extremity, slightly cordate at the base, and having long petioles. They are smooth on the upper side ; on the under covered between the veins with a fine close tomentum of an ashy hue. The flowers are unisexual, racemose, minute, produced either from the young shoots or from the woody stems. The fruits are f of an inch long, oval, black and much resembling grapes in form and arrangement.^ The plant grows in Peru and Brazil, — in the latter country in the neighbourhood of Eio de Janeiro, where it occurs in some abundance on the range of hills separating the Copacabana from the basin of the Eio de Janeiro. It is also found about San Sebastian further south. History — The Portuguese missionaries who visited Brazil in the 17th century became acquainted with a root known to the natives as Ahntua or Butua, which was regarded as possessing great virtues. As the plant aifording it was a taU climbing shrub with large, simple, long-stalked leaves, and bore bunches of oval berries resembling grapes, the Portuguese gave it the name of Parreira hrava or Wild Vine. The root was brought to Lisbon where its reputed medicinal powers attracted the notice of many persons, and among others of Michel Amelot, ambassador of Louis XIV., who took back some of it when he returned to Paris in 1688. Specimens of the drug also reached the botanist Tournefort, and one presented by him to Pomet was figured and ^ From the Portuguese parreira, signify- Abutua of YeUozo's Flora Flummensis, torn. ing a vine that grows against a wall (in x. tab. 140 appears to us the same plant. ■ French treille), and hrava, wild. ^ See Pharm. Journ. Aug. 2, 1873. 83 ; ^ As figured by Eichler in Martins' Flor. Am. Journ. of Pharm. Oct. 1, 1873. fig. 3. Bras. fasc. 38. tab. 48. The Cissampelos 26 MENISPERMAGEM described by the latter in 1694.^ The drug was again brought to Paris by Louis-Eaulin Eouille, the successor to Amelot at Lisbon, together with a memoir detailing its numerous virtues. Specimens obtained in Brazil by a naval officer named De la Mare in the early part of the last century, were laid before the French Academy, which body requested a report iipon them from Geoffrey, professor of medicine and pharmacy in the College of France, who was already some- what acquainted with the new medicine. He reported many favourable trials in cases of inflammations of the bladder and suppression of urine.^ The drug was a favourite remedy of Jean- Claude- Adrien Helvetius,^ physician to Louis XIV. and Louis XV., who administered it for years with great success. Both Geoffrey and Helvetius were in frequent correspondence with Sloane ^ who received from the former as well as from other sources specimens of Pareira Brava, which are still in the British Museum and have enabled us fully to identify the drug as the root of Chonclodendron tomentosum. Several other plants of the order MenisiJermacece have stems or roots employed in South America in the same manner as Chondodendron. Pomet had heard of two varieties of Pareira Brava, and two were known to Geoffrey.^ Lochner of Nuremberg who published a treatise on Pareira Brava in 1719 ^ brought forward a plant of Eastern Africa figured in 1675 by Zanoni,'' and sujjposed to be the mother-plant of the drug. A species of Cissampelos called by the Portuguese in Brazil Caapeba, Cipo de Cobras or Herva de Nossa Senhora described by Piso in 1648,^ afterwards became associated wdth Pareira Brava on account of similarity of properties. Thus was introduced a confusion which we may say was consolidated when Linnseusin 1753,^ founded a species as Cissampelos Pareira, citing it as the source of Pareira Brava, — a confusion which has lasted for more than a hundred years. This plant is very distinct from that yield- ing true Pareira Brava, and though its roots and stems are used medicinally in the West Indies,^" there is nothing to prove that they were ever an object of export to Europe. As Pareira Brava failed to realize the extravagant pretensions claimed for it, it gradually fell out of use^^ and the characters of the true drug be- came forgotten. This at least seems to be the explanation of the fact that for many yeai's past the Pareira Brava found in the shops and supposed to be genuine is a substance very diverse from the original drug, — albeit not devoid of medicinal properties. More recently even this has become scarce and an inert Pareira Brava has been almost the sole ' //is?. fZesZ)/Oi/., Paris, 1694, part i., livre ^ Schedlasma dc Parreira Brava, 1719. 2. cap. 14. (ed. 2. auctiov). ^ Hist, de I'Acad. roy. des Sciences, annoe '^ Istaria Botanica, 1675. 59. fig. 22. 1710. 56. ^ Medid7ia Brasilicnsis, 1648. 94. 2 Traite des Maladies les plus friquentes ^ Species Plantarum, Holmise, 1753; see el des remedes spicifiques pour les guerir, also Mat. Med. 1749. No. 459. Paris, 1703. 98. ^» Lunau, Ilort. Jamaic. ii. (1814) 254 ; ■* In the volumes of Sloane MSS. No. 4045 Dcscourtilz, Flur. ia6d. des Antilles, iiL and 3322 contained in the British Museum, (1827) 231. are a great many letters to Sloane from " Thus it was omitted from the London Etienne-rran9ois Geoffrey and from his phannacopreias of 1809 and 1824, and from younger brother Claude-Joseph, dating 1699 many editions of the Edinburgh Dispen- to 1744. salary. » Trart. de Mat. Med. ii. (1741) 21—25. PAREIRA BRAVA. 27 kind obtainable. The true drug has however still at times appeared in the European market, and attention having been lately directed to it/ we may hope that it will arrive in a regular manner. The re-introduction of Pareira Brava into medical practice is due (so far as Great Britain is concerned) to Brodie ^ who recommended it in 1828 for inflammation of the bladder. Description — True Pareira Brava as derived from Chondodendron tomentosum is a long, branching, woody root, attaining 2 inches or more in diameter, but usually met with much smaller and dividing into root- lets no thicker than a quill or even than a horse-hair. It is remarkably tortuous or serpentine and marked with transverse ridges as well as with constrictions and cracks more or less conspicuous ; besides which the surface is strongly wrinkled longitudinally. The bark is of a dark blackish brown or even quite black when free from earth, and dis- posed to exfoliate. The root breaks with a coarse fibrous fracture ; the inner substance is of a light yellowish brown, — sometimes of a dull greenish brown. Boots of about an inch in diameter cut transversely exhibit a central column 0*2 to 0*4 of an inch in diameter, composed of 10 to 20 con- verging wedges of large-pored woody tissue with 3 or 4 zones divided from each other by a wavy light-coloured line. Crossing these zones are wedge-shaped woody rays, often rather sparsely and irregularly distributed. The interradial substance has a close, resinous, waxy appearance. The root though hard is easily shaved with a knife, some pieces giving the impression when cut of a waxy, rather than of a woody and fibrous substance. The taste is bitter, well-marked but not persistent. The drug has no particular odour. Its aqueous decoction is turned inky bluish-black by tincture of iodine. The aerial stems especially differ by enclosing a small but well- defined pith. Microscopic Structure — The most interesting character consists in the arrangement rather than in the peculiarity of the tissues composing this drug. The wavy light-coloured lines already mentioned are built up partly of sclerenchymatous cells. The other portions of the paren- chyme are loaded with large starch granules, which are much less abun- dant in the stem. Chemical Composition — From the examination of this drug made by one of us in 1869,^ it was shown that the bitter principle is the same as that discovered in 1839 by Wiggers in the drug hereafter described as Common False Pareira Brava, and named by him Pelosine. It was further pointed out that this body possesses the chemical pro- perties of the Bibirine of Greenheart bark and of the Buxine obtained by "VValz from the bark of Buxus sempervirens L. It was also obtained on the same occasion (1869) from the stems and roots of Cissampelos Pareira L. collected in Jamaica ; but from both drugs in the very small proportion of about ^ per cent. Whether to Buxine (for by this name rather than Pelosine it should ^ Hanbury in Pharm. Journ. Aug. 2 — 9, Brodie, Lectures on Diseases of the Urinary 1873, pp. 81 and 102. Organs, ed. 3. 1842. 108, 138. * Ijmd, Med. Gazette, Feb. 16, 1828 ; » jsf^ues Jahrb. f. Pharm. xxxi. (1869) 257 ; Pharm. Journ. xi. (1870) 192. 28 MENISPERMACE^. be designated) is due the medicinal power of the drug may well be doubted. No further chemical examination of true Pareira Brava has been made. Uses — The medicine is prescribed in chronic catarrhal affections of the bladder and in calculus. From its extensive use in Brazil ^ it seems deserving of trial in other complaints. Helvetius used to give it in substance, which in 5- grain doses was taken in infusion made with boil- ing water from the powdered root and not strained. Substitutes — We have already pointed out how the name Parnra Brava has been applied to several other drugs than that described in the foregoing pages. We shall now briefly notice the more important 1. Stems and roots of Oissampelos Pareira L. — Owing to the diffi- culty of obtaining good Pareira Brava in the London market, the firm of which one of us was formerly a member (Messrs. Allen and Hanburys, Plough Court, Lombard Street) caused to be collected in Jamaica under the superintendence of Mr. N, Wilson, of the Bath Botanical Gardens, the stems and root of Cissampelos Pareira L., of which it imported in 1866—67—68 about 300ib. It was found impracticable to obtain the root 'per se ; and the greater bulk of the drug consisted of long cylin- drical stems many of which had been decumbent and had thrown out rootlets at the joints. They had very much the aspect of the climb- ing stems of Clematis Vitalba L., and varied from the thickness of a quill to that of the forefinger, seldom attaining the diameter of an inch. The stems have a light brown bark marked longitudinally with shallow furrows and wrinkles, which sometimes take a spiral direction. Knots one to three feet apart, sometimes throwing out a branch, also occur. The root is rather darker in colour but not very different in structure from the stem. The fracture of the stem is coarse and fibrous. The transverse sec- tion, whether of stem or root, shows a thickish, corky bark surrounding a light brown wood composed of a number of converging wedges (10 to 20) of very porous structure, separated by narrow medullary rays. There are no concentric layers of wood,^ nor is the arrangement of the wedges oblique as in many other stems of the order. The drug is inodorous, but has a very bitter taste without sweetness or astrin- gency. 2. Common False Pareira Brava — Under this name we designate the drug which for many years past has been the ordinary Pareira Brava of the shops, and regarded until lately as derived from Cissampelos Pareira L. We have long endeavoured to ascertain, through corre- spondents in Brazil, from what plant it is derived, but without success. We only know that it belongs to the order Menispermaceoi. The drug consists of a ponderous, woody, tortuous stem and root, occurring in pieces from a few inches to a foot or more in length, and from 1 to 4 inches in thickness, coated with a thin, hard, dark brown ^ ' ' Prcsontamente [Abutua] 6 reputada Diccionario de Mcdicina domestica e popular, diaplioretica, diuretica e emenagoga, eusada Rio de Janeiro, i. (1865) 17. interioimente iia dose de duas a quatro - It is therefore entirely different to the oitavas para uma libra de iiifusao ou cozi- wood figured as that of C. Pareira by Eichler mento, nas febres intermittentes, hydro- in Martins' Flor. Bras. xiii. pars. i. tab. 50. pisias, e suspensao de lochios." — Langgaard, fig. 7. FAREIRA BRA FA. 29 bark. The pieces are cylindrical, four-sided, or more or less flattened — sometimes even to the extent of becoming ribbon-like. In transverse section, their structure appears very remarkable. Supposing the piece to be stem, a well-defined pith will be found to occupy the centre of the first formed wood, which is a column about |- of an inch in diameter. This is succeeded by 10 to 15 or more concentric or oftener eccentric zones, Y^tr ^o tV of ^^ i^^h wide, each separated from its neighbour by a layer of parenchyme, the outermost being coated with a true bark. In pieces of true root, the pith is reduced to a mere point. Sometimes the development of the zones has been so irregular that they have formed themselves entirely on one side of the primitive column, the other being coated with bark. The zones, including the layer around the pith (if pith is present), are crossed by numerous small medullary rays. These do not run from the centre to the circumference, but traverse only their respective zones, on the outside of which they are arched together. The drug, when of good quality, has its wood firm, compact, and of a dusky yellowish brown hue, and a well-marked bitter taste. It exhibits under the knife nothing of the close waxy texture seen in the root of Chondodendron, but cuts as a tough, fibrous wood. Its decoction is not tinged blue by iodine. It was in this drug that Wiggers in 1839 dis- covered pelosine. The drug just described which is by no means devoid of medicinal power, has of late years been almost entirely supplanted in the market by another sort, consisting exclusively of stems which are devoid of bitterness and appear to be wholly inert. They are in the form of sticks or truncheons, mostly cylindrical. Cut transversely they display the same structure as the sort last described, with a well-defined pith. The wood is light in weight, of a dull tint, and disposed to split. The bark which consists of two layers is easily detached. 3. Stems of Chondodendron tomentosum E. et P. — These have been recently imported from Brazil, and sold as Pareira Brava} The drug consists of truncheons about 1+ feet in length, of a rather rough and knotty stem, from 1 to 4 inches thick.^ The larger pieces, which are sometimes hollow with age, display, when cut transversely, a small number (5 — 9) nearly concentric woody zones. The youngest pieces have the bark dotted over with small dark warts. The wood is, inodorous, but has a bitterish taste like the root, of which it is probably an efficient representative. Some pieces have portions of root springing from them, and detached roots occur here and there among the bits of stem. 4. Wliite Pareira Brava — Stems and roots of Aluta rufescens Aublet. — Mr. J. Correa de Mello of Campinas has been good enough to send to one of us (H.) a specimen of the root and leaves ^ of this plant marked Parreira Brava grande. The former we have identified with a drug received from Eio de Janeiro asAbutua Unha de Vaca, i.e. Cow-hooJ ^ 45 packages containing about 20 cwt. would appear that the panicles of flower were offered for sale by Messrs. Lewis and arise year after year. Peat, drug-brokers, 11 Sept. 1873, but there ^ I have compared these leaves wit had been earlier importations. Aublet's own specimen in the British ^ From these knots, which are at regular Museum. — D. H. intervals and sometimes verj' protuberant, it 30 MENISPERMACHM Ahutua, and also with a similar drug found in the London market. Aublet ^ states that the root of Ahuta rufescens was, in the time of his visit to French Guiana, shipped from that colony to Europe as Pareira Brava hlanc (White Pareira Brava). This name is well applicable to the drug before us, which consists of short pieces of a root, ^ an inch to 3 inches thick, covered with a rough blackish bark, and also of bits of stem having a pale, striated, corky- bark. Cut transversely the root displays a series of concentric zones of white amylaceous cellular tissue, each beautifully marked with narrow wedge-shaped medullary rays of dark, porous tissue. The wood of the stem is harder than that of the root, the medullary rays are closer together and broader, and there is a distinct pith. The wood, neither of root nor stem, has any taste or smell. A decoction of the root is turned bright blue by iodine. 5. Yellow Pareira Brava — This drug of which a quantity was in the hands of a London drug-broker in 1873, is, we presume, the Pareira Brava jaune of Aublet — the bitter tasting stem of his " Ahuta amara folio levi cordiformi ligno flavescente," — a plant of Guiana unknown to recent botanists. That which we have seen consists of portions of a hard woody stem, from 1 to 5 or 6 inches in diameter, covered with a whitish bark. Internally it is marked by numerous regular concentric zones, is of a bright yellow colour and of a bitter taste. It probably contains berberine. COCCULUS INDICUS. Fructus Cocculi ; Cocculus Indians ; F. Coque du Levant ; G. Kokkelskomer. Botanical Origin — Anamirta Cocculus Wight et Arnott (Meni- spermum Cocculus L.), a strong climbing shrub found in the eastern parts of the Indian peninsula from Concan and Orissa to Malabar and Ceylon, in Eastern Bengal, Khasia and Assam, and in the Malayan Islands. History — It is commonly asserted that Cocculus Indicus was intro- duced into Europe through the Arabs, but the fact is difdcult of proof ; for though Avicenna^ and other early writers mention a drug having the power of poisoning fish, they describe it as a hark, and make no allusion to it as a production of India. Even Ibn Baytar^ in the 13th century professed his inability to discover what substance the older Arabian authors had in view. Cocculus Indicus is not named by the writers of the School of Salernum. The first mention of it we have met with is by Euellius,* who alluding to the property possessed by the roots of Aristolocliia and Cyclamen of attracting fishes, states that the same power exists in the little berries found in the shops under the name of Cocci Orientis, which when scattered on water stupefy the fishes, so that they may be captured by the hand. Valerius Cordus,^ who died at Eome in 1543, thought the drug which he calls Cuculi de Levante, to be the fruit of a Solanum growing in Egypt. ^ Hist, des Plantes de la Guiane Frangoise, ' Sontheimer's transl. ii. 460. i. (1775) 618. tab. 250. * Be Natura Stirpium, Paris, 1536. lib. - Val^visi edition, 1564, lib. ii. tract. 2. iii. c. 4. cap. 4S6. - ' Adnotationes, 1549. cap. 63 (p. 509). COCCULUS INDICUS. 31 Dalecliamps^ repeated this statement in 158G, at which period and for long afterwards, Cocculus Indicus used to reach Europe from Alex- andria and other parts of the Levant. Gerarde,^ who gives a very good figure of it, says it is well known in England (1597) as Cocculus Indicus, otherwise Cocci vel Cocculce OricntaUs, and that it is used for destroying vermin and poisoning fish. In 1635 it was subject to an import duty of 2s. per lb., as Cocculus Indim.^ The use of Cocculus Indicus in medicine was advocated by Battista Codronchi, a celebrated Italian physician of the 16th century, in a tractate entitled De Baccis Orientalibics} The word Cocculus is derived from the Italian coccola, signifying a small, berry-like fruit.^ Mattioli remarks that as the berries when first brought from the East to Italy had no special name, they got to be called Coccole di Zevante.'^ Description — The female flower of Anamirta has normally 5 ovaries placed on a short gynophore. The latter, as it grows, becomes raised into a stalk about ^ an inch long, articulated at the summit with shorter stalks, each supporting a drupe, which is a matured ovary. The purple drupes thus produced are 1 to 3 in number, of gibbous ovoid form, with the persistent stigma on the straight side, and in a line with the shorter stalk or carpodium. They grow in a pendulous panicle, a foot or more in length. These fruits removed from their stalks and dried have the aspect of little round berries, and constitute the Cocculus Indicus of commerce. As met with in the market they are shortly ovoid or subreniform, -^ to ^ of an inch long, with a blackish, wrinkled surface, and an obscure ridge running round the back. The shorter stalk, when present, supports the fruit very obliquely. The pericarp, consisting of a wrinkled skin covering a thin woody endocarp, encloses a single reniform seed, into which the endocarp deeply intrudes. In transverse section the seed has a horse-shoe form ; it consists chiefly of albumen, enclosing a pair of large, diverging lanceolate cotyledons, with a short terete radicle.'^ The seed is bitter and oily, the pericarp tasteless. The drug is pre- ferred when of dark colour, free from stalks, and fresh, wdth the seeds well preserved. Microscopic Structure — The woody endocarp is built up of a peculiar sclerenchymatous tissue, consisting of branched, somewhat elongated cells. They are densely packed, and run in various directions, showing but small cavities. The parenchyme of the seed is loaded with crystallized fatty matter. Chemical Composition — Picrotoxin, C^^H^^O^ a crystallizable sub- stance occurring in the seed to the extent of f to 1 per cent., was observed by BouUay, as early as 1812, and is the source of the poisonous property of the drug. Picrotoxin does not neutralize acids. It dissolves in water and in alkalis ; the solution in the latter reduces cupric oxide like the sugars, but to a much smaller extent than glucose. The alka- ^ Hist. Gen. Plant. 1586. 1722. alloro, pugnitopo, e lentiscMo, e simili. — * Herhall, Lond. 1636. 1548-49. Lat. iacca; Gr. dKp6Spva. — Vocaholario degli ^ The Rates of Marchand'izes, Lond. 1635. Accaclemici della Crusca. * It forms part of his work De Christiana ^ Quoted by J. J. von Tschudi, Die Kokkels- ac tuta medendi ratione, Ferrarise, 1591. korner und das Pikrotoxin, St. Gallen, 1847. " Frutto d'alcuni alberi, e d'alcune piante, ^ The fruit should be macerated in order o erbe salvatiche, come cipresso, ginepro, to ezamine its structure. 32 MENISPERMACEJE. line solution is not precipitated by chloride of ammonium. The aqueous solution of picrotoxin is not altered by any metallic salt, or by tannin, iodic acid, iodohydrargyrate or bichromate of potassium — in fact by none of the reagents which affect the alkaloids. It may thus be easily distinguished from the bitter poisonous alkaloids, although in its beha- viour with concentrated sulphuric acid and bichromate of potassium it somewhat resembles strychnine, as shown in 1867 by Kohler. Pelletier and Couerbe (1833) obtained from the pericarp of Cocculus Indicus two crystallizable, tasteless, non-poisonous substances, having the same composition, and termed respectively Menispermine and Fara- menispermine. These bodies, as well as the very doubtful amorphous Hypopicrotoxic Acid of the same chemists, require re-examination. The fat of the seed which amounts to about half its weight, is used in India for industrial purposes. Its acid constituent, formerly regarded as a peculiar substance under the name of Stearophanic or Anamirtic Acid, was found by Heintz to be identical with stearic acid. Commerce — Cocculus Indicus is imported from Bombay and Madras, but we have no statistics showing to what extent. The stock in the dock warehouses of London on 1st of December, 1873, was 1168 packages, against 2010 packages on the same day of the previous year. The drug is mostly shipped to the continent, the consumption in Great Britain being very small. Uses — In British medicine Cocculus Indicus is only employed as an ingredient of an ointment for the destruction oipediculi. It has been discarded from the British Pharmacopoeia, but has a place in that of India. GULANCHA. Gaulis et radix Tinosporce. Botanical Origin — Tinospora cordifolia Miers {Cocculus cordifolius DC), a lofty climbing shrub found throughout tropical India from Kumaon to Assam and Burma, and from Concan to Ceylon and the Carnatic. It is called in Hindustani Gulancha. History — The virtues of this plant which appear to have been long familiar to the Hindu physicians, attracted the attention of Europeans in India at the early part of the present century.^ According to a paper published at Calcutta in 1827,^ the parts used are the stem, leaves, and root, which are given in decoction, infusion, or a sort of extract called pdlo, in a variety of diseases attended with slight febrile symptoms. O'Shaughnessy declares the plant to be one of the most valuable in India, and that it has proved a very useful tonic. Similar favourable testimony is borne by Waring. Gulancha was admitted to the Bengal Pharmacopceia of 1844, and to the Pharmacopeia of India of 1868. Description — The stems are perennial, twining and succulent, running over the highest trees and throwing out roots many yards in length which descend like slender cords to the earth. They have a thick corky bark marked with little prominent tubercles. 1 Fleming, Catal. of Indian Med. Plants Ram Comol Shen. — Trans, of Med. and and Drugs, Calcutta, 1810. 27. Phys. Sac. of Calcutta, iii. (1827) 295. ' On the native drug called Gulancha by CORTEX BERBERIDIS INDICUS. 33 As found in the bazaars the drug occurs as short transverse segments of a cylindrical woody stem from ^ of an inch up to 2 inches in diameter. They exhibit a shrunken appearance, especially those derived from the younger stems, and are covered with a smooth, translucent, shrivelled bark which becomes dull and rugose with age. Many of the pieces are marked with warty prominences and the scars of adventitious roots. The outer layer which is easily detached covers a shrunken parenchyme. The transverse section of the stem shows it to be divided by about 12 to 14 medullary rays into the same number of wedge-shaped woody bundles having very large vessels, but no concentric structure. The drug is inodorous but has a very bitter taste. The root is stated by O'Shaughnessy^ to be large, soft and spongy. Microscopic Structure — The suberous coat consists of alternating layers of flat corky cells and sclerenchyme, sometimes of a yellow colour. The structure of the central part reminds one of that of Gissampelos Fareira (p. 28), like which it is not divided into concentric zones. The woody rays which are sometimes intersected by parenchyme, are surrounded by a loose circle of arched bundles of liber tissue. Chemical Composition — No analysis worthy of the name has been made of this drug, and the nature of its bitter principle is wholly unknown. We have had no ma.terial at our disposal sufficient for chemical examination. Uses — Gulancha is reputed to be tonic, antiperiodic and diuretic. According to Waring ^ it is useful in mild forms of intermittent fever, in debility after fevers and other exhausting diseases, in secondary syphilitic affections and chronic rheumatism. Substitute — Tinospora crispa Miers, an allied species occurring in Silhet, Pegu, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippines, possesses similar pro- perties, and is highly esteemed in the Indian Archipelago as a febrifuge BERBERIDE^. CORTEX BERBERIDIS INDICUS. Indian Barberry Bark. Botanical Origin — This drug is allowed in the Pharmacopceia of India to be taken indifferently from three Indian species of Berheris ^ which are the following : — - 1. Berheris aristata DC, a variable species occurring in the temperate regions of the Himalaya at 6000 to 10,000 feet elevation, also found in the IsTilghiri mountains and Ceylon. 2. B. Lycium Eoyle, an erect, rigid shrub found in dry, hot situa- tions of the western part of the Himalaya range at SOOO to 9000 feet above the sea-level. 3. B. asiatica Eoxb. — This species has a wider distribution than the last, being found in the dry valleys of Bhotan and Nepal whence it ^ Bengal Dispensatory, 1842. 198. Berheris, see Hooker and Thomson's Flora " Pharni. of India, 1868. 9. Indica (1855), also Hooker's i^Zora of British ^ For remarks on the Indian species of India, i. (1872) 108. D 34 BERSERimM stretches westward along the Himalaya to Garwhal, and occnrs again in Affghanistan. History — Tlie medical practitioners of ancient Greece and Italy made use of a substance called Lycium (Xvkiov) of which the best kind was brought from India. It was regarded as a remedy of great value in restraining inflammatory and other discharges ; but of all the uses to which it was applied the most important was the treatment of various forms of ophthalmic inflammation. Lycium is mentioned by Dioscorides, Pliny, Celsus, Galen, and Scribonius Largus ; by such later Greek writers as Paulus ^gineta, -c^fcius, and Oribasius, as well as by the Arabian physicians. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea who probably lived in the 1st century, enumerates \vklov as one of the exports of Barbarike at the mouth of the Indus, and also names it along with Bdellium and Costus among the commodities brought to Barygaza : — and further, lycium is mentioned among the Indian drugs on which duty was levied at the Koman custom house of Alexandria about A.D. 176—180.1 An interesting proof of the esteem in which it was held is afforded by some singular little vases or jars of which a few specimens are pre- served in collections of Greek antiquities.^ These vases Were made to contain lycium, and in them it was probably sold ; for an inscription on the vessel not only gives the name of the drug but also that of a person who, we may presume, was either the seller or the inventor of the composition. Thus we have the Lycium of Jason, of Musceus, and of Heracleus. The vases bearing the name of Jason were foand at Taren- tum, and there is reason to believe that that marked Heracleus was from the same locality. Whether it was so or not, we know that a certain Heraclides of Tarentum is mentioned by Celsus ^ on account of his method of treating certain diseases of the eye ; and that Galen gives formulse for ophthalmic medicines "* on the authority of the same person. Innumerable conjectures were put forth during at least three centuries as to the origin and nature of lycium, and especially of that highly esteemed kind that was brought from India. In the year 1833, Royle^ communicated to the Linnean Society of London a paper proving that the Indian Lycium of the ancients was identical with an extract prepared from the wood or root of several species of Berheris growing in Northern India, and that this extract, well known in the bazaars as Rusot or Rasot, was in common use among the natives in various forms of eye disease.^ This substance attracted considerable notice in India, and though its efficacy per se'' seemed ^ Vincent, Cominerce and Navigation of "• Cataplasmatalippientium quibususns est the Ancients in the Indian Ocean, ii. (1807) Heraclides Tarentinus. — Galen, De Comp. 890, 410, 734. Med. sec. locos, lib. iv. (p. 15-3 in Venice edit. ** Figures of these vessels were published of 1 625). by Dr. .J. Y. Simpson in an interesting paper * On the Lycium. of Dioscorides. — Linn. entitled Notes on some ancient Greek ■tiiedical Trans, xvii. (18.37) 83. vases for containing Lycium, of which we " It is interesting to find that two of the have made free use. — See (Edinb.) Monthly names for ^j/ciuwi given by Ibn Baytar in the Journal of Med. Science, xvi. (1853) 24, also 13th century are precisely those under which Pharm. Joxwn. xiii. (1854) 41.3. rusot is met with in the Indian bazaars at * Lib. vii. c. 7. — See also Ceelius Aure- the present day. lianus, De morhis chronida (Haller's ed.) lib. ^ The natives apply it in combination with i. c. 4, lib. iii. c. 8. alum and opium. RHTZOMA PODOPHYLLI. 35 questionable, it was administered with "benefit as a tonic and febrifuge.^ But the rusot of the natives being often badly prepared or adulterated, the bark of the root has of late been used in its place, and in con- sequence of its acknowledged efficacy has been admitted to the Pharmacopoeia of India. Description — In B. asiatica {the only species we have examined) the roots which are thick and woody, and internally of a bright yellow, are covered with a thin, brittle bark. The bark has a light-brown corky layer, beneath which it appears of a darker and greenish-yellow hue, and composed of coarse fibres running longitudinally. The inner surface has a glistening appearance by reason of fine longitudinal striae. The bark is inodorous and very bitter. Chemical Composition — Solly ^ pointed out in 1843 that the root- bark of the Ceylon barberry [B. aristata'] contains the same yellow colouring matter as the barberry of Europe. L. W. Stewart ^ extracted Berherine in abundance from the barberry of the Nilghiri Hills and Northern India, and presented specimens of it to one of us in 1865. The root-bark of Berberis vulgaris L. was found by Polex (1836) to contain another alkaloid named Oxyacanthine, which forms with acids colourless crystallizable salts of bitter taste.* Uses — The root-bark of the Indian barberries administered as a tincture has been found extremely useful in India in the treatment of fevers of all types. It has also been given with advantage in diarrhoea and dyspepsia, and as a tonic for general debility. RHIZOMA PODOPHYLLI. Radix 'podo'phylli ; Podophyllum Root. Botanical Origin — Podophyllum peltatum L., a perennial herb grow- ing in moist shady situations throughout the eastern side of the North American continent from Hudson's Bay to New Orleans and Florida. The stem about a foot high, bears a large, solitary, white flower, rising from between two leaves of the size of the hand composed of 5 to 7 wedge-shaped divisions, somewhat lobed and toothed at the apex. The yellowish pulpy fruit of the size of a pigeon's Q.gg is slightly acid and is sometimes eaten under the name of May Apple. The leaves partake of the active properties of the root. History — The virtues of the rhizome as an anthelmintic and emetic have been long known to the Indians of North America. The plant was figured in 1731 by Catesby ^ who remarks that its root is an excellent emetic. Its cathartic properties were noticed by Barton in 1798 ^ and have been commented upon by many subsequent writers. In 1820, podophyllum was introduced into the United States Pharmacopoeia, and in 1864 into the British Pharmacopoeia. Hodgson published in 1832 in the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy ^ the first chemical observations on the rhizome, which now furnishes one of the most ^ O'Shaughnessy, Bengal Dispensatory ^ Nat. Hist, of Carolina, i. tab. 24. (1842) 203—205. ^ Collections for an Essay on Mat. Med. of 2 Journ. of R. Asiat. Soc. vii. (1843) 74. U. S. Philad. 1798. 31. 3 Pharm. Journ. vii. (1866) 303. 7 Vol. iii. 273. * Gmelin, Chemistry, xvii. (1866) 197. D 2 36 BERBHRIDUM popular purgatives, the so-called Podopliyllin, manufactured on a large scale at Cincinnati and in other places in America, as well as in England. Description — The drug consists of the rhizome and rootlets. The former creeps to a length of several feet, but as imported is mostly in somewhat flattened pieces of 1 to 8 inches in length and 2 to 4 lines in lono-est diameter ; it is marked by knotty joints showing a depressed scar at intervals of a few inches which marks the place of a fallen stem. Each joint is in fact the growth of one year, the terminal bud being enclosed in papery brownish sheaths. Sometimes the knots produce one, two, or even three lateral buds and the rhizome is bi- or tri-furcate. The reddish- brown or grey surface is obscurely marked at intervals by oblique wrinkles indicating the former attachment of rudimentary leaves. The rootlets are about ^ a line thick and arise from below the knots and adjacent parts of the rhizome, the internodal space being bare. They are brittle, easily detached, and commonly of a paler colour. The rhizome is mostly smooth, but some of the branched pieces are deeply furrowed. Both rootstock and rootlets have a short, smooth, mealy fracture ; the transverse section is white, exhibiting only an extremely small corky layer and a thin simple circle of about 20 to 40 yellow, vascular bundles, enclosing a central pith which in the larger pieces is often 2 lines in diameter. The drug has a heavy narcotic, disagreeable odour, and a bitter, acrid, nauseous taste. Microscopic Structure — The vascular bundles are composed of spiral and scalariform vessels intermixed with cambial tissue. From each bundle a narrow-tissued, wedge- or crescent-shaped liber-bundle projects a little into the cortical layer. This, as well as the pith, exhibits large thin-walled cells. The rootlets are as usual of a different structure, their central part consisting of one group of vascular bundles more or less scattered. The parenchymatous cells of the drug are loaded with starch granules ; some also contain stellate tufts of oxalate of calcium. Tannic matter is present in very small amount, as proved by perchloride of iron. Chemical Composition — The active principles of podophyllum exist in the resin, which according to Squibb ^ is best prepared by the process termed re-percolation. The powdered drug is exhausted by alcohol which is made to percolate through successive portions. The strong tincture thus obtained is slowly poured into a large quantity of water acidulated with hydrochloric acid (one measure of acid to 70 of water), and the precipitated resin dried at a temperature not exceeding 32° C. The acid is used to facilitate the subsidence of the pulverulent resin which according to Maisch settles down but very slowly if precipitated by cold water simply, and if thrown down by hot wa.ter fuses into a dark brown cake which however has the advantage of being nearly free from berberine. Eesin of podophyllum thus prepared is a light, brownish-yellow powder with a tinge of green, devoid of crystalline appearance, becoming darker if exposed to a heat above 32° C, and having an acrid, bitter taste. The drug yields 3| to 5 per cent, of this resin which is very incorrectly called Fodophyllin. The product is the same whether the rhizome or the ' American Jmirn. of Phnrrii. 'xvi. (18fi8) 1 — 10. PET ALA RHCEADOS. 37 rootlets are exclusively employed.^ It is soluble in caustic, less freely in carbonated alkalis, and is precipitated, apparently without alteration, on addition of an acid. Ether separates it into two nearly equal portions, the one soluble in the menstruum, the other not, but both energetically purgative. From the statements of Credner^ it appears that if caustic lye is shaken with the ethereal solution, about half the resin combines with the potash while the other half remains dissolved in the ether. If an acid is added to- the potassic solution, a red-brown precipitate is produced which is no longer soluble in ether nor possessed of purgative power. According to Credner, the body of greatest purgative activity was precipitated by ether from an alcoholic solution of crude podophyllin. It was however found after due purification to be soluble in ether. F. F. Mayer ^ of New York found podophyllum to contain beside the resin already mentioned, a large proportion of Berherine, and a colourless alkaloid, a peculiar (?) acid, an odoriferous principle which may be obtained by sublimation in colourless scales, and finally Saponin. From all these bodies the resin as prepared for pharmaceutical use by Squibb's process is free, provided that after precipitation, it is well washed with hot water to remove the berberine. An aqueous extract of podophyllum is devoid of cathartic power. Uses — Podophyllum is only employed for the preparation of the resin (Eesina Podophylli] which is now much prescribed as a purgative. PAPAVERACE^. PETALA RHCEADOS. lores Bhmados ; Bed Poppy Petals; F. Fleurs de Coquelicot ; G. Klatschrosen. Botanical Origin — Papaver Bhmas L. — The common Eed Poppy or Corn Eose is an annual herb found in fields throughout the greater part of Europe often in extreme abundance. It almost always occurs as an accompaniment of cereal crops, frequently disappearing when this culti- vation is given up. It is plentiful in England and Ireland, but less so in Scotland ; is found abiindantly in Central and Southern Europe and in Asia Minor, whence it extends as far as Palestine and the banks of the Euphrates. But it does not occur in India or in North America. From the evidence adduced by De Candolle,'' it would appear that the plant is strictly indigenous to Sicily, Greece, Dalmatia, and possibly the Caucasus. History — Papamr Bhrnas was known to the ancients, though doubt- less it was often confounded with P. dubium L. the flowers of which are rather smaller and paler. The petals were used in pharmacy in the time of Dodonseus (1550). Description — The branches of the stem are upright, each terminat- ing in a conspicuous long-stalked flower, from which as it opens the 1 Saunders in Am. Journ. of Pharm. xvi. ^ Am. Journ. of Pharmacy, xxxv. (1863) 75. 97. 2 Ueier PodophylUn (Dissertation), Gies- * Gdogr. bctamque, ii. (1855) 649. sen, 1869. 38 PAPAVERAUEM two sepals fall off. The delicate scarlet petals are four in number, transversely elliptical and attached below the ovary by very short, dark- violet claws. As they are broader than long, their edges overlap in the expanded flower. In the bud they are irregularly crumpled, but when unfolded are smooth, lustrous, and unctuous to the touch. They fall off very quickly, shrink up in drying, and assume a brownish -violet tint even when dried with the utmost care. Although they do not contain a milky juice like the green parts of the plant, they have while fresh a strong narcotic odour and a faintly bilter taste. Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of the petals is the colouring matter, still but very imperfectly known. According to L. Meier (1846) it consists of two substances, Rhceadic and Papaverie Acids, neither of which could be obtained other than in an amorphous state. The colouring matter is abundantly taken up by water or spirit of wine but not by ether. The aqueous infusion is not precipitated by alum but yields a dingy violet precipitate with acetate of lead, and is coloured blackish-brown by ferric salts or by alkalis. The alkaloids of opium cannot be detected in the petals. Attheld in particular has examined the latter (1873) for morphine but without obtaining a trace of that body. The milky juice of the herb and capsules has a narcotic odour, and appears to exert a distinctly sedative action. Hesse (1865) obtained from the plant a colourless, crystallizable substance, Bhcsadine, C^^H^^ISrO^ of weak alkaline reaction. It is tasteless, not poisonous, nearly insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzol, or aqueous ammonia, but dissolves in weak acids. Its solution in dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid acquires after a time a splendid red colour, destroyed by an alkali but reappearing on addition of an acid. Uses — Eed Poppy petals are employed in pharmacy only for the sake of their fine colouring matter. They should be preferred in the fresh state. CAPSULiE PAPAVERIS. Fructus Papaveris ; Poppy Capsules, Poppy Heads ; F. Capsules ou Tetes de Pavot ; G. Mohnkapseln. Botanical Origin — Papaver somniferum L. Independently of the garden-forms of this universally known annual plant, we may, following Boissier,^ distinguish three principal varieties, viz. : — a. setigerum {P. setigerum DC), occurring in the Peloponnesus, Cyprus, Corsica and the islands of Hieres, the truly wild form of the plant with acutely toothed leaves, the lobes sharp-pointed and each terminating in a bristle. The leaves, peduncles, and sepals are covered with scattered bristly hairs, and the stigmata are 7 or 8 in number. /3. glabrum — Capsule subglobular, stigmata 10 to 12. Chiefly culti- vated in Asia Minor and Egypt. 7. album {P. ojfficinale Gmelin) — has the capsule more or less egg- shaped and devoid of apertures. It is cultivated in Persia. Besides the differences indicated above, the petals vary from white to red or violet, with usually a dark purplish spot at the base of each.^ The seeds also vary from white to slate-coloured. ^ Flora Orienlalis, i. (1867) 116. * English growers prefer a whUe-fiowered poppy. CAPSULE PAPJrERIS. 39 History — The poppy has been known from a remote period through- out the eastern countries of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, in all which regions its cultivation is of very ancient date. Syrup of poppies, a medicine still in daily use, is recommended as a sedative in catarrh and cough in the writings of the younger Mesne {oh. A.D. 1015) who studied at Bagdad, and subsequently resided at Cairo as physician to the Caliph of Egypt. In the Ricettario Fiorentino said to be the earliest pharmacopoeia published by authority, and of which the first edition was printed in 1498, a formula is given for the syrup as Siro]jpo di Papaveri semplici di Mesne ; in the first pharmacopoeia of the Londorj College (1618), the medicine is prescribed as SyrupiLs de Meconio Mesum. Description — The fruit is formed by the union of 8 to 20 carpels, the edges of which are turned inwards and project like partitions towards the interior, yet without reaching the centre, so that the fruit is really one-celled. In the unripe fruit, the sutures of the carpels are distinctly visible externally as shallow longitudinal stripes. The fruit is crowned with a circular disc, deeply cut into angular ridge-like stigmas in number equal t^ the carpels, projecting in a stellate manner with short obtuse lobes. Each carpel opens immediately below the disc by a pore, out of which the seeds may be shal?:en ; but in some varieties of poppy the carpel presents no aperture even when fully ripe. The fruit is globular, sometimes flattened below, or it is ovoid ; it is contracted beneath into a sort of neck immediately above a tumid riug at its point of attachment with the stalk. Grown in rich moist ground in England, it often attains a diameter of three inches, which is twice that of the capsules of the opium poppy of Asia Minor or India. While growing it is of a pale glaucous green, but at maturity becomes yellowish brown, often marked with black spots. The outer wall of the pericarp is smooth and hard ; the rest is of a loose texture, and while green exudes on the slightest puncture an abundance of bitter milky juice. The interior surface of the pericarp is rugose, and minutely and beautifully striated transversely. From its sutures sprang thin arid brittle placentae directed towards the centre and bearing on tjieir perpendicular faces and edges a vast number of minute reniform seeds. The unripe fruit has a narcotic odour which is destroyed by d;ryiug ; and its bitter taste is but partially retained. Microscopic Structure — The outer layer consists of a thiij cuticle exhibiting a large number of stomata ; the epidermis is formed of a ra>v of small thick-waJled cells. Fragments of these two layers, which .on the whole exhibit no striking peculiarity, are always foujid in the residue of opium after it has been exhausted by water. The most interesting part of the constituent tissues of the fruit is ,the system of laticiferous vessels, which is of an extremely complicated nature inasmuch as it is composed of various kinds of cells intimately inteiiaced so as to form considerable bundles.^ The cells containing the milky juice are larger but not so much branched as in many other plants. Chemical Composition — The analyses of poppy heads present discrepant results with regard to morphine. Merck and Winckler detected it in the ripe fruit to the extent of 2 per cent., and it has also been found by Groves (1854) and by Deschamps /d'Avallon (1,864). Other chemists have been unable to find it. ^ For particulars see Trecul, Ann. des Sciences Nat. v. (1856^ 19. 40 PAP AVER ACEM In recent pharmacopoeias poppy heads are directed to be taken previous to complete maturity, and both Meurein and Aubergier have shown that in this state they are richer in morphine than when more advanced. Deschamps d'Avallon found them sometimes to contain narcotine. He also obtained mucilage perceptible by neutral acetate of lead, ammonium salts, meconic, tartaric, and citric acid, the ordinary mineral acids, wax, and lastly two new crystalline bodies, Fapaverin, and Papaverosine. The former is not identical with Merck's alkaloid of the same name ; although nitrogenous and bitter, it has an acid reaction (?) yet does not combine with bases. It yields a blue precipitate with a solution of iodine in iodide of potassium. Papaverosine on the other hand is a base to which sulphuric acid imparts a violet colour, changing to dark yellowish-red on addition of nitric acid. In ripe poppy heads, Hesse (1866) found Bho&adme. Groves in 1854 somewhat doubtfully announced the presence of Codeine. Eipe poppy capsules (seeds removed) dried at 100° C. afforded 14"28 per cent, of ash, consisting chiefly of alkaline chlorides and sulphates, with but a small quantity of phosphate. Production — Poppies are grown for medicinal use in many parts of England, mostly on a small scale. The large and fine fruits (poppy heads) are usually sold entire ; the smaller and less sightly are broken and the seeds having been removed, are supplied to the druggist for pharmaceu- tical preparations. The directions of the pharmacopoeia as to the fruit being gathered when " nearly ripe " does not appear to be much regarded. Uses — In the form of syrup and extract, poppy heads are in common use as a sedative. A hot decoction is often externally applied as an anodyne. OPIUM. Botanical Origin — Papaver somniferum L., see preceding article. History— The medicinal properties of the milky juice of the poppy have been known from a remote period. Theophrastus who lived in the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. was acquainted with the substance in question, under the name of Mvjkwvlov. Scribonius Largus in his Compositiones Medicamentorum ^ (circa A.D. 40) notices the method of procuring opium, and points out that the true drug is derived from the capsules, and not from the foliage of the plant. About the year 77 of the same century, Dioscorides ^ plainly distin- guished the juice of the capsules under the name of otto? from an extract of the entire plant, /jbTjKcovetov, which he regarded as much less active. He described exactly how the capsules should be incised, the performing of which operation he designated by the verb oTrl^eiv. We may infer from these statements of Dioscorides that the collection of opium was at that early period a branch of industry in Asia Minor. The same autho- rity alludes to the adulteration of the drug with the millcy juices of Glaucium and Lactuca, and with gum. Pliny ^ devotes some space to an account of Opion, of which he describes the medicinal use. The drug is repeatedly mentioned as 1 Ed. Bernhold, Argent. 1786, c. iii. sect. ^ lj^^ iy_ (._ gg 22. ^ Lib. XX. c. 76. OFWM. 41 Lacrima papaveris by Celsus in the 1st century, and more or less parti- cularly by numerous later Latin authors. During the classical period of the Eoman Empire as well as in the early middle ages, the only sort of opium known was that of Asia Minor. The use of the drug was transmitted by the Arabs to the nations of the East, and in the first instance to the Persians. Erom the Greek word 6'7r6. ; from lVi:>. to '2Vb. is however the most usual. The exterior is covered with the remains of poppy leaves strewn over with the Rumex chaff before alluded to, Avhich together make the lumps sufficiently dry to be easily handled. The consistence is such that the drug can be readily cut with a knife, or moulded between the fingers. The interior is moist ^ Probably signifying refuse, — that which ^ The largest lump I have seen weighed comes mU. ' 6lb. 6oz., being part of 65 packages which I ^ Consul Cunibevbatch, Trade Reiwrt for examined, 2n(l July, 1873. — D. H. 1871, presented to Parliament. OPIUM. 45 and coarsely granular, varying in tint from a light chestnut to a blackish brown. Fine shreds of the epidermis of the poppy capsule are perceptible even to the naked eye, but are still more evident if the residue of opium washed with water, is moistened with dilute chromic acid (1 to 100). The odour of Turkey opium is peculiar, and though commonly described as narcotic and unpleasant, is to many persons far from disagreeable. The taste is bitter. The substances alleged to be used for adulterating Turkey opium are sand, pounded poppy capsules, palp of apricots or figs, gum tragacauth or even turpentine. Bits of lead are sometimes found in the lumps, also stones and little masses of clay. 2. Egyptian Opium — though not so abundant as formerly is still met with in European commerce. It usually occurs in hard, flattish cakes about 4 inches in diameter covered with the remnants of a poppy leaf, but not strewn over with rumex-fruits. We have also seen it .(1873) as freshly imported, in a soft and plastic state. The fractured surface of this opium (when hard) is finely porous, of a dark liver- colour, shining here and there from imbedded particles of quartz or gum, and reddish-yellow points (of resin?). Under the microscope an abundance of starch granules is sometimes visible. The morphine in a sample from Merck amounted to 6 per cent. According to Von Kremer who wrote in 1863,^ there were then in Upper Egypt near Esneh, Kenneh, and Siout, as much as 10,000 feddan (equal to about the same number of English acres) of land cultivated . with the poppy from which opium was obtained in March, and seed in April. Hartmann^ states that the cultivation is carried on by the government, and solely for the requirement of the sanitary establishments. S. Stafford Allen "in 1861 witnessed the collection of opiiim at Kenneh in Upper Egypt,^ from a white-flowered poppy. An incision is made in the capsule by running a knife twice round it transversely, and the juice scraped off the following day with a sort of scoop-knife. The gatherings are collected on a leaf and placed in the sun to harden. The produce appeared extremely small and was said to be wholly used in the country. Gastinel, director of the Experimental Garden at Cairo, and govern- ment inspector of pharmaceutical stores, has shown (1865) that the poppy in Egypt might yield a very good product containing 10 to 12 per cent, of morphine, and that the present bad quality of Egyptian opium is due to an over-moist soil, and a too early scarification of the capsule, whereby (not to mention wilful adulteration) the propor- tion of morphine is reduced to 3 or 4 per cent. In 1872, 9636Tb. of opium, value £5023, were imjDorted into the United Kingdom from Egypt. 3. Persian Opium — Persia, probably the original home of the baneful practice of opium-eating, cultivates the drug chiefly in the central provinces where according to Boissier, the plant grown to furnish it is Papaver somniferum, var. 7 album (P. officinale Gm.) having ovate roundish capsules. Poppy heads from Persia which we ^ Aegypten, Forschungen iiber Land imd ^ Naturgeschichtl. medidn. SMzzeder Nil- VolkwdhrendeineslO jdhrigenAiifenthaltes, lander, Berlin, 1866.353. Leipzig, 1863. ' ^ Pharm. Journ. iv. (186S) 199. 46 PAPATERACEJS. saw at the Paris Exhibition in 1867, had vertical incisions and contained white seeds. The strongest opium called in Persia TeriaJc-e-Arabistani is obtained in the neighbourhood of Dizful and Shuster, east of the Lower Tigris. Good opium is likewise produced about Sari and Balfarush in the province of Mazanderan, and in the southern province of Kerman. The lowest quality which is mixed with starch and other matters, is sold in light brown sticks ; it is made at Shahabdulazim, Kashan, and Kum.^ A large quantity of opium appears to be produced in Khokan and Turkestan. Persian opium is- carried overland to China through Bokhara, Khokan and Kashgar ; ^ but since 1864 it has also been extensively conveyed thither by sea, and it is now quoted in trade reports like that of Malwa, Patna, and Benares.^ It is exported by way of Trebizond to Constantinople where it used to be worked up to imitate the opium of Asia Minor, and at the same time adulterated* Since 1870, Persian opium which was previously rarely seen as such in Europe, has been- imported in considerable quantity. It occurs in various forms, the inost typical being a short rounded cone weighing 6 to 10 ounces. We have also seen it in flat circular cakes, l^Tb. in weight. In both forms the drug was of firm consistence, a good opium-smell, and internally brown of a comparatively light tint. The surface was strewn over with remnants of stalks and leaves. Some of it had been collected with the use of oil as in Malwa (see p. 48), which was apparent from the greasiness of the cone, and the globules of oil visible when the drug was cut. The best samples of this drug as recently imported, have yielded 8 to 10 '7 5 per cent, of morphine, reckoned on the opium in its moist state.^ Carles,*" from a specimen which seems to have been adulterated with sugar, obtained 8-40 per cent, of morphine, and 3-60 of narcotine, the drug not having been previously dried. Inferior qualities of Persian opium have also been imported. Some that was soft, black and extractiform afforded undrie.cl only 3 to | per cent, of morphine (Howard) ; while some of very pale hue in small sticks, each wrapped in paper, yielded no more than 0*2 per cent. ! (How^ard). For futher details, see p. 57. 4. Em^opemi Opium — From numerous experiments made during the present century in Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, England, and even in Sweden, it has been shown that in all these countries a very rich opium, not inferior to that of the East, can be produced. ^ Polak, Persien, ii. (1865) 248, &c. ^ Powell, Economic Products of the Pun- jab, i. (1868) 294. ^ Thus in the Trade Report for Foochow, for 1870, addressed to Mr. Hart, Inspector- General of Customs, Pekin, is the following table : Malwa Imports of Opium in 1867 . . chests 2327 ,, ,, 1868 . . ,, 2460 1869 . . „ 2201 1870 . . „ 1849 * Letter from Mr. Merck to Dr. F. 1863. ' Information kindly given us (9th June, 1873) by Mr. W. Dilhvorth Howard, of the firm of Howard and Sons, Stratford. A morphine manufacturer has no particular interest in asceitaining the amount of water in the opium he purchases. All he requires to know is the percentage of morphine which the drug contains. It is otherwise with the pharmaceutist, whose preparations have to be made with dried opium. 8 Jmm. de Pharm. xviL (1873) 427. Patna Benares Persian 1673 724 300 1257 377 544 1340 410 593 1283 245 630 OPIUM. 47 The most numerous attempts at opium-growing in Europe have been made in France. But although the cultivation was recommended in the strongest terms by Guibourt,^ who found in Trench opium the highest percentage of morphine yet observed (22'88 per cent.), it has never become a serious branch of industry. Aubergier of Clermont-Ferrand has carried on the cultivation with great perseverance since 1844, and has succeeded in producing a very pure inspissated juice which he calls Affium and which is said to contain uniformly^ 10 per cent, of morphine. It is made up in cakes of 50 grammes, but is scarcely an article of wholesale commerce.^ Some careful and interesting scientific investigations relating to the production of opium in the neighbourhood of Amiens, were made by Decharme in 1855 to 1862.^ He found 14,725 capsules incised within 6 days to afford 431 grammes of milky juice, yielding 205 grammes (= 47'6 per cent.) of dry opium containing 16 per cent, of morphine. Another sample of dried opium afforded 20 per cent, of morphine. Decharme observed that the amount of morphine diminished when the juice is very slowly dried, — a point of great importance deserving atten- tion in India. The peculiar odour of opium as observable in the oriental drug, is developed according to the same authority, by a kind of fermentation. Adrian ^ even suggests that morphine is formed only by a similar process, inasmuch as he could obtain none by exhausting fresh poppy capsules with acidulated alcohol, while capsules of the same crop yielded an opium rich in morphine. 5. East Indian Opium — The principal region of British India distinguished for the production of opium is the central tract of the Ganges, comprising an area of about 600 miles in length, by 200 miles in width. It reaches from Dinajpur in the east, to Hazaribagh in the south, and Gorakhpur in the north, and extends westward to Agra, thus including the fiat and thickly-populated districts of Behar and Benares. The amount of land here actually under poppy cultivation was estimated in 1871-72 as 560,000 acres. The region second in importance for the culture of opium consists of the broad table-lands of Malwa, and the slopes of the Vindhya Hills, in the dominions of the Holkar. Beyond these vast districts, the area under poppy cultivation is comparatively small,*" yet it appears to be on the increase. Stewart'' reports (1869) that the plant is grown (principally for opium) through- out the plains of the Punjab, but less commonly in the north-west. In the valley of the Bias east of Lahore, it is cultivated up to nearly 7500 feet above the sea-level. The manufacture of opium in these parts of India is not under any restriction as in Hindustan. Most districts, says Pow^ell (1868),^ cultivate the poppy to a certain extent, and produce a small quantity of indifferent opium for local consumption. The drug however is 1 Journ. da Pharm. xli. (1862) 184, 201. ^ journ. de Pharm. vi. (1867) 222. ^ How this uniformitj'^ is ensured we know * So we may infer from the fact that of the not. 39,225 chests which paid duty to Govern- 3 Dorvault, Officine, ed. 8. 1872. 648. ment at Bombay in 1872, 37,979 were Malwa ^ They are recorded in several pamphlets, opium, the remaining 1246 being reckoned for which we are indebted to the authoi-, as from Guzerat. — Statement of the Trade reprinted from the Mem. de VAcad. du di.- and Nav. of Bombay for 1871-72, p. xv, partement de la Somme and the Mim. de '' Punjab Plants, Lahore, 1869. 10. V Acadimie Stanislas. * Op. cit. i. 294. 48 PAFAVERACBM. prepared iu the Hill States, and the opium of Kiilu (E. of Lahore), is of excellent quality, and forms a staple article of trade in that region. Opium is also produced in Nepal, Basahir and Eampiir, and at Doda Kashtwar in the Jammii territory.^ It is exported from these districts to Yarkand, Khutan, Aksu, and other Chinese provinces, — to the extent in 1862 of 210 maunds (= 16,800ft)). The Madras Presidency exports no opium at all. The opium districts of Bengal,^ are divided into two agencies, those of Behar and Benares, Avhich are under the control of officials residing respectively at Patna and Ghazipur. The opium is a government monoply : — that is to say, the cultivators are under an obligation to sell their produce to the government at a price agreed on beforehand ; at the same time it is wholly optional with them, whether to enter on the cultivation or not. The variety of pop23y cultivated is the same as in Persia, namely, P. somnifermn, var. 7 album. As in Asia Minor, a moist and fertile soil is indispensable.^ The plant is liable to injury by insects, excessive rain, hail, or the growth on its roots of a species of Orobanclie. ■In Behar the sowing takes place at the beginning of November, and the capsules are scarified in February or March (March or April in Malwa). This operation is performed with a peculiar instrument, called a nusMur, having three or four two-pointed blades, bound together with cotton thread.^ In using the nuslitui-, only one set of points is brought into use at a time, the capsule being scarified vertically from base to summit. This scarification is repeated on different sides of the capsule at intervals of a few days, from two to six times. In many districts of Bengal, transverse cuts are made in the poppy- head as in Asia Minor. The milky juice is scraped off early on the following morning with an iron scoop, which as it becomes filled is emptied into an earthen pot carried by the collector's side. In Malwa a flat scraper is used which, as well as the fingers of the gatherer, is wetted from time to time with linseed oil to prevent the adhesion of the glutinous juice. All accounts represent the juice to be in a very moist state by reason of dew, which sometimes even washes it away ; but so little is this moisture of the juice thought detrimental that, as Butter states,^ the collectors in some places actually wash their scrapers in water, and add the washings to the collection of the morning ! The juice when brought home is a wet granular mass of pinkish colour ; and in the bottom of the vessel in which it is contained, there collects a dark fluid resembling infusion of coffee, which is called pas^wd. The recent juice strongly reddens litmus, and blackens metallic iron. It is placed in a shallow earthen vessel, which is tilted in such a manner that the ^3«s<^wa may drain off as long as there is any of it to be separated. This liquor is set aside in a covered vessel The residual mass is now exposed to the air, though never to the sun, and turned over every few days to promote its attaining the proper degree of ^ At the base of the Hiimilaya, S. and ^ It is said (1873) that the f^roiind devoted S.E. of Kashmir. to poppy-culture in Bengal is becoming im- ^ Much of what follows respecting Bengal povcrished and that the plant no longer opium is derived from a'])aper by Eatwell, attains its usual dimensions. forme7-ly First Assistant and Opium Exa- •* For figures of the instrument, see miner in the Government Factory at Gliazi- Pharvi. Juitni. xi. (1852) 207. ym:~Pliarm. Journ. xi. (1852) 269, &c. ■' Phann. Journ. xi. (1852) 209. I OPIUM. 49 dryness, which according to the Benares regulations, allows of 30 per cent, of moisture. This drying operation occupies three or four weeks. The drug is then taken to the Government factory for sale; previous to being sold it is examined for adulteration by a native expert, and its proportion of water is also carefully determined. Having been received into stock, it undergoes but little treatment beyond a thorough mixing, until it is required to be formed into globular cakes. This is effected in a somewhat complicated manner, the opium being strictly of standard consistence. First the quantity of opium is weighed out, and having been formed into a ball is enveloped in a crust of dried poppy petals, skilfully agglutinated one over the other by means of a liquid called ISiva. This consists partly of good opium, partly of pasewd, and partly of opium of inferior quality, all being mixed with the washings of the various pots and vessels which have contained opium, and then evaporated to a thick fluid, 100 grains of which should afford 53 of dry residue. These various things are used to form a ball of opium in the following proportions : — seers chittaks Opium of standard consistence I 7 "50 , , contained in lewd 3 "75 Poppy petals 5 '43 Fine trash 0-50 o 1 .•.o_f about 4Tb. 34 oz ~( Avoirdupois The finished balls usually termed cakes, which are quite spherical and have a diameter of 6 inches, are rolled in 'poppy trash which is the name given to the coarsely powdered stalks, capsules and leaves of the plant ; they are then placed in small dishes and exposed to the direct influence of the sun. Should any become distended, it is at once opened, the gas allowed to escape, and the cake made up again. After three days the cakes are placed, by the end of July, in frames in the factory where the air is allowed to circulate. They still however require constant watching and turning, as they are liable to contract mildew which has to be removed by rubbing in poppy trash. By October the cakes have become perfectly dry externally and quite hard, and are in condition to be packed in cases (40 cakes in each) for the China market which con- sumes the great bulk of the manufacture. For consumption in India the drug is prepared in a different shape. It is inspissated by solar heat till it contains only 10 per cent, of mois- ture, in which state it is formed into square cakes of 2ft). each which are wrapped in oiled paper, or it is made into flat square tablets. Sucli a drug is known as Abkdri Opium. The Government opium factories in Bengal are conducted on the most orderly system. The care bestowed in selecting the drug, and in excluding any that is damaged or adulterated is such that the merchants who purchase the commodity rarely require to examine it, although permission is freely accorded to open at each sale any number of chests or cakes they may desire. In the year 1871-72 the number of chests sold was 49,695, the price being £139 per chest, which is £26 higher than the average of the preceding year. The net profit on each chest was £90.1 ^ Statement exhihiling the moral and during the yaar 1871-72, — Blue Book material progress and condition of India ordered to be printed 29th July, 1873. p. ]Q. E 50 PAP AVER ACE j;. In Malwa tlie manufacture of opium is left entirely to private enter- prise, tlie profit to Grovernment being derived from an export duty of 600 rupees (£60) per chest.^ As may readily be supposed, the drug is of much less uniform quality than that which has passed through the Bengal agencies, and having no guarantee as to purity it commands less confidence. Malwa opium is not made into balls, but into rectangular masses, or bricks which are not cased in poppy petals ; it contains as much as 95 per cent, of dry opium. Some opium sold in London as Malwa Opmm in 1870 had the form of rounded masses covered with vegetable remains. It was of firm consistence, dark colour, and rather smoky odour. W. D. Howard obtained from it {undried) 9 per cent, of morphine. Other im- portations afforded the same chemist 4*8 and 6 per cent, respectively. The chests of Patna opium hold 120 catties or 160Bb. Those of Malwa opium 1 pecul or 133-^ib. The quantity of opium produced in India cannot be ascertained, but the amount exported ^ is accurately known. Thus from British India the exports in the year ending March 31, 1872, were 93,364 chests valued at £13,365,228. Of this quantity Bengal furnished 49,455 chests, Bombay 43,909 chests : they were exported thus : — i'O'C^tiijia'l -.; i . " . 85,470 chests r^<^'"The StraLja ^Settlements 7,845 ,, ^-5P Ceylon, Java, Mauri^tiu's and Bourbon .... 38 ,, ^^ The United, Kingdoili \ 4 ,, wp Other countries . . f 7 ,, ■'5^ _-oo<=>— <( / '^^^^^ 93,364 „ The n^t-^v^/Btfe-to the Government of India from opium in the year 1871-72 was £7,657,213. 6. Chinese Ojnu^n — China consumes not only nine-tenths of the opium exported from India, and a considerable quantity of that produced in Asia Minor, but the whole of what is raised in her own provinces. How large is this last quantity we shall endeavour to show. The drug is mentioned as a production of Yunnan in a history of that province, of which the latest edition appeared in 1736. But it is only very recently that its cultivation in China has assumed such large pro- portions as to threaten serious competition with that in India.^ In a Report upon the Trade of Hanhovj for 1869, addressed to Mr. Hart, Inspector-General of Customs, Pekin, we find Notes of a journey through the opium districts of Szechuen, undertaken for the special jDurpose ^ The revenue by this duty upon opium ing districts advertises native drug for exported from Bombay in the year 1871-72, sale." was £2, 353, 500. W. H. Mcdhurst, British Consul at Shang- ^ Annual Statement of the Trade and hai, says — " The drug is now being so exten- Navifjation of Britisli India with foreign sively ])roduced by the Chinese upon their countries, ])ublished by order of the Governor- own soil as sensibly to affect the demand for General, Calcutta, 1872. 52. the India-grown commodity." — Foreigner in * In the Rc'jjort on the Trade of HanTcow Far Cathay, Lond. 1872. 20. for 1869 addressed to Mr. Hart, Inspector- The quantity of opium exported from General of Customs, Pekin, it is stated — Bombay in 1871-72 was less by 1719 chests "The imyiortatiou of opium is consider- than that exported in 1870-71, the decrease ably short for the last two seasons, but being attributed to the present large culti- this is not to be wondered at now tliat each vation in China. — Statement of tlie Trade opium-shopkeepor in this and the surround- and Nav. of Bombay for 1871-72, pp. xii.xvi. OPIUM. 51 of obtaining information about the dinig.i From these notes it appears that the estimated crop of the province for 1869 was 4235 peculs (= 564,666^.). This was considered small, and the Szechuen opium merchants asserted that 6000 peculs was a fair average. The same authorities estimated the annual yield of the province of Kweichow at 15,000, and of Yunnan at 20,000 peculs, making a total of 41,000 peculs or 5,466,6661b. Mr. Consul Markham states ^ that the province of Shensi likewise furnishes important supplies. Mr. Edkins the well-known missionary- has lately pointed out from personal observation ^ the extensive cultiva- tion of the poppy in the north-eastern province of Shantung. Opium of very fair quality is now produced about ISTinguta (lat. 44°) in north-eastern Manchuria, a region having a rigorous winter climate. Consul Adkins of JSTewchwang Mdio visited this district in 1871, reports that the opium is inspissated in the sun until hard enough to be wrapped in poppy leaves, and that its price on the spot is equal to about Is. per ounce.* Shensi opium is said to be the best, then that of Yunnan. But Chinese consumers mostly regard home-grown opium as inferior in strength and flavour, and only fit for use when mixed with the Indian drug. it must not be supposed that the growing of opium in China has passed unnoticed by the Chinese Government. Whatever may be the nature of the sanction now accorded to this branch of industry, it was " rigorously " prohibited, at least in some provinces, about ten years ago, the effect of the prohibition being to stimulate the foreign importa- tions. Thus at Shanghai in 1865, the importation of Benares opium was 2637 peculs,'^ being more than double that of the previous year, and Persian opium, very rarely seen before, was imported to the extent of 533 peculs, besides about 70 peculs of Turkish.*" Of the growth of the trade in opium between India and China, the following figures ^ will give some idea : value of exports in 1852-53— £6,470,915. 1861-62— £9,704,972. 1871-72— £11,605,577. Poppy cultivation in the south-west of China has been briefly described by Thorel,^ from whose remarks it would appear to be exactly like that of India. The poppy is white-flowered ; the head is wounded with a three-bladed knife, in a series of 3 to 5 vertical incisions, and the exuded juice is scraped off and transferred to a small pot suspended at the waist. How the drug is finished off we know not. A Chinese account states simply that the best opium is sun-dried. But little is known of its physical and chemical properties. Thorel speaks of it as a soft sub- stance resembling an extract. Dr. E. A. Jamieson ^ describes a sample sub- 1 According to the French missionaries, ^ Reports on the Trade at the Treaty Ports the cultivation of the poppy in the great in China for 1865. 125. province of Szechuen was hardly known '' Taken iroTO. the, Annual Statement of the even so recently as 1840. Trade and Navigation of British India with ^ Journ. of Soc. of Arts, Sept. 6, 1872. foreign countries, -puhlished by order of the 838. Governor-General, Calcutta, 1872. 199. 3 North China Herald, June 28, 1873. ^ Notes mklicales du voyage d' ex'ploralio'ii 4 Report of H.M. Consuls in China, 1871 du Mekong et de Cochinchine, Paris, 1870. (No. 3. 1872). 32. s One pecul = 133^11j. ^ Report on the Trade of Hankow, before- quoted. E 2 52 PAPAVERACEjE. mitted to him as a flat cake enveloped in the sheathing petiole of bamboo ; externally it was a blackish-brown, glutinous substance, dry and brittle on the outside. It lost by drying 18 per cent, of water, and afforded upon incineration 7"5 per cent, of ash. In 100 grains of the (undried) drug, there were found 5-9 of morphine, and 7'5 of narcotine. (See also p. 58.) . _ The Chinese who prepare opium for use by converting it into an aqueous extract which they smoke, do not estimate the value of the drug according to its richness in morphine, but by peculiarities of aroma and degree of solubility. In China the preparation of opium for smoking is a special business, not beneath the notice even of Europeans.^ Description — The leading characteristics of each kind of opium have been already noticed. The following remarks bear chiefly on the microscopic appearances of the drug. As will be presently shown, a more or less considerable part of the drug consists of peculiar substances which are mostly crystallizable and are many of them present in a crystalline state in the drug itself. All kinds of opium appear more or less crystalline when a little in a dry state is triturated with benzol and examined under the microscope. The forms are various : opium from Asia Minor exhibits needles and short imperfect crystals usually not in large quantity, whereas Indian and still more Persian opium is not only highly crystalline but shows a variety of forms which become beautifully evident when seen by polarized light. In several kinds large crystals occur which are doubtless sugar, either intentionally mixed or naturally present. The crystals seen in opium are not however sufficiently developed to warrant positive conclusions as to their nature, besides which the opium constituents when pure are capable under slightly varied circumstances of assuming very different forms. Hence the attempt to obtain from solutions crystals which shall be comparable with those of the same substances in a state of purity often fails. Some interesting observations in this direction were made by Deane and Brady in 1864-5.^ All opium has a peculiar narcotic odour and a sharp bitter taste. Chemical Composition — Poppy-juice like analogous vegetable fluids is a mixture of several substances in variable proportion. With the commoner substances which constitute the great bulk of the drug we are not yet sufficiently acquainted. In the first place (independently of water) there is found mucilage distinct from that of gum arable, also pectic matter, and albumin. These bodies, together with unavoidable fragments of the poppy-capsules, probably amount on an average to more than half the weight of the opium. ^ In addition to these substances, the juice also contains sugar in solu- tion,— in French opium to the extent of 6|- to 8 per cent. : according to Dechavme it is uncrystallizable. Sugar also exists in other opium, but whether always naturally has not been determined. 1 111 1870, a British firm at Amoy opened as well as from the pure opium constituents, an establishment for preparing opium for the When the juice of the poppy is prevented supply of the Chinese in California and fi'om rapid drying by the addition of a little Australia. glycerin, crystals are developed in it. 2 Phnrm. Journ. vi. 234: vii. 183. with ^ piuckiger, in Pharm, Journ. x. (1869) 4 beautiful plates representing the crystal- . 208. lizations irom extract and tincture of opium (iPiUM. 53 Fresh poppy-juice contains in tlie form of emulsion, wax, pectin, albumin and insoluble calcareous salts. When good Turkey opium is treated with water these substances remain in the residue to the extent of 6 to 10 per cent. Hesse has isolated the loax by exhausting the refuse of opium with boiling alcohol and a little lime. He thus obtained a crystalline mass from which he separated by chloroform Palmitate and CerotcUe of Cerotyl, the former in the larger proportion. Respecting the colouring matter and an extremely small quantity of a volatile body with pepper-like odour, we know but little. After the colouring matter has been precipitated from an aqueous solution of opium by lead acetate, the liquid becomes again coloured by exposure to the air. As to the volatile body, it may be removed by acetone or benzol, but has not yet been isolated. The salts of inorganic bases, chiefly of calcium, magnesium and potassium, contain partly the ordinary acids such as phosphoric and sulphuric, and partly an acid peculiar to the poppy. Good' opium of Asia Minor dried at 100° C. yields 4 to 8 per cent. of ash. Poppy-juice contains neither starch nor tannic acid, the absence of which easily-detected substances affords one criterion for judging of the purity of the drug. The proportion of water in opium is very variable. In drying Turkey opium previous to pulverization and for other pharmaceutical purposes, the average loss is about 12^ per cent.^ Bengal opium which resembles a soft black extract is manufactured so as to contain 30 per cent, of water. As the active constituents of opium, or at all events the morphine, can be completely extracted by cold water, the proportion of soluble matter is of practical importance. In good opium of Asia Minor pre- viously dried, the extract {dried at 100° C.) always amounts to between 55 and 66 per cent., — generally to more than 60, — thus affording in many instances a test of the pureness of the drug. Dried Indian opium yields from 60 to 68 per cent, of matter soluble in cold water.^ The peculiar constituents of opium are of basic, acid, or neutral nature. Some of these substances were observed in opium as early as the 17th or 18th century and designated Magisterium Opii. Bucholz in 1802 vainly endeavoured to obtain a salt from the extract by crystal- lization. In 1803 however, Charles Derosne, an apothecary of Paris, in diluting a syrupy aqueous extract of opium, observed crystals of the substance now called Narcotine, which he prepared pure. He be- lieved that the same body was obtained by precipitating the mother liquor with an alkali, but what he so got was morphine. It is needless to pursue the further researches of Derosne. Ingenious as they were it was reserved for Priedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertlirner, apothecary of Eimbeck in Hanover {nat. 1783, oh. 1841) to discover their true interpretation. Sertlirner had been engaged since 1805 with the chemical investiga- tion of opium, and in 1816 he summarized his results in the statement 1 From the laboratory accounts of Messrs. at various times in the course of 10 years Allen and Hanbuiys, London, by which it lost in weight 25jlb. appears that "iOOlb. of Turkey opium dried * Calculated from official statements given by Eatwell in the paper quoted at p. 48. 54 PJPAVERACEM that he had enriched science (we now translate his own words i) — " not only with the knowledge of a remarkable new vegetable acid \_Mekonsdiire (meconic acid) which he had made known as Opiumsdure in 1806], but also with the discovery of a new alkaline salifiable base, Morijliium, one of the most remarkable substances and apparently related to ammonia." Sertiirner in fact distinctly recognized the basic nature and the organic constitution of morphium (now called Morphine, Morphia, or Morphi- num) and prepared a number of its crystalline salts. He likewise de- monstrated the poisonous nature of these substances by experiments on himself and others. Lastly he pointed out, though very incorrectly, the difference between morphine and the so-called Opium-salt (Narcotine) of Derosne. It is possible that this latter chemist may have had morphine in his hands at the same time as Sertiirner, or even earlier. This honour seems also due to Seguin whose paper " Sur VOpium " read at the Institute, December 24, 1804, was, strange to say, not published till 1814.2 ^Q Sertiirner however undoubtedly belongs the merit of first making known the existence of organic alkalis in the vegetable king- dom,— a series of bodies practically interminable. As to opium, it still remains after nearly seventy years a nidus of new substances.^ Solutions of morphine in acids or in alkalis rotate the plane of polarization to the left. The morphine in opium is combined with meconic acid and is there- fore easily soluble in water.* The Narcotine is present in the free state and can be extracted by chloroform, boiling alcohol, benzol, ether, or volatile oils,^ but not by water. It dissolves in 3 parts of chloroform, in 20 of boiling alcohol, in 21 of benzol, in 40 of boiling ether. Its alkaline properties are very weak, and it does not affect vegetable colours. If we examine opium by the microscope we cannot at once detect the presence of narcotine, but if first moistened with glycerin, numerous large crystals may generally be foimd after the lapse of some days. If the opium has been previously exhausted with benzol or ether, in order to remove the narcotine, no such crystals will be formed. Hence it follows that narcotine pre-exists in an amorphous state. By decomposition with sulphuric acid, narcotine yields Cotarnine, an undoubted base, together with Opianic Acid and certain derivatives of the latter. The discovery of another base, Codeine, was made in 1832 by Eobi- quet. It dissolves in 17 parts of boiling water forming a highly alkaline solution which perfectly saturates acids, and exhibits in polarized light a levogyre power. Codeine is also readily soluble at ordinary temperatures in 7 ]3arts of amy lie alcohol, and in 11 of benzol. The codeine of commerce is in very large crystals containing 2 atoms = 5"66 per cent, of water. By crystallization from ether the alkaloid may be obtained in small anhydrous crystals. Since 1832 other alkaloids have been found in opium as may be seen in the following table, which includes all the sixteen now known. 1 Gilhert's Annalcndcr Physik.xxY. {1317) uue voie qui a produit de grandes decou- 57. vevtes niedicales." ■■' Annales dc Chimic, xcii. (1814) 225. •* Tlierc; are exceptional cases in which it ^ The Institut de France on the 27th is asserted that water does not take up the June, 1831, awarded to Sertiirner a prize of whole amount of morphine. 2000 francs — " jjour avoir reconnu la nature ■' in large cr3'stals by means of oil of tur- alcaline de la morphine, et avoir ainsi ouvert pentine. TABLE shoivi7ig the NATURAL ALKALOIDS OF OPIUM and a feiv of their Artificial Derivatives. DISCOVERED BV Wohler, 1844 . . Hesse, 1871 Matthiessen and'l Wright, 1871 . J Wright, 1S71 . Serturner, 1816 Pelletier and Thi-i boumery, 1835 .; Matthiessen and \ Burnside, 1871 . .j Wright, 1871 . . . Bobiquet, 1832 . . Matthiessen andi Foster, 1868 . J Thiboumery, 1835 . Hesse, 1S70 Hesse, 1870 Hesse, 1871 Matthiessen Foster, 1868 Hesse, 1871 . Hesse, 1870 and) Hesse, 1870 Merck, 1848 Hesse, 1865 Hesse, 1865 Armstrong, 1871. Hesse, 1870 . . T. & H. Smith, 1S64 Hesse, 1871 . Derosne, 1803. Hesse, 1870 . Pelletie 183 COTARNINE Formed by oxidizing narcotine ; soluble in water. 1. HYDEOCOTARNINE ..... Crystallizable, alkaline, volatile at 100°. Apomorphine From morphine, by hydrochloric acid. Colourless, a- morphous, turning green by exposure to air; emetic. Desoxymorphine 2, MORPHINE Crystallizable, alkaline, levogjre. 3. PSEUDOMORPHINE ..... Crystallizes with H^O ; does not unite even with acetic acid. Apocodeine From codeine by chloride of zinc ; amorphous, emetic. , . . . . Desoxycodeine , 4. CODEINE . . Crystallizable, alkaline, soluble in water. NORNARCOTINE . . 5. THEBAINE .... Crystallizable, alkaline, isomeric with buxine. Thebenine Thebaicine From thebaine or thebenine by hydrochloric acid. 6, PROTOPINE Crystallizable, alkaline, Methylnornarcwtine . . . . . . . Dedteropine Not yet isolated. 7. LAUDANINE An alkaloid which, as v;ell as its salts, forms large crystals ; turns orange by hydrochloric acid. ....... 8. CODAMINE Crystallizable, alkaline ; can be sublimed ; becomes green by nitric acid. 9. PAPAVERINE Crystallisable, also its hydi-ochlorate ; sulphate in sul- phuric acid precipitated by water. 10.|RH(EADINE Crystallizable, not distinctly alkaline ; can be sub- limed ; occurs also in Palaver Eluxas. Rhceagentne From rhoeadine ; crystalli-zable, alkaline. DiMETHYLNOENARCOTINE ...... 11. MECONIDINE Amorphous, alkaline, melts at 58", not stable, the salts also easily altei-ed. .12. CRYPTOPINE Crystallizable, alkaline ; salts tend to gelatinize ; hj'- drochlorate crystallizes in tufts. 13. LAUDANOSINE Crystallizable, alkaline. 14. NARCOTINE Crytallizable, not alkaline ; salts not stable. 15. LANTHOPINE Microscopic crystals not alkaline, sparingly soluble in hot or cold spirit of wine, ether or benzol. 16. NARCEINEi Crystallizable (as a hydrate), readily soluble in boiling water or in alkalis, levogyre. 21 21 17 21 •21 21 ' In 1851 Hinterberger described as a peculiar alkaloid, Opianrne ; Dr. Hesse has lately examined Hinterberger's specimen of this body. By a letter from him, dated 5 Oct. 1873, we learn that he regards its existence as a definite substance extxemely ■ doubtful.— F. A. F. ' ' , 5 6 Pyi P^i rERACE.E. A large number of derivatives of several among them have been prepared, of which we point out a few in smaller type. The molecular constitution of these opium alkaloids being not yet thoroughly settled we add only their empirical formulae, which however exhibit unmistake- ,able connections. Papaverosine discovered by Deschamps in poppy-heads (p. 40) can hardly be absent from opium. In some points it appears to resemble cryptopine. Among the peculiar non-basic constituents of opium, the first to call for notice is Meconic Acid, C^H^C, discovered, as already observed, by Sertlirner in 1805. It is distinguished by the red colour which it produces with ferric salts. It dissolves in 4 parts of boiling water, but immediately gives off CO^, and the remaining solution instead of depositing micaceous crystalline scales of meconic acid, yields on cooling (but best after boiling with hydrochloric acid) hard granular crystals of Gomenic Acid, C^H^O^. Lactic Acid was discovered by T. and H. Smith in the opium -liquors produced in the manufacture of morphine. These chemists regarded it as a peculiar body, and under the name of Thebolactic Acid, exhibited it together with its copper and morphine salts at the London Inter- national Exhibition of 1862. Its identity with ordinary lactic acid was ascertained by Stenhouse (whose experiments have not been j)ub- lished) and also by J. Y. Buchanan.^ T. and H. Smith consider it to be a regular constituent of Turkey opium ; they obtained it as a calcium- salt to the amount of about 2 per cent., and have prepared it in this form and in a pure state to the extent of over lOOib. In our opinion it is not an original constituent of poppy-juie-e. In the year 1826, Dublanc ^ observed in opium a peculiar substance having neither basic nor acid properties which was afterwards (1832) prepared in a state of purity by Couerbe. It has been called Opiaiiyl (by Couerbe Meconine). It has the composition C^'^H-'^O* and crystallizes in six-sided prisms which fuse under water at 77° C. or per se at 110°, and distD. at 155° ; it dissolves in about 20 parts of boiling water from which it may be readily crystallized. Opianyl may be formed by heat- ing narcotine with nitric acid. Proportion of peculiar constituents — The substances described in the foregoing section exist in opium in very variable proportion ; and as it is on their presence, but especially that of morphine, that the value of the drug depends, the importance of exact estimation is evident. Opium whether required for analysis or for pharmaceutical prepara- tions has to be taken exclusively in the dry state. The amount of water it contains is so uncertain that the drug must be reduced to a fixed standard by complete desiccation at 100° C, before any given weight is taken. Morphine — Guibourt '-^ who analysed a large number of samples of opium, and whose skill and care in such research are not disputed, obtained from a sample of French opium produced near Amiens, 22*88 ^ BcricJde d. Dcutsch. Chem. Gesellsch. zu •^ Mhnoire sur Ic dosoffe do V Opium et sur Berlin, iii. (1870) 182. la qiumtUi dc irwrphine que I'opium doit ^ Annalcs de C'himie et de Physique, xlix. contcnir, Paris, 1862. (1832) 5— 20.— The paper was read before the Acad, de Mei, 13 th May, 1826. OFWiv. 57 per cent, of morphine crystallized from spirit of wine. This per- centage has not to our knowledge been ever exceeded. From another specimen produced in the same district he got 21'23 per cent, from a third 20" 6 7. The lowest percentage from a French opium was 14'96, — in each case reckoned on material previously dried. Chevallier extracted from opium grown by Aubergier at Clermont in the centre of France, 17'50 per cent, of morphine. Decharmes from a French opium obtained 17'6 per cent., and Biltz from a German opium 20 per cent. Opium produced in Wiirtemberg sent to the Vienna Exhibition of 1873 afforded Hesse 12 to 15 per cent, of mor- phine ; and opium from Silesia 9 to 10 per cent.^ A pure American opium collected in the State of Vermont yielded Procter 15 '75 per cent, of morphine and 2 per cent, of narcotine.^ The opium of Asia Minor furnishes very nearly the same propor- tions of morphine as that of Europe. The maximum recorded by Guibourt is 21-46 per cent, obtained from a Smyrna opium sold in Paris. The mean yield of 8 samples of opium sent by Delia Sudda of Constantinople to the Paris Exhibition of 1855 was 14'78 per cent. The mean percentage of morphine afforded by 12 other samples of Turkey opium obtained from various sources was 14*66. Chevallier ^ states that Smyrna opium of which several cases were received by Merck of Darmstadt in 1845, afforded 12 to 13 per cent, of pure morphine reckoned upon the drug in its fresh and moist state. Fayk Bey * analysed 92 samples of opium of Asia Minor and found that half the number yielded more than 10 per cent, of morphine. The richest afforded 17*2 per cent. From the foregoing statements we are warranted in assuming that good Smyrna opium deprived of water ought to afford 12 to 15 per cent, of morphine, and that if the percentage is less than 10, adultera- tion may be suspected. Egyptian opium has usually been found very much weaker in morphine than that of Asia Minor. A sample sent to the Paris Exhibition of 1867 and presented to one of us by Figari Bey of Cairo, afforded us 5'8 per cent, of morphine and 8 '7 of narcotine. Persian opium appears extremely variable, probably in consequence of the practice of combining it with sugar and other substances. It is however sometimes very good. Seput ^ obtained from four samples the respective percentages of 13'47, 11*52, 10*12, lO'OS of morphine, the opium being free from water. Mr. Howard as already stated (p. 46) extracted from Persian opium, not previously dried, from 8 to 10*75 per cent, of morphine. East Indian opium is remarkable for its low percentage of morpliine, a circumstance which we think is attributable in part to climate and in part to a method of collection radically defective. It is scarcely conceivable that the long period during which the juice remains in a wet state, — always three to four weeks, — does not exercise a destructive action on its constituents. ^ Scliroff, AusstellungsbericM, Arznei- * Mmiographie des OpiuTns de I' Umpire ivaaren, p. 31. Ottoman envoyes d V Exposition de Paris, 2 Am. Journ. of Pharm. xviii. (1870) 124. 1867. ^ Notice historique sur Vopium indigene, ^ Journ. de Pliarm. xxxix. (1861) 163. Paris, 1852. 58 PAPAVEEACEM According to Eat well ^ the percentage of morphine in the samples of Benares opium officially submitted for analysis gave the following- averages : — 1845-46 1846-47 1847-48 1848-49 2-48 2-38 2-20 3-21 The same observer has recorded the results of the examination of freshly collected poppy-juice, which in three instances afforded respectively VA, 3 '06, and 2 "8 9 per cent, of morphine, reckoned on the material deprived of water ; but the conditions under which the experiments were made appear open to great objection.^ Such very low results are not always obtained from East Indian opium. In a sample from Khandesh furnished by the Indian Museum, we found 6 "07 of morphine. Solly from the same kind obtained about 7 per cent. Patna Garden Opium which is the sort prepared exclusively for medicinal use, afforded us 8"6 per cent, of purified morphine and 4 per cent, of narcotine.^ Guibourt obtained from such an opium 7*72 per cent. Christison from a sample sent to Duncan of Edinburgh in 1830,^ 9'50 per cent, of hydrochlorate of morphine. Samples from the Indian Museum placed at our disposal by Dr. J. Forbes Watson gave us the following percentages of morphine : — Medical (Indian) Opium, 1852-53, portion of a square brick, 4'3 ; Garden Behar Opium, 4"6 ; AhJcdri Provision Opium, Pat^ia, 'No. 5380, 3*5 ; Sind Opium, No. 28, 3'8 ; Opiium, Hyderahad, Sind, 3'2 (and 5*4 of narcotine) ; Mahoa Opitcm, 6"1. With regard to the percentage of morphine in Chinese Opium, the following data have been obligingly furnished to us by Mr. T. W. Sheppard, F.C.S., Opium Examiner to the Benares Opium Agency, of analyses made by himself from samples of the drug procured in China by Sir E. Alcock : — Szechuen opium, 2*2 ; Kweichow, 2*5 ; Yunnan, 4"1 ; Kansu, 5"1 per cent. Mr. S. informs us that Dr. Eatwell obtained in 1852 from Szechuen opium 3*3, and from Kweichow opium 6"1 ^ per cent. — the opium in all instances being reckoned as dry. The samples examined by Mr. S. contained 86 to 95 per cent, of dry opium, and yielded (undried) 36 to 53 per cent, of extract soluble in cold water. The proportion of morphine in the sample of Chinese opium analysed by Dr. Jamieson (p. 51) was nearly 7"2 per cent, calculated on the dry drug. Pseudomorphine — occurs only in very small quantity. Hesse found it in some sorts of opium to the extent of 0'02 per cent, — in others still less. Codeine — has been found in Smyrna, French and Indian opium, but only to the extent of i to f per cent. T. and H. Smith give the propor- tion in Turkey opium as 0'3 per cent.*^ Thehaine — which has likewise been obtained from French opium, amounts in Turkey opium according to Merck to about 1 jDer cent. In the latter sort T. and H. Smith found only about 015 per cent, but of ' Pharm. Journ. xi. (1852) 361. It is in rectangular tablets 24 inches square ^ In one case the juice was allowed to and f of an inch thick, cased iu wax. stand in a basin from 23rd Feb. to 7th Alay, '• The actual sjiecimen is in the Kew being " occasionally stirred " ! Museum. ^ This di-ug made in 1838 came from the ^ This, sample, the richest of all iu mor- Apothecary-General, Calcutta, and was pre- phine, is noted as of " 2nd quality.'" aented by Christison to tlie Kew Museum. " Pharm. Journ. vii. (1866) 183. OFIUM. 59 Papaverine — in the same drug, 1 per cent. Narcotine — exists iu opium in widely different proportions and often in considerable abundance. Thus Schindler obtained from a Smyrna opium yielding lO'SO per cent, of morphine, 1'30 per cent, of narcotine. Biltz analysed an oriental opium which afforded 9*25 per cent, of morphine and 7"50 of narcotine. Eeveil obtained from Persian opium not rich in morphine, from half as much to twice as much narcotine as morphine. The utmost of narcotine was 9*90 per cent. We have found in German opium of indubitable purity ^ 10"9 per cent, of narcotine. East Indian opium was found by Eatwell always to afford more nar- cotine than morphine, — frequently twice as much. The sample from Khandesh referred to on the opposite page, afforded us 7*7 per cent, of pure narcotine. French opium collected from the Pavot ceillet sometimes affords neither narcotine, thebaine, or Jiarceine.^ Narceine — Of this substance Couerbe found in opium O'l per cent. ; T. and H. Smith 0-02 and Schindler 0-71. Cryptopine — exists in opium in very small proportion. T. and H. Smith state that since the alkaloid first came under their notice, they have collected of it altogether about 5 ounces in the form of hydrochlorate, and this small quantity in operating on many thousands of pounds of opium. But they by no means assert that the whole of the cryptopine was obtained. Rhoeadine — is also found only in exceedingly minute quantity. Meconie Acid — If the average amount of morphine in opium be estimated at 15 per cent., and the alkaloid be supposed to exist as a tribasic meconate, it would require for saturation 3 '4 per cent, of meconie acid. Wittstein obtained rather more than 3 per cent., T. and H. Smith 4 per cent., and Decharmes 4'33. The quantity of acid required to unite with the other bases assuming them to exist as salts can be but extremely small. Estimation of Morphine in Opium — The practical valuation of opium turns in the first instance upon the estimation of the water present in the drug (p. 53) and in the second upon the proportion which the latter contains of morphine.^ The first question is determined by exposing a known quantity of the drug divided into small slices or fragments to the heat of a water- bath until it cease to lose weight. For the estimation of the morphine many processes have been devised, but none is perfectly satisfactory. That which we recommend is thus performed : — Take of opium previously dried at 100° C, 7 to 10 grammes, mix it with thrice its weight of coarsely-powdered pumice, and pack the mixture in a percolation-tube. Then remove by boiling ether the narcotine together with wax and colouring matter. The residue should ■^ Collected by Biltz and obligingly placed codeine, and of Mulder's assertion respecting at my disposal by bis son. — F. A. F. an opium giving 6 to 13 per cent, of nar- ^ The statement of Biltz that an opium ceine. collected by himself from poppies grown at ^ In selecting a sample for analysis, care Erfurt afforded 33 per cent, of narcotine is should be taken that it fairly represents the so contrary to the experience of all other bulk of the drug. We prefer to take a chemists that we cannot accept it as certain. little piece from each of several lumps, mix The same must be said of Christison's dis- them in a mortar, and weigh from the mixed covery of an opium yielding 8 per cent, of sample the reqixired quantity. 60 PJFAVERACEM be next moistened (it may remain in the tube) with a very little spirit of wine (0'822), and exhausted with water. The solution is usually a little acid : if otherwise, the water used should be very slightly acidulated with acetic acid. The solution should be equal to about 20 times the weight of the opium ; it is to be mixed with ammonia, used as little in excess as possible. After a repose of a day or two, the morphine will be found in crystals attached to the sides and bottom of the glass. It may be dried and weighed as crude mor'phim, yet ought to be re-crystallized from boiling spirit of wine (0'822), at least once. There are three principal difficulties in this process: — 1. It is not easy to remove the whole amount of narcotine and wax. 2. It is even less easy to extract the morphine with as little water as one would desire ; and by using much water, the bulk of the solution is inconveniently increased and has then to be reduced by evaporation, which is better avoided. 3. The purification of the crude morphine is necessary yet occasions inevitable loss. These sources of error should be kept in view and avoided as much as possible. Commerce — By official statistics it appears that the quantity of opium imported into the United Kingdom in 1872 was 356,211ib., valued at £361,503. The imports from Asiatic and European Turkey are stated in the same tables thus : — 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 317,133ib. 203,5461b. 276,69116. 492,8551b. 325,572ib. It is thus evident that the drug used in Great Britain is chiefly Turkish. The import of opium from Persia has been ^oivy irregular. In 1871, 21,894ib. are reported as received from that country ; in 1872, none. Except that a little Malwa opium has occasionally been imported, it may be asserted that the opium of India is entirely unknown in the English market, and that none of it is to be found even in London in the warehouse of any druggist. Uses — Opium possesses sedative powers which are universally known. In the words of Pereira, it is the most important and valuable medicine of the whole Materia Medica ; and we may add, the source by its judicious employment of more happiness and by its abuse of more misery than any other drug employed by mankind. Adulteration — The manifold falsifications of opium have been already noticed, and the method by which its most important alkaloid may be estimated has been pointed out. Moreover as already stated, neither tannic acid nor starch ever occur in genuine opium ; and the proportion of ash left upon the incineration of a good opium does not exceed 4 to 8 per cent, of the dried drug. Another criterion is afforded by the amount soluble in cold water which ought to exceed 55 per cent, reckoned on dry opium. Finally, if we are correct, the gum contained in pure opium is distinct from gum arable, being precipitable by neutral acetate of lead. If we exhaust with water opium falsified with gum arable, the mucilage peculiar to opium will be precipitated by neutral acetate of lead, the liquid separated from the precipitate, will still con- tain the gum arable which may be thrown down by alcohol. If gum is present to some extent, an abundant precipitate is produced. SEMEN SIN APIS NIGRM. 6 1 . CRUCIFER.E. SEMEN SINAPIS NIGRiE. Black, Brown or Bed Mustard; ^.Moutardc noire ou grise; G.Schwarzer- Sen/. Botanical Origin — Brassica nigra Koch (Sinapis nigra L.). Black Mustard is found wild over the whole of Europe excepting the extreme north. It also occurs in Northern Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasian region, Western India, as well as in Southern Siberia. By cultivation, which is conducted on a large scale in many countries (as Alsace, Bohemia, Holland; England and Italy), it has doubtless been diffused through regions where it did not anciently exist. It has now become naturalized both in North and South Ameidca. History — Mustard was well known to the ancients. Theophrastus mentions it as Na-Tru, — Dioscorides as 'Ndirv or ^ivrjTTi. Pliny notices three kinds which have been referred by Fee -^ to Brassica nigra Koch, B. alba Hook. f. et Th., and to a South European species, Diplotaxis erucoides DC. [Sinapis erucoides L.). The use of mustard seems up to this period to have been more medicinal than dietetic. But from an edict of Diocletian, A.D. 301 ^ in which it is mentioned along with alimentary substances, we must suppose it was then regarded as a con- diment at least in the eastern parts of the Eoman Empire. In Europe during the middle ages mustard was a valued accom- paniment to food, especially to the salted meat which constituted a large portion of the diet of our ancestors during the winter.^ In household accounts of the 13th and 14th centuries, mustard under the name of Senapium is of constant occurrence. Mustard was then cultivated in England, but not as it would seem very extensively. The price of the seed between a.d. 1285 and 1395 varied from Is. 3c7. to 6s. 8d per quarter, but in 1347 and 1376 it was as high as 15s. and 16s.* In the accounts of the abbey of St. Germain- des-Pres in Paris, commencing a.d. 800, mustard is specifically men- tioned as a regular part of the revenue of the convent lands.^ Production — Mustard is grown in England only on the richest alluvial soils, and chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Very good seed is produced in Holland. Description — The pod oi Brassica nigra is smooth, erect, and closely pressed against the axis of the long slender raceme. It has a strong nerve on each of its two valves and contains in each cell from 4 to 6 spherical or slightly oval seeds. The seeds are about -^ of an inch in diameter and J^ of a grain in weight ; they are of a dark reddish -brown. The surface is reticulated with minute pits, and often more or less covered with a whitish pellicle which gives to some seeds a grey colour.^ 1 Botanique et Matiere Mid. de, Pline, ii. * Rogers, Hist, of AgriciMure and Prices (1833) 446. in England, i. (1866) 223. ^ Mommsen in Berichte. . . d. Gesell. d. ^ Guerard, Polyjytique de I'Ahbe Irminon, Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 1851. 1 — 80. Paris, i. (1844) 715. ^ Enclosed pasture land in England was ^ The grey colour of the seed which is rare, and there was but scanty provision for attributed to rain during the ripening, is preserving stock through the winter, root very detrimental to its value. The great crops being unknown. Hence in November aim of the grower is to produce seed of a there was a general slaughtering of sheep bright reddish brown, with no grey seed and oxen, the flesh of which was salted for intermixed, winter use. G2 CRUCIJERM. The testa which, is thin, brittle and translucent encloses an exalbumi- nous embryo having two short cotyledons folded together longitudinally and forming a sort of trough in which the radicle lies bent up. The embryo thus coiled into a ball completely fills the testa ; the outer cotyledon is thicker than the inner, which viewed in transverse section seems to hold the radicle as a pair of forceps. The seeds when pul- verized have a greenish yellow hue. Masticated they have for an instant a bitterish taste which however quickly becomes pungent. When triturated with water they afford a yellowish emulsion emitting a pungent acrid vapour which affects the eyes, and has a strong acid reaction. The seeds powdered dry have no such pungency. When the seeds are triturated with solution of potash, the pungent odour is not evolved ; nor when they are boiled in water. Neither is the acridity developed on triturating them with alcohol, dilute mineral acids, or solution of tannin, or even with water when they have been kept in powder for a long time. Microscopic Structure — The whitish pellicle already mentioned, which covers the seed, is made up of hexagonal tabular cells. The epidermis consists of one row of densely packed brown cells, radially elongated and having strong lateral and inner wills. Their outer walls on the other hand are thin and not coloured they are not clearly obvious when seen under oil, but swell up very considerably in pre- sence of water, emitting mucilage. Seeds immersed in water become therefore covered with a glossy envelope, levelling down the superficial inequalities, so that the wet seed appears smooth. The tissue of the cotyledons exhibits large drops of fatty oil and granules of albumin. Chemical Composition — By distilling brown mustard with water, the seed having been previously macerated, the pungent principle. Essential Oil of Mustard, is obtained. The oil, which has the composition C*H^:^TS or S3S5 1 S (allyl sulphocyanide), boils at 148° C. ; it has a sp. gr. of 1"017, no rotatory power, and is soluble without coloration or turbidity in three times its weight or more of cold strong sulphuric acid. To this oil is due the pungent smell and taste of mustard and its inflammatory action on the skin. As already pointed out, mustard oil is not present in the dry seeds but is produced only after they have been comminuted and mixed with water, the temperature of which should not exceed 50° C. The remarkable reaction which gives rise to the formation of mustard oil was explained by Will and Korner in 1863. They obtained from mustard a crystallizable substance, then termed Myronate of potassium, now called Smicjrin. It is to be regarded, according to the admirable investigations of these chemists, as a compound of Sulphocyanide of allyl or mustard oil . C'* H^ NS Bisulphate of potassium H KS 0^ Sugar (dextroglucose) C' H^- 0*^ so that the formula C^o H^^ KNS^ Qi" is that of sinigrin. It does in fact split into the above-mentioned three substances when dissolved in water and brought into contact with Myrosin. SEMEN SIN J PIS NTGR.'R. 03 This albuminous body discovered by Bussy in 1839, but the com- position of which has not been made out, likewise undergoes a certain decomposition under these circumstances. Sinigrin may likewise be decomposed by alkalis and, according to Ludwig and Lange, by silver nitrate. These chemists obtained sinigrin from the seeds in the pro- portion of 0"5 per cent. ; Will and Korner got 0"5 to 0'6 per cent. The extraction of the substance is therefore attended with great loss, as the minimum yield of volatile oil, 0*42 per cent, indicates 2'36 of potassium niyronate. The aqueous solution of myrosin coagulates at 60° C. and then becomes inactive : hence mustard seed which has been hea,ted to 100° C. or has been roasted yields no volatile oil, nor does it yield any if powdered and introduced at once into boiling water. The proportion of myrosin in mustard has not been exactly determined. The total amount of nitrogen in the seed is 2*9 per cent. (Hoffmann) which would corre- spond to 18 per cent, of myrosin, supposing the proportion of nitrogen in that substance to be the same as in albumin, and the total quantity of nitrogen to belong to it. Sometimes black mustard contains so little of it, that an emulsion of white mustard requires to be added in order to develop all the volatile oil it is capable of yielding. An emulsion of mustard or a solution of pure sinigrin brought into contact with myrosin, frequently deposits sulphur by decomposition of the allyl sulphocyanide, hence crude oil of mustard sometimes contains a considerable proportion (even half) of Allyl cyanide, C'^H^ISr, distin- guished by its lower sp. gr. (0-839) and lower boiling point (118° C). The seeds, roots, or herbaceous part of many other plants of the order Cruciferm yield a volatile oil composed in part of mustard oil and in part Q3JJ5 \ of allyl sulphide C^H^°S = ps-rrs \ S, which latter is likewise obtainable from the bulbs of garlic. Many Crudferw afford from their roots or seeds chiefly or solely oil of mustard, and from their leaves oil of garlick. As to other plants, the roots of Reseda lutea L. and M. luteola L, have been shown by Volhard (1871) to afford oil of mustard.^ The artificial preparation of mustard oil was discovered in 1855 by Zinin, and at the same time also by Berthelot and De Luca. Mustard submitted to pressure affords about 23 per cent.^ of a mild- tasting, inodorous, non-drying oil, solidifying when cooled to - 17*5° C. and consisting of the glycerin compounds of stearic, oleic and Erucic or Brassic Acid. The last-named acid, C^^H^^O^, occurs also in the fixed oil of white mustard, and of rape, and is homologous with oleic acid. Darby (1849) has pointed out the existence of another body, Sinapoleic Acid, C^'^H^^O^, which occurs in the fixed oil of both black and white mustard. Mustard seed when ripe is devoid of starch ; the mucilage which its epidermis affords amounts to 19 per cent, of the seed (Hoffmann). The ash-constituents amounting to 4 per cent, consist chiefly of the phos- phates of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Uses — Black mustard is employed in the form of poultice as a powerful external stimulant ; but it is rarely used in its pure state as the Flotir of ^ See also EadixArnioracice, -p. QS. ^ I have obtained as mucli as 33 -8 per cent. l)y means of boiling ether. — F. A. F. 64 CRUCIFEB^. Mustard prepared for the table, which contains in addition white mus- tard, answers perfectly well and is at hand in every house/ The essential oil of mustard dissolved in spirit of wine is occasionally prescribed as a liniment. Substitute — Brassica juncea Hook. f. et Th. (Sinapis j'uncea L.) is extensively cultivated throughout India (where JB. nigra is rarely grown), Central Africa, and generally in warm countries where it replaces B. nigra and is applied to the same uses. Its seeds constitute a portion of the mustard of Europe, as we may infer from the fact that British India exported in the year 1871—72, of ''Mustard seed,'' 1418 tons, of which 790 tons were shipped to the United Kingdom, and 516 tons to Erance.^ B. juncea is largely grown in the south of Eussia and in the steppes north-east of the Caspian where it appears to flourish particularly well in the saline soil. At Sarepta in the Government of Saratov, an esta- blishment has existed since the beginning of the present century where this sort of mustard is prepared for use to the extent of 800 tons of seed annually. The seeds make a fine yellow powder employed both for culinary and medicinal purposes. By pressure they yield more than 20 per cent, of fixed oil which is used in Eussia like the best olive oil. The seeds closely resemble those of B. nigra and afford when distilled the same essential oil. SEMEN SINAPIS ALB^. White Mustard; F. Moutarde hlanche ou Anglaise ; G. Weisser Sen/. Botanical Origin — Brassica alba Hook, f. et Th. {Sinapis alba L.) This plant appears to belong to the more southern countries of Europe and Western Asia. According to Chinese authors ^ it was introduced into China from the latter region. Its cultivation in England is of recent introduction, but is rapidly extending.'' The plant is not uncommon as a weed on cultivated land. History — White mustard was used in former times indiscriminately with the brown. In the materia medica of the London Phcmnacopceia of 1720 the two sorts are separately prescribed. The important chemical distinction between them was first made known in 1831 by Boutron- Charlard and Eobiquet.^ Production — White mustard is grown as an agricultural crop in Essex and Cambridgeshire. Description — Brassica alba differs from B. nig^^a in having the pods bristly and spreading. They are about an inch long, half the length being occupied by a flat veiny beak. Each pod contains 4 to 6 yellowish seeds about yV of an inch in diameter and yV of a grain in weight. The brittle, nearly transparent and colourless testa encloses an embryo of a. briglit pure yellow and of the same structure as that of black mustard. ' The Ij'fst Flour of Mustard such as is * Annual Statement of the Trade avdNavi- made Ijy thi; large manufacturers, contains gaf.ion of British India, Calcutta, 1872. 62. nothing but brown and white mustard seeds. ^ Bretschneider, Study of Chinese Botan. But the lower and cheaper qualities made by* IVorks, 1870. 17. the same firms contain flour, tunneric, and * Morton's Cydo}). of Agriculture, ii. capsicum. Unmixed flour of Black Mus- (18.5.5) 440. tard is however kept for those -who care to ' Journ. de Pharm. xvii. (1831)279. pnrcha.se it. SEMEN SINinS ALB/K 65 The surface of the testa is likewise pitted in a reticulate manner but so finely that it appears smooth except under a high magnifying power. When triturated with water the seeds form a yellowish emulsion of very pungent taste, but it is inodorous and does not under any circum- stances yield a volatile oil. The powdered seeds made into a paste with cold water act as a highly stimulating cataplasm. The entire seeds yield to cold water an abundance of mucilage. Microscopic Structure — The epidermal cells of white mustard afford a good illustration of a mucilage-yielding layer such as is met' with under many variations, in the seeds of numerous plants. The cuticle consists of large vaulted cells, exhibiting very regular hexagonal outlines when cut across.^ The inner layer of the epidermis is made up of thin-walled cells, wdiich when moistened swell and give off the muci- lage. In the dry state or seen under oil, the outlines of the single cells of this layer are not distinguishable. The tissue of the cotyledons is loaded with drops of fatty oil and with granular albuminoid matter ; starch which is present in the seed while young, is altogether absent when the latter reaches maturity. Chemical Composition — White mustard deprived of fatty oil yields to boiling alcohol colourless crystals of Sinalbin, an indifferent substance, readily soluble in cold water, but sparingly in cold alcohol. From the able investigations of Will (1870) it follows, that it is to be regarded as composed of three bodies, namely : Sulphocyanate of Acrinyl C^ H^ X S 0 Sulphate of Sinapine C^^ H^^ N S 0^ Sugar C« H12 0^ so that the formula 0^° H*^ W S^ 0^^ represents according to Will the composition of sinalbin. It is actually resolved into these three substances when placed at ordinary tempera- tures, in contact with water and Myrosm, the latter of Avhich is a con- stituent of white mustard as well as of brown (p. 63). The liquid becomes turbid, the first of the above-named substances separates (together with coagulated albumin) as an oily liquid, not soluble in water, but dissolving in alcohol or ether. This Sulphocyanate of Acrinyl is the rubefacient and vesicating principle of white mustard. It does not pre-exist, as shown by Will, in the seed and cannot be obtained by distillation. By treating it with a salt of silver. Will obtained crystals of cyanide of acrinyl, C^H^'NO : by warming it (or sinalbin itself, or an alcoholic extract of the seed) with caustic potash, sulphocyanide of potassium is produced. The presence of the latter may be indicated by adding a drop of perchloride of iron, when a blood-red coloration will be produced.^ Bul'pliaU of Sinapine imparts to the emulsion of white mustard, in which it is formed, an acid reaction. Sinapine is itself an alkaloid, which has not yet been isolated, as it is very liable to change. Thus its solution on addition of a trace of alkali immediately assumes a bright yellow colour indicating decomposition, and a similar colour is produced in an aqueous extract of the seed. 1 An interesting object for the polarizing sulphocyanide is readily soluble in ether, yet microscope. in the case o^ white mustard we find it not ^ The red compound thus formed with to be so. F 66 CRUCIFEBJS. The above statements show, that the chemical properties of sinalbin and its derivatives correspond closely with those of sinigrin (p. 62) and the substances which make their appearance in an emulsion of black mustard. The other constituents of white mustard seed are nearly the same as those of black. The -fat oil appears to yield in addition to the acids mentioned at p. G3, Benic Acid, C^^H^^O^. White mustard is said to be richer than black in myrosin, so that, as explained in the previous article, the pungency of the latter may be often increased by an addition of white mustard. By burning white mustard dried at 100° C, with soda-lime, we obtained from 4'20 to 4*30 per cent, of nitrogen, answer- ing to about 28 per cent, of protein substances.^ The fixed oil of the seed amounts to 22 per cent. The mucilage as yielded by the epidermis is p.recipitable by alcohol, neutral lead acetate, or ferric chloride, and is soluble in water after drying. Erucin and Sinapic Acid mentioned by Simon (1838) ^ as peculiar constituents of white mustard are altogether doubtful, yet may deserve further investigation. The sinapic acid of Von Babo and Hirschbrunn ^ (1852) is a product of the decomposition of sinapine. Uses — White Mustard seeds reduced to powder and made into a paste with cold water act as a powerful stimulant when applied to the skin, notwithstanding that such paste is entirely wanting in essential oil. But for sinapisms they are actually used only in the form of the Flour of Mustard which is prepared for the table and which contains also Brown Mustard seed,. RADIX ARMORACI.E. Horse-radish ; F. Raifort [i.e. racine forte), Gran de Bretagne ; Gr. Meerrettig. Botanical Origin — Cochlearia Armoracia L., a common perennial with a stout tapering root, large coarse oblong leaves with long stalks, and erect flowering racemes 2 to 3 feet high. It is indigenous to the eastern parts of Europe, from the Caspian through Eussia and Poland to Finland. In Britain and in other parts of Europe to the polar circle, it occurs cultivated or semi-wild. History — The vernacular name Armon is stated by Pliny ^ to be used in the Pontic regions to designate the Armoracia of the Eomans, the Wild Ptadish (pacj^avU aypia) of the Greeks, a plant which cannot be positively identified with that under notice. Horse-radish is called in the Paissian language Chrcn, in Lithuanian Krenai, in lUyrian Krcn, a name which has passed into several German dialects, and as 'Gran or Granson into French. From these and similar facts, De Candolle ^ has drawn the con- clusion that the propagation of the plant has travelled from Eastern to Western Europe. Both the root and leaves of horse-radisli were eaten with food in Germany during the middle ages.'' But the use of the former was not ^ Experiments performed by Mr. Weppeii ■' Ibid. 521. in my laboratory, 1869. — ^F. A. F. ■• Lib. xix. c. 26. (Littre's translation.) * Gmelin, Chnnistry, xiv. (1860) ,521 and "' Giographie Botanique, ii. (1855) 655. r>'19. '■ ]\Ieycr, G'e.ichichte dcr Botanik, iii. (1856) RADIX ARM ORACLE. 67 common in England until a much later period. The plant though known in England as Rccl-cole in the time of Turner, 1568, is not mentioned by him ^ as used in food, nor is it noticed by Boorde,^ ] 542, in his chapter on edible roots. Gerarde ^ at the end of the 16th century remarks that horse-radish — " is commonly used among the Germanes for sauce to eat fish with, and such like meats, as we do mustard." Half a century later the taste for horse-radish had begun to prevail in England. Coles ^ (1657) states that the root sliced thin and mixed with vinegar is eaten as a sauce \\\i\\ meat as among the Germans. That the use of horse-radish in France had the same origin is proved by its old French name Moutarde des Alhmands. The root to which certain medicinal properties had always been assigned, was included in the materia medica of the London Pharma- copoeias of the last century under the name of Raphanus rusticanus. Description — The root which in good ground often attains a length of 3 feet and nearly an inch in diameter, is enlarged in its upper part into a crown, usually dividing into a few short branches each surmounted by a tuft of leaves, and annulated by the scars of fallen foliage ; below the crown it tapers slightly, and then for some distance is often almost cylindrical, throwing off here and there filiform and long slender cylindrical roots, and finally dividing into two or three branches. The root is of a light yellowish brown ; internally it is fleshy and perfectly white, and has a short non-fibrous fracture. Before it is broken it is inodorous, but when comminuted it immediately exhales its characteristic pungent smell. Its well-known pungent taste is not lost in the root carefully dried and not kept too long. A transverse section of the fresh root displays a large central column with a radiate and concentric arrangement of its tissues, which are separated by a small greyish circle from the bark, whose breath is from ^ to 2 lines. In the root-branches there is neither a well-defined liber nor a true pith. The short leaf-bearing branches include a large pith surrounded by a circle of woody bundles. The bark adheres strongly to the central portion, in which zones of annual growth are easily perceptible, at least in older specimens. Microscopic Structure — The corky layer is made up of small tabular cells as usual in suberous coats. In the succeeding zone of the middle bark, thick-walled yellow cells are scattered through the parenchyme, chiefly at the boundary line of the corky layer. In the root the cellular envelope is not strikingly separated from the liber, whilst in its leafy branches this separation is well marked by wedge- shaped liber bundles, which are accompanied by a group of the yellow longitudinally-elongated stone cells. The woody bundles contain a few short yellow vessels, accompanied by bundles of prosenchymatous, not properly woody cells. The centre, in the root, shows these woody bundles to be separated by the medullary parenchyma ; in the branches the central column consists of an uniform pith without woody bundles, the latter forming a circle close to the cambium. The parenchyma 531 ; Pfeiifer, Bicch der Natur von Konrad ^ Herball, edited by Johnson, 1636, 240. V01I Megenberg, Stuttgart, 1861. 418. * Adam in Eden, or Nature's Pa^radise. 1 Herball, part 2. (1568) 111. Lond. 1657. chap. 256. . 2 Dijetary of Helth, Early English Text Society, 1870. 278. F 2 68 CANELLACE^. of the whole root collected iu spring is loaded with small starch granules. Chemical Composition— Among the constituents of horse- radish root (the chemical history of which is however far from perfect), the volatile oil is the most interesting. The fresh root submitted to distillation with water in a glass retort, yields about -| per mille of oil which is identical with that of Black Mustard as proved in 1843 by Hubatka. He combined it with ammonia and obtained crystals of thiosinammine, the composition of which agreed with the thiosinammine from mustard oil. An alcoholic extract of the root is devoid of the odour of the oil, but this is quickly evolved on addition of an emulsion of White Mustard. The essential oil does not therefore pre-exist, but only sinigrin (myron.ate of potassium) and an albuminoid matter (myrosin) by whose mutual reaction in the presence of water it is formed (p. 62). This process does not go on in the growing root, perhaps because the two principles in question are not contained in the same cells, or else exist together in some condition that does not allow of their acting on each other, — a state of things analogous to that occurring in the. leaves of Lauro-cerasus. No crystals of sinigrin are visible in the tissue of horse-radish when examined under the microscope. By exhausting the root with water either cold or hot, the sinigrin is decomposed and a considerable proportion of bisulphate is found in the concentrated decoction. Alcohol removes from the root some fatty matter and sugar (Winckler 1849). Salts of iron do not alter thin slices of it, tannic matters being absent. The presence of myrosin which at present has been inferred rather than proved, ought to be further investigated. Uses — An infusion or a distilled spirit of horse-radish is reputed stimulant, diaphoretic, and diuretic, but is not often employed. Substitute — In India the root of Moringa pterygosperma Gartn. is considered a substitute for horse-radish. It yields by distillation an essential oil of disgusting odour which Broughton who obtained it in minute quantity, has assured us is not identical with that of mustard or of garlick. CANELLACEiE. CORTEX CANELLiE ALB^E. Canella BarJc, Canella Alba Bark; F. Cannelle Uanche ; G. Canella-Rinde. Botanical Origin — Canella alba Murray, a tree, 20 to 30 or even 50 feet in height, found in the south of Florida, the Bahama Islands (whence alone its bark is exported), Cuba, Jamaica, Ste, Croix, Guadaloupe, Mar- tinique, Barbados and Trinidad. History — The drug was first mentioned in 1G05 by Chisius ^ who remarks that it had been then newly brought to Europe and had received the name of Canella alba (White Cinnamon). It was afterwards known as Costus corticosus, Costus dulcis, Cassia alba, Cassia lignea Jamaiccnsis or Jamaica Winter's Barh. Dale ^ writing in 1693 notices it as not ' Exotica, 73. ^ PJiarmacologia, 432. CORTEX CANELLM ALB.E. 69 unfrequently sold for Winter's Bark. Pomet ^ (1694) describes it as synonymous with Winter's Bark, and observes that it is common yet but little employed. The drug is mentioned by most subsequent writers, some of whom like Pomet probably confounded it with the bark of Cinnamodendron (p. 19). It is usually described as produced in Jamaica or Guadaloupe, from which islands no Canella alba is now exported. On the other hand New Providence, one of the Bahamas whence the Canella alba of the present day is shipped, is not named, o^or do we find any allusion to the drug in the records of the Company (1630—50) which was formed for the colonization of Wew Providence and the other islands of the group, though their staple productions are frequently enumerated.^ Canella alba Murr. was described and figured by Sloane (1707) and still better by Patrick Brown in 1789. Collection — In the Bahamas where the drug is known as White Wood Bark or Cinnamon Bark, it is collected thus : — preparatory to being stripped from the wood, the bark is gently beaten with a stick which removes the suberous layer. By a further beating, the remaining bark is separated, and having been peeled off and dried, is exported without further preparation.^ Description — Canella bark occurs in the form of quills, more or less crooked and irregular, or in channelled pieces from 2 or 3 up to 6, 8, or more inches in length, ^ an inch to 1 or 2 inches in width, and a line or two in thickness. The suberous layer which here and there has escaped removal is silvery grey, and dotted with minute lichens. Commonly the external surface consists of inner cellular layers (mesophlo^wm) of a bright buff, or light orange-brown tint, often a little wrinkled transversely, and dotted (but not always) with round scars. The inner surface is whitish or cinnamon-coloured, either smooth or with slight longitudinal striae. Some parcels of canella show the bark much bruised and longi- tudinally fissured by the above-mentioned process of beating. The bark breaks transversely with a short granular fracture which distinctly shows the three, or in uncoated specimens the two, cortical layers, that of the liber being the largest and projecting by undulated rays or bundles into the middle layer, which presents numerous large and unevenly scattered oil-cells of a yellow colour. Canella has an agreeable cinnamon-like odour and a bitter, pungent acrid taste.* Even the corky coat is somewhat aromatic. Microscopical Structure — The spongy suberous coat consists of very numerous layers of large cells with thin walls showing an undulated rather than rectangular outline. The next small zone is constituted of sclerenchymatous cells in a single, double, or triple row, or forming dense but not very extensive groups. This tissue is sometimes (in un- peeled specimens) a continuous envelope, marking the boundary between the corky layer and the middle portion of the cellular layer ; but an in- ^ Hist, des Drog. part i. 130. * A specimen in Sloane's collection in the ^ Calendar of titaU Papers, Colonial British Museum labelled "C'orfecc ^FMiterosHw.s Series, 1574 — 1660, Loud. 1860. of the Isles," bixt under the microscope seen ^ Information communicated to me by to be absolutely identical with canella alba, the Hon, J. C. Lees, Chief-Justice of the still retains its proper fragrance after nearly Bahamas. The second beating would seem two centuries. — F. A. F. to be not always required. — D. H. 70 BIXINTim. terruption in this thick-walled tissue often takes place when portions of it are enveloped and separated by the suberous layer. The proper cellular envelope shows a narrow tissue with numerous very large cells filled with yellow essential oil. The liber forming the chief portion of the whole bark, exhibits thin prosenchymatous cells, which on transverse section form small bands of a peculiar horny or car- tilaginous appearance, on which account they have been distinguished as liorny liber (hornbast of German writers).^ The liber-fibres show reti- culated marks due to the peculiar character of the secondary deposits on their cell walls. The oil-cells in the liber are less numerous and smaller ; the medullary rays are not very obvious unless on account of the cry- stalline tufts of oxalate of calcium deposited in the latter. This crystal- line oxalate retains air obstinately and has a striking dark appearance. Chemical Composition — The most interesting body in canella is the volatile oil examined in 1843 under Wohler's direction by Meyer and Von Keiche, who obtained it'in the proportion of 0'94 from 100 parts of bark. They found it to consist of four different oils, the first being identical with the Eugenic Acid' of oil of cloves ; the second is closely allied to the chief constituent of cajuput oil. The other oils require further examination.^ The bark of which we distilled 20ib., afforded 0"74 per cent, of oil. This when distilled with caustic potash in excess was found to be composed of 2 parts of the acid portion and 1 part of the neutral hydrocarbon ; the latter has an odour suggesting a mixture of peppermint and cajuput. Meyer and Von Eeiche evaporated the aqueous decoction of canella and removed from the bitter extract by alcohol 8 per cent, of mannite, which they ascertained to be the so-called Ganellin described in 1822 by Petroz and Eobinet. The bark yielded the German chemists 6 per cent, of ash, chiefly carbonate of calcium. The bitter principle has not yet been isolated. An aqueous infusion is not blackened by a persalt of iron. Commerce — Canella alba is collected in the Bahama Islands and shipped to Europe from Nassau in New Providence, the chief seat of trade in the group. Uses — The bark is an aromatic stimulant, now but seldom employed. It is used by the West Indian negroes as a condiment. BIXINE^. SEMEN GYNOCARDI^. Chaulmugra Seed. Botanical Origin — Gynocardia odorata Pt. Br. {Chaulmoogra Eoxb. HydnocarpiLS Lindl.), a large tree with a globular fruit of the size of a shaddock, containing numerous seeds immersed in pulp. It grows in the forests of the Malayan peninsula and Eastern India as far north as '■ First figured and described by Oude- ^ Gmclin, Chemistry, xiv. (1860) 210. radMS,- -Aantcckeningen op het .... GedeeUc der Pharm. Nccrlandica, 1854-56, 469. SEMEN GYNOCARDIJE. 71 Assam, extending thence along the base of the Himalaya westward to Sikkim. History — The inhabitants of the south-eastern countries of Asia have long been acquainted with the seeds of certain trees of the tribe Pangiece (ord. Bixinem) as a remedy for maladies of the skin. In China a seed called Ta-fung-tsze is imported from Siam^ where it is known as Lukraho and used in a variety of cutaneous complaints. The tree affording it, which is figured in the Fun-tsao {circa a.d. 1596), has not been recog- nized by botanists, but from the structure of the seed it is obviously closely related to Gynocardia? The properties of G. odorata were known to Eoxburgh who Latinizing the Indian name of the tree, called it (1814) Chaulmoogra odorata. Of late years the seeds have attracted the notice of Europeans in India, and having been found useful in certain skin diseases, they have been admitted a place in the Pharmacopoeia of India. Description — The seeds, 1 to 1| inches long and about half as much in diameter, are of irregular ovoid form, and more or less angular or flattened by mutual pressure ; they weigh on an average about 35 grains each. The testa is very thin (about -g^ of an inch), brittle, smooth, dull grey ; the copious oily albumen encloses a pair of large, plane, leafy, heart-shaped cotyledons with a stout radicle. Microscopic Structure — The testa is chiefly formed of cylindrical thick-walled cells. The albumen exhibits large angular cells containing fatty oil, masses of albuminous matter and tufted crystals of calcium oxalate. Starch is not present. Chemical Composition — ISTo chemical examination of the seeds has yet been made. Uses — The seeds are said to have been advantageously used as an alterative tonic in scrofula, skin diseases and rheumatism. They should be freed from the testa, powdered, and given in the dose of 6 grains gradually increased. Eeduced to a paste and mixed with Simple Oint- ment, they constitute the Unguentum Gynocardice of the Indian Phar- macopoeia, which, as well as an expressed oil of the seeds, may be employed externally in herpes, tinea, &c. Substitute — It has been suggested that the seeds of Hydnocarpus Wightiana Bl. a tree of Western India, and of H. venenata Gartn., native of Ceylon, might be tried where those of Gynocardia are not pro- curable. The seeds of both species of Hydnocarpus (formerly con- founded together as H. inehrians Vahl) afford a fatty oil which the natives use in cutaneous diseases.^ ^ The Commercial Report fror,! H.M. ^ Hanbuiy, Notes on Chinese Mat. Med. Constil- General in Siami for the year 1871, (1862) 23. — Dr. Porter Smitli assumes tlie presented to Parliament, Aug. 1872, states Chinese drug to he. derived from G. odorata, that 48 peculs (64001b.) of Lukkrahow Seeds but as I have pointed out, the seeds have a were exported from Bangkok to China in much stronger testa than those of that tree. 1871. — D. H. 3 Waring, Pharm. of India, 1868. 27. 72 POLYGALEJE. POLYGALEiE. RADIX SENEGA. Radix Senekce ; Senega or Seneka Root ; F. Racine de Polygala de Virginie ; G. Senegawurzel. Botanical Origin — Polygala Senega L., a perennial plant witli slender ascending stems 6 to 12 inches high, and spikes of dull white flowers resembling in form those of the Common Milkwort of Britain. It is found in British America as far north as the river Saskatchewan, and in the United States from New England to Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the upper parts of North Carolina. The plant which frequents rocky open woods and plains, has become somewhat scarce in the Atlantic states, and as a drug it is now chiefly collected in the west. History — The employment of this root among the Seneca Indians as a remedy for the bite of the rattle-snake attracted the notice of Tennent, a Scotch physician in Virginia; and from the good effects he witnessed he concluded that it might be administered with advantage in pleurisy and peripneumonia. The result of numerous trials made in the years 1734 and 1735 proved the utility of the drug in these complaints, and Tennent communicated his observations to the celebrated Dr. Mead of London in the form of an epistle, afterwards published together with an engraving of the plant then called the Seneca Rattle-snake Root} Tennent's practice was to administer the root in powder or as a strong decoction, or more often infused in wine. The new drug was favourably received in Europe, and its virtues discussed in numerous theses aud dissertations, one written in 1749 being by Linnaeus.^ Description — Senega root is developed at its upper end into a knotty crown, in old roots as much as an inch in diameter, from which spring the numerous wiry aerial stems, beset at the base with scaly rudi- mentary leaves often of a purplish hue. Below the crown is a simple cap-root -fxy to -^-^ of an inch thick, of contorted or somewhat spiral form, which usually soon divides into 2 or 3 spreading branches and smaller filiform rootlets. The bark is light yellowish-grey, translucent, horny, shrivelled, knotted and partially annulated. Very frequently a keel-shaped ridge occurs, running like a shrunken sinew througli the principal root ; it has no connexion with the wood, but originates in a one-sided development of the liber-tissue. Tlie bark encloses a pure white, woody column about as thick as itself. After the root has been macerated in water the bark is easily peeled off" and the peculiar structure of the wood can then be studied. The latter immediately below the crown is a cylindrical cord, cleft however by numerous, fine, longitudinal fissures. Lower down these fissures increase in an irregular manner, causing a very abnormal deve- lopment of the wood. Transverse sections of a root therefore differ greatly, the circular woody portion being either penetrated by clefts or wide notches, or one-half or even more is altogether wanting, the space ' Tennent (John), Epistle to Dr. Ricliard - A uiceniiales Academicce, ii. 126. Mead concerninrj the epidemical diseases of Virginia, &c., Edinb. 1738. RADIX SENEGJi. 73 where wood should exist being in each case lilled up by uniform paren- chymatous tissue. Senega root has a short brittle fracture, a peculiar rancid odour, and a very acrid and sourish taste. When handled it disperses an irritating dust. Microscopic Structure — The woody part is built up of dotted vessels surrounded by short porous ligneous cells ; the medullary rays consist of one or two rows of the usual small cells. There is no pith in the centre of the root. The clefts and notches are filled up with an uniform tissue passing into the primary cortical tissue without a distinct liber ; the large cells of this tissue are spirally striated. In the keel- shaped ridge the proper liber rays may be distinguished from the medullary rays. The former are made up of a soft tissue, hence the cortical part of the root breaks short together with the wood. Neither starch granules nor crystals of oxalate of calcium are present in this root ; the chief contents of its tissue are albuminoid granules and drops of fatty oil. Chemical Composition — The substance to which the drug owes its irritating taste was distinguished by the name of Senegin by G-ehlen as early as 1804, and is probably the same as the Folygalic Acid of Que- venne (1836) and of Procter (1859). It appears to be closely allied to saponin, the decomposition-products of the two bodies being the same. Senegin is amorphous, insoluble in ether and in cold water ; it forms with boiling water a frothing solution possessing feebly acid properties, and dissolves in alkaline liquids with a greenish yellow colour. Like saponin it excites violent sneezing. Dilute inorganic acids added to a warm solution of senegin throw down a flocculent jelly of Sapogenin, the liquid retaining in solution un- crystallizable sugar. Alkalis give rise to the same decomposition ; but it is difficult to split up the senegin completely, and hence the formulas given for this process are doubtful. Even the formula of senegin itself is not definitely settled. According to Procter, the root yields 5-| per cent, of this substance ; according to earlier authorities (who doubtless had it less pure) a much larger proportion. Seneo'a root contains a little volatile oil, traces of resin, also gum, salts of malic acid, yellow colouring matter, and sugar (7 per cent, according to Rebling), The Virginic Acid said by Quevenne to be con- tained in it, and the bitter substance Isolusin mentioned by Peschier, are doubtful bodies. Uses — Senega is prescribed as a stimulating expectorant and diuretic, useful in pneumonia, asthma and rheumatism. It is much esteemed in America. Adulteration— The drug is not liable to be wilfully falsified, but through careless collecting there is occasionally a slight admixture of other roots. One of these is American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) a spindle-shaped root which may be found here and there both in senega and serpentaria. The rhizome of Ci/pripedium pubescens Willd. has also been noticed ; it cannot be confounded with that of Folygala Senega. 74 POLYGALEM. RADIX KRAMERI^. Radix BatanJiice, B'liatanhice v. Rathcmim ; Rhatany or Rhatania Root, Peruvian or Payta Rhatany ; F. Racine de Ratanhia ; G. Ratanhiawurzel?- Botanical Origin — Krameria triandra Euiz et Pav., a small woody shrub with an upright stem scarcely a foot high and thick decumbent branches 2 to 3 feet long. It delights in the barren sandy declivities ot the Bolivian and Peruvian Cordilleras at 3000 to 8000 feet above the sea-level, often occurring in great abundance and adorning the ground with its red starlike flowers and silver-grey foliage. The root is gathered chiefly to the north, north-east^, and east of Lima, as at Caxatambo, Huanuco, Tarma, Jauja, Huarochiri and Canta; occasionally on the high lands about lake Titicaca. It appears likewise to be collected in the northern part of Peru, since the drug is now frequently shipped from Payta. History — Hipolito Euiz ^ the Spanish botanist observed in 1784 that the women of Huanuco and Lima were in the habit of using for the preservation of their teeth a root which he recognized as that of Krameria triandra, a plant discovered by himself in 1779. On his return to Europe he obtained admission for this root into Spain in 1796, whence it was gradually introduced into other countries of Europe. The first supplies which reached England formed part of the cargo of a Spanish prize, and were sold in the London drug sales at the com- mencement of the present century. Some fell into the hands of Dr. Eeece who recommended it to the profession.^ About 20 years ago there appeared in the European market some other kinds of rhatany previously unknown : of these the more important are noticed at p. 76. Description — The root which attains a considerable size in propor- tion to the aerial part of the shrub, consists of a short thick crown, sometimes much knotted and as large as a man's fist. This ramifies beneath the soil even more than above, throwing out an abundance of branching, woody roots (frequently horizontal) some feet long and | to ^ an inch thick. These long roots used formerly to be found in com- merce ; but of late years rhatany has consisted in large proportion of the more woody central part of the root with short stumpy branches, which from their broken and bruised appearance have evidently been extracted with difficulty from a hard soil. The bark which is scaly and rugged, and yV to ttV of ^^ i^c^ iii thickness, is of a dark reddish brown. It consists of a loose cracked cork-layer, mostly smooth in the smaller roots, covering a bright brown- red inner bark, which adheres though not very firmly to a brownish yellow wood. The bark is rather tough, breaking with a fibrous fracture. The wood is dense, without pith, but marked Avith thin vessels arranged in concentric rings, and with still thinner, dark medullary rays. The taste of the bark is purely astringent ; the wood is almost tasteless : neither possesses any distinctive odour. ^ Euiz and Pavort state that thn root is - Mem. dc la li. Acad. mid. de Madrid, callfid at Huanufo rrttow/Mf/. The durivatiou i. (1797)349 — 366. of the word which is of the Qiiichua Ian- '^ Medical and Chirurgical Review, Loi;id., guage is obscure. xiii. (1806) ccxlvi. ; also Reecc. Did. of Domest Med., 1808. RADIX KRAMHRIM 75 Microscopic Structure^ — ^The chief portion of the bark is formed of liber, which in transverse section exhibits nnmerous bundles of yellow fibres separated by parenchymatous tissue and traversed by narrow brown medullary rays. The small layer of the primary bark is made up of large cells, the surface of the root of large suberous cells imbued with red matter. The latter also occurs in the inner cortical tissue and ought to be removed by means of ammonia in order to get a clear idea of the structure. Many of the parenchymatous cells are loaded with starch granules ; oxalate of calcium occurs in the neigh- bourhood of the liber bundles. The woody portion exhibits no structure of particular interest. Chemical Composition — Wittstein (1854) found in the bark of rhatany (the only part of the drug having active properties) about 20 per cent, of a form of tannin called Batanhia-tannic Acid, closely related to catechu-tannic acid. It is an amorphous powder, the solution of wliich is not affected by emetic tartar, but yields with ferric chloride, a dark greenish precipitate. By distillation Eissfeldt (1854) obtained pyrocatechin as a product of the decomposition of ratanhia-tannic acid. The latter is also decomposed by dilute acids which convert it into crystallizable sugar and Ratanhia-red a substance nearly insoluble in water, also occurring in abundance ready formed in the bark. Grabowski (1867) showed that by fusing ratanhia-red with caustic potash, proto-catechuic acid and phloroglucin ^ are obtained. Eatanhia- red has the composition C-^H^-0^\ the same according to Grabowski, as an analogous product of the decomposition of the peculiar tannic acid occurring (as shown by Eochleder in 1866) in the horse-chesnut. The same red substance may also be obtained, as stated by Eembold (1868), from the tannic acid of the root of tormentil (Potentilla Tormentilla L.). As to rhatany root, Wittstein also found it to contain wax, gum and uncrystallizable sugar (even in the wood ! according to Cotton ^). Cotton further pointed out the presence in very minute quantity of an odorous, volatile, solid body, obtainable by means of ether or bisulphide of carbon ; it occurs in a somewhat more considerable amount in the other sorts of rhatany. The root contains no gallic acid. A dry extract of rhatany resembling kino used formerly to be imported from South America, but how and where manufactured we know not. It is however of some interest as containing a crystalline body which Wittstein who discovered it (1854) regards as Tyrosin, C^li^^NO^ previously supposed to be exclusively of animal origin.^ Its identity with tyrosin has been called in question by Stadeler and Euge (1862), who assign to it a slightly different composition, C^**H^^NO^, and give it the name of Eatanhin. The same substance has been abundantly met with by Gintl (1868) in the natural exudation called Besina d'Angelim pedra which flows from the alburnum of Ferreirea spectahilis Allem., a large Brazilian tree of the order Leguminosm (tribe Sopliorece). Peckolt who first extracted it, named it Angelin ; it forms colourless, neutral crystals yielding compounds both with alkalis and acids, which have been investigated by Gintl in 1869 and 1870. ^ See art. Kino. ^ Gmelin, Chemistry, xiii. (1859) 358. ^ Etude 8icr le Genre Kramer ia (tliese), Taris, 1868. 83. 76 POLYQALEM Uses — Ehatany is a valuable astringent, but is not much employed in Great Britain. Other sorts of Rhatany — Of the 20 to 25 other species of Krameria, all of them belonging to America, several have astringent roots which have been collected and used in the place of the rhatany of Peru. The most important of these drugs is that known as — Savanilla or New Granada Rhatany. The plant yielding it is Krameria tomentosa St. Hil. {Kr. Ixina var. /3 graoiatensis Triana, Kr. graricUfolia Berg), a shrub 4 to 6 feet high covering large arid tracts in the valley of Jiron between Pamplona and the Magdalena in New Granada, in which locality the collection of the root was observed by Weir in 1804.-^ According to Triana it also grows at Socorro, south of Jiron. The same plant is found near Santa Marta and Kio Hacha in north-eastern New Granada, in British Guiana, and in the Brazilian provinces of Pernambuco and Goyaz. The stem or root-crown of Savanilla rhatany is never so knotty and irregular as that of the Peruvian drug, nor are the roots so long or so thick. Separate pieces of root of sinuous form, 4 to 6 inches long and Y^o- ^0 'lu 0^ ^^ i^c^ thick are most frequent. The drug is moreover well distinguished by its dull purplish brown colour, its thick smooth bark marked with longitudinal furrows, and here and there with deep transverse cracks, and by the bark not easily splitting off as it does in common rhatany. The anatomical difference depends chiefly upon the more abundant development of the bark which in thickness is -|- to ^ the diameter of the wood. In Peruvian rhatany the cortical layer attains only -g- to -§- of the diameter of the woody column. The greater firmness of the suberous coat in Savanilla rhatany is due to its cells being densely filled with colouring matter. Savanilla rhatany differs from the Peruvian root in its tannic matter. This becomes evident by shaking the powdered root (or bark) with water and iron reduced by hydrogen. The liquid filtered from the Savanilla sort and diluted with distilled water exhibits an intense violet colour, that from Peruvian rhatany a dingy brown ; the latter turns light red by alkalis. Thin sections of the Peruvian root assume a greyish hue when moistened with a ferrous salt ; Savanilla root by a similar treatment displays the above violet colour. The Savanilla root is richer in soluble matter and from the greater development of its bark may deserve to be preferred for medicinal use. Parle Rhatany, — so called from having been shipped from Para in Brazil. Berg who described it in 1865 termed it Brazilian Rhatany, Cotton in 1868, Ratanhia des Antilles. It is a drug nearly resembling the preceding, but of a darker and less purple hue ; it is also in longer sticks which are remarkably flexible, and covered with a thick bark having numerous transverse cracks.^ It is apparently derived from the Krameria argentea of Martins,^ the root of which is collected in the dry districts of the provinces of Bahia and Minas Geraes. ^ Hanbur}', Origin of Savanilla Rhatany, amination of specimens, I fully agree. — D. H. in Pharm. Journ. vi. (1865) 460. — In this ^ For further iiartieulars, see Fliickiger, paper I referred the drug to a variety of Kr. Pliarm. Journ., July 30, 1870. 84. lodna which M. Cotton has shown to difler ^ Syst. Mat. Med. Bras., 1843. 51 ; Lang- in no respect I'roni St. Hilaire's Kr tnmcn- gaard, Diccionurio de Medicina., Rio de tosa, a conclusion in which, after careful reex- Janeiro, iii. (1865) 384. GAMBGGIA. 77 A kind of rliatauy attributed to Krameria secundiflora DC, a plant of Mexico, Texas and Arkansas, was furnished to Berg in 1854 by a Berlin dru'o'O'ist, but has not been in general commerce. Its anatomical structure has been described by Berg> Kr. cisioidca Hook, a plant scarcely to be distinguished from Kr. triandra, affords in Chili a rhatany very much like that of Peru. Its root was contributed to the Paris Exhibition of 1867. GUTTIFER^. CAMBOGIA. Gummi Gamhogia, Gummi Gutti ; Gamboge; F. Gomme Gutte ; G. Gutti, Gummigutt. Botanical Origin — GarciniaMorella Desrousseaux, var. j3.pedicellata, a dioecious tree with handsome laurel-like foliage and small yellow flowers, found in Camboja, Siam (province of Chantibun and the islands on the east coast of the gulf of Siam), and in the southern parts of Cochin China. It was introduced about thirty years ago into Singapore where several specimens are still thriving (1873) on the estate of Dr. Jamie. The finest is now a tree of 20 feet high, with a trunk a foot in diameter, and a thick, spreading head of foliage. History — The Chinese had intercourse with Camboja as early as the time of the Sung Dynasty (a.d. 970 — 1127) ; and a Chinese traveller who visited the latter country in 1295-97, describes gamboge and the method of obtaining it by incisions in the stem of the tree.^ The cele- brated Chinese herbal Pun-tsao, written towards the close of the 16th century, mentions gamboge {Tang-hwang) and gives a rude figure of the tree. The drug is regarded by the Chinese as poisonous, and is scarcely employed except as a pigment. The first notice of the occurrence of gamboge in Europe is in the writings of Clusius^ who describes a specimen brought from China by the Dutch Admiral Van Neck and given to him in 1603, under the name of Ghittaiemou^ It appears that shortly after this time it began to be employed in medicine in Europe, for in a tariff of prices of the apothecaries of Schweinfurt printed in 1614,^ it is thus named : — " succus Ghittaiemou, Indian. Purgiersaft, ein quintlein, 16 schilling." In the same year there was published at Leipzig a pamphlet by Michael Eeuden entitled Pe novo gummi purgante epistola, treating of gamboge.^ In 1615, a considerable quantity of gamboge was offered for sale in London by the East India Company. The entry respecting it in the Court Minute Books of the Company under date October 13, 1615, is to t.his effect: — Three chests, one rundlet, and a basket, containing 13, 14, or 15 hundredweights, more or less, of Camhogium " a drugge un- ^ Bot. Zeitung, 14tli Nov. 1856. 797. the Javanese ja7jiu siguifying medicinal, ^ Description de Gamboge in AJoel-'Remnsat's such mixing of the two languages being of Xouv. Melanges Asiatiqites, i. (1829) 134. — common occurrence. The Chinese traveller calls the exudation ^ Valor sive Taxatio omnium materierum Kiang-hwang which is the name for tur- medicarum . .. . quce in officind pharTna- meric, but his description is unmistakeable. ceuticd Swinphordiand venundantur, Giessen, 3 Exotica (1605) 82. 1614. 38. (Brit. Mus.) * Dr. E. Host is of opinion that this word ^ "We have only seen the second edition derived from the Ma.\aj gdtdh, gum, and published at Leydeu in 1625. 78 GUTTIFERJE, known here" — the use of wliich was mucli commended as "a gentle purge" were offered for sale at 5s. per lb., but met with no purchaser. Parkinson^ who was an apothecary of London and wrote in 1640 speaks of "this Camlugio" called by some Catharticum aureum, as a drug of recent importation which arrived in the form of "wreathes or routes'" yellow wdthin and without. In the London Fharniacopceia of 1650, gamboge is called Outta Gamha^ or Ghittajemou. The place of production of the drug was first made known in 1658 by Bontius,^ a Dutch physician resident in Java ; but the tree was not fully examined and figured until 1864.* Secretion — We have examined a portion of a branch two inches in diameter of the gamboge-tree,^ and have found the yellow gum-resin to be contained chiefly in the middle layer of the bark in numerous ducts like those occurring in the roots of Inula Helenium. A little is also secreted in the dotted vessels of the outermost layer of the wood, and in the pith. The wood which is white, acquires a bright yellow tint when exposed to the vapour of animonia or to alkaline solutions. Production — At the commencement of the rainy season the gamboge- collectors start for the forest in search of the trees which in some localities are plentiful. Having found one of full size they make a spiral incision in the bark round half the circumference of the trunk, and place a joint of bamboo to receive the sap which slowly exudes for several months. When it first issues from the tree, it is a yellowish fluid, which after passing through a viscid state hardens into the gamboge of commerce. The trees grow both in the valleys and on the mountains and will yield on an average in one season enough to fill three joints of bamboo 20 inches in length by 1|- inches in diameter. The tree appears to suffer no injury provided the tapping is not more frequent than every other year.<5 Description — The drug arrives in the form of sticks or cylinders 1 to 2 1 inches in diameter, and 4 to 8 inches in length, striated lengthwise with impressions from the inside of the bamboo. Often the sticks are agglutinated, or folded, or the drug is in compressed or in shapeless masses. It is when good of a rich brownish orange tint, dense and homogeneous, breaking easily with a conchoidal fracture, scarcely translucent even in thin splinters. Touched with water it instantly forms a yellow emulsion. Triturated in a mortar it affords a brilliant yellow powder, slightly odorous. Gamboge has a disagreeable acrid taste. Much of the gamboge shipped to Europe is of inferior quality being of a brownish hue or exhibiting when broken a roitgh, granular, bubbly surface. Sometimes it arrives imperfectly dried and still soft. 1 TJiratrum Botanicum (1640) 1575. iiig part of Piso's work De Iiidice re nat. et ^ This Dame i.s the Hindustani Qutd- mud. 1658. ganhd, signifying according to Moodecn •• Haubury in Trans, of Linn. Soc. xxiv. ''&hex\^ {Suppl. to Pharm. of India, 8Z) ju-ice (1864) 487. tab. 50. or extract of rhubarb. It is still applied to ^ Obligingly .sent to ns by Dr. Jamie of gamboge. Singapore. ^ Hist. nat. et mid. hid. Orient. 153, form- "^ Spenser St. John, Life in the Forests of the Far En^t, Lend. 1862. ii. 272. OLEUM GARCINIM. 79 Chemical Composition — Gamboge consists of a mixture of resin with 15 to 20 per cent, of gum. The resin dissolves easily in alcohol forming a clear liquid of fine yellowish-red hue, and neutral or very slightly acid reaction. It forms darker-coloured solutions with ammonia or the fixed alkalis, and a copious precipitate with basic acetate of lead. Perchloride of iron colours a solution of the resin deep blackish brown. By fusing purified gamboge resin with potash, Hlasiwetz and Barth (1866) obtained together with fatty acids and other acids of peculiar nature, about one per cent, of FliloroglxLcin (see art. Kind). The gum which we obtained to the extent of 15 "8 per cent, by completely exhausting gamboge with alcohol and ether, was found readily soluble in water. The solution does not redden litmus and is not precipitated by neutral acetate of lead, nor by perchloride of iron, nor by silicate or biborate of sodium. It is therefore not identical with gum arable. Commerce — The drug finds its way to Europe from Carnboja mostly by Singapore or Bangkok ; it has of late been shipped also from Saigon. The exports from Bangkok in 1871 were 358 peculs (47,733tb.) value 17,759 dollars.^ Uses — Gamboge is a drastic purgative, seldom administered except in combination with other substances. Adulteration — The Cambojans adulterate gamboge with rice flour, sand, or the pulverized bark of the tree,^ which substances may be easily detected in the residue left after exhausting the drug successively by spirit of wine and cold water. Other Sources of Gamboge — Although the gamboge of European commerce appears to be exclusively derived from the . plant named at the head of this article, the following species of Garcinia are capable of yielding a similar drug which is collected to some small extent for local use, but not for exportation. 1. G. Morella Desr. — The typical form of this tree having sessile male flowers grows in moist forests of Southern India and Ceylon, and is capable of affording good gamboge. 2. G. pidoria Eoxb., a large tree of Southern India produces a sort of gamboge found by Christison (1846) essentially the same as that of Siam. It has been examined more recently by Broughton (1871) who states it to be quite equal to that of G. Morella. 8. G. Travancorica Beddome, a beautiful tree of the southern forests of Travaacore and the Tinnevelly Ghats (3000 to 4500 feet). According to its discoverer Lieut. Beddome,^ it yields an abundance of bright yellow gamboge. OLEUM GARCINIiE. Concrete Oil of Mangosteen, Kohum Butter. Botanical Origin — Garcinia indica Choisy (G. purpurea Eoxb. Brindonia indica Dup. Th.), an elegant tree, with drooping branches and dark green leaves. It bears a smooth round fruit the size of a small ^ Report from H.M. Consul-General in ^ Flora Sylvatim, Madras, part xv. (1872) Siam for 1871. tab. 173, * Spenf5Pr St. Jolan, op. elf. 80 ■ GVTTlFmiM. apple, containing an acid purple pulp in which are lodged as many as 8 seeds. The tree is a native of the coast region of Western India known as the Concan lying between Daman and Goa. History — The fruit is mentioned by Garcia d'Orta (1563) as known to the Portuguese of Goa by the name of Brindones. He states that it has a pleasant taste though very sour, and that it is used in dyeing ; and further that the peel serves to make a sort of vinegar. Several succeeding authors (as Bauhin and Eay) have contented themselves with repeating this account. As to the fruit yielding a fatty oil, we find no reference to such fact till about the year 1830, when it was stated in an Indian newspaper ^ that an oil of the seeds is well known at Goa and often used to adul- terate ghee (liquid butter). It was afterwards pointed out as the result of some experiments that the oil was of an agreeable bland taste and well adapted for use in pharmacy. A short article on Kokum Butter was published by Pereira ^ in 1851. With the view of bringing the substance into use for pharmaceutical preparations in India, it has been introduced into the Pharmacopceia of India of 1868. Preparation — The seeds are reniform, somewhat crescent-shaped or oblong, laterally compressed and wrinkled, -j^ to ^^ of an inch long by about -^Tj broad. Each seed weighs on an average about eight grains. The thick cotyledons, which are inseparable, have a mild oily taste. Examination under the microscope shows them to be built up of large reticulated cells containing a considerable proportion of crystalline fat readily soluble in benzol. In addition globular masses of albuminous matter occur which with iodine assume a brownish yellow hue. AVith perchloride of iron the walls strike a greenish-black. The process followed by the natives of India (by whom alone the oil is prepared) has been thus described: — The seeds having been dried by exposure for some days to the sun are bruised, and boiled in water. The oil collects on the surface, and concretes when cool into a cake which requires to be purified by melting and straining. Description — Kokum Butter is found in the Indian bazaars in the form of egg-shaped or oblong lumps about 4 inches long by 2 inches in diameter, and weighing about a quarter of a pound. It is a whitish sub- stance, at ordinary temperatures, firm, dry, and friable, yet greasy to the touch. Scrapings (which are even pulverulent) when examined in glycerin under the microscope show it to be thoroughly crystalline. They have a mild oily taste, yet redden litmus if moistened with alcohol. By filtration in a steam-bath, kokum butter is obtained perfectly transparent and of a light straw-colour, concreting again at 27'5° C. into a white crystalline mass : some crystals appear even at 30°. Melted in a narrow tube, cooled and then warmed in a water bath, the fat begins to melt at 42-5° C., and fuses entirely at 45°. The residue left after filtration of the crude fat is inconsiderable and consists chiefly of brown tannic matters soluble in spirit of wine. When kokum butter is long kept it acquires an un])leasant rancid smell and brownish hue, and an efilorescence of shining tufted crystals appears on the surface of tlie mass. ^ Quoted by fii-Mliam, Catal. of Bombaij ' Pharm. Journ. xi. (1852) 65. Plants, 1839. 25. J BALSAMUM DIFTEROCAllPI. 81 Chemical Composition — Purified Ivokum butter boiled with caustic soda yields a fine hard soap which when decomposed with sul- phuric acid affords a crystalline cake of fatty acids weighing as much as the original fat. The acids were again combined with soda and the soap having been decomposed, they were dissolved in alcohol of about 94 per cent. By slow cooling and evaporation crystals were first formed which when perfectly dried, melted at 69'5° C. : they are consequently Stearic Acid. A less considerable amount of crystals which separated subse- quently had a fusing point of 55° C. and may be referred to Myrisiic Acid. A portion of the crude fat was heated with oxide of lead and water, and the plumbic compound dried and exhausted with ether, which after evaporation left a very small amount of liquid oil, which we refer to Oleic Acid. Finally the sulphuric acid used at the outset of the experiments was saturated and examined in the usual manner for volatile fatty acids (butyric, valerianic, &c.) but with negative results. The fat of the seeds of G. indica was extracted by ether and examined chemically in 1857 by J. Bonis and d'Oliveira Pimentel.^ It was obtained to the extent of 30 per cent., was found to fuse at 40° C. and to consist chiefly of stearin (tristearin). The seeds yielded 1'72 per cent, of nitrogen. Their residue after exhaustion by ether afforded to alkaline solutions or alcohol a fine red colour. Uses — The results of the experiments above-noted show that kokum butter is well suited for some pharmaceutical preparations. It might also be advantageously employed in candle-making, as it yields stearic acid more easily and in a purer state than tallow and most other fats. But that it is possible to obtain it in quantities sufficiently large "for important industrial uses, appears to us very problematical. DIPTEROCAUPEtE. BALSAMUM DIPTEROCARPI. Balsammn GurjuncB ; Gtirjun Balsam, Wood Oil.^ Botanical Origin — This drug is yielded by several trees of the genus Bipterocarpus, namely — B. turhinatus Gartn. f. {B. Icevis Ham., B. indicus Bedd.), a native of Eastern Bengal, Chittagong and Pegu to Singapore. B. incanus Eoxb., a tree of Chittagong and Pegu. B. alaius Eoxb. growing in Chittagong, Burma, Tenasserim, the Andaman Islands and Siam. B. Zeylanicus Thw. and B. hispidus Thw., indigenous to Ceylon. B. trinervis BL, a native of Java aqd the Philippines, and B. gracilis BL, ^ Oomptes Rendus, xliv. (1857) 1355. is an article of enormous consumption among ^ The liquid under notice must not be the Chinese, who use it in the caulking and confounded with the so-called Wood Oil of painting of junks and boats, for preserving China, which is of a totally different nature. woodwork, varnishing furniture, and also in The latter is a fatty oil expressed from the medicine. More than 38 million pounds soiid. ' Ihngal DisiKnmtory, 1842. 222. 1811. 26. BJLSAMUM DIFTEROCARPL 83 With tlie following liquids Guijmi affords perfectly clear solutions which are more or less fluorescent, namely pure benzol (from benzoate of calcium), cumol, chloroform, sulphide of carbon, essential oils. On the other hand, it is not entirely soluble in methylic, ethylic, or amylic alcohol, in ether, acetic ether, glacial acetic acid, acetone, phenol (carbolic acid), or in caustic potash dissolved in absolute alcohol. Many samples of commercial benzol also are not capable of dis- solving the oleo-resin perfectly, but we have not ascertained on what constituent of such benzol this depends. We have noticed however that that portion of petroleum which is known as Petroleum Ether, containing the most volatile hydrocarbons, does not wholly dissolve the oleo-resin, while the less volatile cumol (C^H^^) does so. One hundred parts of the balsam warmed and shaken with 1000 parts of absolute alcohol yielded on cooling a precipitate of resin amounting when dried to 18 '5 parts. Ail concentrated solutions of the balsam are precipitated by amylic alcohol. If the balsam is kept for a long time in a stoppered vessel at 100° C. it simply becomes a little turbid; but at about 130° C. it is transformed into a jelly, and on cooling does not resume its former fluidity. Balsam of copaiba hea,ted in a closed g'lass tube to 220° C. does not at all lose its fluidity, whereas Gurjun .balsam becomes an almost solid mass. Chemical Composition — Of the balsam 6*99 grammes dissolved in benzol and kept in a water bath until the residue ceased to lose weight, yielded 3"80 grammes of a dry, transparent, semi-fluid resin, corresponding to 54-44 per cent., and 45 "5 6 of volatile matters expelled by evaporation. By submitting larger quantities of the balsam to the usual process of distillation with water in a large copper still, 37 per cent, of volatile oil were easily obtained. The water passing over at the same time did not redden litmus paper. A dark, viscid, liquid resin remained in the still. The essential oil is of a pale straw-colour and less odorous than most other volatile oils. Treated with chloride of calcium and again distilled, it begins to boil at 210° C. and passes over at 260° C, acquiring a somewhat empyreumatic smell and light yellowish tint. The purified oil has a sp. gr. of 0'915;^ it is but sparingly soluble in absolute alcohol or glacial acetic acid, but mixes readily with amylic alcohol. According to Werner (1862) this oil has the composition C^^H^'^, like that of copaiba. He says it deviates the ray of polarized light to the left, but that prepared by one of us deviated strongly to the right, the residual resin dissolved in benzol being wholly inactive. The oil does not form a crystalline compound with dry hydrochloric acid, which colours it of a beautiful blue.^ De Vry ^ states that the essential oil after this treatment deviates the ray to the right. The resin contains, like that of copaiba, a small proportion of a crystallizable acid which may be removed by warming it with ammonia in weak alcohol. That part of the resin which is insoluble even in absolute ^ 0'944 according to "Werner; 0'931 "^ This magnificent colouring matter is no O'Shaughnessy ; 0-928 De Vry (1857). dissolved by ether. ^ Fhwrm. Jov,rn. xvi. (18.57) 374. CI 2 84 MALFJCEM alcohol/ we found to be -uncrystallizable. The Gurgunic Acid as the crystallized resinous acid is called by Werner,^ but which it is more correct to write Gurjunic, may consequently be prepared by extract- ing the resin with alcohol ('8 38) and mixing the solution with ammonia. From the ammoniacal solution gurjunic acid is precipitated on addition of a mineral acid, and if it is again dissolved in ether and alcohol it may be procured in the form of small crystalline crusts. From the specimen under examination we were not successful in obtaining in- dubitable crystals. Gurjunic acid, C**H^^O^ according to Werner, melts at 220° C, and concretes again at 180° C. ; it begins to boil at 260° C, yet at the same time decomposition takes place. By assigning to this acid the formula ©^^H^'^0^ -1- 3H^0, which agrees well with Werner's analytical results, we may regard it as a hydrate of abietinic acid, the chemical behaviour of which is perfectly analogous. Gurjunic acid is soluble in alcohol 0"838, but not in weak alcohol ; it is dissolved also by ether, benzol, or sulphide of carbon (Werner). In copaiba from Maracaibo, Strauss (1865) discovered Metacopaivic Acid which is probably identical with gurjunic ; the former however fuses at 206° C. The amorphous resin forming the chief bulk of the residue of the distillation of the balsam, has not yet been submitted to exact analysis. We find that after complete desiccation it is not soluble in absolute alcohol. Commerce — Gurjun balsam is exported from Singapore, Moulmein, Akyab and the Malayan Peninsula, and is a common article of trade in Siam. It is likewise produced in Canara in Southern India. It is occasionally shipped to Europe. More than 200011) were offered for sale in London under the name of Uast Indimi Balsam Capivi, 4th October, 1855 ; and in October 1858 a no less quantity than 45 casks appeared in the catalogue of a London drug-broker. It is now • not unfrequent in the London drug sales. Uses — In medicine it has hitherto been employed only as a sub- stitute for copaiba, and chiefly in the hospitals of India. In the East its great use is as a natural varnish, either alone or combined with pigments ; and also as a substitute for tar as an applica- tion to the seams of boats, and for preserving timber from the attacks of the white ant. MALVACEAE. RADIX ALTHiE^. Marshmallow Root ; F. Racine de Gitimauve ; G. Eibischwurzel. Botanical Origin — AWuca officinalis L., the marshmallow, grows in moist places throughout Europe, Asia Minor, and the temperate parts of Western and Northern Asia, but is by no means universally distributed. It prefers saline localities such as in Spain the salt marshes of Saragossa, the low-lying southern coasts of France near Montpellier, Southern Kussia, and the neighbourhood of salt-springs in Central Europe. ^ The sample of giirjiin balsam examined ' Gmelin, Cliemistry, xvii. 545. by Werner as well as the resin it contained were entirely soluble in boiling potash lye. RADIX ALTHJEJE. 85 In Britain it occurs in tlie low grounds bordering the Thames below London, and here and there in many other spots in the south of England and of Ireland. The cultivated marshmallow thrives as far north as Throndbjem in Norway, and has been naturalized in North America (salt marshes of New England and New York) and Australia. It is largely cultivated in Bavaria and Wiirtemberg. History — Marshmallow had many uses in ancient medicine, and is described by Dioscorides as ^AXOala, a name derived from the G-reek verb okQeiv, to heal. The diffusion of the plant in Europe during the middle ages was pro- moted by Charlemagne who enjoined^ its culture (a.d. 812) under the name of " Mismalvas, id est alteas quod dicitur ibischa." Description — The plant has a perennial root attaining about a foot in length and an inch in diameter. For medicinal use the biennial roots of the cultivated plant are chiefly employed. When fresh they are externally yellowish and wrinkled, white within and of tender fleshy texture. Previous to drying the thin outer and a portion of the middle bark are scraped off, and the small root filaments are removed. The drug thus prepared and dried consists of simple whitish sticks 6 to 8 inches long, of the thickness of the little finger to that of a quill, deeply furrowed longitudinally and marked with brownish scars. Its central portion which is pure white breaks with a short fracture, but the bark is tough and fibrous. The dried root is rather flexible and easily cut. Its trans- verse section shows the central woody column of undulating outline separated from the thick bark by a fine dark line shaded ofi" outwards. The root has a peculiar though very faint odour and is of rather mawkish and insipid taste, and very slimy when chewed. Microscopic Structure — The greater part of the bark consists of liber, abounding in long soft fibres, to which the toughness of the cortical tissue is due. They are branched and form bundles each containing from 3 to 30 fibres separated by parenchymatous tissue. Of the cortical parenchyme many cells are loaded with starch granules, others contain stellate groups of oxalate of calcium, and a considerable number of some- what larger cells are fiUed with mucilage. The last-named on addition of alcohol is seen to consist of different layers. The woody part is made up of pitted or scalariform vessels, accom- panied by a few ligneous cells and separated by a parenchymatous tissue, agreeing with that of the bark. On addition of an alkali, sections of the root assume a bright yellow hue. Chemical Composition- — The mucilage in the dry root amounts to about 25 per cent, and the starch to as much more. The former appears from the not very accordant analyses of Schmidt and of Mulder to agree with the formula C^^H^^'O^*', thus differing from the mucilage of gum arable by one molecule less of water. It likewise differs in being pre- cipitable by neutral acetate of lead. At the same time it does not show the behaviour of cellulose, as it does not turn blue by iodine when mois- tened with sulphuric acid, and it is not soluble in ammoniacal solution of oxide of copper. 1 Pertz, Monumenta Germanioe historica, Legum torn. i. (1835) 181. — Ibischa from the Greek l^iffKos. 86 MALVACEM The root also contains pectin and sugar (cane-sugar according to Wittstock), and a trace of fatty oil. Tannin is found in very small quantity in the outer bark alone. In 1826 Bacon, a pharmacien of Caen, obtained from althaea root crystals of a substance at first regarded as peculiar, but subsequently identified with Asparagin, C'^H^N-0^, TPO. It had been previously prepared (1805) by Vauquelin and Robiquet from asparagus and is now known to be" a widely-diffused constituent of plants.^ Marshmallow root does not yield more than 0*8 to 2'0 per cent. Asparagin crystal- lizes in large prisms or octohedra of the rhombic system ; it is nearly tasteless and appears destitute of physiological action. It is quite per- manent whether in the solid state or dissolved, but is easily decom- posed if the solution contains the albuminoid constituents of the root, which act as a ferment. Leguminous seeds, yeast or decayed cheese induce the same change, the final product of which is succinate of ammonium, the asparagin -taking the elements of water and hydrogen set free by the fermentation, thus — - C^HSN^O' H- H^O + 2H =2NH^ C^H^O* Asparagin Succinate of Ammonium Under the influence of acids or bases, or even by the prolonged boiling of its aqueous solution, asparagin is converted into Asparkcte of Ammonium, C*II''(NH^)NO^ of which it contains the elements. These transformations, especially the former, are undergone by the asparagin in the root, if the latter has been imperfectly dried, or has been kept long, or not very dry. Under such conditions, the asparagin gradually disappears, and the root then yields a yellow decoction, sometimes having a disagreeable odour of butyric acid. There is no doubt that a protein-substance here acts as a ferment. The peeled root dried at 100° C. and incinerated afforded us 4'88 of ash, rich in phosphates. Uses — Althaea is taken as a demulcent ; it is sometimes also applied as an emollient poultice. It is far more largely used on the continent than in England. FRUCTUS HIBISCI ESCULENTI. Capsulcm Hihisci esculenti ; Okro, Ohra, Bendi-kai'^ ; F. Gomho (in the French Colonies). Botanical Origin — Hibiscus esculenhis L. (Ahelmoschus cscuhntus Guill. et Ferr.) an herbaceous annual plant 2 to 3 feet high, indigenous to the Old World (Africa ?), but now cultivated in all tropical countries. History — The Spanish Moors appear to have been well acquainted with Hibiscus escuhntus which was known to them by the same name that it has in Persian at .the present day — Bdmiyah. Abul- Abbas el- Nebati, a native of Seville learned in plants, who visited Egypt in ^ It plays an interesting part in the ger- Pfeffer in Pringshcim's Jahrh. f. wiss. Bot. mination of the seeds of papilionaceous 1872. 533 — 564. jjlants. It is abundant in the young plants, '^ Okro or Okra are common names for the but in most it speedily disappears. Its pre- plant in the East and West Indies. Bendi- sence can be proved in the juice by means kai, a Canareso and Tamil word, is used by of the microscope and absolute alcohol, in I'^uropcaiis in the Soutli of India, which latter asparagin is insoluble. See OLEUM CACAO. 87 A.D. 1216, describes^ in immistakeable terms the form of the plant, its seeds and fruit, which last he remarks is eaten when young and tender with meat by the Egyptians. The plant was figured among Egyptian plants in 1592 by Prosper Alpinus ^ who mentions its uses as an ex- ternal emollient. It is noticed in the present work from the circumstance that it has a place in the Pharmacopceia of India. Description — The fruit is a thin capsule, 4 to 6 or more inches long and about an inch in diameter, oblong, pointed, with 5 to 7 ridges cor- responding to the valves and cells, each of which latter contains a single row of round seeds. It is covered with rough hairs and is green when fresh; it has a slightly sweet mucilaginous taste and a weak herbaceous odour. Like many other plants of the order, HiMscus esculentus abounds in all its parts with insipid mucilage. Microscopic Structure — A characteristic part for microscopic examination are the hairs of the fruit. They exhibit at the base one large cell, but their elongated and often slightly curved end is built up of a considerable number of small cells, without any solid contents. The middle and outer zone of the pericarp shows enormous holes filled up with colourless mucilage. In polarized light it is easily seen to be composed of successive layers. Chemical Composition — It is probable that the fruits con- tain the same mucilage as Althcea, but we have had no opportunity of investigating the fact. Popp who examined them green in Egypt, states ^ that they abound in pectin, starch and mucilage. He found that when dried they afforded 2 to 2-4 per cent, of nitrogen, and an ash rich in salts of lime, potash and magnesia. The ripe seeds gave 2'4 — 2*5 per ^cent. of nitrogen ; their ash 24 per cent, of phosphoric acid. Uses- — The fresh or dried, unripe fruits are used in tropical countries as a demulcent like marshmallow, or as an emollient poultice, for which latter purpose the leaves may also be employed. They are more im- portant from aji economic point of view, being much employed for thickening soups or 'eaten boiled as a vegetable. The root has been recommended as a substitute for that of Althcea.^ The plant yields a sood fibre. STERCULIACE^. OLEUM CACAO. Biityrum Cacao, Oleum Thcohromatis ; Cacao Butter, CU of Theobroma ; F. Beurre cU Cacao ; G-. Cacaohutter, Cacaotalg. Botanical Origin — Cacao seeds (from which Cacao Butter is ex- tracted) are furnished by Theohroma Cacao L, and apparently also by Th. Uiocar'pum Bernoulli, Tli. pentagonum Bern., and Th. Scclzman- ^ Ibn Bay tar, Sontheimer's translation, i. ' ArcMv der Pliarmacic, cxcv. (1871) 118 ; Wiistenfeld, Geschichte d. Arab. Aerzte 142. etc. 1840. 118. ■* Delia Sndda, Rep. de Pharm., Janvier, " De plant, ^^gypt., Venet. 1592. cap. 1860. 229. 27. 88 STERCULIACEM nianum Bern.^ These trees are found in the northern parts of South America and in Central America as far as Mexico, both in a wild state and in cultivation. History — Cacao butter was prepared and described by Homberg^ as early as 1695, at which time it appears to have had no particular application. An essay published at Tiibingen in 1735^ called attention to it as " novum atque conimendatissimum medicamentuTn." A little later it is mentioned by Geoffroy^ who says that it is obtained either by boiling or by expressing the seeds, that it is recommended as the basis of cos- metic pomades and as an application to chapped lips and nipples, and to hsemorrhoids. Production — Cacao butter is procured for use in pharmacy from the manufacturers of chocolate who obtain it by pressing the warmed seeds. These in the shelled state yield from 45 to 50 per cent, of oil. The natural seeds consist of about 12 per cent, of shell (testa) and 88 of kernels (cotyledons). Description — At ordinary temperatures cacao butter is a light yellowish, opaque, dry substance, usually supplied in the form of oblong tablets having somewhat the aspect of white Windsor soap. Though unctuous to touch, it is brittle enough to break into fragments when struck, exhibiting a dull waxy fracture. It has a pleasant odour of chocolate and melts in the mouth with a bland agreeable taste. Its sp. gr. is 0-961 ; its fusing point 29° to 30° C. Examined under the microscope by polarized light, cacao butter is seen to consist of minute crystals. It is dissolved by 20 parts of boiling- absolute alcohol, but on cooling separates to such an extent that the liquid retains not more than 1 per cent, in solution. The fat separated after refrigeration is found to have lost most of its chocolate flavour. Litmus is not altered by the hot alcoholic solution. Cacao butter in small fragments is slowly dissolved by double its weight of benzol in the cold (10° C), but by keeping partially separates in crystalline warts. Chemical Composition — The fat under notice is composed in common with others, of several bodies which by saponification furnish glycerin and fatty acids. Among the latter occurs in small proportion oleic acid,^ contained in that part of the cacao butter which remains dissolved in cold alcohol as above stated. In fact by evaporating that solution a soft fat is obtained. But the chief constituent of cacao butter appears to be stearin. Palraitin also occurs, and another compound of glycerin containing prol)ably an acid of the same series richer in carbon, — perhaps arachic acid, C^'^H^'^O^. Uses — Cacao butter which is remarkable for having but little ten- dency to rancidity, has long been used in continental pharmacy ; it was ^ HQvnoxAWyUehersichtderhisjetzlhckann- ii. depuis 1686 jusnu'a 1699, Paris, 1733. teii Arten von Theobroma. — Reprinted from p. 248. DenkschriftenderScInveizerincheiiGesellschaft ^ 13. D. Maucliart pra>side — dissertatio : fur Naturvjisse7ischaflen, xxiv. (Zurich 1869) Bidyrmn Cacao, llesp. Tlieoph. Hoffmann. 4o. 376. * Tract, de Mat. Med. ii. (1741) 409. ^ Hist. d. I'Acad. Hoy. des Sciences, tome . "* See article Amygdala: dulccs. SEMEN UNI. 89 introduced into England a few years ago as a convenient basis for suppositories and pessaries. Adulteration — The description given of tlie drug sufficiently indi- cates the means of ascertaining its purity. LINEiE. SEMEN LINI. Linseed, Flax Seed ; F. Semence de Lin ; G. Ijeinsamen, Flachssamen. Botanical Origin — Linum usitatissimum L., Common Flax, is an annual plant, native of the Old World where it has been cultivated from the remotest times. It sows itself as a weed in tilled ground and is now found in all temperate and tropical regions of the globe. Heer regards it as a variety evolved by cultivation from the perennial L. angustifolium Huds. History — The history of flax, its textile fibre and seed, is intimately connected with that of human civilization. The whole process of con- verting the plant into a fibre fit for weaving into cloth is frequently depicted on the wall-paintings of the Egyptian tombs.^ The grave- clothes of the old Egyptians were made of flax, and the use of the fibre in Egypt may be traced back, according to Unger,^ as far as the 23rd century B.C. The old literature of the Hebrews ^ and Greeks con- tains frequent reference to tissues of flax ; and fabrics woven of flax have actually been discovered together with fruits and seeds of the plant in the remains of the ancient pile-dwellings bordering the lakes of Switzerland.* The seed in ancient times played an important part in the alimenta- tion of man. Among the Greeks, Alcman in the 7th century B.C., and the historian Thucydides, and among the Eomans Pliny, mention linseed as employed for human food. The roasted seed is still eaten by the Abyssinians.^ Theophrastus (3rd century B.C.) expressly alludes to the mucilaginous and oily properties of the seed. Pliny and Dioscorides were acquainted with its medical application both external and internal. The latter, as well as Columella, exhaustively describes flax under its agricultural aspect. In an edict of the Emperor Diocletian De pretiis rerum vena- lium^ dating A.D. 301, linseed is quoted 150 denarii, sesame seed 200, hemp seed 80, and poppy seed 150, the modius castrensis, equal to about 880 cubic inches.'^ The propagation of flax in Northern Europe as of so many other useful plants was promoted by Charlemagne.^ Description — The capsule which is globose splits into 5 carpels each containing two seeds separated by a partition. The seeds are of ■^ WiYkiasoii, Ancient Egyptians, in. (1837) ® A. de Candolle, Geogr. Botanique, 835. 138, &c. 6 See p. 61, note 2. ^ SUzungsbericht der Wiener Akademie, "^ The English imperial gallon = 277 "27 Juni 1866. cubic inches. ^ Exod. ix. 31 ; Lev. xiii. 47, 48 ; Isaiah ^ For further historical information on xix. 9. flax in ancient times, we may refer to Helm, ^ Heer in Trimen's/oM?'?i. o/i?Oi5. i. (1872) Kulturpflanzen und Hausthieve . . . Berlin 87. 1870. 97, 430. 90 LINEM flattened, elongated ovoid form witla an acute edge, and a slightly oblique point blunt at one end. They have a brown, glossy, polished surface which under a lens is seen to be marked with extremely fine pits. The hilum occupies a slight hollow in the edge just below the apex. The testa which is not very hard encloses a thin layer of albumen surrounding a pair of large cotyledons having at their pointed extremity a straight embryo. The seeds of different countries vary from ^ to |- of an inch in length, those produced in warm regions being larger than those grown in cold. We find that 6 seeds of Sicilian linseed, 13 of Black Sea and 17 of Archangel linseed weigh respectively one grain. When immersed in water, the seeds become surrounded by a thin, slippery, colourless, mucous envelope, which quickly dissolves as a neutral jelly, while the seed slightly swells and loses its polish. The seed when masticated has a mucilaginous oily taste. Microscopic Structure — On examining the testa under almond oil or oil of turpentine, the outlines of the epidermal cells are not dis- tinctly visible. But under dilute glycerin or in water the epidermis quickly swells up to 3 or 4 times its original thickness ; on warming, the entire epidermis is resolved into mucilage, except a thin skeleton of cell- walls, which withstands even the action of caustic lye. The for- mation of the mucilage may be conveniently studied by the use of a solution of ferrous sulphate, with which thin sections of the testa should be moistened. Other structural peculiarities may be seen if they are imbued with concentrated sulphuric acid, washed, and then mois- tened with a solution of iodine. The application of polarized light is also useful. By the latter means crystalloid granules of albumi- noid matter become visible if the sections are examined under oil. The tissue of the albumen and the cotyledons abounds in drops of fatty oil. Chemical Composition — The constituent of chief importance is the fixed oil which the seed contains to about \ of its weight. The proportion obtained by pressure on a large scale is 20 to 30 per cent, varying with the quality of the seed. The oil when pressed with- out heat and when fresh has but little colour, is without unpleasant taste, and does not solidify till cooled to —20° C. The commercial oil however is dark yellow and has a sharp repulsive taste and odour. On exposure to the air, especially after having been heated with oxide of lead, it quickly dries up to a transparent varnish con- sisting chiefly of Linoxyn C^^H^^O^^. The crude oil increases in weight 11 to 12 per cent, although at the same time its glycerin is destroyed by oxidation. By saponification, linseed oil yields glycerin, and 95 per cent, of fatty acids, consisting chiefly of Linolcic Acid, C^'^tT^^O-, ^ accompanied by some oleic, palmitic, and myristic acid. The action of the air transforms linoleic acid into the resinoid Oxylinokic Acid C^'^H-^O^ Linoleic acid appears to be contained in all drying oils, notably in that of poppy seed. It is not homologous either with ordinary fatty acids or with the oleic acid of oil of almonds, C^^H-'^'^O^. The chemistry ' Foiiuula of SiisscDguth (ISCrj) ; Cl^H-^O- acconiiii.u to MuMcr. SEMEN LINT. 91 of the drying oils, especially those of linseed and poppy, has been parti- cularly investigated by Mulder.^ The viscid mucilage of linseed cannot be filtered till it has been boiled. It contains in the dry state more than 10 per cent, of mineral substances, when freed from which and dried at 110° C. it corre- sponds like althsea-mucilage, to the formula C^^H^'^O^''. The seeds by- exhaustion with cold or warm water afford of it about 15 per cent. By boiling nitric acid it yields crystals of mucic acid. Its chemical relations are therefore those of gum and not of soluble cellulose. Linseed contains about 4 per cent, of nitrogen corresponding to about 25 per cent, of protein-substances. After expression of the oil these substances remain in the cake so completely that the latter con- tains 5 per cent, of nitrogen, and constitutes a very important article for feeding cattle. In the ripe state linseed is altogether destitute of starch, though this substance is found in the immature seed in the very cells which subsequently yield the mucilage. The latter may be regarded as in analogous cases to be a product of the transformation of starch. The amount of water retained by the air-dry seed is about 9 per cent. The mineral constituents of linseed, chiefly phosphates of potas- sium, magnesium, and calcium, amount on an average to 3 per cent., and pass into the mucilage. By treating thin slices of the testa and its adhering inner membrane with ferrous sulphate, it is seen that .this integument is the seat of a small amount of tannin. Production and Commerce— Flax is cultivated on the largest scale in Eussia, from which country there was imported into the United Kingdom in 1872, linseed to the value of 3 millions sterling. The shipments were made in about equal proportion from the northern and the southern ports of Eussia. The imports from India in the same year amounted in value to £1,144,942, and from Germany and Holland to £144,108. The total import in 1872 was 1,514,947 quarters, value £4,513,842. The cultivation of flax in Great Britain appears to be declining. The area under this crop in 1870 was 23,957 acres; in 1871, 17,366 acres; in 1872, 15,357 acres; and in 1873, 14,683 acres. The last- named area reckoning the yield at 2 to 2-|- quarters of seed per acre would represent a production of about 30,000 to 38,000 quarters. In English price-currents, eight sorts of linseed are enumerated, namely, English, Calcutta, Bombay, Egyptian, Black Sea and Azof, Petersburg, Eiga, Archangel. The first three appear to fetch the highest prices. Uses — In medicine, linseed is chiefly used in the form of poultice, which may be made either of the seed simply ground or of the pulver- ized cake. In either case the powder should not be long stored, as the oil in the comminuted seed is rapidly oxidized and fatty acids pro- duced. An infusion of the seeds called Linseed Tea is a common popular demulcent remedy. ^ His numerous investigations on this German translation: G. J. Mulder, Die subject have been published in a separate Chemic de,r austrocknenden Ode . . Berlin, pamphlet, of which we have before us a 1867, pp. 255. 92 ZYGOPHYLLEM Adulteration — Linseed is very liable to adulteration with other seeds, especially when the commodity is scarce. The admixture in question is due in part to careless harvesting and in part to intentional additions. In 1864 the impure condition of the linseed shipped to the English market had become so detrimental to the trade that the im- porters and crushers' founded an association called The Linseed Asso- ciation of London, by which they bound themselves to refuse all lin- seed containing more than 4 per cent, of foreign seeds, and this step very rapidly improved the quality of the article.^ As the druggist has to purchase linseed meal, he must of neces- sity rely to some extent on the character of the oil-presser from whom he derives his supplies. The presence of the seeds of Cruciferm (as rape and mustard) which is common, may be recognized by the pun- gent odour of the essential oil which they develope in contact with water. The introduction of cereals Avould also be easily discovered by iodine, which strikes no blue colour in a decoction of linseed. The microscope will also afford important aid in the examination of linseed cake or meal. ZYGOPHYLLEiE. LIGNUM GUAIACI. Lignum sanctum ; Guaiacum Wood, Lignum Vitm ; F. Bois de Ga.yac ; G. GuaiaJchoh, Pockholz. Botanical Origin — This wood is furnished by two West Indian species of Guaiacum, namely : — 1. G. ojficincde L., a middle-sized or low evergreen tree, with light blue flowers, paripinnate leaves having ovate, very obtuse leaflets in 2, less often in 3 pairs, and 2-celled fruits. It grows in Cuba, Jamaica (abundantly on the arid plains of the south side of the island), Les Gonaives in the N.W. of Hayti (plentiful), St. Domingo, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad, and the northern coast of the South American continent. This tree affords the Lignum Vita^ of Jamaica (of which very little is imported), a portion of that shipped from the ports of Hayti, and probably the small quantity exported by the United States of Colombia. 2. G. sanctum L., a tree much resembling the preceding, but distin- guishable by its leaves having 3 to 4 pairs of leaflets which are very obliquely obovate or oblong, passing into rhomboid-ovate, and mucronu- late ; and a 5-celled fndt. It is found in Southern Florida, the Bahama Islands, Key West, Cuba, St. Domingo (including the part called Hayti) and Puerto Kico, and is certainly the source of the small but excellent Lignum Vitaj exported from the Bahamas as well as of some of that shipped from Hayti. History — Tliere can be no doubt but that the earliest importations of Lignum A'^itaj were obtained from St. Domingo, of which island, Oviedo^ who landed in America in 1514 mentions the tree, under the name of Guayacan, as a native. He points out its fruits as yellow and ^ Greenish in Ycar-Book of Fharmaai, - Natural Hiidoriu dc las Indias, Toledo, 1S71. 590; Pharm. Journ. Sept. 9, 1871. ir,2G. fol. xxxvii. 211. LIGNUM GUAIACI. 93 resembling two joined lupines, which could only be said with reference to G. officinale and would not apply to the ovoid, five-cornered fruits of G. sanctum. Oviedo appears however to have been aware of two species, one of which he found in Espanola (St. Domingo) as well as in ISTagrando (Nicaragua), and the other in the island of St. John (Puerto Kico), whence it was called Ligmim sanctuin. The first edition of Oviedo was printed in 1526 ; but some years before this the wood must have been known in Germany, as is evident by the treatises written in 1517, 1518, and 1519 by Nicolaus Poll,^ Leonard Schmaus ^ and Ulrich von Hutten.^ The last which gives a tolerable description of the tree, its wood, bark, and medicinal pro- perties was translated into English in 1533 by Thomas Paynel, canon of Merton Abbey, and published in London in 1536 under the title — " Of the wood called Guaiacum that healeth the Frenche Poclces and also helpeth the goute in the feete, the stoone, the palsey, lepree, dropsy, fallynge euyll, and other dyseases." It was several times reprinted. Description^ — The wood (always known in commerce as Lignum Vitm) as imported consists of pieces of the stem and thick branches, usually stripped of bark, and often weighing a hundredweight each. It is remarkably heavy and compact. Its sp. gr. which exceeds that of most woods is about 1*3. Lignum Vitse is mostly imported for turnery,^ and the chips, raspings and shavings are the only form in which it is commonly seen in phar- macy. A stem 7 to 8 inches in diameter cut transversely exhibits a light-yellowish zone of sapwood about an inch wide, enclosing a sharply defined heartwood of a dark greenish brown. Both display alternate lighter and darker layers, which especially in the sapwood are further distinguished by groups of vessels. In this manner are formed a large number of circles resembling annual rings, the general form of which is evident, though the individual rings are by no means well defined. More than 20 such rings may be counted in the sapwood of a log such as we have mentioned, and more than 30 in the heartwood. The pith- less centre is usually out of the axis. The medullary rays are not visible to the naked eye but may be seen by a lens to be very numerous and equidistant. The pores of the heartwood may be distinguished as containing a brownish resin, while those of the outermost layer of sap- wood are empty. In the thickest pieces sapwood is wanting and even in stems of about a foot in diameter it is reduced to \ of an inch. It is of looser texture than the heartwood and floats on water, whereas the latter sinks. Both sapwood and heartwood owe their tenacity to a peculiar zigzag arrangement of the woody bundles. The sapwood is tasteless.' The ^ DecuraMi)rhi Galliei per Lignum Guaya- of which authentic specimens have been canwm libellus, printed in 1535 hut dated kindly placed at oi;r disposal by Mr. G. 19 Dec. 1517, 8 pages 8°. Shadbolt, display the same appearance as * De Morbo Gallico tractatus, Salisburgi, well as microscopic structure. November 1518, — reprinted in the Aphro- ^ Lignum Vitse is much used for the disiacus of Luisinus, Lugd. Bat. 1728. 383. wheels (technically "sheaves") of ships' — We have only seen the latter. blocks (pulleys) the circumference of which ^ Ulrichi de Huiten equitis de Guaiaei ought to consist of the white sapwood. It medicina et morho gallico liber unus, 4°. (26 is also required for caulking mallets, skittle chapters) Moguntite, 1519. balls and for the large balls used in American * The Lignum Vitse of Jamaica (G. offici- bowling alleys, for which purposes it should nale) and that of the Bahamas [G. sanctum), be as sound and homogeneous as possible. 94 ZYGOFBYLLEjE. heartwood has a faintly aromatic and slightly irritating taste, and when heated or rubbed emits a weak agreeable odour. The bark which was formerly officinal but is now almost obsolete, is very rich in oxalate of calcium and affords upon incineration not less than 23 per cent, of ash. It contains a resin distinct from that of the wood, and also a bitter acrid principle. Microscopic Structure — The wood consists for the most part of pointed, not very long, ligneous cells (libriform), traversed by one- celled rows of medullary rays. There are also thin layers of parenchymatous tissue, to which the zones apparent in a transverse section of the drug are due. The pitted vessels are comparatively large but not very numerous. The structure of the sapwood is the same as that of the heartwood, but in the latter the ligneous cells are tilled with resin. The parenchymatous cells contain crystals of oxalate of calcium. Chemical Composition — The only constituent of any interest is the resin which the heartwood contains to the extent of about a fourth of its weight. The sapwood afforded us 0-91 and the heartwood 0-60 per (jent. of ash. Commerce — Lignum Vitse varies much in estimation, according to size, soundness, and the cylindrical form of the logs. The best is exported from the city of Santo Domingo whither it is brought from the interior of the island. The quantity shipped from this port during 1871 was 1494 tons.^ That obtained from the Haytian ports of the same island is much less esteemed in the London market. Some small wood of good quality comes from the Bahamas, and an ordinary quality, also small, from Jamaica. From the latter island, the quantity exported in 1871 was only 14 tons ; "-^ from the Bahamas in the same year 199 tons.^ Lignum Vitai was shipped from Santa Marta in 1872 to the extent of 115 tons.'^ Uses — Guaiacum wood is only retained in the pharmacopceia as an ingredient of the Compound Decoction of Sarsaparilla. It is probably inert, at least in the manner in which it is now administered." Adulteration — In purchasing guaiacum chips it is necessary to observe that the non-resinous sapwood is absent, and still more that there is no admixture of any other wood. A spurious form of the drug seems to be by no means rare in the United States.^ RESINA GUAIACI. Ouaiamm Resin; F. Rhine de Gayac ; G. Guaiakharz. Botanical Origin— Guaiacum officinale L., see preceding article. History — Hutten'' in 1519 stated that guaiacum wood when set on fire exudes a blackish resin which quickly hardens, but of which he ^ Cons'ular Ilq)or(s presented to Parlia- immense reputation, consisted in tlie ad- nient, Aug. 1872. miiiis^tration of vast cpxantities of tlie decoc- ■^ Blue Book — Island of Jamaica for 1871. tion, the jiatient being sliut up in a warm ■■* Blue Book for Colony of Bahamas for room and kept in bed. 1871. " Schulz, in the (Chicago) Pharmacist, * Consular Reporis, Aug. 1873. 746. Sept. 1873. 5 The ancient treatment of syphilis by "^ Op. cit.. at p. 93. guaiacum which gained for the drug such liESINA GIJJIACL 95 knew no use. The resin was in fact introduced into medicine much later than the wood. The first edition of the London Pharmacopma in which we find the former named, is that of 1677. Production ^ — In the island of St. Domingo whence the supplies of guaiacum resin are chiefly derived, the latter is collected from the stems of the trees, in part as a natural exudation, and in part as the result of incisions made in the bark. In some districts as in the island of Gonave near Port-au-Prince, another method of obtaining it is adopted. A log of the wood is supported in a horizontal position above the ground by two upright bars. Each end of the log is then set on fire, and a large incision having been previously made in the middle, the melted resin runs out therefrom in considerable abundance. The resin is collected chiefly from G, officinale,, which affords it in greater plenty than G. sanctum. Description — The resin occurs in globular tears \ an inch to 1 inch in diameter, but much more commonly in the form of large compact masses, containing fragments of wood and bark. The resin is brittle, breaking with a clean, glassy fracture ; in thin pieces it is transparent and appears of a greenish brown hue. The powder when fresh is grey, but becomes green by exj)osure to light and air. It has a slight balsamic odour and but little taste, yet leaves an irritating sensation in the throat. The resin has a sp. gr. of about 1"2. It fuses at 85° C, emitting a peculiar odour somewhat like that of benzoin. It is easily soluble in acetone, ether, alcohol, amy lie alcohol, chloroform, creasote, caustic alka- line solutions, and oil of cloves ; but is not dissolved or only parti- ally by other volatile oils, benzol or bisulphide of carbon. By oxidizing agents it acquires a fine blue colour, well shown when a fresh alcoholic solution is allowed to dry up in a very thin layer and this is then sprinkled with a dilute alcoholic solution of ferric chloride. Eeducing agents of all kinds, and lieat produce decoloration. An alcoholic solution may be thus blued and decolorized several times in succession, but it loses at length its susceptibility. This remarkable property of guaiacum was utilized by Schonbein in his well-known researches on ozone. Chemical Composition — The composition of guaiacum resin was ascertained by Hadelich (1862) to be as follows : — Guaiaconic Acid Guaiaretic Acid Guaiac Beta-resin Glim Ash constituents 70-3 10-5 9-8 3-7 0-8 Guaiacic Acid, colouring matter (Guaiac yellow), and \ ..„ impurities ........ \ 100-0 If the mother liquor obtained in the preparation of the potassium salt of guaiaretic acid {vide infra) is decomposed by hydrochloric acid, and the precipitate washed with water, ether will extract from the mass Guaiaconic Acid, a compound discovered by Hadelich, having the formula Q38jj40Qio_ j^ jg ^ light brown, amorphous substance, fusing at 100° C. ^ We have to thank Mr. Eugene Nau of under this head, as well as for some interest- Port-au-Prince for the information given ing specimens. 9 6 ZYOOPHYLLEM it is without acid reaction but decomposes alkaline carbonates, forming un crystal lizable salts easily soluble in water or alcohol. It is insoluble in water, benzol, or bisulphide of carbon, but dissolves in ether, chloro- form, acetic acid or alcohol. With oxidizing agents it acquires a transient blue tint. Guaiaretic Acid, C^^H^'^O^ discovered by Hlasiwetz in 1859, may be extracted from the crude resin by alcoholic potash or by quick lime. With the former it produces a crystalline salt ; with the latter an amor- phous compound : from either, the liquid which contains chiefly a salt of guaiaconic acid, may be easily decanted. Guaiaretic acid is obtained by decomposing one of the salts referred to with hydrochloric acid, and crystallizing from alcohol. The crystals, which are soluble also in ether, benzol, chloroform, carbon bisulphide or acetic acid, but neither in ammonia nor in water, melt below 80° C. and may be volatilized without decomposition. The acid is not coloured blue by oxidizing agents. After the extraction of the guaiaconic acid there remains a substance insoluble in ether to which the name Guaiac Beta-resin has been applied. It dissolves in alcohol, acetic acid or alkalis, and is precipitated by ether, benzol, chloroform or carbon bisulphide in brown flocks, the composition of which appears not greatly to differ from that of guaiaconic acid. Guaiacic Acid, C^^ff'^O^, obtained in 1841 by Thierry from guaiacum wood or from the resin, crystallizes in colourless needles. Hadelich was not able to obtain more than one part from 20,000 of guaiacum resin. Hadelich's Gvxtiac-yellow, the colouring matter of guaiacum resin, first observed by Pelletier, crystallizes in pale yellow quadratic octo- hedra, having a bitter taste. Like the other constituents of the resin, it is not a glucoside. The decomposition-products of guaiacum are of peculiar interest. On subjecting the resin to dry distillation in an iron retort and rectifying the distillate, Guaiacene {Guajol of Volckel), C^H^O, passes over at 118° C. as a colourless neutral liquid having a burning aromatic taste. At 205° — 210° C, there pass over other products, Guaiacol (or Pyro- guaiacic Acid or Guaiacyl-hydridc) , C^H^O^, and Kreosol, C^H^^O^. Both are thickish, aromatic, colourless liquids, which become green by caustic alkalis, blue by alkaline earths, and are similar in their chemical relations to eugenic acid. Guaiacol has been prepared synthetically by Gorup- Besanez (1868) by combining iodide of methyl, CH^I, with pyro- catechin, C^H^O^. After the removal by distillation of the liquids just described, there sublime upon the further application of heat, pearly crystals of Pyro- guaiacin, C^^H^^O^, an inodorous substance melting at 180° C. Tlie same compound is obtained together with guaiacol by the dry distillation of guaiaretic acid. Pyroguaiacin is coloured green by ferric chloride, and blue by warm sulphuric acid. The similar reactions of the crude resin are probably due to this substance (Hlasiwetz). Beautiful coloured reactions are likewise exhibited by two new acids which Hlasiwetz and Barth obtained (1864) in small quantity together with traces of fatty volatile acids, by melting purified resin of guaiacum with potassium hydrate. One of them is isomeric with pyrocatechuic acid. Uses — Guaiacum resin is reputed diaphoretic and alterative. It is frequently prescribed iu cases of gout and rheumatism. CORTEX ANGOSTUR/E. f) 7 Adulteration — The drug is sometimes imported in a very foul con- dition and largely contaminated wdth impurities arising from a careless method of collection. RUTACE^. CORTEX ANGOSTURvE. Cortex CusparicB ; Angostura Bark, Cusparia Bark, CoTony Bark ; r. Ecorce cCAngusture ; G. Angostura-Binde. Botanical Origin — Galipea Cusparia St. Hilaire [G. officinalis Hancock, Bonplandia trifoliata Willd.), a small tree, 12 to 15 feet high, with a trunk 3 to 5 inches in diameter, growing in abundance on the mountains of San Joaquin de Caroni in Venezuela, between 7° and 8° K lat. According to Hancock,^ who was well acquainted with the tree, it is also found in the Missions of Tumeremo, Uri, Alta Gracia, and Cupapui, districts lying- eastward of the Caroni and near its junction with the Orinoko. The bark is brought into commerce by way of Trinidad. History — Angostura Bark is said to have been used in Madrid by Mutis as early as 1759 ^ (the year before he left Spain for Soiith America), but it was certainly unkiiown to the rest of Europe until much later. Its real introducer was Brande, apothecary to Queen Charlotte, and father of the distinguished chemist of the same name, who drew attention to some parcels of the bark imported into England in 1788.^ In the same year a quantity was sent to a London drug firm by Dr. Ewer of Trinidad who describes it * as brought to that island from Angostura by the Spaniards. The drug continued to arrive in Europe either by way of Spain or England, and its use was gradually diffused. In South America it is known as Qtcina de Caroni and Cascarilla del Angostura. Description — The bark occurs in flattish or channelled pieces, or in quills rarely as much as 6 inches in length and mostly shorter. The flatter pieces are an inch or more in width and ^ of an inch in thick- ness. The outer side of the bark is coated with a yellowish-grey corky layer, often soft enough to be removeable with the nail, and then dis- playing a dark brown, resinous under surface. The inner side is light brown with a rough, slightly exfoliating surface i^dicating close adhe- sion to the woo4, strips of which are occasionally found attached to it the obliquely cut edge also shows that it is not very easily detached. The bark has a short, resinous fracture and displays on its transverse edge sharply defined white points, due to deposits of oxalate of calcium. It has a bitter taste and a nauseous musty odour. Microscopic Structure — The most striking peculiarity is. tike great ^ Observations on the Orayuri or Angustura Hancock's plants compariHg it with his. Bark Tree, — Trans, of Medico- Botanical figure and other specimens, and have ar- Society, 1827-29. — Hancock endeavoured to rived at the conclusion that it is untenable- prove his tree distinct from G. Cusparia St. ^s a distinct species. — D».. H.. Hil., but Farre and Don who subsequently ^ Martiny, Encyklopadie, i. (1843) 242. examined his specimens decided that the ^ Brande, Experiments and Observations on two were the same. With the assistance the Angustura Bark. 1791. 2nd ed. 179S. of Prof. Oliver, I also have examined (1871) * London Med.. Jouru x. (1789) 154. E 98 RUTACEM number of oil-cells scattered through the tissue of the bark. They are not much larger than the neighbouring parenchymatous cells and are loaded with yellowish essential oil or small granules of resin. Numerous other cells contain bundles of needle-shaped crystals of oxalate of calcium or small starch granules. The liber exhibits bundles of yellow fibres, to which the foliaceous fracture of the inner bark is due. Chemical Composition — Angostura bark owes its peculiar odour to an essential oil which it was found by Herzog^ to yield to the extent of f per cent. According to this chemist it has the composition Q13JJ24Q . j^ jg probably a mixture of a hydrocarbon (C^^H^) with an oxygenated oil. Its boiling point is 266° C. The bitter taste of the bark is attributed to a substance pointed out in 1833 by Saladin and named Ciosparin. It is said to be crystalline, neutral, melting at 45° C, soluble in alcohol, sparingly in water, pre- cipitable by tannic acid. The bark is stated to yield it to the extent of 1"3 per cent. Herzog endeavoured to prepare it but without success. A cold aqueous infusion of angostura bark yields an abundant red- brown precipitate with ferric chloride. Thin slices of the bark are not coloured by solution of ferrous sulphate, so that tannin appears to be absent. Uses — Angostura bark is a valuable tonic in dyspepsia, dysentery and chronic diarrhoea, but is falling into disuse. Adulteration — About the year 1804, a quantity of a bark which proved to be that of Strychnos Nux Vomica reached Europe from India, and was mistaken for Cusparia. The error occasioned great alarm and some accidents, and the use of angostura was in some countries even prohibited. The means of distinguishing the two barks (which are not likely to be again confounded) are amply contained in the above-given descriptions and tests. FOLIA BUCHU. Folia Bucco ; Biixhii, Bucchu, Bucha or Buka Leaves ; F. Feuilles de Bucco ; G. Bukubldtter. Botanical Origin — The Buchu leaves of medicine are afforded by three species of Barosma'} The latter are erect shrubs some feet in height with glabrous rod-like branches, opposite leaves furnished with conspicuous oil- cells on the toothed margin as well as generally on the under surface. The younger twigs and several parts of the floAver are also provided with oil-cells. The white flowers with 5-partite calyx, and the fruit formed of five erect carpels, are often found, together with small leafy twigs, in the drug of commerce. The leaves of the three species referred to may be thus distin- guished : — 1. Barosma crenulata Hook. {B. crenata Kunze). — Oblong, oval, or obovate, obtuse, narrowed towards the base into a distinct petiole ; margin serndate or crenulate ; dimensions, | to 1^ inches long, y\ to -^^ uf an inch wide. 1 Archiv d. Pharm. xciii. (1858) 146. " From Papvs, heavy, and o(7/uj), odour. FOLIA BUCliU. 99 2. B. scrratifolia Wiild. — Linear-lauceolate, equally narrowed to- wards either end, three-nerved, apex truncate always furnished with an oil- cell ; margin sharply serrulate ; 1 — 1-| inches long by about -j^ of an inch wide. 3. B. hctulina Bartling. — Cuneate-obovate, apex recurved ; margin sharply denticulate, teeth spreading ; |- to | of an inch long by j^ to ^^ wide. Substance of the leaf more harsh and rigid than in the preceding. B. crenulata and B. hetulina grow in the Divisions of Clanwilliam and Worcester, north and north-east of Cape Town, and the former even on Table Mountain close to the capital ; B. serratifolia is found in the Division of Swellendam further south. History — The use of Buchu leaves was learnt from the Hottentots by the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope. The first importations of the drug were consigned to the house of Reece & Co. of London, who introduced it to the medical profession in 1821.^ The species appears to have been B. crenulata. Description -In addition to the characters already pointed out, we may observe that buchu leaves of either of the kinds mentioned are smooth and glabrous, of a dull yellowish-green hue, somewhat paler on the under side, on which oil-cells in considerable number are perceptible. The leaves of B. crenulata vary in shape and size in different parcels, in some the leaves being larger and more elongated than in others, pro- bably according to the luxuriance of the bushes in particular localities. Those of B. serratifolia and B. hctulina present but little variation. Each kind is always imported by itself. Those of B. hetulina are the least esteemed and fetch a lower price than the others, yet appear to be quite as rich in essential oil. Buchu leaves have a penetrating peculiar odour and a strongly aromatic taste. Microscopic Structure — The essential oil is contained in large cells close beneath the epidermis of the under side of the leaf. The oil- cells are circular and surrounded by a thin layer of smaller cells ; they consequently partake of the character of the oil-ducts in the aromatic roots of UtnhellifercB and Compusitce. The latter however are elongated. The upper side of the leaf of Barosma exhibits an extremely interesting peculiarity.^ There is a colourless layer of cells separating the epidermis from the green inner tissue (mesophyllum). If the leaves are examined under alcohol or almond-oil the colourless layer is seen to be very narrow, and the thin walls of its cells shrunken and not clearly distinguishable. If the transverse sections are examined under water, these cells immediately swell up and become strongly distended, giving off' an abundance of mucilage, the latter being afforded by the solution of the very cell- walls. The mucilage of buchu leaves thus originates in the same way as in flax seed or quince seed, but in the former the epidermis is thrown off without alteration. We are not aware that other mucilaginous leaves possess a similar structure, at least not those" of Althma officinalis and of Sesamu7n which we examined. Chemical Composition — The leaves of B. hetulina afforded us by ^ E. Reece, Monthly Gaz&tte of Health for " Fliickiger in Schweiz. Wochenschrift fiir Feb. 1821. 799. " Pharm. Dec. 1873, with plate. H 2 100 RUT ACE JE. distillation 1'56 per cent, of volatile oil/ which has the odour rather of peppermint than of buchu and deviates the ray of polarized light considerably to the left. On exposure to cold it furnishes a camphor which after re-solution in spirit of wine, crystallizes in needle-shaped forms. After repeated purification in this manner, the crystals of Barosma CaTnphor have an almost pure peppermint odour ; they fuse at 85° C. and begin to sublime at 110° C. After fusion they again solidify only at 50° C. Submitted to elementary analysis, the crystals yielded us 74'08 per cent, of carbon and from 9 to 10 per cent, of hydrogen.^ Barosma camphor is abundantly soluble in bisulphide of carbon. The crude oil from which the camphor has been separated has a boiling point of about 200° C, quickly rising to 210° or even higher. That which distilled between these temperatures was treated with sodium, rectified in a current -of common coal gas and submitted to elementary analysis, afforded ns 77"86 per cent, of carbon and 10*58 of hydrogen. The formula C^^ff'^O would require 78-94 of carbon and 10"53 of hydrogen. On addition of perchloride of iron an aqueous infusion of buchu leaves assumes a dingy brownish green colour changing to red by an alkali. The infusion added to a concentrated solution of acetate of copper causes a yellow precipitate^ which dissolves in caustic potash, affording a green solution. This may be due to the presence of a substance of the queroitrin or rutin class. When the leaves are infused in warm water, the mucilage noticed under the microscope may easily be pressed out. It requires for precipitation a large amoimt of alcohol, being readily miscible with dilute alcohol. Neutral acetate of lead produces a yellow precipitate in an infusion of the leaves ; the liquid affords a precipitate by a sub- sequent addition of basic acetate of lead. The latter precipitate is (probably) due to the mucilage, that afforded by neutral acetate partly to mucilage and partly, we suppose, to rutin or an allied substance. Yet the mucilage of buchu leaves is of the class which is not properly dissolved by water, but only swells up like tragacanth. The leaves of B. crennl-ata afford upon incineration 4'7 per cent, of ash. The Diosmin of Landerer'* is entirely unknown to us. Commerce — The export of Buchu from the Cape Colony in 1872 was 379,125 ft)., about one-sixth of which quantity was shipped direct to the United States.^ Uses — Buchu is principally administered in disorders of the urino- genital organs. It is rejDuted diuretic and diaphoretic. In the Cape Colony the leaves are much employed as a popular stimulant and stomachic, infused in water, sherry or brandy. They are also exten- sively used in the United States, both in regular medicine and by the vendors of secret remedies. ^ Messrs. Alien and Hanburys operating ' It seems flrrccjt as long as it is in the blue on larger quantities obtained 1"63 per cent. cnpric liiiuid. * Oui' supply of the snlistance having been ■• (iwwWWs Chemistry, xviii. 194. exhausted by two analyses we cannot regard * .fi/M^Q) ^ \iui\lax^-^v&\xo\\QS, Historia diplomatica 68. Friderici secundi, Paris, v. 571. * GSographie d'Edrisi, traduite par Jau- * Heil- und Nalirungsmittd von Ehn Bai- bert, i. (1836) 162. iAar, iibersetzt von Sontheimer, ii. (1842) 4.'^''. 104 AVRANTIACEjE. There is distinct evidence that the tree was grown on the Eiviera of Genoa about the middle of the 15th century, since Limones and also Citri are mentioned in the manuscript Livre dJ Administration of the city of Savona, under date 1468.^ The lemon was cultivated as early as 1494 in the Azores, whence the fruit used to be largely shipped to England ; but since tlie year 1838 the exportation has totally ceased.^ Description — The fruit of Citrus Limonum as found in the shops ^ is from about 2 to 4 inches in length, egg-shaped with a nipple more or less prominent at the apex ; its surface of a pale yellow, is even or rugged, covered with a polished epidermis. The parenchyme within the latter abounds in large cells filled with fragrant essential oil. The roughness of the surface of the rind is due to the oil-cells. The peel which varies considerably in thickness but is never so thick as that of the citron, is internally white and fibrous, and is adherent to the pale- yellow pulp. The latter is divided into 10 or 12 segments each contain- ing 2 or 3 seeds. It abounds in a pale-yellow acid juice having a pleasant sour taste and a slight peculiar odour quite distinct from that of the peel. When removed from the pulp by pressure, the juice appears as a rather turbid yellowish fluid having a sp. gr. which varies from 1'040 to 1"045, and containing in each fluid ounce from 40 to 46 grains of citric acid, or about 9^ per cent.* Lemon juice (Succus limonis) for administration as a medicine should be pressed as wanted from the recent fruit whenever the latter is obtainable. The peel {Cortex limonis) cut in somewhat thin ribbons from the fresh fruit is used in pharmacy and is far preferable to that sold in a dried state. Microscopic Structure of the peel. — The epidermis exhibits numerous stomata ; the parenchyme of the pericarp encloses large oil- cells, surrounded by small tabular cells. The inner spongy tissue is built up of very remarkable branched cells, separated by large inter- cellular spaces. A solution of iodine in iodide of potassium imparts to the cell-walls a transient blue coloration. The outer layers of the paren- chymatous tissue contain numerous yellowish lumps of a substance which assumes a brownish hue by iodine and yields a yellow solution if potash be added. Alkaline tartrate of copper is reduced by this sub- stance, which probably consists of hesperidin. There also occur large crystals of oxalate of calcium, belonging to the monoclinic system. The interior tissue is irregularly traversed by small vascular bundles. Chemical Composition — The peel of the lemon abounds in essen- tial oil which is a distinct article of commerce, and will be described hereafter. Lemons as well as other fruits of the genus Citrus contain a bitter principle, Hesperidin, our knowledge of which is still very imperfect. It was first obtained in 1827 by Lehreton, but not in a state of purity. He supposed the ])itter taste of the needle-shaped crystals of his hespe- ridin to be due to an accompanying bitter principle ; Lepage likewise stated hesperidin to be a tasteless body. Delm in 1866 examined the products of decomposition of hesperidin, which were formed by boiling ^ Gallesio, Traiti du, Citrus (1811) 89, as of oraiigu which are never seen in com- 105. merce. Kisso and Poiteau enumerate '?.5 '^ Consul Smallwood, in Consular Reports, varieties of the former and 30 of the latter. Ani;. 1^73. 9.S«. ■* Stoddart, in Phariu. Juurn. x. (lSli9) ^ There aio many kinds of lemon as well 203, FR UCTUS LI MO N IS. 1 0 5 it with dilute sulphuric acid. He analysed the peculiar sugar, Q12JJ24O10 + H"^0, thus obtained, but not the other product of this reaction, nor hesperidin itself. Brandes in 1841 also pointed out the existence of a bitter principle, to which he applied the name of Atirantiin. In 1840 Bernays obtained Limonin from kernels of lemons or sweet oranges, likewise a bitter principle, to which Schmidt (1844) assigned the formula C^^H^^O^*. Lastly, J. E. de Vry in 1866 removed a crystallized bitter substance from the flowers of Citrus decumana L. grown in Java. Whether these bodies are but one and the same is a question which remains to be investigated. Lebreton's hesperidin is soluble in ammonia with a greenish yellow colour. To it perhaps is due the fine yellow tint that is produced in the white parenchyme of the fruit when brought into contact with an alkali or with vapour of ammonia. On addition of ferric chloride, thin slices of the peel are darkened, owing probably to a kind of tannic matter. Lemon juice, some of the characters of which have been already noticed, is an important article in a dietetic point of view, being largely consumed on shipboard for the prevention of scurvy. In addition to citric acid it contains 3 to 4 per cent, of gum and sugar, and 2'28 per cent, of inorganic salts, of which according to Stoddart only a minute proportion is potash. Cossa ^ on the other hand who has recently studied the products of the lemon tree with much care, has found that the ash of dried lemon juice contains 54 per cent, of potash, besides 15 per cent, of phosphoric acid. Stoddart has pointed out the remarkable tendency of citric acid to un- dergo decomposition,^ and has proved that in lemons kept from February to J uly this acid generally decreases in quantity, at first slowly but after- wards rapidly, until at the end of the period it entirely ceases to exist, having been all split up into glucose and carbonic acid. At the same time the sp. gr. of the juice was found to have undergone but slight diminution: — thus it was 1*044 in February, 1"041 in May, and 1'027 in July, and the fruit had hardly altered in appearance. Lemon juice may with some precautions be kept unimpaired for months or even years. Yet it is capable of undergoing fermentation by reason of the sugar, gum, and albuminoid matters which it contains. Commerce — Lemons are chiefly imported from Sicily, to a smaller extent from the Eiviera of Genoa and from Spain. From the published statistics of ti'ade, in which lemons are classed together with oranges under one head, it appears that these fruits are being imported in increasing quantities. The value of the shipments to the United King- dom in 1872 (largely exceeding those of any previous year) was £1,154,270. Of this sum, £986,796 represents the value of the oranges and lemons imported from Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and Azores ; £155,330 the shipments of the same fruit from Italy ; and £3,825 those from Malta. Uses — Lemon peel is used in medicine solely as a flavouring- ingredient. Freshly prepared lemon juice is often administered with ^ Qazzetta Chimica Italiana, ii. (1872) added to lemon juice, oaiaKc acici! may be de- 385 ; Journ. of Chem. Soc. xi. (1873) 402. tected in the mixture after a few days, is not ^ Stoddart's statement that if potash be supported by our observations. 106 AUHANTIACEjE. an alkaline bicarbonate in the form of an effervescing draught, or in a free state. Concentrated lemon juice or lime juice is imported for the purpose of making citric acid ; it is derived not only from the lemon, but also from the lime and beru'amot. OLEUM LIMONIS. Oleum Limonum; Essential Oil or Essence of Lemon ; F. Essence de Citron; G. Citronenol. Botanical Origin — Citrus Liinonum Eisso (see p. 103). History — The chemists of the 16th century were well acquainted with the method of extracting essential oils by distillation. Besson in his work L'art et moyen parfaict de tirer huyles et eaux de tous medica- tnents simples et oleogineux published at Paris in 1571, mentions lemon- (citron) and orange-peel among the substances subjected to this process. Giovanni Battista Porta,^ a learned Neapolitan writer, describes the method of preparing Oleum ex corticihus Gitri to consist in removing the peel of the fruit with a rasp and distilling it so comminuted with water ; and adds that the oils of lemon and orange may be obtained in the same manner. Essence of lemon of two kinds, namely expressed and distilled, was sold in Paris in the time of Pomet, 1692. Production — Essential oil of lemon is manufactured in Sicily, at Eeggio in Calabria, and at Mentone and Nice in France. The lemons are used while still rather green and unripe, as being richer in oil than when quite mature. Only the small and irregular fruit such as is not worth exporting, is employed for affording the essence. The process followed in Sicily and Calabria may be thus described ; ^ it is performed in the months of November and December. The workman first cuts off the peel in three thick longitudinal slices, leaving the central pulp of a three-cornered shape with a little peel at either end. This central pulp he cuts transversely in the middle, throw- ing it on one side and the pieces of peel on the other. The latter are allowed to remain till the next day and are then treated thus : — the workman seated holds in the palm of his left hand a fiattish piece of sponge, wrapping it round his fore-fmger. With the other he places on the sponge one of the slices of peel, the outer surface downwards, and then presses the zest-side (which is uppermost) so as to give it for the moment a convex instead of a concave form. The vesicles are thus ruptured, and the oil which issues from them is received in the sponge with which they are in contact. Four or live squeezes are all the work- man gives to each slice of peel, wliicli done he throws it aside. Though each bit of peel has attached to it a small portion of pulp, the workman contrives to avoid pressing the latter. As the sponge gets saturated the workman wrings it forcibly, receiving its contents in a coarse earthen ^ Mar/ice Naturrdis libri xx. Neapoli, (13 May 1872) was not that of the manu- 1589. 183. factnrc, Signer M. sent for one of his work- * Tlirougli the kindness of Signer Mai- mcni, and having procured a few lemons, landrino of Giarnpilieri near Messina, I had set liini to work on them in order that I the pleasure ot seeing how the essence is might have ocular demonstration of the Diade. Though the time of my visit process. — D. H. OLEUM LI MO MS. 107 bowl provided with a spout ; in this rude vessel which is capable of holdiu^'- at least three pints, the oil separates from the watery liquid which accompanies it, and is then decanted. The yield is stated to be very variable, 400 fruits affording 9 to 14 ounces of essence. The prisms of pulp and the exhausted pieces of peel are submitted to pressure in order to extract from them lemon juice, and are said to be also subjected to distillation. The foregoing is termed the sjionge-process ; it is also applied to the orange. It appears rude and wasteful, but when honestly performed it yields an excellent product. Essence of lemon is prepared at Mentone and Nice by a different method. The object being to set free and to collect the oil contained in the vesicles of the peel, an apparatus is employed which may be thus described : — a stout saucer or shallow basin of pewter, about 8-|- inches in diameter with a lip on one side for convenience of pouring, Fixed in the bottom of this saucer are a number of stout, sharp, brass pins standing up about half an inch ; the centre of the bottom is deepened into a tube about an inch in diameter and five inches in length, closed at its lower end. This vessel which is called an ^cuclle a piquer, has therefore some resemblance to a shallow, dish-shaped funnel, the tube of which is closed below. The workman takes a lemon in the hand, and rubs it over the sharp pins, turning it round so that the oil-vessels of the entire surface may be punctured. The essential oil which is thus liberated is received in the saucer whence it flows down into the tube; and as this latter becomes filled, it is poured into another vessel that it may separate from the turbid aqueous liquid that accompanies it. It is finally filtered and is then known as Essence de Citron au zeste. A small additional produce is sometimes obtained by immersing the scarified lemons in warm water and separating the oil which floats off. A second kind of essence termed Essence de Citron distilUe is obtained by rubbing the surface of fresh lemons, or of those wdiich have been submitted to the process just described, on a coarse grater of tinned iron, by which the portion of peel richest in essential oil is removed. This grated peel is subjected to distillation with water and yields a colourless essence of very inferior fragrance which is sold at a low price. Description^ — The oil obtained by the sponge process and that of the ecuelle a piquer are mobile liquids of a faint yellow colour, of ex- quisite fragrance and bitterish aromatic taste. The different specimens which we have examined, are readily mis- cible with bisulphide of carbon but dissolve sparingly in spirit of wine (0-830). An equal weight of the oil and of spirit of wine forms a turbid mixtiire. No peculiar coloration is produced by mixture with perchloride of iron. The oils are dextrogyre, but differ in their rotatory power, as may be illustrated by the following results, which we obtained by examining them in a column 50 millimetres long in the polaristrobometer of Wild. ^ For specim€Es o-f the Mssence au zeste the essence made by the sponge process in and of the Essence distilUe of guaranteed their establishment at Reggio. "V^''e have purity we have to thank M. Medecin, dis- also had a small quantity prepared by the tiller of essences, Mentone ; and Messrs. G. 6cueVe by one of ourselves near Mentone, Panuccio e figli for an authentic sample of 15 June 1872. — D. H. 108 AVRANTlACEm. The oil of Signori Panuccio, due to the sponge-process (p. 107, note 1), deviated 20.9°, that of Monsieur Medicin {Essence de Citron au zeste) obtained by the 4cuelle a piquer deviated 33'4° and his distilled oil 28 '3°. Chemical Composition — Most essential oils of the Aurantiacece agree with the formula C^°H^^; the differences which they exhibit, chiefly concern their optical properties, odour and colour. The boiling point varies about from 170° to 180° C, the sp. gr. between 0*83 and 0-88. These oils are probably in many cases rather a mixture of isomeric hydrocarbons than individual substances. They also contain a small proportion of oxygenated oils, not yet well known ; of these we may infer the presence either from analytical results or simply from the fact, that the crude oils are altered by metallic sodium. If they are purified by repeated rectification over that metal, they are finally no longer altered by it. Oils thus purified cease to possess their original fragrance, and often resemble oil of turpentine, with which they agree in composition and general chemical behaviour. As. to Essential oil of lemons it easily yields the crystalline compound Qiojiie _|_ 2HC1, when saturated with anhydrous hydrochloric gas, whereas by the same treatment oil of turpentine affords the compound C1OH10 + HCl. Essential oil of lemons when long kept deposits a greasy mass, from which we have obtained small crystals apparently of Bergaptene (p. 111). Commerce— Essence of lemons is shipped chiefly from Messina and Palermo, packed in copper bottles called in Italian ramiere and by English druggists "jars," holding 25 to 50 kilo, or more; sometimes in tin bottles of smaller size. The quantity of essences of lemon, orange and bergamot exported from Sicily in 1871 was 368,800tb., valued at £144,520, of which about two-thirds were shipped to England.-^ Uses — Essence of lemon is used in perfumery, and as a flavouring ingredient : and though much sold by druggists is scarcely employed in medicine. Adulteration — Few drugs are more rarely to be found in a state of purity than essence of lemon. In fact it is stated that almost all that comes into the market is more or less diluted with oil of turpentine or with the cheaper distilled oil of lemons. Manufacturers of the essence complain that the demand for a cheap article forces them to this falsifica- tion of their product. OLEUM BERGAMOTT^. Oleum Bergamii ; Essence or Essential Oil of Bergamot; Y. Essence de Bergamotte ; G. Bergamottdl. Botanical Origin— Citrus Bergamia var. vulgaris Risso et Poiteau,' a small tree closely resembling in flowers and foliage the Bitter Orange. Its fruit is 2-t to 3 inches in diameter, nearly spherical, or slightly pear-shaped, frequently crowned by the persistent style ; it is of a pale golden yellow ^ Consul Dennis, On the. Commerce iL'c. of given by these authors for the sake of con- Sicily in 1869, 1870, 1871. [Reportu from venience and deliniteuess, and not because H.M. Consuls, No. 4. 1873.) we concur in their opinion that tlie Ber- * Histoire nalurellc dcs Grangers, Paris, gainot deserves to be ranked as a distinct 1818. p. 111. tab. 53. — We accept the name botanical species. OLEUM BERGAMOTTjE. 1 () 9 like a lemon, with the peel smooth and thin, abounding in essential oil of a peculiar fragrance ; the pulp is pale yellow, of rather acid and bitterish taste. The tree is cultivated atReggio in Calabria, and is unknown in a wild state. History — The bergamot is one of the cultivated forms which abound in the genus Citrus, and which constitute the innumerable varieties of the orange, lemon and citron. Whether it is most nearly related to the lemon or to the orange is a point discussed as early as the beginning of the last century. Gallesio ^ remarks that it so evidently combines the characters of the two that it should be regarded as a hybrid between them. The bergamot first appeared in the latter part of the 17th century. It is not mentioned in the grand work on orange trees of Ferrari,^ published at Eome in 1646, nor in the treatise of Commelyn ^ (1676), nor in the writings of Lanzoni (1690),^ or La Quintinie (1692).'' So far as we know, it is first noticed in a little book called Le Parfumeur Frangois, printed at Lyons in 1693. The author who calls himself Le Sieur Barbe, parfu'nieur, says that the Essence de Cedra ou Berga-motte is obtained from the fruits of a lemon-tree which has been grafted on the stem of a bergamot pear ; he adds that it is got by squeezing small bits of the peel with the fingers in a bottle or globe large enough to allow the hand to enter. Volkamer of JSTuremberg who produced a fine work on the Citron tribe in 1708, has a chapter on the Limon ^erf/amo^Jto which he describes as gloria limonum et fructus inter omnes nohilissimus. He states that the Italians prepare from it the finest essences which are sold at a high price.® Production — The bergamot is cultivated at Reggio, on low ground near the sea, and in the adjacent villages. The trees are often inter- mixed with lemon and orange trees, and the soil is well irrigated and cropped with vegetables. The essential oil {Oleum Bergamottte) is obtained from the full-grown but still unripe and more or less green fruits, gathered in the months of November and December. It was formerly made like that of lemon by the sponge-process, but during the last 20 years this method has been generally superseded by the introduction of a special machine for the extraction of the essential oil. In this machine the fruits are placed in a strong, saucer-like, metallic dish, about 10 inches in diameter, having in the centre a raised opening which with the outer edge forms a broad groove or channel ; the dish is fitted with a cover of similar form. The inner surface both of the dish and cover is rendered rough by a series of narrow, radiating metal ridges or blades which are about -^ of an inch high and resemble the backs of knives. The dish is also furnished with some small openings to allow of the outflow of essential oil ; and both dish and cover are arranged in a metallic cylinder, placed over a vessel to receive the oil. By a simple arrangement of cog-wheels moved by a handle, the cover which is very heavy is made to revolve rapidly ^ Traite du Citrus, 1811. 118.' ^ Instructimi 2}our les Jardins fndtiers . . ^ Hesperides, seu de inalorum aureorum ave.c un traite des Grangers, ed. 2, 1692. cuHura et usu. 6 Hesperides Norimbergenses, 1713. lib. 3. ■■' Nederlayitze Hesperides, Amsterd. 1676. cap. 26. and p. 156 b. (We quote from tlie fol. (an English translation in 1683). Latin edition.) * Citrologia, Ferrariae, 1690. 110 aurantialejs. over tlie dish, and the fruit lying in the groove between the two is carried ronnd, and at the same time is subjected to the action of the sharp ridges, which rupturing the oil-vessels, cause the essence to escape, and set it free to flow out by the small openings in the bottom of the dish. The fruits are placed in the machine 6, 8 or more at a time, according to their size, and subjected to the rotatory action above described for about half a minute, when the machine is stopped, they are removed and fresh ones substituted. About 7,000 fruits can be thus worked in one of these machines in a day. The yield of oil is said to be similar to that of lemon, namely 2\ to 3 ounces from 100 fruits. Essence of bergamot made by the machine is of a greener tint than that obtained by the old sponge-process. During some weeks after extraction it gradually deposits a quantity of white greasy matter (bergaptene), which after having been exhausted as much as possible by pressure, is finally subjected to distillation with water in order to separate the essential oil it still contains. The fruits from which the essence has been extracted are submitted to pressure, and the juice, which is much inferior in acidity to lemon juice, is concentrated, and sold for the manufacture of citric acid. Finally, the residue from which both essence and juice have been removed, is consumed as food by oxen. Description — ^ Essential oil of bergamot is a thin and mobile fluid of peculiar and very fragrant odour, bitterish taste, and slightly acid reaction. It has a pale greenish yellow tint, due to traces of chlorophyll as may be shown by the spectroscope. Its sp. gr. is 0*86 to 0'88 ; its boiling point varies from 183" to 195° C. The oil is miscible with spirit of wine (0'83 sp. gr,), absolute alcohol, as well as with crystallizable acetic acid. Four parts dissolve clearly one part of bisulphide of carbon, but the solution becomes turbid if a larger proportion of the latter is added. Bisulphide of carbon itself is incapable of dissolving clearly any appreciable quantity of the oil. A mixture of 10 drops of the oil, 50 drops of bisulphide of carbon and one of strong sulphuric acid has an intense yellow hue. Perchloride of iron imparts to bergamot oil dissolved in alcohol a dingy brown colour. Panuccio's oil of bergamot examined in the same way as that of lemon (p. 107) deviates 7° to the right and has therefore a dextrogyre power ^■ery inferior to that of other oils of the same elass.^ But it probably varies in this respect, for commercial specimens which we judged to be of good quality deviated from 8'8° to 10"4° to the right. Chemical Composition — If essential oil of bergamot is submitted to rectification, the portions that successively distill over do not accord in rotatory power or in boiling point, a fact which proves it to be a mixture of several oils, as is further confirmed by analysis. It appears to consist of hydrocarbons, 0^*^11^^, and their hydrates, neither of which have as yet been satisfactorily isolated. Oil of bergamot, like that of turpentine, yields crystals of the composition C^^IP'^ + 311-0, if 8 parts are allowed to stand some weeks with 1 part of spirit of wine, 2 of nitric * The characters are takeu from some at Ile^gio and also larj^e cultivators of the Essence of Bergamot presented to one of us bergamot orange. (15 May 1872) as a type-sample by Messrs. ' See however Oleum Kerol-i, p. 113. G. Panuccio e fi^'li manufaf'turers of essences CORTEX AU RAN Til. \ \ \ arid (sp. gr. 1'2) and 10 of water, the mixture being frequently shaken. No solid compound is produced by saturating the oil with anhydrous hydrochloric gas. The greasy matter that is deposited from oil of bergamot soon after its extraction/ and in small quantity is often noticeable in that of commerce, is called Bergaptene or Bergamot Camphor. We have ob- tained it in fine, white, acicular crystals, neutral and inodorous, by repeated solution in spirit of wine. Its composition according to the analysis of Mulder (1837) and of Ohme (1839) answers to the formula Q9jj6Q3^ which in our opinion requires further investigation. Crystal- lized bergaptene is abundantly soluble in chloroform, ether or bisulphide of carbon ; the alcoholic solution is not altered by ferric salts. Commerce — Essence of bergamot, as it is always termed in trade, is chiefly shipped from Messina and Palermo in the same kind of bottles as are used for essence of lemon. Uses — Much employed in perfumery, but in medicine only occa- sionally for the sake of imparting an agreeable odour to ointments. Adulteration — Essence of bergamot like that of lemon is extensively and systematically adulterated, and very little is sent into the market entirely pure. It is often mixed with oil of turpentine, but a finer adulteration is to dilute it with essential oil of the leaves or with that obtained by distillation of the peel or of the residual fruits. Some has of late been adulterated with petroleum. The optical properties as already mentioned may afford some assist- ance in detecting fraudulent admixtures, though as regards oil of tur- pentine it must be borne in mind that there are Uvogyre, as well as de^trogyre varieties. This latter oil and likewise that of lemon is less soluble in spirit of wine than that of bergamot. CORTEX AURANTII. Bitter Orange Peel ; F. Ecorce oii Zestes d' Oranges ameres ; G. Pomeran- zenschale. Botanical Origin — Citrus vulgaris Eisso (C. Aurantium var. a amara Linn., C. Bigaradia Duhamel). The Bitter or Seville or Bigarade Orange, Bigaradier of the French, is a small tree extensively cultivated in the warmer parts of the Mediter- ranean region especially in Spain, and existing under many varieties. Northern India is the native country of the orange tree. In Gurhwal, Sikkim and Khasia there occurs a wild orange which is the supposed parent of the cultivated orange, whether Sweet or Bitter. The Bitter Orange reproduces itself from seed and is regarded, at least by cultivators, as quite distinct from the Sweet Orange, from which however it cannot be distinguished by any important botanical characters. Generally speaking it differs from the latter in having the fruit rugged on the surface, of a more deep or reddish-orange hue, with the pulp very sour and bitter. The peel as well as the flowers and leaves are more aromatic than the corresponding parts of the Sweet Orange, and the petiole is more broadly winged. ^ "We are indebted to Mr. Kobert Sander- quantity of this deposit for chemical exa- son of Messina for placing at our disposal a mination. 112 AURANTIACEm. History — The orange was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Eomans ; and its introduction to Europe is due to, the Arabs who, according to Gallesio,^ appear to have established the tree hrst in Eastern Africa, Arabia and Syria, whence it was gradually conveyed to Italy, Sicily and Spain. In the opinion of the writer j^ust quoted, the bitter orange was certainly known at the commencement of the 10th century to the Arabian physicians, one of whom, Avicenna,^ employed its juice in medicine. There is strong evidence to show that the orange first cultivated in Europe was the Bitter Orange or Bigarade. The orange tree at Rome said to have been planted by St. Dominic about A.D. 1200 and which still exists at the monastery of St. Sabina bears a hitter fruit ; and the ancient trees standing in the garden of the Alcazar at Seville are also of this variety. Finally, the oranges of Syria {ah indigenis Orenges nuncupati) described by Jacques de Vitri, Bishop of Aeon (ob. a.d. 1214) were acidi seu pontici saporis.^ The Sweet Orange began to be cultivated about the middle of the 15th century, having been introduced from the East by the Portuguese. It has probably long existed in Southern China, and may have been taken thence to India. In the latter country there are but few districts in which its cultivation is successful, and the Bitter Orange is hardly known at all. The name it has long borne of China '^ or Portugal" Orange indi- cates what has been the usual opinion as to its origin. One of the first importations of oranges into England occurred in A.D. 1290, in which year a Spanish ship came to Portsmouth, of the cargo of which the queen of Edward I. bought one frail of Seville figs, one of raisins or grapes, one bale of dates, 230 pomegranates, 15 citrons and 7 oranges {" ponia de orenge")? Description — The Bitter Orange known in London as the Seville Orange is a globular fruit resembling in size, form and structure the common Sweet Orange, but having the peel much rougher and when mature of ^a somewhat deeper hue. The pulp of the fruit is filled with an acid bit-ter juice. The ripe fruit is imported into London ; the peel is removed from it with a sharp knife in one long spiral strip, and quickly dried, or it is sold in the fresh state. It is the more esteemed when cut thin, so as to include as little as possible of the white inner layer. Well-dried orange peel should be externally of a bright tint and white on its inner surface ; it should have a grateful aromatic smell and fbitter taste. The peel is also largely imported into London ready dried, especially from Malta. We have observed it from this latter place of three qualities, namely in elliptic pieces or quarters, in broad curled strips, and lastly a very superior kind almost wholly free from the white zest, in strips less than ^ of an inch in width, cut -apparently by a machine. Such needless subdivision as this last has undergone must greatly favour an alteration and waste of the essential oil. Foreign-dried orange peel fetches a lower price than that dried in England. ^ Traite (III Citrus, Paris, 1811. 222. •'' Vitriaco, Hist, orient, et accident., 1597. ' Oliera, ed. Valg. 1564. lib. v. sum. 1. cap. 86. tract. 6. p. 289. — The passage whicli is the •• Hence the Dutch Hinaasafpel or Appel- following seems rather inconclusive : — sina and the German Apfehiue. ". . succi acetositatis citri et succi acetosi- ■'' A/annen nnd llmi^ehold. Expenses of tatis citranguli. " England in the \Ztli. and. I5th centuries, Lond. (Roxburghe (.'lub) 1841. xlviij. OLEUM NEROLI. 113 Microscopic Structure — There is no difference between the tissues of this drug and those of lemon peeL Chemical Composition — The essential oil to which the peel of the orange owes its fragrant odour, is a distinct article of commerce and will be noticed hereafter under a separate head. The other constituents of the peel probably agree with those of lemon peel. The substance men- tioned under the name of Hesperidiji (p. 104) appears to be particularly abundant in unripe bitter oranges. Uses — Bitter orange peel is much used in medicine as an aromatic tonic. OLEUM NEROLI. Oleum Aurantii Jiorum ; Oil or Essence of Neroli ; F. Essence de Neroli ; G. Neroliol. Botanical Origin — Citrus vidgaris Eisso. (See page 111.) History — Porta, the Italian philosopher of the 16th century referred to in connection with the essential oil of lemon (p. 106), was acquainted with the volatile oil of the flowers of the citron tribe (" Oleum ex citriorum Jlorihus ") which he obtained by the usual process of distillation, and describes as possessing the most exquisite fragrance. That distilled from orange flowers acquired a century later (1675-1685) the name of Essence of Neroli from Anne-Marie de la Tremoille-Noirmoutier, second wife of Flavio Orsini, cluke of Bracciano and prince of Nerola or Neroli. This lady employed it for the perfuming of gloves, hence called in Italy Guanti di Neroli} It was known in Paris to Pomet, who says ^ the perfumers have given it the name of Neroli, and that it is made in Eome and in Provence. Production — Oil of Xeroli is prepared from the fresh flowers of the Bigarade or Bitter Orange by the ordinary process of distillation with water, conducted in small copper stills. The water which distills over with the oil constitutes after the removal of the latter from its surface, the Orange Flower Water {Aqua aurantii florum vel Aqua Naphm) of commerce. The manufacture is carried on chiefly in the south of Prance at Grasse, Cannes, and Nice. Description and Chemical Composition— Oil of Neroli as found in commerce is seldom pure, for it generally contains an admixture of the essential oil of orange-leaf called Essence of Petit Grain. By the kind assistance of Mr. P. G. Warrick of Nice, we have obtained a sample of Bigarade Neroli of guaranteed purity, to which the following observations relate. It is of a brownish hue, most fragrant odour, bitterish aromatic taste, and is neutral to test-paper. Its sp. gr. at 11" C. is 0-889. When mixed with alcohol, it displays a bright violet fluorescence, quite distinct from the blue fluorescence of a solution of quinine. In oil of Neroli the phenomenon may be shown most distinctly by pouring a little spirit of wine on to the surface of the essential oil, and causing the liquid to gently undulate. The oil is but turbidly miscible with bisulphide of carbon. It assumes a very pure, intense, and permanent crimson hue if shaken with a saturated solution 1 Men agio, Origini delta Lingua Italiana, 178. — The town of Nerola is about 16 miles 1685 ; Diet, de Trevoux, Paris, vi. (1771) iiortli of Tivoli. ^ Histoire des Drogues, 1694. 234. ii. I 114 J URANTIACEJ^. of bisulphite of sodium. Examined in a coluinn of 100 mm., we observed the oil to deviate the ray of polarized light 6° to the right. Subjected to distillation, the larger part of the oil passes over at 185° -195° C. ; we found this portion to be colourless, yet to display in a marked manner the violet iluorescence and also to retain the odour of the original oil. The portion remaining in the retort was mixed with about the same volume of alcohol (90 per cent.) and some drops of water added, yet not sufficient to occasion turbidity. A very small amount of the crystalline Neroli Camphor then made its appearance, floating on the surface of the liquid ; by re-solution in boiling alcohol it was obtained in crystals of rather indistinct form. The re- distilled oil gave no camphor whatever. ISTeroli Camphor was first noticed by BouUay in 1828. According to our observations it is a neutral, inodorous, tasteless substance, fusible at 55° C, and forming on cooling a crystalline mass. The crystalliza- tion should be effected by cooling the hot alcoholic solution, no good crystals being obtainable by slow evaporation or by sublimation. The produce was extremely small, about 60 grammes of oil ha,ving yielded not more than 0"1 gramme. Perhaps this scantiness of produce was due to the oil being a year and a half old, for according to Plisson^ the camphor diminishes the longer the oil is kept.^ We were unable to obtain any similar substance from the oils of bergamot, petit grain, or orange peel. Orange Flower Water is a considerable article of manufacture among the distillers of essential oils in the south of Europe, and is imported thence for use in pharmacy. According to BouUay^ it is frequently acid to litmus when first made, — is better if distilled in small than in large quantities, and if made from the petals ijer se, rather than from the entire flowers. He also states that only 2 lb. of water should be drawn from 1 tt). of flowers, or 3 ft). if petals alone are placed in the still. As met with in commerce, orange flower water is colourless or of a faintly greenish yellow tinge, almost perfectly transparent, with a delicious odour and a bitter taste. Acidulated with nitric acid, it acquires a pinkish hue more or less intense, which disappears on saturation by an alkali. Uses — Oil of JSTeroli is consumed almost exclusively in perfumery. Orange flower water is frequently used in medicine to give a pleasant odour to mixtures and lotions. Adulteration — The large variation in value of oil of J^eroli as shown by price-currents^ indicates a great diversity of quality. Besides being very commonly mixed, as already stated, with the distilled oil of the leaves [Essence de Petit Grain), ^ it is sometimes reduced by addition of the less fragrant oil obtained from the flowers of the Portugal or Sweet Orange. In some of these adulterations we must conclude that orange flower water participates : metallic contamination of the latter is not unknown. 1 Journ. de Pharm. xv. (1829) 152. lowest or "commercial " being less than half ^ Yet we extracted it from an old sample the price of the finest, labelled "Essence de N6rsli Farizujul — ^^ We have been informed on good authority Mero." that the Xeroli commonly sold contains I of 3 BulhUndc Pharm. i. (1809) 337-341. Essence of Petit Grain, and i of Essence * Thus in the price-list of a linn at Grasse, of Bergamot, the remaining -f being true Neroli is (juoted as of four qualities, the Neroli. OTHER FRODUCTS OF THE GENUS CITRUS. 115 Other Products of the genus Citrus. Essence or Essential Oil of Petit Grain — was originally ob- tained by subjecting little immature oranges to distillation (Pomet — 1692) ; but it is now produced, and to a large extent, by distillation of the leaves and shoots either of the Bigarade or Bitter Orange, or of the Portugal or Sweet Orange. The essence of the former is by far the more fragrant and commands double the price. The leaves are obtained in the lemon-growing districts of the Mediterranean where the essence is manufactured. Lemon-trees being mostly grafted on orange-stocks, the latter during the summer put forth shoots, which are allowed to grow till they are often some feet in length. The cultivator then cuts them off, binds them in bundles, and conveys them to the distiller of Petit Grain. The strongest shoots are frequently reserved for walking-sticks. The leaves of the two sorts of orange are easily distinguished by their smell when crushed. Essence of Petit Grain which in odour has a certain resemblance to Neroli, is used in perfumery and especially in the manufacture of Eau de Cologne. According to Gladstone (1864) it consists mainly of a hydrocarbon probably identical with that from oil of Neroli. Essential Oil of Orange Peel — is largely made at Messina and also in the south of France. It is extracted by the sponge-, or by the eczie//e-process, and partly from the Bigarade and partly from the Sweet or Portugal Orange, the scarcely ripe fruit being in either case employed. The oil made from the former is much more valuable than that obtained from the latter, and the two are distinguished in price-currents as Essence de Bigarade and Essence de Portugal. These essences are but little consumed in England, but are largely used in Germany. They are employed in liqueur-making and in perfumery. For what is known of their chemical nature, the reader can consult the works named at foot.i Essence of Cedrat — The true Citron or Cedrat tree is Citrus niedica Eisso, and is of interest as being the only member of the Orange tribe the fruit of which was known in ancient Eome. The tree itself which appears to have been cultivated in Palestine in the time of Josephus, was introduced into Italy in about the 3rd century. In a.d. 1003 it was much grown at Salerno near Naples, whence its fruits were sent as presents to the Norman princes.^ At the present day, the citron appears to be nowhere cultivated extensively, the more prolific lemon tree having generally taken its place. It is however scattered along the Western Kiviera, and is also grown on a small scale about Pizzo and Paola on the western coast of Calabria, in Sicily, Corsica and the Azores. Its fruits which often weigh several pounds, are chiefly sold for being candied. For this purpose the peel, which is excessively thick, is salted and in that state shipped to England and Holland. The fruit has a very scanty pulp.^ ^ Gmelin, C^emisirj/, xiv. (I860) 305. 306; of the 4tli century and who was physician Gladstone, Journ. of Ghem. Soc. xvii. (1864) and friend of the emperor Julian the Apos- 1 ; Wright (and Piesse) in Yearbook of Phar- tate, accurately describes the citron as a maaj, 1871. 546; 1873. 518; Journ. of fruit consisting of three parts, namely a Chem. Soc. xi. (1873) 552, &c. central acid pulp, a thick and fleshy zest ' Gallesio, Traite du Citrus, 1811. 222. and an aromatic outer coaX.—Medieinnlia • Oribasius who lived in the second half coUecta, lib. i. c. 64. I 2 1 1 (5 A URAl^ TIAGEM Essence of Cedrat which is quoted in some price-lists may be prepared from the scarcely ripe fruit by the sponge-process ; but as it is more profitable to export the fruit salted, it is very rarely manufactured, and that which bears its name is for the most part fictitious. FRUCTUS BEL^. Bela ; Bael Fruit, Indian Bael, Bengal Quince. Botanical Origin — ^gle Marmelos ^ Correa {Cratceva Marmelos L.), a tree found in most parts of the Indian peninsula, where it is often planted in the neighbourhood of temples, being esteemed sacred by the Hindus. It 'is truly wild in the forests of the Coromandel Ghats and of the Western Himalaya. It attains a height of 30-40 feet, is usually armed with strong sharp thorns and has trifid leaves, the central leaflet being petiolate and larger than the lateral. The fruit is a large berry, 2 to 4 inches in diameter, variable in shape, being spherical or somewhat flattened like an orange, ovoid, or pyriform,^ having a smooth hard shell; the interior divided into 10-15 cells each containing several woolly seeds, consists of a mucilaginous pulp, which becomes very hard in drying. In the fresh state the fruit is very aromatic, and the juicy pulp which it contains has an agreeable flavour, so that when mixed with water and sweetened, it forms a palatable refrigerant drink. Tlie fruit is never eaten as dessert, though its pulp is sometimes made into a preserve with sugar. The fruit of the wild tree is described as small, hard, and flavourless. The bark of the stem and root, the flowers and the expressed juice of the leaves are used in medicine by the natives of India. History — The tree under the name oi Bilva^ is constantly alluded to as an emblem of increase and fertility in ancient Sanskrit poems, some of which as the Yajur Veda are supposed to have been written not later than 1000 B.C. Garcia d'Orta who resided in India as physician to the Portuguese viceroy at Goa in the 16th century, wrote an account of the fruit under the name of Marmelos de Benguala (Bengal Quince) (Jirifole or Beli,^ describing its use in dysentery. In the following century it was noticed by Bontius, in whose writings edited by Piso ^ there is a bad figure of the tree as Malum Cydonium. It was also figured by Eheede® and subsequently under the designation of Bilach or Bilack tellor by Eumphius.'^ The latter states that it is indigenous to Gujarat, the eastern parts of Java, Sumbawa and Celebes, and that it has been introduced into Amboina. But although yEgle Marmelos has thus long been known and appreciated in India, the use of its fruit as a medicine attracted no ^ yEgU, one of the Hesperides. — Mar- many references to Bilva in the Sanskrit mdns from the Portuguese marmclo, a WTitings. quinee. ^ AS'irt-^7(.aZ and ^cZ are Hindustani names. " In the Botanical Garden of Buitenzorg ^ Be Indice re nnt. ct mecl. 16,'>8, lib. vi. in .Tava, three varieties are grown, namely — c. 8. fructihus oblonriis, frudibv^ subglobosls, &n(\. ^ Hort. Malab. iii. (1682) tab. 37 mn/irocaripn,. {CovalaTti). ■' We are indebted to Professor Monier ^ I/rrb. Amb. i. tab. 81. "Williams of Oxford for pointing nut to us \ FR UCTUS BELJE. 117 attention in Europe till about the year 1850. The dried fruit which has a place in the British Fharmacopceia is now not unfrequently imported. Description — We have already described the form and structure of the fruit, which for medicinal use should be dried when in a half ripe state. It is found in commerce in dried slices having on the outer side a smooth greyish shell enclosing a hard, orange or red, gummy pulp in which are some of the 10 to 15 cells existing in the entire fruit. Each cell includes 6 to 10 compressed oblong seeds nearly 3 lines in length, covered with whitish woolly hairs. When broken the pulp is seen to be nearly colourless internally, the outside alone having assumed an orange tint. The dried pulp has a mucilaginous, slightly acid taste, without aroma, astringency or sweetness. There is also imported Bael fruit which has been collected when ripe, as shown by the well-formed seeds. Such fruits arrive broken irregularly and dried, or sawn into transverse slices and then dried, or lastly entire, in which case they retain some of their original fragrance resembling that of elemi. Microscopic Structure — The rind of the fruit is covered with a strong cuticle and further shows two layers, the one exhibiting not very numerous oil-cells, and the other and inner made up of sclerenchyme. The tissue of the pulp, which treated with water swells into an elastic mass, consists of large cells with considerable cavities between them. The seeds when moistened yield an abundance of mucilage nearly in the same way as White Mustard or Linseed. In the epidermis of the seeds certain groups of cells are excessively lengthened and thus constitute the curious woolly hairs already noticed. They likewise afford muci- lage in the same way as the seed itself. Chemical Composition — We are unable to confirm the remarkable analyses of the drug alluded to in the Pharmacopoeia of India •,'^ nor can we explain by any chemical examination upon what constituent the alleged medicinal ethcacy of bael depends. The pulp moistened with cold water yields a red liquid containing chiefly mucilage, and (probably) pectin which separates if the liquid is concentrated by evaporation. The mucilage may be precipitated by neutral acetate of lead or by alcohol, but is not coloured by iodine. It may be separated by a filter into a portion truly soluble (as proved by the addition of alcohol or acetate of lead) and another, comprehending the larger bulk, which is only swollen like tragacanth, but is far more glutinous and completely transparent. Neither a per- nor a proto-salt of iron shows the infusion to contain any appreciable quantity of tannin,^ nor is the drug in any sense possessed of astringent properties. Uses — Bael is held in high repute in India as a remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea ; at the same time it is said to act as a laxative where constipation exists. Adulteration — The fruit of Feronia Elephantum Correa, which has ^ Edition 1868, pp. 46 and 441. fruit 5 per cent, of tannin. — Hist. nat. etc. ^ We are thus at variance with Collas du Bel ou Vilva in Revue Coloniale, xvi of Pondichery, who attributes to the ripe (1856) 220-238, 118 SniARUBEJ^. a considerable external resemblance to that of \^gle Marmelos and is called by Europeans Wood Apple, is sometimes supplied in India for bael. It may be easily distinguished : it is one-celled with a large five- lobed cavity (instead of 10 to 15 cells) filled with numerous seeds. The tree has pinnate leaves with 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets. We have seen Fomegravate Peel offered as Indian JBael.^ SIMARUBE^. LIGNUM QUASSIA. Quassia, Quassia Wood, Bitter Wood ; F. Bois de Quassia de la Jamaique, Bois amer ; G. Jamaica Qtiassiaholz. Botanical Origin — Ficrcena excelsa Lindl. {Quassia excelsa Swartz, Siinaniba excelsa D C, Ficrasma excelsa Planchon), a tree 50 to 60 feet in height, somewhat resembling an ash and having inconspicuous greenish flowers and black shining drupes the size of a pea. It is common on the plains and lower mountains of Jamaica and is also found in the islands of Antigua and St. Vincent. It is called in the West Indies Bitter Wood or Bitter Ash. History — Quassia wood was introduced into Europe about the middle of the last century. It was derived from Quassia amara L., a shrub or small tree with handsome crimson flowers, belonging to the same order, native of Panama, Venezuela, Guiana and Northern Brazil. It was subsequently found that the Bitter Wood of Jamaica which Swartz and other botanists referred to the same genus, possessed similar proper- ties, and as it was obtainable of much larger size, it has since the end of the last century been generally preferred. The wood of Q amara called Surinam Quassia, is however still used in France and Germany.^ The first to give a good account of Jamaica quassia was John Lindsay,^ a medical practitioner of the island, who writing in 1791 described the tree as long known not only for its excellent timber, but also as a useful medicine in putrid fevers and fluxes. He adds that the hark is exported to England in considerable quantity — " for the purposes of the brewers of ale and porter." Quassia, defined as the wood, bark, and root of Q. amara L., was introduced into the London Pharmacopceia of 1788 ; in the edition of 1809, it was superseded by the wood of Ficrcena excelsa. In the stock- book of a London druggist (J. Gurney Bevan, of Plough Court, Lombard Street) we find it first noticed in 1781 (as rasurce), when it was reckoned as having cost 4s. 2d. per lb. Description — The quassia wood of commerce consists of pieces of the stem and larger branches, some feet in length and often as thick as a man's thigh. It is covered with bark externally of a dusky grey or blackish hue, white and fibrous within, which it is customary to strip off and reject. The wood which is of a very light yellowish tint is tough ^ 40 bags in a drug sale, 8th May 1873. ■'' Trans. Roy. Sue. Edinburgh, iii. (1794) * The Pharmacopoeia Germanica of 1872 205. tab. 6. expressly forbids the use of the wood of Ficrcena in place of Quassia. LIGNUM QUASSIM 119 and strong, but splits easily. In transverse section it exibits numerous fine close medullary rays, which intersect the rather obscure and irregular rings resembling those of annual growth of our indigenous woody stems. The centre is occupied by a cylinder of pith of minute size. In a longitudinal section whether tangential or radial, the wood appears transversely striated by reason of the small vertical height of the medullary rays. The wood often exhibits certain blackish markings due to the mycelium of a fungus ; they have sometimes the aspect of delicate patterns and at others appear as large dark patches. Quassia has a strong, pure bitter taste, but is devoid of odour. It is always supplied to the retail druggist in the form of turnings or raspings, the former being obtained in the manufacture of the Bitter Cups, now often seen in the shops. Microscopic Structure — The wood consists for the. most part of elongated pointed cells (libriform), traversed by medullary rays, each of the latter being built up of about 15 vertical layers of cells. The single layers contain from one to three rows of cells. The ligneous rays thus enclosed by medullary parenchyme, are intersected by groups of tissue constituting the above-mentioned irregular rings. On a longitudinal section this parenchyme exhibits numerous crystals of oxalate of calcium and sometimes deposits of yellow resin. The latter is more abundant in the large vessels of the wood. Oxalate and resin are the only solid matters perceptible in the tissues of this drug. Chemical Composition — The bitter taste of quassia is due to Quassiin, which was first obtained by Winckler in 1835 and analysed by Wiggers^ who assigned it the formula C^*^H^^O^ now regarded as doubtful. According to the latter, quassiin is an irresolvable, neutral substance, erystallizable from ddute alcohol or from chloroform. It requires for solution about 200 parts of water, but is not soluble in ether ; it forms an insoluble compound with tannic acid. Quassia wood is said to yield about ^ per cent, of quassiin. A watery infusion of quassia, especially if a little caustic lime has been added to the drug, displays a slight fluorescence, due apparently to quassiin. Quassia wood dried at 100° C. yielded us 7'8 per cent of ash. Commierce — The quantity of Bitter Wood shipped from Jamaica in 1871 was 56 tons.^ Uses — The drug is employed as a stomachic and tonic. It is poisonous to flies and is not without narcotic properties in respect to the higher animals. Substitutes — The wood of Quassia amara L., the Bitter Wood of Surijiam, bears a close resemblance, both external and structural, to the drug just noticed ; but its stems never exceed 4 inches in diameter and are commonly still thinner. Their thin, brittle bark is of a greyish yellow and separates easily from the wood. The latter is somewhat denser than the quassia of Jamaica, from which it may be distinguished by its medullary rays being composed of a single or less frequently of a double row of cells, whereas in the wood of Bicrmna excelsa, they consist of two or three rows, less frequently of only one. 1 Liebig's^n7iaZendP/iarm.xxi.(l 837)40. " Blue Book, Island of Jamaica, for 1871. 120 BURSEBACEM Surinam Quassia Wood is exported from the Dutch colony of Surinam. The quantity shipped thence during the nine months ending 30 Sept. 1872, was 264,675 Jb.^ The bark of Samadera indica Gartn., a tree of the same natural order owes its bitterness to a principle,^ which agrees perhaps with quassiin. BUESEEACEiE. OLIBANUM. Gummi-resina Olibanum, Thus masculum ;^ Olibanum, Frankmcense ; F. Encens ; G. Weihrauch. Botanical Origin — Olibanum is obtained from the stem of several species of Boswellia, inhabiting the hot and arid regions of Eastern Africa near Cape Gardafui and of the southern coast of Arabia. Not- withstanding the recent elaborate and valuable researches of Bird wood* the olibanum trees are still but imperfectly known, as will be evident in the following enumeration : — 1. Boswdlia Garterii Birdw. — This includes the three folio wins' forms, which may be varieties of a single species, or may belong to two or more species, — a point impossible to settle until more perfect materials shall have been obtained. a. Boswellia No. 5, Oliver, Flora of Trojncal Africa, I. (1868) 324, Mohr Madow of the natives. — Somali Country, growing a little inland in the valleys and on the lower parts of the hills, never on the range close to the sea. It yields the olibanum called Liibdn Bedoiui or Lubcin Sheheri (Play fair). b. Bosv)ellia No. 6, Oliver, op. cit., Birdwood, Zijin. Trans, xxvii. tab. 29. — Sent by Playfair among the specimens of the preceding and with the same indications and native name. c. Maghrayt d'sheehaz of the Maharas, Birdwood, 1. c. tab. 30. B. thurifera (?), Carter, Journ. of Bombay Branch of R. Asiat. Soc. ii. tab. 23 ; B. sacra Flllckiger, Lehrhuch cler Pharmahognosie cles Pflan- zenreiches, 1867. 31. Eas Fartak, S. E. coast of Arabia, growing in the detritus of limestone cliffs and close to the shore, also near the village of Merbat (Carter, 1844-1846). 2. B. Bhati-Dajiana Birdw. 1. c. tab. 31. — Somali Country (Playfair) ; growing in Victoria Gardens, Bombay, where it flowered in 1868. 1 Consular Re2}orts]^Q. 3, presented to Par- ■* On the. Genus Boswellia, %oith descriptions liament, July 1873. and figures of three new species. — Linn. * Rost van Tonningen, Jahreshericht of Trans, xxvii. (1871) 111. — The materials on "Wiggers (Canstatt) for 1858. 75 ; Pharm. which Dr. Birdwood's observations have Journ. ii. (1872) G44. 654. l>een chitfly founded, and to which we also 2 The Xi^avos of the Greeks, the Latin have had access, are, — 1. Specimens col- Olihanum, as well as the Arabic Luhdn, and lected during an expedition to tlie Somali the analogous sounds in other languages, are Coast made by Col. Playfair in 1862.— 2. all derived from the Hebrew Lebowih sig- Growing phuits at Bombay and Aden, raised nifying milk: and modern travellers who from cuttings sent by Phiyfair.— 3. A speci- have seen the frankincense trees state that men obtained by H. .1. Carter in 1846 near the fresh juice is milky, and hardens when Pas Fartak on the south-east coast of Arabia exposed to the air. The word Thus on tlie and still growing in Victoria Gardens, Bom- other hand seems to be derived from tlie verb bay; and figured by Carter in Journ. of evfiv, to sacrifice. Bombay Branch of R. Asiatic Soc, ii. (1848) 380, tab. 23. 0 LIB AN UAL 121 3. Bosiodlia No. 4, Oliver, op. cit. — Bunder Murayah, Somali Country (Play fair). Grows out of the rock, but sometimes in the detritus of limestone ; never found on the hills close to the sea, but further inland and on the highest ground. Yields Lutein Bedowi and L. Sheheri ; was received at Kew as Mohr add, a name applied by Birdwood also to B. Bhau-Dajiana. In addition to the foregoing, from which indubitably the olibanum of commerce is collected, it may be convenient to mention also the following : — B. papyrifera Eichard {Plosslea Jioribunda Endl), a tree of Sennaar and Abyssinia affords a resin like olibanum, which is not collected. B. thurifera Colebr. [B. glabra et B. serrata Eoxb.), the Salai tree of India, produces a soft odoriferous resin which is used in the country as incense but is not the olibanum of commerce. B. Frereana Birdw. 1. c. tab. 32, a well-marked and very distinct species, native of the Somali Country, where it grows out of the smooth limestone rocks of the hills a few miles from the coast. The tree, which the natives call Yegaar, abounds in a highly fragrant resin collected and sold as Luhdn Meyeti, or Lubdn Matti, which we regard to be the sub- stance originally known as Elemi. History — The use of olibanum goes back to a period of extreme antiquity, as proved by the numerous references in the Mosaic writings of the Bible to incense, of which it was an essential ingredient. It is moreover well known that many centuries before Christ, the drug was one of the most important objects of the traffic which the Phoenicians^ and Egyptians carried on with Arabia. Professor Dllmichen^ of Strassburg has discovered at the temple of Dayr el Bahri in Upper Egypt, paintings illustrating the traffic carried on between Egypt and Arabia as early as the 17th century B.C. In these paintings there are representations not only of bags of olibanum, but also of olibanum trees planted in tubs or boxes, being conveyed by ship from Arabia to Egypt. Inscriptions on the same building, deciphered by Professor D., describe with the utmost admiration the shipments of precious woods, heaps of incense, verdant incense-trees,^ ivory, gold, silver, apes, besides other productions not yet identified. A detailed account of frankincense is given by Theophrastus* (b.c. 370-285) who relates that the commodity is produced in the country of the Sabseans, one of the most active trading nations of antiquity, occupying the southern shores of Arabia. It appears from'Diodorus that the Sabseans sold their frankincense to the Arabs, through whose hands it passed to the Phoenicians who disseminated the use of it in the temples throughout their possessions, as well as among the nations with whom they traded. The route of the caravans from south-eastern Arabia 1 Movers, Das pJiQnizisclie Altertluim, iii. ^ In one of the inscriptions they are re- (1S56) 99. 299. ferred to in terms which Professor D. has * Diimichen (Joannes), The fleet of an thus rendered : — Thirty-one verdant incense- Eyyptian Queen from the 17th century before trees brought among the precious things our era, and ancient Egyptian miilitary from the land of Arabia, for the majesty of parade, represented on a monument of the this god Amon, the lord of the terrestrial same age .... after a copy taken from the thrones. Never has anything similar been terrace of the temple of Der-el-Baheri, trans- seen since the foundation of the world, lated from the German by Anna Diimichen, - Hist. Plant, lib. iv. c. 7. Leipzig, 1868. 122 BURSERACEja. to Gaza in Palestine, has recently (1866) been pointed out by Professoi Sprenger. Plutarch relates that when Alexander the Great captured Gaza, 500 talents of olibanum and 100 talents of myrrh were taken, and sent thence to Macedonia. The libanophorous region of the old Sabaeans is in fact the very coun- try visited by Carter in 1844 and 1846, and lying as he states on the south coast of Arabia between long, 52° 47' and 52° 23' east. It was also known to the ancients, — at least to Strabo and Arrian, that the opposite African coast likewise produced olibanum, as it does extensively to the present day ; and the latter states that the drug is shipped partly to Egypt and partly to Barbaricon at the mouth of the Indus. As exemplifying the great esteem in which frankincense was held by the ancients, the memorable gifts presented by the Magi to the infant Saviour will occur to every mind. A few other instances may be men- tioned : Herodotus^ relates that the Arabians paid to Darius, king of Persia, an annual tribute of 1,000 talents of frankincense. A remarkable Greek inscription brought to light in modern times ^ on the ruins of the temple of Apollo at Miletus, records the gifts made to the shrine by Seleucus II., king of Syria (B.C. 246—227), and his brother Antiochus Hierax, king of Cilicia, which included in addition to vessels of gold and siver, ten talents of frankincense (XifiavcoTO'i) and one of myrrh. The emperor Con stan tine made numerous offerings to the church under St. Silvester, bishop of Eome, a.d. 314—335, of costly vessels and fragrant drugs and spices,^ among which mention is made in several instances of Aromata and Aromata in incensum, terms under which olibanum is to be understood.^ With regard to the consumption of olibanum in other countries, it is an interesting fact that the Arabs in their intercourse with the Chinese, which is known to have existed as early as the 10th century, carried with themx olihanmn, myrrh, dragon's blood, and liquid storax,^ drugs which are still imported from the west into China. The first- named is called Ju-siang i.e. milk-perfume, a curious allusion to its Arabic name Luhdn signifying milk. In the year 1872, Shanghai imported^ of this drug no less than 1,360 peculs (181,333 lb). Collection — Cruttenden,'^ who visited the Somali Country in 1843, thus describes the collecting of olibanum by the Mijjertheyn tribe, whose chief port is Bunder Murayah (lat. 11° 43' N.) : — " During the hot season the men and boys are daily employed in collecting gums, which process is carried on as follows : — About the end of February or beginning of March, the Bedouins visit all the trees in succession and make a deep incision in each, peeling off a narrow strip of bark for about five inches below the wound. This is left for a month, when a fresh incision is made in the same place, but deeper. A third 1 Eawlinson's Herodotus, ii. (1858) 488. ^ The ancient name of Cape Gardafui was '■^ ChishuU, Antiquitatcs Asiaticcc, Lond. Proviontormni Aromatum. 1728 65-72. ^ Bretschneider, Ancient Chinese, &c. 3 These remarkable gifts are enumerated Lond. 1871. 19. by Vignoli in his Liber Pontificalis, Konie, " Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in 1724-55, and include beside Olibanum, China for 1872, p. 4. Oleum nardinmn. Oleum C'l/prium., Balsam, ~ Trans. Boinba// Gcograph. Soc. \u. {18iG) Storux Isauricu, Utacte, Aromata cassiw, 121. Saffron and Pepper. OLIBANUM. 123 month elapses and the operation is again repeated, after which the gum is supposed to have attained a proper degree of consistency. The mountain-rides are immediately covered with parties of men and boys, who scrape off the large clear globules into a basket, whilst the inferior quality that has run down the tree is packed separately. The gum when first taken from the tree is very soft, but hardens quickly Every fortnight the mountains are visited in this manner, the trees pro- ducing larger quantities as the season advances, until the middle of September, when the first shower of rain puts a close to the gathering that year." Carter,^ describing the collection of the drug in southern Arabia, writes thus : — " The gum is procured by making longitudinal incisions through the bark in the months of May and December, when the cuticle glistens with intumescence from the distended state of the parts beneath : the operation is simple, and requires no skill on the part of the operator. On its first appearance the gum comes forth white as milk, and according to its degree of fluidity, finds its way to the ground, or concretes on the branch near the place from which it first issued, from whence it is col- lected by men and boys, employed to look after the trees by the different families who possess the land in which they grow." According to Cap- tain Miles,^ the drug is not collected by the people of the country, but by Somalis who cross in numbers from the opposite coast, paying the Arab tribes for the privilege. The Arabian Lubdn, he says, is considered inferior to the African. Description — Olibanum as found in commerce varies rather con- siderably in quality and appearance. It may in general terms be described as a dry gum-resin, consisting of detached tears up to an inch in length, of globular, pear-shaped, clavate, or stalactitic form, mixed with more or less irregular lumps of the same size. Some of the longer tears are slightly agglutinated, but most are distinct. The pre- dominant forms are rounded, — angular fragments being less frequent, though the tears are not seldom fissured. Small pieces of the trans- lucent brown papery bark are often found adhering to the flat pieces. The colour of the drug is pale yellowish or brownish, but the finer qualities consist of tears which are nearly colourless or have a greenish hue. The smallest grains only are transparent, the rest are trans- lucent and somewhat milky, and not transparent even after the removal of the white dust with which they are always covered. But if heated to about 94° C, they become almost transparent. When broken they exhibit a rather dull and waxy surface. Examined under the polarizing microscope no trace of crystallization is observable. Olibanum softens in the mouth ; its taste is terebinthinous and slightly bitter, but by no means disagreeable. Its odour is pleasantly aromatic, but is only fully developed when the gum-resin is exposed to an elevated temperature. At 100° C. the latter softens without actually fusing, and if the heat be further raised decomposition begins. Chemical Composition — Cold water quickly changes olibanum into a soft whitish pulp, which when rubbed down in a mortar forms an emulsion. Immersed in spirit of wine, a tear of olibanum is not altered ^ Loc. cit. yah, in Journ. of R. GeograpJi. Society, xlii. * On the neighbourhood of Bunder- Mara- (1872) 65. 124 BURSERACEM much in form, but it becomes of an almost pure opaque white. In the first case the water dissolves the gum, while in the second the alcohol removes the resin. We find that pure olibanum treated with spirit of wine leaves 27 to 35 per cent, of gum, the solution of which is precipi- tated by perchloride of iron as well as by silicate of sodium, but not by neutral acetate of lead. It is consequently a gum of the same class as gum arable, if not identical with it. Its solution contains the same amount of lime as gum arable affords. The resin of olibanum has been examined by Hlasiwetz (1867), according to whom it is a uniform substance having the composition Q4oj[^30Q6_ ^Ye find that it is not soluble in alkalis, nor have we suc- ceeded in converting it into a crystalline body by the action of dilute alcohol. It is not uniformly distributed throughout the tears ; if they are broken after having been acted upon by dilute alcohol, it now and then happens that a clear stratification is perceptible, showing a con- centric arrangement. Olibanum contains an essential oil, of which Braconnot (1808) obtained 5 per cent., Stenhouse (1840) 4 per cent., and Kurbatow (1871) 7 per cent. According to Stenhouse it has a sp. gr. of 0'866, a boiling point of 179'4° C, and an odour resembling that of turpentine but more agreeable. Kurbatow separated this oil into two portions, the one of which has the formula C^°H^6^ boils at 158° C, and combines with HCl to form Artificial Camphor ; the other contains oxygen. Olibanum submitted to destructive distillation affords no umbelli- ferone. Heated with strong nitric acid it develops no peculiar colour, but at length camphresinic acid, C^^ff^O'', is formed, which may be also obtained from many resins and essential oils if submitted to the same oxidizing agent. Commerce — The olibanum of Arabia is shipped from several small places along the coast between Damkote and Al Kammar, but the quantity produced in this district is much below that furnished by the Somali Country in Eastern Africa. The latter is brought to Zeyla, Ber- bera, Burider Murayah, and many smaller ports, whence it is shipped to Aden or direct to Bombay. The trade is chiefly in the hands of Banians, and the great emporium for the drug is Bombay. A certain portion is shipped through the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb to Jidda, — Von Kremer^ says to the value of £12,000 annually. The quantity exported from Bombay in the year 1872—73 was 25,100 cwt., of which 17,446 cwt. were shipped to the United Kingdom, and 6,184 cwt. to China.^ Uses — As a medicine olibanum is nearly obsolete, at least in Britain. The great consumption of the drug is for the incense used in the Boman Catholic and Greek Churches. MYRRHA. Gummi-resina Myrrha ; Myrrh ; F. Myrrhe ; G. Myrrha. Botanical Origin — Ehrenberg who visited Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and Arabia in the years 1820-26, brought home with him specimens of ^ Aegypten, Forschungen iiber Land und of the Presidency of Bombay for 1872-73, Volk, Leipzig,', 18(i3. pt. ii. 78. - statement of the Trade and Navigation MYRRH A. 125 the myrrh trees found at Ghizan (Gison), a town on the strip of coast- region called Tihama, opposite the islands of Farsan Kebir and Farsan Seghir, and a little to the north of Lohaia, on the eastern side of the Eed Sea ; and also on the neighbouring mountains of Djara (or Shahra) and Kara. Here the myrrh trees form the underwood of the forests of Acacia, Moringa and Euphorhia. ISTees von Esenbeck who examined these specimens, drew up from them a description of what he called Balsa.mo- dendron Myrrha, which he figured in 1828.i After Ehrenberg's herbarium had been incorporated in the Eoyal Herbarium of Berlin some years ago, Berg examined these specimens, and came to the conclusion that they consist of tivo species, namely that described and figured by Nees, and a second to which was attached {correctly we must hope) two memoranda bearing the following words : — " Ipsa MyrrhcB arbor ad Oison, — Martio," and " Ex huic simillima arbore ad Gison ipse Myrrham ejffiuentem legi} Hcec specimina lecta sunt in montibus Djara et Kara Februario." This plant Berg named B. Ehren- bergianum? Oliver in his Flora of Tropical Africa (1868) ^ is disposed to consider Berg's plant the' same as B. Opobalsamum Kth., a tree or shrub yielding myrrh, found by Schweinfurth on the Bisharrin mountains in Abyssinia not far from the coast between Suakin and Edineb. But Schweinfurth himself does not admit the identity of the two plants.^ It is certain however that the myrrh of commerce is chiefly of African origin. It must be confessed that the botany of the myrrh trees is still en- compassed with uncertainty, which will not be removed until the very localities in which the drug is collected shall have been well explored by a competent observer. History — Myrrh has been used from the eaxliest times together with olibanum as a constituent of incense,^ perfumes and unguents. It was an ingredient of the holy oil used in the Jewish ceremonial as laid down by Moses ; and it was also one of the numerous components of the celebrated Kyphi of the Egyptians, a preparation used in fumigations, medicine and the process of embalming, and of which there were several varieties. In the previous article we have pointed out (p. 122) several early references to myrrh in connection with olibanum, in which it is observable that the myrrh (when weights are mentioned) is always in the smaller quantity. Of the use of the drug in mediaeval Europe there are few notices, but they tend to show that the commodity was rare and precious. Thus myrrh is recommended in the Anglo-Saxon Leech- books'' to be used with frankincense in the superstitious medical practice of the 11th century. In the Wardrobe accounts of Edward I. there is an entry under date 6 January, 1299, for gold, frankincense and myrvli, offered by the king ^ PlantcB Mcdicinales, Diisseldorf, ii. tal3. xxix. d. ; also Bot. Zeitung, 16 Mai, (1828) tab. 855. 1862. 155. 2 On applying in 1872 to Prof. Ehrenherg * yoi. i. 326. to know if it were possible that we could see ^ Petermann, Gcogr. Mittlicilungen, 1868. this very specimen, we received the answer 127. that it could not be found. ® Cantic. iii. 6. ^ Berg u. Schmidt, Darstcllung u. Be- '' Cockayne, Ltcchdoms d-c. of Early scJireibung . . . offizin. Govxlchse, iv. (1863) England, ii. (1865) 295. 297. 126 BURSERACEM in his chapel on that day, it being the Feast of Epiphany.^ Myrrh again figures in the accounts of Geoffroi de Fleuri ^ master of the ward- robe {argentier) to Philippe le Long, king of France, where record is made of the purchase of — " 4 onces d'estorat calmite et mierre (myrrh) .... encenz et laudanon," — for the funeral of John, posthumous son of Louis X., A.D. 1316. Gold, silver, silk, precious stones, pearls, camphor, musk, myrrh and spices are enumerated ^ as the presents which the Khan of Cathay sent to Pope Benedict XII. at Avignon about the year 1342. The myrrh destined for this circuitous route to Europe* was doubtless that of the Arabian traders, with whom the Chinese had constant intercourse during the middle ages. Myrrh in fact is still somewhat largely consumed in China.^ The name Myrrh is from the Hebrew and Arabic Mur, whence also the Greek a[xvpva. The ancient Egyptian Bola or Bal, and the Sanskrit Vola are preserved in the Persian and Indian words Bol, Bola and Heera-hol, well-known names for myrrh. Stcicte {cnaKTrf), a substance often mentioned by the ancients, is said by Pliny to be a spontaneous liquid exudation of the myrrh tree, more valuable than myrrh itself. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea represents it as exported from Muza in Arabia ^ together with myrrh. Theophrastus '^ speaks of myrrh as of two kinds, solid and liquid. No drug of modern times has been identified with the stacte or liquid myrrh of the ancients : that it was a substance obtainable in quantity seems evident from the fact that 1 50 pounds of it, said to be the offering of an Egyptian city, were presented to St. Silvester at Rome, A.D. 314-335.8 The myrrh of the ancients was not obtained exclusively from Arabia. The author of the Periplus ^ who wrote about A.D. 64, records it to have been an export of Abalites, Malao, and Mosyllon (the last named, the modern Berbera), ancient ports of the African coast outside the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb ; and he even mentions that it is conveyed by small vessels to the opposite shores of Arabia. Secretion — Marchand^" who examined a branch of three years' growth of what he terms B. Myrrha, represents the gum-resin as chiefly deposited in the cortical layers, with a little in the medulla. Collection — From the information given by Ehrenberg to Nees von Esenbeck,^^ it appears that myrrh when it first exudes is of an oily and then of a buttery appearance, yellowish white, gradually assuming a golden tint and becoming reddish as it hardens. It exudes from the 1 Liber quotidianus C'onirarotulatoris Gar- ^ Shanghai imported in 1872, 18,6001b. of derobce .... Edwardi I., Lond. 1787. pp. Myrrh. — Reports of Trade at the Treaty Ports xxxii. and 27. — The custom is still ohserved in China for 1872, p. 4. by the sovereigns of England, and the Queen's ^Vincent, Commerce of the Ancients, ii. oidation of gold, frankincense and myrrh is (1807^ 316. — Muza or Moosa is .supposed to still annually presented on the Feast of Epi- he identical with a place still bearing that phany in the Chapel Royal in London. name lying about 20 miles east of Mokha. - Doiiet d'Arcq, Com2)tes de V Argenterie '' Lib. ix. c. 4. des rots de Frarvce, 1851. 19. * Vignolius, Liher Pontificalis, i. (1724) 2 Yule, Cathay and the way thither, iL 95. 357. ' Vincent, op. cit. ii. 127. 129. 135. * For the costly presents in question ^^ Baillon, Adansonia, vii. (1866-7) 261. never rcxt,ched their dcstvintion, having been pi. 8. all plundered by tlie way ! - ^^ Op. cit. MYRRH A. 127 bark like cherry-tree gum and becomes dark and of inferior value by age. Although Ehrenberg says that the myrrh he saw was of fine quality, he does not mention it being gathered by the natives. With regard to the localities^ in which the drug is collected, Cruttenden "^ who visited the Somali coast in 1843, says that myrrh is brought from the Wadi Nogal, south-west of Cape Gardafui, and from Murreyhan, Ogahden and Agahora ; and that some few trees are found on the mountains behind Bunder Murayah. Major Harris^ saw the myrrh tree in the Adel desert and in the jungle of the Ha wash, on the way from Tajura to Shoa. Vaughan* states that the Somali Country and the neighbourhood of Hurrur (or Harar or Adari, 9° 20' K, 42° 17' E.) south-west of Zeila are the chief producing districts. It is generally brought to the great fair of Berbera held in November, December, and January, where it is purchased by the Banians of India and shipped for Bombay. Myrrh trees abound on the hills about Shugra and Sureea in the territory of the Fadhli or Fudthli tribe, lying to the eastward of Aden ; myrrh is collected from them by Somalis who cross from the opposite coast for the purpose and pay a tribute for the privilege.^ But a sample of this drug received by one of us from Vaughan in 1852, and others we liave since seen in London (and easily recognized) prove it to be some- what different from typical myrrh, and it is probably afforded by another species than that yielding African myrrh. Description — Myrrh consists of irregular roundish masses, varying in size from small grains up to pieces as large as an egg, and occasionally much larger. They are of an opaque reddish brown with dusty dull surface. When broken they exhibit a rough or waxy fracture, having a moist and unctuous appearance especially when pressed, and a rich brown hue. The fractured, translucent surface often displays charac- teristic whitish marks which the ancients compared to the light mark at the base of the finger-nails. Myrrh has a peculiar and agreeable fragrance with an aromatic, bitter, and acrid taste. It cannot be finely powdered until deprived by drying of some of its essential oil and water ; nor when heated does it melt like colophony. Water disintegrates myrrh forming a light brown emulsion, which viewed under the microscope appears made up of colourless drops, among which are granules of yellow resin. Alcohol dissolves the resin of myrrh leaving angular non-crystalline particles of gum and fragments of bark. Chemical Composition — The gum which is dissolved when myrrh is treated with water amounts to between 40 and 50 per cent., or may even reach 67 per cent.^ It is partially precipitable by neutral acetate of lead, showing that it differs from gum arable ; but a portion (about a fourth) agrees with the latter in respect to action on acetate of lead. The resin dissolves completely in chloroform or alcohol, and the colour of the latter solution is but slightly darkened by perchloride of ^ See my paper with map in Ocean High- * Pharm. Journ. xii. (1853) 226. ways, April 1873, also Pharm. Journ. 19 ^ Capt. S. B. Miles, in Journ. of R. Geo- April, 1873. 821.— D. H. graph. Soc. xli. (1871) 236. 2 Trans. Bombay Geogr. Soc. vii. (1846) « Druggists who prepare large quantities 123. of Tincture of Myrrh may utilize this gum ^ Highlands of Ethiopia (1844) i. 426. for making a common sort of mucilage. — ii. 414. Pharvi. Journ. 10 June, 1871. 1001. 128 BURSERACEJE. iron. It is but partially soluble in alkalis or in bisulphide of carbon, Bruckner (1867) found this portion to yield 75*6 per cent, of carbon and 9-5 of hydrogen. The resin which the bisulphide refuses to dissolve, is freely soluble in ether. It contains only 57"4. per cent, of carbon. The resin of myrrh to which when moistened with alcohol a small quantity of hydrochloric acid is added, assumes a violet hue, but far less brilliant than that displayed by resin of galbanum when treated in a similar manner. Myrrh yields on distillation a volatile oil which in operating on 25 ft), of the drug, we obtained to the extent of f per cent.i It is a yellowish, rather viscid liquid, neutral to litmus, having a powerful odour of myrrh and sp. gr. 0"988 at 13° C.^ In a column 50 mm. long, it deviates a ray of light 30'1° to the left. By submitting it to dis- tillation, we obtained before the oil boiled, a few drops of a strongly acid liquid having the smell of formic acid. Neutralized with ammonia, this liquid produced in solution of mercurous nitrate a whitish precipitate which speedily darkened, thus indicating formic acid, which is de- veloped in the oil. Old myrrh is in fact said to yield an acid distillate. The oil begins to boil at about 266° C, and chiefly distills over between 270° and 290°. On combustion in the usual way it afforded carbon 84"70, hydrogen 9'98. Having been again rectified in a current of dry carbonic acid, it had a boiling point of 262—263° C, and now afforded^ carbon 84'70, hydrogen 10'26, which would nearly answer to the formula C^^H^^O. The results of Euickholdt's analysis (1845) of essential oil of myrrh assign it the formula C^^H^^O, which is the same as that of carvol and thymol, and widelv different from that indicated by our experiments. The oil which we rectified displays a faintly greenish hue ; it is miscible in every proportion with bisulphide of carbon, the solution exhibiting at first no peculiar coloration when a drop of nitric or sul- phuric acid is added. Yet the mixture to which nitric acid (1-20) has been added, assumes after an hour or two a fine violet hue which is very persistent, enduring even if the liquid is allowed to dry up in a large capsule. If to the crude oil dissolved in bisulphide of carbon bromine be added, a violet hue is produced; and if the solution is allowed to evaporate, and the residue diluted with spirit of wine, it assumes a fine blue which disappears on addition of an alkali. The oil is not altered by boiling with alcoholic potash, nor does it combine with alkaline bisulphites. Commerce — The drug is shipped to Europe chiefly by way of Bombay. The imports into that port in the year 1872-73 amounted to 494 cwt., the exports to 546 cwt. ; of the latter quantity 493 cwt. were shipped to the United Kingdom.^ Uses — Myrrh though much used does not appear to possess any very important medicinal powers, and is chiefly employed on account of its bitter, aromatic properties. Other varieties of Myrrh — Though the myrrh of commerce exhibits some diversity of appearance, the drug-brokers and druggists of ^ Euicklioldt got 2'18 per cent. ; IJlcy ^ Analyses performodin my laboratory by and Diesel (1845) from 1-G to 3-4 per cent. Dr. Buri, February 1874.— F. A. F. of an acid oil. ■' Statrment of the Trade and Navigation ■■' Gladstone (1863) found the oil a little of th/; Presidency of Bonnhay for 1872-73, heavier than water. pt. ii. 34. 78. ELEML 129 London are not in the habit of applying any special designations to the different qualities. There are however two varieties which deserve notice. 1. Bissa Bol {Bhesahol, Bysaholc), Hcbbalchadc of the Somalis, Myrrha Indica of Martiny/ formerly called East India Myrrh. This drug is of African origin, but of the plant which yields it, nothing is known. Vaughan^ who sent a sample from Aden to one of us in 1852, was told by the natives that the tree from which it is collected resembles that affording H&era Bol or true myrrh, but that it is nevertheless distinct. The drug is exported from the whole Somali coast to Mokha, Jidda, Aden, MakuUa, the Persian Gulf, India and even China.^ Bombay official returns show that the quantity imported thither in the year 1872-73, was 224 cwt., all shipped from Aden. Bissa Bol differs from myrrh chiefly in odour, which when once familiar is easily recognizable ; in other respects it agrees with true myrrh : fine specimens have all the outward characters of real myrrh, and perhaps are passed off for it. The Bissa Bol usually seen is however an impure and foul substance, which is regarded by London druggists as well as by the Banian traders in India as a very inferior dark sort of myrrh. Vaughan states that it is mixed with the food given to milch cows and buffaloes in order to increase the quantity and improve the quality of their milk, and that it is also used as size to impart a bright gloss to whitewashed walls. 2. Arabian Myrrh — This is the drug we have mentioned at p. 127 as collected to the eastward of Aden ; and it is of interest as substantiating the statement of Theophrastus that both olibanum and myrrh grow in Southern Arabia. The drug, which is not distinguished by any special name in English trade, is in irregular masses seldom exceeding 1^ inches long, and having a somewhat gummy-looking exterior. The larger lumps seem formed by the cohesion of small, rounded, translucent, externally shining tears or drops. The fracture is like that of common myrrh but wants the whitish markings. The odour and taste are those of the ordinary drug. Pieces of a semi-transparent papery bark are attached to some of the lumps. Finally the drug is distinguished by being more gummy,* more brittle, and less unctuous than common myrrh. ELEML Besina EUmi ; Elenii ; F. E4dne Elerai; G. Elemiharz. Botanical Origin — The resin known in pharmacy as EUmi is derived from a tree growing in the Philippines, which Blanco,^ a botanist of Manila, described in 1845 under the name of Idea Abilo, but which ^ EticyTcIop. d. med.-pharm. Nat. u. Boh- was bad of its kind, and was sold with diifi- waarenkunde, ii. (1854) 98, 101. culty at 30s. per cwt. — D. H. ^ Pharm. Journ. xii. (1853) 227. ■* Thus 100 grains powdered and then ex- ^ In 1865, 10 packages of this drug eon- hausted with spirit of wine left 75 grains of taining about 15 cwt. were consigned to me gummy residue, whereas in a parallel ex- for sale in London by a friend in China, who periment with fine myrrh of the usual sort, had purchased the drug under the notion the same quantity left a residue of 53 grains. that it was true myrrh. The commodity " Flora de FiMpinas, segunda impresiou, Manila, 1845. 256. K 130 BUESERACEM. is completely unknown to the botanists of Europe. Blanco's description is such that, if correct, the plant cannot be placed in either of the old genera Idea or Elaphrium, comprehended by Bentham and Hooker in that of Bursera, nor yet in the allied genus Canarium ; in fact even the order to which it belongs is somewhat doubtful.^ The tree growls in the province of Batangas in the island of Luzon (south of Manila), where its name in the Tagala language is dhilo ; the Spaniards call it Arbol a brea, i.e. pitch-tree, from the circumstance that its resin is used for the caulking of boats. History — The explicit statements of Theophrastus in the 3rd century B.C. relative to olibanum have already been mentioned. The same writer narrates ^ that a little above Coptus on the Red Sea, no tree is found except the acacia {aKavOrj) of the desert . . . but that on the sea there grow laurel (Sd(f)V7]) and olive (eXata), from the latter of which exudes a substance much valued to make a medicine for the stanching of blood. This story appears again in Pliny ^ who says that in Arabia the olive tree exudes tears which are an ingredient of the medicine called by the Greeks Enhcemon, from its efficacy in healing wounds. Dioscorides ^ briefly notices the Gum of the Ethiopian olive, which he likens to scammony ; and the same substance is named by Scribonius Largiis ^ who practised medicine at Eome during the 1st century. The writers who have commented on Dioscorides have generally adopted the opinion that the exudation of the so-called olive-tree of Arabia and Ethiopia was none other than the substance known to them as Elemi, though as remarked by Mattioli,^ the oriental drug thus called by no means well accords with the description left by that author. As to that name, the earliest mention of it appears in the middle of the 15th century. Thus in a list of drugs sold at Frankfort about 1450, we find Gommi Elempnij."' Saladinus ^ who lived about this period, enumerates Gumi Elemi among the drags kept by the Italian apothe- caries, but we have not met with the name in any other writer of the school of Salerno. The Arbolayre^ a herbal supposed to have been printed about 1485, gives some account of Gomme Elcm'pni, stating that it is the gum of the lemon tree and not of fennel as some think, — ^ On consulting Mr. A. W. Bennett who {ScutinanfJu'Yh.-wait&s) &nm7?c«9;!,, with which is now studying the Burscracccz of India, as it does not agree in other respects, to the probable affinities of Blanco's plant, " The foregoing reasons almost equally ex- we received from him the following remarks. elude Idea (Bursera) ; yet the fruit of " I have little hesitation in pronouncing Blanco's plant seems so eminently that of a that from the descrijition, Idea Ahilo cannot Burseracea, that I think it must belong to be a Canarium, but what it is, is more diffi- that order, but with some error in the de- cult to say. "The leaves having the lowest scription of the leaves." pair of leaflets smallest, seems at first sight ^ Hist. Plant, lib. iv. c. 7. very characteristic of Canarium; but the ^ Lib. xii. c. 38. following considerations tend the other way. "• Lib. i. c. 141. 1. The o;?7^Jos?''G^''W^Q^\ supposes 15 per cent, of oxide of lead.^ Feronia gum repeatedly treated with fuming nitric acid, produces abundant crystals of mucic acid. We found our sample of the gum to yield 17 per cent, of water, when dried at 110° C. It left 3"55 per cent, of ash. CATECHU. Catechu nigrum ; Black Catechu, Pegu Catechu, Cutch, Terra Japonica ; F. Cachou, Cachou brun ou noir ; G-. Catechu. Botanical Origin — The trees from which this drug is manufactured are of two species, namely : — 1. Acacia Catechu Willd. {Mimosa Catechu L. fil., M. Sundra Eoxb.^), a tree 30 to 40 feet high, with a short, not very straight trunk 4 to 6 feet in girth, straggling thorny branches, light feathery foliage, and dark grey or brown bark, reddish and fibrous internally. It is common in most parts of India and Burma, where it is highly valued for its wood which is used for posts and for various domestic purposes, as well as for making catechu and charcoal, while the astrin- gent bark serves for tanning. It also grows in the hotter and drier parts of Ceylon. A. Catechol abounds in the forests of Tropical Eastern Africa ; it is found in the Soudan, Sennaar, Abyssinia, the Noer country, and Mozambique, but in none of these regions is any astringent extract manufactured from its wood. 2. A. Suma Kurz^ (Mimosa Suma Eoxb.), a large tree with white bark, nearly related to the preceding but not having so extensive a geographical range. It grows in the South of India (Mysore), Bengal, and Guzerat. The bark is used in tanning, ^and catechu is made fi-om the heart-wood. The extract of the wood of these two species of Acacia is Catechu in the true and original sense of the word, a substance not to be con- founded with Gamhier, which though very similar in composition, is widely diverse in botanical origin, and always regarded in commerce as a distinct article. History — Barbosa in his description of the East Indies in 1514* mentions a drug called Cacho as an article of export from Cambay to Malacca. This is the name for Catechu in some of the languages of Southern India.^ About fifty years later, Garcia d'Orta gave a particular account of ^ "We obtained 14'56 and 14 "96 per cent. which excellent work we also borrow the of PbO.— Pb = 207. description of A. Catechu. ^ Some Indian botanists, as Beddome, re- * Published by the Hakluyt Society, Lond. gard Mimosa {Acacia) Sundra as distinct 1866. p. 191. from A. Catechu,. ^ As Tamil and Canarese, in which ac- ^ Brandis, Forest Flora, of North- Western cording to modern spelling the word is and Central India, Lond. 1874. 187, from written Kdshu or Kdchu. — Moodeen Sheriff, Suppl. to Pharmacopmia of India, 1869. 96. 214 LEGUMINOSM the same driig^ under its Hindustani name of Kat, first describing the tree and then the method of preparing an extract from its wood. This latter substance was at that period made up with the flour of a cereal {Eleusine coracana Gartn.) into tablets or lozenges, and apparently not sold in its simple state : compositions of this kind are still met with in India. In the time of d'Orta the drug was an important article of traffic to Malacca and China, as well as to Arabia and Persia. Notwithstanding these accounts, catechu remained unknown in Europe until the latter half of the 17th century, when it began to be brought from Japan. Schroder in the 4th edition of his Pharmacopc&ia Medico-Chymica published at Lyons in 1654, briefly describes it as Catechu or Terra Japponica, — ''genus terrce exoticce," of which he says a little bit had been given to him by the druggist, Matthew Bansa. In 1671, catechu was noticed as a useful medicine by G. W. Wedel of Jena,^ who also called attention to the diversity of opinion as to its mineral or vegetable nature. Schrock^ in 1677 combated the notion of its mineral origin, and gave reasons for considering it a vegetable sub- stance. A few years later, Cleyer* who had a personal knowledge of China, pointed out the enormous consumption of catechu for mastication in the East, — that it is imported into Japan, — that the best comes from Pegu, but some also from Surat, Malabar, Bengal, and Ceylon. Catechu was received into the London Pharmacopoeia of 1721, but was even then placed among " Terrm medicamentosa^!' The wholesale price in London in 1776 was £16 16s. per cwt. ; in 1780 £20; in 1793 £14 14s., from which it is easy to infer that the consumption could only have been very small.^ Manufacture — Cutch, commonly called in India Kdt or K%t, is an aqueous extract made from the wood of the tree. The process for pre- paring it varies slightly in different districts. The tree is reckoned to be of proper age when its trunk is about . a foot in diameter. It is then cut down, and the whole of the woody part, with the exception of the smaller branches and the bark, is chopped into chips. Some accounts state that only the darker heart- wood is thus used. The chips are then placed with water in earthen jars, a series of which is arranged over a mud-built fire-place, usually in the open air. Here the water is made to boil, the liquor as it becomes thick and strong being decanted into another vessel, in whicli the evaporation is con- tinued until the extract is sufficiently inspissated, when it is poured into moulds made of clay, or of leaves pinned together in the shape of cups, or in some districts on to a mat covered with the ashes of cow- dung, the drying in each case being completed by exposure to the sun and air. The product is a dark brown extract, which is the usual form in which cutch is known in Europe. In Kumaon in the north of India,*^ a slight modification of the process affords a drug of very different appearance. Instead of evapo- 1 Aromatum Historia, ed. Clusius, 1574. ^ Pegii Cutcb is quoted in a London price- 44. — He writes the word Gate. current, 21 Aug. 1873, 18s. to 20s. per cwt. ^ Usus novus Catechu seu Terrce Japonicce, ^ Madden in Jouni. of Asiat. Soc. of — Ephemer ides Nat. Our., Dec. i. ann. 2 Bciujal, xvii. ])?L\\:i. {liii) 5Qb ; also private (1671) 209. communication accompanied by specimens 3 Ibid. Dec. i. ann. 8 (1677) 88. of tree, wood, and extract from Mr. F, * Ibid. Dec. ii. aun. 4 (1685). 6. E. G. Matthews, of the Kumaon Iron Works, Nynee Tal. CATECHU. 215 rating the decoction to the condition of an extract, the inspissation is stopped at a certain point and the liquor allowed to cool, " coagulate," and crystallize over twigs and leaves thrown into the pots for the pur- pose. How this drug is finished off we do not exactly know, but we are told that by this process there is obtained from each pot about 2 lb, of " Kath " or catechu, of an ashy whitish appearance, which is quite in accordance with the specimens we have received and of which we shall speak further on. In Burma the manufacture and export of cutch form, next to the sale of timber, the most important item of forest revenue. According to a report by the Commissioner of the Prome Division, the trade returns of 1869—70, show that the quantity of cutch exported from the province during the year was 10,782 tons, valued at £193,602, of which nearly one-half was the produce of manufactories situated in the British terri- tory. Vast quantities of the wood are consumed as fuel, especially for the steamers on the Irrawadi.^ Description — Cutch is imported in mats, bags, or boxes. It is a dark brown, extractiform substance, hard and brittle on the surface of the mass, but soft and tenacious within, at least when newly imported. The large leaf of Dipterocarpus tuherculatus Eoxb., the Uin or Englen of the Burmese, is often placed outside the blocks of extract. Cutch when dry breaks easily, showing a shining but bubbly and slightly granular fracture. When it is soft and is pulled out into a thin film, it is seen to be translucent, granular and of a bright orange-brown. "When further moistened and examined under the microscope, it exhibits an abundance of minute acicular crystals, precisely as seen in gambler. We have observed the same in numerous samples of the dry drug when rendered pulpy by the addition of water, or moistened with glycerin and viewed by polarized light. The pale cutch referred to as manufactured in the north of India, is in the form of irregular fragments of a cake an inch or more thick, which has a laminated structure and appears to have been deposited in a round- bottomed vessel. It is a porous, opaque, earthy-looking substance of a pale pinkish brown, light, and easily broken. Under the microscope it is seen to be a mass of needle-shaped crystals exactly like gambler, with which in all essential points it corresponds. We have received from India the same kind of cutch made into little round cakes like lozenges, with apparently no addition. The taste of cutch is astringent, followed by a sensation of sweetness by no means disagreeable. Chemical Composition — Extractiform cutch, such as that of Pegu, which is the only sort comruon in Europe, when immersed in cold water turns whitish, softens and disintegrates, a small proportion of it dis- solving and forming a deep brown solution. The insoluble part is Catechin or Catechuic Acid, in minute acicular crystals. If a little of the thick chocolate-like liquid made by macerating cutch in water, is heated to the boiling point, it is rendered quite transparent (mechanical impurities being absent), but becomes turbid on cooling. Eerric chloride forms with this solution a dark green precipitate, immediately changing to purple if common water or a trace of free alkali be used ; dilute acids throw down a precipitate. ^ Pearson (G. F.) Report of the Adminis- several provinces under the Government of tration of the Forest Department in the India, 1871-72, Calcutta 1872, part 5. p. 22, 216 ROSACEM Ether extracts from cutch, catechin. This substance has been shown by Eochleder (1869) to have the formula C^^H^^O^, and to be a com- pound of Phloroglucin, C^HeQ^ and ^scylic Alcohol, C^HSQ^ less H^O. Catechin dehydrated by drying over oil of vitriol, and then treated with an acid, loses H^O and is converted into brown, amorphous Catechuretin. An aqueous solution of catechin does not precipitate a solution, either of gelatin, emetic tartar, or of a vegetable alkaloid; but the precipitation at least of the first-mentioned, takes place if the catechin solution is previously boiled for a long time, the result in this case being due to the partial conversion of the catechin into Gatecliu-tannic Acid. The latter substance is also extracted when cutch or gambler is ex- hausted with cold water, but from the difficulty of obtaining it free from catechin it has not been thoroughly examined.^ Lowe (1873)^ by exhausting cutch with cold water and then agita- ting the solution with ether, obtained upon the evaporation of the latter, a yellow crystalline substance which he ascertained to be Quercetin, (j27jji8Qi2_ j^g solubility in water is probably favoured by the presence of catechin, water having but very little action upon pure quercetin. The amount of quercetin in cutch is exceedingly small. When either cutch or gambler is subjected to dry distillation it yields, in common with many other substances, Pyrocatechin, C^H^O^. Commerce — The importations of cutch into the United Kingdom from British India (excluding the Straits Settlements and Ceylon) were as under, almost the whole being from Bengal and Burma : — 1869 1870 1871 1872 2257 tons. 5252 tons. 4335 tons. 5240 tons. The total value of the cutch imported in 1872, was estimated at £124,458. Uses — Cutch under the name of Catechu, which name it shares with gambler, is employed in medicine as an astringent. Analogous Product — Areca-nut Catechu — The seeds of Areca Catechu L., the most elegant palm of India, are called Areca Nuts or Betel Nuts, and yield when boiled in water, an astringent extract which was once supposed to form part of the catechu of commerce ; but there is no reason to believe that any of it now finds its way to Europe. Drury^ states it to be a catechu of very inferior quality, one variety of which, called Cuttacamhoo (Katta Kdnibu) is chewed with lime and betel-leaf. ROSACEiE. AMYGDAL.^ DULCES. Sweet Almonds ; F. Amandes douces ; G. Susse Mandeln. Botanical Origin — Prunus Amygdalus Baillon ^ var. /3 dulcis (Amygdalus commimis L. var. /3 dulcis DC.) — The native country of the almond cannot be ascertained with precision. A. de Candolle^ after ^ Gnielin, Chemistry, xv. (1862) 515. ^ Hist, cles Plantcs {Monogr. des Rosacies, ^ Fresenius, Zeitschrift fiir anal. Chemic, 1869) i. 415. lii. (1873) 127. ^ G6ographie Botanique, ii. (1855) 888. 3 Useful Plants of India, 2nded., 1873. 48. AMYGDALA DULCES. 217 reviewing the statements of various authors concerning the occurrence of the tree in an apparently wild state, arrives at the conclusion that its original area possibly extended from Persia, westward to Asia Minor and Syria, and even to Algeria. At an early period the tree was spread throughout the entire Medi- terranean region, and in favourable situations, far into the continent of Europe. It was apparently introduced into Italy from Greece, where according to Heldreich,^ the bitter variety is truly wild. The almond- tree matures its fruit in the south of England, but is liable to destruc- tion by frost in many parts of central Europe. History — The earliest notice of the almond extant is that in the Book of Genesis,^ where we read that the patriarch Israel commanded his sons to carry with them into Egypt, a present consisting of the pro- ductions of Palestine, one of which is named as Almonds. From the copious references to the almond in the writings of Theo- phrastus, one cannot but conclude that in his day it was familiarly known. In Italy, M. Porcius Cato ^ mentions towards the middle of the 2nd century B.C., Avellance Qrmcce which we know from later authors signified almonds. Columella who wrote about a.d. 60, calls them Nuces Grcecce. Bitter almonds (" Amygdali amari ") are named about this latter period by Scribonius Largus, a physician of Eome. As to more northern Europe, almonds are mentioned together with other groceries and spices as early as a.d. 716, in a charter granted by Chilperic 11. king of France, to the monastery of Corbie in Normandy.* In the next century, Charlemagne ordered the trees (Amandalarii) to be introduced on the imperial farms. In the later middle ages, the cultiva- tion of the almond was carried on about Speier and in the Ehenish Pala- tinate. We learn from Marino Sanuto ^ that in the beginning of the 14th century, almonds had become an important item of the Venetian trade to Alexandria. They were doubtless in large part produced by the islands of the Greek Archipelago, then under Christian rule. In Cyprus for instance, the Knights Templar levied tithes in 1411, of almonds, honey and sesame seed.*^ The consumption of almonds in mediaeval cookery was enormous. An inventory made in 1372, of the effects of Jeanne d'Evreux, queen of France, enumerates only 20 Bb. of sugar, but 500 lb. of almonds.'' In the Form of Cury, a manuscript written by the master cooks of King Eichard II., a.d. 1390, are receipts for " Creme of Almand, Greivel of Almand, Caivdd of Almand Mylke, Jowt of Almand Mylke," &c.^ Almonds were sold in England by the " hundred," i. e. 108 lb. Eogers^ gives the average price between 1259 and 1350 as 2d., and between 1351 and 1400 as 3ici(. per lb. ^ NutzpflanzenG-riechenlands, Ath.en,lSQ2. ^ Leber, Appreciation de la fortune privie 67. au moyen-dge, ed. 2, Paris, 1847. 95. 2 Ch. xliii. V. 11. 8 Published by Pegge, Lnnd. 1780.— ^ De Re Btistica, cap. viii. Boorde in his Dyetary of Helth, 1542, men- ^ V'axdiQiisns,Diploraata, C%arto, etc. Paris, tioTis Almon Mylke and Ahnon Butter, the 1849. ii. 309. latter ^^ a commendable dysshe specyallye in ^ Liber Secretorum Fideliutn, ed. Bongars, Lent." 1611. 24. ^ Agriculture and Prices in England, i. « De Mas Latrie, Hist, de VUede Chypre, (1866) 641. ii. (1852) 500. 218 • ROSACEM Description— The fruit of the almoijd-tree is a drupe, with a velvety sarcocarp which at maturity dries, splits, and drops off, leaving bare and still attached to the branch, an oblong, ovate, pointed stone, pitted with irregular holes. The seed, about an inch in length, is ovate or oblong, more or less compressed, pointed at the upper, blunt at the lower end, coated with a scurfy, cinnamon-brown skin or testa. It is connected with the stone or putamen by a broad funicle, which runs along its edge for more than a third of its length from the apex : hence the raphe passes downwards to the rounded end of the seed, where a scar marks the chalaza. From this, a dozen or more ramifying veins run up the brown skin towards the pointed end. After an almond has been mace- rated in warm water, the skin is easily removed, bringing with it the closely attached translucent inner membrane or endopleura. As the seed is without albumen, the whole mass within the testa consists of embryo This is formed of a pair of plano-convex cotyledons, within which lie the flat leafy plumule and thick radicle, the latter slightly projecting from the pointed or basal end of the seed. Almonds have a bland, sweet, nutty flavour. When triturated with water, they afford a pure white, milk-like emulsion of agreeable taste. Varieties — The different sorts of almond vary in form and size, and more particularly in the firmness of the shell. This in some varieties is tender and easily broken in the hand, in others so hard as to require a hammer to fracture it. The form and size of the kernel likewise exhibit some variation. The most esteemed are those of Malaga, known in trade as Jordan Almonds. They are usually imported without the shell, and differ from all other sorts in their oblong form and large size. The other kinds of sweet almonds known in the London market, are distinguished in the order of value as Valencia, Sicily, and Barhary. Microscopic Structure — Three different parts are to be distinguished in the brown coat of an almond. First, a layer of very large (as much as ^ mm. in diameter) irregular cells, to which the scurfy surface is due. If these brittle cells are boiled with caustic soda, they make a brilliant object for microscopic examination in polarized light. The two inner layers of the skin are made up of much smaller cells, traversed by small flbro-vascular bundles. The brown coat assumes a bluish hue on addition of perchloride of iron, owing to the presence of tannic matter. The cotyledons consist of thin-walled parenchyme, flbro-vascular bundles being not decidedly developed. This tissue is loaded with granular albuminous matter, some of which exhibits a crystalloid aspect, as may be ascertained in polarized light. Starch is altogether wanting in almonds. Chemical Composition — The sweet almond contains fixed oil extractable by boiling ether to the extent of 50 to 55 per cent.^ A produce of 50 per cent, by the hydraulic press is by no means uncommon.^ The oil (Oleum Amygdalae) is a thin, light yellow fluid, of sp. gr. 0-92, which does not solidify till cooled to between —10 and —20° C. When fresh, it has a mild nutty taste, but soon becomes rancid by exposure to 1 The result of 10 analyses— Vohl in = Such was the experience in the Staat- Dingler's Pohjlechn. Journ. cc. (1871) 410. apotheke at Bern, where sweet almonds were often pressed. — F. A. F. AMYGDAl/E AMAR^. 219 the air ; it is not however one of the drying oils. It consists almost wholly of the glycerin compound of Oleic Acid, C^^H^^O^. Almonds easily yield to cold water a sugar tasting like honey, which reduces alkaline cupric tartrate even in the cold, and is therefore in part grape-sugar. Pelouze however (1855) obtained from almonds 10 per cent, of cane-sugar. The amount of gum appears to be very small ; Fleury (1865) found that the total amount of sugar, dextrin and mucilage was altogether only 6*29 per cent. The almond yields 3'7 per cent, of nitrogen, corresponding to about 24 per cent, of albuminoid matters. These have been elaborately examined by Eobiquet (1837-38), Ortloff (1846), Bull (1849), and Kitthausen (1872).^ The experiments tend to show that there exist in the almond two different protein substances ; Eobiquet termed one of these bodies Synaptase, while others applied to it the name Umtdsin.^ Commaille (1866) named the second albuminous substance Amandin; it is the Almond-legumin of Gmelin's Chemistry, the Conglutin of Eitthausen. Emulsin has not yet been freed from earthy phosphates which, when it is precipitated by alcohol from an aqueous solution, often amount to a third of its weight. Amandin may be precipitated from its aqueous solution by acetic acid. According to Eitthausen, these bodies are to be regarded as modifications of one and the same substance, namely vegetable casein. Blanched almonds comminuted yield when slightly warmed with dilute potash, a small quantity of hydrocyanic acid and of ammonia; the former may be made manifest by means of Schonbein's test pointed out at p. 222. The ash of almonds, amounting to from 3 to nearly 5 per cent., con- sists chiefly of phosphates of potassium, magnesium and calcium. Production and Commerce — The quantity of almonds imported into the United Kingdom in 1872, was 70,270 cwt., valued at £204,592. Of this quantity, Morocco supplied 33,500 cwt., and Spain with the Canary Islands 22,000 cwt., the remainder being made up by Italy, Portugal, France, and other countries. Almonds are largely shipped from the Persian Gulf: in the year 1872-73, there were imported thence into Bombay, 15,878 cwt., besides 3,049 cwt. from other countries.^ Uses — Sweet almonds may be used for the extraction of almond oil, yet they are but rarely so employed (at least in England) on account of the inferior value of the residual cake. The only other use of the sweet almond in medicine, is for making the emulsion called Mistura Amygdalce. AMYGDALAE AMAR^E. Bitter Almonds ; F. Amandes ameres ; G. Bitter Mandeln. Botanical Origin — Prunus Amygdalus Baillon var. a. amara {Amygdalus communis L. var. a. amara DC.) The Bitter Almond tree ^ Die Eiweisskorper der Getreidearten, * Gmelin, Chemistry, xviii. (1871) 452. Hiilsenfruchte und Oelsamen. Bonn. 1872. ^ Statement of the Trade and Navigation 199. of Bombay for 1872-73, pt. ii. 31. 220 ROSACEA is not distinguished from the sweet by any permanent botanical character, and its area of growth appears to be the same (see p. 216). History — See preceding article. Description — Bitter almonds agree in outward appearance, form, and structure with sweet almonds ; they exist under several varieties, but there is none so far as we know, that in size and form resembles the long sweet almond of Malaga.^ In general, bitter almonds are of smaller size than sweet. Triturated with water, they afford the same white emulsion as sweet almonds, but it has a strong odour of hydrocyanic acid and a very bitter taste. Varieties — These are distinguished in their order of goodness, as French, Sicilian, and Barbary. Microscopic Structure — In this respect, no difference between sweet and bitter almonds can be pointed out. If thin slices of the latter are deprived of fat oil by means of benzol, and then kept for some years in glycerin, an abundance of crystals is slowly formed, of what we suppose to be amygdalin. Chemical Composition — Bitter almonds when comminuted and mixed with water, immediately evolve the odour of bitter almond oil. The more generally diffused substances are the same in both kinds of almond, and the fixed oil in particular of the bitter almond is identical with that of the sweet. Bitter almonds however contain on an average a somewhat lower proportion of oil than the sweet. In one instance that has come to our knowledge in which 28 cwt. of bitter almonds were submitted to pressure, the yield of oil was at the rate of 43'6 per cent. Mr. Umney, director of the laboratory of Messrs. Herrings and Co., where large quantities of bitter almonds are submitted to powerful hydraulic pressure, gives 44'2 as the average percentage of oil obtained during the years 1871-2. As early as the beginning of the present century, it was shown b the experiments of Bohm of Berlin, that the aqueous distillate of bitter almonds contains hydrocyanic acid and a peculiar oil which cannot be obtained from sweet almonds.^ Eobiquet and Boutron-Charlard in 1830, prepared from bitter almonds a crystalline substance, Amygdalin, and found that bitter almond oil and hydrocyanic acid can no longer be obtained from bitter almonds, the amygdalin of which has been removed by alcohol. Liebig and Wohler in 1837 showed that it is solely the decomposition of this body {under conditions to be explained presently), that occasions the formation of the two compounds above named. Disregarding secondary products (ammonia and formic acid), the reaction takes place as represented in the following equation : C20H27NO11 + 2H20 = C^H 0 + CHN + Ci^H^^O^^ Anhydrous Wator Bitter Almond Hydro- Anhydrous Amygdalin. ' Oil. cyanic Acid. Dextro-glucose. This memorable investigation first brought under notice a body of the glucoside class, now so numerous. 1 Hence to avoid bitter almonds being ^ J. B. Richter, Ncucre Gegenstdnde d. used instead of sweet, the British Pharma- Chymie, Breslau, xi. (1802) 66. copoeia directs that Jordan Almonds alone shall beemployed for Confection of Almonds. AMYGDALA AMARJS. 221 Amygdalin may be obtained crystallized with 2H^0, when almonds deprived of their oil are boiled with alcohol of 84 to 94 per cent. The product amounts at most to 2^ or 3 per cent. Amygdalin per se dissolves in 15 parts of water at 8-12° C, forming a neutral, bitter, inodorous liquid, quite destitute of poisonous properties. When bitter almonds have been freed from amygdalin and fixed oil, cold water extracts from the residue chiefly emulsin and another albuminoid matter separable by acetic acid. The emulsin upon addition of alcohol, falls down in thick flocks, which, after draining, form with cold water a slightly opalescent solution. This liquid added to an aqueous solution of amygdalin, renders it turbid, and developes in it bitter almond oil. The reaction takes place in the same manner, if the emulsin has not been previously purified by acetic acid and alcohol, or if an emulsion of sweet almonds is used. But after boiling, an emulsion of almonds is no longer capable of decomposing amygdalin. What alteration the emulsin itself undergoes in this reaction, or whether it suffers any alteration at all, has not been clearly made out. The reaction does not appear to take place necessarily in atomic propor- tions ; it does not cease until the emulsin has decomposed about ten times its own weight of amygdalin, provided always that sufficient water is present to hold all the products in solution. The leaves of Frunus Lauro-cerasus L., the bark of P. Padus L., and the organs of many allied plants, also contain emulsin or a substance analogous to it, not yet isolated. In the seeds of various plants belonging to natural orders not botanically allied to the almond, as for example in those of mustard, hemp, and poppy, and even in yolk of egg, albuminous substances occur which are capable of acting upon amygdalin in the same manner. Boiling dilute hydrochloric acid induces the same decomposition, with the simultaneous production of formic acid. The distillation of bitter almonds is known to offer some difficulties on account of the large quantity present of albuminous substances, which gives rise to bumping and frothing. Michael Pettenkofer (1861) has found that these inconveniences may be avoided by immersing 12 parts of powdered almonds in boiling water, whereby the albuminous matters are coagulated, whereas the amygdalin is dissolved. On then adding an emulsion of only 1 part of almonds (sweet or bitter), the emulsin con- tained in it will suffice to effect the required decomposition at a tempera- ture not exceeding 40° C. In this manner, Pettenkofer obtained in some experiments performed with small quantities of almonds, as much as 0'9 per cent, of essential oil. In the case alluded to on the opposite page, in which 28 cwt. of almonds were treated, the yield of essential oil amounted to 0"87 per cent. From data obligingly furnished to us by Messrs. Herrings and Co. of London, who distill large quantities of almond cake, it appears that the yield of essential oil is very variable. The yearly averages as taken from the books of this firm, show that it may be as low as 0'74, or as high as 1*67 per cent., which, assuming 57 pounds of cake as equivalent to 100 pounds of almonds, would represent a per- centage from the latter of 0"42 and 0-95 per cent, respectively. Mr. Umney explains this enormous variation as due in part to natural variableness in the different kinds of bitter almond, and in part to their admixture with sweet almonds. He also states that the action of the 222 R0SACE2E. emulsin on the amygdalin when in contact with water, is extremely- rapid, and that 200 pounds of almond marc are thoroughly exhausted by a distillation of only three hours. In the distillation, the hydrocyanic acid and bitter almond oil unite into an unstable compound. From this, the acid is gradually set free, and partly converted into cyanide of ammonium and formic acid. Supposing bitter almonds to contain 3 '3 per cent, of amygdalin, they must yield 0*2 per cent, of hydrocyanic acid. Pettenkofer obtained by experiment as much asO'25 per cent., Feldhaus (1863) 0-17 per cent. Some manufacturers supply bitter almond oil deprived of hydrocyanic acid, but such purified oil is very prone to oxidation, unless carefully deprived of water by being shaken with fused chloride of calcium. The sp. gr. of the original oil is 1*061 — 1-065 ; that of the purified oil (according to Umney) 1"049. The purification by the action of ferrous sulphate and lime, and re-distillation, as recommended by Maclagan (1853), occasions, we are informed, a loss of about 10 per cent. There are a great number of plants which if crushed, moistened with water, and submitted to distillation, yield both bitter almond oil and hydrocyanic acid. In many instances the amount of hydrocyanic acid is so extremely small, that its presence can only be revealed by the most delicate test, — that of Schonbein.^ Among plants capable of emitting hydrocyanic acid, probably always accompanied with bitter almond oil, the tribes Pninece and Pomece of the rosaceous order may be particularly mentioned. The farinaceous rootstocks of the Bitter Cassava, Manihot utilissima Pohl, of the order Euphorbiacece, the source of tapioca in Brazil, have long been known to yield hydrocyanic acid. A composite, Chardinia xeranthemoides Desf., growing in the Caspian regions, has been shown by W. Eichler also to emit hydrocyanic acid.^ The same has been observed by the French in Gaboon^ with regard to the fruits of Ximenia Americana L. of the order Olacinece, and the fact has been confirmed by Ernst of Caracas,* near which place the plant abounds. Mr. Prestoe of the Botanical Garden, Trinidad, informs u.s (1874) that in that island a convolvulaceous plant, Ipomcea disseda Willd., contains a juice with a strong prussic acid odour. According to Losecke, a common mushroom, Agaricus Oreades Bolt., emits hydrocyanic acid.^ This acid is consequently widely diffused throughout the vegetable kingdom. Yet amygdalin has thus far only been isolated from a few plants belonging to the genus Frunus or its near allies.*" In all other plants in which hydrocyanic acid has been met with, we know nothing as to its origin. Eitthausen and Kreusler'^ have proved the absence of amygdalin in the seeds of a Vicia, which yield bitter almond oil and hydrocyanic acid. These chemists followed the process which in the case of bitter almonds easily affords amygdalin. Commerce — See preceding article. ^ Applied in the following manner : — Let - Bull, dc la Soc. imp. dcs not. de Moscou, bibulous paper be imbued with a fresh tine- xxxv. (1862) ii. 444. ture of the wood or resin of guaiacum, and ^ Exposition Univers. de 1867. — Produits after drying, let it be moistened with a dcs Colonics Frangaises, 92. solution composed of one part of sulphate "' Archiv der Pharmacic, 181 (1867) 222. of copper in 2000 of water. Such paper ^ Jahrcsbcricht of Wiggers and Husemann moistened with water will assume an intense for 1871. 11. blue coloration in the presence of hydro- * Gmelin, Chemisirif, vii. 389 ; xv. 422. cyanic aeid- ^ Chemisches dntralblatt, 1871. 3. FRUCTUS PRUNI. 223 Uses — Bitter almonds are used almost exclusively for the manu- facture of Almond Oil, while from the residual cake is distilled Bitter Almond Oil. An emulsion of bitter almonds is sometimes prescribed as a lotion. Adulteration — The adulteration of bitter almonds with sweet is a frequent source of loss and annoyance to the pressers of almond oil, whose profit largely depends on the amount of volatile oil they are able to extract from the residual cake. FRUCTUS PRUNI. Prunes; F. Pruneaux a medecine. Botanical Origin — Primus domestica L., var. ^. Juliana DC. — It is from this tree which is known as Prunier de St. Julien^ that the true Medicinal Prunes of English pharmacy are derived. The tree is largely cultivated in the valley of the Loire in France, especially about Bourgueil, a small town lying between Tours and Angers. History — The plum-tree (P. domestica L,) from which it is supposed the numerous cultivated varieties have descended, is believed to occur in a truly wild state in Greece, the south-eastern shores of the Black Sea (Lazistan), the Caucasus, and the Elburz range in ISTorthern Persia, from some of which countries it was introduced into Europe long before the Christian era. In the days of Pliny, numerous species of plum were already in cultivation, one of which afforded a fruit having laxative properties. Dried prunes, especially those taking their name from Damascus {Pruna Damascena), are frequently mentioned in the writings of the Greek physicians, by whom as well as at a later period by the practitioners of the Schola Salerni, they were much employed. In the older London pharmacopoeias, many sorts of plum are enumerated, but in the reformed editions of 1746, 1788 and 1809, the French Prune {Prunum Oallicum) is specially ordered, its chief use being as an ingredient of the well-known Lenitive Electuary ; and this fruit is still held by the grocers to be the legitimate 'prune. The same variety is regarded in France as the prune of medicine. Description — The prune in its fresh state is an ovoid drupe of a deep purple hue, not depressed at the insertion of the stalk, and with a scarcely visible suture, and no furrow. The pulp is greenish and rather austere, unless the fruit is very ripe ; it does not adhere to the stone. The stone is short (^ to -^^ of an inch long, -^^ to ^V broad), broadly rounded at the upper end and slightly mucronulate, narrowed somewhat stalk-like at the lower, and truncate ; the ventral suture is broader and thicker than the dorsal. The fruit is dried partly by solar and partly by fire heat, — that is to say, it is exposed alternately to the heat of an oven and to the open air. Thus prepared, it is about 1-i- inches long, black and shrivelled, but ^ Loiseleur-Deslongchanips et Michel, arhustes que Von cuUive en France, v. (1812) Nouveau Duhamel, ou TraiU des arh-es et 189, pi. 54. fig. 2, pi. 56. fig. 9. 224 ROSACEjE. recovers its original size and form by digestion in warm water. The dried pulp or sarcocarp is brown and tough, with an acidulous, saccharine, fruity taste. Microscopic Structure — The skin of the prune is formed of small, densely packed cells, loaded with a dark solid substance ; the pulp consists of larger shrunken cells, containing a brownish amorphous mass which is probably rich in sugar. This latter tissue is traversed by a few thin fibro-vascular bundles, and exhibits here and there crystals of oxalate of calcium. By perchloride of iron, the cell walls as well as the contents of the cells, acquire a dingy greenish hue. Chemical Composition — We are not aware of any analysis having been made of the particular sort of plum under notice, nor that any attempt has been made to discover the source of the medicinal property it is reputed to possess. Some nearly allied varieties have been submitted to analysis in the laboratory of Fresenius, and shown to contain saccharine matters to the extent of 17 to 35 per cent., besides malic acid, and albuminoid and pectic substances.^ Uses — The only pharmaceutical preparation of which the pulp of prunes is an ingredient, is Confedio Sennce, the Electuarium Unitivum of the old pharmacopoeias. The fruit stewed and sweetened, is often used as a domestic laxative. Substitute — When French prunes are scarce, a very similar fruit known in Germany as Zwetschen or Quetschen, is imported as a substitute.^ It is the produce of a tree which most botanists regard as a form of Prunus domestica L., termed by De Candolle var. Pruneauliana. K. Koch ^ however, is decidedly of opinion that it is a distinct species, and as such he has revived for it Borkhausen's name of Prunus ceconomica. The tree is widely cultivated in Germany for the sake of its fruit, which is used in the dried state as an article of food, but is not grown in England. The dried fruit differs slightly from the ordinary prune in being rather larger and more elongated, and having a thicker skin ; also in the stone being flatter, narrower, pointed at either end, with the ventral suture much more strongly curved than the dorsal. The fruits seem rather more prone to become covered with a saccharine efflorescence. CORTEX PRUNI SEROTINiE. Cortex Pruni Virginiance ; Wild Black Cherry Bark. Botanical Origin — Prunus serotina Ehrhart {P. Virginiana Miller non Linn., Cerasus serotina DC.) — 'A shrub or tree, in favourable situations growing to a height of 60 feet, distributed over an immense extent of ISTorth America. It is found throughout Canada as far as 62° N. lat., and from ISTewfoundland and Hudson's Bay in the east, to the valleys west of the Eocky Mountains.'^ It is also common in the United States. ^ Liebig's Ann. der Chemie, ci. (1857) ^ Dcndrologie, part i. (1869) 94. 228. "^ Hooker, Flora Borcali- Americana, i. ^ This was especially the case in the (1833) 169. winter of 1873-74. CORTEX PRUNI SEROTINJU. 225 The tree is often confounded with P. Virginiana L., from which, indeed, it seems to he separated hy no fixed character, though American botanists hold the two plants as distinct. It is also nearly allied to the well-known P. Padus. L. of Europe, the bark of which had formerly a place in the Materia Medica.^ History — Experiments on the medicinal value of Wild Cherry Bark were made in America about the end of the last century, at which time the drug was supposed to be useful in intermittent fevers.^ The bark Avas introduced into the United States Pharmacopeia in 1820. An elaborate article by Bentley^ published in 1863 contributed to bring it into notice in this country, but it is still much more employed in America than with us. Description — The inner bark of the root or branches is said to be the most suitable for medicinal use. That which we have seen, is evidently from the latter ; it is in flattish or channelled pieces, yV to -g^ of an inch in thickness, ^ an inch to 2 inches broad, and seldom ex- ceeding 5 inches in length. From many of the pieces, the outer suberous coat has been shaved off, in which case the whole bark is of a deep cinnamon brown; in others the corky layer remains, exhibiting a polished satiny surface, marked with long transverse scars. The inner surface is finely striated, or minutely fissured and reticulated. The bark breaks easily with a short granular fracture ; it is nearly without smell, but if reduced to coarse powder and wetted with water it evolves a pleasant odour of bitter almonds. It has a decided but transient bitter taste. The bark freshly cut from the stem is quite white, and has a strong odour of bitter almonds and hydrocyanic acid. Microscopic Structure — The chief mass of the tissue is made up of hard, thick-walled, white cells, the groups of which are separated by a brown fibrous prosenchyme. The liber is crossed in a radial direction by numerous broad medullary rays of the usual structure. The paren- chymatous portion is loaded both with very large single crystals, and crystalline tufts of calcium oxalate. There is also an abundance of small starch granules, and brown particles of tannic matters. Thin slices of the bark moistened with perchloride of iron^ assume a blackish coloration. Chemical Composition — The bitterness and odour of the fresh bark depend in part, according to Procter,^ on the presence of Amyg- dalin. Hydrocyanic acid and essential oil are produced when the bark is distilled with water, and must be due to the mutual action of amygdalin and some principle of the nature of emulsin. From the fact that an extract of the bark remained bitter although the whole of the amygdalin had been removed, Procter inferred the existence of another substance to which the tonic properties of the bark are perhaps due. The amygdalin, however, has not been isolated. The fresh bark was found by Perot ^ to yield ^ per mille of hydro- cyanic acid in April, 1 per mille in June, and 14 in October. The best time for collecting the bark is therefore the autumn. 1 Martiny, Encyklopddie, i. (1843) 500 ; ^ pharm. Journ. v. (1864) 97. Hayne, Arzneygewdchse, iv. (1816) 40. ^ Am. Journ, of Pharm. iv. (1839) 197. 2 Barton, Collections for Mat. Med. of « Ibid, xviii. (1852) 109. TJaited States, Philad. 1798. 11. 226 ROSACEA. Uses — In America, wild cherry bark is held in high estimation for its mildly tonic and sedative properties. It is administered most appropriately in the form of cold infusion or syrup, the latter being a strong cold infusion, sweetened ; a iluid extract and a dry resinoid extract are also in use. The bark is said to deteriorate by keeping, and should be preferred when recently dried. FOLIA LAURO-CERASI. Common Laurel or Clierry -laurel Leaves ; F. Feuilles de Laurier-cerise ; G. Kirschlorbeerhldtter. Botanical Origin — Prunus Lauro-cerasus L., a handsome evergreen shrub, growing to the height of 18 or more feet, is a native of the Cau- casian provinces of Eussia (Mingrelia, Imeritia, Guriel), of the valleys of ISTorth-western Asia Minor, and ISTorthern Persia. It has been intro- duced as a plant of ornament into all the more temperate regions of Europe, and flourishes well in England and other parts, where the winter is not severe and the summer not excessively hot and dry. History — Pierre Belon, the French naturalist, who travelled in the East between 1546 and 1550, is stated by Clusius^ to have discovered the cherry-laurel in the neighbourhood of Trebizond. Thirty years later, Clusius himself obtained the plant through the Imperial ambassador at Constantinople, and distributed it from Vienna to the gardens of Ger- many. Since it is mentioned by Gerarde ^ as a choice garden shrub, it must have been cultivated in England prior to 1597. Eay,^ who like Gerarde calls the plant Cherry-bay, states that it is not known to possess medicinal properties. In 1731, Madden of Dublin drew the attention of the Eoyal Society of London * to some cases of poisoning that had occurred by the use of a distilled water of the leaves. This water he states had been for many years in frequent use in Ireland among cooks, for flavouring puddings and creams, and also much in vogue with dram drinkers as an addition to brandy, without any ill effects from it having been noticed. The fatal cases thus brought forward occasioned much investigation, but the true nature of the poison was not understood till pointed out by Schrader in 1803. Cherry-laurel water, though long used on the Continent, has never been much prescribed in Great Britain, and had no place in any British Pharmacopoeia till 1839. Description — The leaves are alternate, simple, of leathery texture and shining upper surface, 5 to G inches long by 1 J to 2 inches wide, oblong or slightly obovate, atteimated towards either end. The thick leafstalk, scarcely half an inch in length, is prolonged as a stout midrib to the recurved apex. The margin, which is also recurved, is provided with sharp but very short serratures, which become more distant towards the base. The under side, which is of a paler colour and dull surface, is marked by 8 or 10 lateral veins, anastomosing towards the edge. Below the lower of these and close to the midrib, are from two to four shallow 1 Rario-rum Plantarum Uistoria, 1001. 4. '^ Hist. Plant, ii. (1693) 1549. 2 Hcrhall (16SG), 1603. •* Phil. Trans, xxxvii. (for 1731-32) 84. FOLIA LAURO-CLRASL 227 depressions or glands, which iu spring exude a saccharine matter, and soon assume a brownish colour. The fresh leaves are inodorous until they are bruised or torn, when they instantly emit the smell of bitter almond oil and hydrocyanic acid. When chewed they taste rough, aromatic and bitter. Microscopic Structure — The upper surface of the leaf is constituted of thin cuticle and the epidermis made up of large, nearly cubic cells. The middle layer of the interior tissue exhibits densely packed small cells, whereas the prevailing part of the whole tissue is formed of larger, loose cells. Most of them are loaded with chlorophyll ; some enclose crystals of oxalate of calcium. Chemical Composition — The leaves when cut to pieces and sub- mitted to distillation with water, yield Bitter Almond Oil and HydA-u- cyanic Acid, produced it is supposed by the decomposition of Amygdalin (p. 220), which however has not been obtained from them. Moreover, the body which induces the decomposition is not known. The proportion of hydrocyanic acid in the water has been the sub- ject of many researches. Among the later are those of Broeker (1867), who distilled a given weight of the leaves grown in Holland under precisely similar circumstances, in each month of the year. The results proved that the product obtained during the winter and early spring, was weaker in the acid in the proportion of 17 to 24, 28, or 30, the strongest water being that distilled in July and August. This chemist found that a stronger product was got when the leaves were chopped fine, than when they were used whole. According to Christison,^ the buds and very young leaves yield ten times as much essential oil as the leaves one year old. The fresh unwounded leaves of the cherry-laurel in vigorous vegeta- tion, have been recently found by Schaer, whose experiments were made at the request of one of us (F.), not to evolve naturally a trace of hydro- cyanic acid, though they yield it on the slightest puncture. We are completely ignorant of the mode of distribution iu the living tissue of the amygdalin and of the substance causing its decomposition, and how these two bodies are packed so as to prevent the slightest mutual reaction. The leaves may be even dried and powdered without the evolution of any odour of hydrocyanic acid, but the latter is at once developed by the addition of a little water. Besides the substance concerned in the production of the essential oil, the leaves contain sugar which reduces cupric oxide in the cold, a small quantity of an iron-greening tannin, and a fatty or waxy substance. Schoonbroodt (1868) treated the aqueous extract of the fresh leaves with alcoholic ether, which yielded |- per mille of bitter, acicular crystals ; these quickly reduced cupric oxide, losing their bitterness. Uses — The leaves are only employed for making cherry -laurel water [Aqua Lauro-cerasi), the use of which in England is generally superseded by that of the more definite hydrocyanic acid. 1 Dispensatory, 1842. 592. 228 ROSACEJE. FLORES KOSO. Flores JBrayerce, Gusso, Kousso, Kosso. Botanical Origin — Hagenia Ahyssinica Lamarck {Brayera anfhel- mintliica Kuntli), a handsome tree growing to a height of 60 feet, found throughout the entire table-land of Abyssinia at an elevation of 3,000 tO' 8,000 feet above the sea-level. It is remarkable for its abundant foliage and fine panicles of flowers, and is generally planted about the Abyssi- nian villages. History — The celebrated Bruce ^ during his journey to discover the source of the Nile, 1768-1773, found the koso tree in Abyssinia, ob- served the uses made of it by the natives, and published a figure of it in the narrative of his travels. It was also described in 1811 by Lamarck,^ who called it Hagenia in honour of Dr. K. G-. Hagen of Konigsberg. The anthelmintic virtues of koso were investigated by Brayer, a French physician of Constantinople, to which place parcels of the drug are occasionally brought by way of Egypt, and he published a small pamphlet on the subject.^ Several scattered notices of koso appeared in 1839-40-41, but no supply of it reached Europe until about 1850,. when a Frenchman who had been in Abyssinia, obtained a large stock (1,400 lb., it was said), a portion of which he endeavoured to sell in London at 35s. 'per ounce ! The absurd value set upon the drug produced the usual result: large quantities were imported, and the price gradually fell to 3s. or 4s. per lb. Koso was admitted a place in the British Pharmacopceia of 1864. Description — The flowers grow in broad panicles, 10 to 12 inches in length. They are unisexual, but though male and female occur on the same tree, the latter are chiefly collected. The panicles are either loosely dried, often including a portion of stalk and sometimes a leaf^ or they are made into cylindrical rolls, kept in form by transverse ligatures. Very often the panicles arrive quite broken up, and with the flowers in a very fragmentary state. They have a herby, somewhat tea-like smell, and a bitterish acrid taste. The panicle consists of a zigzag stalk, which Avitli its many branches is clothed with shaggy simple hairs, and also dotted over with minute stalked glands ; it is provided at each ramification with a large sheathing bract. At the base of each flower are two or three rounded veiny mem- branous bracts, between which is the turbinate hairy calyx, having ten sepals arranged in a double series. In the male, the outer series consists of miTch smaller sepals than the inner ; in the female, the outer in the ultimate developement become enlarged, obovate and spreading, so that the whole flower measures fully \ an inch across. In both, the sepals are veiny and leaflike. The petals are minute and linear, inserted with the stamens in the throat of tlie calyx. These latter are 10 to 25 in number, witli anthers in the female flower, effete. The carpels are two, ^ Travels, v. (1790) 73. the excellent notice by Pereira written -wlien ^ Encyclojmlie M6Lhodique, Bot., siippl. the drug was first oflbred for sale in London. tome 2 (1811) 422. Pharm. Journ. x. (1851) 15; reprinted in ^ Notice sur une nouvclh iiluntt dc la Pcreira's EUin, of Hat. Med. ii. part 2 famille dcs Rosaries, employer con/re Ir Tainia, (1853) 1815. Paris, 1822. The reader should also consult FLORES KOSO. 2 '2 9 included in the calycinal tube ; and eacli surmounted by a hairy style. The fruit is an obovate one-seeded nut. Koso as seen in commerce has a light brown hue, with a reddish tinge in the case of the female flowers, so that panicles of the latter are sometimes distinguished as Red Koso. Chemical Composition — Wittstein (1840) found in koso, together with the substances common to most vegetables (wax, sugar and gum), 24 per cent, of tannin, and 6'25 of an acrid bitter resin, which was observed by Harms (1857) to possess acid properties. The researches of Pavesi (1858), and still more those of Bedall of Munich,^ have made us acquainted with the active principle of the drug, which has been named Koussin or Kosin. It may be obtained by mixing the flowers with lime, exhausting them with alcohol and then with water ; the solutions mixed, concentrated, and treated with acetic acid, deposit the kosin. We are indebted to Dr. Bedall for a specimen of it, which we find to consist chiefly of an amorphous, resinoid substance, from which we got a few yellow crystals by means of glacial acetic acid. Mr. Merck has lately favoured us with kosin prepared in his laboratory at Darmstadt. It is a tasteless substance of a yellow colour, forming- fine crystals of the rhombic system, — readily soluble in benzol, bisulphide of carbon, chloroform or ether, less freely in glacial acetic acid, and in- soluble in water. Of alcohol, sp. gr. 0'818, 1000 parts dissolve at 12° C, only 2 '3 parts of this kosin. It is abundantly soluble in alkalies, caustic or carbonated, yet has nevertheless no acid reaction, and may be preci- pitated from these solutions by an acid, without having undergone any alteration. It is then however a white amorphous mass, which yields the original yellow crystals by re-solution in boiling alcohol, in which it dissolves readily. Kosin fuses at 142° C, and remains after cooling an amorphous, transparent, yellow mass ; but if touched with the smallest drop of alcohol, it immediately assumes the form of stellate tufts of crystals. This striking phenomenon may be repeated at pleasure, kosin not being altered by cautious fusion. Kosin is not decomposed by boiling dilute acids. It dissolves in strong sulphuric acid, giving a yellow solution which becomes turbid by the addition of water, white amorphous kosin being thrown down. At the same time a well-marked odour exactly like that of Locust Beans, due Xjrobably to valerianic acid and amylic alcohol, is evolved ; the same odour is emitted by kosin under many other circumstances. If the sulphuric solution is allowed to stand for a week, it gradually assumes a fine red ; and then yields on addition of much water, an amorphous red mass which after drying is not soluble in bisulphide of carbon, and may thus be purified. We have not yet succeeded in obtaining this red deri- vative of kosin in a crystalline state. The analysis which we have per- formed of kosin, assigns it the formula C^^Hsso^''. From experiments now (1874) being made at Giessen, it would appear that pure kosin is devoid of action on the animal economy ; yet, in the opinion of Prof. Buchheim, it acquires medicinal activity when combined with some other principles existing in the drug. Distillation with water separates from the flowers a stearoptene-like ^ "Wittstein's Vierteljahresschr. fiir praJcf. Pharm. viii. (1859) 481 ; xi. (1862) 207. 230 ROSACEA. oil having the odour of koso, and traces of valerianic and acetic acid. ISTo such body as the Hagenic Acid of Viale and Latini (1852), could be detected by Bedall. Commerce — Koso is brought to England by way of Aden or Bombay ; some appears also to reach Leghorn, probably carried thither direct from Egypt. . Uses — The drug is employed solely as a vermifuge, and is effectual for the expulsion both of Tcenia solium and of Botliriocephcdus latus. The Abyssinian practice is to administer the flowers in substance in a very ample dose, which is sometimes attended with alarming and even fatal results. The notion that the action of the drug is partially mechanical and due to the hairs of the plant, prevails in England, and has led to the use of an unstrained infusion of the coarsely powdered flowers. This remedy from the quantity of branny powder (2 to 4 drachms) that has to be swallowed, is far from agreeable ; and as it occasions strong purgation and sometimes vomiting, it is not often prescribed.^ PETALA ROS^ GALLICS. Flores Rosce ruhroi ; Bed Rose Petals, Rose Leaves, True Provins Roses ; E. Petales de Roses rouges, Roses de Provins ; G. Essigrosenhldtter. Botanical Origin — Rosa Gallica L., a low-growing bush, with a creeping rhizome throwing up numerous stems. The wild form with single flowers, occurs here and there in the warmer parts of Europe,^ including Central and Southern Eussia, and G-reece ; also in Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Caucasus, But the plant passes into so many varieties, and has from a remote period been so widely cultivated, that its distribution cannot be ascertained with any exactness. As a garden plant it exists under a multitude of forms. History — The use in medicine of the rose dates from a very remote period. Theophrastus ^ who flourished in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., speaks of roses being of many kinds, including some with double flowers which were the most fragrant ; and he also alludes to their use in the healing art. Succeeding writers of every age down to a recent period, have discussed the virtues of the rose,^ which however is scarcely now admitted to possess any special medicinal property. One of the varieties of R. Gallica is the Provins Rose, so called from having been long cultivated at Provins,^ a small town about 60 miles south-east of Paris, where it is said to have been introduced from the East by Thibaud VI. Count of Champagne, who died on his return from 1 Johnston in his Travels in Southern of D'Orbessan contained in his Melanges Ahyssinia (1844), speaking of koso, says its Mstoriqnes, ii. (1768) 297-337. effects are "dreadfully severe." — Even in ^ lioch. {I)cndrolorjie,i. 1869. 250) asserts Abyssinia, he adds, it is barely tolerated, that tlie rose originally cultivated at Provins and if any other remedy eqi;ally efficieiit for was a Damask liose, but that in the second dislodging tapeworm were to be introduced, lialf of the 18th century its place was taken koso would be soon abandoned. by a variety of It. Gallica. This seems very '■^ It has lately been found in a quasi'V/ild. improbable : Pomet (1692) speaks of the state at Charlwood in Surrey. — Sccmanns roses of Provins being "hautes en couleur, Journ. of Hot. ix. (1871) 273. c'est h dire d'un rouge noir, veloute .... 3 Hist. Plant, lib. vi. c. 6. tres nstringentes," — characters specially be- * Consult in particular the learned essay longing to R. Gallica. FETALA ROSyE GALLICS. 231 the Crusades, a.d. 1254. Be tliis as it may, Provins became mucli celebrated not only for its dried rose-petals, but also for the conserve, syrup and honey of roses made from them, — compositions which were regarded in the light of valuable medicines.^ It is recorded that when in a.d. 1310, Philippe de Marigny, arch- bishop of Sens, made a solemn entry into Provins, he was presented by the notables of the town with wine, spices, and Conserve of Roses ; and presents of dried roses and of the conserve were not considered beneath the notice of Catherine de Medicis, and of Henry lY.^ We find that Charles Estienne, in 1536, mentions both the Rosm purpureas odoratissimce, which he says ar^ called Provinciales, and those known to the druggists as incarnatm, — the latter we presume a ^jale rose.^ Rosce ruhecc are named as an ingredient of various compound medicines by Valerius Cordus.^ Production — The flowers are gathered while in bud and just before expansion, and the petals are cut off near the base, leaving the paler claws attached to the calyx. They are then carefully and rapidly dried by the heat of a stove, and having been gently sifted to remove loose stamens, are ready for sale. In some districts the petals are dried entire, but the drug thus produced is not so nice. In England, the Eed Eose is cultivated at Mitcham, though now only to the extent of about 10 acres. It is also grown for druggists' use in Oxfordshire and Derbyshire. At Mitcham, it is now called Da7VMsk Rose, which is by no means a correct name. The English dried roses command a high price. There is a much more extensive cultivation of this rose on the continent at Wassenaar and Noordwijk in Holland ; in the vicinity of Hamburg and Nuremberg in Germany, and in the villages round Paris and Lyons. Eoses are still, we believe, grown for medicinal nse at Provins, but are no longer held in great esteem. There appears to be a considerable production of dried roses in Persia, judging from the fact that in the year 1871-72, 1163 cwt. were exported from the Persian Gulf to Bombay.^ Description — The petals adhere together loosely in the form of little cones, or are more or less crumpled and separate. When well preserved, they are crisp and dry, witli a velvety surface of an intense purplish crimson, a delicious rosy odour, and a mildly astringent taste. The white basal portion of the petals should be nearly absent. For making the confection, the petals are required in a fresh state. Chemical Composition — Eed rose petals impart to ether, without losing their colour, a soft yellow substance, which is a mixture of a solid fat and Quercitrin. Eilhol has shown (1864) that it is the latter body, and not tannic acid, of which the petals contain but a trace, that pro- duces the dark greenish precipitate with ferric salts. The same chemist found in the petals 20 per cent. (?) of glucose which, together with 1 Pomet, Hist, des Drogues, 1694, part i. ^ Steplianus (Carolus), De re horiensi 174-177. libellus, Paris, 1536, 29. (in Brit. Mus.) * Assier, Ligendes, curiosites et traditions * Dispensatorium, 1548. 39. 52. de la Champagne et de la Brie, Paris, 1860. ^ Statement of the Trade and Navigation 191 of the Presidency vf Bombay for 1871-72, pt. ii. 43. 232 ROSACEA colouring matter and gallic acid, is extracted by alcohol after exhaustion by ether. According to Eochleder (1867), the gallic acid in red roses is accompanied by quercitannic acid. The colouring matter which is so striking a constituent of the petals, has not yet been isolated and studied in a satisfactory manner.^ An infusion of the petals is pale red, but becomes immediately of a deep and brilliant crimson if we add to it an acid, such as sulphuric, hydro- chloric, acetic, oxalic, or tartaric. An alkali changes the pale red, or the deep crimson in the case of the acidulated infusion, to bright green. Uses — An infusion of red rose petals, acidulated with sulphuric acid and slightly sweetened, is a very common and agreeable vehicle for some other medicines. The confection made by beating up the petals with sugar, is also in use. PETALA ROS^ CENTIFOLI^. Flores rosm jpallidm [^-y. incarnatoe ; Provence Rose, GaUbage Rose ; F. Petales de Roses pales ; G. Centifolienrosen. Botanical Origin — Rosa centifolia L. — This rose grows in a wild state and with single flowers in the eastern part of the Caucasus.^ Cul- tivated and with flowers more or less double, it is found under an infinity of varieties in all the temperate regions of the globe. The particular variety which is grown in England for medicinal use, is known in English gardens as the Cabbage Rose, but other varieties are cultivated for similar purposes on the Continent.. R. centifolia L. is very closely allied to R. Gallica L. ; though Boissier maintains the two species, there are other botanists who regard them as but one. The rose cultivated at Puteaux near Paris for druggists' use, and hence called Rose de Puteaux, is the Rosce tifcra of Eedout6, placed by De Candolle though doubtfully under R. Damascena. History — We are unable to trace the history of the particular variety of rose under notice. That it is not of recent origin, seems evident from its occurrence chiefly in old gardens. The Rosa 'pallida of the older English writers on drugs ^ was called Damash Rose, but that name is now applied at Mitcham to Rosa Gallica L., which has very deep-coloured flowers. Production — The Cabbage Eose is cultivated in England to a very small extent, rose water which is made from its flowers, being procurable of better quality and at a lower cost in other countries, especially in the south of France. At Mitcham, whence the London druggists have long been supplied, there are now (1873) only about 8 acres planted Avith this rose, but a supply is also derived from the market gardens of Putney, Hammersmith and Fulham. Description — The Cabbage liose is supplied to the druggists in the fresh state, full blown, and picked off close below the calyx. A complete description is scarcely required : we need only say that it is a large and very double rose, of a beautiful pink colour and of delicious odour. The calyx is covered with short setie tipped with a fragrant, brown, viscid ' See however a paper by Filhol iu Journ. - Boissier, Flota Orientalis, ii. (1872) 67(5. de, Pharm. xxxviii. (1860) 21 ; also Gmcliu, ^ As Dale, Fharmacolorjia, 1693. 416. Clumislry, xvi. (1864) 522. OLEUM ROS^. 233 secretion. The petals are tliin and delicate (not thick and leathery as in the Tea Eoses), and turn brown on drying. In making rose water, it is the custom in some laboratories to strip the petals from the calyx and to reject the latter ; in others, the roses are distilled entire, and so far as we have observed, with equally good result. Chemical Composition— In a chemical point of view, the petals of B. centifolict agree with those of B. Gallica, even as to the colouring matter. Enz in 1867 obtained from the former, malic and tartaric acid, tannin, fat, resin, and sugar. In the distillation of large quantities of the flowers, a little essential oil is obtained. It is a butyraceous substance, of weak rose-like, but not very agreeable odour. It contains a large proportion of inodorous stearoptene. For further particulars see remarks under the head lifter of Bose, p. 235. Uses — Cabbage roses are now scarcely employed in pharmacy for any other purpose than making rose water. A syrup used to be prepared from them, which was esteemed a mild laxative. OLEUM ROS.ffi. Attar or Otto'^ of Bose, Rose Oil ; F. Ussence de Boses ; G. Bosenol. Botanical Origin — Bosa Damascena Miller, var. — This is the rose cultivated in Turkey for the production of attar of rose; it is a tall shrub with semi-double, light-red (rarely white) flowers, of moderate size, produced several on a branch, though not in clusters. Living specimens sent by Baur ^ which flowered at Tubingen, were examined by H. von Mohl and named as above.^ B. Damascena is unknown in a wild state. Koch * asserts that it was brought in remote times to Southern Italy, whence it spread northward. History — Much as roses were prized by the ancients, no preparation such as rose water or attar of rose was obtained from them. The liquid that bore the name of Bose Oil (poSivov eXaiov), is stated by Dioscorides ^ to be a fatty oil in which roses have been steeped. In Europe a similar preparation was in use down to the last century. Oleum rosarum, rosatum or rosaceum, signifying an infusion of roses in olive oil.'' The first allusion to the distillation of roses we have met with, is in the writings of Joannes Actuarius,^ who was physician to the Greek emperors at Constantinople towards the close of the loth century. Eose water was distilled' at an early date in Persia ; and Nisibin, a town north-west of Mosul, was famous for it in the 14th century.^ Kampfer speaks^ with admiration of the roses he saw at Shiraz (1683-4), and says that the water distilled from them is exported to other parts of Persia, as well as to all India ; and he adds as a singular fact, that there separates from it, a certain fat like butter, called ^ttr * Attar or Otto is from the word itr sig- ^ Wiggers u. Husemann, Jaliresbericht riifying ferfwrne or odour ; the oil is called for 1867. 350. ill Turkish Itr-ydghi i.e. PerJu7ne-oil, and * Doidrologie, i. (1869) 250. also Ghyul-yaghi i.e. Rose-oil. ^ Lib. i. c. 53. ^ A living plant followed by excellent ^ As in fhe London Pharmacopoiia oil! 21. herbarium specimens has been kindly given ^ " . . . . stillatitii rosarum liquoris libra to me by Dr. Baur of Blaubeuren, the father una." — Dc Mctliodo Medendi, lib. v. c. 4. of Prof. Dr. Baur of Constantinople, but it ^ Voya.qe d'Ibn Batoutah, trad, par Defre- has not yet flowered (29 July 1873).— D. H. mery, ii. (1854) 140. 9 Amcenitatcs, 1712. 373. 234 ROSACEA. gyl of the most exquisite odour, and more valuable even than gold. The commerce to India, though much declining, still exists ; and in the year 1872-73, 20,100 gallons of rose water, valued at 35,178 rupees (£3,517), were imported into Bombay from the Persian Gulf.^ Eose water was much used in Europe during the middle ages, both in cookery and at table. In some parts of France, vassals were compelled to furnish to their lords so many bushels of roses, which were consumed in the distillation of rose water.^ The fact that a butyraceous oil of delicious fragrance is separable from rose water, was noticed by Geronimo Eossi^ of Eavenna in 1582 and by Giovanni Battista Porta '^ of Naples in 1589: the latter in his work on distillation says — " Omnium difficillimse extractionis est rosa- rum oleum atque in minima quantitate sed suavissimi odoris." ^ The oil was also known to the apothecaries of Germany of the 17th century, and is quoted in official drug-tariffs as early as 1614.^ In Pomet's time (1694) it was sold in Paris, though, on account of its high price, only in very small quantity. The mention of it by Homberg'^ in 1700, and in a memoir by Aublet ^ (1775) respecting the distillation of roses in the Isle of France, shows that the French perfumers of the last century were not unacquainted with true rose oil, but that it was a rare and very costly article. The history of the discovery of the essence in India, is the subject of an interesting and learned pamphlet by Langles,^ published in 1804. He tells on the authority of oriental writers, how on the occasion of the marriage of the Mogul emperor Jehan Ghir with Nur-jehan, A.D. 1612, a canal in the garden of the palace was filled with rose water, and that the princess observing a certain scum on the surface, caused it to be col- lected and found it of admirable fragrance, on which account it received the name of Atar-jehmigliiri, i.e. perfume of Jehan Gliir. In later times, Poller ^^ has shown that rose oil is prepared in India by simple distil- lation of the flowers with water. But this Indian oil has never been imported into Europe as an article of trade. As already stated, the supplies at present come from European Turkey ; but at what period the cultivation of the rose and manufacture of its oil were there introduced, is a question on which we are quite in the dark. There is no mention of attar in the account given by Savary ^^ in. 1750 of the trade of Constantinople and Smyrna. In English commerce, attar of rose was scarcely known until the commencement of the present century. It was first included in the British Tariff in 1809, when the duty levied on it was lO.s. per ounce. In 1813, the duty was raised to lis. lQ\d. ; in 1819 it was 6s., and in 1828, 2s. per ounce. In 1832 it was lowered to Is. M. per fb., in 1842 to Is., and in 18C0 it was altogether removed.^^ ^ Statement of the Trade and Narirfaiion '' Observations sur Ics Imiles dcs plavfcs — of the Prcsidenaj of Boinhuy for 1872-73, Mhn. de VAcad. Roy. dcs Scinicrs,n00.206. part ii. 52. ** Hist, dcs Plantes de la Guiane frangoise, - Le Grand d'Aussy, Hist, dc la vie 23'>'iv6c ii., Memoires, p. ]25. des Francois, ii. (1815) 250. " liechcrclics sur la d^couvcrle dc VEssencc •* Hieronynii lUibei llav. De Dcstillationc, dr Rose, Paris, 1804. Ravemijc, 1582. 102. ■"' ylsiatick Researches, i. (1788) 332. •* Mayiai Naturalis libri xx., Neap. 1580. " Diet, de Commerce, iv. 548. 188. ^" Information' obliginj^ly comninnicated 5 J)e Distillatione, Rom. (1608) 75. by Mr. Seldon of the Statistical Ofiice of the •^ As that printed at Giessen, referred to Custom House, at p. 77, note 5. OLEUM HOSjS. 235 On searcliing a file of the London Price Current, tlie first mention of " Otto of Rose" is in 1813, from which year it is regularly quoted. The price (in bond) from 1813 to 1815, varied from £3 to £5 5s. per ounce. The earliest notice of an importation is under date 1-8 July, 1813, when duty was paid on 232 ounces, shipped from Smyrna. Production — The chief locality for attar of rose, and that by which European commerce is almost exclusively supplied, is a small tract of country on the southern side of the Balkan mountains in the Turkish province of Kumelia. The principal seat of the trade is the town of Kizanlik, in the fine valley of the Tunja. The other important districts are those of Philippopoli, Eski Zaghra, Yeni Zaghra and Tchirpan, which with Kizanlik were estimated in 1859 to include 140 villages, having 2,500 stills. The rose is cultivated by Bulgarian and Turkish peasants in gardens and open fields, in which it is planted in rows as hedges, 3 to 4 feet high. The best localities are those occupying southern or south-eastern slopes. Plantations in high mountainous situations generally yield less, and the oil is of a quality that easily congeals. The flowers attain perfection in April and May, and are gathered before sunrise ; those not wanted for immediate use are spread out in cellars, but are always used for distilling the same day. The apparatus is a copper still of the simplest descrip- tion, connected with a straight tin tube, cooled by being passed through a tub fed by a stream of water. The charge for -a still is 25 to 50 Bb. of roses, from which the calyces are not removed. The first runnings are returned to the still; the second portion which is received in glass flasks, is kept at a temperature not lower than 15° C. (60° F.) for a day or two, by which time most of the oil, bright and fluid, will have risen to the surface. From this, it is skimmed off by means of a small tin funnel having a fine orifice, and provided with a long handle. There are usually several stills together. The produce is extremely variable. According to Baur,^ whose in- teresting account of attar of rose is that of an eye-witness, it may be said to average 0"04 per cent. Another authority estimates the average yield as 0'037 per cent. The harvest during the five years 1867-71 was reckoned to average somewhat below 400,000 meticals^ or 4,226 Jb. avoirdupois ; that of 1873 which was good, was estimated at 500,000 meticals, value about £70,000.3 Eoses are cultivated to a considerable extent about Grasse, Cannes and Mce in the south of France ; and besides much rose water, which is largely exported to England, a little oil is produced. The latter, which commands a high price, fuses less easily than the Turkish. There is a large cultivation of the rose for the purpose of making rose water and attar, at Ghazipur on the Ganges, Lahore, Amritsar and other places in India, but the produce is wholly consumed in the country. The species thus cultivated is stated by Brandis * to be R. Damascena. Medinet Fayum, soutli-west of Cairo, supplies the great demand of Egypt for rose vinegar and rose water. 1 Neues Jahrhuch f. Pharm. HKYU. (1867) ; ^ Consular Reports "presented to Parlia- Pharm. Journ. ix. (1868) 286. ment, Aug. 1873. 1090. * Consular Reports presented to Parlia- * Forest Flora of North-western and ment, May, 1872. — The metical, misTcal or Central IndAa, 1874. 200. midkal is equal to about 3 dwt. troy. 236 BOSACEM Tunis has also some celebrity for similar products, whicli however do not reach Europe. A recent traveller^ states that the rose grown there, and from which attar is obtained, is Rosa canina L., which is extremely fragrant; 30 lb. of the flowers afford about 1^ drachms, worth 15s. The butyraceous oil which may be collected in distilling roses in England for rose water is of no value as a perfume. Description — Oil of rose is a light-yellow liquid, of sp. gr. 0-87 to 0'89. By a reduction of temperature, it concretes owing to the separa- tion of light, brilliant, platy crystals of a stearoptene, the propor- tion of which differs with the country in which the roses have been grown, the state of the weather during which the flowers were gathered, and other circumstances less well ascertained. The oil produced in Turkey solidifies, according to Baur, at from 11 to 16° C. In some experiments made by one of us ^ in 1859, the fusing point of true Turkish attar was found to vary from 16 to 18° C; that of a sample from India was 20° C. ; of oil distilled in the south of France, 21 to 23° C. ; of an oil produced in Paris, 29° C. ; of oil obtained in distilling roses for rose water in London, 30 to 32° C. From these data, it appears that a cool northern climate is not conducive to the production of a highly odorous oil; and even in Turkey, experience shows that the oil of the mountain districts, holds a larger proportion of stearoptene than that of the lowlands. Turkish oil of rose is stated by Baur to deviate a ray of polarized light 4° to the right, when examined in a column of 100 mm. The oil from English roses which we examined, exhibited no rotation. Chemical Composition — Eose oil is a mixture of a liquid con- stituent containing oxygen, to which it owes its perfume, and the solid hydrocarbon or stearoptene already mentioned, which is entirely desti- tute of odour. The proportion which these bodies bear to each other cannot be exactly determined, but is certainly extremely variable. From the Turkish oil, it may be obtained to the extent of 18 per cent., and from French and English to 35, 42, 60 or even 68 per cent. Though the stearoptene can be entirely freed from the oxygenated oil, no method is known for the complete isolation of the latter. As obtained by Gladstone,^ it had a sp. gr. of 0'881 and a boiling point of 216° C. With regard to the stearoptene of rose oil, the analyses of Theodore de Saussure (1820) and Blanchet (1833), long since showed its com- position to accord with the formula C"H-". The experiments of one of us* confirm this striking fact, which assigns to the stearoptene in question a very exceptional place among the hydrocarbons of volatile oils, all of which are less rich in hydrogen. Eose stearoptene separates when attar of rose is mixed with spirit of wine. We have isolated it also from oil obtained from Mitcham roses, by dissolving the oil in chloroform and precipitating with spirit of wine, the process being several times repeated. The stearoptene was lastly 1 Von Maltzaii, Rdsaindcu Rcciculscliuftcn 504—509 ; AVitt.steiii'.s Vicrtdjahresschr. fiir Tunis unci Tripoiis, Leipzig, 1870. ^^-aX/!. I'hana. ix. (1860) 55. ■- HauLury, I'liarm, Juurn. xviii. (1859) ^ Juuni. of C'hcvi. Soc, x. (1872) 12. ^ Fliickiger, Pharm. Juurn. x. (1869) 147. OLEUM ROSM 237 maintained for some days at 100° C. ; thus obtained, it is inodorous, but when heated evolves an offensive smell like that of heated wax or fat. At 32'5° C, it melts ; at 150" C. vapours are evolved ; at 272° C. it begins to boil, soon after which it turns brown and then blackish. Stains of the stearoptene on paper, do not disappear by the heat of the water-bath under a lapse of some days. If cautiously melted by the warmth of the sun, the stearoptene forms on cooling microscopic crystals of very peculiar shape. Most of them have the form of truncated hexahedral pyramids, not however belonging to the rhombohedric system, as the angles are evidently not equal ; many of them are oddly curved, thus §. Examined under the polarizing microscope, these crystals from their refractive power make a brilliant object, Eose stearoptene is a very stable body, yet by boiling it for some days with fuming nitric acid, it is slowly dissolved, and converted into various acids of the homologous series of fatty acids, and into oxalic acid, — perhaps likewise partly into fumaric acid. Among the former, we detected butyric and valerianic. The chief product is however succinic acid, which we obtained in pure crystals, showing all the well- known reactions. The same products are^ obtained even much easier, by treating paraffin with nitric acid; it yields however less of succinic acid. The general behaviour and appearance of paraffin is in fact nearly the same as that of rose stearoptene. But what is called parajfin, is by no means always one and the same body, but rather a series of extremely similar hydrocarbons, the separation of which has not yet been thoroughly effected. They may as well answer to the formula C"Ii^"+^ as to that adopted hitherto, namely C"!!^" {n being usually supposed equal to 20). The same consideration applying to rose stearoptene, the above-mentioned anaytical results can be regarded as in accordance with either of these formulae. The fusion point of the different kinds of paraffin generally ranges from 42 to 60° C, yet one sort from the bituminous shale of Autun, prepared and examined by Laurent,^ melts at 33° C, and in this respect agrees with our stearoptene. It is therefore probable that the latter actually belongs to the paraffin series. Commerce — Formerly attar of rose came into commerce by way of Austria ; it is now shipped from Constantinople. Erom the interior, it is transported in flattened round tin bottles called hunkumas, holding from 1 to 10 S)., which are sewed up in white woollen cloth. These sometimes reach this country, but more commonly the attar is transferred at Constantinople to small white glass bottles, ornamented with gilding, imported from Germany. Uses — Attar of rose is of no medicinal importance, but serves occasionally as a scent for ointments. Eose water is sometimes made with it, but is not so good as that distilled from the flowers. Attar is much used in perfumery, but still more in the scenting of snuff. Adulteration — No drug is more subject than attar of rose to adulteration, which is principally effected by the addition of the volatile oil of an Indian grass, Androiwgon SchoenantJms L. This oil, which is 1 Ajin. cU Chim. et dc PIujs., liv, (1833) 394, 238 UOSACEM. called in Turkish Idris yaghi, and also Entershah, and is more or less known to Europeans as Geranium Oil, is imported into Turkey for this express purpose, and even submitted to a sort of purification before being used.^ It was formerly added to the attar only in Constantinople, but now the mixing takes place at the seat of the manufacture. It is said that in many places, the roses are absolutely sprinkled with it before being placed in the still. As grass oil does not solidify by cold, its admixture with rose oil renders the latter less disposed to crystallize. Hence arises a preference among the dealers in Turkey for attar of the mountain districts, which, having a good proportion of stearoptene, will bear the larger dilution with grass oil without its tendency to crystallize becoming suspiciously small. Thus, in the circular of a commercial house of Constantinople, dated from Kizanlik, occur the phrases — " Extra strong oil," — " Good strong congealing oil," — " Strong good freezing oil " ; — while the 3rd quality of attar is spoken of, as a "not congealing oil." The same circular states the belief of the writers, that in the season in which they wrote, " not a single metical of unadulterated oil " would be sent away. The chief criteria, according to Baur, for the purity of rose oil are : — 1. Tem'peraturc at which crystallization takes place : a good oil should congeal well in five minutes at a temperature of 12-5° C. (55° T.) 2. Manner of crystallizing. — The crystals should be light, feathery, shining plates, filling the whole liquid. Spermaceti, which has been sometimes used to replace the stearoptene, is liable to settle down in a solid cake, and is easily recognizable. Furthermore, it melts at 50^ C, and so do most varieties of paraffin. The microscopic crystals of the latter are somewhat similar to those of rose stearoptene, yet they may be distinguished by an attentive comparative examination. FRUCTUS ROS^ CANINiE. Cynoshata ; Fruit of the Bog -rose, Hi^js ; F. Fruits de Cynorrhodon ; Gr. Hagehutten. Botanical Origin — Rosa canina L., a bush often 10 to 12 feet liigh, found in hedges and thickets throughout Europe except Lapland and Finland, and reaching the Canary Islands, ISTorthern Africa, Persia and Siberia ; universally dispersed throughout the British Islands.^ History — The fruits of the wild rose, including other species besides R. canina L., have a scanty, orange, acid, edible pulp, on account of which they were collected in ancient times when garden fruits were few and scarce. Galen ^ mentions them as gathered by country people in his day, as they still are in Europe. Gerarde in tlie IGtli century remarks that the fruit when ripe — " maketh most pleasant meats and banqueting dishes, as tarts and such like." Though the pulp of hips preserved with sugar which is here alluded to, is no longer brought to 1 Forparticxilars, seeliaur (p. 235, notel). In the Amur country a much larger and 2 Baker, Journ. of Linn. Soc. Bot. xi. better fruit is aflbrtled by R. acicularis (1869) 226. Lindl. audit, cinnamo/ticah. — Maximowicz, 3 Dc Alhnentorum facuUatibus, ii. c. 14. Frimitm Florae Amwensis, 1859, 100. 453. SEMEN- CYBONIM 239 table, at least in this country,'^ it retains a place in pharmacy as a useful ingredient of pill-masses and electuaries. Description — The fruit of a rose consists of the bottle-shaped calyx, become dilated and succulent by growth, and sometimes crowned with 5 leafy segments, enclosing numerous dry carpels or achenes, containing each one exalbuminous seed. The fruit of R. canina called a hip, is ovoid, about f of an inch long, with a smooth, red, shining surface. It is of a dense, fleshy texture, becoming on maturity, especially after frost, soft and pulpy, the pulp within the shining skin being of an orange colour, and of an agreeable sweetish subacid taste. The large interior cavity contains numerous, hard achenes, which as well as the walls of the former, are covered with strong short hairs. For medicinal use, the only part required is the soft orange pulp, which is separated by rubbing it through a hair sieve. Microscopic Structure — The epidermis of the fruit is made up of tabular cells containing red granules, which are much more abundant in the pulp. The latter, as usual in many ripe fruits, consists of isolated cells no longer forming a coherent tissue. Besides these cells, there occur small fibro-vascular bundles. Some of the cells enclose tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium; most of them however are loaded with red granules, either globular or somewhat elongated. They assume a bluish hue on addition of perchloride of iron, and are turned blackish by iodine. The latter coloration reminds one of that assumed by starch granules under similar circumstances ; yet, on addition of a very dilute solution of iodine, the granules always exhibit a hlachish, not a blue tint, so that they are not to be considered as starch granules. The hairs of the pulp are formed of a single, thick-walled cell, straight or sometimes a little crooked. Chemical Composition — The pulp examined by Biltz (1824) was found to afford nearly 3 per cent, of citric acid, 7'7 of malic acid, besides citrates, malates and mineral salts, 25 per cent, of gum, and 30 of uncrystallizable sugar. Uses — Hips are employed solely on account of their pulp, which mixed with twice its weight of sugar, constitutes the Confectio Rosce canincG of pharmacy. SEMEN CYDONIiE, Quince Seeds, Quince Pips ; F. Semences ou Pepins de Goings ; G. Quittensameii. Botanical Origin — Pirus Cydonia L. {Cydonia vulgaris Pers.), the quince tree, is supposed to be a true native of Western Asia, from the Caucasian provinces of Eussia to the Hindu Kush range in JSTorthern India. But it is now apparently wild also, in many of the countries which surround the Mediterranean basin. In a cultivated state, it flourishes throughout temperate Europe, but is far more productive in southern than in northern regions. Quinces ripen in the south of England^ but not in Scotland, ^ In Switzerland and Alsace a very agi'eeable confiture of liips is still in use. 240 ROSACEA History — The quince was held in high esteem by the ancients, who considered it an emblem of happiness and fertility ; and as such, it was dedicated to Venus, whose temples it was used to decorate. Some antiquarians maintain that quinces were the Golden Ajpjples of the Hesperides. Porcius Cato in his graphic description of the management of a Eoman farmhouse, alludes to the storing of quinces both cultivated and wild ; and there is much other evidence to prove that from an early period the quince was abundantly grown throughout Italy. Charlemagne, A.D. 812, enjoined its cultivation in central Europe.^ At what period it was introduced into Britain is not evident, but we have observed that Baked Quinces are mentioned among the viands served at the famous installation feast of ISTevill, archbishop of York in 1466.^ The use of mucilage of quince seeds has come to us through the Arabians. Description — The quince is a handsome fruit of a golden yellow, in shape and size resembling a pear. It has a very agreeable and powerful smell, but an austere, astringent taste, so that it is not eatable in the raw state. In structure, it differs from an apple or a pear in having many seeds in each cell, instead of only two. The fruit is, like an apple, 5-celled, with each cell containing a double row of closely-packed seeds, 8 to 14 in number, cohering by a soft mucilaginous membrane with which each is surrounded. By drying, they become hard, but remain agglutinated as in the cell. The seeds have an ovoid or obconic form, rather flattened and 3-sided by mutual pressure. From the hilum at the lower pointed end, the raphe passes as a straight ridge to the opposite extremity, which is slightly beaked and marked with a scar indicating the chalaza. The edge opposite the raphe is more or less arched, according to the position of the individual seed in the cell. The testa encloses two thick, veined cotyledons, having a straight radicle directed towards the hilum. Quince seeds have a mahogany-brown colour, and when unbroken a simply mucilaginous taste. But the kernels have the odour and taste of bitter almonds, and evolve hydrocyanic acid when comminuted and mixed with water. Microscopic Structure — The epidermis of the seed consists of one row of cylindrical cells, the walls of which swell up in the presence of w^ater and are dissolved, so as to yield an abundance of mucilage. This process can easily be observed, if thin sections of the seed are examined under glycerin, which acts on them but slowly. Chemical Composition — The mucilage of the epidermis is present in such quantity, that the seed easily coagulates forty times its weight of water. By complete exhaustion, the seeds afford about 20 per cent, of dry mucilage, having the composition C^''H^''0^'', and therefore corre- sponding with that of linseed. The mucilage of quince seeds contains considerable quantities of calcium salts and albuminous matter, of which it is not easily deprived. When treated with nitric acid, it yields oxalic acid. After a short treatment with strong sulphuric acid it is coloured blue by iodine. ^ Vcxiz, Monumcnta Gcrmanuc historicu, ^ Lc]i\n<}, Dc rebus Briiannicis C'oUedanccc, Lf'giim, i. (1835) 187. vi. (1774) 5. STYRAX LIQ UIDA. 241 Quince mucilage has but little adhesive power, and is not thickened by borax. That portion of it which is really in a state of solution and which may be separated by filtration, is precipitable by metallic salts or by alcohol. The latter precipitate after it has been dried, is no longer dissolved by water either cold or warm. Quince mucilage is, on the whole, to be regarded as a soluble modification of cellulose. Commerce — Quince seeds reach England from Hamburg ; and are frequently quoted in Hamburg price-currents as Bussian ; they are also brought from the South of France and from the Cape of Good Hope. They are largely imported into India from the Persian Gulf, and by land from Afghanistan. Uses — A decoction of quince seeds is occasionally used as a de- mulcent external application in skin complaints. It is also sometimes added to eye-lotions. Quince seeds are in general use among the natives of India as a demulcent tonic and restorative. They have been found useful by Europeans in dysentery. HAMAMELIDEiE. STYRAX LIQUID A. Balsamum Styracis ; Liquid Storax ; F. Styrax liquicle ; G. Flilssiger Storax. Botanical Origin — Liquidamlar orientalis Miller (X, imherhe Alton), a handsome, umbrageous tree resembling a plane, growing to the height of 30 to 40 feet or more,^ and forming forests in the extreme south-western part of Asia Minor. In this region the tree occurs in the district of Sighala near Melasso, about Budrum (the ancient Halicar- nassus) and Moughla, also near Giova and Ulla in the Gulf of Giova, and lastly near Marmorizza and Isgengak opposite Ehodes. It also grows in the valley of the El-Asi (the ancient Orontes), as proved by a specimen in the Vienna herbarium, collected by Godel, Austrian Consul at Alexandretta. In this locality it was seen by Kotschy in 1835, but mistaken for a plane. The same traveller informed one of us that he believed it to occur at Narkislik, a village near Alexandretta. The tree is not known to grow in Cyprus, Candia, Ehodes, Kos, or indeed, in any of the Greek or Turkish islands of the Mediterranean.^ History — Two substances of different origin have been known from a remote period under the name of Styrax or Storax, namely the resin of Styrax officinale L. (p. 246), and that oi Liquidarabar orientalis Miller, the latter commonly distinguished as Liquid Storax. According to Krinos of Athens, who has carefully investigated the history of the drug,^ the earliest allusions to Liquid Storax occur in the 1 For a good figure of L. orientalis, see points with the American L. styraciflua L., Hooker's /co?iesPZa7iter«m (3rd series, 1867) and not with the Asiatic plant. Kotschy pL 1019. has told me that they have certainly been ^ The fine old trees existing at the convent 'planted, and that no other examples exist in of Antiphoniti on the north coast of Cyprus, the island. — D. H. and at that of Neophiti near Papho, speci- ^ Ilepl SrvpaKos, Slarpifirl d. to Ad. per lb. Lois, ii. (1843) 173. 5 Eumpliius, Herb. Amh. ii. 11. tab. 2.— 3 Fliickiger, Die Frankfurter Idste, Halle, See] also Hasskarl, Ncuer Sclililssel zu 1873. 11. 38. Ru77iph's Herb. Amb., Halle, 1866 ; Berg, "* We find in the fortnigbtly price cur- Linncea, 1854. 137 ; Valniont de Bomare, rent of a London drug-broker under date Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ill. (1775) 70. Nov. 27, 1873, the announcement of the sale ^ Collectanea Botanica, 1821, sub. tab. 19. of 1,050 bags of Mother Cloves at 2d. to Zd. 256 MYRTACBjE. Pepper, Cinnamon, Balsam, Melegueta, Amomum, bestowed on productions totally distinct from those originally so designated. Among the spices thus brought to the notice of Europe, were the little dry berries of certain trees of the myrtle tribe, which had some resemblance in shape and flavour to peppercorns, and hence were named Pimienta,^ corrupted to Pimenta or Pimento. It was doubtless a drug of this kind, if not our veritable allspice, that was given to Clusius in 1601 by Garret, a druggist of London, and described and figured by the former in his Liher Exoticorum} A few years later it began to be imported into England, being as Parkinson ^ says — " obtruded for Amomum " {Round Cardamom), so that "some more audacious than wise . , . put it in their compositions instead of the right." Sloane* states (1691) that it was commonly sold by druggists for Carpolalsamum. Eay (1693) dis- tinguished the spice as a production of Jamaica under the name of Sweet-scented Jamaica Pepper or All-spice, and states it to be abundantly imported into England, and in frequent use as a condiment, though not employed in medicine. The spice had a place in the London Pharma- copoeia as early as 1721. The consumption of pimento has been enormous. In the year 1804—5, the quantity shipped from the British West Indies was 2,257,000 lb., producing in import duty, a net revenue of £38,063.^ Production and Commerce — The spice found in commerce is furnished wholly by the island of Jamaica. A plantation, there called a Pimento ivcdk, is a piece of natural woodland stocked with the trees, which require but little attention. The flowers appear in June, July, and August, and are quickly succeeded by the berries, which are gathered when of full size but still unripe. This is performed by breaking off the small twigs bearing the bunches. These are then spread out, and exposed to the sun and air for some days, after which the stalks are removed, and the berries are fit for being packed. By an official document "^ it appears that in the year 1871, the amount of land in Jamaica cropped with pimento was 7,178 acres. In that year the island exported of the spice 6,857,838 ft)., value £28,574. Of this quan- tity Great Britain took 4,287,551 lb., and the United States 2,266,950 lb. Description — Allspice is a small, dry, globular berry, rather variable in size, measuring ^f to less than y%- of an inch in diameter. It is crowned by a short style, seated in a depression, and surrounded by 4 short thick sepals ; generally however the latter have been rubbed off, a scar-like raised ring marking their former position. The berry has a woody shell or pericarp, easily cut, of a dark ferruginous brown, and rugose by reason of mii)ute tubercles filled with essential oil. It is two- celled, each cell containing a single, reniform, exalbuminous seed having a large s^Dirally curved embryo. The seed is aromatic, but less so than the pericarp. Allspice has an agreeable, pungent, spicy flavour, much resembling that of cloves. ^ Pimicnta, the Spanish foi* 'i)C2)pcr is * Description of the Pimicnta or Jamaica, derived from jptr/5nc?i<%m, a general name in Pcp'pcr-trec. — Phil. Trans, xvii. Ko. 1!)2. niedi;eval Latin for spiccry. ^ Parliamentary Return, March 180.5, - Lilj. i. c. 17. quoted in Young's West- India Common-place 3 Thcatrum Botanicum (1640) 1567. £ool; 1807. 79. " Blue Book for Jamaica, printed 1872. CORTEX GRAN ATI FRUCTUS. 257 Microscopic Structure — The outer layer of the pericarp immedi- ately beneath the epidermis, contains numerous large cells filled with essential oil. The parenchyme further exhibits thick-walled cells loaded with resin, and smaller cells enclosing crystals of oxalate of calcium. The whole tissue is traversed by small hbro-vascular bundles. The seeds are also provided with a small number of oil-cells, and contain starch granules. Chemical Composition — The composition of pimento resembles in many points that of cloves. The berries yield to the extent of 3 to 4| per cent./ a volatile oil, sp. gr. 1-037 (Gladstone), having the character- istic taste and odour of the spice, and known in the shops as Oleum Pimentce. We have found it to deviate the ray of polarized light 2° to the left, when examined in a column of 50 mm. The rotatory power depends upon the presence of a hydrocarbon, the eugenic acid being optically inert. Oeser (1864), whose experiments have been confirmed by Gladstone (1872), has shown that oil of pimento has substantially the same composition as oil of cloves. When it is heated in a retort, the first portion that distills over is a hydrocarbon lighter than water, the second is eugenic acid, wholly soluble in alkalis and giving crystalline salts (p. 253). Salicylic acid has not been found. Pimento is rich in tannin, striking with a persalt of iron an inky black. Its decoction is coloured deep blue by iodine, showing the presence of starch. Dragendorff (1871) pointed out the existence in allspice of an extremely small quantity of an alkaloid. Uses — Employed as an aromatic Ikie cloves ; a distilled water {Aqua Pimentce) is frequently prescribed. The chief use of pimento is as a culinary spice. Substitutes — According to Berg ^ the Mexican spice called Pimienta de Tabasco (J Piment Tobago, Guibourt) which is somewhat larger and less aromatic than Jamaica allspice, is derived from a variety of Pimenta officinalis. Analogous products are afforded by Pimenta acris Wight and P. Pimento Griseb. GRANATE^. CORTEX GRANATI FRUCTUS. Cortex Granati ; Pomegranate Peel ; F. Ecorce de Grenades; G. Granatschalen. Botanical Origin — Punica Granatum L., a shrub or low tree, with- small deciduous foliage and handsome scarlet flowers. It appears to b& indigenous to North- western India, and the countries south and south- ^ From information kindly given ns by Mr. Whipple distilled in the lahoratory of Messrs. Herrings and Co., London, it ap- Messrs. Barron and Co., 896 lb., getting the pears that 3756 R). of pimento distilled in exceptionally large yield of 4'6 percent, the course of several years, yielded 1201b. ^ PhaTmazetitischeWaarenkunde\%%^.2,'a. 2 oz. of oil, equivalent to 3*19 per cent. — • S 258 GRANITES. west of the Caspian to the Persian Gulf and Palestine. But it has long been cultivated, and is now found throughout the warm parts of Europe and in the subtropical regions of both hemispheres. History — The pomegranate has been highly prized by mankind from the remotest antiquity, as is shown by the references to it in the Mosaic writings ;^ and by the numerous representations of the fruit in the sculptures of Persepolis and Assyria,^ and on the ancient monuments of Egypt.^ It was probably introduced into the south of Italy by Greek colonists, and is named as a common fruit-tree by Porcius Cato ^ in the 3rd century B.C. The peel of the fruit was recognized as medicinal by the ancients, and among the Eomans was in common use for tanning leather. Description — The fruit of the pomegranate tree is a spherical, somewhat flattened and obscurely six-sided berry, of the size of a common orange and often much larger, crowned by the thick, tubular, 5- to 9-toothed calyx. It has a smooth, hard, coriaceous skin, which when the fruit is ripe, is of a brownish yellow tint, often finely shaded with red. Membranous dissepiments about 6 in number meeting in the axis of the fruit, divide the upper and larger portion into equal cells. Below these, a confused conical diaphragm separates the lower and smaller half, which in its turn is divided into 4 or 5 irregular cells. Each cell is filled with a large number of grains, crowded on thick spongy placentae, which in the upper cells are parietal but in the lower appear to be central. The grains, which are about \ an inch in length, are oblong or obconical and many- sided, and consist of a thin transparent vesicle containing an acid, saccharine, red, juicy pulp, surrounding an elongated angular seed. The only part of the fruit used medicinally is the peel, Cortex Granati of the druggists, which in the fresh state is leathery. When dry, as imported, it is in irregular, more or less concave fragments, some of which have the toothed, tubular calyx still enclosing the stamens and style. It is -^ to yV o^ ^^ ii^ch thick, easily breaking with a short corky fracture ; externally it is rather rough, of a yellowish brown or reddish colour. Internally it is more or less brown or yellow, and honey-combed with depressions left by the seeds. It has hardly any odour, but has a strongly astringent taste. Microscopic Structure — The middle layer of the peel consists of large thin- walled and elongated, sometimes even branched cells, among which occur thick- walled cells and fibro- vascular bundles. Both the outer and the inner surface are made up of smaller, nearly cubic and densely packed cells. Small starch granules occur sparingly throughout the tissue, as well as crystals of oxalate of calcium. Chemical Composition — The chief constituent is tannin, which in an aqueous infusion of the dried peel, produces with perchloride of iron an abundant dark blue precipitate. The peel also contains sugar and a little gum. Dried at 100° C. and incinerated, it yielded us 5'9 per cent, of ash. 1 Exodus xxviii. 33, 34, Numbers xx. 5, ' Wilkinson, Aiident Ecjyptia')is,i\. (1837) Beut. viii. 8. 142. ' Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, ed. 2, "* Nisard's edition, Paris, 1864, capp. 7. ii. (1849) 296. 127. 133. CORTEX ORANATI RADICIS. 259 Uses — Pomegranate peel is an excellent astringent, now almost olosolete in British medicine. Waring ^ asserts that when combined with opium and an aromatic, as cloves, it is a most useful remedy in the chronic dysentery of the natives of India, as well as in diarrhoea. CORTEX GRANATI RADICIS. Pomegranate-root Barh ; F. Ecorce cle racine de Grenadier ; G. Granatwurzelrinde. Botanical Origin — Ficnica Granatiim L., see p. 257. History — In addition to the particulars regarding the pomegranate tree given in the preceding article, the following which concern the drug under notice may be stated. A decoction of the root of the pomegranate was recommended by Celsus,^ Dioscorides,^ and Pliny ^ for the expulsion of tape-worm; but the remedy had fallen into complete oblivion, until its use among the Hindus attracted the notice of Buchanan ^ at Calcutta about the year 1805. This physician pointed out the ef&cacy of the root-bark, which was further shown by Fleming and others. Pomegranate root is known to have been long used for a similar purpose by the Chinese.^ Though the medicine is admitted to be efficient, and is employed with advantage in India where it is easily procured both genuine and fresh, it is hardly ever administered in England, the extract of male- fern being generally preferred ; but it has a place in several continental pharmacopoeias. Description — The bark occurs in rather thin quills or fragments, 3 to 4 inches long. Their outer surface is yellowish grey, sometimes marked with fine longitudinal striations or reticulated wrinkles, but more often furrowed by bands of cork, running together in the thickest pieces into broad flat conchoidal scales. The inner surface which is smooth or marked with fine striae and is of a greyish yellow, has often strips of the tough whitish wood attached to it. The bark breaks short and granular ; it has a purely astringent taste, but scarcely any odour. Microscopic Structure — On a transverse section, the liber is seen to be the prevailing part of the cortical tissue. The former consists of alternating layers of two kinds of cells — one of them loaded with tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium, the other filled with starch granules and tannic matter. The bark is traversed by narrow medullary rays, and very large sclerenchymatous cells are scattered through the liber. Touched with a dilute solution of a persalt of iron, the bark assumes a dark blackish blue tint. Chemical Composition — The bark contains according to Wacken- roder (1824), more than 22 per cent, of tannic acid, which Eembold (1867) has ascertained to consist for the most part of a peculiar variety called Funico-tannic Acid, C^'^H^^O^^; when boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, it is resolved into Ellagic Acid, C^^H^O^, and sugar. Punico-tannic ^ Pharm. of India, ]868. 93. 447. ® Eclinb. Med. and Surg. Journ., iii. 2 De Medicina, lib. iv. c. 17. (1807) 22. ^ Lib. i. c. 153. ^ Debeaux, Pkarvlade et Mat. Mid. des * lib. xxiii. c. 60. Chinois, 1865. 70. I S 2 2G0 CUGURBITACEAL acid is accompanied by common tannic acid, yielding by means of sulphuric acid, gallic acid, which appears sometimes to pre-exist in the bark. If a decoction of pomegranate bark is precipitated by acetate of lead, and the lead is separated from the filtered liquid, the latter on evaporation yields a considerable amount of mannite. This is probably the Punicin or Granatin of former observers. Among the substances hitherto detected in pomegranate bark, it will be seen that there is none which explains its tsenicide power. Uses — A decoction followed by a purgative, is stated by Waring^ and others to be most efficient for the expulsion of tape-worm. The fresh bark is said to be preferable to the dried. Adulterations — The commercial drug frequently consists partly or entirely of the bark of the stem or branches, characterised by its less abundant cork-formation, which exhibits longitudinal bands or ridges of light brownish cork, but not conchoidal exfoliations. The middle cortical layer is somewhat more developed, and contains in the outer cells deposits of chlorophyll. The cambial zone is not distinctly observable. Such bark is reputed to be less active than that of the root, but we are not aware that the fact has ever been proved. The bark of Buxus sempervire7is and of Berheris vulgaris are somewhat similar to the drug under notice, but their decoctions are not affected by salts of iron. CUCURBITACE^. FRUCTUS ECBALLII. Frudns FAaterii ; Elaterium Fruit, Squirting Cucumher, Wild Cucuiriber ; F. Concomhre purgatif ou Sauvage ; G. S;pringgurke. Botanical Origin — Ecballiuni ^ Elaterium A. Eichard (Moriiordica Elaterium L.), a coarse, hispid, fleshy, decumbent plant without tendrils, having a thick white perennial root. It is common throughout the Mediterranean region, extending eastward as far as Southern Eussia and Persia, and westward to Portugal. It succeeds well in Central Europe, and is cultivated to a small extent for medicinal use at Mitcham and Hitchin in England. History— Theophrastus mentions the plant under notice by the name of StVuo? d'ypco<;. It is also particularly noticed by Dioscorides, who explicitly describes the .singular process for making elaterium {eXarifpiov), which was almost exactly like that followed at the present day. The Wild or Squirting Cucumber was well known and cultivated in p-ardens in England as early as the middle of the 16th century.^ Description — The fruit is ovoid-oblong, nodding, about 1-S- inch long, hispid from numerous short fleshy prickles terminating in white elongated points. It is attached by a long scabrous peduncle, is fleshy and green while young, becoming slightly yellowish when mature ; it is Indian Annals of Med. Science, vi. allusion to the expulsion of the seeds : often . (1850) ; Pharmacopoiia of India, 1868. 93. erroneously written Ecbalium. ''■ lu-bnUium from eicH^'Wto. I expel, in ^ 'Wivnuv'^ IJerball, 1568, part i. ISO. FR UCTUS EC BALL IL 'j i^ \ 3-celled and contains nnmevous oblong seeds lodged in a very bitter succulent pulp. The fruit when ripe separates suddenly from the stalk, and at the same moment the seeds and juice are forcibly expelled from the aperture left by the detached peduncle. This interesting phenomenon is due to the process of exosmosis, by which the juice of the outer part of the fruit gradually passes through the strong contractile tissue which lines the central cavity, until the pressure becomes so great that the cell gives way at its weakest point. This point is that at which the peduncle is articulated with the fruit ; and it is the sudden and powerful contraction of the elastic tissue when relieved from pressure, that occa- sions the violent expulsion of the contents of the central cavity. For the preparation of the officinal elaterium, the fruit has to be employed while still somewhat immature, for the simple reason that it would be impossible to gather it so as to retain its all-important juice, if left till quite ripe. When it is sliced longitudinally as in making elaterium, some of the juice is expelled by virtue of the endosmotic action already described, as can easily be seen on examining the contracted lining of the sliced fruit. Pereira observes^ that if the juice of a fruit is received on a plate of glass, it is seen to be nearl}^ colourless and transparent. In a few minutes however, by exposure to the air, it becomes slightly turbid, and small white coagula are formed in it. By slow evaporation, minute rhoinboidal crystals make their appearance : these are elaterin. Hot, dry weather favours the development of the active principle of the drug.^ Microscopic Structure — The middle layer of the fruit is built up of large somewhat thick-walled cells, traversed by a few fibro-vascular bundles. The former abound in small starch grains, and also contain granules of albuminous matter. Chemical Composition — The experiments of Clutterbuck (1819) proved that the active properties of the elaterium plant reside chiefly, though not exclusively, in the juice that surrounds the seeds ; and it is to this juice and to the medicinal product which it yields, that the attention of chemists has been hitherto directed. The juice obtained by lightly pressing the sliced fruits, is at first greenish and slightly turbid. After having been set aside a few hours, it yields a deposit, which has to be collected on calico, rapidly drained with gentle pressure between layers of bibulous paper and porous bricks, and dried in a warm place. The substance thus obtained is the Elaterium of pharmacy.^ The method recommended by Clutterbuck'^ involves no pressing. The juice of the sliced fruit is saved, and the pulp scooped out by the thumb of the operator, is thrown on a sieve and slightly washed with pure water. From these liquors, elaterium is deposited. Elaterium occurs in irregular cake-like fragments, light, friable, and opaque ; when new, of a briglit, pale green, becoming by age greyish and exhibiting minute crystals on the surface. It has a herby tea- like 1 EUni: of Mat. 3Ied. ii. (1S53) 1745. severely from tlieir work as in that year. — '^ Having had to procure elaterium fruits D. H. at Mitcham in the yery fine summer of 1868, ^ There is a genus of Oucurbikiceoi founded I was told that the people occupied in by Linnsus, also called Elaterium. slicing the fruits had never sutfered so ^ Lond. Mid. Repository, -iLii. {\%iQ)l. 262 CUCURBIT A CEM odour and a very bitter taste. The produce is extremely small : 240 R>. of fruits gathered at Mitcham, 10 August 1868, yielded 4|- ounces of elaterium = 0123 per cent. Elaterium consists, according to Pereira, of Elaterin, to which the activity of the drug is due, contaminated with green colouring matter, cellular tissue, and starch, together with a little of the residue of the bitter liquor from which these substances were deposited. Yet, in our opinion this description is not applicable to the best varieties of elaterium. We have examined elaterium carefully prepared in the laboratory of Messrs. Allen and Hanburys, London, and a fine specimen imported from Malta. Both a.re devoid of starch, as well as of cellular-tissue, but were seen to be largely made up of crystals. The first sample contained 12 per cent, of water, and yielded after drying, 8'4 per cent, of ash. The most interesting principle of elaterium is Elaterin, C^^H^^O^, discovered about the year 1831 by Morries, and independently by Hennell. The best method of obtaining it, according to our experience, is to exhaust elaterium with chloroform. From this solution, a white crystalline deposit of elaterin is immediately separated by addition of ether. It should be washed with a little ether, and recrystallized from chloroform. We have thus obtained 33'6 per cent, of pure elaterin from the above-mentioned elaterium of London, and 27'6 per cent, from that of Malta. Elaterin crystallizes in hexagonal scales or prisms ; it has an extremely bitter, somewhat acrid taste. It is readily soluble in boiling alcohol, amylic alcohol, bisulphide of carbon, or chloroform. Its alco- holic solutions are neutral and are not precipitated by tannin, nor by any metallic solution. It is but very little coloured by cold concentrated sulphuric acid. Elaterin is the drastic principle of Ecballium ; if to its boiling alcoholic solution, solid caustic potash is added, the liquid thus obtained, is stated by Buchheim (1872), to be no longer precipitable by water. The elaterin is then in fact converted into an acid body, which may be separated by supersaturating the solution with a mineral acid. The principle thus obtained has been found by Buchheim to be devoid of drastic power. The fresh juice of the fruits was found by Kohler (1869) to contain 95 per cent, of water, 3 to 3-5 of organic and 1 to 1'6 of inorganic constituents. The same chemist observed that the percentage of elaterin gradually diminished as the season advanced, until in the month of September he was unable to obtain any of it whatever. Walz (18o9) found in the juice of the fruits and herb of Ecballium as well as in that of Cucumis Prophetarum L., a second crystallizable bitter principle, Prophetm, and the amorphous substances Ecballin or Elateric Acid, HyclTo-claterin, and Elateride, allot which require further examina- tion.^ Prophetin is a glucoside, — not so the other principles. The four together constitute according to Walz, 8*7 per cent, of elaterium, which moreover contains about the same percentage of pectic matter. Uses — Squirting cucumbers are only employed for making elaterium, which is a very powerful hydragogue cathartic- Elaterin is not employed in medicine, but seeing how much elaterium is liable to vary from cKmate or season, it might probably be introduced into use with advantage. 1 Gmelin'sCA«mw. — coiitidered as a uutiitive plant in the F. A. F. ^^ IIERBA HYDROCOTYLES. 265 with slender jointed stems, common in moist places throughout tropical Asia and Africa, occurring also in America from South Carolina to Valdivia, in the West Indies, the islands of the Pacific, New Zealand, and Australia. History — The plant was known to Eheede ^ by its Malyalim name of Codagam (or Kutakan), and also to Eumphius.^ It has been long used medicinally by the natives of Java and of the Coromandel coast. In 1852, Boileau, a French physician of Mauritius, pointed out its virtues in the treatment of leprosy,^ for which disease it was largely tried in the hospitals of Madras by Hunter* in 1855. It has since been admitted to a place in the Pharmacopoiia of India. Description^ — The peduncles and petioles are fascicled ; the latter are frequently 2^ inches long ; the peduncles are shorter and bear a 3- or 4-flowered simple umbel with very short rays. The leaves are reni- form, crenate, I; to 2 inches in longest diameter, 7-nerved, glabroits, or when young somewhat hairy on the under side. The fruit is laterally com- pressed, orbicular, acute on the back ; the mericarps reticulated, some- times a little hairy, with 3 to 5 curved ribs ; they are devoid of vittse. The main root is an inch or two long, but roots are also thrown out by the procumbent stem. When fresh, the herb is said to be aromatic and of a disagreeable bitter and pungent taste ; but these qualities appear to be lost in drying. Chemical Composition — An analysis of hydrocotyle has been made by Lepine, a pharmacien of Pondicherry,^ who found it to yield a some- what peculiar body which he called Vellarin, from Valldrai, the Tamil name of the plant, and regarded as its active principle. Vellarin, which is said to be obtainable from the dry plant to the extent of 0'8 to I'O per cent., is an oily, non-volatile liquid with the smell and taste of fresh hydrocotyle, soluble in spirit of wine, ether, caustic ammonia, and partially also in hydrochloric acid. These singular properties do not enable us to rank vellarin in any well-characterised class of organic compounds. By exhausting 3 ounces of the dried herb with rectified spirit, we did not obtain anything like vellarin, but simply a green extract almost entirely soluble in warm water, and containing chiefly tannic acid which produced an abundant green precipitate with salts of iron. With caustic potash, neither the herb nor its extract evolved any nauseous odour. The dried plant afforded Lepine 13 per cent, of ash. Uses — As an alterative tonic, hydrocotjle is allowed to be of some utility, but the power claimed for it by Boileau of curing leprosy is generally denied. Dorvaulf regards it as belonging to tlie class of narcotico-acrid poisons such as hemlock, but we see no evidence to warrant such an opinion. Besides being administered internally, it is -sometimes locally applied in the form of a poultice. Boileau says that the entire plant is preferable to the leaves alone.^ 1 Hort. Mai. s. tab. 46. ^ Journ.- da Pkarm. xxviii. (1865) 47. 3 Herb. Amboin. v. 169. " L' Officine (1872) 554. ^ Bouton, Med. Plants of Mauritius, ^ It is probably by oversight tliat the 1857 73-83. leaves alone are ordered in the Fharma- * MedicaJ Reports, Madras, 1855. 356. coiJaia of India. * Drawn up from Indian .'^peidrneus. 266 UMBELLIFEUm. Substitutes (?) — H. rohmdifoUa Eoxb., another species common in India, may be known from^. asiatica by having 10 or more flowers in an umbel and much smaller fruits. The European H. vulgaris L., easily distinguishable from the allied tropical species just described, by having its leaves orbicular and peltate (not reniform), is said to possess dele- terious properties. FRUCTUS CONII. Hemlock fruits ; F. Fruits de Gigue ; G. ScMerlingsfruclit. Botanical Origin — Conium maculatum L., an erect biennial herba- ceous plant, flourishing by the sides of fields and streams, and in neglected spots of cultivated ground, throughout temperate Europe and Asia. It occurs in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean islands, and has been naturalized in North and South America. But the plant is very unevenly distributed, and in many districts is entirely wanting. It is found in most parts of Britain from Kent and Cornwall to the Orkneys. History — The Cicuta of the Eomans and 'Kwveiov of the Greeks was the plant under notice. The famous hemlock potion of the latter, by which criminals were put to death, was essentially composed of the juice of this plant. The old Eoman name Cicuta was subsequently applied to Cicuta virosa L., another umbelliferous plant which is alto- gether wanting in Greece and in Southern Europe generally, and does not contain any poisonous alkaloid. Hemlock was used in Anglo-Saxon medicine. It is mentioned as early as the 10th century in the vocabulary of Alfric, archbishop of Canterbury, as " Cicuta, hemlic." ^ Its use in modern medicine is due chiefly to the recommendation of Storck of Vienna, since whose time (1760) the plant has been much employed. The extreme uncertainty and even inertness of its preparations, which had long been known to physicians and had caused its rejection by many, have been recently investigated by Harley.^ The careful experiments of this physician show what are the real powers of the drug, and by what method its active properties may be utilized. Description — The fruit has the structure usual to the order ; it is broadly ovoid, somewhat compressed laterally, and constricted towards the commissure, attenuated towards the apex, which is crowned with a depressed stylopodium. As met with in the shops, it consists of the separated mericarps which are about ^ of an inch long. The dorsal surface of these has 5 prominent longitudinal ridges, the edges of which are marked with little protuberances giving them a jagged or crenate outline, which is most conspicuous before the fruits are fidly ripe. The furrows are glabrous but slightly wrinkled longitudinally ; they are devoid of vittte. "When a mericarp is cut transversely, the seed exhibits a reniform outline, due to a deep furrow in the albumen on the side of the commissure. The fruits of hemlock are duU greenish grey, and have but little taste and smell ; but when triturated with a solution of caustic alkali they evolve a strong and offensive odour. Microscopic Structure — Hemlock fruits differ from other fruits 1 Volume of Vocalidaries, edited by ^ Fharni. Journ. viii. (1867), ix. (1868). "VVright, 18o7. 31. FRUCTUS CON IT. 267 of the order by the absence of vittte. In the endocarp, there is a peculiar layer of small nearly cubic cells surrounding the albumen. The cells of the endocarp are loaded with a brown liquid consisting chiefly of conine and essential oil. Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of the fruits of hemlock is Conine or Conia, C^ff^^N", a limpid colourless oily fluid, of sp. gr. 0-88, having poisonous properties ; it has a strong alkaline reaction, and boils without decomposition at 163°-5 C. It was first observed by Giseke in 1827, recognized as an alkaloid by Geiger in 1831, and more amply studied by Wertheim in 1856 and 1862, In the plant, it is combined with an acid (malic ?), and accompanied by ammonia as well as by a second less poisonous crystallizable base called GonJiydrine, Q8|ji7]S[o, which may be converted into conine by abstraction of the elements of water. From these alkaloids a liquid, non-poisonous, hydro- carbon, Conylene, C^H^*, has been separated by Wertheim. Even in nature one hydrogen atom of conine is frequently replaced by methyl, CH^ ; and commercial conine commonly contains, as shown by A. von Planta and Kekule, methyl-conine N < p-u-s Xastly there is present in hemlock fruits, a third alkaloid having probably the composition As to the yield of conine, it varies according to the development of the fruits, but is at best only about -f- per cent. According to Schroff (1870), the fruits are most active just before maturity, provided they are gathered from the biennial plant. At a later stage, conine is probably partly transformed into conhydrine, which however is present in but very small proportion, — about 1| per mille at most. In its deleterious action, conine resembles nicotine, but is much less powerful. Schiff (1871-1872) has artificially produced an alkaloid partaking of the general properties of conine, and having the same composition ; but it is optically indifferent. Conine on the other hand, we find turns the plane of polarization from 47°'7 to 61°'4, that is to say 13°"7 to the right, when examined in a column 25 mm. long.^ The fruits of hemlock contain also a volatile oil which appears devoid of poisonous properties ; it exists in but small quantity and has not yet been fully examined. Uses — The fruits of hemlock are the only convenient source of the alkaloid conine. They were introduced into British medicine in 1864, as a substitute for the dried leaf in making the tincture. But it has been shown that a tincture, whether of leaf or fruit, is a preparation of very small value, and that it is far inferior to the preserved juice of the herb. It has however been pointed out by W. Manlius Smith ^ and his observations have been confirmed by Harley,^ that the green unripe fruits possess more than any other part the peculiar energies of the plant, and that they may even be dried without loss of activity. A medicinal fluid extract of considerable power has been made from them by Squibb of New York. 1 The couine thus examined had been ^ Trans, of the New York State Medical prepared by Merck, of Darmstadt, and was Society fov ld>&*J . colourless. ^ The Old Vegetable Neurotics, liond. 1869. 94. 268 UMBELLlhERJi. FOLIA CONII. Hemloch Leaves ; P. Feuilles cle Cigiie ; G. Schierlingsbldtter. Botanical Origin — Conium maculahcin L., see p. 266. History — See p. 266. Description — Hemlock in its first year produces only a tuft of leaves, but in its second a stout erect stem which often grows to the height of 5 or 6 feet, is much branched in its upper part, and terminates in small umbels, each having about 1 2 rays. The lower leaves, often a foot in length, have a triangular outline, and a hollow stalk as long as the lamina, clasping the ' stem at its base with a membranous sheath. Towards the upper portion of the plant, the leaves have shorter stalks, are less divided, and are opposite or in cohorts of 3 to 5. The involucral bracts are lanceolate, reflexed, and about J of an inch long. Those of the partial umbel are turned towards the outside, and are always 3 in number. The larger leaves are twice or thrice pinnate, the viltimate segments being ovate-oblong, acute, and deeply incised. The stem is cylindrical and hollow, of a glaucous green, generally marked on its lower part with reddish-brown spots. The leaves are of a dull dark green, and like the rest of the plant quite glabrous. They have when bruised a disagreeable foetid smell. For medicinal purposes the plant should be taken when in full blossom.^ Chemical Composition — The leaves of hemlock contain, though in exceedingly small proportion, the same alkaloids as the fruits. Geiger obtained from the fresh herb not so much as one ten-thousandth part of conine. It is probable however that the active constituents vary in proportion considerably, and that a dry and sunny climate promotes their development. The same observer as well as Pereira, has pointed out that hemlock leaves when dried are very frequently almost devoid of conine, and the observation is supported by the more recent experiments of Harley (1867). It has also been shown by the last-named physician, that the inspissated juice known in pharmacy as Extractum Conii usually contains but a mere trace of alkaloid, the latter having in fact been dissipated by the heat employed in reducing the juice to the required consistence. On the other hand, Harley has proved that the juice of fresh hemlock preserved by the addition of spirit of wine, as in the Succm Conii of the Pharma- copoeia, possesses in an eminent degree the poisonous properties of the plant. The entire amount of nitrogen in dried hemlock leaves was estimated by Wrightson (1845) at 6-8 per cent. ; the ash at 12'8 per cent. The latter consists mainly of salts of potassium, sodium, and calcium, especially of sodium chloride and calcium phosphate. A ferment-oil may be obtained from Conium ; it is stated to have an odour unlike tliat of the plant and a burning taste, and not to be poisonous.- 1 The London liorhalists ofU-n (^olli-ct it the latti-r cuinlitioii tliut the pliiut xa to be while nuu-h of tlio iiillore.sceuce is still in pri'lVrrctl. bud, in which state it aft'ords far more of - Gnicliu, C'/i£)nislry, .\i\'. 40i3. leaf than when well matured ; but it is in FRUCTI/S JJOW.IN. 269 Uses — Tlonilock administered in the form of Sv.rcus Conii, has a peculiar sedative action on the motor nerves, on account of which it is occasionally prescribed. It was formerly much more employed than at present, although the preparations used were so defective that they could rarely have produced the specific action of the medicine. Plants liable to be confounded v/ith Hemlock — Several common plants of the order Umhellifercc have a superficial resemblance to Conium, but can be discriminated by characters easy of observation. One of these is jEthusa Cynapium L. or Foors Parsley, a common annual garden weed, of much smaller stature than hemlock. It may be known by its primary umbel having no involucre, and by its partial umbel having an involucel of 2 or 8 linear pendulous bracts. The ridges of its fruit moreover are not wavy or crenate as in hemlock, nor is its stem spotted. Chcerophyllu'm Anthrisctis L. (Anthrisctis vulgaris Pers.) and two or three other species of Ghmrophyllum have the lower leaves not unlike those of hemlock, but they are pubescent or ciliated. The fruits too are linear-oblong, and thus very dissimilar from those of Conium. The latter plant is in fact clearly distinguished by its smooth spotted stem, the character of its involucral bracts and fruit, and finally by the circumstance that when triturated Avith a few drops of solution of caustic alkali, it evolves conine (and ammonia), easily observable as a white fume when a rod moistened with strong acetic acid is held over the mortar. FRUCTUS AJOWAN. Semen Ajavce vel Ajouain ; Ajowan, True Bishop)' s weed. Botanical Origin — Ammi Copticuni L. (PtycJiotis Coptica et Ft. Ajowan DC.) — an erect annual herb, cultivated in Egypt and Persia, and especially in India where it is well known as Ajvdn or Omam. History — The minute spicy fruits of the above-named plant have been used in India from a remote period, as we may infer from their being mentioned in Sanskrit writings, such as the Ayurvedas of Susruta. Owing to their having been confounded with some other very small umbelliferous fruits, it is difficult to trace them precisely in many of the older writers on materia medica. It is however probable that they are the Ammi cdore origani of Anguillara (1549) and the Ammi perpusillum of Lobel (1571), in whose time the drug was imported from Egypt. Dale^ who says it is brought from Alexandria, reports it as very scarce in the London shops. Under the name of A Java Seeds, the drug was again brought into notice in 1773 by Percival,^ who received a small quantity of it from Malabar as a remedy for cholic ; and still more recently, it has been favourably spoken of by Fleming, Ainslie, Eoxburgh, O'Shaughnessy, Waring and other writers who have treated of Indian materia medica. Description — Ajowan fruits, like those of other cultivated Umbelli- fercB, vary somewhat in size and form. The largest kind much resemble those of parsley, being of about the same shape and weight. The length of the large fruits is about yV? ^^ the smaller form scarcely ^ of an inch. ^ Pharmacologia, 1693. 211. " Essays, medical and experimental, ii. (1/73) 226. 270 VMBELLIFERjE. The fruits are greyish brown, plump, very rough on the surface, owing to numerous minute tubercles {fructus muriculatus). Each mericarp has five prominent ridges, the intervening channels being dark brown, with a single vitta in each. The commissural side bears two vittae. The fruits when rubbed exhale a strong odour of thyme (Thymus vul- garis L.), and have a biting aromatic taste. Microscopic Structure — The oil-ducts of ajowan are very large, often attaining a diameter of 200 mkm. The ridges contain numerous spiral vessels; the blunt tubercles of the epidermis are of the same structure as those in anise, but comparatively larger and not pointed. The tissue of the albumen exhibits numerous crystalloid granules of albuminous matter (aleuron), distinctly observable in polarized light. Chemical Composition — The fruits according to Stenhouse (1855) yield 5 to 6 percent.^ of an agreeably aromatic, volatile oil, sp. gr. 0'896.^ At the same time there collects on the surface of the distilled water, a crystalline substance, which is prepared at Oojein and elsewhere in Central India, by exposing the oil to spontaneous evaporation at a low temperature. This stearoptene, sold in the shops of Poona and other places of the Deccan, under the name of Ajwain-ka-pliul, i.e. fioioers of ajwain, was first made known by Stocks, and was examined by Sten- house and by Haines, who showed its identity with Thymol, C^'^H^^O. We obtained it by exposing oil of our own distillation, first rectified from chloride of calcium, to a temperature of 0° C, when the oil de- posited 36 per cent, of thymol in superb tabular crystals, an inch or more in length. The liquid portion even after long exposure to a cold some degrees below the freezing point, yielded no further crop. We foimd the thymol thus obtained, began to melt at 44° C, yet using somewhat larger quantities, it appeared to require fully 51? C. for com- plete fusion. On cooling, it continues fluid for a long time, and only recrystallizes when a crystal of thymol is projected into it. Thymol may be distilled in a current of carbonic acid ; it has a sp. gr. of 1*028, and the odour of oil of ajowan. Its identity with the Thymol of thyme was at one time doubtful, Stenhouse having stated that the alcoholic solution of the former is precipitated by water, and that it is not soluble in caustic alkalis. But H. Mliller^ has recently showed, that thymol from either source is soluble in caustic alkalis ; he has even extracted it by this means from the oil of ajowan. The liquid part of the essential oil, which according to Stenhouse boils at 172° C, may be separated by rectification from the stearoptene which, as it commences to boil only at 218° C, remains in the still as a crystalline mass. The liquid oil according to the same chemist is isomeric with oil of turpentine and has a different odour to the stearop- tene. Haines (1856) regards this oil as Cymol (cymene) C^'^H'^, which also occurs in cumin, Cicuta virosct and in Thymus vulgaris. Miiller has proved the correctness of this statement ; he obtained a compound of it with sulphuric acid. Some hydrocarbon of the formula C^°ff^ may nevertheless be also present. 1 111 ;i small experiment made with an know by an autlioutic specimen. — F. A. F. old sample of the drug, 1 got 3 "12 per cent. ^ Bcrkhte d. Dmtschcn Clieinischen Gesell- of essential oil.~D. H. scluifl, ii. (1869) 130 ; also Jahresbericht of * The fruits examined by Stenhouse were Wiggers and Husemann, 1869. 86. of the small variety before alluded to, as I FRUCTUS CAIiUI. 271 We have found that neither the thymol, nor the liquid part of ajowan oil possesses any rotatory power. Uses — Ajowau is much used by the natives of India as a condi- ment.i The distilled water which has been introduced into the Pharma- cojyceia of India, is reputed to be carminative and a good vehicle for nauseous medicines. It has a powerful burning taste and would seem to require dilution. The volatile oil may be used in the place of oil of thyme, which it closely resembles. Substitutes— Under the name Semen Ammi, the very small fruits of Ammi 7najus L. and oUSison Amomum L. have been often confounded with those of Ammi Copticum L. ; but the absence of minute tubercles on the two former, not to mention some other differences, is sufficient to negative any supposition of identity. The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. being called in India Khordsdni- ajwdn, a confusion might arise between them and true ajowan ; though the slightest examination would suffice to show the difference.^ FRUCTUS CARUI. Semen Garui vel Carvi ; Caraway Fruits, Caraway Seeds, Caraways ; F. Fruits ou Semences de Carvi ; G-. KiXmmel. Botanical Origin — Carum Carvi L., an erect annual or biennial plant not unlike a carrot, growing in meadows and moist grassy land over the northern and midland parts of Europe and Asia, but to what extent truly wild cannot be always ascertained. It is much cultivated in Iceland and is also apparently wild.^ It grows throughout Scandinavia, in Finland, Arctic, Central and Southern Eussia, and in Siberia. It appears as a wild plant in many parts of Britain (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire), but is also cultivated in fields, and may not be strictly indigenous. The caraway is found throughout the eastern part of France, in the Pyrenees, Spain, Central Europe, Armenia and the Caucasian provinces ; and it grows wild largely in the high alpine region of Lahul in the Western Himalaya.* But the most curious fact in the distribution of Carum Carvi, is its occurrence in Morocco, where it is largely cultivated about EI Araiche, and round the city of Morocco.^ The plant differs somewhat from that of Europe ; it is an annual with a single erect stem, 4 feet high. Its foliage is more divided, and its flowers larger, with shorter styles and on more spreading umbels than the common caraway, and its fruit is more elongated.'' History — The opinion that this plant is the Kapo? of Dioscorides and that, as Pliny states, it derived its name from Caria (where it has never been met with in modern times) has very reasonably been doubted.^ Caraway fruits were known to the Arabians, who called them ^ Roxburgh, Flor. hid. ii. (1832) 91. * Aitchison in Journ. of Linn. Soc, Bot., ^ To such a mistake may probably be re- x. (1869) 76. 94. ferred the statement of Irvine {Account of ^ liesned. in Fharm. Journ. , Feb. 8, 1873. the Mat. Med. of Fatna, 1848_, p. 6) that the 693. seeds of henbane are " used in food as car- ® I have cultivated the Morocco plant minative and stim^ilaut " ! during two years by the side of the common 3 Babington in Journ. of Linn. Soc., Bot., form. — D. H. xi. (1871) 310. 7 Dierbach, Flora Apiciana, 1831. 53. 272 UMBELLIFER.^. Kcwciwya, a name they still bear in the East, and the original of our words caraway and carui, as well as of the Spanish alcarahueya. In the Arab writings quoted by Ibn Baytar/ himself a Mauro-Spaniard of the 13th century, caraway is compared to cumin and anise. The spice probably came into use about this period. It is not noticed by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville in the 7th century, though he mentions fennel, dill, coriander, anise, and parsley; nor is it named by St. Hildegard in Germany in the 12th century. Neither have we found any reference to it in the Anglo-Saxon Herharmm of Apuleius, written circa a.d. 1050,^ or in other works of the same period, though cumin, anise, fennel, and dill are all mentioned. On the other hand, in two German medicine-books of the 12th and 13th centuries^ there occurs the word Cumicli, which is still the popular name of caraway in Southern Germany ; and Cumin is also mentioned. Caraway was certainly in use in England at the close of the 14th century, as it figures with coriander, pepper and garlick in the Form oj Cury, a roll of ancient English cookery compiled by the master-cooks of Eichard II. about a.d. 1390. The oriental names of caraway show that as a spice it is not a production of the East : — thus we find it termed Roman (i.e. European), Armenian, mountain, ot: foreign Cumin ; Persian or Andahisian Caraway ; or foreign Anise. And though it is now sold in the Indian bazaars, its name does not occur in the earlier lists of Indian spices. Cultivation * — In England, the caraway is cultivated exclusively in Kent and Essex, on clay lands. It was formerly sown mixed with coriander and teazel seed, but now with the former only. The plant which requires the most diligent and careful cultivation, yields in its second year a crop which is ready for harvesting in the beginning of July. It is cut with a hook at about a foot from the ground, and a few days afterwards may be thrashed. The produce is very variable, but may be stated at 4 to 8 cwt. per acre. Description — The fruits which in structure correspond to those of other plants of the order, are laterally compressed and ovate. The mericarps which hang loosely suspended from the arms of the carpophore, are in the English drug about |- of an inch in length and -g^ in diameter, subcylindrical, slightly arched, and tipped with the conical, shrivelled stylopodium. They are marked with 5 pale ridges, nearly lialf as broad as the shining, dark brown furrows, each of which is furnished with a. conspicuous vitta ; a pair of vitt^e separated from each other by a comparatively thin fibro- vascular bundle, occurs on the commissure. Caraways are somewhat horny and translucent ; when bruised they evolve an agreeable fragrance resembling that of dill, and they have a pleasant spicy taste. In the London market, they are distinguished as English, Dutch, German, and Mogador, the first sort fetching the highest price. The fruit varies in size, tint and flavour ; the English is shorter and plumper than the others ; the Mogador is paler, stalky and elongated, — often -,-V of an inch in length. 1 SontheiTnci's translation, ii. 368. d''vi xii. und xivi. Jahrhundert, Wien 1863. 2 Leechdoms, iL-c. of Early England, i. 14. (1864). •* ^In-ton, Ci/clop. of Agriculture, i. (1855) * Pfeiffer, Zioei deutaclu Arzneihvchf.r nrs 390. FRUCTUS CARUI. 273 Microscopic Structure — Caraways are especially distinguished by their enormous vittae, which in transverse section display a triangular outline, the largest diameter, i.e. the base of the triangle, often attaining as much as 300 mkm. Even those of the commissure are usually not smaller. Chemical Composition — Caraways contain a volatile oil,' which the German drug affords to the extent of about 4 per cent., though vari- ations from 3 to 6, or even exceptionally to 9 per cent., have been observed. It appears that a northerly or elevated locality tends to render the plant more productive in essential oil. The position and size of the vittpe account for the fact that comminution of the fruits previous to distillation, does not increase the yield of oil. Oil of caraway according to the experiments of Schweizer and of Volckel,^ is a mixture of Carvol, C^'^H^'^O, a mobile liquid boiling at 227° C. (Gladstone), and Carvene, which latter constitutes more than a third of the crude oil. Carvene boils at 173° C, and has the formula Qiojji6_ j^ j^gg been ascertained by us that each of these constituents has a dextrogyrate power, that of carvene being considerably the stronger. Carvol is isomeric according to Gladstone,^ with the menthol of spearmint, myristicol and the carvol of dill ; with the last it is probably identical. It is also isomeric with thymol, but does not like that body unite with alkalis. It easily forms large acicular crystals, 2(C^'^ff^0) + H-S, when treated with alcoholic sulphide of ammonium. Oil of caraway of inferior quality is obtained from the refuse of the fruit ; we find it less dextrogyrate than the oil from the fruits alone. The former is of less agreeable odour, but is good enough to be used for the scenting of soap. The oil distilled in England from home-grown caraways is preferred in this country. On the Continent, that extracted from the caraways of Halle and of Holland, is considered to be of finer flavour than the oil obtained from those of Southern Germany. The immature fruit of caraway is rich in tannic matter, striking blue with a salt of iron. It occurs abundantly in the tissue around the oil- ducts, where the presence of sugar may be also detected by alkaline tartrate of copper. Sugar occurs likewise in the embryo, but not in the albumen, in which latter protein substances predominate. Production and Commerce — Caraways are exported from Fin- mark, the most northerly province of Norway ; from Finland and Kussia. In Germany, the cultivation, recommended by .Gleditsch in 1776, is now largely carried on in Moravia, and in Prussia, especially in the neigh- bourhood of Halle. The districts of Erfurt and Merseburg, also in Prussia, are stated to yield annually about 30,000 cwt. Dutch caraways are pro- duced in the provinces of North Holland, Gelderland and North Brabant, in the latter two from wild plants.^ Caraways are frequently shipped from the ports of Morocco ; the quantity exported thence in 1872 was 952 cwt.4 The import of caraways into the United Kingdom in 1870, amounted to 19,160 cwt., almost all being from Holland. ^ Gmelin, Chemistry x'lv. (1860) 416. 414. ^ Oudemans, Aanteekeningen, ko,., Rot- 283. • terdam, 1854-1856. 351. 2 Journ. ofChem. Soc. x. (1872) 9; P^arm. " Consular Reports, August 1873. 917. Journ., March 1872. 746. 274 UMBELLlFEUm. The essential oil is manufactured on a large scale. According to a statement of the Chamber of Commerce of Leipzig,^ four establishments of that district produced in 1872, no less a quantity than 30,955 kilo. (68,277 ft).), valued at £24,000. Uses — Caraway in the form of essential oil or distilled water is used in medicine as an aromatic stimulant, or as a flavouring ingredient. But the consumption in Europe is far more important as a spice, in bread, cakes, cheese, pastry, confectionary, sauces, &c., or in the form of oil as an ingredient of alcoholic liquors. The oil is also used in perfumery. FRUCTUS FCENICULI. Fennel Fruits, Fennel Seeds ; F. Fruits de Fenouil ; G. Fencliel. Botanical Origin — Fosniculwn vulgare Gartn. (Anethum Fceniculum L.), an erect, branching plant with an herbaceous stem and perennial rootstock, growing to the height of 3 or 4 feet, having leaves 3 or 4 times pinnate with narrow linear segments. It appears to be truly indigenous to the countries bordering the Mediterranean, but is also found apparently wild, over a large portion of Western Europe as far as the British Isles, especially in the vicinity of the sea. It grows in the country bordering the western side of the Caspian Sea, and as a doubtful native in many parts of Central and Southern Russia. Fennel is largely cultivated in the central parts of Europe, as Saxony, Franconia and Wurtemberg, also in the south of France about Ntmes, and in Italy. It is extensively grown in India and China. The Indian plant is an annual of somewhat low stature.^ The plant varies in stature, foliage, and in the size and form of its fruits ; but all the forms belong apparently to a single species. History — Fennel was used by the ancient Romans, as w^ell for its seedlike aromatic fruits, as for its edible succulent shoots. It was also employed in Northern Europe at a remote period, as it is constantly mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon medical receipts, which date as early at least as the 11th century. The diffusion of the plant in Central Europe was stimulated by Charlemagne, who enjoined its cultivation on the imperial farms. Fennel shoots {turiones fcenuculi), fennel water, and fennel seed, as well as anise, are all mentioned in an ancient record ^ of Spanish agriculture, dating a.d. 961. Description — The fennel fruits of commerce, commonly called Fennel Seeds, are of several kinds and of very different pecuniary value. The following are the principal sorts : — 1. Sweet Fennel, — known also as Roman Fennel, is cultivated in the neighbourhood of Nimes in the soutli of France. The plant is a tall pereiniial with large umbels of 25 to 30 rays.* As the plants grow old, the fruits of each succeeding season gradually change in shape and diminish in size, till at the end of 4 or 5 years they are hardly to be ^ PharmaccuHschc Zeilung, 15 Aiir'il, 1 87 4. fevred to Fceniculum duke DC, but that ' It is an annual even in England, ripen- plant lias the stem compressed at the base, inj; seeds in its first year, and then dying. and only 6 to 8 rays in the umbel ; and is ^ Le Calendrier de Cordoue de I'annie the fennel which is eaten as a vegetable or as 961, j)ubli6 par K. Dozy, Leyde, 1873. a salad. * The Nimos fennel has be-^u usually re- FRUCTUS FCENICULI. 2 75 distinguished from those of the wild fennel growing in the same district. This curious fact, remarked by Tabernpemontanus (1588), was experi- mentally proved by Guibourt.^ The frui'cs of Sweet Fennel as found in the shops, are oblong, cylindrical, about yV of ^^ iimh. in length by -^ in diameter, more or less arched, terminating with the two-pointed base of the style, and smooth on the surface. Each mericarp is marked by 5 prominent ridges, the lateral being thicker than the dorsal. Between the ridges lie vittse, and there are two vittse on the commissural surface, — all filled with dark oily matter. The fruits seen in bulk have a pale greenish hue ; their odour is aromatic, and they have a pleasant, saccharine, spicy taste. 2. German Fennel, Saxon Fennel, produced especially near Weissenfels in the Prussian province of Saxony ; the fruits are ^^ to |- of an inch long, ovoid-oblong, a little compressed laterally, slightly curved, ter- minating in a short conical stylopodium ; they are glabrous, of a deep brown, each mericarp marked with 5 conspicuous pale ridges, of which the lateral are the largest. Seen in bulk, the fruits have a greenish brown hue ; they have an aromatic saccharine taste, with the peculiar smell of fennel. 3. Wild or Bitter Fennel (Fenouil amer), collected in the south of France, where the plant grows without cultivation. They are smaller and broader than those of the German Fennel, being from i to -^ of an inch long by about -^ of an inch wide. They have less prominent ridges and at maturity are a little scurfy in the furrows and on the commissure. Their taste is bitterish, spicy, and strongly fennel-like. The essential oil {Essence cle Fenouil amer) is distilled from the entire herb. 4. Indian Fennel. — A sample in our possession from Bombay resembles Sweet Fennel, but the fruits are not so long, and are usually straight. The mother- plant of this drug is F. Panmoritim DC, now regarded as a simple variety of F. vulgare Gartn. Microscopic Structure — The most marked peculiarity of fennel is exhibited by the vittee, which are surrounded by a brown tissue. The latter is made up of cells resembling the usual form of cork-cells. In Sweet Fennel the vittse are smaller than in the German fruit ; in the transverse section of the latter, the largest diameter of these ducts is about 200 mkm. Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of fennel fruits is the volatile oil, which is afforded both by the Sweet and the German fennel to the extent of about 3^ per cent. Oil of fennel from whatever variety of the drug obtained, consists of Anethol or Anise-camphor, C^^H^^O, and variable proportions of a liquid, isomeric with oil of turpentine. Anethol is obtainable from fennel in two forms, the solid and the liquid ; crystals of the former are deposited when the oil is subjected to a somewhat low temperature ; the liquid anethol may be got by collecting the portion of the crude oil passing over at 225° C. The crystals of anethol fuse between 16 and 20° C. ; the liquid form of anethol remains fluid even at — 10° C. By long keeping, the crystals slowly become liquid and lose their power of reassuming a crystalline form. Three varieties of oil of fennel are found in commerce, namely the oils of Sweet Fennel and Bitter Fennel offered by the drug- 1 Hist, dts Drogues, iii. (1869) 233. T 2 ' 276 UMBELLIFERJE. houses of the south of France ; their money value is as 3 to 1, the oil of sweet fennel, which has a decidedly sweet taste, being by far the most esteemed. The third variety is obtained from Saxon fennel, especially by the manufacturers of Dresden and Leipzig.^ We have been supplied with type-specimens of the first two oils by the distillers, Messrs. J. Sagnier, fils, & Cie., Ntmes ; a specimen of the third has been distilled in the laboratory of one of ourselves. Oil of fennel differs from that of anise by displaying a considerable rotatory power. We found the above-mentioned specimens, examined in a column 50 mm. long, to deviate the ray of polarized light to the right thus : — Oil of Sweet Fennel 29° -8 ,, Bitter ,, 4°-8 ,, German ,, ...... 9°*1 The rotatory power is due to the hydrocarbon contained in the oil ; we ascertained that anethol from oil of anise is devoid of it. Fennel fruits contain sugar, yet their sweetness or bitterness depends on the essential oil rather than on the presence of that body. The albumen of the seed contains fixed oil, which amounts to about 12 per cent, of the fruit. Uses — Fennel fruits are used in medicine in the form of distilled water and volatile oil, but to no considerable extent. The chief con- sumption is in cattle medicines, and of the oil in the manufacture of cordials. FRUCTUS ANISI. Anise, Aniseed ; F. Fruits d'Anis vert ; G. Anis. Botanical Origin — Pimpinella Anisum L., an annual plant, indi- genous to Asia Minor, the Greek Islands and Egypt, now cultivated in many parts of Europe where the summer is hot enough for ripening its fruits, as well as in India and South America. It is not grown in Britain. History — Anise, which the ancients obtained chiefly from Crete and Egypt, is among the oldest of medicines and spices.^ It is mentioned by Theophrastus, and by the later writers Dioscorides and Pliny. In Europe we find that Charlemagne (a.d. 812) commanded that anise should be cultivated on the imperial farms in Germany. The Anglo- Saxon writings contain frequent allusions to the use of dill and cumin, but we liave failed to find in them any reference to anise. The Patent of Pontage granted by Edward I. in 1305 to raise funds for repairing the Bridge of London,^ enumerates Anise (anisium) among the commodities liable to toll. There are entries for it under the name of Amiis vert, in the account of the expenses of John, king of France, during his abode in England, 1359-60 ■* ; and it is one of the spices of which the Grocers' Company of London had the weighing and oversight ^ The Leipzig Chamber of Commerce re- ^ [Tliomson, K.], Chronicles of London ports the quantity made by four establish- BriiUjc, 1827. 155. ments in 1872, as 4350 kilo. (9594 R». ). ■* Uoiiet d'Arcq, Comptes de I'Argenteri^ * On the Anise of the Bible, see note 1, des Rois de France, 1851. 206. 220. p. 292. FRUCTUS A NISI. 277 from 1453.^ By the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward IV., a.d. 1480,- it appears that the royal linen was perfumed by raeaos of " lytill bagges of fustian stuffed with ireos and anncys." Anise seems to have been grown in England as a potherb prior to 1542, for Boorde in his ByUary of Helth, printed in that year,^ says of it and fennel, — " these herbes be seldome vsed, but theyrseedes be greatly occupyde." In common with all other foreign commodities, anise was enormously taxed during the reign of Charles I., the duties levied upon it amounting to 75s. per 112 tb.^ Description— Anise fruits which have the usual characters of the order, are about j%- of an inch in length, mostly undivided and attached to a slender pedicel. They are of ovoid form, tapering towards the summit which is crowned by a pair of short styles, rising from a thick stylopode ; they are nearly cylindrical but a little constricted towards the commissure. Each fruit is marked by 10 light-coloured ridges which give it a prismatic form ; these as well as the rest of the surface of the fruit, are clothed with short rough hairs. The drug has a greyish brown hue, a spicy saccharine taste, and an agreeable aromatic smell. Microscopic Structure — The most striking peculiarity of anise fruit is the large number of oil-ducts or vittse it contains ; each half of the fruit exhibits in transverse section, nearly 30 oil-ducts, of which the 4 to 6 in the commissure are by far the largest. The hairs display a simple structure, inasmuch as they are the elongated cells of the epidermis a little rounded at the end. Chemical Composition — The only important constituent of anise is the essential oil {Oleum Anisi), which the fruits afford to the extent of nearly 2 per cent.^ This oil is a colourless liquid, having an agreeable odour of anise and a sweetish aromatic taste ; its sp. gr. varies from 0-977 to 0-983. At 10° C. to 15° C, it solidities to a hard crystalline mass, which does not resume its fluidity till the temperature rises to about 17° C. Oil of anise resembles the oils of fennel, star-anise, and tarragon, in that it consists almost wholly of AnetJwl or Anise- camphor, described in the previous article (p. 275). This fact explains the rotatory power of oil of anise being inferior to that of fennel. Oil of German anise, distilled by one of us, examined under the conditions stated on the opposite page, deviated only l°-7, but to the left. Franck (1868) found oil of Saxon anise deviating l°'l to the right. Production and Commerce — Anise is produced in Malta, about Alicante in Spain, in Touraine and Guienne in France, in Puglia (Southern Italy), in several parts of iSTorthern and Central Germany, Bohemia and Moravia. The Eussian provinces of Tula and Orel, south of Moscow, also produce excellent anise, and in Southern Eussia, Charkow is likewise known for the production of this drug. In Greece, anise is largely ^ Herbert, Hist, of the, twelve, Great Livery '■* Rates of Marchandizes,^ 16S5. Companies of London, 1834. 310. ® Thus 5126 R). of aniseed distilled in the ^ Edited by N. H. Nicolas, Lond. ISoO. course of three years in the laboratory of 131. Messrs. Herrings of London, afforded 95 lb. ^ Reprinted for the Early English Text 5 oz. of essential oil, equal to 1 -85 per cent. Society, 1870. 281, 278 UMBELLIFER^. cultivated under the name of yXvKdvicrov, and it is niucli grown in Northern India. Considerable quantities are also now imported from Chili. Uses — Anise is an aromatic stimulant and carminative, usually administered in the form of essential oil as an adjunct to other medicines. Tt is also used as a cattle medicine. The essential oil is largely consumed in the manufacture of cordials, chiefly in France, Spain, Italy, and South America. Adulteration — The fruits of anise are sometimes mixed with those of hemlock, but whether by design or by carelessness we know not. Careful inspection with a lens will reveal this dangerous adulteration. "We have known poivdered anise also to contain hemlock, and have detected it by trituration in a mortar with a few drops of solution of potash, a sample of pure anise for comparison being tried at the same time. The essential oil of aniseed may readily be confounded with that of Star-anise, which is distilled from the fruits of the widely different lUicium, anisatum. As stated at p. 22, these oils agree so closely in their chemical and optical properties, that no scientific means are known for distinguishing them. RADIX SUMBUL. Sumhul Boot ; F. Racine de Sunihul, Sambola ou Samhula ; Gr. Moschus- wurzel. Botanical Origin — Uuri/angmm Sumhul Kauffmann,^ a tall peren- nial plant closely resembling a Ferula, discovered in 1869, by a Eussian traveller, Fedschenko, in the mountains of Maghian ^ near Pianjakent, a small Eussian town, eastward of Samarkand. A living plant transmitted thence to the Botanical Garden of Moscow flowered there in 1871. History — The word sumhul, which is Arabic and signifies an ear or spike, is used as the designation of various substances, but especially of Indian Nard, the rhizome of Nardostachys Jatamansi DC. Under what circumstances, or at what period, it came to be applied to the drug under notice, we know not. Nor are we better informed as to the history of sumbul root, which we have been unable to trace by means of any of the works at our disposal. All we can say is, that the drug was first introduced into Eussia about the year 1835 as a substitute for musk, tliat it 'was then recommended as a remedy for cholera, and that it began to be known in Germany in 1840, and ten years afterwards in England. It was admitted into the British Pharmacopxia in 1867. Description — The root as found in commerce, consists of transverse slices, 1 to 2 inches, rarely as much as 5 inches in diameter, and an inch or more in thickness ; the bristly crown, and tapering lower portions, ^ Kouv. Mem. de la Soc. imp. dcs Nat. de sliaii aliout 40 miles eastward of Samarkand. Moscon, xii. (1871) 253. tabb. 24. 25. Pianjakent or Pentschakend, 3393 feet above * Mar;bian or Macian is a town situated the sea, is on the left bank of the Zarafshan, a on a river of tVic same name, rising on the little to the west of the point at which that northern side of the Shchri Sebztan range of river is joined by the Magliian. For further monntains, lying S.E of Samarkand. The particulars, see Jourii. of li. Geognqjh. Soc. Maghian flowing north, falls into the Zaraf- xl. (1870) 448. RADIX SUMBUL. 279 often no thicker than a quill, are also met with. The outside is covered by a dark papery bark ; the inner surface of the slices is of a dirty brown, marbled with white, showing when viewed with a lens an abundant resinous exudation, especially towards the circumference. The interior is a spongy, fibrous, farinaceous-looking substance, having a pleasant musky odour and a bitter aromatic taste. We are not acquainted with the Indian Sumbul Root described in Pereira's Elements of Materia Medica} That imported some years since from China and noticed in the same work, appears to us to be a root different from sumbul. Microscopic Structure — The interior tissue of sumbul root is very irregularly constructed of woody and medullary rays, while the cortical part exhibits a loose spongy parenchyma The structural peculiarity of the root becomes obvious, if thin slices are moistened with solution of iodine, when the medullary rays assume by reason of the starch they contain, an intense blue. The structure of the root reminds one by its irregularity of rhubarb, though the latter wants the large balsam-ducts observable in the roots of this as well as of other Umhelliferm?' Chemical Composition — Sumbul root yields about 9 per cent, of a soft balsamic resin soluble in ether, and a very small proportion of essen- tial oil. The resin has a musky smell,not fully developed until after con- tact with water. According to Eeinsch (1848), it dissolves in strong sulphuric acid with a fine blue colour, but in our experience with a crimson brown. The same chemist states that when subjected to dry distillation, it yields a blue oil. Solution of potash is stated to convert the resin of sumbul into a crystalline potassium salt of Sumhulamic Acid, which latter was obtained in a crystalline state by Eeinsch in 1843, but has not been further examined. Sumbulamic acid, which smells strongly of musk, appears to be a different substance ivomSumhulic or Sumhidolic Acid, the potassium salt of which may be extracted by water from the above-mentioned alkaline solution. Eicker and Eeinsch (1848) assert that the last-men- tioned acid, of which the root contains about f per cent., is none other than Angelic Acid, accompanied as in angelica root, by a little valerianic acid. All these substances require further investigation, as well as the body called Sumbulin, which was prepared by Murawjeff (1853), and is said to form with acids, crystalline salts. Sommer has shown (1859) that by dry distillation, sumbul resin yields Urribelliferone, which substance we shall further notice when describing the constituents of galbanum. Uses — Prescribed in the form of tincture as a stimulating tonic. 1 Vol. ii. (1850-53) 2284. in Russian in 1870, an Italian translation ^ The structure and growth of Sumbul with two plates has appeared in the Nuovo root have been elaborately studied by Tchis- Giornale Botanico for Oct. 1873. 298. tiakotf, of whose observations first published 280 VMBELLIFERm. ASAFCETIDA. Gummi-resina Asafcetida vel Assafcctida ; Asafcetida ; Y. Asa-fostida ; Gr. Asant, Stinkasant. Botanical Origin — Two perennial umbelliferous plants are now generally cited as the source of this drug ; but though they are both capable of affording a gum-resin of strong alliaceous odour, it has not been proved that either of them furnishes the asafcetida of commerce. The plants in question are : — 1. NartJiex^ Asa-fcetida Falconer {Ferula Nartlux Boiss.), a gigantic herbaceous plant, having a large root several inches in thickness, the crown of which is clothed with coarse bristly fibres ; it has an erect stem attaining 10 feet in height, throwing out from near its base upwards a regular series of branches bearing compound umbels, each branch proceeding from the axil of a large sheathing inflated petiole, the upper of which are destitute of lamina. The radical leaves, 1\ feet long, are bipinnate with broadly ligulate obtuse lobes. It has a large flat fruit with winged margin. When wounded, the plant exudes a milky juice having a powerful smell of asafcetida. It commences to grow in early spring, rapidly throwing up its foliage which dies away at the beginning of summer. It does not flower till the root has acquired a considerable size and is several years old. N. Asa-fcetida, which now exists in several botanic gardens and has flowered twice in that of Edinburgh, was discovered by Falconer in 1838, in the valley of Astor or Hasora (35" N. lat., 74°-30 E. long.) north of Kashmir.^ 2. Scorodosma fcetidum Bunge. — In form of leaf, in the bristly sum- mit of the root, and in general aspect, this plant resembles the preceding ; but it has the stem (5 to 7 feet high) nearly naked, with the umbels which are very numerous, collected at the summit ; and the few stem-leaves have not the voluminous sheathing petioles that are so striking a feature in Karthex. In Nartliex, the vittse of the fruit are conspicuous, — in Scorodosma almost obsolete; but the development of these organs in feruloid plants varies considerably, and has been rejected by Bentham and Hooker as affording no important distinctive character. Scorodosma is apparently more pubescent than Nartliex. S. fcetidum' was discovered by Lehmann in 1841, in the sandy deserts eastward of the Sea of Aral, and also on the hills of the Karatagh range south of the river Zarafshan, — that is to say, south-east of Samarkand. In 1858-59, it was observed by Bunge about Herat. At nearly the same period, it was afresh collected between the Caspian and Sea of Aral, and in the country lying eastward of the latter, by Borszczow, a Kussian botanist, who has made it the subject of an elaborate and valuable memoir.^ ^ The genera Karlhex and Scorodosma are * Wfi refrain from citing localities in held by Beutham and Hooker {Genera Plan- Tibet, Beluchi.stan and Persia, where jdants i.arum, i. 918) as in nowise distinguishable supposed to agree with that of Falconer have from Ferula, and they have accordingly been been found by other collectors, suppressed by these botanists. Without •* Die P/tarmaccHfi.' Choukut, Macer Fhridus, Lips. 1832. Lond. 1862. 270. ASAF(ETIDJ. 283 The frail withered stem of the previous year with the cluster of newly- sprouted leaves, is cut away from the top of the root, around which a trench of 6 inches wide and as many deep, is dug in the earth. Several deep incisions are now made in the upper part of the root, and this operation is repeated every 3 or 4 days as the sap continues to exude, which goes on for a week or two according to the strength of the plant. The juice collects in tears about the top of the root, or when very abundant flows into the hollow around it. In all cases as soon as incisions are made, the root is covered with a bundle of loose twigs or herbs, or even with a heap of stones, to protect it from the drying effects of the sun. The quantity of gum-resin obtained is variable ; some roots yield scarcely half an ounce, others as much as two pounds. Some of the roots are no larger than a carrot, others attain the thickness of a man's leg. The drug is said to be mostly adulterated before it leaves the country, by admixture of powdered gypsum or flour. The finest sort, which is generally sold pure, is obtained solely " from the node or leaf- bud in the centre of the root-head." At Kandahar, the price of this superior drug is equivalent to from 2s. ^d. to 4s. ^d. per fb., while the ordinary sort is worth but from Is. to 2s. During a journey from North-western India to Teheran in Persia, through Beluchistan and Afghanistan, performed in the spring of 1872, the same traveller observed the asafoetida plant in great abundance on many of the elevated undulating pasture-covered plains and hills of Afghanistan, and of the Persian province of Khorassan. He states that the plant is of two kinds, the one called Kamd-i-gaioi which is grazed by cattle and used as a potherb, and the other known as Kamd-i-anglXza which affords the gum-resin of commerce. The collecting of this last is almost exclusively in the hands of the western people of the Kakarr tribe, one of the most numerous and powerful of the Afghan clans, who when thus occupied, spread their camps over the plains of Kandahar to the confines of Herat.^ Wood, in his journey to the source of the Oxus, found asafcetida to be largely produced in a district to the north of this, namely the moiin- tains around Saigan or Sykan (lat. 35° 10, long. 67° 40), where, says he, the land affording the plant is as regularly apportioned out and as carefully guarded as the cornfields on the plain.^ Description — The best asafoetida is that consisting chiefiy of agglu- tinated tears. Preshly imported, it forms a clammy yet hard yellowish- grey mass, in which opaque, white or yellowish milky tears sometimes an inch or two long, are more or less abundant. By exposure to air, it acquires" a bright pink and then a brown hue. The perfectly pure tears display when fractured a conchoidal surface, which changes from milky white to purplish pink in the course of some hours If a tear is touched with nitric acid, sp. gr. 1'2, it assumes for a short time a fine green colour. When asafoetida is rubbed in a mortar with oil of vitriol, then diluted with water and neutralized, the slightly coloured solution exhibits a bluish fluorescence. The tears of asafoetida when warmed become ad- hesive, but by cold are rendered so brittle that they may be powdered. With water they easily form a white emulsion. The drug has a powerful and persistent alliaceous odour and a bitter acrid alliaceous taste. ^ Bellew, From the Indus to the Tigris, ' Wood, Journey to the Source of the River Londoi]. 1874. 101. 102. 286. 321. &c. Oxus, new ed., 1872. 131. 284 UMBELLIFER^. Sometimes asafoetida has been imported as a fluid honey-like mass, apparently pure. We presume that such is that of the first gathering, which Kampfer says is called milh. The drug is often adulterated with earthy matter which renders it very ponderous. This earthy or stony asafoetida constitutes at Bombay, a distinct article of commerce under the name of Hingra, the purer drug being called Hing. Among the natives of Bombay, a third form of asafc£tida is in use that commands a much higher price than those just described, and is therefore never brought into European trade.^ It forms a dark brown, translucent, brittle mass, of extremely foetid alliaceous odour, containing many pieces of the stem with no admixture of earth. Guibourt by whom it was first noticed^ was convinced that it had not been obtained from the root, but had been cut from the stem. He remarks that Theophrastus alludes to asafoetida (as he terms the Silphium'^ of this author) as being of two kinds, — the one of the stem, the other of the root ; and thinks the former may be the sort under notice. Vigier* who calls it Asa fcetida nauseeux, found it to consist in 100 parts, of resin and essential oil 37"50, gum 2375, remains of stalks 38"75. This drug appears to be the superior sort alluded to by Bellew. Chemical Composition — Asafoetida consists of resin, gum and essential oil, in varying proportions, but the resin generally amounting to more than one half. Malic acid, so generally diffused in umbelliferous plants, is also present ; and the watery distillate contains acetic, formic, and valerianic acids. The volatile oil amounts to between 3 and 5 per cent. It con- tains sulphur, and must therefore be distilled from glass vessels. It is light yellow, has a repulsive, very pungent odour of asafoetida, tastes at first mild, then irritating, but does not stimulate like oil of mustard when applied to the skin. It is neutral, but after exposure to the air acquires an acid reaction and different odour ; it evolves sulphuretted hydrogen. In the fresh state, the oil is free from oxygen ; it begins to boil at 135° to 140° C, but with continued evolution of hydrogen sulphide, so that even Hlasiwetz did not succeed in preparing it of constant com- position, the amount of sulphur varying from 20 to 25 per cent. It appears to be a mixture of sulphur-compounds of the radical C^H^^, the possible relations of which to allyl C^H^ (p. 63) require further investi- gation. To this however, the insufferable odour of the crude oil is a serious obstacle. Oil of asafoetida when treated with oxydizing agents, yields besides oxalic acid, acids of the fatty series up to valerianic acid. Potassium decomposes it with evolution of gas, forming potassium sulphide ; the residual oil is found to have the odour of cinnamon. The resin of asafoetida is not wholly soluble in ether or chloroform, but dissolves with decomposition in warm concentrated nitric acid. It contains Fcrulaic Acid, C^'^H^f'O^ discovered by Hlasiwetz and Barth in 1866, crystallizing in iridescent needles soluble in boiling water; it is homologous with Eugctic Acid, C^^H^-0'*. Fused with potash, ferulaic acid yields oxalic and carbonic acids, fatty acids, and likewise ^ A large specimen of it was kindly pre- ' Hid. dc.t Drogues, iii. (1850) 223. sented to one of us (H.) Ly Mr. D. S. Kenii) ' Hist. Plnntarum, 1. vi. c. 3. of Bombay. We have also examined tin; •* Gommi's-resincs des Ombellif&rei (these), sanae dru<' in the ludia Museum. Pari.s, 1S69. 32. GALBANVM. 285 protocatechuic acid. The resin itself treated in like manner after it has iDeen previously freed from gum, yields resorcin ; and by dry distillation, oils of a green, blue, violet or red tint, besides about \ per cent, of JJinhelliftrono, C»H«0^. CommerGe — The drug is at the present day produced exclusively in Afghanistan. Much of it is shipped in the Persian Gulf for Bombay whence it is conveyed to Europe ; it is also brought into India by way of Peshawair, and by the Bolan pass in Beluchistan. In the year 1872—73, there were imported into Bombay^ by sea, chiefly from the Persian Gulf, 3367 cwt. of asafcetida, and 4780 cwt. of the impure form of the drug called Hingra. The value of the latter is scarcely a fifth that of the genuine kind known as Hing. The export of asafoetida from Bombay to Europe is very small in comparison with the shipments to other ports of India. Uses — Asafoetida is reputed stimulant and antispasmodic. It is in great demand on the Continent, but is little employed in Great Britain. Among the Mahommedan as well as Hindu population of India, it is generally used as a condiment, and is eaten especially with the various pulses known as cldl. In regions where the plant grows, the fresh leaves are cooked as an article of diet. Adulteration — The systematic adulteration chiefly with earthy matter already pointed out, may be easily estimated by exhausting the drufj with solvents and incinerating; the residue. GALBANUM. • Grimmi-resina OalbarMm ; Galbanum ; E. Galbanum ; G. Mutterharz. Botanical Origin — The uncertainty that exists as to the plants which furnish asafoetida, hangs over those which produce the nearly allied drug Galhanum. Judging from the characters of the latter, it can scarcely be doubted that it is yielded by umbelliferous plants of at least two species, which are probably the following •} — 1. Ferula galhaniflua Boiss. et Buhse,^ — a plant with a tall, solid stem, 4 to 5 feet high, greyish, tomentose leaves, and thin flat fruits, 5 to 6 lines long, 2 to 3 broad, discovered in 1848 at the foot of Demawend in Northern Persia, and on the slopes of the same mountain at 4,000 to 8,000 feet, also on the mountains near Kuschkak and Churchura (Jajarud ?). Bunge col- lected the same plant at Subzawar. Buhse says that the inhabitants of the district of Demawend collect the gum resin of this plant which is Galba- num ; the tears which exude spontaneously from the stem, especially on its lower part and about the bases of the leaves, are at first milk-white but become yellow by exposure to light and air. It is not the practice, so far as he observed, to wound the plant for the purpose of causing the ^ statement of the Trade and Navigation Opoidia galhanifera IjindL, a Persian plant of Bombay for the year 1872-73, pt. li. 26. of doubtful genus ; Bubon Galbanum L., a 95. shrubby umbellifer of South Africa. ^ The following in addition have at various ^ A^ifzdhhcng der in einer Reise durch times been supposed to afford galbanum : — Transkaitkasien und Persien gesammelten Ferulago galhanifera Koch, a native of the. Pflanzen. — Notiv. Mem. de la Soc. imp. des Mediterranean region and Southern Russia ; Nat. de Moscou, xii. (1860) 99. 286 UMBELLIFERJS. juice to exude more freely, nor is the gathering of the gum in this district any special object of industry.^ The plant is called in Persian Khassuih, and in the Mazanderan dialect Boridsheh. 2. F. nibricaulis Boiss.^ (F. erubescens Boiss. ex parte, Aucher exsicc. n. 4614, Kotschy n. Q^y^S). — This plant was collected by Kotschy in gorges of the Kuh Dinar range in Southern Persia, and probably by Aucher-Eloy on the mountain of Dalmkuh, in Northern Persia. Borszczow,^ who regards it as the same as the preceding (though Boissier * places it in a different section of the genus), says on the authority of Buhse, that it occurs locally throughout the whole of Northern Persia, is found in plenty on the slopes of Elwund near Hamadan, here and there on the edge of the great central salt-desert of Persia, on the mountains near Subzawar, between Ghurian . and Khaf, west of Herat, and on the desert plateau west of Khaf He states, though not from personal observation, that its gum-resin which constitutes Persimi Galhanum, is collected for commercial purposes around Hamadan. F. ruhricaulis Boiss. has been beautifully figured by Berg ^ under the name of F. erubescens. History — Galbanum, in Hebrew Chelhenah, was an ingredient of the incense used in the worship of the ancient Israelites,^ and is mentioned by the earliest writers on medicine as Hippocrates and Theophrastus.''' Dioscorides states it to be the juice of a Narthex growing in Syria, and describes its characters, and the method of purifying it by hot water exactly as followed in modern times. We find it mentioned in the 2nd century among the drugs on which duty was levied at the Roman custom house at Alexandria.^ Under the name of Kinnah it was well known to the Arabians, and through them to the physicians of the school of Salerno. In the journal of expenses of John, king of France, during his capti- vity in England, a.d. 1359-60, there is an entry for the purchase of 1 lb. of Galbanum which cost 16s., 1 fb. of Sagapenum {Serapin) at the same time costing only 2s.^ In common with other products of the East, these drugs used to reach England by way of Venice and are mentioned among the exports of that city to London in 1503.'^*' An edict of Henry III. of France promulgated in 1581, gives the prices per lb. of the gum-resins of the Umbelliferce as follows : — Opopanax 32 sols, Sagapenum 22 sols, Asafcetida 15 sols, Galbanum 10 sols, Am- moniacum 6 sols 6 deniers.^^ Description — Galbanum is met with in drops or tears, adhering inter se into a mass, usually compact and hard, but sometimes found so soft as to be fluid. The tears are of the size of a lentil to that of a hazel-nut, translucent, and of various shades of light brown, yellowish ^ Buhse, 1. c. ; also Bulletin de la Soc. imp. '' XaX^dur] — Theoj)]!!-. Hist. Plant, ix. c. 1. de.^ Nat. de Moscou, xxiii. (1850) 548. ^ Vincent, Commerce of -the Ancients, ii. " Diagnoses Plantanmmovarum prceserlim. (1807) 692. orientalium, ser. ii. fasc. 2 (1856) 92. " Doliet d'Arcq, Comptes de I'Argenterir, 2 Op. cit. 36 (see p. 280, note 3). des Jiois de France (1851) 236.— The prices * Flora Orientalis, ii. (1872) 995. must be multiplied by 3 to give a notion of ' Berg. u. Schmidt, Offizinelle Gewdchse, present value. iv. (1863) tab. 31 b. ' '" Pasi, Tariffa de Pesi e Misurc, Venet. « Exodus XXX. 34.— In imitation of the 1521. 204 (1st edition, 1503). ancient Jewish custom, Galbanum is a com- '^ Fontanon, Edicts et Ordonnances d:s Rcis ponent of the incense used in the Irvingitc de Franc'^, ii. (1585) 3E8. chapels in London. GALBANUM. 287 or faintly greenish. The drug has a peculiar, not unpleasant, aromatic odour, and a disagreeable, bitter, alliaceous taste. In one variety, the tears are dull and waxy, of a light yellowish tint when fresh, but becoming of au orange-brown by keeping ; they are but little disposed to run together, and are sometimes quite dry and loose, with an odour that somewhat reminds one of savine. In recent importations of this form of galbanum, we have noticed a considerable admixture of thin transverse slices of the root of the plant, an inch or more in diameter. Chemical Composition — Galbanum contains volatile oil, resin anc mucilage. The first, of which 7 per cent, may be obtained by distillatior. with water, is a colourless liquid, boiling at 160-165° C, and having the odour of the drug ; it deviates the ray of polarized light to the right, and yields when treated with dry hydrochloric acid, a crystalline compound, Ci^IPe, HCl. The resin, which we find to constitute about 60 per cent, of the drug, is very soft, and dissolves in ether or in alkaline liquids, even in milk of lime, but only partially in bisulphide of carbon. When heateo for some time at 100° C. with hydrochloric acid, it yields about 0"8 per cent, of Umlelliferone, C^H^O^, which may be dissolved from the acid liquid by means of ether or chloroform ; it is obtained on evaporation in colourless acicular crystals. Umbelliferone is soluble in water; its solution exhibits, especially on addition of an alkali, a brilliant blue fluorescence which is destroyed by an acid. If a small fragment of galba- num is immersed in water, no fluorescence is observed, but it is immediately produced by a drop of ammonia.^ The same plienomenon takes place with asafoetida, and in a slight degree with ammoniacum ; it is pro- bably due to traces of umbelliferone pre-existing in those drugs. Umbelliferone is also produced from many other aromatic umbel- liferous plants, as Angelica, Levisticum, and Meum, when their respective resins are submitted to dry distillation. According to Zwenger (1860) it may be likewise obtained from the resin of Daphne Mezereum L. The yield is always small ; it is highest in galbanum, but even in this, does not much exceed O'B per cent, reckoned on the crude drug. By submitting galbanum- resin to dry distillation, Mossmer (1861) obtained a thick oil of an intense and brilliant blue,^ which was noticed as early as 1751 by Caspar Neumann of Berlin. It is a liquid having a slightly aromatic odour and a bitter acrid taste. Kachler (1871) found that it could be resolved by fractional distillation into a colourless oil having the formula C^*^H^^, and a blue oil to which he assigned the com- position CioHi^O, or perhaps more correctly C^^'H^'^O^ boiling at 289° C. As to the hydrocarbon, it boils at 240° C, and therefore differs from the essential oil obtained when galbanum is distilled with water. The blue oil, after due purification agrees, according to Kachler, with the blue oil of the flowers of Matricaria Chamomilla L. Each may be transformed ^ This remarkable property of umbelli- instantly losing its colour on the addition of ferone may be beautifully shown by dipping a drop of hydrochloric acid, some bibulous paper into water which has ^ We have found it best to mix the gal- stood for an hour or two on lumps of gal- banum-resin with coarsely powdered pumice- banum, and drying it. A strip of this paper stone ; the oil is then easily aud abundantly placed in a test tube of water with a drop of obtainable, ammonia, will give a superb blue solution, 288 UMBELLIFERM. by means of potassium into a colourless hydrocarbon, C^^H^'^;! or b} anhydride of phosphoric acid into another produce, C'°H^^, likewise colourless. The latter, as well as the former hydrocarbon, if diluted with ether, and bromine be added, assumes for a moment a fine blue tint. The blue oil, C^^H^'^0, is not the only product of the dry distillation of galbanum -resin. We have observed that acids are also abundantly formed, which may be separated from the oil by washing it with water. When cooled, the crude blue oil sometimes deposits crystals of um- bellifer one, which are also obtained if the acidulous water just mentioned is concentrated, and then shaken with chloroform. By fusing galbanum-resin with potash, Hlasiwetz and Earth (1864) obtained crystals (about 6 per cent.) of Besorcin, together with acetic and volatile fatty acids. The empirical formula of resorcin, C^H^O''', is likewise that of pyrocatechin and hydrokinone. Eesorcin has a dis- agreeable sweet taste ; it is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, bisulphide of carbon, or chloroform. It melts at 104° C. and distills at 272° C. Eesorcin, which is a very interesting body from a theoretical point of view, is more abundantly produced if the crystalline portion of the extracts of Sapan Wood (Ccesalpinia Sappan L.) or of Brazil Wood {0. echinata Lam.), is submitted to dry distillation, or melted with potash. Galbanum-resin treated with nitric acid, yields Camphretic Acid and Styphnic Acid} If galbanum, or still better its resin, is warmed with concentrated hydrochloric acid, a red hue is developed, which turns violet or bluish if spirit of wine is slowly added. Asafoetida treated in the same way assumes a dingy greenish colour, and ammoniacum is not altered at all. This test probably depends upon the formation of resorcin, which in itself is not coloured by hydrochloric acid, but assumes a red or blue colour if sugar or mucilage or certain other substances are present. It is remarkable that ammoniacum, though likewise yielding resorcin when fused with potash, assumes no red colour when warmed with hydrochloric acid. The mucilage of galbanum has not been minutely examined. Commerce — Galbanum is we believe, brought into commerce chiefly from Eastern Europe. It is stated that considerable quantities reach Eussia by way of Astrachan and Orenburg. Uses — Galbanum is adrninistered internally as a stimulating expec- torant, and is occasionally applied in the form of plaster to indolent swellings. AMMONIACUM. Gummi-resina Ammoniacum ; Ammoniacum or Gum Ammoniacum ; Y. Gomme-r4sine Ammoniaque ; G. Ammoniak-giimmiharz. Botanical Origin — Dorema Ammoniacum Don {Diserneston gummi- ferum Jaub. et Spach), a perennial plant, with a stout, erect, leafless flower-stem, 6 to 8 feet high, dividing towards its upper part into ^ Probably identical with that obtained ' Gmelin's Chemistry, xi. 228. by fractional distilLition, as previously men- tioned. AMMONIACUM. 289 numerous ascending branches, along which are disposed on thick short stalks, ball-like simple umbels, scarcely half an inch across, of very- small flowers. The aspect of the full-grown plant is therefore very unlike that of Ferula. The Dorema has large compound leaves with broad lobes. The whole plant in its young state is covered with a tomentum of soft, stellate hairs, which give it a greyish look, but which disappear as it ripens its fruits. The withered stems long remain erect, and occurring in immense abundance and overtopping the other vege- tation of the arid desert, have a strikiug appearance.^ The plant occurs over a wide area of the barren regions of which Persia is the centre. According to Bunge and Bienert, its north-western limit appears to be Shahrud (S.E. of Asterabad), whence it extends east- ward to the deserts south of the Sea of Aral and the Sir-Daria. The most southern point at which the plant has been observed, is Basiran, a village of Southern Khorassan in N. lat. 32°, E. long. 59°. Of the three or four other species of Dorema, D. Aucluri Boiss. affords very good ammoniacum, as we know by an ample specimen of the gum deposited together with the plant in the British Museum by Mr. W. K. Loftus, who in 1851 collected both at Kirrind in Western Persia, where the plant is called in Kurdish Zuh. Boissier^ includes as D. Aucheri another plant, called by Loftus D. robustum, the gum of which is certainly different from ammoniacum. Of the plant itself, there are only fruits in the British Museum. History — The first writer to mention ammoniacum is Dioscorides, who states it to be the juice of a Nartlux growing about Gyrene in Libya, and that it is produced in the neighbourhood of the temple of Amnion. He says it is of two sorts, the one like frankincense in pure, solid tears, the other massive, and contaminated with earthy impurities. Pliny gives essentially the same account. The succeeding Greek and Latin authors on medicine throw but little light on the drug, which however is mentioned by most of them as used in fumigation. Hence we find such terms as Ammoniacum thymiama, A mmoniacum sujimen, Tlius Libycum. The African origin assigned to the drug by Dioscorides has long perplexed pharmacologists ; but it is now well ascertained that in Morocco a large species of Ferula (according to Lindley F. Tingiiana L.), yields a milky gum-resin having some resemblance to ammoniacum, and still an object of traffic with Egypt and Arabia, where it is employed, like the ancient drug, in fumigations. There can be but little doubt we think, that the ammoniacum of Morocco is identical with the ammoniacum of the ancients ; it may well have been imported by way of Gyrene from regions lying further westward.^ Persian ammoniacum or the ammoniacum of European commerce, may also have been known in very remote times, though we are unable to trace it back earlier than the 10th century, at which period it is men- tioned by Isaac Judseus* and by the Persian physician Alhervi.^ Both ^ Fraser, Journey into Khorasan, 1825. ■* Opera Omnia, Lngd. 1515, lib. ii. prac- 118 ; Polak, Persien. das Land und seine tices c. 44. Lcute, ii. (1865) 282. ^ Seliprmann, Liher Fwiidamentorum Phar- 2 Flora Orientalis, ii. (1872) 1009. macologice, Vindob. 1830. 35. 3 Hanbury, Pharm. Journ. March 22, 1873. 74]. 290 UMBELLIFKRJE. these writers designate it Ushak, a name which it bears in Persia to the present day. Collection — The stem of the plant abounds in a milky juice which flows out on the slightest puncture. The agent which occasions the exu- dation is a beetle, multitudes of which pierce the stem. The gum, the drops of which speedily harden, partly remains adherent to the stem and partly falls to the ground ; it is gathered about the end of July by tlie peasants, who sell it to dealers for conveyance to Ispahan or the coast.^ Young roots, 3 to 4 years old, are according to Borszczow, extremely rich in milky juice which sometimes exudes into the surrounding soil in large drops ; there is also an exudation from the fibrous crown of the root of a dark inferior sort of ammoniacum. The gum-resin appears to be collected in quantity only in Persia. One of the chief localities for it are the desert plains about Yezdikhast, between Ispahan and Shiraz. Description — Ammoniacum occurs in dry grains or tears of roundish form, from the size of a small pea to that of a cherry, or in nodular lumps. They are externally of a pale creamy yellow, opaque and milky-white within. By long keeping, the outer colour darkens to a cinnamon-brown. Ammoniacum is brittle, showing when broken a dull waxy lustre, but it easily softens with warmth. It has a bitter acrid taste, and a peculiar, characteristic, non-alliaceous odour. It readily forms a white emulsion when triturated with water. It is coloured yellow by caustic potash. Hypochlorites, as common bleaching powder, give it a bright orange hue, while they do not affect the Morocco drug. Ammoniacum is obtained from the mature plant, the ripe mericarps of which, f of an inch in length, are often found sticking to the tears. By pressure the tears agglutinate into a compact mass, which is the Lum,p Ammoniacwm of the druggists. It is generally less pure than the detached grains, and fetches a lower price. Chemical Composition — Ammoniacum is a mixture of volatile oil with resin and gum. The greater or less softness of the drug is partly due, as in all analogous substances, to the proportion of v/ater present. The volatile oil, which is lighter than water and has the precise odour of the drug, contains according to our experiments, no sulphur ; a similar observation was made by Przeciszewski.^ Vigier,^ who obtained the oil to the extent of 1'8 per cent, by distilling tlie gum-resin with water, asserts that it blackens silver, and that after oxidation with nitric acid, he detected in it sulphuric acid. He states that with hydrochloric acid, the oil acquires a fine violet tint passing by all shades to black ; we failed in obtaining this coloration. The resin in ammoniacum usually amounts to about 70 per cent. It is separable according to Przeciszewski, into two substances, — the one a resin having acid properties, the other an indiflerent resin. He asserts that the indifferent resin when heated yields sulphuretted hydrogen. Our own experiments failed to show the presence of sulphur in the ^ Johnson, Journey from India to England Ammoniacum, Sagapenum und OjJopanax, through Fcrsia, &c., 1818. 93. 94; Hart, Dorjiat, 1861. quoted by Don, Linn. Trail?, xvi. ^1833) ^ Gommes-risines d'A Ombdliflres {^\^%^\ G0.5. Paris, 18ii9. 93. ■■' Pharmakologischc Untersudtungen uhr.r FR UCTUS ANETHL 291 crude drug ; and the same negative result Las been more recently obtained in some careful experiments by Moss.^ Unlike the gum-resin of allied plants, ammoniacum yields no um- belliferone. When melted with caustic potash it affords a little resorcin. Przeciszewski found the gum to agree with that of acacia. Commerce — Ammoniacum is shipped to Europe from the Persian Gulf by way of Bombay. The exports from the latter place in the year 1871-72 were 453 cwt., all shipped to the United Kingdom. The quantity imported into Bombay in 1872—73 was 1671 cwt., all from the Persian Gulf.^ Uses — The drug is administered as an expectorant and is also used in certain plasters. Allied Gum-resins. Sagapemim — This is a gum-resin which, when pure, forms a tough softish mass of closely agglutinated tears. It is nearly related to asafoetida, but differs from that substance in forming brownish (not milk-white) tears, which when broken do not acquire a pink tint ; also in not having so powerful an alliaceous odour. Sagapenum, which in mediaeval pharmacy was often called Se7^a- jpinum, is so frequently mentioned by the older writers that it must have been a plentiful substance. At the present day it can scarcely be procured genuine even at Bombay, whither it is sometimes brought from Persia. The botanical origin of the drug is unknown. Opopanax — A gum-resin occurring in hard, nodular, brittle, earthy- looking lumps of a bright orange-brown hue, and penetrating offensive odour, reminding one of crushed ivy-leaves. It is commonly attributed to Opopanax GMronium Koch, a native of Mediterranean Europe. We have never seen a specimen known to have been obtained from this plant ; but can say that the gum-resin of the nearly allied Opopanax Persicum Boiss., as collected by Loftus at Kirrind in Western Persia in 1851, has neither the appearance nor the characteristic odour of officinal opopanax. Powell,^ who has recently endeavoured to trace the origin of the drug, regards it as a product of Persia. Opopanax was very common in old pharmacy, but has fallen out of use, and is now both rare and expensive.^ FRUCTUS ANETHI. Semen Anethi ; Dill Fruits, Dill Seeds ; F. Fruits d'Aneth; G. Dillfrilchte, Botanical Origin — Anetliu7n^ graveoUns L., an erect, glaucous annual plant, with finely striated stems usiially 1 to l^^ feet high, pinnate leaves with setaceous linear segments, and yellow flowers. 1 Pharm. Journ. March 29, 1873. 761. and Opopanax, may be found in the theses 2 Statement of the Trade and Navigation of Przeciszewski (1861) and Vigier (1869), of the Presidency of Bo7nbay, 1871-72, and noticed in our article on Ammoniacum. 1872-73. s Bentham and Hooker {Gen. Plant, i. 3 Economic Products of the Punjab, i. 919) suppress the genus Anethum, uniting (1868) 402. its one solitary species with Peitcedanum. * Further particulars regarding Sagapenum IT 2 292 U3IBELLIFERvE. It is indigenous to the Mediterranean region, Southern Kussia and the Caucasian provinces, but is found as a cornfield weed in many other countries, and is frequently cultivated in gardens. Dill, under the Hindustani name of 8uvh or 8di/a7i, is largely grown in various parts of India, where the plant though of but a few months duration, grows to a height of 2 to 3 feet. On account of a slight peculiarity in the fruit, the Indian plant was regarded by Roxburgh and De Candolle as- a distinct species, and called Anethum Sowa, but it possesses no botanical characters to warrant its separation from A. graveolens. History — Dill is commonly regarded to be the," AvrjOov of Dioscorides, the Anethum of Palladius and other ancient writers, as well as of the New Testament. •'^ In Greece the name " kvqdov i^ at present applied^ to a plant of very similar fippearance, Carum Biclolfia Benth. et Hook. {Anethum segetum L.) By the later Greeks, the term '' kdrjviov was also used for dill.^ Dill, as well as coriander, fennel, cumin, and ammi, was in frequent requisition in Britain in Anglo-Saxon times.* The name is derived according to Prior ^ from the old Norse word dilla, to lull, in allusion to the reputed carminative properties of the drug. However this may be, we find the word occurring in the 10th century in the Vocabulary of Alfric, archbishop of Canterbury.^ The words dill and till, undoubtedly meaning this drug, were also used in Germany and Switzerland as early as A.D. 1000. Description — The fruit which has the characters usual to Um'bel- lifercB, is of ovoid form, much compressed dorsally, surrounded with a broad flattened margin. The mericarps about ^ of an inch wide, are mostly separate ; they are provided with 5 equidistant, filiform ridges, of which the two lateral lose themselves in the paler, broad, thin margin. The three others are sharply keeled ; the darker space between them is occupied by a vitta and two occur on the commissure. In the Indian drug, the mericarps are narrower and more convex, the ridges more distinct and pale, and the border less winged. In other respects it accords with that of Europe. The odour and taste of dill are agreeably aromatic. Microscopic Characters — The pericarp is formed of a small number of flattened cells, which in the inner layer are of a brown colour ; the ridges consist as usual of a strong fibro- vascular bundle. The vittae in a transverse section present an elliptic outline ^-j-g- of an inch or less in diameter. The margin of the mericarp is built up of porous, paren- chymatous tissue. The albumen as in the seeds of all umbellifers, consists of somewhat thick-walled, angular cells, loaded with fatty oil, and globular grains of albuminous matters which present a dark cross when examined by polarized light. In dill, these grains are about 3 to 5 mkm. in diameter. ^ Matt, xxiii. 23, — where it has been ren- ^ Leechdoins, &c., edited by Cockayne, dered anise by the English translators from 1864-66, — see especially Herbarhcm Apu- Wioklif (1380) downwards. But in other leii, dating about A. D. 1050, in Vol. i. pp. versions, the word is correctly translated. 219. 23.5. 237. 281. 293. ^ Hcldreich, Nutzpflanzcn Grieckenla-nds ^ Popidar Names of British Plants, 1870. (1862) 40. " Volume of Vocabularies, edited by ^ 'Ldiny^a.veX, Bota^nik d. spdteren Gricchcn, Wright, 1857. 30. Berlin, 1866. 39. FRUCTUS COB.IANDRI. 293 Chemical Composition — Dill fruits yield on an average 2'8 per cent. (3-7 per cent. Pereira) of an essential oil, a large proportion of which was found by Gladstone (1864-1872) to be a hydrocarbon, C^°H^^ to which he gave the name Anethene. This substance has a lemon-like odour, sp. gr. '846, and boils at 173°C. It deviates a ray of polarized light strongly to the right. Oil of dill also contains an oxygenated oil, C^^ff^O, regarded by Gladstone as identical with carvol. It may be obtained as this chemist states ^ either by fractional distillation (an imperfect method), or by taking advantage of the fact that oils of this group form crystalline bodies with hydrosulphuric acid, which can be easily purified and which yield the original oil when decomposed by an alkali. The oxidised oil from dill has the same odour as that from caraway, and likewise forms a crystalline compound when treated with sulphide of ammonium in alcohol. It has a sp. gr. of '956, and rotates the polarized ray to the right. Nothing is known of the other constituents of dill fruits. Uses — The distilled water of dill is stomachic and carminative, and frequently prescribed as a vehicle for more active medicines. The seeds are much used for culinary and medicinal purposes by the people of India, but are little employed in Continental Europe. FRUCTUS CORIANDRI. Semen Coriandri ; Coriander Fruits, Coriander Seeds, Corianders; F. Fruits de Coriandre ; G. Koriander. Botanical Origin — Coriandrum sativum lu., a small, glabrous, annual plant, apparently indigenous to the Mediterranean and Caucasian regions, but now found as a cornfield weed throughout the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. It is cultivated in many countries, and has thus found its way even to Paraguay. In England the cultivation of coriander has long been carried on, but only to a very limited extent. History — The plant owes its names ¥.6pLov, Koplawov, and Kopidv- Bpov to the offensive odour it exhales when handled, and which reminds one of bugs, — in Greek Kopt?. This character caused it to be regarded in the middle ages as having poisonous properties.^ The ripe fruits which are entirely free from the foetid smell of the growing plant, were used as a spice by the Jews and the Eomans, and in medicine from a very early period. Cato, who wrote on agriculture in the 3rd century B.C., notices the cultivation of coriander. Pliny states that the best is that of Egypt. Coriander, or as sometimes called Coliander, was well known in Britain prior to the Norman Conquest, and often employed in ancient English medicine and cookery. Cultivation — Coriander, called by the farmers Col, is cultivated in the eastern counties of England, especially in Essex. It is sometimes sown with caraway, and being an annual is gathered and harvested the first year, the caraway remaining in the ground. The seedling plants ^ Journ. of Chemical Society, x. (1872) 9 ; ^ P. de Abbano, Tract, de Venenis, 1473, Pharm. Journ. March 1872. 746. capp. 25. 46. 294 umbelliferje. are hoed so as to leave those that are to remain, in rows 10 to 12 inches apart. The plant is cut with sickles, and when dry the seed is thrashed out on a cloth in the centre of the field. On the best land, 15 cwt. per acre is reckoned an average crop.^ Description — The fruit of coriander consists of a pair of hemi- spherical mericarps, firmly joined so as to form an almost regular globe, measuring on an average about a of an inch in diameter, crowned by the stylopodium and calycinal teeth, and sometimes by the slender diverging styles. The pericarp bears on each half, 4 perfectly straight sharpish ridges, regarded as secondary {p^ga, secundaria) ; two other ridges, often of darker colour, belonging to the mericarps in common, the sepa- ration of which takes place in a rather sinuous line. The shallow de- pression between each pair of these straight ridges, is occupied by a zigzag raised line [jugum primarmm), of which there are therefore 5 in each mericarp. It will thus be seen that each mericarp has 5 (zigzag) so-called primary ridges, and 4 (keeled and more prominent) secondary, besides the lateral ridges which mark the suture or line of separation. There are no vittse on the outer surface of the pericarp. Of the 5 teeth of the calyx, 2 often grow into long, pointed, persistent lobes : they proceed from the outer flowers of the umbel. Though the two mericarps are closely united, they adhere only by the thin pericarp, enclosing when ripe a lenticular cavity. On each side of this cavity, the skin of the fruit separates from that of the seed, dis- playing the two brown vittse of each mericarp. In transverse section, the albumen appears crescent-shaped^ the concave side being towards the cavity. The carpophore stands in the middle of the latter as a column, connected with the pericarp only at top and bottom. Corianders are smooth and rather hard, in colour buff or light brown. They have a very mild aromatic taste, and when crushed a peculiar fragrant smell. When unripe, their odour, like that of the fresh plant, is offensive. The nature of the chemical change that occasions this alteration in odour has not been made out. The Indian corianders shipped from Bombay are of large size and of elongated form. Microscopic Structure — The structural peculiarities of coriander fruit chiefly refer to the pericarp. Its middle layer is made up of thick- walled ligneous prosenchyme, traversed by a few fibro-vascular bundles which in the zigzag ridges vary exceedingly in position. Chemical Composition — The essential oil of coriander has a com- position indicated by the formula C^*^H^^O, and is therefore isomeric with borneol. If the elements of water are abstracted by phosphoric anhydride, it is converted according to Kawalier (1852) into an oil of oflensive odour, C^^H^^ The fruits yield of volatile oil about \ per cent. ; as the vittse are well protected by the woody pericarp, corianders should be bruised before being submitted to distillation. Trommsdorff found the fruits to afford 13 per cent, of fixed oil. The fresh herb distilled in July when the fruits were far from ripe, yielded to one of us (F.) from 0*57 to 1*1 per mille of an essential oil possessing in a high degree the disagreeable odour already alluded to. ^ R. Bukur, in Morton's CyclojHilia of Agriculture, i. (1855^ " " FliUCTUS CUM INT. 29,5 I'his oil was found to deviate the ray of polarized light 1-1° to the right when examined in a column 50 mm, long. The oil distilled by us from ripe commercial fruit deviated 5'1° to the right. Production and Commerce — Coriander is cultivated in various parts of Continental Europe, and as already stated, to a small extent in England. It is also produced in Nortliern Africa and in India. In 1872—73, the export of coriander from the province of Sind ^ was 948 cwt. ; from Bombay^ in the same year 619 cwt. From Calcutta^ there were shipped in 1870-71, 16,347 cwt. Uses — Coriander fruits are reputed stimulant and carminative, yet are but little employed in medicine. They are however used in veteri- nary practice, and by the distillers of gin, also in some countries in cookery. FRUCTUS CUMINI. Fructus vel Semen Ct/mini ; Cumin or Cummin^ Fruits, Cu7nmin Seeds ; F. Graines de Cumin ; G. Mictterkwnmel, KreuzkiXtnmel, Langer oder Romischer Kilmmel, 31ohrenkilmmel. Botanical Origin — Cuminum Cyminum L., a small annual plant, indigenous to the upper regions of the Nile, but carried at an early period by cultivation to Arabia, India and China, as well as to the countries bordering the Mediterranean. The fruits of the plant ripen as far north as Southern Norway ; but in Europe, Sicily and Malta alone produce them in quantity. History — Cumin was well known to the ancients ; it is alluded to by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah,^ and is mentioned in the gospel of Mat- thew^ as one of the minor titheable productions of the Holy Land. Under the name 'Kvfxivov, it is commended for its agreeable taste by Dioscorides, in whose day it was produced on the coasts of Asia Minor and Southern Italy. It is named as Cmninum by Horace and Persius. During the middle ages, cumin -was one of the spices in most common use. Thus in a.p. 716, an annual provision of 150 ft), of cumin for the monastery of Corbie in Normandy, was not thought too large a supply.''' It was in frequent use in England, its average price between 1264 and 1400, being a little over 2d. per tb.^ Cumin is enumerated in the Liter albus^ of the city of London, compiled in 1419, among the merchandize on which the king levied the impost called scavage ; and is mentioned ^^ in 1453 as one of the articles of which the Grocers' Company had the weighing and oversight. Description — The fruit, the colour of which is brown, has the usual 1 statement of the Trade and Navigation Cummin, Eay (1698) and in modern trade- of Sind for the year \%7 2-1 Z, Karachi, 1873. lists and price-currents. 36. 5 Ch. xxviii. 25-27. « Ditto for Bombay, 1872-73. ii. 90. ^ Qh. xxiii. 23. 3 Annual Volume of Trade, die. for the '' Pardessus, Diploviata, etc., Paris, 1849. Bengal Presidency, 1870-71. 121. ii. 309. 4 Comyne in Wicklif s Bible (1380), Com- « Rogers, Hist, of Agriculture and Prices men in Tyndale's (1534), Commyn in Cran- in England, 1866. i. 631, ii. 543-547. mer's (1539), Cummine in the Authorized ^ Munimenta Gildhallcz. Londonicnsis, Version (1611), Cumin in Gerarde's Herhal edited by Eiley, i. (1859) 224. (1636) and Paris's Pharmacologic!, (1822), '^^ Berhert, Hist, of the Great Livery Com panies of London, 1834. 114. 296 VMB-ELLIFERJE. structure of the order ; it is of an elongated ovoid form, tapering towards eacli end, and somewhat laterally compressed. The mericarps which do not readily separate from the carpophore, are about \ of an inch in length and -^ of an inch in greatest breadth. Each has 5 primary ridges which are filiform, and scabrous or muriculate, and 4 secondary covered with rough hairs. Between the primary ridges is a single elongated vitta, and 2 vittae occur on the commissural surface. A transverse section of the seed shows a reniform outline. There is a form of G. Cyminiim in cultivation, the fruit of which is perfectly glabrous. Cumin has a strong aromatic taste and smell, analogous to but far less agreeable than that of caraway. Microscopic Structure — The hairs are rather brittle, sometimes ^ mm. in length, formed of cells springing from the epidermis. The larger consist of groups of cells, vertically or laterally combined, and enclosed by a common envelope ; the smaller of but a single cell ending in a rounded point. The whole pericarp is rich in tannic matter, striking with salts of iron a dark greenish colour. The tissue of the seed is loaded with colourless drops of a fatty oil ; the vittse with a yellowish-brown essential oil. But the most striking contents of the parenchyme of the albumen consist of transparent, colourless, spherical grains, 7 to 5 mkm. in diameter, several of which are enclosed in each cell. Under a high magnifying power, they show a central cavity with a series of concentric layers around it, frequently traversed by radial clefts. Examined in polarized light, these grains display exactly the same cross as is seen in granules of starch, although their behaviour with chemical tests at once proves that they are by no means that substance ; in fact iodine does not render them blue, but intensely brown. Grains of the same character, assuming sometimes a crystalloid form, occur in most umbelliferous fruits, and in many seeds of other orders. All these bodies are composed of albuminous and fatty matters; the more crystalloid form as met with in the seeds of JRicimos and in the fruit of parsley, is the body called by Hartig Aleuron. Chemical Composition — Cumin fruits yielded to Bley (1829) 7'7 per cent, of fat oil, 13 per cent, of resin (?), 8 of mucilage and gum, 15'5 of albuminous matter, and a large amount of malates. Their peculiar, strong, aromatic smell and taste, depend on the essential oil of which they afford about 3 per cent. Trapp ^ has shown that the fruits of Cicuta virosa L. contain the same oil to the extent of about 1^ per cent. Oil of cumin is a mixture of Cymol or Cymene, C^*^H^^ having sp. gr. 0'867 and boiling point 177° C. ; and Cuminol or CuminaldehycU, C-'^^H^^O, of sp. gr. 0-972, boiling point 236° C, the proportion of the latter in the crude oil being about 56 per cent. It also contains the hydrocarbon C^oH^^ according to Warren (1865), and Beilstein and Kupffer (1873). Cuminol possesses the smell and taste of cumin, while the . odour of cymol more resembles that of lemons. Oil of cumin deviates a ray of polarized light 10-2' to the right : the optical power of each of its con- stituents is nearly the same, that of cuminol being the less strong. Cymol may also be obtained by submitting coal-tar to dry distillation, or by distilling camphor with anhydrous phosphoric acid or dry chloride ^ Ann. der Chem. u. Pharm. cviii. (1858) 386. FLOBJUS SAME UCI. 297 of zinc. Oppenheim (1872) has showed^ that oil of turpentine is to be considered as a hydride of cyinol, and has indeed transformed terpin, the crystallized hydrate of the former into cymol. In the oil of Thymus vulgaris L,, cymol exists ready formed. Cuminol manifests the chemical properties of an aldehyde, inasmuch as it combines with alkaline bisulphites, and is easily transformed by oxidizing agents into the crystallizable Cuminic or Citmic Acid, Qiojji2Q2_ It also slowly oxidizes under the influence of air and water, yielding the same product.^ CommerGe — Cumin is shipped to England from Mogador, Malta and Sicily. In Malta there were in 1863, 140 acres under cultivation with this crop ; in 1865, 730 acres, producing 2766 cwt.^ The export of cumin from Morocco '^ in 1872 was 1657 cwt. ; that from Bombay in the year 1872-73 was 6766 cwt.f and 20,040 cwt. from Calcutta 6 in the year 1870-71. Uses — Cumin is sold by druggists as an ingredient of curry powders, bnt to a much larger extent for use in veterinary medicine. CAPEIFOLIACEvE. FLORES SAMBUCI. aider Flowers ; F. Fleurs de Sureau ; G-. Holunderhluthe, Fliederhlumen. Botanical Origin — Samhucus nigra L. — a large deciduous shrub or small tree, indigenous to Southern and Central Europe, Western Asia, the Crimea, the regions of the Caucasus and Southern Siberia. It is believed to be a native of England and Ireland, but not to be truly wild in Scotland. In other northern parts of Europe, as j^orway and Sweden, the elder appears only as an introduced plant. History — The Eomans, as w^e learn from Pliny, made use in medicine of the plant under notice as well as of the Dwarf Elder {8. Ehulus L.) Both kinds were employed in Britain by the ancient English and Welsh leeches,'^ and in the medicine of the school of Salernum. Description — The elder produces in the early summer, conspicuous, many-flowered cymes, 4 to 5 inches in diameter, of which the long peduncle divides into 5 branches, which subdivide once or several times by threes or fives, ultimately separating by repeated forking into slender, furrowed pedicels about \ of an inch long, each bearing a single flower. In the second or third furcations, the middle flower remains ^ Berichte der Deutschen Chem. Gesellsdi. ^ Annual Volume of Trade, &c. for the 1872.97. Bengal Fresidenaj for 1870-71. 121. ^ For further information on this oil see '' Leechdoms, So says Sir G. Baker, wlio has traced the laquale si adopra per le febre quartana, e introduction of Cinchona in a very able paper terzana, che venga con freddo : s'adopra in publislied in tlie Medical 'fransactioiis of tlie questo modo, cioe : College of Thysicians of London, iii. (1785) Se ne piglia dramme due, e si pista fina, 141-216. con passarla per setaccio ; e tre hore jirima * Namely No. 422, June 24-July 1 ; No. incirca, che debba venir la febre si mette in 426. July 22-29 ; No. 439. Oct, 21-28 ; No. iufusione in un bicchiero di vino bianco 545. Dec. 9-16. — We have examined the gagliardissimo, e quando il freddo com- copy at the British Museum. CORTEX GWCEONM. 307 time ; and in 1660, Willis, a physician of great eminence, reported it as coming into daily use. Among those who contributed powerfully to the diffusion of the new medicine, was Eobert Talbor alias Tabor. This singular personage having been apprenticed to an apothecary of Cambridge, settled in Essex where he practised medicine with much success. He afterwards came to London, and in 1672 published a small book called Pyretologia, a rational account of the, cause and, cure of agues (London, ] 2°). In this work, he by no means intimates that his method of cure depends on the use of bark. On the contrary, he cautions his readers against the dangerous effects of Jesuits' Powder, when administered by unskilful persons, yet admits that properly given, it is a " noble and safe medicine." Talbor's reputation increasing, he was appointed in 1678, physician in ordinary to Charles 11.,^ and on 27 July of the same year, received the honour of knighthood at Whitehall. But he was not a member of the College of Physicians; and to save him from attack, the king caused a letter to be written restraining that body from interfering with him in his medical practice.^ The following year, the king being ill of tertian fever at Windsor, Talbor cured him by his secret remedy.^ The same year Talbor visited France and Spain ^; and in the former country had the good fortune to cure the Dauphin of an attack of fever, and also treated with success other eminent persons.^ These happy results brought him into favour with Louis XIV., who induced him in consideration of a sum of 2,000 louis d'or and an annual pension of 2,000 livres, to explain his mode of treatment, which proved to consist in the administration of considerable doses of cinchona bark infused in wine.^ Talbor did not long enjoy his prosperity, for he died in 1681, aged about 40 years.''' LTpon his death, Louis XIV. ordered the publication of Talbor's method of cure, which accordingly appeared in 1682 in a small volume by Mcolas de Blegny, surgeon to the king.^ This was im- 1 This appointment made in consideration During Talbor's absence, Ms practice in of — " good and acceptable services per- London was carried on by his brother, Dr. formed," led to the issuing of a patent John Talbor, as is proved by an advertise- under the Privy Seal, dated? August, 1678, ment in the True, News or Mercurius Angli- granting to Sir Robert Talbor, an annuity of cus, January 7-10, 1679. £100 per annum, together with the profits ^ Lettres de Madame de Sevigni, nouv. M. and privileges appertaining to a physician in tome v. (1862) 559 ; also tome vi., letters of ordinary to the sovereign. 15 and 29 Sept. .and 6 Oct. 1679. ^ Baker, I.e. — The physicians both in *> Les admirahles qualitez dv, KinkirM eori' England and France were exceedingly jealous firmies 'par plusieurs experiences, Paris, 1689. of the successes of an irregular practitioner 12°. like Talbor, and averse to admit the merits ^ jje was buried in Trinity Church, Cam- of his practice. Yet D'Aquin, first phy- bridge, where a monumental inscription sician to Louis XIV., prescribed Vin de describes him as — " Febrium, malleus " —and Quinquina, as well as powdered bark, for physician to Charles II., Louis XIV., and the King in 1686. — See J. A. le Eoi, Journal the Dauphin of France. In Talbor's will, dela santi du roi Louis XIV., Paris, 1862. proved hj his v/idow Dame Elizabeth, 171. 431. 18 Nov. 1681,. and preserved at Doctors' ^ Eecueil des'nouvelles etc. pendant I'annee Commons, mention is made of an only son, 1679 (Paris, 1780) 466.— This includes the Philip Louis. Gazette de Finance, 23 Sept. 1679. — In the ^ Le Remede anglais pour la guerison des Recueil of the following year (p. 275), the fievres, publie par ordre du Roy, avec les King is said to have had another attack of ohservationsdeMonsie^crlepreynierMedecinde fever at Windsor, for which he took " du, sa Majesfe, sur la composition, les vertus, et Quinquina prdjJari," which again cured him. I'usage de ce remede, par Nicolas de Blegny, ^ His journey to the latter country was Chirurgien ordinaire du corps de Monsieur, made in the suite of the young queen of et Directeur de I'Academie des nouvelles de- Spain, Louise d'Orleans, niece of Louis XIV., couvertes de Medecine, Paris, 1862. 12°. of whom he is described as premier medecin. X 2 308 RUBIACEM mediately translated into English, under the title oi The English Remedy: or, Talbor's Wonclerfid Secret for Ciireing of Agues and Feavers. — Sold ly the Author Sir Bohert Talbor to the most Christian King, and since his Death, ordered hy his Majesty to he puhlifthed in French, for the benefit of his subjects, and 7iow translated into English for Publick Good (Lond. 1682). Cinchona bark -was now accepted into the domain of regular medicine, though its efficacy was by no means universally acknowledged. It jfirst appeared in the London Pharmacopoeia in 1677, under the name of Cortex Peruanus. For the first accurate information on the botany of Cinchona, science is indebted to the French.^ Charles-Marie de la Condamine, while occupied in common with Bouguer and Godin, as an astronomer from 1736 to 1743, in measuring the arc of a degree near Quito, availed himself of the opportunity to investigate the origin of the famous Peruvian Bark. On the 3rd and 4th of February, 1737, he visited the Sierra de Cajanuma, 2-|- leagues from Loxa, and there collected specimens of the tree now known as Cinchona oficinalis var. a. Condaminea. At that period, the very large trees had already become rare, but there were still specimens having trunks thicker than a man's body. Cajanuma was the home of the first cinchona bark brought to Europe ; and in early times it enjoyed such a reputation, that certificates drawn up before a notary were provided, as proof that parcels of bark were the produce of that favoured locality.^ Joseph de Jussieu, botanist to the French expedition with which La Condamine was connected, gathered, near Loxa in 1739, a second Cinchona subsequently named by Vahl, C. inibescens, a species of no medicinal value. In 1742, Linnseus established the genus Cinchona,^ and in 1753 first described the species C. officinalis, recently restored and exactly characterised by Hooker, aided by specimens supplied to him by Mr. Howard. The cinchona trees were believed to be confined to the region around Loxa, until 1752 when Miguel de Santisteban, superintendent of the mint at Santa F^ discovered some species in the neighbourhood of Popayan and Pasto. In 1761, Jose Celestino Mutis, physician to the Marquis de la Vega, viceroy of New Granada, arrived at Carthagena from Cadiz, and immediately set about collecting materials for writing a Flora of the country. This undertaking he carried on with untiring energy, especially from the year 1782 until the end of his life in 1808, — first for seven years at Eeal del Sapo and Mariquita at the foot of the Cordillera de Quindiu, and subsequently at Santa F^ de Bogota. 1 Sur Varbrt de, Quinquina jjar M. dc la ^ Markham has vigorously contended that Condamine — Mem. de VAcadimie royale des the Linnaan name Cinchona should be Sciences x>our I'annee 1738. pp. 226-243, altered to Chincliona as more in accordance with two plates. with the derivation of the word, and as ^ This classic spot in the history of Cin- better commemorating the services of the chona, was visited in September 1861 by ' countess of Chinchon. But the incon- Kobert Cioss, who succeeded in bringing veiiience of changing so well-established a therefrom an abundant supply of the seeds name and its many derivatives, has out- of C. officinalis var. Coinlaminca, which in weighed these considerations ; and Mr. February of the year following, germinated JIarkham's proposal has not met with freely at Ootacamund in India. general acceptance either by botanists, phar- maceutists or chemists. CORTEX CINGHONM 309 Mutis gave np liis medical appointment in 1772, for the purpose of entering a religions order, and ten years later was entrusted by the Government with the establishment and direction of a large museum of natural history, first at Mariquita, afterwards at Santa Fe. A position similar to that of Mutis in New Granada, had also been conferred in 1777 on the botanists Hipolito Ruiz and Jose Pavon with regard to Southern Peru, whence originated the well-known Flora Peruviana et ChiUnsis^ as well as most important direct contributions to our knowledge on the subject of Cinchona. About the same time (1776), Renquizo (Renquifo or Renjifo) found cinchona trees in the neighbourhood of Huanuco, in the central tract of Peru, whereby the monopoly of the district of Loxa was soon broken up. Numerous and important quinological discoveries were subsequently made by Mutis, or rather by his pupils Caldas, Zea, and Eestrepo,^ as well as on the other hand by Euiz and Pavon, and their successors Tafalla and Manzanilla. Mutis did not bring his labours to any definite conclusion, and his extensive botanical collections and 5,000 coloured drawings, were sent to Madrid only in 1817, and there remained in a lamentable state of neglect. Some of his observations first appeared in print in 1793—94, under the title of El Arcccno de la Quina in the Diario, a local paper of Santa Fe, and were reprinted at Madrid in 1828 by Don Manuel Hernandez de Gregorio. The botanical descriptions of the cinchonas of New Granada, forming the fourth part of the Arcano, remained forgotten and lost to science until rescued by Markham and published in 1867.^ The drawings belonging to the descriptions were photographed and engraved a little later, and form part of Triana's Nouvelles Etudes sur les Quinquinas, which appeared in 1870. The two Peruvian botanists succeeded somewhat better in securing their results. Euiz in 1792, in his Quinologia,^ and in 1801 conjointly with Pavon in a supplement thereto,^ brought together a portion of their important labours relating to cinchona. But an essential part called Nueva Quinologia, written between 1821 and 1826, remained unpublished ; and after an oblivion of over thirty years, it came by purchase into the hands of Mr. John Eliot Howard who published it, and with rare liberality enriched it with 27 magnificent coloured plates, mostly taken from the very specimens of Pavon lying in the herbarium of Madrid. Between the pupils of Mutis on the one hand, and those of Euiz and Pavon on the other, there arose an acrimonious controversy regarding their respective discoveries, which has been equitably summarized by Triana in the work just mentioned. Production — The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns. Those who are engaged 1 Published at Madrid, 1798-1802, in 4 ^ Markham, CMnchona Bioecies of New volumes folio, with 425 plates. Granada, Loud. 1867. ^ " . . Mutis n'avait qu'une notion in- * Quinologia, 6 tratado del drhol de la exacte et confuse du genre Cinchona et de Quina 6 Cascarilla, Madrid, 1792. 4°. ses veritables caracteres ; c'est en definitive pp. 103. qu'aucune de ses especes, dans le sens strict ^ Supplemento d la Quinologia, Madrid, du mot, n'a ete reconnue ni decouverte par 1801. 4°. pp. 154. lui." — Triana, Nouv. Etudes, p. 8. 310 BUBIACEJ3. in the business, especially the collectors themselves, are called Casca- rilleros or Cascadores, from the Spanish word Cascara, bark. A major- domo at the head of the collectors, directs the proceedings of the several bands in the forest itself, where provisions and afterwards the produce are stowed away in huts of slight construction. Arrot in 1736, and Weddell and Karsten in our own day, have given from personal observation, a striking picture of these operations. The cascarillero having found his tree, has usually to free its stem from the luxuriant climbing and parasitic plants with which it is en- circled. This done, he begins in most cases at once to remove after a previous beating, the sapless layer of outer bark. In order to detach the valuable inner bark, longitudinal and transverse incisions are made as high as can be reached on the stem. The tree is then felled, and the peeling completed. In most cases, but especially if previously beaten, the bark separates easily from the wood. In many localities it has to be dried by a fire made on the floor of a hut, the bark being placed on hurdles above, — a most imperfect arrangement. In Southern Peru and Bolivia however, according to Weddell, even the thickest Calisaya bark is dried in the sun without requiring the aid of fire. The thinner bark as it dries, rolls up into tubes or quills called canutos or canutillos, while the pieces stripjDed from the trunks are made to dry flat by being placed one upon another and loaded with weights, and are then known as flanclia or tabla. The bark of the root was formerly neglected, but is now in several instances brought into the market. After drying, the barks are either assorted, chiefly according to size, or all are packed without distinction in sacks or bales. In some places, as at Popayan, the bark is even stamped, in order to reduce its bulk as much as possible. The dealers in the export towns enclose the bark in serons^ of raw bullock-hide, which, contracting as it dries, tightly compresses the contents (100 lb. or more) of the package. In many places however, wooden chests are used for the packing of bark. Conveyance to the Coast and Commercial Statistics — The ports to which bark is conveyed for shipment to Europe, are not very numerous. Guayaquil on the Pacific coast is the most important for the produce of Ecuador. The quantity shipped thence in 1871 was 7,859 quintals.^ Pitayo bark is largely exported from Buenaventura in the Bay of Choco further north. Payta the most northerly port of Peru, and Callao the port of Lima likewise export bark, the latter being the natural outlet for the barks of Central Peru from Huanuco to Cusco. Islay, and moi'e particularly Arica, receive the valuable Ijarks of Carabaya and of the high valleys of Bolivia. The barks of Peru and Bolivia now find an outlet also by the Amazon and its tributaries, and are shipped to Europe from ports of Brazil. Howard^ has given an interesting account of one of the first attempts to utilize this eastern route, made by Senr. Pedro Pada in 1868. There is a large export of the barks of New Granada, principally ^ From zurron, the Spanish name for a ' ConsiUar Ra])orts, presented to Parlia- pouch or game-bag. inent, July 1872. 3 Seeniann's Journ. of Bot. vi. (1S68) 323. CORTEX CINCHONA. 311 from Santa Marta, whence the shipments^ in 1871 were 3,415,149 lb. ; and in 1872, 2,758,991 ib. From the neighbouring port of Savanilla which represents the city of Barranqiiilla, tlie sea-terminus of the navigation of the Magdalena, the export of bark in 1871 was 1,043,835 ib., value £38,715.^ Some Cinchona bark is also shipped from Venezuela hj way of Puerto Cabello. The quantity of bark appearing in the Annual Statement of Trade, as "Peruvian Bark," imported into the United Kingdom in 1872, was 28,451 cwt., valued at £285,620; of which, 11,843 cwt. was shipped from New Granada, 4,668 cwt. from Ecuador, and 5,829 cwt. from Peru, the remainder being entered as from the ports of Chili, Brazil, Central America and other countries. Cultivation — The reckless system of bark-cutting in the forests of South America, which has resulted in the utter extermination of the tree from many localities, has aroused the attention of the Old World, and has at length prompted serious efforts to cultivate the tree on a large scale in other countries. The idea of cultivating Cinchonas out of their native regions was advanced by Euiz in 1792, and by F6e of Strassburg in 1824.^ Eoyle* pointed out in 1839, that suitable localities for the purpose might be found in the Neilgherry Hills and probably in many other parts of India, and argued indefatigably in favour of the introduction of the tree. The subject was also urged in reference to Java in 1837 by Fritze, director of medical affairs in that island; in 1846 by Miquel, and subsequently by other Dutch botanists and chemists.^ Living Cinchonas had been taken to Algeria as early as 1849, by the intervention of the Jesuits of Cusco, but their cultivation met with no siiccess. Weddell in 1848, brought cinchona seeds from South America to France, and strenuously insisted on the importance of cultivating the plant. His seeds, especially those of C. Galisaya, germinated at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and in June 1850, living seedlings were sent to Algeria; and in April 1852, through the Dutch C-overnment, to Java. The first important attempts at cinchona-cultivation were made by the Dutch. Under the auspices of the Colonial Minister Pahud, after- wards Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, the botanist Hasskarl was despatched to Peru for the purpose of obtaining seeds and plants. His mission was so far successful, that a collection of plants contained in 21 Wardian cases, was shipped in August 1854 from Callao, in a frigate sent expressly to receive them. Notwithstanding every care, the plants did not reach Java in good condition ; and when Hasskarl resigned his appointment in 1856, he bequeathed to his successor Junghuhn, only 167 young cinchonas, though 400 specimens had been shipped from South America. An impulse to the project of cinchona-planting was given in 1852 by Eoyle, in a report addressed to the East India Company, in which he pointed out, that the Government of India were then spending more than ^ Consular Eeports, August 1873. 743. ■* Illustratimis of the Bot. of the Himalayan 2 Ibid. August 1872. Mountains, i. (1839) 240. ^ Cours d'Hist. nat. pharmaceutique, ii. ® According to Van Gorkom, suggestions (1828) 252. to the same end were made to the Dutcli Government as early as 1829 by Eeinwardt. 312 RUBIACEM £7,000 a year for Cincliona bark, in addition to about £25,000 for quinine.^ After some unsatisfactory endeavours on the part of the British Government to obtain plants and seeds through the intervention of H. M. Consuls in South America, Mr. Clements Eobert Markham offered his services, which were accepted. Mr. Markham, though not a professed botanist, was well qualified for the task by a previous acquaintance with the country and people of Peru and Bolivia, and by a knowledge of the Spanish and Quichua languages, — and even more so by a rare amount of zeal, intelligence, and forethought. Being fully aware of the diffi- culties of the undertaking, he earnestly insisted that nothing should be neglected which could ensure success ; and in particular made repeated demands for a steam-vessel to convey the young plants across the Pacific " to India, which unfortunately were not complied with. He further urged the desirableness of not confining operations to a single district, but of en- deavouring to procure by different collectors all the more valuable species. The prudence of this latter suggestion was evident, and Markham was enabled to engage the services of Eichard Spruce, the distinguished botanist, then resident in Ecuador, who expressed his readiness to undertake a search for the Bed Bark trees {0. succiriibra) in the forests of Chimborazo. He also secured the co-operation of G. J. Pritchett for the neighbourhood of Huanuco, and of two skilful gardeners, John Weir and Eobert Cross. The last-named was employed in 1861 to procure seeds of G. o-fficinalis from the Sierra de Cajanuma near Loxa, and in 1863—64 those of G. Pitayensis from the province of Pitayo in Ecuador.^ Markham reserved for himself the border-lands of Peru and Bolivia, in order to obtain G. Galisaya ; and for this purpose started from Islay in March 1860. Arriving in the middle of April by way of Arequipa and Puno, at Crucero, the capital of the province of Carabaya, he made his way to the village of Sandia, near which he met with the first speci- mens of Ginchona in the form of the shrubby variety of G. Galisaya, termed Josephiana. He afterwards found the better variety a. vera, and also G. ovata E. et P., G. micrantha E. et P., and G. pubescens Vahl. Of these sorts, but chiefly of the first three, 456 plants were shipped at Islay in June 1860. In consequence of the hostile attitude of the people, and the jealousy of the Bolivian Government, lest an important monopoly should be broken up, added to the difficulties arising from insalubrious climate and the want of roads, the obstacles encountered by Markham were very great, and no attempt could be made to wait for the ripening of the seeds of the Calisaya, which takes place in the month of August.^ The expedition of Spruce was successful, but was also attended with much difficulty and danger, of which there are vivid pictures in the 1 Tn 1870, the Indian Government pur- Under Secretary of State for India on the chased no less than 81,600 ounces of sulphate Pitayo Chinchona, by Robt. Cross, 1865. of quinine, besides 8,832 ounces of tlie sul- •* Great difficulty was at first experienced in phates of cinchonine, cinchonidine anil qui- successfully conveying living Cinchona plants nidiue. The quantities bought in subsequent to India, even in Wardian cases ; and the col- years have been much smaller until the lections formed by Hasskarl, Markham, and present year (1874). Pritchett almost all pi^rished after reaching * Report on the Expedition to procure seeds their destination (Markharu's letter, 26 Feb. of C. C'ondaminea [1862] ; also Report to the 1861). But the propagation by seed has proved very rayiid. CORTI'JX CINCHON.K 313 interesting narratives by himself and by Cross, published in the Par- liamentary Keturns of 1863 and 1866.^ The service entrusted to Pritchett was also efficiently performed ; and he succeeded in bringing to Southampton, six cases containing plants of C. micrantlia and G. nitida, besides a large supply of seeds. Some important supplies of plants and seed for British India have likewise been obtained from the Dutch plantations in Java. Seeds of G. lancifolia, the tree affording the valuable bark of New Granada, were procured through Dr. Karsten. Those of an excellent variety of G. Gcdisaya, obtained in the Bolivian province of Caupolican in 1865 by Mr. Charles Ledger,^ have afforded trees which in Java have yielded bark of extraordinary goodness. It is probable that this variety will henceforth be very largely cultivated, especially in the Dutch plantations. Previously to the arrival in India of the first consignment of plants, careful inquiries were instituted from a meteorological and geological point of view, as to the localities most adapted for the cultivation. This resulted in the selection for the first trial, of certain spots among the Neilgherry (or Nilgiri) Hills on the south-west coast of India and in the INIadras Presidency. Of this district, the chief town is Ootacamund (or Utakamand), situated about 60 miles south of Mysore and the same distance from the Indian Ocean. Here the first plantation was esta- blished in a woody ravine, 7,000 feet above the sea-level, a spot pro- nounced by Mr. Markham to be exceedingly analogous, as respects vegetation and climate, to the Cinchona valleys of Carabaya. Other plantations were formed in the same neighbourhood, and so rapid was the propagation, that in September 1866, there were more than 1^ millions of Cinchona plants on the ISTeilgherry Hills alone.^ The species that grows best there is G. officinalis. The number was stated to be in 1872, 2,639,285, not counting the trees of private planters. The largest are about 30 feet high, with trunks over 3 feet in girth. The area of the Government plantations on the IsTeilgherry Hills is 950 acres.* Plantations have also been made in the coffee-producing districts of Wynaad, and in Coorg, Travancore and Tinnevelly, in all instances we believe, as private speculations. Cinchona plantations have been established by the Government of India in the valleys of the Himalaya in British Sikkim,-'' and some have been started in the same region by private enterprise. In the former there were on the 31 March, 1870, more than 1^ millions of plants permanently placed, the species growing best being G. succiruhra and G. Galisaya. The Cinchona plantation of Eungbi near Darjiling (British Sikkim) covered in 1872, 2,000 acres. In the Kangra valley of the Western Himalaya, plantations have been commenced, as well as in the Bombay Presidency, and in British Burma. 1 Correspondence relating to the introduc- Graham Mclvor, who by his rare practical tion of the Chinchuna Plant into India, skill and sagacity in the cultivation and ordered by the House of Commons to be management of the tree, has rendered most printed 20 March, 1863 and 18 June, 1866. signal services in its propagation in India. 2 Pharm. Journ., July 12, 1873. 25. ^ Moral and material progress and condi- 3 Blue Book (Chinchona Cultivation) tion of India during 1871-72, presented to 1870. p. 30. — A name that must always be Parliament 1873. p. 33. remembered in connection with the Neil- ^ The first annual Report dates from 1S62 gherry plantations, is that of William to 1863. 3L4 RUBIACE^K Ceylon offers favourable spots for the cultivation of Cinchona, in the mountain region which occupies the centre of the island, as at Hak- galle near Isl euera-Ellia, 5,000 feet above the sea, where a plantation was formed by Government in 1861. The production of bark has been taken \ip with spirit by the coffee-planters of Ceylon. The Government of India has acted with the greatest liberality in distributing plants and seeds of Cinchona, and in promoting the cultiva- tion of the tree among the people of India ;^ and it has freely granted supplies of seed to other countries. The plantations of Java commenced by Hasskarl, increased under Junghuhn's management to such an extent, that in December 1862 there were 1,360,000 seedlings and young trees, among which however, the more valuable species, as G. Calisaya, G. Icmcifolia, G. micrantJia and G. siicciruh-a. were by far the least numerous, whereas G. Pahudiana of which the utility was by no means well established, amounted to over a million. The disproportionate multiplication of this last was chiefly due to it quickly yielding an abundance of seeds, and to its rapid and vigorous growth. Another defect in the early Dutch system of cultiva- tion arose from the notion that the Cinchona requires to be grown in the shade of other trees, and to *a less successful plan of multiplying by cuttings and layers. These and other matters were the source of animated and often bitter discussions, which terminated on the one hand by the death of Junghuhn in 1864, and on the other by the skilful investigations of De Vry. This eminent chemist was despatched by the Government of Holland in 1857 to Java, that he might devote his chemical knowledge to the investigation of the natural productions of the island, including the then newly introduced Cinchona. In connexion with the latter, De Vry did not confine his attention to Java, but visited the plantations of Ceylon and Ootacamund, thereby gathering information that was utilized to the best advantage. In fact under K. W. van Gorkom, who was appointed superintendent in 1864, the Dutch plantations have assumed a very prosperous state. They are now rich in G. Galisaya, which thrives there better than G. officinalis ; while the propagation of G. Pahudiana has been abandoned since the year 1862.^ The history of the transplantation of the Cinchona has been made the siibject of an exhaustive report laid before the Societe d'Acclimata- tion of France, by Delondre and Soubeiran,^ in which are recorded the attempts that have been made to introduce the tree into Brazil, Mexico, the West Indies, and even into the warmer parts of Europe. Cinchona Bark from the Indian plantations began to be brought into the London market in 1867,"* and now arrives in constantly increasing quantities. Description — (A). Of GincJiona Barks generally. — In the develop- ment of their bark, the various species of Cinchona exhibit considerable 1 Up to January 1870, more than 178,000 des Cinclionas dans hs Indcs neerlandaises et plants had been distributed from the Neil- anglaiscs, Paris 1868. f/herry plantations to private individuals. ^ When I was in London, in August 1867, 2 Yet the plantations are maintained, and I went to Finsbury Place, to meet Mr. the bark, which is of good appearance, i.s Spruce, and was happy enough to find there brought in some quantity into the European also Mr. Howard, who presented Mr. S. and market. Though poor in alkaloids, it is myself with market samples of the yir.9< im- rich in cincho-tannic acid. ]iortatiou of C. succirubra, from Deuison 3 Dc Vivtroductiim et de, V acdimritation plantation, Ootacamund. — F. A. F. CORTEl CINCIWN.K 315 diversity. Many are distinguislied from an early stage by an abundant exfoliation of the outer surface, while in others this takes place to a smaller degree, or only as the bark becomes old. The external appearance of the barks varies therefore very much, by reason of the greater or less development of the suberous coat. The barks of young stems and branches, have a greyish tint more or less intense, while the outer bark of old wood displays the more characteristic shades of brown or red, especially after removal of the corky layers. In the living bark, these colours are very pale, and only acquire their final hue by exposure to the air, and drying. Some of them however are characteristic of individual species, or at least of certain groups, so that the distinctions originated by the bark- collectors oi pale, yellow, red, &c.^ and adopted by druggists, are not without reason. In texture, the barks vary in an important manner by reason of diversity in anatomical structure. Their fracture especially, depends upon the number, size and arrangement of the liber fibres, as will be shown in our description of their microscopic characters. The taste in all species is bitter and disagreeable, and in some there is in addition a decided astringency. Most species have no marked odour, at least in the dried state. But this is not the case in that of C. officinalis, the smell of which is characteristic. (B). Of the BarTis used in fliarmacy. — For pharmaceutical prepara- tions as distinguished from the pure alkaloids and their salts, the Cinchona barks employed are chiefly of three kinds. 1. Fale Cincliona Bark, Loxa Bark, Croion Bark} — This bark, which previous to the use of quinine and for long afterwards was the ordinary Peruvian Bark of English medicine, is only found in the form of quills, which are occasionally as much as a foot in length, but are more often only a few inches or are reduced to still smaller fragments. The quills are from | down to \ of an inch in diameter, often double, and variously twisted and shrunken. The thinnest bark is scarcely stouter than writing paper ; the thickest may be -^ of an inch or more.^ The pieces have a blackish brown or dark greyish external surface, variously blotched with silver-grey, and often beset with large and beautiful lichens. The surface of some of the quills is longitudinally wrinkled and moderately smooth; but in the majority it is distinctly marked by transverse cracks, and is rough and harsh to the touch. The inner side is closely striated and of a bright yellowish brown. The bark breaks easily with a fracture which exhibits very short fibres on the inner side. It has a well-marked odour sui generis, and an astringent bitter taste. Though chiefly afforded by G. officinalis, some other species occasionally contribute to furnish the Loxa Eark of com- merce, as shown in the conspectus at p. 318. 2. Galisaya Bark, Yellovj CincJiona Bark.^ — This bark, which is the most important of those commonly used in medicine, is found in flat ^ The following are common terms in re- ^ In the old collections of the Eoyal Col- ference to the barks of Peru : — Amarilla lege of Physicians, there are specimens of (yellow), Uanca (white), colorada or roja very thick Loxa liark, of a quality quite (red), naranjada (oY'dngc), negrilla {hro-wn}. unknown there at the present day. They are ^ Cortex Cinchonoe pallidce ; F. Quinquina doubtless the produce of ancient trees, such Loxa ; G. Loxachina. The term Croivti as were noticed by La Condamine. Bark was ojiginally restricted to a superior * Cortex Cinchonce. fiavcB, Cortex CMnoi sort of Loxa Bark, shipped for the use of regius ; F. Quinquina Calisay a ; G. Konigs- the royal family of Spain. china. 316 rvbiacejE. ])ieces (a,), and in qnills (/3.), botli afforded by G. Calisaya Wedd., tliongh usually imported separately. a. Flat Calisaya — is in irregular flat pieces, a foot or more in length by 3 to 4 inches wide, but usually smaller, and ^^ to y^- of an inch in thickness; devoid of suberous layer and consisting almost solely of liber, of uniform texture, compact, and ponderous. Its colour is a rusty orange-brown, with darker stains on the outer surface. The latter is roughened with shallow longitudinal depressions, sometimes called digital furrows} The inner side has a wavy, close, fibrous texture. The bark breaks transversely with a fibrous fracture ; the fibres of the broken ends are very short, easily detached, and with a lens are seen to be many of them faintly yellowish and translucent. A well-marked variety known as Bolivian Calisaya, is distinguished for its greater thinness, closer texture, and for containing numerous laticiferous ducts which are wanting in common flat Calisaya bark. (3. Quill Calisaya, — is found in tubes | to \\ inch thick, often rolled np at both edges, thus forming double quills. They are always coated with a thick, rugged, corky layer, inarked with deep longitudinal and transverse cracks, the edges of which are somewhat elevated. This suberous coat which is silvery white or greyish, is easily detached, leaving its impression on the cinnamon-brown middle layer. The inner side is dark brown and finely fibrous. The transverse fracture is fibrous but very short. The same bark also occurs in quills of very small size, and is then not distinguishable w4th certainty from Loxa bark. 3. Re,d Cincliona Bark. — Though still retaining a place in the British Pharmacopoeia, this is by far the least important of the Cinchona barks employed in pharmacy. But as the tree yielding it [C. succiruhra), is now being cultivated on a large scale in India, the bark may probably come more freely into use. Ked Bark of large stems, which is the most esteemed kind, occurs in the form of flat or channelled pieces, sometimes as much as |- an inch in thickness, coated with their suberous envelope which is rugged and warty. Its outermost layer in the young bark has a silvery appearance. The inner surface is close and fibrous and of a brick-red hue. The bark breaks with a short fibrous fracture.^ Some very fine Bed Bark recently imported from Ceylon (1873), is in stout channelled or quilled pieces 20 inches long, internally of a reddish brown. It is stated to be rich in alkaloids, two-fifths of which are quinine and quinidine ; and has been sold in London at a high price. (C). Of the Barks not used in pharmacy. — Among the non-officinal barks, the most important are afforded by Cinchona lancifolia Mutis and C. Fitayensis Wedd., natives of the Cordilleras of Columbia. These barks are largely imported and used for making quinine, the former under the names of Cokimhian, Carthagena, or Caqucta hark. It varies much in appearance, but is generally of an orange-brown ; the corky coat, which scales off easily, is shining and whitish. The barks of C. lancifolia often occur in fine large quills or thick flattish pieces. Their anatomical structure agrees in all the varieties which we have examined, in the remarkable number of thick-walled and tangentially ^ From the notion that they resembh) the ^ Tliiok Ecd Bark tliat happens to have a marks left by drawing the fingers over wet very deep and brilliant tint, is eagerly clay. bought at a high price for the Paris market. CORTEX CINCHONM 317 extended cells of the middle cortical layer and the medullary rays. In percentage of alkaloids, Carthagena barks are liable to great variation. The Pitayo Barks are restricted to the south-western districts of Columbia,! and are usually imported in short jElattish fragments,' or broken quills, of brownish rather than orange colour, mostly covered with a dull greyish or internally reddish cork. The middle cortical layer exhibits but few thick-walled cells ; the liber is traversed by very wide medullary rays, and is provided with but a small number of widely scattered liber fibres, which are rather thinner than in most other Cinchona barks. The Pitayo barks are usually rich in alkaloids, quinine prevailing. Cinchona Pitayensis is one of the hardiest species of the valuable Cinchonas, and is therefore particularly suitable for cultivation, which however has not yet been carried out as largely as that of either C. officinalis or G. succirubra. In the Conspectus on the next page, we have arranged the principal species of Cinchona, with short indications of the barks which some of them afford.^ Microscopic Structure — The first examination of the minute structure of Cinchona barks is due to Weddell, whose observations have been recorded in one of his beautiful plates published in 1849.^ Since that time numerous other observers have laboured in the same field of research. General Characters. — These barks as contrasted with those of other trees, do not exhibit any great peculiarities of structure; and their features may be comprehended in the following statements. The epidermis in the anatomical sense, occurs only in the youngest barks, which are not found, in commerce. The corky layer which replaces the epidermis, is constructed of the usual tabular cells. In some species as C. Calisaya, it separates easily, at least in the older bark, whereas in others as C. succirubra, the bark even of trunks is always coated with it. In several species the corky tissue is not only found on the surface, but strips of it occur also in the inner substance of the bark. In this case the portions of tissue external to the inner corky layers or bands, are thrown off as lork-scales {^periderm of Weddell). This peculiar form of suberous tissue* was first examined (not in cinchona) in 1845 by H. von Mohl, who called it rhytido)7ia (Borke of the Germans). In C. Calisaya it is of constant occurrence, but not so in G. succirubra and some others ; the rhytidoma therefore affords a good means of distinguishing several barks. The inner portion of the bark exhibits a jydddle or primary layer {mesoiMoeum),^ made up of parenchyme ; and a second inner layer or liber (endophloeu7ii) ^ displaying a much more complicated structure. The primary layer disappears if rhytidoma is formed : barks in which this is the case are therefore at last exclusively composed of liber, of which Flat Calisaya Bark is a good example. The liber is traversed by medullary rays, which in cinchona are 1 Pitayo is an Indian village eastward of ^ Mist. nat. des Quinquinas, tab. ii. Popayan, see map of the country between ^ Fliickiger, Grundlagen, Berlin, 1872. 61. Pasto and Bogota in Blue Book (East India fig. 48. Chincliona Plant) 1866. 257. ^ Enveloppe ou tunique cellulaire of 2 Two species included by "Weddell in his Weddell ; Mittelrinde of the Germans, recent Notes sur les Quinquinas, namely G. ^ In German Bast, or Phloem of modern Chomeliana Wedd. and C. (?) JBarhacoensis German botany. Karst., have been omitted, as not in our opinion belonging to the genus. fi -3 3^0 , 03 ^ 73 c« p2 : fH j^ o H CL, pijpj >z; PL, i2;_,aHaFL,pHCL|«PHP-lPH o'S ^ f- t- ^ f-l Q 03 O 03 (D 03 Ph ft, PL| P^ l?S m td w Iff 5 O Qj 'U O OJ O ^ a o M Ci r-t rH .n ^' ^' o o W W 5: ^ .£3 o :tf S a ^ to O 03 • Ti c3 03 jj §3^ pi M a f^::: ?/B n^ c3 rt ;i ^ o -ts ~ o i=l «.H-r\. a .S3 -^ 2 "^ ^ ■- m3 fl) « o . ■g -g -k: ph ^ 5 W 3 fe 3' Ph "3 ^ " a " o == .« - a > c a :3 t- CO 0. o -H rH r-i r-< C^ C^ CO 1-- CO a, o CORTEX CINCTJON,K 319 mostly very obvious, and project more or less distinctly into the middle cortical tissue. The liber is separated by the medullary rays into wedges/ which are constituted of a parenchymatous part and of yellow or orange fibres. The number, colour, shape, and size, but chiefly the arrangement of these fibres, confer a certain character common to all the barks of the group under consideration. The liber-fibres ^ are elongated and bluntly pointed at their ends but never branched, mostly spindle-shaped, straight or slightly curved, and not exceeding in length 3 millimetres. They are consequently of a simpler structure than the analogous cells of most other officinal barks. They are about ^ to |- mm. thick, their transverse section ex- hibiting a quadrangular rather than a circular outline. Their walls are strongly thickened by numerous secondary deposits, the cavity being reduced to a narrow cleft, a structure which explains the brittleness of the fibres. The liber-fibres are either irregularly scattered in the liber- rays, or they form radial lines transversely intersected by narrow strips of parenchyme, or they are densely packed in short bundles. It is a peculiarity of cinchona barks that these bundles consist always of a few fibres (3 to 5 or 7), whereas in many other barks (as cinnamon), analogous bundles are made up of a large number of fibres. Barks provided with long bundles of the latter kind, acquire therefrom a very fibrous fracture, whilst cinchona barks from their short and simple fibres, exhibit a short fracture. It is rather granular in Calisaya bark, in which the fibres are almost isolated by parenchymatous tissue. In the bark of C. scrohiculata, a somewhat short fibrous fracture^ is due to the arrangement of the fibres in radial rows. In C. pubescens, the fibres are in short bundles and produce a rather woody fracture. Besides the liber-fibres, there are some other cells contributing to the peculiarity of individual cinchona barks. This applies chiefly to the laticifero'us ducts or vessels * which are found in many sorts ; they are scattered through the tissue intervening between the middle cortical layer and the liber, and consist of soft, elongated, unbranched cells, mostly exceeding in diameter the neighbouring parenchymatous cells. As to the contents of the tissue of cinchona barks, crystallized alkaloids are not undoubtedly visible. Howard has published figures represent- ing minute rounded aggregations of crystalline matter in the cells, which he supposes to be kinates of the alkaloids; and also distinct acicular crystals which he holds to be of the same nature. These remarkable appearances are easily observable, yet only after sections of the bark have been boiled for a minute in weak caustic alkali and then washed with water ; it may well be doubted whether they are strictly natural. The greater number of the parenchymatous cells are loaded with small starch granules, or in young and fresh barks with chlorophyll. In several barks, as in that of C. lancifolia Mutis, numerous cells of the middle cortical layer and even of the medullary rays, are provided with somewhat thick walls, and contain either a soft brown mass or crystalline oxalate of calcium. These cells have therefore been called resin-cells and crystal-cells ; they are mostly isolated, not forming 1 Baststrahlen or PMoemstrahlen of the ^ Fracture filandreuse, 'WeM.&W; fddiger Germans. BrucJi of the Germans. * Fibres corticales of Weddell ; Bastr'ohren ■* Vaisseaux laticiferes of Wcddell ; Milch- ox Bastzellen in German. saftschldioche in German. 320 RUBIACEJE. extensive groups or zones, and their walls are not strongly thickened as in true sclerenchyniatous tissue. If thin sections of the barks are moistened Math dilute alcoholic perchloride of iron, the walls of the cells, except the fibres and the cork, assume a blackish-green due to cincho- tannic acid ; this applies even to the starch granules. Characters of particular sorts. — The moditications of general structure just described, are sufficient to impart a special character to the bark of many species of Cinchona, provided the bark is examined at its full development; the structural peculiarities being far from well-marked in young barks. Thus, it is not possible to point out any distinctive features for the Loxa Bark of commerce, because it is mostly taken from young wood. We may say of it, that neither resin-cells nor crystal- cells occur in its middle layer, that its laticiferous vessels become soon obliterated, and have indeed disappeared in the older quills ; and that the liber-fibres form interrupted, not very regular, radial rows. The quills of G. Galisaya display large laticiferous ducts, which are wanting in the flat bark. There is a peculiar sort of the latter called Bolivian Galisaya (already mentioned at p. 316), the flat pieces of which still possess very obvious laticiferous vessels. As to the liber-fibres of Calisaya bark, they are as before stated (p. 319), scattered throughout the parenchymatous tissue or endophloeum. In the bark of G. scrobicu- lata, which might at first sight be confounded with Calisaya bark, the liber-fibres form radial, less interrupted rows. The microscope affords therefore the means of distinguishing these two barks. The barks of C. succiruhra are particularly rich in laticiferous ducts, mostly of considerable diameter, in which the formation of new paren- chyme may not unfrequently be observed. The orange liber- fibres occurring in this bark are less numerous, more scattered, and of smaller size than in Calisaya. The fracture of Eed Bark, especially the flat sort, is therefore more finely granular and not so coarse as that of Calisaya. The structural characters of Cinchona barks may lastly be fully appre- ciated by examining barks of the allied genera Buena, Gascarilla and Lad- enbergia, which were formerly known under the name of False Cinchona Barks. The microscope shows that the liber-fibres of the latter are soft, branched and long, densely packed into large bundles, imparting therefore a well-marked fibrous structure. The external appearance of these barks is widely different from that of true cinchona barks ; none of them it would appear is now collected for the purpose of adulteration. Chemical Composition — The most important and at the same time peculiar principles of Cinchona bark are the Alkaloids, — enumerated in the following table : — Cinchonine C^OH^^N^O. Cinchonidine [Quinidine of many writers) . Quinine ....... Quinidine {Conquinine of Hesse) Quinamine ....... Gomes^ of Lisbon first succeeded in obtaining active principles of cinchona, by treating an alcoholic extract of the bark with water, adding ^ Ensaio .soLrc o Cint^lionino, e sohrc .sua casras. — Mem. da Acad. R. das Sciencias de influencia na virtude da quina e d'outras Lisboa, iii. (1812) 202-217. same formula. 020^24^20-2 same formula. C'^oiPCj^-Ol CORTEX CINCEONM. 321 to the solution caustic potash, and crystallizing the precipitate from alcohol. The basic properties of the substance thus obtained, which Gomes called Ginclionino, were observed in the laboratory of Th6nard by Houtou-Labillardi^re, and communicated to Pelletier and Caventou.^ Shortly before that time, Sertiirner had asserted the existence of organic alkalis : and the French cheiaists guided by that brilliant discovery, were enabled to show that the CincJionino of Gomes belonged to the same class of substances. Pelletier and Caventou however, speedily pointed out that it consisted of two distinct alkaloids, one of which they named Quinine, the other Cinchonine. Cinchoiiicline (thus called by Pasteur) was first obtained and charac- terized under the name of Quinidine in 1847, by F. L. Winckler of Darmstadt, from Maracaibo Bark {G. Tucujensis Karst.) ; and in 1852 it was more closely studied in Liebig's laboratory by Leers, still under the name of quinidine. Qtcinidine is the name applied in 1833 by Henry and Delondre to an alkaloid they obtained from the bark called Quinqtiina Carthagene ros4 d'Ocana, afforded by Howard's Cinchona rosulenta, a tree which Weddell regards as a sub-species of C. succirubra. The peculiar nature of quini- dine was not clearly proved until 1853, when Pasteur examined it and showed its identity with the Beta-quinine extracted in 1849 by Van Heijningen from commercial quinoidin.^ The name quinidine having been since applied to different basic substances more or less pure, Hesse has proposed to replace it by that of Co7iquinine, which however has not met with general acceptance. The alkaloid is especially characteristic of the Pitayo barks. Quinamine was discovered in 1872 by Hesse, in bark of C. succiruhra cultivated at Darjiling in British Sikkim. Paricine is another basic substance discovered in 1845 by Winckler, in the bark of Buena hexandra Pohl. Hesse detected it along with quinamine in the bark of C. succiruhra ; its composition is not yet known. The names Aricine, Cinchovatine, Cusconine^ have been given to alkaloids obtained from certain barks of inferior value, especially that of C. pubescens var. Pelletieriana, which has not been imported for several years. The composition and properties of these substances remain obscure. Pitoyine was pointed out by Peretti (1837), but Hesse has shown (1873) that the bark called China bicolorata, Tecamez^ or Pitoya Barh from which it was obtained, is altogether destitute of alkaloid. By heating for a length of time solutions of the cinchona alkaloids with an excess of some mineral acid, Pasteur (1853) obtained amorphous modifications of the natural bases. Quinine thus afforded Quinicine, 1 Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. xv. (1820) 568 ; Husemann, Pflanzenstoffe, 1870. 346. 292. 349.350. It is almost certain that cmcAova- ^ The identity of the original quinidine tine is identical with cinchonidine. of Henry and Delondre with that studied * So called from Tecamez or Tacames, a twenty years later by Pasteur though not small port of Ecuador in about lat. 1° N. doubted by many chemists, is nevertheless The bark which was first noticed in Lam- not susceptible of actual proof, no specimen bert's Description of the Genus Cindiona, we believe of the original substance existing 1797. 30. tab. ii., is of unknown botanical for comparison. origin. See also Guibourt, Hist, des Drogiies, * Consult Gmelin, Chemistry, xvii. (1866) iii. (1869) 190 (Quinq^uina bicolore). Y 322 RUBTACEJ^. having the same composition ; cinchonine and cinchonidine furnished Cinchonicine, likewise agreeing in composition with the alkaloids from which it originates. These amorphous products may also be obtained by heating the natural bases in glycerin at 200° C, when a red substance is also formed. In quinine manufactories, amorphous alkaloids are constantly met with, being partly produced in the course of the mani- pulations to which the materials are subjected. Yet cinchona barks also afford amorplious alkaloids at the very outset of analysis, whence we must infer their existence in the living plant. Lastly may be mentioned Paytine, C^^H^^N^O + H^O, a crystallizable alkaloid discovered in 1870 by Hesse in a white bark of uncertain origin.^ It is allied to quinamine and quinidine, but has not been met with in any known cinchona bark. The name Quinoidine (or rather " Chinio'idin ") was applied by Ser- tiirner (1829) to an uncrystallizable basic substance, which he prepared from cinchona barks and thought to be a peculiar alkaloid. The term has subsequently been bestowed upon a preparation which has found its way into commerce and medical practice, in the form of a dark brown brittle extractiform mass, softening below 100° C, and having usually a slight alkaline reaction. It is obtained in quinine factories by pre- cipitating the brown mother-liquors with ammonia, and consists chiefly of the amorphous alkaloids just mentioned. Eecently it has been puri- fied by a process not yet made public, and can be obtained as a sulphate or hydrochlorate in the form of a slightly coloured powder. The alkaloids under consideration have not been met with in any appreciable amount in other parts of the cinchonas than the bark, nor has their presence been ascertained in other plants than those of the tribe Cinchonea;. Characters of the Cinchona Alkaloids. 1. Quinine. — It is obtained from alcoholic solutions, in prisms of the composition QP-^Bj^^WO^ ^ 3 H^O, fusing at 57° C. The crystals may be deprived of water by warming or exposure over oil of vitriol, and then fuse at 177° C. The anhydrous alkaloid is likewise crystallizable; it requires about 21 parts of ether for solution, but dissolves more readily in chloroform or absolute alcohol. These solutions deviate the ray of polarized light to the left, and so do likewise solutions of the salts of quinine. Yet one and the same quantity of alkaloid exhibits a very different rotatory power according to the solvent used, though the volume of the solution remain the same. Even the common sulphate differs in this respect from the two other sulphates of quinine. The same remark applies to the optical power of the other alkaloids. If ten volumes of a solution of quinine, or of one of its salts, are mixed in a test tube with one volume of chlorine water, and a drop of ammonia is added, a brilliant green colour makes its appearance. In solutions rich in quinine, a green precipitate, TlialUioqiiin or Dalleiochinc is produced ; in solutions containing less than i-^Vo of quinine, no pre- cipitate is formed, but the fluid assumes a green even more beautiful than in a stronger solution. The test succeeds with a solution containing ^ Fliickiger in Neucs Jahrh. fur Pharm. xxxv. (1871) 291 ; Wiggers aud Husemann, Jahresbericht for 1872. 132. CORTEX CINCIIONyE. 323 only one part of quinine in 5000 ; and in a solution containing not more tlian a-o-wrr of quinine, if bromine is used instead of chlorine.^ The bitter taste of quinine is not appreciable in solutions containing less than one part in 100,000. The blue fluorescence displayed by a solution of quinine in dilute sulphuric acid, is observable in solutions containing much less than one part in 200,000 of water; yet it is not apparent in very strong solutions. Besides the common medicinal sulphate, 2 C='°H2*N='0'+SH'0*+ 8H'0, quinine forms two other crystallizable sulphates, namely, the so-called neutral or soluble sulphate of pharmacy, C==°ff*N'0' + SH'O* + 7H'0, and a third having the composition, C^'^H^^N'O'' + 2 Sff 0* + 7H'0. Herapath showed in 1852 that quinine forms with sulphuric acid and iodine a peculiar compound, lodo-sulphate of Quinine, having the com- position 4 {Q^'W^WO'') + 3 (H^SO*) + 61 + 3 H^O. As this substance possesses optical properties analogous to those of tourmaline, it was called by Etaiclinger, Herapathite. It may be easily obtained by dis- solving sulphate of quinine in 10 parts of weak spirit of wine con- taining 5 per cent, of sulphuric acid, and adding an alcoholic solution of iodine until a black precipitate is no longer formed. This precipitate is collected on a filter and washed with alcohol ; then dissolved in boiling spirit of wine and allowed to crystallize. The tabular crystals thus obtained, are extremely remarkable on account of their dichro'ism and polarizing power, as well as for their sparing solubility, since they require 1000 parts of boiling water for solution ; the latter property may be utilized for separating quinine from the other cinchona alkaloids and estimating its quantity. 2. Quinidine {Conquinine of Hesse) — forms crystals having the com- position, C^oH'^N'O" + 2W0 ; the anhydrous alkaloid melts at 168° C, and requires about 30 parts of ether for solution. Its solutions are strongly dextrogyre; it agrees with quinine as regards bitterness, fluorescence and the thalleioquin test, and forms a neutral and an acid sulphate. The most striking character of quinidine is afforded by its hydriodate, the crystals of which require for solution at 15° C, 1250 parts of water or 110 parts of alcohol sp. gr. -834. Quinidine may therefore be separated from the other alkaloids of bark, by a solution of iodide of potassium which will precipitate the hydriodate. According to Hesse (1873), quinidine is further characterized by the fact that its sulphate is soluble in 20 parts of chloroform at 15° C, the sulphates of the other cinchona-alkaloids being far less soluble in that liquid. The common medicinal sulphate of quinine, e.g., requires for solution 1000 parts of chloroform. 3. Ginclionine. — This alkaloid forms crystals which are always anhydrous ; they fuse at 257° C, and require about 400 parts of ether and 120 of spirit of wine for solution. Cinchonine further differs from quinine by its dextrogyre power, its want of fluorescence, and its non- susceptibility to the thalleioquin test. Its hydriodate is readily soluble in water, and still more so in alcohol whether dilute or strong. 4. Cinchonidine — forms anhydrous crystals melting at 206° C, soluble in 76 parts of ether, or 20 of spirit of wine, then affording levogyre 1 Fharm. Joicrn., May 11, 1872, 901. __ Y 2 324 RVBIACE^. liquids, devoid of fluorescence/ and not acquiring a green colour (thalleio-- quin) by means of chlorine water and ammonia. Hydrochlorate oi cinclionidine forms pyramidal crystals of the monoclinic system, very different from the hydrochlorates of the allied alkaloids. 5. Quinamine. — The crystals are anhydrous, fuse at 172° C, and form at a temp, of 20°, with 32 parts of ether or 100 parts of spirit of wine, a dextrogyre solution. Quinamine is even to some extent soluble in boiling water, and abundantly in boiling ether, benzol, or XDetroleum ether. The solutions of quinamine do not stand the thalleioquin test, nor do they display fluorescence ; in acid solution, the alkaloid is liable to be transformed into an amorphous state. Quinamine moistened with concentrated nitric acid, assumes like paytine, a yellow coloration. Its hydriodate is readily soluble in boiling water, but very sparingly in cold water, especially in presence of iodide of potassium, in which respect it is allied to quinidine as well as to paytine. The more important properties of the Cinchona-alkaloids may be summarized as follows : — a. Hydratecl crystals are formedby . . . Quinine, Quinidine, (Paytine). No hydratcd crystals by Cinchonine, Cinclionidine, Quinamine. b.^5.m(ia7i<^2/ soluble in ether . . . J Q'limne Quinidine, Quinamine, (Paytine), "^ ( and the amorphous aJkaloids. Sparingly soluble in ether Cinchonidine. . Almost insoluble in ether Cinchonine. c. Levopjrc solutions afforded by ... . Quinidine, Cinchonidine, (Paytine). Dextrogyre ^olixiio^^hy j Cinchonine, Quinidine, Quinamine, and ■^■^ i the amorphous alkaloids. d. Thalleioquin is formed by Quinine, Quinidine, and also by Quinicine. mu 11 • • A -u 1 4- • 1 <; \ Cinchoniae, Cinchonidine, Quinamine, nor Thalleioquin cannot be obtained from .j fi-o^ Cinchonicine. e. Fluorescence is displayed by solutions of Quinine, Quinidine. No fluorescence in solutions of pure . . Cinchonine, Cinclionidine, Quiuamiue. Proportion of Alkaloids in Cinchona Barks — This is liable to very great variation. We know from the experiments of Hesse (1871), that the bark of C. ptihescetis Vahl is sometimes devoid of alkaloid.^ Similar observations made near Bogota upon C. Pitayensis Wedd., C. corymbosa Karst., and C. lancifolia Mutis, are due to Karsteu. He ascer- tained^ that barks of one district were sometimes devoid of quinine, while those of the same species from a neighbouring locality, yielded 3^ to 4|^ per cent, of sulphate of quinine. Another striking example is furnished by De Vry '^ in his examination of quills of C. officinalis grown at Ootacamund, which he found to vary in percentage of alkaloids, from 11-9G (of which *J'l per cent, was quinine) down to less than 1 per cent. Among the innumerable published analyses of cinchona bark, there are a great number showing but a very smaU percentage of the useful principles, of which quinine, the most valuable of all, is not seldom altogether wanting. Tlie highest yield on the other hand hitherto ^ De Vry maintains that cinchonidine is ^ Die racd. C'hhiarinden Xeu-Granadas,. not totcdly devoid Qi^Wwov^acQiicc. 17. 20. 39. ^ Bcriddc dcr DciUschcn chcm. Gcsellsch., * riiurm. Journ. Sept. G, 1873. 181. Berlin, 1871. 818. CORTEX CINCIIONM 325 observed, was obtained by Brougliton^ from a bark grown at Ootacamund. This bark afforded not less than 13^ per cent, of alkaloids, among which (|uinine was predominant. The few facts just mentioned, show that it is impossible to state even approximately any constant percentage of alkaloids in any given bark. We may how^ever say that good Flat Calisaya Barh, as offered in the drug trade for pharmaceutical preparations, contains at least 5 to 6 per cent, of quinine. As to Crown or Loxa Barh, the Cortex CincJwnce pallidm of pharmacy, its merits are to say the least very uncertain. On its first introduction in the 17th century, when it was taken from the trunks and large branches of full-grown trees, it was doubtless an excellent medicinal bark; but the same cannot be said of much of that now found in commerce, which is to a large extent collected from very young wood.^ Some of the Crown Bark produced in India is however of extraordinary excellence, as shown by the recent experiments of De Vry.^ As to Red Barh, the thick flat sort contains only 3 to 4 per cent, of alkaloids, but a large amount of colouring matter. The quill Eed Bark of the Indian plantations is a much better drug, some of it yielding 5 to 10 per cent, of alkaloids, more than a third of which is (Quinine and a fourth cinchonidine, the remainder being cinchonine and quinidine. The variation in the amount of alkaloids relates not merely to their total percentage, but also to the proportion which one bears to another. Quinine and cinchonine are of the most frequent occurrence ; cinchoni- dine is less usual, while quinidine is still less frequently met with and never in large amount. The experiments performed in India* have already shown, that external influences contribute in an important manner to the formation of this or that alkaloid ; and it may even be lioped that the cultivators of cinchona will discover methods of pro- moting the formation of quinine and of reducing, if not of excluding, that of the less valuable alkaloids. Acid principles of Cinchona Barks — Count Claude de la Graraye ^ observed (1746) a crystalline salt deposited in extract of cinchona bark, which salt was known for some time in France as Scl cssentiel de la Garaye. Hermbstadt at Berlin (1785) showed it to be a salt of calcium, the peculiarity of whose acid was pointed out in 1790 by C. A. Hoffmann,** an apothecary of Leer in Hanover, who termed it Chinasdure. The composition of this substance, which is the Kinic Acid of English chemists, was ascertained by Liebig to be C'H^-O^. The acid forms large tabular crystals, fusible at 161° C, of a strong and pure acid taste, soluble in tv/o parts of water, also in spirit of wine, but hardly in ether. The solutions are levogyre. Kinic acid appears to be present in every species, and also to occur in barks of allied genera ; and in fact to be of somewhat wide distribution in the vegetable kingdom.'^ By heating it or a kinate, interesting derivatives are obtained ; thus, by means of per- oxide of manganese and sulphuric acid, we get yellow crystals of Kinone 1 Blue Book — "East India Chinchona ^ Pharm. Journ. Sept. 6, 1873. 184. Plant,'" 1870. 282 ; Yearbook of Pliarmacy, * piue Book, 1870. 116. 188. 205. 1871. 85. ^ Chimie hydrauUque, Paris, 1746. 114. ^ See Howard's analyses and oloservations, " Crell's Chcm. Annalen, 1790, ii. 314-317. Pharm. Journ. xiv. (1855) 61-63. '' Gmelin, Chemistry, xvi. (1864) 222. 326 rubiacEjE. or Quinone, C^H^O^, — a reaction which may "be used for ascertaining the presence of kinic acid. Kinic acid is devoid of any noteworthy physio- logical action, Cincho-tannic Acid — is precipitated from a decoction of bark by acetate of lead, after the decoction has been freed from cinchona-red by means of magnesia. The cincho-tannate of lead decomposed by sulphuretted hydrogen, and the solution cautiously evaporated in vacuo, yields the acid as an amorphous, hygroscopic substance, readily soluble in water, alcohol, or ether. The solutions, especially in presence of an alkali, are quickly decomposed, a red flocculent matter, Cinchona-rccl, being pro- duced. Solutions of cincho-tannic acid assume a greenish colour on addition of a ferric salt. By destructive distillation, cincho-tannic acid affords pyrocatechin. Quinovic (or Chinovic) Acid, C^^H^^O^ crystallizes in hexagonal scales which are tasteless, sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, more readily in boiling alcohol, but not dissolved by water, ether, or chloroform. It occurs in cinchona barks, and has been met with by Eembold (1868) in the rhizome of PoUntilla Tormentilla Sibth. Other Constituents of Cinchona Barks — Quinovic acid is accom- panied by Quinovin (or Chinovin), C^^H^^O^, an amorphous bitter sub- stance, first obtained (1821) by Pelletier and Caventou under the name of Kinic Acid, from China nova^ in which it occurs combined with lime. Quinovin in alcoholic solution, was shown in 1859 by Hlasiwetz, to be resolved by means of hydrochloric gas into quinovic acid, C^^H^^O^ and an uncrystallizable sugar, Mannitan, C^H^^O^ with subtraction of H^O. The formation of quinovic acid takes place more easily, if quinovin is placed in contact with sodium amalgam and spirit of wine, when after 12 hours, mannitan and quinovate of sodium are formed (Eochleder, 1867). Quinovin, although an indifferent substance, may be removed from cinchona barks by weak caustic soda, from which it is precipitable by hydrochloric acid, together with quinovic acid and cinchona-red. Milk of lime then dissolves quinovin and quinovic acid, but not the red substance. Quinovic acid and quinovin again precipitated by an acid, may be separated by chloroform in which the latter only is soluble. Quinovin dissolves in boiling water, and more abundantly in spirit of wine ; its solutions, as well as those of quinovic acid, are dextrogyre. Quinovin seems to be a constant constituent of almost every part of the cinchonas and the allied Cinchoncm, although the amount of it in barks does not apparently exceed 2 per cent. It is accompanied by quinovic acid: both substances are stated to have tonic properties. Cinchona-red, an amorphous substance to which the red hue of cinchona barks is due, is produced as shown by Eembold (1867), when cincho-tannic acid is boiled with dilute sulj)huric acid, sugar being formed at the same time. By fusing cinchona-red with potash, proto- catechuic acid, CH^O^ is produced. Cinchona-red is sparingly soluble in alcohol, abundantly in alkaline solutions, but neither in water nor in ether. Thick Eed Bark in which it is abundant, affords it to the extent of over 1 0 per cent. The Cinchona barks yield but a scanty percentage of ash, not ^ The bark of Bucna racujnifolia Wedd., used to appear occasionally in the London a tree with flagrant flowei's and magnificent market, foliage, yielding a worthless hark which CORTEX CmCHONJE. 327 exceeding 3 per cent., a fact well according with tlie small amount tliey contain of oxalate of calcium. Estimation of the Alkaloids in Cinchona Bark — The microscope will enable iis, as already shown, to ascertain whether a given bark is derived from Cinchona, bnt it can furnish no exact information as to the actual value of such bark as a drug. Yet there is a very simple test by which the presence of a cinchona- alkaloid may be demonstrated. These alkaloids heated in a glass tube in the presence of a volatile acid or of substances capable of producing, a volatile acid, evolve heavy vapours of a beautiful crimson colour. Every bark, even the smallest fragment, containing traces of a cinchona- alkaloid affords these red vapours, as was shown in 1858 by Grahe of Kasan. On the other hand the reaction fails with all other barks, and even with true cinchona barks which are destitute of alkaloid. But to ascertain the real value of a cinchona bark, a quantitative estimation of the alkaloids is necessary. A good process for this opera- tion has lately been given by De Vry.^ It is as follows :— Mix 20' grammes of powdered bark, dried at 100^ C, with milk of lime (S.grm. slaked lime to 50 grm. water), dry the mixture slowly, and then boil it with 200 cubic centimetres of strong alcohol. Pour the liquid on to a. small filter, and afterwards the residual bark and lime mixed with 100'. cub. cent, more alcohol. Wash the powder on the filter with 100 cub. cent.. of spirit. From the mixed liquids, now nearly 400 cub. cent., separate - the sulphate of calcium by a few drops of weak sulphuric acid. Tilter, distill off the spirit and pour into a capsule the residual liquid, — to which add the distilled spirit and the water with which the distilling apparatus has been rinsed out. Let the capsule be now heated on a water-bath until all the spirit shall have been expelled ; and let the remaining liquor which contains all the alkaloids in the form of acid sulphates, be filtered. There will remain on the filter quinovic acid and fatty substances, which must be washed with slightly acidulated water. The filtrate and washings reduced to about 50 cub. cent., should be treated while still warm with caustic soda in slight excess.^ The precipitate should be washed with the smallest quantity of water, pressed between folds of blotting paper, removed therefrom and dried. The weight multiplied by 5 will indicate the percentage of mixed alkaloids in the bark. To separate the alkaloids from each other, treat the powdered mass with ten times its weight of ether. This will resolve it into two portions,, — (a) insoluble in ether, (b) soluble in ether. (a). This should be converted into neutral sulphates, and to the solution there should be added iodide of potassium, which will separate- guinidine. After removal of the latter (if present), add solution of tar- trate of potassium and sodium, which will throw down in a crystalline form tartrate of cinchonidine ; from the mother-liqnor, cinchonine may be precipitated by caustic soda. (b). The ether having been evaporated, the residue is to be dissolved in ten times its weight of weak spirit of wine (0"915) at 15° C, to which 1 Pharm. Journ., Sept. 27, 1873. 241. j)recipitate tlie latter with a good excess of ^ De Try has recently pointed out that caustic lye, decanting it off from the preci- this acid filtrate may contain a little quinovic pitate, and^ then add water to the latter acid or an allied suhstance, accompanying before throwing it on to a filter, the alkaloids. To get rid of this, he would 328 RUBIACEM dilute ' sulphuric acid (^V of the volume of the spirit) has been added. The solution should be filtered, gently warmed, and tincture of iodine added so long as herapathite (p. 323) is formed. Of this compound, 100 parts dried at 100° C, contain 56"5 parts of Quinine. After adding a few drops of sulphurous acid, the alcohol should now be evaporated from the fluid from which the crystals of herapathite have been removed, and caustic lye added, by which the amorphous alkaloids will be precipitated, including quinamine if present. Uses — Cinchona bark enjoys the reputation of being a most valuable remedy in fevers. But the uncertainty of its composition and its in- convenient bulk render it a far less eligible form of medicine than the alkaloids themselves. It is nevertheless much used as a general tonic in various pharmaceutical preparations. As to tlie alkaloids, the only one which is in general use is quinine. The neglect of the others is a regrettable waste, which the result of recent investigations ought to obviate. In the year 1866, the Madras Govern- ment appointed a Medical Commission to test the respective efficacy in the treatment of fever, of Quinine, Quinidine, Cinchonine and Cin- chonidine. Of the sulphates of these alkaloids, a due supply, specially prepared under Mr. Howard's superintendence, was placed at the dis- posal of the Commission. From the report^ it appears that the number of cases of paroxysmal malarious fevers treated, was 2472, — namely 846 with Quinine, 664 with Quinidine, 569 with Cinchonine, and 403 with Cinchonidine. Of these 2472 cases, 2445 were cured, and 27 failed. The difference in remedial value of the four alkaloids, as deduced from these experiments, may be thus stated : — Quinidine — ratio of failure per 1000 cases treated 6 Quinine ,, ,, ,, 7 Cinclionidine ,, ,, ,, 10 Cincliouine ,, ,, ,, 23 The Indian Oovernment, acting on the recommendation of Mr. Howard, has officially advised (Dec. 16, 1873) the more free use in India of cinchona alkaloids other than quinine, and especially of sulphate of cinchonidine, which is procurable in abundance from Eed Bark.'^ Qui- nidine on the other hand, which has proved the most valuable of all, is only obtainable from a few barks and in very limited amount. Adulteration — There is not now any frequent importation ofs2m,rious cinchona barks, but the substitution of bad varieties for good is sufficiently common. To discriminate these in a positive manner by ascertaining the percentage of quinine, which is the chief criterion of value, recourse must be had to chemical analysis, a method of performing which has been described. Modern Works relating to Cinchona. The following enumeration has been drawn up for the sake of those desiring more ample information than is contained in the foregoing pages, but it has no pretension to be a complete list of all publications that have lately appeared on the subject. 1 Blue Book— East hidin CJdnchona Cul- " Wo liCcir (April 1874) -that tlie Govem- tivation, 1870. pp. 156-172.— Tlie report ment has lately purchased by tender be- contains vary iuterestinfj and important tween 300 and 400 lb. of cinchonidine. medical details. See also Dougall in Edinb. ^Med. Journ. Sept. 1873. CORTEX CINCHONJU. 329 Berg (Otto), Cliinarinden der pharmahognostischen Sammlung zu Berlin. Berlin, 1865, 4°. 48 pages and 10 plates sliowing the microscopic structure of barks. Bergen (Heinricli von), Monograpliie der China. Hamburg, 1826, 4°. 348 pages and 7 coloured plates representing the following barks : — China rubra, Huanuco, Calisaya, flava, Huamalies, Loxa, Jaen. An exhaustive work for its period in every direction. Blue-books — East India {Chincliona Plant). Folio. a. Copy of Correspondence relating to the introduction of the Chinchona Plant into India, and to proceedings connected with its cultivation, from March 1852 to March 1863. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 20 March, 1863. 272 pages. Contains correspondence of Eoyle, Markham, Spruce, Pritchett, Cross, Mclvor, Anderson and others, illustrated by 5 maps. b. Copy of further Correspondence relating to the introduction of the Chincliona Plant into India, and to proceedings connected with its cultivation, from April 1863 to April 1866. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 18 June, 1866. 379 pages. Contains Monthly Eeports of the plantations on the Neilgherry Hills ; Annual Eeports for 1863-64, 1864-65, with details of method of propagation and cultivation, barking, mossing, attacks of insects, illustrated by woodcuts and 4 plates ; report of Cross's journey to Pitayo, with map ; Cinchona cultivation in Wynaad, Coorg, the Pulney Hills and Travancore, with map ; in British Sikkim, the Kangra Valley (Punjab), the Bombay Presidency, and Ceylon. c. Copy of all Correspondence between the Secretary of State for India and the Governor-General, and the Governors of Madras and Bombay, relating to the cidtivation of Chinchona Plants, from April 1866 to April 1870. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 9 August, 1870. Contains reports on the Neilgherry and otiier plantations, with map ; appointment of Mr. Broughton as analytical chemist, his reports and analyses ; reports on the relative efficacy of the several cinchona alkaloids, on cinchona cultivation at Darjiling and in British Burma. Delondre (Augustin Pierre) et Bouchardat (Apollinaire), Quinologie. Paris, 1854, 4°. 48 pages, and 23 good coloured plates exhibiting all the barks then met with in commerce. Gorkom (K. W. van). Die Chinacultur auf Java. Leipzig, 1869, 61 pages. An account of the management of the Dutch plantations. Howard (John Eliot), Illustrations of the Nucva Quinologia of Pavon. London, 1862, folio, 163 pages and 30 beautiful coloured plates.— Figures of Cinchona mostly taken from Pavon's siDecimens in the lierbarium of Madrid, and 3 plates representing the structure of several barks. Howard (John Eliot), Quinology of the East Indian Plantations. London, 1869, folio X. and 43 pages, with 3 coloured plates exhibiting structural peculiarities of the barks of cultivated Cinchonce. Karsten (Herma,nn), Pie medicinischen Chinarinden Neu-Granada' s. Berlin, 1858, 8°. 71 pages, and 2 plates showing microscopic structure of a few barks. An English translation prepared under the super- vision of Mr. Markham, has been printed by the India Office, under 330 iWBiAGEm. the title of NoUs on the Medicinal Cinchona Barks of Neio Granada hy H. Karsten, 1861. The plates have not been reproduced. Karsten'(Hermann), Fierce Columbian terraruinqiie adjaccntiuni specimina selecta. Berolini, 1858, folio. Beautiful coloured figures of various plants inckiding Cinchona, under which name are several species usually referred to other genera. Only the first 3 parts have been published. Markham (Clements Eobert), The Chinchona Species of New Granada, containing the botanical descriptions of the species examined hy Drs. Mutis and Karsten; with some account of those botanists, and of the results of their labours. London, 1867, 8°. 139 pages and 5 plates. The plates are not coloured, yet are good reduced copies of those contained in Karsten's Florm Columhim ; they represent the following: — Cinchona corymbosa, G. Trianm, C. lancifolia, C. corcli- folia, C. Tucujensis. Miquel (Friedrich Anton Wilhelm), De Ginchonce speciebus quibusdam, adjectis iis quce in Java coluntur. Commentatio ex Annalibus Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi exscripta. Amstelodami, 1869, 4°. 20 pages. Phoebus (Philipp), Die Delondre-Bouchardaf schen GMna-Rinden. Gies- sen, 1864, 8°. 75 pages and a table. The author gives a description without figures, of the microscopic structure of the type-specimens figured in Delondre and Bouchardat's Quinologie. Planchon (Gustavo), Des Quinquinas. Paris et Montpellier, 1864, 8°. 150 pages. A description of the cinchonas and their barks. An English translation has been issued under the superintendence of Mr. Markham by the India Office, under the title of Feruvian Barks by Gustave Planchon. London, printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866. Soubeiran (J, L6on) et Delondre (Augustin), I>e V introduction et de I'acclimatation des Cinchonas dans les Indes neerlandaises et dans les Indes britanniques. Paris, 1868, 8°. 165 pages. Triana (Jos^), Nouvelles Etudes sur les Quinquinas. Paris, 1870, folio, 80 pages and 33 plates. An interesting account of the labours of Mutis, illustrated by uncoloured copies of some of the drawings prepared by him in illustration of his unpublished Quinologia de Bogotd, especially of the several varieties of Cinchona lancifolia; also an enumeration and short descriptions of all the species of Cinchona, and of New Granadian plants (chiefly Cascarilla) formerly placed in that genus. Vogl (August), Chinarinden des Wiener Grosshandels tend der Wiener Sammlungcn. Wien, 1867, 8°. 134 pages, no figures. A very exhaustive description of the microscopic structure of the barks occurring in the Vienna market, or preserved in the museums of that city. Weddell (Hugh Algernon), Histoirc naturelle des Quinquinas, ou mono- graphic du genre Cinchona, suivie cVune description du genre Cas- carilla et dc quelqucs a^Ures plantes de la 7nSmc tribu. Paris, 1849, folio, 108 pages, 33 plates, and map. Excellent uncoloured figures of Cinchona and some allied genera, and beautiful coloured drawings of the officinal barks. Plate I. exhibits the anatomical structure of the plant ; Plate II. that of the bark. Weddell (Hugh Algernon), Notes sur les Quinquinas, extrait des Annates RADII IPECACUANHA. 331 des Sciences naturclles, 5*^ seriCj tomes xi. et xii. Paris, 1870, 8°. 75 pages. A systematic arrangement of tlie genus Cinchona, and description of its (33) species, accompanied by useful remarks on their "barks. An English translation has been printed by the India Office with the title — Notes on the Quinquinas hy H. A. Wedclell, London, 1871, 8°. 64 pages. A German edition by Dr. F. A. Fluckiger has also appeared under the title Uehersicht dcr Cinchonen vo7t H. A. Weddell. Schaff'hausen and Berlin, 1871, 8°. 43 pages, with additions and indexes. RADIX IPECACUANHiE. Ipecacuanha Moot, Ipecacuan; F. Racine cV Ipecacuanha annelee ; G. Brechwurzcl. Botanical Origin — Cephaelis Ipecacuanha A. Pdchard — This is a small shrub, 8 to 16 inches high, with an ascending, afterwards erect, simple stem, and somewhat creeping root, growing socially in moist and shady forests of South America, lying between 8° and 22° S. lat., especially in the Brazilian provinces of Para, Maranhao, Pernam- buco, Bahia, Espiritu Santo, Minas, Eio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo. Within the last half century, it has been discovered in the vast interior province of Matto Grosso, chiefly in that part of it which forms the valley of the Eio Paraguay. From information given to Weddell,^ it would seem probable that the plant extends beyond the frontiers of Brazil to the Bolivian province of Chiquitos. The root which is brought into commerce, is furnished chiefly by the region lying between the towns of Cuyaba, Villa Bella, Villa Maria, and Diamantina in the province of Matto Grosso ; but to some extent also by the woods in the neighbourhood of the German colony of Phila- delphia on the Eio Todos os Santos, a tributary of the Mucury, north of Eio de Janeiro. Prof. Balfour of Edinburgh, who has paid much attention to the propagation of ipecacuanha, finds that the plant exists under two varieties of which he has published figures ; ^ they may be thus dis- tinguished : — a. Stem woody, leaves of firm texture, elliptic or oval, wavy at the edges, with but few hairs on surface and margin. Long in cultivation : origin unknown. h. Stem herbaceous, leaves less firm in texture, more hairy on margin, not wavy. Grows in the neighbourhood of Eio de Janeiro. The plant cultivated in India seems disposed to run into several varieties, but according to the experience gained in Edinburgh, the diversity of form apparent in young plants, tends to disappear with age. History — In an account of Brazil written by a Portuguese friar, who, it would seem, had resided in that country from about 1570 to ■I Ann. des Sciences nat., Bot., xi. (1849) ^ Trans, of Hoy. Soc. of Eclinh. xxvi. 193-202. (1S72) 781. plates 31-32. 332 RUBIAOHM 1600, and published by Purchas/ mention is made of three remedies for the bloody flux, one of which is called Igpecaya or Pigaya ; the drug here spoken of is probably that under notice. Piso and Marcgraf ^ in their scientific exploration of Brazil, met with ipecacuanha, of which they described the virtues ; they also figured the plant, noticing its existence under two varieties. The introduction of the drug to Europe is thus narrated by Sprengel,^ Merat,* Virey, Herzog,^ and others : — Although well known from the accounts given by Piso and Marcgraf and in common use in Brazil, ipeca- cuanha was not employed in Europe prior to the year 1672. At that date a physician named Legras brought from South America a quantity of the root to Paris, but administering it in too large doses, damaged rather than aided the reputation of the new drug. A few years later, namely in 1686, a merchant of Paris named Grenier or Gamier, became possessed of 150 lb. of ipecacuanha, the valuable properties of which in dysentery he vaunted to his medical attendant Afforty, and to Jean-Claude- Adrien Helvetius, pupil of the latter. Grenier on his convalescence made a present of some of the new drug to Afforty, who attached to it but little importance. Helvetius on the other hand was induced to prescribe it in cases of dysentery, which he did with the utmost success. It is said he even caused placards to be affixed to the corners of the streets, announcing his successful treatment with the new drug, supplies of which he obtained through Grenier from Spain, and sold as a secret medicine. The fame of the cures effected by Helvetius reached the Erench Court, and caused some trials of the drug to be made at the Hotel Dieu. These having been fully successful, Louis XIV. accorded to Helvetius the sole right of vending his remedy. Subsequently several great personages, including the Dauphin of France, having experienced its benefit, the king consulted his physician D'Aquin and his confessor, and through them negotiated the purchase from Helvetius of his secret, for 1000 louis-d'or, and made it public. The right of Helvetius to this payment was disputed in law by Grenier, but maintained by a decision of the Chatelet of Paris. The botanical source of ipecacuanha was the subject of much dispute until finally settled by Gomez, a physician of the Portuguese na\'y, who brought authentic specimens from Brazil to Lisbon in the year 1800,^ Collection '^ — The ipecacuanha plant, Poaycc of the Brazilians, grows in valleys, yet prefers spots which are rather too much raised to be inundated or swampy. Here it is found under the thick shade of ancient trees, growing mostly in clumps. In collecting the root, the iioaycro, for so the collector of jjoaya is called, grasps in one handful if he can, all the stems of a clump, pushing under it obliquely into the soil a pointed stick to which he gives a see-saw motion. A lump of eartli inclosing the roots is thus raised ; and, if the operation has been well performed, those of the whole clump are got up almost unbroken. Tlie 'poayero shakes off adhering soil, places the roots in a large bag which he carries 1 Purchas, HisPihjrimes, Lond.iv. (1625), ^ Did. dc Mat. Mid. iii. (1831) 644, — a treatise of Brasill, written l)y a Tor- ^ J)c Tpccacuanhd dissertatio, Lips. 1826. tugall whicli liad long lived there, p. 1311. ^ Trans, of Linn. Sue. vi. (1801) 137. -* Jlisf. naf. Brasil. 1648. Piso p. 101, " Abstracted from the interesting cye- Marcgi-af p. 17. witness account of WciWell, f.r. ^ Histoirc dc la MCdccinc, Paris, v. RADIX IPECACUANHA 333 with him, and goes on to seek other clumps. A good collector may thus get as much as 30 lb. of roots in the day ; but generally a daily gathering does not exceed 10 or 12 lb., and there are many who scarcely get 6 or 8 ft). In the raiuy season, the ground being lighter, the roots are removed more easily than in dry weather. The ijoayeros, who work in a sort of partnership, assemble in the evening, unite their gatherings, which having been weighed, are spread out to dry. Eapid drying is advan- tageous : the root is therefore exposed to sunshine as much as possible, and if the weather is favourable, it becomes dry in two or three days. But it has always to be placed under cover at night on account of the dew. When quite dry, it is broken into fragments, and shaken in a sieve in order to separate adherent sand and earth, and finally it is packed in bales for transport. The harvest goes on all the year round, but is relaxed a little during the rains, on account of the difficulty of drying the produce. As frag- ments of the root grow most readily, complete extirpation of the plant in any one locality does not seem probable. The more intelligent ;poayeros of Matto Grosso, are indeed wise enough intentionally to leave small bits of root in the place whence a clump has been dug, and even to close over the. opening in the soil. Cultivation — The importance in India of ipecacuanha as a remedy for dysentery, and the increasing costliness of the drug,^ have occasioned active measures to be taken for attempting its cultivation in that coun- try. Though known for several years as a denizen of botanical gardens, the ipecacuanha plant has always been rare, owing to its slow growth and the difficulty attending its propagation. It was discovered in 1869 by M'Nab, curator of the Botanical Garden of Edinburgh, that if the annulated part of the root of a growing ipecacuanha plant be cut into short pieces, even only yV of an inch thick, and placed in suitable soil, each piece will throw out a leaf- bud and become a separate plant. Lindsay, a gardener of the same esta- blishment, further proved that the petiole of the leaf is capable of producing roots and buds, a discovery which has been utilized in the propagation of the plant at the Eungbi Cinchona plantation in Sikkim. In 1871, well-formed fruits were obtained from the ipecacuanha plants growing in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden : this was promoted by artificial fertilization, especially when the flowers of a plant producing long styles, were fertilized with the pollen of one having short styles, — for Cephaelis like Cinchona has dimorphic flowers. With regard to the acclimatization of the plant in India, much difli- culty has been encountered, and successful results are still problematical. The first plant was taken to Calcutta by Dr. King in 1866, and by 1868 had been increased to nine; but in 1870-71, it was reported that not- withstanding every care, the plants could not be made to thrive. Three plants which ,^had been sent to the Eungbi plantation in 1868, grew rather better; and by adopting the method of root-propagation, they ^ The following are the average prices at wliich the drug was purchased wholesale, in London during three periods of ten years each : — • 10 years ending 1850, average price 2s. ^Id. per lb. , 10 „ 1860, ,, 6s. ll^d. „ 10 ,, , 1870, „ 8s. ild. „ 334 RUBIACEM. were increased by August 1871, to 300. Three consignments of plants, numbering in all 370, were received from Scotland in 1871-72, besides a smaller number from the Eoyal Gardens, Kew. From these various collections, the propagation has been so extensive, that on the 31 March, 1873, there were 6,719 young plants in Sikkim, in addition to about 500 in Calcutta. The ipecacuanha plant in India has been tried under a variety of conditions as regards sun and shade, but thus far with only a mode- rate amount of success. The best results are those that have been obtained at Eungbi, 3000 feet above the sea, where the plants, placed in glazed frames, were reported in May 1873, as in the most healthy condition.^ Description — The stem creeps a little below the surface of the soil, emitting a small number of slightly branching contorted roots, a few inches long. These roots when young are very slender and thread- like, but grow gradually knotty, and become by degrees invested with a very thick bark, transversely corrugated or ringed. Close examination of the dry root, shows that the bark is raised in narrow warty ridges, which sometimes run entirely round the root, sometimes encircle only half its circumference. The whole surface is moreover, minutely wrinkled longitudinally. The rings or corrugations of a full-sized root number about 20 in an inch ; not unfrequently they are deep enough to pene- trate to the wood. The root attains a maximum diameter of about ^ of an inch ; but as imported, a large'proportion of it is much smaller. The woody central part is scarcely 2V of ^^ \^(^ in diameter, sub-cylindrical, sometimes striated, and devoid of pith. Ipecacuanha is of a dusky grey hue, occasionally of a dull ferru- ginous brown. The root is hard, breaks short and granular (not fibrous), exhibiting a resinous, waxy, or farinaceous interior, white or greyish. The bark, which constitutes 75 to 80 per cent, of the entire root, may be easily separated from the less brittle wood. It has a bitterish taste and faint, musty smell ; when freshly dried it is probably much more odorous. The wood is almost tasteless. In the drug of commerce the roots are always much broken, and there is often a considerable separation of bark from wood ; portions of the non-annulated, woody, subterraneous stem are always present. During the last few years there has been imported into London, a variety of ipecacuanha, distinguished as Carthagena or Neio Granada I'pecacuanlia, and differing from the Brazilian drug chiefly in being of larger size. Thus, while the maximum diameter of the aunulated roots of Brazilian ipecacuanha is about y-^ of an inch, corresponding roots of the New Granada variety attain nearly -^. The latter moreover, has a distinct radiate arrangement of the wood, due to a greater develope- ment of the medullary rays, and is rather less consjucuously annulated. Lefort (18G9) has shown that the New Granada drug is a little less rich in emetine than the ipecacuanha of Brazil. Mr. R. B. White, of Medellin in tlie valley of the Cauca, New Granada, near which place the drug has been collected, has been good ^ Annual Report of the Royal Botanical which we have abstracted many of the fure- Gardens, Calcutta, 31 May, 1873 — from going particulars. RADIX IFECACUANHjE. 335 enough to send us herbarium specimens of the plant with roots attached ; they agree entirely with Cephaelis Ipecacuanha. Microscopic Structure — The root is coated with a thin layer of brown cork cells ; the interior cortical tissue is made up of a uniform parenchyme, in which medullary rays cannot be distinguished. In the woody column they are obvious ; the prevailing tissue consists of short pitted vessels. The cortical parenchyme and the medullary rays are loaded with small starch granules. Some cells of the interior part of the bark, contain however only bundles of acicular crystals of oxalate of calcium. Chemical Composition — The peculiar principles of ipecacuanha are Emetine and Ipecacuanhic Acid, together with a minute proportion of a foetid volatile oil. The activity of the drug appears to be due solely to the alkaloid, which taken internally is a potent emetic. Emetine, discovered in 1817 by Pelletier and Magendie, is a bitter, inodorous, colourless substance with distinct alkaline reaction, amorphous in the free state as well as in most of its salts. Eeich (1863) alone appears to have obtained crystals of the hydrochlorate. The same chemist found emetine not to be decomposed by boiling hydrochloric acid. The root yields of the alkaloid less than 1 per cent. ; the nu- merous higher estimates that have been given, relate to impure emetine, or have been arrived at by some defective methods of analysis.^ The formula assigned to emetine by Eeich, C^^H^^'N^O^, differs from that of quinine by containing in addition 3 molecules of H^O. Lefort however (1869) gives the formula of emetine as C^*^H**N^O^. He ob- tained the alkaloid by exhausting with chloroform, the fluid alcoholic extract of the root, to which some potash had been added. Emetine is abundantly soluble in chloroform, sparingly in ether. It melts at 70° C. The nitrate of emetine is a soft resin- like mass, and requires no less than 100 parts of water for solution ; the tannate is still less soluble. Lefort obtained from the root, 1-3 per cent, of nitrate or 1'4 of tannate. The above reactions may be easily shown thus : — Take 10 grains of powdered ipecacuanha and mix them with 3 0^4 grains of quick-lime and a few drops of water. Allow the mixture to dry, and transfer it to a vial containing 2 fluid drachms of chloroform : agitate frequently, then filter into a capsule containing a minute quantity of acetic acid, and allow the chloroform to evaporate. Two drops of water now added will afford a nearly colourless solution of emetine, which, placed in a watch-glass, will readily give the characteristic precipitates upon addition of a saturated solution of nitrate of potassium, or of tannic acid, or of a solution of mercuric iodide in iodide of potassium. If the vjoocl separated as exactly as possible from the bark, is used and the experiment performed in the same way, the solution will reveal only traces of emetine. By addition of nitrate of potassium, no preci- pitate is then produced, but tannic acid or the potassico-mercuric iodate afford a slight turbidity. This experiment confirms the observation that the bark is the seat of the alkaloid, as might indeed be inferred from the fact, that the wood is nearly tasteless. 1 See the results obtained by Kichard and chemist in Proceedings of the British Phar- Barruel, by Magendie and Pelletier, and by maceutical Conference for 1869. 37-39. Attfield, as recorded by the last-named 336 RUB I ACE JE. Ipecacuanhic Acid, regarded by Pelletier as gallic acid, but recognized as a peculiar substance by WiUigk/ is reddish-brown, amorphous, bitter, and very hygroscopic. It is related to caffetannic and kinic acids ; Eeich has shown it to be a glucoside. Ipecacuanha contains also, according to Eeich, small proportions of resin, fat, albumin, and fermentable and crystaUizable sugar ; also gum and a large quantity of pectin. The bark yielded about 30 per cent., and the wood more than 7 per cent, of starch. Commerce — The imports of ipecacuanha into the United Kingdom in 1870 amounted to 62,952 lb., valued at £16,639.2 Uses — Ipecacuanha is given as an emetic, but much more often in small doses as an expectorant and diaphoretic. In India it has proved of late a most important remedy for dysentery. Since the year 1858 when the administration of ipecacuanha in large (30 grains) doses began to be adopted, the mortalitj'- in the cases treated for this complaint has greatty diminished.^ Adulteration and Substitutes — It can hardly be said that ipeca- cuanha as at present imported is ever adulterated. Although it may contain an undue proportion of the woody stems of the plant, it is not fraudulently admixed with other roots. But it very often arrives much deteriorated by damp : we have the authority of an experienced druggist for saying that at least three packages out of every four offered in the London drug sales, have either been damaged by sea- water or by damp during their transit to the coast. Several roots have been described as False Ipecacuanha, but we know not one that would not be readily distinguished at first sight by any druggist of average knowledge and experience. In Brazil, the word Poaya is applied to emetic roots of plants of at least six genera, belonging to the orders Bubiacem, Violariece, and Poly- galece; while in the same country, the name Ipecacuanha is used for various species of lonidium * as well as for Cephaelis. Some of these roots, which are occasionally brought to Europe under the notion that they may find a market, have been described and figured by pharmacologists. We shall notice only the following : — 1. Large Striated Ipeeacuanlia. — This is the root of Psychotria emetica Mutis {Bubiacem), a native of New Granada. It is considerably stouter than true ipecacuanha, but consists like the latter of a woody column covered with a thick brownish bark. The latter though marked here and there with constrictions and fissures, is not annulated like ipecacuanha, but has very evident longitudinal furrows. But its most remarkable character is that it remains soft and moist, tough to the hiife, even after many years ; and the cut surface has a dull violet hue. The 1 Gmelin, Chemistry, xv. (1862) o23. Bengal, it has fallen from 88-2 to 28*8 per '^ Annual Statement of tlic Trade and 1000. — Supplement to the Gazette of India, Navi'jaiion of the U.K. for 1870.— The more January 2'6, 1869. recent issues of this return liave been sim- "* As lonidiuvi Ipecacuanha Vent., /. plifieil to such an extent that drugs are for Poaya St. Hil., /. parvijloram Vent., the the greater part included under one head. first of which affords the Poaya branca or 2 In the Matlras Presidency, the death- IVhite Ipecacuanha of the Brazilians. — See rate from dysentery was 71 ]ier 1000 cases C. F. P. von Martius, Sjjecimen Mat. Med. treated : under the new method of treat- Bras. 1824 ; A. de St. liilaii'e, Planter ment, it has Leen reduced to 13"5. In usucllc^ des Brasilicns, 1827-28. RADIX VALERIAN JE. 337 root has a sweetish taste and abounds in sugar ;^ its decoction is not rendered blue by iodine, nor is any starch to be detected by means of the microscope. The drug occasionally appears in the London market. 2. Small Striated Ipecacuanha — This drug in outward appearance closely resembles the preceding, but is usually of smaller size, — sometimes much smaller and in short pieces tapering towards either end. It also differs in being brittle, abounding in starch, and having its woody column provided with numerous pores, easily visible under a lens. Prof. Planchon^ of Paris, who has particularly examined both varieties of Striated Ipe- cacuanha, is of opinion that the drug under notice may be derived from some species of Bichardsonia. 3. Undulated Ipecacuanha — The root thus called is that of Bichardsonia scabra L., a plant of the same order as Cephaelis, very common in Brazil, where it grows in cultivated ground and sandy places, or by roadsides, and even in the less frequented streets of Eio de Janeiro. Authentic specimens have been forwarded to us by Mr. Glaziou of Pio de Janeiro, and Mr. J. Correa de Mello of Campinas ; and we have also had an ample supply of the plant cultivated by one of us near London. The root in the fresh state is pure white, but by drying becomes of a deep iron-grey. In the Brazilian specimens, there is a short crown emitting as many as a dozen prostrate stems ; below this there is generally, as in true ipecacuanha, a naked woody portion, which extends downwards into a thicker root, y^- of an inch in diameter, and six or more inches long. This part of the root is marked by deep fissures on alternate sides, which give it a knotty, sinuous, or undulating outline. It has a brittle, very thick bark, white and farinaceous within, surround- ing a strong flexible slender woody column. The root has an earthy odour not altogether unlike that of ipecacuanha, and a slightly sweet taste. It affords no evidence of emetine when tested in the manner described at p. 335. VALERIANACE^. RADIX VALERIANAE. Valerian Boot ; P. Bacine de Valeriana ; G-. Baldriamvurzd. Botanical Origin — Valeriana officinalis Jj., an herbaceous perennial plant, growing throughout Europe from Spain to Iceland, the North Cape and the Crimea, and extending over Northern Asia to the coasts of Man- churia. The plant is found in plains and uplands, ascending even in Sweden to 1200 feet above the sea-level. In England, valerian is cultivated in many villages^ near Chester- field in Derbyshire, the wild plant which occurs in the neighbourhood not being sufficiently plentiful to supply the demand. In Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, as well as in Holland, 1 Attfield in Phcmn. Journ. xi. (1870) ton, Stretton, Higham, Shirland, Pilsley, 140. Nortli and South Wingfield, and Bracken- ^ Journ. clc Pharm. xvi. (1872) 404; xvii. field. From the produce of these villages, 19. one wholesale dealer in Chesterfield obtained 3 Namely Ashover, Woolley Moor, Mor- in 1872 aboiit 6 tons (13,44015.) of root. Z 338 VALTiRIANA GTiJE. the plant is grown to some extent. It is propagated Toy separating the young phints which are developed at the end of runners emitted from the rootstock. The wild plant, according to the situation it inhabits, exhibits several divergent forms. Among eight or more varieties noticed by botanists,^ we may especially distinguish a. major with a comparatively tall stem and all the leaves toothed, and jS. minor [V. angustifolia Tausch) with entire or slightly dentate leaves. History — The plant which the Greeks and Eomans called 4>o{) or Fliu, and which Dioscorides and Pliny describe as a sort of wild nard, is usually held to be some species of valerian.^ The word Valeriana is not found in the classical authors. We first meet with it in the 9th or 10th century, at which period and for long afterwards, it was used as synonymous with Phu or i\L. Thus in the writings of Isaac Judseus^ an Egyptian xDhysician, who died at an advanced age, a.d, 932^ occurs the following: — " Fu id est Valeriana, melior ruhea ct tenuis et qua:' venit de Armenia et est diversa in sua complexione. . . ." Constantinus Africanus^ who ended his life in 1087, as a monk at Monte Casino where he taught medicine, says — " Fu, id est Valeriana. Naturam habet sicut spica nardi. . . ." The word Valeriane occurs in the recipes of the Anglo-Saxon leeches written as early as the 11th century.*^ Valeriana, Amantilla and Fu are used as synonymous in the Alphita, a mediaeval vocabulary of the school of Salernum.'' Saladinus^ of Ascoli in Italy, directs {circa a.d. 1450) the collection in the month of August of " radices fu id est valcrianm" Valerian was anciently called in English Setiuall, a name properly applied to Zcdoary ; and the root was so much valued for its medicinal virtues, that as Gerarde^ (1567) remarks, the poorer classes in the north of England esteemed " no broths, pottage, or pliysicall meats " to be worth anything without it. Its odour now considered intolerable, was not so regarded in the 16th century, when it was absolutely the custom to lay the root among clothes as a perfume^'' in the same way as those of Vale- riana Celiica L. and the Himalayan valerians are still used in the East. Some of the names apx^lied to valerian in Northern and Central Europe are remarkable. Thus in Scandinavia we find Vclandsrot, Vclamsrot, Vdndelrot (Swedish) ; Vendclrod, Venderdd, Vcndingsrod (Norwegian) ; and Velandsnrt (Danish) — names all signifying Vandals' root}'^ Valerian is also called in Danish Danmarhs grais. Among the German-speaking population of Switzerland, a similar word to the last, namely Tamimarh, 1 Eegel, TcniaincnFlorccT/ssunensis,lS62 '' LcccMoms, iror/cunmng and Starcraft (Mem. dc l' Academic de St. Pitcrshourcj). _ of early England, iii. (1866) 6. 136. • - V. officinalis L. and nine other species, "< S. de Eenzi, Collectio SatemiUma, iii. occur in Asia Minor (Tchiliatcheff ). (1854) 271-322. •* Oj>crn Ovinia, Lugd. 1515, cap. 45. — It ^ Com2)cndium AromcUarorium, Bouou. must be reniembered that tliis is a transla- 1488. tion from the Araljic. How the word in " Hcrlall, 1G3G, 1078. question stands in the original we liavo no '" Turner's Uerhall, part 3 (1568) 76 means of knowing. Langham, Garden of Hcalih, 1633. 598. ■* Choulant, Ilandh. dcr Bilchcrbundc fiir " U.iov in its properties. In an epistle on intestinal worms attributed to Alexander Trallianus,^ who practised medicine with great success at Eome in the 6th century, the use is recommended of Ahsinthium marinum [Oakaaala d-^lvOif), as a cure for ascarides and round worms. Semen sanctum vel Alcxandrinum is mentioned as a vermifuge for children by Saladinus about a.d. 1450, and by Piuellius, Dodonaeus, the Bauhins, and other naturalists of the 16th century. Its ancient reputa- tion has been fully maintained in modern times, and in the form partly of Santonin, the drug is still extensively employed. Description — Good samples, of tlie drug consist almost exclu' sively of entire, unopened flowerheads or capitules, which are so minute that it requires about 90 to make up the weight of one grain. In samples less pure, there is an admixture of stalks, and portions of a small pinnate leaf. The flowerheads are of an elliptic or oblong form, about -^Q of an inch long, greenish yellow when new, brown if long- kept ; they grow singly, less frequently in pairs, on short stalks, and are formed of about 18 oblong, obtuse, concave scales, closely imbricated. This involucre is much narrowed at the base in consequence of the lowermost scales being considerably shorter than the rest. The capitule is sometimes associated with a few of the upper leaves of the stem, which are short, narrow, and simple. Notwithstanding its compactness, '>■ Artemisia '^0. 3201, Herb. Griffith, '^ Bot. Zdtimg,lWa,vz,ld,12.lZ<); Pharm. Afglianistan, _ in the Kew Herbarium has Journ. 23 J\Iarch, 1872. 762 (abstract), capitules precisely agreeing with this Bombay ^ Contained in a work by Hieronymus drug. . Mercm-ialis, entitled Variarum Ledionum liliri quatuor, Venet. 1570. 348 COMPOSITE. , the capitule is somewliat ridged and angular/ from the invohicral scales having a strong, central nerve or keel. The middle portion of each scale is covered with minute, yellow, sessile glands, which are wanting on the transparent scarious edge. The latter is marked with extremely fine stria3 and is quite glabrous ; in the young state the keel bears a few woolly colourless hairs, but at maturity the whole flowerhead is shining and nearly glabrous.^ The florets number from 3 to 5 ; they have (in the bud) an ovoid corolla, glandular in its lower portion, a little longer than the ovary, which is destitute of pappus. Wormseed when rubbed in the hand exhales a powerful and agreeable odour, resembling cajuput oil and camplior ; it has a bitter aromatic taste. Chemical Composition — Wormseed yields about 1 per cent, of essential oil, having its characteristic smell and taste. The oil boils at 175° 0. ; it consists mainly, as the investigations of Kraut (1862-3) have shown, of Hirzel's Cinmlenc-Camplior, C^^H^^O, wliich when dis- tilled, easily gives off H^O, so that part of the oil is resolved into C^*^H^^ and water, which latter produces a turbidity in the previously dehydrated oiL The hydrocarbon has no action on polarized light, but the crude oil is slightly Isevogyrate. The latter also originally contains a possibly different, isomeric hydrocarbon, Hirzel's Cinccbene, Volckel's Gincne or Cynene. The water which distils over, carries with it volatile acids of the fatty series, also (as in the case of Anthemis nobilis L.) Angelic Acid. The substance to which the remarkable action of wormseed on the human body^ is due, iQSantonin,Q'^^E}^0^. It was discovered in 1830 b_y Kahler, an apothecary of Diisseldorf, who gave a very brief notice of it in the Arcliiv der Pharmacie of Brandos (xxxiv. 318). Immediately afterwards Augustus Alms, a druggist's assistant at Penzlin in the grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, knowiug nothing of Kahler's discovery, obtained the same substance and named it Santunin. Alms recommended it to the medical profession, pointing out that it is the anthelmintic principle of wormseed.** Santonin constitutes from 1|- to 2 per cent, of the drug, but appears to diminish in quantity very considerably as the flowers open. It is easily extracted by milk of lime, for, though not an acid and but sparingly soluble in water even at a boiling heat, it is capable of combining with bases. It is inodorous, but has a bitter taste, especially when dissolved in chloroform or alcohol.^ Santonin forms colourless rectangular tabular crystals, which when exposed to daylight, or to the blue or violet rays, but not to the other colours of the spectrum, assume a yellow hue, and split into irregular fragments. It has not been proved that this change, which takes place even under water, alcohol, or etlier, is accompanied by any chemical 1 Maceration in water, wliicli restores the Other etl'eets are recorded by Stille [Tlicra- natural shape of the flowcrheads, shows that peutia and Mat. Med. ii. 641). this shrunken, angular form is not found in ■* The paper of Alms being contained in the growing plant. the very same periodic'al (p. 319) as that of " Yet too much stress must not be laid on Kahler (and further in vol. xxxix. 190), this character, for as Besser remarks — affords additional evidence of the iudepeu- " periclinii squamcc in uno loco tomcnto Ircvi dence of the discovery. phis niiauscc caiw:, in, aliiH nudce, imo ^ Its ready solubility in 3 or 4 parts of nitidcB." chloroform, renders its estimation easy when 2 As the affected vision, so that objects mixed with sugar, as in a santonin lozenge, appear as if seen through a yellow medium. • RADIX ARNIC.E. 349 alteration. Yet Sestini (1865) has asserted that the yellow santonin or " PJiofo-santonin" has a different composition, namely C^^H^^O®, and a lower fusing point. The behaviour of santonin when exposed to light, resembles that of erythrocentamin, C-"H"^^0^. The latter has been obtained by means of ether, from the alcoholic extract of Urythrcea Ccntmcrium, and of some other Gcntianaccce. Mehu (1866) has shown that the colourless crystals of that substance when exposed to sun- light, assume a brilliant red colour, iiAtliout undergoing any chemical alteration. The colourless solutions of this body in chloroform or alcohol yield the original substance. With due precautions, santonin may be sublimed unchanged. According to Hesse (1873), it appears that santonin is the anhy- dride of a crystallizable body Avhich he calls Santoninic Acid, C-'^H^^O'^; when this acid is heated to 120° C, it is resolved into santonin and water. Cannizzaro and Sestini have shown (1873) that when santonin is heated with an alkali, it may be converted into Santonic Acid, a substance isomeric with santoninic acid, but not resolvable like the latter into santonin and water. Wormseed contains in addition to the two bodies just described, resin, sugar, waxy fat, salts of calcium and potassium, and malic acid ; when carefully selected and dried, it yielded us 6 "5 per cent, of ash, rich in silica. Commerce — Ludwig of St. Petersburg has stated that the imports of wormseed into that city were about as follows: — In 1862, 7400 cwt.; in 1863, 10,500 cwt.; in 1864, 11,400 cwt. The drug was brought from the Kirghiz steppes by Semipalatinsk and by Orenburg. Uses — The drug is employed exclusively for its anthelmintic pro- perties, partly in the form of santonin. It proves of special efficacy for ihe dislodgement of Ascaris luvihricoides. RADIX ARNICA. Arnica Root ; F. Racine cV Arnica; G-. Arnicavmrzel. Botanical Origin — Arnica montana L., a perennial plant growing in meadows throughout the northern and central regions of the northern hemisphere, bnt not reaching the British Islands. In western and cen- tral Europe, it is an inhabitant of the mountains, but in colder countries it grows in the plains. In high latitudes, as in Arctic Asia and America, a peculiar form of the plant distinguished by narrow, almost linear leaves has been named A. angustifolia Vahl ; but numerous transitional forms prove its identity with the ordinary A. moutana of Eurcp(\ History — The older botanists as Matthiolus, Gessner, Camerarius, Tabernsemontanns, and Clusius were acquainted with arnica and had some knowledge of its medicinal powers. It appears to have been a popular remedy in Germany at an early period, but was only introduced into regular medicine about 1712, on the recommendation of Johann Michael Eehr of Schweinfurt and of several other physicians. But for enthusiastic laudation of the new remedy, all these writers fall far short of Collin of Vienna, who imagined that in arnica he had found a Euro- 350 COMPOSITM pean plant possessing all tlie virtues of Peruvian Bark.^ In his hands, fevers and agues gave way under its use, and more than 1000 patients in the Paznian Hospital were alleged to have been cured of intermit- , tents by an electuary of the flowers, between 1771 and 1774 ! Such happy results were not obtained by other physicians. Arnica [herha, Jlos, radix) had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1788, but it soon fell out of notice, so that Woodville writing in 1790, remarks that he had been unable to procure the plant from any of the London druggists. Of late years it has gained some popular notoriety as an application in the form of tincture, for preventing the blackness of bruises, but in England it is rarely jprescribed internally. Description — The arnica root of pharmacy consists of a slender, contorted, dark-brown rootstock, an inch or two long, emitting from its under side an abundance of wiry simple roots, 3, 4 or more inches in length ; it usually bears the remains of the rosette of characteristic, ovate, coriaceous leaves, which are 3- to 5-nerved, ciliated at the margin, and slightly pubescent on their upper surface. It has a faintly aromatic, herby smell, and a rather acrid taste. Microscopic Structure — On a transverse section, the rootstock ex- hibits a large pith surrounded by a strong woody ring. In. the innermost part of the cortical layer, large oil-ducts are found corresponding co the fibro-vascular bundles. Neither starch granules, inulin, or oxalate of calcium are visible in the tissue. The rootlets are of a different structural character, but also contain oil-ducts. Chemical Composition — Several chemists have occupied them- selves in endeavouring to isolate the active principle of arnica. Bastick described (1851) a substance which he obtained in minute quantity from the flowers and named Arnicine. He states it to possess alkaline pro- perties, to be non-volatile, slightly soluble in water, more so in alcohol or ether ; when neutralized with hydrochloric acid, it forms a crystalline salt. The Arnicin extracted by Walz (1861) both from the root and flowers of arnica is a different sulDstance ; it is an amorphous yellow mass of acrid taste, slightly soluble in water, freely in alcohol or ether, and dis- solving also in alkaline solutions. It is precipitable from its alcoholic solution by tannic acid or by water. Walz assigns to arnicin the for- mula C-OH^oo* ; other chemists that of C^^H^^Ol Arnicin has not yet been proved a giucoside, although it is decomposed by dilute acids. Sigel^ obtained from dried arnica root about ^ per cent, of essential oil, and 1 per cent, from the fresh ; the oil of the latter had a sp. gr. of 0"999 at 18° C. The composition of the oil is represented by the formula C^H^O ; but it was found to be a mixture of various bodies, the princij^al being Dimcthylic Ether of Tliymoliyclroquinone. The water from which the oil separated, contains Isohidyric Acid, probably also a little Angelic and Formic Acid ; but neither capronic nor caprylic acid, wliich had been pointed out by AValz. Arnica root contains Inulin, which Dragendorff extracted from it to the extent of about 10 per cent. Uses — Arnica is used chiefly in the form of tincture as a popular aj)pli- ^ Arnlcoi, infclrihus et aliis morhis2>utri- and Collin, ed. nov., Auistel., iii. (1779) 133. cUs vires, — in the Amii Medici of StiJrck - Liebig's Annulen, clxx. (1873) 345-364, RADIX TAB AX ACL 351 cation to bruises and cliilblains ; internally it is occasionally prescribed as a stimulant and diaphoretic. Adulteration — Arnica root has recently been met with ^ adulterated with the root of Geum urlanum L., a common herbaceous plant of the order Rosacea:. The latter is thicker than the rhizome of arnica, being _:5_ to yV 0^ ^^ ii^^-'^^ ^^ diameter; it is a true roof, furnished on all sides with rootlets, and has an astringent taste. The leaves of Geum are pinnate, and quite unlike those of arnica. Flores Arnicse. Arnica montana produces large, handsome, orange-yellow flowers, solitary at the summit of the stem or branches. The involucral scales of the capitulum (20 to 24) are of equal length, but are imbricated, forming a double row. They are very hairy, the shorter hairs being tipped with viscid glands. The receptable is chaffy, ^ of an inch in diameter, with about 20 ligulate florets, and of tubular a much larger number. The ligu- late florets, an inch in length, are oblong, toothed at the apex, and tra- versed by about 10 parallel veins. The achenes are brown and hairy, crowned by pappus consisting of a single row of whitish barbed hairs. Arnica flowers have a weak, not unpleasant odour ; they were for- merly used in making the tincture, but as the British Pharmacopoeia now directs that preparation to be made with the root, they have almost gone out of use, at least in Great Britain. They appear to be rather richer in arnicin than the root, and are said to be fully equal if not superior to it in medicinal powers ; yet the essential oil they contain is not the same. RADIX TARAXACI. Dandelion Boot, Taraxacum Root ; F. Pissenlit ; G. Loioenzalmwurzel. Botanical Origin — Taraxacum officinale Weber {T. Dens-leonis Desf., Leontodon Taraxacimi L.), a plant of the northern hemisphere, found over the whole of Europe, Central and IsTorthern Asia, and North America, extending to the Arctic regions. It varies under a considerable number of forms, several of which have been regarded as distinct species. In many districts it is a troublesome weed. History — Though the common Dandelion is a plant which must have been \vell known to the ancients, no distinct reference to it can be traced in the classical authors of Greece and Italy. The word Taraxacum is however usually regarded as of Greek origin ; ^ we have first met with it as Tarakhshagun, in the works of the Arabian physicians, who speak of it as a sort of Wild Endive. It is thus mentioned by Ehazes in the 10th, and by Avicenna in the 11th century. The name Dens Leonis, an equivalent of which is found in nearly all the languages of Europe, is stated in the herbal of Johann von Cube^ to have been bestowed on this plant by one Wilhelm, a surgeon, who held it in great esteem ; but of this personage and of the period during which he lived, we have sought information in vain. Dandelion was ^ Holmes in Pharm. Journ. April 11. plant was used to cure, or from the verb 1874. 810. rapaffffw, I clisticrh. " Perhaps from Tpd^wov or rpS^vvov sig- ■^ Hcrbarius zu teutscli unci von aller liandt nifying Wild Lettuce; according to some, krcv.teren, Augspurg, 1488. cap. clii. from rdpa^is, a disease of the eye which the 352 COMPOSITE mucli valued as a medicine in the time of Gerarde and Parkinson, and is still extensively employed. Collection — In England, taraxacum root is considered to be in per- fection for extract in the month of November, the juice at that period affording an ampler and better product than at any other. Bentley contends that it is more bitter in March, and most of all in July, and that at the former period at least, it should be preferred. Description — The root is perennial, and tapering, simple, or slightly branched, attaining in a good soil a length of a foot or more, and half an inch to an inch in diameter. Old roots divide at the crown into several heads. The root is fleshy and brittle ; externally of a pale brown, inter- nally white, and abounding in an inodorous milky juice of bitter taste. It shrinks very much in drying, losing in weight about 76 per cent.^ Dried dandelion root is half an inch or less in thickness, dark brown, shrivelled with wrinkles running lengthwise often in a spiral direction ; when quite dry, it breaks easily with a short corky fracture, showing, a very thick white bark, surrounding a woody column. The latter is yellowish, very porous, without pith or rays. A rather broad but in- distinct cambium-zone separates the wood from the bark, which latter exhibits .numerous well-defined concentric layers. The root is inodorous but has a bitterish taste. Microscopic Structure — On the longitudinal section, especially in a tangential direction, the brownish zones are seen to contain latici- ferous vessels, only about 2 mkm. in diameter. These traverse their zones in a vertical direction, giving off numerous lateral branches, which however remain always confined to their zone. Within each of these zones, the laticiferous vessels form consequently an anastomosing net. We may say that the root is thus vertically traversed by about 10 to 20 concentric rings of laticiferous vessels.^ They may be made beautifully evident by means of anilin-blue, with which a thin longitudinal section of the fresh root may be moistened. The root must be allowed to par- tially dry but only till the milky juice coagulates ; the thin slice then energetically absorbs the colouring matter.^ The tissue of the dried root is loaded with inulin, which does not occur in the solid form in the living plant. The woody part of taraxacum root is made up of large scalariform vessels, accompanied by parenchy- matous tissue, the former much prevailing. Chemical Composition — The fresh milky juice of dandelion is bitter and neutral, but it soon acquires an acid reaction and reddish brown tint, at the same time coagulating with separation of masses of what has been called by Kromayer (18G4), Lcontodonium. This chemist, by treating this substance with hot water, obtained a bitter solution yielding an active (?) principle to animal charcoal, from which it was removed by means of boiling spirit of wine. After the evaporation of the alcohol, Kromayer purified the liquid by addition of basic acetate of lead, satu- 1 Thus 5496 Rj. of the washed root, (1863) 668 with plate ; Hanstein, Milch- afforded of dry only 1277 tb., or 23 '2 per mftricfdssc unci vcrvandtc Organc dcr Bindc, cent. — Information communicated by Berlin, 1864. 72. 73. pi. ix. Messrs. Allen and Jlanlmrys, London..' ^ The reader who is not familiar with this ^ For further particulars about them, see process may refer to a ]iaper by Pockluigtou Yog\, SU;u/i(jsber. dcr Wiener Akndemie,v\. in Pharm. Jmtrn. April 13, 1872. 822. HERB A LACTUCM VIROSM 353 ration of the filtered solution with sulphuretted hydrogen and evaporation to dryness. The residue then yielded to ether an acrid resin, and left a colourless amorphous mass of intensely bitter taste, named by Kromayer Taraxacin. Polex (1839) obtained apparently the same principle in warty crystals ; he simply boiled the mill<;y juice with water and allowed the concentrated decoction to evaporate. The portion of the " Leontodonium" not dissolved by water, yields to alcohol a crystalline substance, Kromayer's Taraxacerin, C^H^^O. It resembles lactucerin and has in alcoholic solution an acrid taste. How far the medicinal value of dandelion is dependent on the substances thus extracted, is not yet known. Dragendorff (1870) obtained from the root gathered near Dorpat in October and dried at 100° C, 24 per cent, of Inulin and some sugar. The root collected in March from the same place, yielded only 1-74 per cent, of inulin, 17 of imcrystallizable sugar and 187 of Levulin. The last-named substance, discovered by Dragendorff, has the same composition as inulin, but dissolves in cold water ; the solution tastes sweetish, and is devoid of any rotatory power. Inulin is often to be seen as a glisten- ing powder when extract of taraxacum is dissolved in water. T. and H. Smith of Edinburgh (1849) have shown that the juice of the root by a short exposure to the air, undergoes a sort of fermentation which results in the abundant formation of Mannite, not a trace of which is obtainable from the perfectly fresh root. Sugar wliich readily underwent the vinous fermentation, was found by the same chemists in considerable quantity. The leaves and stalks of dandelion (but not the roots) were found by Marme (1864) ^ to afford the peculiar sugar named Inositc, C^^H^^O'^^. The' root collected in the meadows near Bern immediately before flowering, carefully washed and dried at 100° C, yielded us 5'24 per cent, of ash, which we found to consist of carbonates, phosphates, sulphates, and in smaller quantity also of chlorides. Uses — Taraxacum is much employed as a mild laxative and tonic, especially in hepatic disorders. Adulteration — The roots of Leontodon Tiispidus L. (Common Hawk- bit) have occasionally been supplied by fraudulent herb-gatherers in place of dandelion. Both plants have runcinate leaves, but those of hawkbit are hairy, while those of dandelion are smooth. The (fresh) root of the former is ^tough, breaking with difficulty and rarely exuding any milky juice.^ The dried root of dandelion is exceedingly liable to the attacks of maggots, and should not be kept beyond one season. HERBA LACTUCM VIROS.^. Prickly Lettuce. ; I\ Laitue vireuse ; G. Oiftlattich. Botanical Origin — Lactuca virosa L.,^ a tall herb occurring on stony ground, banks and roadsides, throughout Western, Central and 1 Gmelin, Chemistry, xv. (1862) 351. Scariola L., but in most works on botany " Giles, Fharm. Journ. xi. (1852) 107. they are maintained as distinct species. ^ Beutham unites this plant with L. A A 354 COMPOSITE Southern Europe. It is abundant in the Spanish Peninsula and in France, but in Britain is only thinly scattered, reaching its northern limit in the south-eastern Highlands of Scotland. History — The introduction of this lettuce into modern medicine is due to Collin, a celebrated physician of Vienna, who about the year 1771 recommended the inspissated juice in the treatment of dropsy. In long- standing cases, this extract was given to the extent of half an ounce a day. The College of Physicians of Edinburgh inserted Lactuca virosa L. in their pharmacopoeia of 1792, while in England its place was taken by the Garden Lettuce, Z. sativa L. The authors of the British Pharma- copmia of 1867 have discarded the latter, and directed that Extractum Laducce shall be prepared by inspissating the juice of L. virosa. Description — The plant is biennial, producing in its first year depressed obovate undivided leaves, and in its second a solitary upright stem, 3 to 5 feet high, bearing a panicle of small, pale yellow flowers, resembling those of the Garden Lettuce. The stem which is cylindrical and alittleprickly below, has scattered leaves growing horizontally; they are of a glaucous green, ovate-oblong, often somewhat lobed, auricled, clasping, with the margin provided with irregular spinescent teeth, and midrib white and prickly. The whole plant abounds in a bitter, milky juice of strong, unpleasant, opiate smell. Chemical Composition — We are not aware of any modern chemical examination having been made of Ladiica virosa. The more important constituents of the plant are doubtless those found in Lactucarium, to the article on which the reader is referred. Uses — The inspissated expressed juice of the fresh plant is reputed narcotic and diuretic, but is probably nearly inert. LACTUCARIUM. Laducarium, Lettuce Opium, Thridace ; ^ E. and G. Lactucarium. Botanical Origin — The species of Lactuca from which lactucarium is obtained are three or four in number, namely — 1. Lactuca virosa L., described in the foregoing article. 2. L. Scariola L., a plant very nearly allied to tlie preceding and perhaps a variety of it, but having the foliage less abundant, more glau- cous, leaves more sharply lobed (?), much more erect and almost parallel Avith the stem. It has the same geographical range as L. virosa. 3. L. aUissima Bieb., a native of the Caucasus, now cultivated in Auvergne in France for yielding lactucarium. It is a gigantic herb, liaving when cultivated, a height of 9 feet and a stem 1^ inches in diameter. Prof. G. Planchon believes it to be a mere variety of L. Scariola L. 4. L. sativa L., the cominon (harden Lettuce.- ^ The term Thridace is also applied to been called by ])e C'andolle Latuca capitata. Extract, of Lettuce. Maisch has obtained lactucarium from L. '^ The authors of the French Coder, of clvngcUa Mulil. {Am. Journ. of Pharm. 1866, name as the source of lactucarium, 1869. 148.) that form of the garden lettuce which has LACTUCAlilUM. 355 History — Dr. Coxe of rhiladelpliia was tlie first to suggest that the juice of the lettuce collected in the same manner as opium is collected from the poppy, might be usefully employed in medicine. The result of his experiments on the juice which he thus obtained from the garden lettuce {L. satwa L.), and called Lettuce Opium, were published in 1799/ The experiments of Coxe were continued some years later by Duncan, Young, Anderson, Scudamore and others in Scotland, and by Bidault de Villiers and numerous observers in France. The production of lactu- carium in Auvergne was commenced^ by Aubergier, pharmacien of Clermont-Ferrand, about 1841. Secretion — All the green parts of the plant are traversed by a system of vessels, which when wounded, especially during the period of flowering, instantly exude a white milky juice. The stem at first solid and fleshy but subsequently hollow, owes its rigidity to a circle of about 30 fibro-vascular bundles, each of which includes a cylinder of cambium. At the boundary between this tissue and the primary cortical paren- chyme, is situated the system of milk-vessels, exhibiting on transverse section a single or double circle of thin- walled tubes, the cavities of which contain dark brown masses of coagulated juice. In longitudinal section, they appear branched and transversely bound together, as in the milk-vessels of taraxacum. The larger of these tubes, 35 mkm. in dia- meter, correspond pretty regularly in position with the vascular bundles. Each of the latter is also separated from the pith by a band or arch of cambium, in the circumference of which isolated smaller milk-vessels occur. The system of milk- vessels^ is therefore double, belonging to the pith on the one side, and to the bark on the other, the two being sepa- rated by juiceless wood. The milk- vessels of the bark are covered by only 2 to 6 rows of parenchyme cells of the middle bark, rapidly de- creasing in size from within outwards, and these are protected by a not very thick- walled epidermis. Hence it is easy to understand how the slightest puncture or incision may reach the very richest milk-cells. The drops of milky juice when exposed to the air, quickly harden to small yellowish-brown masses, whitish within. Collection and Description — Lactucarium has been especially collected since about the year 1845, in the neighbourhood of the small town of Zell on the Mosel, between Coblenz and Treves in Ehenish Prussia. The introduction of this industry is due to Mr. Goeris, apothe- cary of that place, to whom we are indebted for the following information and for some further particulars to Mr. Meurer of Zell. The plant is grown in gardens, where it produces a stem only in its second year. In May just before it flowers, its stem is cut off at about a foot below the top, after which a transverse slice is taken off daily until September. The juice, which is pure white but readily becomes brown on the surface, is collected from the wounded top by the finger, and transferred to hemispherical earthen cups, in which it quickly hardens ^ Inquiry into the comparative effects of ^ Coviptes Rendus, xv. (1842) 923. the Opium officinarum, extracted from the ^ Beautifully delineated hj Hanstein in Papaver somniferwrn or White Poppy of the work referred to at p. 352, note 2 ; see Linnaeus, and that procured from the Lactuca also Trecul, Ann. des Sciences nat., Bot. v. sativa or CommoJi cultivated Lettuce of the (1866) 69 ; Dippel, Entstchwig der Milch- same author. — Transact, of the American saftgefdsse. Eotterdani 1865. tab. 1. fig. 17. Philosophical Society, iv. (1799) 387. A A 2 356 COMEOSITM SO that it can be turned out. It is then dried in the sunshine until it can be cut into four pieces, when the drying is completed by exposure to the air for some weeks on frames. At Zell, 300 to 400 kilogrammes (661 to 882 fb.) of lactucarium are annually produced ; the whole district furnishes at best but 20 quintals annually. The price the drug fetches on the spot varies from 4 to 10 thalers per kilogramme (about Qs. to 14s. per lb.) In the Eifel district where lactucarium was formerly collected, none is now produced. As found in trade, German lactucarium consists of angular pieces formed as already described, but rendered more or less shrunken and irregular by loss of moisture and by fracture. Externally they are of a dull reddish brown, internally opaque and wax -like, and when recent, of a creamy white. By exposure to the air, this white becomes yellow and then brown. Lactucarium has a strong impleasant odour, suggestive of opium, and a very bitter taste. The lactucarium produced by Aubergier of Clermont-Ferrand is of excellent quality, but does not appear to differ from that obtained on the Mosel, except that it is in circular cakes about 1-J inches in diameter, instead of in angular lumps. Scotch lactucarium, which was formerly the only sort found in the market, is still (1872) met with. Mr. Fairgrieve, who produces it in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, collects the juice into little tin vessels, in which it quickly thickens ; it is then turned out and dried with a gentle heat, the drug being broken up as the process of drying goes on. It is thus obtained in irregular earthy-looking lumps of a deep brown hue, of which the larger may be about an inch in length. In smell, it exactly resembles the drug collected on the Continent.^ We are unacquainted with Eussian Lactucarium which has been quoted at a very high price in some continental lists. Chemical Composition — Lactucarimn is a mixture of very different organic substances, together with 8 to 10 per cent, of inorganic matter. It is not completely taken up by any solvent, and when heated merely softens but does not melt. By exhausting with boiling alcohol, it yielded us 58*7 per cent, of Laduccrin or Lactuconc, C^'^H^'^0, depositing it in crystals which when duly purified have the form of slender colourless needles, fusing at about 185° C. to an amorphous mass, Lactucerin is an inodorous, tasteless, neutral substance, insoluble in water, but dissolving in ether and in oils both fixed and volatile, not quite so readily either in benzol, or in bi- sulphide of carbon. It appears to be closely allied to Eu^pliovhon, with which it ought to be accurately compared. Cold alcohol as well as boiling water, take out of lactucarium about 0'3 per cent, of a crystallizable bitter substance, Laducin, C^^n^-0-",H-0, which although it reduces alkaline cupric tartrate, is not a giucoside. Lactucin forms white pearly scales, readily soluble in acetic acid, but insoluble in ether. It loses its bitterness when treated with an alkali. From the mother-liquors that have yielded lactucin, Ludwig obtained Lad2icic Acid, as an amorphous light yellow mass, becoming crystal- line after long standing. Lastly lactucarium has further afforded in small I "VVe arc indebted to Mr. H. C. Baildon T. and H. Smith for a recent sanijile of ilr. for a KiH-cinieu of Scotch lactucarium col- Fairgrieve's article. lected about tlie year 1844, and to Messrs. HERB A LOB ELI JE. 357 quantity, an amorphous substance named Laducopicrin, C''*H^*0-^, appa- rently produced from lactucin by oxidation ; it is stated by Kromayer (1862) to be soluble in water or alcohol, and to be very bitter. Of the widely diffused constituents of plants, lactucarium contains resin, albumen, gum, oxalic, citric, malic and succinic acids, sugar, man- nite, and asparagin, together with potassium, calcium and magnesium salts of nitric and phosphoric acids. We obtained crystals of nitrate of j)otassium by concentrating the aqueous decoction of lactucarium. On distillation with water, a volatile oil having the odour of lactucarium, passes over in very small quantity. Uses — The soporific powers universally ascribed in ancient times to the lettuce, are supposed to exist in a concentrated form in lactucarium. Yet numerous experiments have failed to show that this substance possesses more than very slight sedative properties, if indeed it is not absolutely inert.^ LOBELIACE^. HERBA LOBELIA. Lobelia, Indian Tobacco ; F. Lobelie cnfiee ; G-. Lobeliahraut. Botanical Origin — Lobelia infiata L., an anniial herb, 9 to 18 inches high, with an angular upright stem, simple or more frequently branching near the top, widely diffused throughout the eastern part of JSTorth America from Canada to the Mississippi, growing in neglected fields, along roadsides, and on the edges of woods, and thriving well in European gardens. History — Lobelia infiata was described and figured by Linnseus^ from specimens cultivated by him at Upsala about 1741, but he does not attribute to the plant any medicinal virtues. The aborigines of North America made use of the herb, which from this circumstance and its acrid taste, came to be called Indian Tobacco. In Europe it was noticed by Schoepf ^ but with little appreciation of its powers. In America it has long been in the hands of quack doctors, but its value in asthma was set forth by Cutler in 1813. It was not employed in England until about 1829, when with several other remedies, it was introduced to the medical profession by Eeece.* Description — The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, scattered, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, rather acute, obscurely toothed, somewhat pubescent. The edge of the leaf bears small whitish glands, and between them isolated hairs which are more frequent on the under than on the upper surface. They are usually in greater abundance on the lower and middle portions of the stem. The stem of the growing plant exudes when wounded a small quan- ^ Stille, Therapeutics and Mat. Med. i. ^ Acta Soc. Reg. Scient. Upsal. 1746. 23."' (1868) 756. Garrod {Med. Times and ^ Mat. Med. Americana, Erlangag, 1787- Gazette, 26 March, 1864), gave lactucarium 128. in draclim doses, repeated 3 or 4 times a * Treatise on the Bladder -podded Lobelia, •day, without being able to perceive that it Lend. 1829. had any effect either as an anodyne or hypnotic. 358 LOBELIACEM tity of acrid milky juice, contained in laticiferous vessels running also into the leaves. The inconspicuous blossoms are arranged in a many- flowered, terminal, leafy raceme. The five-cleft, bilabiate corolla is blueish with a yellow spot on the under lip, its tube being as long as the somewhat divergent limb of the calyx. The capsule is ovoid, inflated, ten-ribbed, crowned by five elongated sepals which are half as long as the ripe fruit. The latter is two-celled and contains a large number of ovate-oblong seeds about Jg- of an inch in length, having a reticulated, pitted surface. The herb found in commerce is in the form of rectangular cakes, 1 to If inches thick, consisting of the yellowish-green chopped herb, compressed as it would seem while still moist, and afterwards neatly trimmed. The cakes arrive wrapped in paper, sealed up and bearing the label of some American druggist or herb-grower. Lobelia has a herby smell and, after being chewed, a burning, acrid taste resembling that of tobacco. Chemical Composition — Lobelia has been examined chemically by Procter (1838-1841), Pereira (1842), Eeinsch (1843), Bastick (1851), also by F. F. Mayer.^ The first-named chemist^ traced the activity of the plant to a liquid, volatile alkaloid which he termed Lobelina, and his observations were confirmed some years later by the independent experi- ments of Bastick.^ From the labours of these chemists it appears that lobelina is an oily, viscid, transparent fluid with a strong alkaline re- action, especially when in solution. In the pure state, it smells slightly of the plant, but more strongly when mixed with ammonia. Its taste is pungent and tobacco-like, and when taken in minute doses, it exer- cises in a potent manner the poisonous action of the drug. Lobelina is volatile, but does not evaporate entirely unchanged. It dissolves in water, but more readily in alcohol or ether, the latter of which is capable of removing it from its aqueous solution. Caustic alkalies decompose it readily. It neutralizes acids forming with them crystal- lizable salts, soluble in water or alcohol. The hydrochlorate is described as forming colourless, transparent, well-defined acicular crystals ; a sul- phate, nitrate, and oxalate have been also obtained. The herb likewise contains traces of essential oil (the Lobdianin of Pereira ?), resin and gum. The seeds afforded Procter about 30 per cent. of fixed oil, sp. gr. -940, which was found to dry very rapidly. The Lobeliin of Keinsch appears to be an indefinite compound. In 1871, Enders at our request performed some researches on lobelia in order to isolate the acrid substance, to which the herb owes its taste. He exhausted the drug with spirit of wine and distilled the liquid in presence of charcoal, which then retained the acrid principle. The char- coal was washed with water, and then treated with boiling alcohol. This on evaporation yielded a green extract, which was further purified by means of chloroform. Warty tufts were thus finally obtained, yet always of a brownish colour. The tufts are readily soluble in ether and chloroform, but only slightly in water ; they possess the acrid taste of lobelia. This substance, which we may term Lohelacrin, is decomposed if merely boiled with water ; by the influence of alkalis or acids it is ^ American Journ. of Pharm. xxxvii. - Ara. Journ. of Plmrm. iii. (1838) 98; (1866) 209 ; also JahreHhcricht of Wiggers vii. (1841) 1 ; Phann. Journ. x. (1851) 456. and Husemann, 1866. 252. ^ Pharm. Journ. jc. (1851) 270. FOLId UFJE URSl. ' 359 resolved into sugar and Lobelic Acid. The latter is soluble both in water and alcohol, and is non-volatile ; it yields a soluble salt with barium oxide, whereas its plumbic salt is insoluble in water. Uses — Lobelia is a powerful nauseating emetic ; in large doses an acro-narcotic poison. It is prescribed in spasmodic asthma. ERICACE^. FOLIA UV^ URSI. Bearherfy Leaves ; E. Feuilles de Busserole ; G. Bdrentrcmheribldtter. Botanical Origin — Arctosta'phylos Uva-wrsi Sprengel {Arhutus Uva-ursi L.), a small, procumbent, evergreen shrub, distributed over the greater part of the northern hemisphere. It occurs in North America, Iceland, ISTorthern Europe and Eussian Asia, and on the chief mountain chains of Central and Southern Europe. In Britain, it is confined to Scotland, the north of England and Ireland. History — The bearberryj previously described by Clusius in 1601, was recommended for medicinal use in 1763, by Gerhard of Berlin and others.-^ It had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia for the first time in 1788. Description — The leaves are dark green, -| to 1 inch in length by f to f of an inch in breadth, obovate, rounded at the end, gradually narrowed into a short petiole. They are entire, with the margin a little reflexed, and in the young state slightly pubescent, otherwise the whole leaf is smooth, glabrous, and coriaceous ; the upper surface shining, deeply impressed with a network of veins ; the under minutely reticulated witli dark veins. The leaves have a very astringent taste, and when powdered, a tea-like smell. Chemical Composition — Kawalier (1852) has shown that a decoc- tion of bearberry treated with basic acetate of lead, yields a gallate of that metal, thus proving that gallic acid exists ready-formed in the leaves. When the filtrate, freed from lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, is properly concentrated, it deposits acicular crystals of Arbutin, C"*H^^O^*,II^O,, a bitter neutral substance, easily soluble in hot water, less so in cold, dissolving in alcohol, but sparingly in ether.^ By contact for some days with emulsin, or by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid, arbutin is resolved into Hydrokinone, C^H^O^ (Kawalier's Arctw^in), and glucose. The action of peroxide of manganese and dilute sulphuric acid, on the other hand, converts arbutin into Kinone, C^H*0^, and formic acid (p. 325). If a concentrated decoction of the leaves is allowed to stand for some months, a decomposition of the arbutin takes place, and a certain quantity of hydrokinone can be isolated by shaking the liquid with ether. Hydrokinone was likewise found by Uloth (1859) among the products of the distillation of an aqueous extract of bearberry leaves, together ^ Murray, Apparatus Medicaminum, ii. ^ Gineliu, Chemistry, xv. (1862) 419. (1794) 64-81. • . 360 HBENACEM. with the isomeric substance PyrocaUchin (p. 172). Arbutin itself also yields bydrokinone by means of dry distillation. Hydrokinone forms colourless crystals, melting at 177° '5 C. ; kinone crystallizes in brilliant yellow scales, melting at 115°'7 C. and tlien evolving a peculiar odour. The vapour strongly irritates the eyes, and the watery solution imparts a yellow colour to the skin. In the mother-liquor from which the arbutin has crystallized, there remains a small quantity of the very bitter substance called Ericolin, occurring in greater abundance in other Ericacem. Ericolin, C^^H^^O^^, is an amorphous yellowish mass, softening at 100° 0. and resolved, when heated with dilute sulphuric acid, into sugar and Ericinol, a colourless, quickly resinifying oil, isomeric with the camphor of the Laurinecc} It has a peculiar, not disagreeable odour. H. Trommsdorff in 1854, obtained from bearberry leaves by exhaust- ing them with ether (in which however it is but slightly soluble) the colourless and tasteless crystallizable neutral substance Ursone, C^'^H^^O^. It melts at 200° C, and sublimes apparently unchanged. Tonner (1866) met with it in the leaves of an Australian Epacris, a plant of the same order as the bearberry. Lastly tannic acid is present in the leaves under notice ; their aqueous infusion is nearly colourless, but assumes a violet hue on addi- tion of ferrous sulphate. After a short time a reddish precipitate is produced, which quickly turns blue. By using ferric chloride, a bluish black precipitate immediately separates. Adulteration — The leaves of Vaccinium Vitis-idoea L. called Red Wliortleberry or CoivBerry, have been confounded with those of bearberry, which in form they much resemble. But they are easily distinguished by being somewhat crenate toward the apex, dotted and reticulate on the under surface and more revolate at the margin. Uses — An astringent tonic used chiefly in affections of the bladder. EBENACE^. FRUCTUS DIOSPYRI. Botanical Origin — Diosjyyros Embryoiiteris Pers. {Emhryo-pUris ghitinifera Roxb.), a middle-sized or large evergreen tree, native of the western coast of India, Ceylon, Bengal, Burma, Siam and also Java.^ History — The tree, which has a Sanskrit name, was known to Rheede and was figured in his Ilorhis Mcdabaricus.^ The circumstance that the unripe fruit abounds in an astringent viscid juice which is used by the natives of India for daubing the bottoms of boats, was communi- cated by Sir William Jones to Roxburgh in 1791. The introduction of the fruit into medichie which is due to O'Shaughnessy,"* has been followed by its admission to the Pliarmacopceia of India, 1868. Description — The fruit is usually solitary, subsessile or peduncu- J Gnielin, Chemistry, xvi. (1864) 28. iu the Transactions of the Cambridge Philo- - A very coni])lete account of the tree, as sophical Society, xii. part i. 1873. well as of the wliolc order, will be found in ' Tom. iii. tab. 41. Hicrn'3 Monograjjh of Ebenacea, published ' Bengal Dispe7i$atory,Od,\Q\xiia.,l?>i2A'2,i. RESINA BENZOK 361 lute, globular or ovoid, 1^ to 2 inclies long, surrounded at the base by a large and deeply 4-lobed calyx. It is of a yellowish colour, covered with a rusty tomeutum; internally it is pulpy, 6- to 10-celled, with thin flat solitary seeds. The pulp is excessively astringent when unripe, but loses this quality at maturity so far as to become eatable. The fruit is used only in the unripe and fresh state. Chemical Composition — No satisfactory analysis has been made of this fruit, but there can be no doubt that in common with that of other species of Diospyros, it is when immature, rich in tannic acid. Charropin (1873),^ who has examined the fruit of the American D. Virginiana L., found it to contain a tannic acid which he considered identical with that of nutgalls, besides an abundance of pectin, glucose, and a yellow colouring matter insoluble in water but dissolving freely in ether. Uses — The inspissated juice has been recommended as an astringent in diarrhoea and chronic dysentery. STYRACE^. RESINA BENZOE. Benzo'inum ; Benzoin, Gum Benjamin ; F. Benjoin ; G. Benzoeharz.^ Botanical Origin — Styrax Benzoin Dryander, a tree of moderate height, with stem as thick as a man's body and beautiful crown of foliage, indigenous to Sumatra and Java, in the first of which islands benzoin is produced. The tree yielding the superior benzoin of Siam, though commonly referred to this species, has never been examined botanically, and is actually unknown. The French expedition for the exploration of the Mekong and Cochin China (1866-68), reported the drug to be produced in the cassia-yielding forests on the eastern bank of the river in question in about N". lat. 19°. Whether any benzoin is obtained from 8. Finlay- sonianum A¥all, as conjectured by Pioyle, we know not. History — There is no evidence that the Greeks and Komans,^ or even the earlier Arabian physicians, had any acquaintance with benzoin ; nor is the drug to be recognized among the commodities which were conveyed to China by the Arab and Persian traders between the 10th and 13th centuries, though the camphor of Sumatra is expressly named. The first mention of benzoin known to us, occurs in the travels of Ibn Batuta,* who having visited Sumatra during his journey through the East, a.d. 1325-49, notes that the island produces Java Frankincense and camphor. The word Java was at that period a designation of Sumatra, or was even used by the Arabs to signify the islands and 1 Etude sur U Plaqueminicr (Dios'pyros), treating Bitter Almond Oil with an alcoholic these, Paris, 1873! 28-30. solution of potash. It has the formula ^ Benzoin in Malay and Javanese is termed G^'^W^O^ (Schorlemmer). Kamdnan, Kamiiian, and Kamayan, abbre- ^ Grawfurd suggests that the Malahathrum viated to mdnan and oninan (Grawfurd) ; it of the ancients is possibly benzoin. — Diet, of is called in Siamese kom-yan or han-yan ; in Indian Islands, 50. Ghinese ngdn-si-hidng. ^ Voyages d'lin Batoutah, traduit par The name Benzoin is also applied to a Defremery et Sanguinetti, Paris, 1853-59. beautiful crystalline substance obtained by ir. 228. 240. 362 STY R ACE m. productions of tlie Arcliipelago generally.^ Hence came the Arabic name Liibdn Jtaoi, i.e. Java Frankincense,, corrupted into 'Banjawi, Benjui, Benzui, Benzoe and Benzoin, and into the still more vulgar English Benjamin. We have no further information about the drug until the latter half of the following century, when we find a record that in 1461, the sultan of Egypt, Melech Elmaydi, sent to Pasquale Malipiero, doge of Venice, a present of 30 rotoU of Benzoi, 20 rotoli of Aloes Wood, two pairs of Carpets, a small flask of Balsam (of Mecca), 15 little boxes of Theriaka, 42 loaves of Sugar, 5 boxes of Sugar Candy, a horn of Civet, and 20 pieces of Porcelain.^ Agostino Barberigo, another doge of Venice, was pre- sented in a similar manner in 1490 by the sultan of Egypt with 35 rotoli of Aloes Wood, the same quantity of Benzui and 100 loaves of Sugar.^ Among the precious spices sent from Egypt in 1476 to Catarina Cornaro, queen of Cyprus, were 10 lb. of Aloes Wood and 15 lb, of Benzui} These notices indicate the high value set upon the drug when first brought to Europe. The occurrence of benzoin in Siam is noticed in the journal of the voyage of Vasco da Gama,^ where in enumerating the kingdoms of India, it is stated that Xarnauz (Siam®) yields much benzoin worth 3 cruzaclos, and aloes worth 25 cruzaclos ^qv farazola. According to the same record, the price of benzoin (beijoim) in Alexandria was 1 cruzado per arraiel, half the value of aloes wood. The Portuguese traveller Barbosa visited in 1511, Calicut on the Malabar Coast, and found Benzui to be one of the more valuable items of export, one farazola (22 ib. 6 oz.) costing 65 to 70 fccnoes ; camphor fetched neariy the same price, and mace only 25 to 30 fanoes. Erom other sources we gather that benzoin was an article of Venetian trade in the beginning of the 16th century. Garcia d'Orta, writing at Goa (1534-63), was the first to give a lucid and intelligent account of benzoin, detailing the method of collection, and distinguishing the drug of Siam and Martaban from that produced in Java and Sumatra. In the early part of the 17th century, there was direct commercial intercourse between England and both Siam and Sumatra, an English factory existing at Ayuthia (Siam) until 1623 ; and benzoin was doubt- less one of the commodities imported. The import duties levied upon it in England in 1635, amounted to 10s. per %}). Benzoic acid was described as early as 1617 by Blaise de Vigenere.^ Production — Benzoin is collected in Northern and Eastern Sumatra, especially in the Batta country, lying southward of the state of Achin.-* The tree grows in plenty also in the highlands of Palembang in the south, 1 Yule, BooJc ofScr Marco Polo, ii. (1871) " TJic Rates of Marchandizes, Lond. 1635. 228. ^ TraiciicluFcuetchi,Scl,Ya.vh,\&22.^l. - Muratori, Rerum Ilalicarum Scriptorcs, There is said to be an edition of 1008, wliich xxii. (1733) 1170.— 100 roloU = 175 ih. we have not seen. Avoirdupois. " Mi(iuel, Prodromus Fiona Sumalranm, ' L. de Mas Latrie, Hist, dc Vile dc 1S60. 72 ; 'MarHdeu, Hist, of Sutnalra, Lond. Chypre, etc. iii. (1861) 433. 1783. 123.— The hxtter autlior resided at Ben- ■» Ibid. iii. 406. cooleneight years, as an official of the English 5 Roieiro da Viagem de Vasco da Gama Government. His specimens of benzoin are cm 1497, iJar Herculano e o Bariio Castello now in the museum of the Pharmaceutical de Paiva, segunda edi^ao, Lisboa, 1861. 109. Society. " Yule, op. cit. ii. 222. The statement of Crawfurd (Diet, of the BESINA BENZOE. 363 and its resin is collected. It is chiefly on the coast regions that con- siderable plantations are found. Teysmann saw the cultivation in the tracts of the river Batang Leko, the trees being planted about 15 feet apart. The benzoin from the interior is mostly from wild trees, which occur at the foot of the mountains at an elevation of 300 to 1000 feet. The trees, which are of quick growth, are raised from seeds sown on the [edges of?] rice-fields; they require no particular attention beyond being kept clear of other plants, until about 6 or 7 years old, when they have trunks 6 to 8 inches in diameter, and are capable of yielding the resin. Incisions are then made in their stems, from which there exudes a thick, whitish, resinous juice, which soon hardens by exposure to the air, and is carefully scraped off with a knife. The trees continue to yield at the rate of about three pounds per annum for 10 or 12 years, after which period they are cut down. The resin which exudes during the first three years, is said to be fuller of white tears and therefore of finer quality, than that which issues subsequently, and it is termed by the Malays Head Benzoin. That which flows during the next 7 or 8 years, is browner in colour and less valuable, and is known as Belly Benzoin ; while a third sort called Foot, is obtained by splitting the tree and scraping the wood ; this last is mixed with much bark and refuse.^ Benzoin is brought for sale to the ports of Sumatra in large cakes called Tampangs, wrapped in matting. These have to be broken, and softened either by the heat of the sun or by that of boiling water, and then packed into square cases which the resin is made to fill. The only account of the collection of Siam Benzoin is that given by Sir E. H. Schomburgk, for some years British Consul at Bangkok.^ He represents that the bark is gashed all over, and that the resin which exudes, collects and hardens between it and the wood, the former of which is then stripped off. This account is confirmed by the aspect of some of the Siam benzoin of commerce as well as by that of pieces of bark in our possession ; but it is also evident that all the Siam drug is not thus obtained. Schomburgk adds, that the resin is much injured and broken during its conveyance in small baskets on bullocks' backs to the navigable parts of the Menam, whence it is brought down to Bangkok.^ Whether benzoin owes its original fluidity to a volatile oil holding the resin in solution, and its solidification to the volatilization of this oil, or whether the resin itself hardens by oxidation, — what occasions the remarkable diversity of aspect between the opaque and milk-like, and the completely transparent resin, are questions to be investigated by some future observer. Description — Benzoin (always termed in English commerce Qum Indian Islands, 1856. 50) that benzoin is col- inferior, are used in the East to distinguisli lected in Borneo " on the northern coast in the qualities of many other commodities, as theterritoryof Brunai" is to us inexplicable. Borneo Camphor, Esculent Birds'-nests, Car- Mr. St. John, British Consul in Borneo, in damoms, Galbanum, &c. an oflBcial report on the trade of Brunai, ^ This account must have been derived dated from that place 29 January, 1858, from others, for Sir E. H. Schomburgk cer- enumerates the various productions of the tainly never visited the region producing district, but does not name benzoin. benzoin. ^ The terms Head, Belly and Foot, equi- ^ Pharm. Journ. iii. (1862) 126. Talent to our words superior, medium and 364 STYRACEM Benjamin) is distinguislied as of two kinds, 8iam and Sumatra. Eacli sort occurs in various degrees of purity, and under considerable differences of appearance. 1. Siam Benzoin — The most esteemed sort is that which consists entirely of flattened tears or drops, an inch or two long, of an opaque, milk-like, white resin, loosely agglutinated into a mass. More frequently the mass is quite compact, consisting of a certain proportion of white tears of the size of an almond downwards, imbedded in a deep, rich amber-brown, translucent resin. Occasionally the translucent resin pre- ponderates, and the white tears are almost wanting. In some packages, the tears of white resin are A'^ery small, and the whole mass has the aspect of a reddish-brown granite. There is always a certain admixture of bits of wood, bark, and other accidental impurities. The white tears when broken, display a stratified structure with layers of greater or less translucency. By keeping, the white milky resin becomes brown and transparent on the surface, but from some experiments made by one of us (F.) it does not appear that the opacity is due to water, but rather to a peculiar molecular (semi-crystalline 1) state of the resin. Siam benzoin is very brittle, the opaque tears showing a slightly waxy, the transparent a glassy fracture. It easily softens in the mouth and may be kneaded with the teeth like mastich. It has a delicate balsamic, vaniUa-like, fragrance but very Little taste. When heated it evolves a more powerful fragrance, together with the irritating fumes of benzoic acid ; its fusing point is 75° C. The presence of benzoic acid may be shown by the microscopical examination of splinters of the resin under oil of turpentine. Siam benzoin is imported in cubic blocks, which take their form from the wooden cases in which they are packed while the resin is still soft, 2. Sumatra Benzoin — Prior to the renewal of direct commercial intercourse with Siam in 1853, this was the sort of benzoin most com- monly found in commerce. It is imported in cubic blocks exactly like the preceding, from which it differs in its generally greyer tint. The mass however, when the drug is of good quality, contains numerous opaque tears, set in a translucent, greyish-brown resin, mixed with bits of wood and bark. When less good, the white tears are wanting, and the proportion of impurities is greater. We have even seen samples consisting almost wholly of bark. In odour, Sumatra benzoin is both weaker and less agreeable than the Siam drug, and generally falls short of it in purity and handsome appearance, — and hence commands a much lower price ^ The n-reyish-brown portion melts at 95°, the tears at 85° C. A variety of Sumatra benzoin is distinguished by the London drug- Tjrokers as Penang Benjamin or Storax-smelling Benjamin. We have seen it of very fine quality, full of wliite tears (some of them two inches long), the intervening resin being greyish.^ The odour is very agreeable, nnd perceptibly different from that of Siam benzoin, or the usual Sumatra sort. Whether this drug is produced in Sumatra and by Styrax Benzoin we 1 In the Puhlic Ledger, May 2, 1874, the cwt; Sumatra, 1st and 2nd, £1 10s. to £12. prices arc quoted thus : — Siam Gum Ben- " Tliere were 8 cases of this drug olfered jamiu, 1st and 2nd qualities, £10 to £28 per at Public Sale, 13 April, 1871. RESIN A BENZOE. 365 know not ; but it is worthy of note that S. suldcnticulatum Miq. occurring in Western Sumatra, has the same native name {Kajoe Keminjan) as >S'. Benzoin, and that Miquel remarks of it — "An ctiam lenzoiferum ?"^ Chemical Composition — Benzoin consists mainly of amorphous resins perfectly soluble in alcohol and in potash, having slightly acid properties, and differing somewhat in their behaviour to solvents, whence they have been designated alpha-resin, heta-resin, &c. But they never- theless appear to agree in their essential properties. When benzoin is fused with potash, it is partly decomposed and then according to Pllasi- wetz and Barth, yields among other products, protocatechuic acid (more than 5 per cent.), para-oxybenzoic acid, CH^O^, and pyrocatechin. Subjected to dry distillation, benzoin affords as chief product. Benzoic Acid, C^'H^O^, together with empyreumatic products, among which Ber- thelot has proved the presence (in Siam benzoin) of Styrol (p. 244). The benzoic acid exists ready-formed to the extent of 14 to 18 or more per cent. Although the acid readily dissolves in twelve parts of boiling Avater, the resin in which it is imbedded, precludes its complete extraction by this means. It is however easily accomplished by the aid of an alkali, — most advantageously by milk of lime, which does not combine with the amorphous resins. Benzoin is not manifestly acted on by bisulphide of carbon, but if kept in contact with it for a month or two, very large colourless crystals of benzoic acid make their appearance. Brought into a warm room, the crystals quickly dissolve, but are easily reproduced by exposure to cold. Most pharmacopoeias require not the inodorous acid obtained by a wet process, but that afforded by sublimation, which contains a small amount of fragrant empyreumatic products. The resin when repeatedly subjected to sublimation, affords as much as 14 per cent, of benzoic acid. It has long been known that the opaque white tears of benzoin are less rich in benzoic acid than the transparent brown resin in which they lie. From the latter, S. W. Brown (1833) extracted 13 per cent, of impure acid, but from the former scarcely 8^ per cent. We are by no means sure that such difference is constant. Bitter almond oil, which by oxidation yields benzoic acid, is wanting in benzoin. Very little volatile oil is in fact to be got ; half a pound of the best Penang benzoin yielded us by distillation with water, only a few drops of an extremely fragrant oil {styrol ?). Ferric chloride imparts to alcoholic solution of benzoin, a dark lirownish green, which is not acquired under the same circumstances by the aqueous decoction of the powdered resin : hence the reaction does not proceed from tannin. Benzoin dissolves in cold oil of vitriol, form- ing a solution of splendid carmine hue, from which water separates crystals of benzoic acid. Kolbe and Lautemami in 1860, discovered in Siam and Penang ben- zoin together with benzoic acid, an acid of different constitution which in 1861, they recognized as Cinna^nic Acid, C^H^O^. Aschoff (1861) found in a sample of Sumatra benzoin, cinnamic acid only, of which he got 11 per cent. ; and in amygdaloid Siam and Penang benzoin only benzoic acid. In some samples of the latter, one of us (F.) has likewise met with cinnamic acid. On triturating this sort with peroxide of lead, and ^ Prod. Florce Sumairance, 1860. 474. 366 OLE ACE JE. boiling the mixture with water, the odour of bitter-almond oil, due to the oxidation of cinnamic acid, is evolved. The simultaneous occurrence of benzoic and cinnamic acids, or the absence of one or other of them in benzoin, is due to circumstances at present unexplained. Commerce — The statistics of Singapore,^ the great emporium of the commerce of the Indian Archipelago, show the imports of Gum Benjamin in 1871 as 7442 cwt., of which quantity 6185 cwt. had been shipped from Sumatra and 405 cwt. from Siam. Penang, which is also a mart for this drug, appears from the same authority to have received from Sumatra for trans-shipment, 4959 cwt, of Gum Benjamin, Padang in Sumatra exported in 1870, 4303 piculs (5122 cwt.) ; and in 1871, 4064 piculs (4838 cwt.) of benzoin.^ The imports of Gum Benjamin into Bombay in the year 1871—72 were no less than 5975 cwt., and the exports 1043 cwt.^ Uses — Benzoin appears to be nearly devoid of medicinal properties and is but little employed. It is chiefly imported for use as incense in the service of the Greek Church. OLEACEtE. MANNA. Manna ; F. Manne ; G. Manna. Botanical Origin — Fraxinus Ornus L. {Ornus Europcea Pers.), the Manna-ash, is a small tree found in Italy, whence it extends northwards as far as the Canton of Tessin in Switzerland and the Southern Tyrol, It also occurs in Hungary (Buda) and the eastern coasts of the Adriatic, in Greece, Turkey (Constantinople), in Asia Minor about Smyrna and at Adalia on the south coast. It grows in the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, and is found in Spain at Moxente in Valencia.* As an ornamental tree it has been introduced into Central Europe, where it is often seen of greater dimensions, sometimes -acquiring a height of about 30 feet. It blossoms in early summer, producing numerous feathery panicles of dull white flowers which give it a pleasing appearance. The foliage exhibits great variation in shape of leaflets, even where the tree is uncultivated ; and the fruits also are very diverse in form. In some districts of Sicily, a little manna is obtained from the Common Ash, F. 'excelsioi' L. History — The Ti^aao, Manna, though originally applied to the aliment miraculously provided for the sustenance of the ancient Israelites during their journey to the Holy Land, has been used to designate otlier sub- stances of distinct nature and origin. Of tliese, the best known and most important is the saccharine exudation of Fraxinus Ornus L., which con- stitutes the Manna of European medicine. Prom recent researches ° it appears evident that previous to the 15th ^ Blue Book for the Colony of the Straits ^ Fraxinus Bungcana DC, a tree of Settlements, Singapore, 1872. Nortliern China, appears to be hardly dis- ^ Consular Reports, August 1S73. 953. tinct from F. Ornus. • ^ Statement of the Trade and Navicjation ^ Hanbury, Historical Notes on ManvM, of the Presidency of Bombay for 1871-72. Pharm. Journ. xi. (1870) 326. pt. ii. 26. 79. MANNA. 367 century, the manna used in Europe was imported from the East and was not that of the ash. Eaffaele Maffei, called also Volaterranus, a writer who flourished in the second half of the 15th century, states that manna began to be gathered in Calabria in his time, but that it was inferior to the oriental.' At this period, the manna collected was that which exuded spontaneously from the leaves of the tree, and was termed Manna di foglia or Manna di fronda : that which flowed from the stem bore the name of Manna di corpo and was less esteemed. All such manna was very dear. About the middle of the 16th century, the plan of making incisions in the trunk and branches was resorted to, and although it was strenu- ously opposed even by legislative enactment, the more copious supplies which it enabled the collectors to obtain, led to it being generally adopted. Manna di foglia became in fact utterly unknown, so that Ciriilo of Naples writing in 1770, expresses doubt whether it ever had any existence. ^ With regard to the history of manna-production in Sicily, there is this curious fact, — that near Cefalu there exists an eminence in the Madonia range, called Gihelman or Gihebnanna, which in Arabic signifies manna-mountain. This name is not of modern origin, but is found in a diploma of the year 1082, concerning the foundation of the bishopric of Messina ; and it has been held to indicate that manna was there col- lected during the Saracenic occupation of Sicily, a.d. 827 to 1070. We have not been successful in finding any evidence whether this supposition is well founded. On the other hand, it is remarkable that no writer, so far as we know, mentions manna as a production of Sicily, before Paolo Boccone of Palermo, who after naming many localities for the drug in continental Italy, states that it is also obtained in Sicily.^ Manna was also produced until recently in the Tuscan Maremma, but neither from that locality, nor from the States of the Church, where it was collected in the time of Boccone, is any supply now brought into commerce, though the name of Tolfa, a town near Civita Vecchia, is still used to designate an inferior sort of the drug. The collection of manna in Calabria which was important up to the end of the last century, has now almost entirely ceased.* Production — The manna of commerce is collected at the present day exclusively in Sicily. The principal localities producing the drug are the districts around Capaci, Carini, Cinisi, and Eavarota, small towns 20 to 25 miles west of Palermo near the shores of the bay of Castel- lamare; also the townships of Geraci, Castelbuono, and oth.er places in the district of Cefalu, 50 to 70 miles eastward of Palermo. The manna-ash, in the districts whence the best manna is obtained, does not at the present day form natural woods, but is cultivated in regular plantations called frassinetti. The trees, which attain a height of from 10 to 20 feet, are planted in rows and stand about 7 feet apart, the soil between being at times loosened, kept free from weeds, and enriched by manure. After a tree is 8 years old and when its stem is at least 3 inches 1 Commentarii Urbani, Paris. 1515. lib. ■* Hanbury in Giornctle Botcmico Italiano, 38. f. 413. • Ottobre 1872. 267 ; Pharm. Joiirn. Nov. 30. 2 PhU. Trans. Ix. (1771) 233. 1872. 421. 3 Museo di Fisica, Veuet. 1697. Obs. 368 OLEACEJJ!. in thickness, the gathering of manna may hegin; and may continue for 10 or 12 years, when the stem is usually cut down, and a young one brought up from the same root takes its place. The same stump thus • has often two or three stems rising from it. To obtain manna, transverse cuts from 1^ to 2 inches long and 1 inch apart, are made in the bark, just reaching to the wood. One cut is made daily, beginning at the bottom of the tree, the second directly above the first, and so on while dry weather lasts. In the following year, cuts are made in the untouched part of the stem, and in the same way in succeeding seasons. When after some years, the tree has been cut all round and is exhausted, it is felled. Pieces of stick or straws are inserted in the incisions, and become encrusted with the very superior manna, called Manna a cannolo, which however, is unknown in commerce as a special sort. The fine manna ordinarily seen, appears to have hardened on the stem of the tree. The manna which flows from the lower incisions, and is often collected on tiles or on a cup-shaped piece of the stem of the prickly pear {Opimtia), is less crystalline, and more gummy and glutinous, and is regarded of inferior quality. The best time for notching the stems is in July and August, when the trees have ceased to push forth more leaves. Dry and warm weather is essential for a good harvest. The manna after removal from the tree, is laid upon shelves in order that it may dry and harden before it is packed. The masses left adhering to the stem after the finer pieces have been gathered, are scraped off and form part of the Small Manna of commerce.^ Secretion — We have examined microscopically the bark of stems of Fraxinus Ornus that had been incised for manna at Capaci. It exhibits no peculiarity explaining the formation of manna, or any evidence that the saccharine exudation is due to an alteration of the cell-walls as in the case of tragacanth. The bark is poor in tannic matter ; it contains starch, and imparts to water a splendid fluorescence due to the presence of Fraxin. Description — Various terms have been used by pharmacological writers to designate the different qualities of manna, but in English commerce they are not now employed ; and the better kinds of the drug are called simply Flahe, Ma,nna, while the smaller pieces, usually loosely agglutinated and sold separately, are termed Small Manna or Tolfa Manna. Owing to the gradual exudation of the juice and the deposition of one layer over another, manna has a stalactitic aspect. The finest pieces are mostly in the form of three-edged sticks, sometimes as much as (i to 8 inches long and an inch or more wide, grooved on the inner side, which is generally soiled by contact with the bark ; of a porous, crystal- line, friable structure and of a pale brownish yellow tint, becoming nearly pure white in those parts wliich have been most distant from the bark of the tree. The pieces which are of deeper colour and of an unctuous or gummy appearance, are less esteemed. Good manna is crisp ■^ Our account of the production of manna Joru-n. of Bot. i. 1849. 124), from those of has been derived i'rom the oliservations of Clegliorn (Traits, of the Bot. Soc. of Edin- Stettncr, who visited Sicily in the summer hnnjh, x. 1868-69. 13'2), and from personal of 1847 [Archiv dcr Fliarm. iii. 194 ; also investigations made hy one of us in the Wiggers' Jahrcslericht, 1848. 35 ; Hooker's neighbourhood of Palermo in May 1872. MANNA. 369 and brittle, and melts in the mouth with an agreeable, honey-like sweet- ness, not entirely devoid of traces of bitterness and acridity. ],ts odour may be compared to that of honey or moist sugar. Manna of the best quality dissolves at ordinary temperatures in about six parts of water, forming a clear, neutral liquid. It contains besides mannite, a small proportion of sugar and gum. The manna which exudes from the older stems and from the lower parts of even young trees, contains more or less considerable quantities of gum and fermentable sugar, as well as extraneous impurities. The less favourable weather of the later summer and autumn promotes an alteration in the composition of the juice, and impairs its property of concreting into a crystalline mass. Chemical Composition — The predominant constituent of manna, at least of the better sorts, is Manna-sugar or Mannite, C^H^^O*^, which likewise occurs, though in much smaller quantity, in many other plants besides Fraxinus. Artificially, it is produced by treating glucose, C^ff^O*^, with sodium-amalgam, and indirectly in the fermentation of glucose or of cane-sugar. It is isomeric with dulcite or melampyiin ; crystallizes in shining prisms or tables, belonging to the rhombic system ; melts at 165° C, and in very small quantity may by careful heating, be sublimed undecomposed. It dissolves in 6 parts of water at ordi- nary temperature, less freely in aqueous alcohol, very sparingly in absolute alcohol, and not in ether. The solution has an extremely weak rotatory power, and is not altered by boiling with dilute acids or alkalis, or with alkaline cupric tartrate. Berthelot has shown that mannite is susceptible of fermentation, though not so easily as sugars belonging to the group of carbo-hydrates. When mixed with moist platinum-black, it becomes very hot, and yields uncrystallizable Mannitic Acid, C^H^^O'^, and Mannitose, C'^H^^O*', a kind of sugar resembling grape-sugar and probably isomeric therewith, but optically inactive and not yet shown to be crystallizable. With nitric acid, mannite yields neither tartaric nor mucic acid, but sugar together with a certain quantity of racemic acid. By dry distillation, it affords acrolein, formic acid and other products. All the chemical reactions of mannite show it to belong to the class of alcohols, and among these it is most nearly related to gly- cerin. The quantity of mannite in the best manna varies from 70 to 80 per cent. When a solution of manna is mixed with alkaline cupric tartrate, rapid reduction to cuprous hydrate takes place even in the cold. This effect is due to the presence of a sugar which, according to Backhaus, consists of ordinary dextro-glucose. It may amount to as much as 16 per cent., and is found in the best flake manna, but most abundantly in the unctuous varieties. Buignet^ has pointed out that the rotatory power of this sugar being inconsiderable, it probably consists of a mixture of Cane-sugar and Levulose. He found however that an aqueous solution of manna deviates powerfully to the right, a fact which he considers due to the presence of a large proportion of Dextrin. The best kinds of manna, according to Buignet, contain about 20 per cent, of dextrin ; the inferior much more. With nitric acid, the dextrin 1 Joicrn. dc Pharm. vii. (1867) 401 ; viii.(1868) 5. B B 370 OLE ACE M. does not furnish mucic acid ; its solution is not precipitated even by basic acetate of lead, but is thrown down by alcohol. In our experiments, we have not succeeded in isolating either dextrin, or cane-sugar. There is present, even in the finest manna, a small amount of a dextrogyre mucilage, which is precipitated by neutral acetate of lead and yields mucic acid when boiled with concentrated nitric acid. Ether extracts from an aqueous solution of manna a very small quantity of red-brown resin, having an offensive odour and sub-acrid taste ; together with traces of an acid which reduces silver-salts and appears to be easily resinified. The quantity of water in the inferior kinds of manna often amounts to 10 or 15 per cent. The finest manna affords about S'G per cent, of ash. The greenish colour of certain pieces of manna was formerly attri- buted to the presence of copper, till Gmelin on account of the fluor- escence of the solution, ascribed it to JEsculin. It is in reality produced by a body much resembling sesculin, namely Fraxin, C^'^H^^O^^, occurring in the bark of the manna-ash and of the common ash, and together with sesculin, in that of the horse-chestnut. Fraxin crystallizes in colourless prisms, easily soluble in hot water and in alcohol, and having a faintly astringent and "bitter taste. By dilute acids, it is resolved into Fraxetin, C^^^H^O^, and Glucose, CH^-C. The presence of fraxin in manna, especially in the inferior sorts, is made apparent by the faint fluorescence of the alcoholic manna solution. Commerce — The exports of manna from Sicily ^ (chiefly from Palermo) have been as follows : — 1869 1870 1871 25i6 cwt., val. £15,972. 1564 cwt., val. £10,220. 3038 cwt, val. £19,528. About half the quantity is sent to France. Italian commercial statistics - represent the export of manna in 1870 thus : — in canelli 58,691 kilo. (1155 cwt.), in sorte 186,664 kilo. (3676 cwt.) The United Kingdom imported in the year 1870, 230 cwt. of manna, valued at £4447.^ Adulteration — It can hardly be said that manna is subject to adulteration, though attempts to introduce a spurious manna made of glucose have been recorded. But considerable skill and ingenuity have been expended in converting the inferior sorts of manna into wdiat has the aspect of fine natural Flake Manna, the manufacturers admitting however the factitiousness of their product. The artificial Flake jManna has the closest superficial resemblance to very fine pieces of the natural drug, but differs in its more uniform colour, and in being uncontaminated with the slight impurities, from which natural manna is never wholly free. It differs also in that when broken, no crystals of mannite are to be seen in the interstices of the pieces, and it w^ants the peculiar odour and slightly bitter flavour of natural manna. If one part of it is boiled with four of alcohol ('838), a viscid honey-like residue will be obtained, whereas natural manna leaves undissolved a liard substance. Histed"* ^ Report h)j Consul Dennis on the Com- ^ Annual Statement of the Trade and merce and A'avigation of Sicily in 1869, 1870 Navifjallim of the U.K. for 1870. p. 102. and 1871. ' On arlificial Flake Manna, in Pharin. - Divezioue generale delle Gabelle — Movi- Journ. xi. (1870) 629. 'incnto comrnercialc del regno d' Italia ncl 1870, Milano 1871. MANNA. 371 found it to afford about 40 per cent, of mannite, wliile fine manna similarly treated yielded 70 per cent. Uses — A gentle laxative, much less frequently employed in this country than formerly, but still largely consumed in South America. Mannite which possesses similar properties, is often prescribed in Italy. Other sorts of Manna. Various plants besides Fraxinus afford under certain conditions, saccharine exudations some of which constituted the Oriental Manna used in Europe in early times. So far as is known, they differ from officinal manna in containing no mannite. Alhagi Manna; TuranjaMn (Arabic) ; is afforded by Alhagi Game- loruiTb Fisch., a small spiny plant of the order Leguminosce found in Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan. Excellent specimens of the manna, kindly obtained for us in the north-west of India by Dr. E. Burton Brown and Mr. T. AV. H. Tolbort, show it as a substance in little roundish, hard, dry tears, varying from the size of a mustard-seed to that of a hemp-seed, of a light brown colour, agreeable saccharine taste, and senna-like smell. According to Ludwig ^ it contains crystalline tears or grains of cane-sugar, some dextrin, a sweetish mucilaginous substance and a very little starch. The leaflets, spines and pods of the plant, mixed with the grains of this manna, are characteristic and easily recognizable. Alhagi Manna is collected near Kandahar and Herat, where it is found on the plants at the time of flowering. It is imported into India from Kabul and Kandahar to the extent of about 25 maunds (2000 lb.) annually ; its value is reckoned at 30 rupees per seer, = 30s. per Ib.^ Gaz-anjahin (Arabic) ; Tamarish Manna (in part). In the months of Jrme and July, the shrubs of tamarisk {Tamarix gallica var. Mannifera Ehrenb.) growing in the valleys of the peninsula of Sinai, especially in the Wady es Sheikh, exude from their slender branches, in consequence of the puncture of an insect (Coccus manniparus Ehrenb.) little honey-like drops, which in the coolness of early morning are found in a solid state. This substance is Tamarisk Manna : it is collected by the Arabs, and by them sold to the monks of St. Katharine, who dispose of it to the pilgrims visiting the convent. Tamarisk Manna is also pro- duced (but is perhaps no longer collected ?) in Persia, where it is called Gaz~angabin ; ^ and probably likewise in the Punjab,^ from which regions it may have been brought to Europe in ancient times. A specimen of tamarisk manna brought from Sinai, examined in 1861 by Berthelot, had the appearance of a thick yellowish syrup, con- taminated -with vegetable remains. It was found to consist of cane- sugar, inverted sugar (levulose and glucose), dextrin and water, the last constituting one-fifth of the whole.^ Although the name Gaz-angahin signifies tamarisk-Jioney, it is used according to Haussknecht ^ at the present time in Persia, to designate 1 ArcMv der Pharmade, 193 (1870) 32-52. ^ Angelus, Pharm. Persica (1681) 359. " Stewart, Punjab Plants, Lahore (1869) ^ Stewart, op. cit. p. 92. p. 57; Davies, Report on the trade and re- ^ Cor)iptes Eendics, liii. {18Q1) 5 SB; Pharm. sources of the countries on the N. TV, iozindary Journ. iii. (1862) 274. of British India, Laliore, 1862. « Archiv d. Pharmade, 192 (1870) 246. BB 2 372 OLEACEM certain round cakeSj common in all the bazaars, of which the chief con- stituent is a manna collected in the mountain districts of Chahar- Mahal and Earaidan, and especially about the town of Khonsar, south-west of Ispahan, from Astragalus fioruhntus Boiss. et Haussk. and A. adscendens Boiss. et Haussk. The best sorts of this manna, which are termed Gaz Alefi or Gaz Khonsari, are obtained in August by shaking it from the branches, the little drops finally sticking together and forming a dirty, greyish -white, tough mass. The commoner sort got by scraping the stem, is still more impure. The specimen of it brought by Haussknecht yielded to Ludwig^ dextrin, uncrystallizable sugar and organic acids. SMr-hhisht — Ancient writers on materia medica as Garcia d'Orta (1563) mention a sort of manna known by this name. The substance is still found in the bazaars of North-western India, being imported in small quantity from Afghanistan and Turkistan.^ Haussknecht in his paper on Oriental Manna already quoted, states that it is the exudation of Cotoneaster nummidaria Fisch. et Mey. {Rosacew), also of Atra.ioliaxis spinosa L. {Polygonaceai) , and that it is brought chiefly from Herat. "We have to thank Dr. E. Burton Brown of Lahore, and Mr. Tolbort for speci- mens of this manna, which, from fragments it contains, is without doubt derived from a CotonmsUr. It is in irregular roundish tears, from about \ up to f of an inch in greatest length, of an opaque dull white, slightly clammy, and easily kneaded in the fingers. It has a manna-like smell, a pure sweet taste and crystalline fracture. With water, it forms a syrupy solution with an abundant residue of starch granules. Shir-khisht was found by Ludwig to consist of an exudation analo- gous to tragacanth, but containing at the same time tw^o kinds of gum, an amorphous levogyre sugar, besides starch and cellulose. Oah Manna — The occurrence of a saccharine substance on the oak is noticed by both Ovid and Virgil, and it is also mentioned by the Arabian physician's, as Ibn Baytar^ and Elluchasem Elimithar.* The last named who died a.d. 1052, states that the exudation appears upon the oaks in the region of Diarbekir, At the present day, it is the object of some industry among the wandering tribes of Kurdistan, who accord- ing to Haussknecht, collect it from Quercus Vallonca Kotschy and Q. Fersica Jaub. et Spach. These trees are visited in the month of August by immense numbers of a small white Coccus, from the puncture of which a saccharine tiuid exudes, and solidifies in little grains. The people go out before sunrise, and shake the grains of manna from the branches on to linen cloths, spread out beneath the trees. The exudation is also collected by dipping the small branches on which it is formed, into vessels of hot water, and evaporating the saccharine solution to a syrupy consistence, which in this state is used for sweetening food, or is mixed with flour to form a sort of cake. A fine specimen of the Oak ]\fanna of Diarbekir was sent to the London International Exhibition of 18G2. It constituted a moist soft mass of agglutinated tears, much resembling an inferior sort of ash- manna, and had an agreeable saccharine taste. ' 1. c. :i Ed. Soiitlicimer, Bd. i. -375. * IJavies in tlie work fjuotcd at page ;j7], * Tacuini ^aniiatis, Argent. (1531) 24. notQ 2. MANNA. 373 A less pure form of this manna occurs as a compact, greyish, saccha- rine mass, sometimes hard enough to be broken with a hammer. It consists of sugary matter, mixed with abundance of small fragments of <'reen leaves, and has a herby smell and pleasant sweet taste. A sample of it brouo'ht from Diarbekir examined by one of us, yielded 90 per cent. of dextrogyre sugar, which could not be obtained in a crystalline state, though it exists in such condition in the crude drug. Starch and dextrine were entirely wanting.^ A specimen furnished to Ludwig^ by Haussknecht afforded much mucilage, a small amount of starch, about 48 per cent, of dextrogyre grape-sugar, with traces of tannic acid and chlorophyll. Brianeon Manna — This is a white saccharine substance which in the height of summer and in the early part of the day, is found adhering in some abundance to the leaves of the larch (Pinus Larix L.), growing on the mountains about Briangon in Dauphiny. It was formerly collected for use in medicine, but only to a very limited extent, for it was rare in Paris in the time of Geoffrey (1709-1731), and at the present day has quite disappeared from trade, though still gathered by the peasants. A specimen collected for one of us near Briangon in 1864, consists of small, detached, opaque, white tears, many of them oblong and channelled, and encrustino- the needle-like leaf of the larch. ; they have a sweet taste and slight odour. Under the microscope they exhibit indistinct crystals. "BrianQon 'manna has been examined by Berthelot, who detected in it a peculiar sugar termed Melezitose^ Several other saccharine exudations have been observed by travellers and naturalists ; but as most of them are unknown to us, we shall simply enumerate the more remarkable, referring the reader for further informa- tion to the original notices. Pirus glahra Boiss. affords in Luristan a substance which, according to Haussknecht, is collected by the inhabitants, and is extremely like Oak Manna. It is stated by the same traveller that Scdix fragilis L., and Scroplmlaria frigida Boiss., likewise yield in Persia saccharine exudations. A kind of manna was anciently collected from the cedar, Pinus Cedriis L.^ Manna is yielded in Spain by Cistus ladaniferus L.^ Austmlian Manna, v/hich is in small rounded, opaque, white, dry masses, is found on the leaves of Eucalyptus viminalis Labil. It con- tains a kind of sugar called Melitose,^ has a sweet taste, is devoid of medicinal properties and is not collected for use.^ The substance named Tigala (corrupted into Treliala), from which a peculiar sugar has been obtained,^ is the coccoon of a beetle, and nofc properly a saccharine exudation.^ Thi Lerp Manna of Australia is also of animal origin.^*^ It consists 1 For furtter particulars, see Fliickiger, « Comptcs Rendus, slvi. (1858) 1276 ; Ucber die Eiclienmanna von Kurdistan, in Gmelin, Chemistry, xv. 299. ArcUv der Pharmacie, 200 (1872) 159. ^ Belon, Sincjularitez (1554) 1. 2. cap. 91 ; 2 i_c. p. 35. Guibourt, Comptes Rendus, 21 Juin 1858, p. •' Gmelin, 'chemistry, xv. 298 ; Journ. dc 1213 ; Hanbury, Journ. Linn. Soc, Zoology, Pharm. xxxiv. (1858) 292. iii. (1859) 178. 4 Geoffrey, Mat. Med. ii. (1741) 584. ^^ Dobson, Proceedings of Royal Society of •■^Dillon, Travels tJirough Spain (1780) T''anDieme7i's Land, i. (1851) 234= ; Pharm. •p. 127. Journ. iv. (1863) 108 ; Fliickiger, Wittstein's " Gmelin, Chemistry, xv. 296. Vierteljahresschr. xvii. (1868) 161 ; Archiv 7 Pharm. Journ. iv. (1863) 108. der Pharmacie, 196 (1871) 7 ; abstracted in the Yectrbook of Pharmacy, 1871. 188. 374 OLEACEM of water 14, white threadlike portion 33, sugar 53 parts. The threads possess some of the characteristic properties of starch, from which they differ entirely by their form and nnalterahility even in boiling water. Yet in sealed tubes, they dissolve in 30 parts of water at 135° C. The sugar is dextrogyre ; it impregnates the threads as a soft brown amorphous mass. In the purified state it does not crystallize, even after a long time. By means of dilute sulphuric acid, the threads are converted into crystalline grape-sugar. OLEUM OLIV^. Olive Oil ; Salad Oil ; F. Huile cV Olives ; G, Olivenol ; Baumol ; Provencer Oel. Botanical Origin — Oka Utcropcm L., an evergreen tree, seldom exceeding 40 feet in height yet attaining extreme old age, abundantly cultivated in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, up to an eleva- tion of about 2000 feet above the sea-level.^ 0. cuspidata Wall, a tree abundant in Afghanistan, Beluchistan and Western Sind, has been sup- posed to be a wild form of 0. Europcea, but is regarded by Brandis ^ as a distinct species. It is not knoAvn to have been ever cultivated, yet its fruit which is of small size and but sparingly produced, is capable of affording a good oil. History — According to the elaborate investigations of Eitter^ and of A. De Candolle,^ there can be no doubt that the olive-tree is a native of Palestine, and perhaps of Asia Minor and Greece. Schweinfurth ^ regards it as undoubtedly wild on the mountains of Elbe and Soturba in lat. 22 ]Sr. on the western shores of the Pied Sea, a locality which he visited in 1868. The olive would appear to have been introduced at a very remote period into Northern Africa and Spain. It was plentiful in the Cyre- naica as early as the time of Theophrastus, 3rd century B.C. At the present day, it is largely cultivated in Algeria, Spain, Portugal, Southern Prance, Italy, the Greek Peninsula and Asia Minor. In the Crimea, the tree growls well, but does not afford good fruit. It was carried to Lima in Peru about 1560 and still flourishes there, and in great plenty in the coast valleys further south as far as Santiago in Chili.^ Olive oil is mentioned in the Bible so frequently that it must have been an important object witli the ancient Hebrews. It held an equally prominent place among the Greeks and Pomans," whose writers on agriculture and natural history treat of it in the most circumstantial manner. Olive fruits preserved in brine were used by the Pomans as ^ Grisebach states the elevation above tin; ■* Geographic Botanique (1855) 912. .sea of olive-cultivation thus :— Portn^ral (Al- •"' Hot. ZrUunrj, 1868. 860. garve) 1400 feet ; Siei'ra Nevada 3000 ; do., " Pcrez-Kosalcs, Essai sur Ic Chili, Ham- Kouthern .slope 4200 ; Nice 2400 ; Etna 2200 ; bonr;r, 1857. 133. Macedonia 1200 ; Cilicia 2000. — IJic Vegcta- ' Hehn, KuUiuyflanrxn wild liausthicrc Hon df.r Erde nach ihrcr Jclimatologischcn in ihrcm Uebcrgnngcavs Asian nachOriechcn- Anordnung, i. (1872) 262. 283. 342. land und Ilalicn, JJcrlin, 1870. 44-60,— an 2 Forest Flora of Norlh-vjcstcrn and Ccn- interesting account of the iinijortance of the tral India, 1874. olive in ancient times. 3 Erdkimdc von Asien, vii. (]>art 2. 1844) 516-537. OLEUM OLIVM. 375 an article of food, and were an oloject of commerce with Northern Europe as early as the 8th century.^ Production — In common with many important cultivated plants, the olive occurs nnder several varieties differing more or less from the wild form, the finer of which are propagated by grafting. It is also increased by the suckers which old trees throw up from their naked roots, and which are easily made to develope into separate plants.^ The fruit, an oval drupe, half an inch to an inch or more in length, and of a deej) purple, is remarkable for the large amount of fat oil contained in its pulpy portion (sarcocarj^). The latter is most rich in oil when ripe,, containing then nearly 70 per cent., besides 25 per cent, of water. The unripe fruit as well as other parts of the plant, abounds in mannite,. which disappears in proportion as the oil increases. The ripe olive con- tains no mannite, it having probably been transformed into fatty oil.^ The process for extracting olive oil varies slightly in different countries, but consists essentially in subjecting the crushed pulp of the ripe fruit to moderate pressure. The olives, which are gathered from the trees, or collected from the ground, in November, or during the whole winter and early spring, are crushed under a millstone to a pulpy mass. This i& then put into coarse bags, which, piled upon one another, are subjected to moderate pressure in a screw-press. The oil thus obtained, is conducted into tubs or cisterns containing water, from the surface of which it is skimmed with ladles. This is called Virgin Oil. After it has ceased to flow, the contents of the bags are shovelled out, mixed with boiling waterj and submitted to stronger pressure than before, by which a second quality of oil is got. If the fruit is left for a considerable time in heaps it undergoes decomposition, yielding by pressure a very inferior quality of oil called in French Huile fermenUe. The worst oil of all, obtained from the residues, has the name of Huile tournantc or Huile cVcnfer. It is said that in some districts, the millstones are so mounted as to crush the pulp without breaking the olive-stones, and that thus the oil of the pulp is obtained unmixed with that of the kernels.^ We have made many inquiries in Italy and France as to this method of oil-making, but cannot find that it is anywhere followed. The fixed oil of the kernels of ripe olives has been extracted and examined by one of us (F.) Though the kernels have a bitterish taste, the oil they yield is quite bland ; by exposure to the vapour of hypo- nitric acid, it concretes like that of the pulp. If the whole of it were extracted in making olive oil, it would only be about as 1 part of oil of the hernel, to 40 parts of oil of the pulp. Description — Olive Oil is a pale yellow or greenish yellow, some- what viscid liquid, of a faint agreeable smell and of a bland oleaginous taste, leaving in the throat a slight sense of acridity.^ Its specific gravity on an average is 0-916 at 17"5° C. In cold weather, olive oil loses its ^ Diploma of Chilperic, a.d. 716. — Par- * The Grocer^ April 25, 1868, supplement; clessusj Diplomata, Chrtrtcc, etc., Paris, ii. Pereira, Elem. of Mat. Mxl. ii. (1850) 1505. (1849) 309. 5 This according to our experience is the ^ Winter, in Pharm. Journ. Sept. 7, 1872. case even with oil as it runs from the pulp. ^ De Luca in Journ. de Pharm. xlv. (1863) and therefore in the freshest condition; but 65. — Some further researches by Harz on the the acrid after-taste is more perceptible iu formation of olive oil may be found in Witt- oil which has been long kept, stein's Vierteljahresschrift fiir prakt. Pharm. xix. (1870) 161. 376 OLE ACE jE. transparency by the separation of a crystalline fatty body. The depo- sition takes place at a few degrees above the freezing point of water, and in some oils even at 10° C. (50° F.) If the oil is allowed to con- geal perfectly, and is then submitted to strong pressure, about one- third of its weight of solid fat may be separated. After repeated crystallizations, this fat melts at 20 to 28° C. The fluid part or Olein, continues fluid at - 4° to - 10° C. Olive oil belongs to the class of the less alterable, non-drying oils. The foregoing description does not apply to the inferior sorts of oil, which congeal more easily, are more or less deep-coloured, have a dis- agreeable odour and taste, and quickly turn rancid. These inferior oils have their special applications in the arts. Chemical Composition — The chief constituent of olive oil is Ohin or more correctly Triolein, C^H^O^, 3 C^^H^^O, identical so far as at present ascertained, with the fluid part of all oils of the non-drying class. The proportion of olein in olive oil, as well as in other oils, is liable to variation, the result partly of natural circumstances and partly of the processes of manufacture. The best oils are comparatively rich in olein. As to the solid part of olive oil, Chevreul believed it to be constituted of Margarin, which he first examined in 1820. But Heintz (1852 and later) showed margarin to be a mixture of palmitin with other compounds of glycerin and fatty acids. CoUett in 1854 isolated Palmitic Acid, Qi6g;3202^ from olive oil; and Heintz and Krug (1857) further proved tha,t Tri'pdlmitin is the chief of the solid constituents of olive oil. They also met with an acid melting at 71'4° C, which they regarded as Aracliic Acid (p. 164). As to stearic acid, Heintz and Krug did not fully succeed in evidencing its presence in olive oil. Lastly, Benecke discovered in olive oil a small quantity of Gholestcrin, (j26jj44Q_ j(3 j^^j ]3Q removed by means of glacial acetic acid or alcohol, which dissolve but very little of the oil. Commerce — Various sorts of olive oil are distinguished in the English market, as Florence, Gallipoli, Gioja, Spanish (Malaga and Seville), Sicily, Myteline, Corfu and Mogador. Olive oil was imported into the United Kingdom in the year 1872, to the value of £1,193,064. Nearly half the quantity was shipped from Italy, one-fifth from Spain, and the remainder from other Mediterranean countries. The average annual j)roduction in Italy is estimated at upwards of 1,500,000 hectolitres (33 million gallons), representing a value of £8,000,000 sterling, but the quantity exported does not exceed in value £2,800,000.1 The statistics of the French Government indicate the annual pro- duction of olive oil in France to be not more than 250,000 hectolitres, equivalent in value to 30 millions of francs (£1,200,000).- Uses — TIlc uses of olive oil in medicine and its immense consump- tion in the warnrer parts of Euro])C as an article of food, are too well known to require more than a passing allusion. ' Jonrn. of Soc. of Avis, May 22, 18G8. " Exiiositiou de 1867 u Paris, Ilajiports die Jury IiUernalionoJ, xi. 108. OLEUM OLIVzE. ^'J'J Adulteration — Olive Oil is tlie subject of various fraudulent admixtures with less costly oils, the means of detecting which has engaged much attention. Of the various methods by which chemists have endeavoured to ascertain the purity of olive oil, the following are the more noteworthy : — ■ a. Drying oils (such as the oils of poppy and walnut) may be dis- tinguished by their not being converted into solid crystallizable elaidin by hyponitric acid or concentrated solution of nitrate of protoxide of mercury. Olive oil which contains any considerable proportion of one of these oils, no longer solidifies if exposed for a moment to one of the above-mentioned reagents. This test however is not of suf- ficient delicacy for small amounts of drying oils. b. Olive oil being one of the lighter oils, the specific gravity may to some degree indicate admixture with a heavier oil. To make use of this fact, Gobley and other chemists have invented an instrument called an elaiometer, for taking the specific gravity of oils. c. Olive oil, when mixed with concentrated sulphuric acid, sets free less caloric than many other oils similarly treated. An exact estimation of the amount of caloric, requires a thorough proficiency in physical experiments, so that in a practical point of view this method of testing is of no great utility. d. Observation of the Cohesion-figure. — This test, proposed by Tomlinson in 1864,^ depends on the forces of cohesion, adhesion, and diffusion. Thus, if a drop of any oil hanging from the end of a glass rod is gently deposited upon the surface of chemically clean water, contained in a clean glass, a contest takes place between the forces in question the moment the drop flattens down by its gravity upon the surface of the water. The adhesion of the liquid surface tends to spread out the drop into a film, the cohesive force of the particles of the drop strives to prevent that extension, and the resultant of these forces is a figure which Mr. Tomlinson believes to be definite for every independent liquid. The figure thus produced is named the cohesion-figure. A series of careful and patient experi- ments with materials of known purity, is requisite in order to ascer- tain the practical applicability of this method of testing as applied to olive oil. From the woodcuts given by Mr. Tomlinson, there is, we fear, not much hope of it being effectual for the detection of sesame oil, unless the latter be in very large proportion. So far as our experience goes, the processes hitherto recommended for testing olive oil (and there are several that we have not mentioned) are only available in cases where the adulteration is considerable, and are quite insufficient for discovering a small admixture of other oils. How little they are appreciated, may be inferred from the fact that the Chamber of Commerce of Mce''' has recently offered a reward of 15,000 francs (£600) for a simple and easy process for making evident an ad- mixture with olive oil of 5 per cent, at least, of any seed-oil. 1 Pharm. Jotirn. v. (1864) 387. 495, with " Annales de Chimie ct de Physique, March, figures. 1869. 309. 378 APOCYNEJE. APOCYNE^. CORTEX ALSTONIiE. Cortex Alstonice scliolaris ; Alstonia Bark. Botanical Origin — Alstonia'^ scliolaris E. Brown {EcliiUs scliolaris L.), a handsome forest tree, 50 feet or more in height, common throughout the Indian Peninsula from the sub-Himalayan region to Ceylon and Burma ; found also in the Philippines, Java, Timor and Eastern Australia, likewise in Tropical Africa. It has oblong obovate leaves, in whorls of 5 to 7, and slender pendulous pods a foot or more in length. History — Eheede^in 1678 andEumphius" in 1 741 described and figured the tree, and mentioned the use made of its bark by the native practitioners. Eumphius also explained the trivial name scliolaris as referring to slabs of the close-grained wood which are used as school- slates, the letters being traced upon them in sand. The tonic properties of the bark were favourably spoken of by Graham in his Catalogue of Bombay Plants (1839), and further recommended by Dr. Alexander Gibson in 1853.^ The drug has a place in the Pliarmaeopceia of India, 1868. Description — The drug, as presented to one of us by the late Dr. Gibson and by Mr. Broughton of Ootacamund, consists of irregular fragments of bark, |- to |- an inch thick, of a spongy texture, easily breaking Avith a short, coarse fracture. The external surface is very uneven and rough, dark grey or brownish, sometimes with blackish spots; the interior substance and inner surface (liber) is of a bright buff". A transverse section shows the liber to be finely marked by numerous small medullary rays. The bark is almost inodorous ; its taste is purely bitter and neither aromatic nor acrid. Microscopic Structure — The cortical tissue is covered with a thin suberous coat ; the middle layer of the bark is built uj) of a thin-walled parenchyme, through which enormous, hard, thick-walled cells are scat- tered in great numbers and are visible to the naked eye, as they form large irregular groups of a bright yellow colour. Towards the inner part, these stone-cells disappear, the tissue being traversed by undulated medullary rays, loaded with very small starch grains ; many of the other parenchymatous cells of the liber contain crystals of calcium oxalate. The longitudinal section of the liber exhibits ]arge but not very numerous laticiferous vessels, as elongated simple cells with perforated transverse walls (sieve-cells), containing a brownish mass, the concrete milk-juice in Avhich all parts of the tree abound. Chemical Composition— Gruppe,^ a pharmacien of Manila, has obtained from the bark an uncrystallizable bitter substance which he calls Ditciin ^ and to which he ascribes the febrifuge powers of the drug. Prom the chemical examination of the bark of an allied Australian tree, Alstonia constricta P. v. Miiller, it may be presumed that the bitter ' So named in lionour of Charles Alston, * Pharm. Journ. xii. (1853) 422. I'rofessor of ]5otany and Materia ]\Iedica •' Zfilschriftd.OcstcrrcicH. Apoth.-Vcrtinc.^ (1740- 17G0) in the University of Edinburgh. 1873.^249. '-' Ihrtlu^ M alaharicvbs, i. tab. 45. " From iJ'da, the name of the tree in the 3 Jlcrh. Ambf/in. ii. tab. 82. island of Luzon. RABIX TIEMIDESML 37 9 substance of A. scJwlaris is not an alkaloid. The Australian bark analysed by Palm in Wittstein's laboratory,^ yielded an amorphous resinous bitter body, soluble in alcohol but very sparingly in ether or water, an essential oil of camphoraceous odour, and tannic matter striking a green hue with salts of iron. Palm ascertained that the bitter principle is not of a basic nature. The Australian bark, a specimen of which has been presented to us by Dr. Wittstein, is quite different from that of A. scJiolaris in its structural characters. Uses — The bark has been recommended as a tonic and antiperiodic ; but has not yet been employed in Europe.^ ASCLEPIADE^. 0 RADIX HEMIDESMI. ITemidesmus Root, Nunnari Boot, Indian Barsa'parilla. Botanical Origin — Hcuiidesnius indicus Pi. Brown {Pervploca indica Willd., Asclepias Pscudo-sarsa Eoxb.), a twining shrub, growing through- out the Indian Peninsula and in Ceylon. The leaves are very diverse, being narrow and lanceolate in the lower part of the plant and broadly ovate in the upper branches. History — The root under the name of Nanndri or Ananto-7nul has long been employed in medicine in the southern parts of India.^ Ash- burner in 1831, was the first to call the attention of the profession in Europe to its medicinal value.* In 1864 it was admitted to a place in the British Pharmacopceia, but its efficiency is by no means generally acknowledged. Description ^ — The root is in pieces of 6 inches or more in length ; it is cylindrical, tortuous, longitudinally furrowed, from ^-^ to yV of an inch in thickness, mostly simple or provided with a few thin rootlets, emitting slender, branching, woody aerial stems, xV of an inch or less thick. Externally it is dark brown, sometimes witli a slight violet-grey hue, which is particularly obvious in the sunshine. The transverse section of the hard root, shows a white mealy or brownish or somewhat violet cortical layer, not exceeding yV of an inch in thickness, and a yellowish woody column, separated by a narrow dark undulated cambial line. Neither the wood nor the cortical tissue present a radiate structure in the stout pieces ; in the thinner roots, medullary rays are obvious in the woody part. The extremely thin corky layer easily separates from the bark, which latter is frequently marked transversely by large cracks. The root whether fresh or dried, has an agreeable odour resembling tonka bean or melilot. The dried root has a sweetish taste with very slight acridity. The stems are almost tasteless and inodorous. The root found in the English market is often of very bad quality, 1 Vicrtcljalircssclirift fur iiraTct. PJiarm. having a sweet smell of melilot. The plant xii. (1863) 161. he says is called in Canarese Duda sali. ~ It has been recently extravagantly The figure is reproduced in Antoine Colin's praised in Manila as a substitute for quinine. translation, but not in that of Clusius. 3 There is an Indian root figured as Palo ^ Loncl. Med. and Phys. Jcncrn. Ixv. 189. de Culebra hj Acosta {Tractado de las D7'ogas ^ Taken from excellent specimens obli- . . . de las Indias Orientales, 1578, cap. Iv. ) gingly sent to us from India by Dr. L. AV. which is astonishingly like the drug in Stewart and Mr. Broughton. question. He describes it moreover, as 380 ASGLEPIADEM Microscopic Structure — All the proper cortical tissue shows a ■uniform parenchyme, not distinctly separated into liber, medullary rays and mesophloeum. On making a longitudinal section however, one can ohserve some elongated laticiferous vessels filled with the colourless con- crete milky juice. In a transverse section, they are seen to be irregularly scattered through the bark, chiefly in its inner layers, yet even here in not very considerable number. They are frequently 30 mkm. in diameter and not branched. The wood is traversed by small medullary rays, which are obvi-ous only in the longitudinal section. The parenchymatous tissue of the root is loaded with large, ovoid starch granules. Tannic matters do not occur to any considerable amount, except in the outermost suberous layer. Chemical Composition — The root has not been submitted to any adequate chemical examination. Its taste and smell appear not to depend on the presence of essential oil, so far as may be inferred from microscopic examination; and it is probable the aroma is due to a body of the cumarin class. According to Scott,i the root yields by simple distillation with water, a stearoptene, which is probably the substance obtained by Garden in 18.37, and supposed to be a volatile acid. Uses — The drug is reputed to be alterative, tonic, diuretic and diaphoretic, but is rarely employed, at least in England. CORTEX MUDAR. Cortex Gcdotropidis ; Mudar ; F. Ecorce, de racine de Mudar. Botanical Origin — The drug under notice is famished by two nearly allied species of Galotropis, occupying somevfhat distinct geographical areas, but not distinguished from each other in the native languages of India. These plants are : — 1. Calotropis procera E. Brown (C. Hamiltonii Wight), a large shrub, 6 or more feet high, with dark green, oval, opposite leaves, downy beneath, abounding in an acrid milky juice. It is a native of the drier parts of India, as the Deccan, the Upper Provinces of Bengal, the Punjab and Siud, but is quite unknown in the southern provinces ; it also extends to Persia, Palestine, the Sinaitic Peninsula, Arabia, Egypt, ISTubia, Abyssinia, the oases of the Sahara, and Sudan. Lastly it has been naturalized in the West Indies. 2. C. gigantea E. Brown (AscUpias gigcmtea Willd.), a large erect shrub, 6 to 10 feet high, with stem as thick as a man's leg,^ much resembling the preceding, indigenous to Lower Bengal and the southern parts of India, Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, and the Moluccas. Both species are extremely common in waste ground over their respective areas.^ History — Mudar is frequently mentioned in the writings of Susruta, ^ Pharm. of Iiulia, 457; also Chem. .somowliat erect, flowerljiuls spherical, appen- Oarxttc, 184.3. 378. (la<;es of corona witli a blunt upward point. * Hence the specific name gigantea. C. riirfantca, corolla opi iiius fiat, flowei-- ^ The botanical distinctions between the buds Iduntly conical or obloni,^, appendages two species may be stated thus : — of corona rounded. C. procera, corolla cup-shaped, petals CORTEX MUDJB. 381 and must therefore have been in use in India prior to the Christian era ; and it was well known to the Arabian physicians.^ C. proccra was observed in Egypt by Prosper Alpinus (1580-84), and upon his return to Italy was figured, and some account given of its medicinal properties.^ 0. gigantea was figured by Eheede'"^ in 1679, and in our own day by Wight.* The medicinal virtues of mudar, though so long esteemed by the natives of India, were not investigated experimentally by Europeans until the present century, when Playfair recommended the drug in elephantiasis, audits good effects were afterwards noticed by Vos (1826), Cumin (1827), and Duncan (1829). The last-named physician also performed a chemical examination of the root-bark, the activity of which he referred to an extractive matter which he termed Mudarine.^ Description — The root-bark of C. procera, as we have received it,^ consists of short, arched, bent, or nearly flat fragments, |- to i of an inch thick. They have outwardly a thickish, yellowish-grey, spongy cork, more or less fissured lengthwise, frequently separating from the middle cortical layer ; the latter consists of a white mealy tissue, traversed by narrow brown liber-rays. The bark is brittle and easily powdered ; it has a mucilaginous, bitter, acrid taste, but no distinctive odour. The light-yellow, fibrous wood is still attached to many of the pieces. The roots of C. gigantea are clothed with a bark which seems to be un distinguishable from that of C. 23'^''ocera just described. The wood of the root consists of a porous, pale-yellow tissue, exhibiting large vascular bundles, and very numerous small medullary rays, consisting of 1 to 3 rows of the usual cells."^ Microscopic Structure — In the root-bark of C. procera, the suberous coat is made up of large, thin-walled, polyhedral, or almost cubic cells ; the middle cortical layer, of a uniform parenchyme, loaded with large starch granules, or here and there containing some thick-walled cells (sclerenchyme) and tufts of oxalate of calcium. The large medullary rays are built up of the usual cells, having porous walls and containing starch and oxalate. In a longitudinal section, the tissue chiefly of the middle cortical layer, is found to be traversed by numerous laticiferous ' vessels, containing the dry milk juice ^ as a brownish granular substance not soluble in potash. The microscopic characters of the root-bark of C. gigantea agree with those here detailed of C. procera. The stems of Calotropis are distin- guished by strong liber fibres, which are not met with in the roots. Chemical Composition — By following the process of Duncan above 1 Ebn Baithar, translated by Sontlieimer, '' Eoots of C. gigantea kiudly supplied to ii. (1842) 193. lis by Dr. Bidie of Madras consist of light, ^ Be Plantis ^gypti,Y enet. 1592. cap. woody truncheons, i to 21 inches in diameter. XXV. ^ It is evidently with a view to the reten- 3 Hortus Malctbaricus, ii. tab. 31. tion of this juice, that the Pharmacopoeia of * llhtstratimis of Indian Botany, Madras, India orders the bark to be stripped from ii. (1850) tab. 155. — C. procera is figured by the roots when the latter are half-dried, the same airthor in his Iconics Plantarutn Moodeen Sheriff remarks of C. gigantea, India;. Orientalis, iv, tab. 1278. that although it is frequently used in medi- '' Edini. Med. and Surg. Joicrn. xxxii. cine, no part of it is sold in the bazaars, — no (1829) 60. doubt from the circumstance that the plant ^ We are indebted for an authentic speci- is everywhere found wild and can be col- men to Dr. E. Burton Brown of Lahore. lected as required. 382 ASGLEIIADEM alluded to, 200 grammes of the powdered bark of G. giyantea yielded ns nothing like his Mudarine, but 2 '4 grammes of an acrid resin, soluble in ether as well as in alcohol. The latter solution reddens litmus ; the former on evaporation yields the resin as an almost colourless mass. If the aqueous liquid is separated from the crude resin, and much absolute alcohol added, an abundant precipitate of mucilage is obtained. The liquid now contains a bitter principle, which after due concentration may be separated by means of tannic acid. We obtained similar results by exhausting the bark of C p7vcera with dilute alcohol. The tannic compound of the bitter principle was mixed with carbonate of lead, dried and boiled with spirit of wine. This after evaporation furnished an amorphous, very bitter anass, not soluble in water, but readily so in absolute alcohol. The solution is not preci- pitated by an alcoholic solution of acetate of lead. By purifying the bitter principle with chloroform or ether, it is at last obtained colourless. This bitter matter is probably the active principle of Calotropis ; we ascertained by means of the usual tests, that no alkaloid occurs in the drug. The large juicy stem, especially that of G. gigantea, ought to be submitted to an accurate chemical and therapeutical examination.^ Uses — Mudar is an alterative tonic, and diaphoretic, — in large doses emetic. By the natives of India who employ it in venereal and skin complaints, almost all parts of the plant are used. According to Moodeen Sheriff,^ the bark of the root and the dried milky juice are the most efficient ; the latter is however somewhat irregular and unsafe in its action. The same writer remarks that he has found that the older the plant, the more active is the bark in its effects. He recommends that the corky outer coat which is tasteless and inert, should be scraped off before the bark is powdered for use : of a powder so prepared, 40 to 50 grains suffice as an emetic. The stems of G. gigantea afford a very valuable fibre which can be spun into the finest thread for sewing or weaving.^ FOLIA TYLOPHORiE. Country or Indian Ipecacuanha. Botanical Origin — Tyloijliora astlwiatica Wight et Arnott (Asclejoias asthmaticcc Eoxb.), a twining perennial plant, common in sandy soils throughout the Indian Peninsula and naturalized in Mauritius.. It may be distinguished from some of its congeners by its reddish or dull pink flowers, with the scale of the staminal corona abruptly contracted into a long sharp tooth. History — The employment of this plant in medicine is well known to the Hindus, who call it Antam{d and use it with considerable success in dysentery. During the last century, it attracted the attention of Roxburgh * who made many observations on the administration of the ^ List's Asdcpionc (Gnielin's Cheniistnj, ou the therapeutic uses of mudar, see also xvii. 368) mijfht then be sought for. Pharm. of India, 458. '■^ Supidemcnttotlic Plmnnacoimlaof India, ^ Drurv, Useful Plants of India, 2ni ed. Madras, 18G9. ZQi ■ for furtlior information 1873. lOll * Flora Indica, ed. Carey, ii. (1832) 33. FOLIA TYLOPIIOB/R 383 root, while physician to the General Hospital of Madras from 1776 to 1778. It was also used very successfully in the place of ipecacuanha by Anderson, Physician- General to the Madras army.^ tn more recent times, the plant has been prescribed by O'Shaughnessy, who pronounced the root an excellent substitute for ipecacuanha if given in rather larger doses.^ Kirkpatrick ^ administered the drug in at least a thousand cases, and found it of the greatest value ; he prescribed the dried leaf, not only because superior to the root in certainty of action, but also as being obtainable without destruction of the plant. The drug has been largely given by many other practitioners in India. Tyloplwra is also em- ployed in Mauritius, where it is known as Ipeca sauvage or Ipeca du fays. It has a place in the Bengal Fliarmaco'poeia of 1844, ancl in the Pharmacopceia of India of 1868. Description^ — The leaves are opposite, entire, from 2 to 5 inches long, f to 2| inches broad, somewhat variable in outline, ovate or subrotund, usually cordate at the base, abruptly acuminate or almost mucronate, rather leathery, glabrous above, more or less downy beneath with soft simple hairs. The pedicel which is channelled, is | to f of an inch in length. In the dry state the leaves are rather thick and harsh, of a pale yellow- ish green ; they have a not unpleasant herbaceous smell, with but very little taste.^ Chemical Composition — A concentrated infusion of the leaves has a slightly acrid taste. It is abundantly precipitated by tannic acid, by neutral acetate of lead or caustic potash, and is turned greenish-black by perchloride of irbn. Broughton of Ootacamund (India) has informed us (1872) that from a large quantity of the leaves he obtained a small amount of crystals, — insuificient for analysis. Dissolved and injected into a small dog, they occasioned purging and vomiting. Uses — Employed in India, as already mentioned, as a substitute for ipecacuanha, "chiefly in the treatment of dysentery. The dose of the powdered leaves as an emetic is 25 to 30 grains, as a diaphoretic and expectorant 3 to 5 grains. Radix TylopJiorce — This root is met wdth in the Indian bazaars, and has been employed as before stated, as much or more than the leaf. It consists of a short, knotty, descending rootstock, about i of an inch in thickness, emitting 2 to 3 aerial stems, and a considerable number of wiry roots. These roots are often 6 inches or more in length by ^ a line in diameter and are very brittle. The whole drug is of a pale yellowish brown ; it has no considerable odour, but a sweetish and subsequently acrid taste. In general appearance it is suggestive of valerian, but is somewhat stouter and larger. Examined microscopically, the parenchymatous envelope of the rootlets is seen to consist of two layers, the inner forming a small 1 Fleming, Catalogue of Indian Plants kindly presented to us together with one of and Drugs, Calcutta, 1810. 8. the root, by Mr. Moodeen Sheriff of Madras. '^ Bengal Dispensatory (1842) 455. ^ A figure of the leaves may be found in a ^ Catalogue of Madras Exhibition of 18.55, paper on Unto-mool by M. C. Cooke, Pharm. — list of Mysore drugs ; also Pharm. of Joiorn. Aug. 6, 1870. 105 ; and one of the India, 458. whole plant in Wight's Icones Plantarum * Drawn up from an ample specimen Indian Orientalis, iv. (1850) tab. 1277. 384 LOGANIACEM. nucleus sheath. The outer portion is built up of large cells, loaded with starch granules and tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium. Salts of iron do not alter the tissue, LOGANIACEtE. NUX VOMICA. Semen Nueis Vomicce ; JSPux Vomica ; F. Noix vomique ; G. Brechnusse. Botanical Origin — Btryclinos Nim-vomica L., a moderate sized tree, with short, thick, often crooked stem, and small, greenish-white, tubular flowers ranged in terminal corymbs. It is indigenous to most parts of India, especially xh^ coast districts, and is found in Burmah, Siam, Cochin China and Northern Australia. The ovary of S. Nux-vomica is bi-locular, but as it advances in growth, the dissepiment becomes fleshy and disappears. The fruit, which is an indehiscent berry of the size and shape of a small orange, is filled with a bitter, gelatinous white pulp, in which the seeds, 1 to 5 in number, are placed vertically in an irregular manner. The epicarp forms a thin, smooth, somewhat hard shell, which at first is greenish, but when mature, of a rich orange-yellow. The pulp of the fruit contains strychnine-^ yet it is said to be eaten in India by birds.^ The wood, wdiich is hard and durable, is very bitter. History — iSTux Vomica, which was unknown to the ancients, is thought to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabians. But the notices in their writings which have been supposed to refer to it, are far from clear and satisfactory. We have no evidence moreover that it was used in India at an early period. Garcia d' Orta, an observer thoroughly acquainted with the drugs of the west coast of India in the middle of the 16th century, is entirely silent as to nux vomica. Fleming^ writing at the beginning of the present century, remarks that nux vomica is seldom, if ever, employed in medicine by the Hindus, but this statement does not hold good now. The drug was however certainly made known in Germany in the 16th century. Valerius Cordus '^ wrote a description of it about the year 1540, which is remarkable for its accuracy. Fuchs, Bauhin and others ^ Eoxburgli's assertion that the pulp acid, exhibited the violet hue characteristic "seems perfectly innocent," induced us to of strychnine. examine it chemically, which we were To conlinn this experiment, we obtained enabled to do through the kindness of Dr. through the obliging assistance of Dr. Bidie Thwaites, of the Eoyal Botanical Gardens, of Madras, some of the white pulj) taken Ceylon. The insjnssatcd 2mlp received from with a spoon from the interior of the ripe Dr. T., diluted with water, formed a very fruit, and at once immersed per sc in s])irit consistent jelly having a slightly acid re- of wine. The alcoholic fluid gave abundant action and very bitter taste. Some of it was evidence of the presence of strychnine, mixed with slaked lime, dried, and then ex- " According to Cleghorn by the hornbill hausted by boiling chloroform. The liquid (Buccros 'laaUtharicus) ; according to Eox- left on evaporation, a yellowish resinoid burgh by " many sorts of bird." Beddome mass, which was warmed with acetic acid. (Flura Sijlcatica, Madras, 1872. 1243) says The colourless 'solution yielded a jjcrfectly the pulp is ipiite harmless, and the favourite white, crystalline residue, which -was dis- Ibod of many birds. solved in water, and precipitated with bi- ^ CiUaUxjue of Indian Med. Plants mid chromatc of potassium. The precipitate Drugs, Calcutta, 1810. 37. dried, and moistened witli strong sulphuric * Hist. IStirjrium, edited by C. Gesner, Argcntorat. 1561. lib. iv. c. 21. NUX VOMICA. 385 noticed it as NuxMetella, a name taken from the Methel of Avicenna and other Arabian authors.^ It was found in the English shops in the time of Parkinson (1640), who remarks that its chief use is for poisoning dogs, cats, crows and ravens, and that it is rarely given as a medicine. Description — Nux Vomica is the seed, removed from the pulp and shell. It is disc-like, or rather irregularly orbicular, a little less than an inch in diameter, by about a quarter of an inch in thickness, slightly concave on the dorsal, convex on the ventral surface, or nearly flat on either side, often furnished with a broad, thickened margin so that the central portion of the seed appears depressed. The outside edge is rounded or tapers into a keel-like ridge. Each seed has on its edge a small protuberance, from which is a faintly projecting line (raphe) passing to a central scar which is the hilum or umbilicus ; a slight depression marks the opposite side of the seed. The seeds are of a light greyish hue, occasionally greenish, and have a satiny or glistening aspect, by reason of their being thickly covered with adpressed, radiating hairs. Nux vomica is extremely compact and horny, and has a very bitter taste. After having been softened by d^'estion in water, the seed is easily cut along its outer edge, then displaying a mass of translucent, cartila- ginous albumen, divided into two parts by a fissure in which lies the embryo. This latter is about ^ of an inch long, having a pair of delicate, 5 - to 7- nerved, heart-shaped cotyledons, with a club-shaped radicle, the position of which is indicated on the exterior of the seed by the small protuberance already named. Microscopic Structure — The hairs of nux vomica are of remark- able structure. They are formed as usual of the elongated cells of the epidermis, and have their walls thickened by secondary deposits, which are interrupted by longitudinally extended pores ; they are a striking object in polarized light. The albumen is made up of large cells, loaded with albuminoid matters and oily drops, but devoid of starch. , In water, the thick walls of this parenchyme swell up and yield some mucilage ; the cotyledons are built up of a narrow, much more delicate tissue, traversed by small fibro-vascular bundles. The alkaloids are not directly recognizable by the microscope ; but if very thin slices of nux vomica are kept for some length of time in glycerin, they develope feathery crystals, doubtless consisting of these bases. Chemical Composition — The bitter taste and highly poisonous action of nux vomica, are chiefly due to the presence of Strychnifie and Brucine. Strychnine, C^^H^^N^O^, was first met with in 1818 by Pelletier and Caventou in St. Ignatius' Beans, and immediately afterwards in nux vomica. It crystallizes from an alcoholic solution in large anhydrous prisms of the orthorhombic system. It requires for solution about 6700 parts of cold or 2500 of boiling water ; the solution is of decidedly alkaline reaction, and an intensely bitter taste which may be distinctly perceived though it contain no more than ^ q ^^q „ ^ of the alkaloid. The best solvents for strychnine are spirit of wine or chloroform ; it ^ Clusius "and others held the opinion that a Datura, and an Indian species was accoid- the Nux methel of the Arabs was the fruit of ingly named by Linnaeus, D. Metel. C G 386 loganiacFjJ];. is "but very siDaringly soluble in absolute alcohol, benzol, amylic alcohol, or etlier. The alcoholic solution deviates the ray of polarized light to the left. Strychnine is not restricted to the fruit of the plant under notice, but also occurs in the wood.^ It is moreover found in the wood of the root of Strychnos coluhrina L., and in the bark of the root of Strychnos Tieiite Lesch., both species indigenous to the Indian Archipelago. The discovery of Brucine was made in 1819 by the same chemists, in nux vomica bark, then supposed to be derived from Brucea ferruginea. Its presence in nux vomica and St. Ignatius' Bean, was pointed out by them in 1824. Brucine, dried over sulphuric acid, has the formula C^^H^^N^O*, but it crystallizes from its alcoholic sokition with AB^O. It readily neutralizes acids, forming crystalline salts. In bitterness and poisonous properties, as well as in rotatory power, it closely resembles strychnine, differing however in the following particulars : — it is soluble in about 150 parts of boiling water, melts without alteration a little above 100° C. In common with its salts, it acquires a dark red colour when moistened with concentrated nitric acid. By heating brucine with hydrochloric or sulphuric acid in sealed tubes, it is entirely decom- posed, and then, according to , Baudrimont (1869), yields among other products sugar. The proportion of strychnine in nux vomica appears to vary from ^to ^ per cent. That of brucine is variously stated to be 012 (Merck), 0-5 (Wittstein), 1*01 (Mayer) per cent. A third crystallizable base, called Igasurinc, was discovered in 1853 by Desnoix, in the liquors from which strychnine and brucine had been precipitated by lime. Schlitzenberger has stated (1858) that the sub- stance thus obtained consists of as many as nine distinct bases, not even belonging to one and the same homologous series, which he has distin- guished by letters (a-Igasurine, &-Igasurine, &c.) They differ from each other in composition, in solubility, and in the proportion of water which they lose when heated to 130° C. Igasurine has the bitter taste and poisonous properties of the other strychnos alkaloids.^ According to Schlitzberger, even strychnine itself is not a definite substance, but is a mixture of three different bases. All these state- ments respecting igasurine and strychnine require in our opinion to be confirmed by further researches. In nux vomica, as well as in St.- Ignatius' Beans, the alkaloids, according to their discoverers, are combined with Strychnic or Igasuric Acid; Ludwig (1873) who prepared this body from the latter drug, describes it as a yellowish-brown amorphous mass, having a strongly acid reaction and a sour astringent taste ; and striking a dark green with ferric salts. Nux vomica dried at 100° C. yielded us when burnt with soda-lime 1-822 per cent, of nitrogen, indicating about 11-3 per cent, of protein substances. By boiling ether, we removed from the seeds 414 per cent, of fat ; they also contain mucilage and sugar. The latter, which ^ It is remarkable that parasitic plants of - For further iulbrmatiou oii igasurine, the order LoranthacccK growiiiy on ^trychnoH consult Graelin, Chemistry, xvii. (1866) iV%x-t)(wn,ia<, acquire the poisonous properties 589; "Watts, Dictionary of Ckennistry, iii. of the latter.— P/tc6vm. of Inilia, 1868. 108. (1865) 243 ; Pharm. Journ. xviii. (1859) 432. SEMEN ION A TIL 387 according to Eebling (1853) exists to the extent of 6 per cent., re- duces cupric oxide without the aid of heat. When macerated in water, the seeds easily undergo lactic fermentation, not however attended with decomposition of the alkaloids. The stability of strychnine is remark- able, even after ten years of contact with putrescent animal substances. Commerce — Large quantities of nux vomica are brought into the London market from British Lidia.-^ The export from Bombay in the year 1871—72 was 3341 cwt., all shipped to the United Kingdom.^ Madras in 1869-70 exported 4805 cwt. ; and Calcutta in 1865-66, 2801 cwt. The quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1870^ was 5534 cwt. Uses — Tincture and^extract of nux vomica, and the alkaloid strych- nine, are frequently administered as tonic remedies in a variety of disorders. SEMEN IGNATII. Foha Sancti Ignatii ; St. Ignatius' Beans ; F. Feves de Saint-Ignace, Noix Igasur ; G. Ignatiushohnen} Botanical Origin — Strgchnos Ignatii Bergius ^ (>S^. Philippensis Blanco, Ignatio.na Philiiopinica Loureiro), a large climbing shrub, growing in Bohol, Samar, and Qebu, islands of the Bisaya group of the Philippines, and according to Loureiro in Cochin China, where it has been introduced. The inflorescence and foliage are known to botanists only from the descriptions given by Loureiro ^ and Blanco.'' The fruit is spherical, or sometimes ovoid, 4 inches or more in diameter, and consists of a smooth brittle shell enclosing seeds to the number of about 24. G. Bennett,^ who saw the fruits at Manila sold in the bazaar, says they contain from 1 to 12 seeds, imbedded in a glutinous blackish pulp.^ History — It is stated by Murray ^^ and later writers, that this seed was introduced into Europe from the Philippines by the Jesuits, who, on account of its virtues, bestowed upon it the name of Ignatius, the founder of their order. However this may be, the earliest account of the drug appears to be that communicated by Camelli, Jesuit missionary at ^ "We have seen 1136 packages offered in a ^ Materia, Meclica, Stockholm, 1778. i. single drug-sale (30 March, 1871). 146. — We omit citing the Linnean Ignatia ^ Statement of the Trade and Navigation amara, as it has been shown by Beutham of Bombay for 1871-72, x^t. ii. 62. that the plant so named by the younger ^ Ko later returns are accessible. Linnteus is Fosoqueria longiflora Aubl. of the * The plant and seeds are known in the order Rtibiacece, a native of Guiana. Bisaya lang-aage by the names of j;a5t(7a- ' ^ Flora Cochinchinensis, ed. Willd. 1. guason, aguason, canlara, .manaoiaog, dan- (1793)155. cagay, eatalonga or igasur ; in the islands of '' Flora de Filipinas, ed. 2. 1845. 61. Bohol and Cebu, Avhere the seeds are pro- ^ London Med. and FJiys. Jown., January duced, by that of coyacoy, and by the 1832. Spaniards of the Philippines as Peinta de ® The only specimen of the fruit 1 have Bisaya oxPepita de Catbalogan (Clain, Reme- seen was in the possession of my late friend dios Faciles, Manila, 1857. p. 610). The Mr. Morson. It measured exactly 4 inches name St. Ignatius' Bean applied to them in in diameter, and when opened (15 January Europe, is employed in South America to 1872) was found to contain 17 mature, well- designate the seeds of several medicinal formed seeds, with remnants of dried pulp. Oucurbitaceo}, as those of Feuillea trilobata As figured on the authority of Camelli, the L., Hypamth&ra. Guapeva Manso and Aniso- fruit is ovoid, 6| inches long by 4^ in dia- sperma Passiflora Manso. meter. — D. H. 1" Apparatus Medicaviinum, vi, (1792) 26 c c 2 388 LOGANIACEM Manila, to Eay and Petiver, and by them laid before tlie Eoyal Society of London in 1699.-^ Camelli proclaimed the seed to be the Niix Vomica legitima of the Arabian physician Serapion, who flourished in the 9th century, but in our opinion there is no warrant whatever for supposing it to have been known at so remote a period.^ Camelli states that the seed, which he calls Nux Pepita sen Fdba Sancti Ignatii, is much esteemed as a remedy in various disorders, though he was well aware of its poisonous properties when too freely administered. In Germany, St. Ignatius' Bean was made known about the same period by Bohn of Leipzig.^ The drug is found in the Indian bazaars under a name which is- evidently corrupted from the Spanish pepita. It is met with in the drugshops of China as Leii-sung-hwo, i.e. Luzon fruit. Description — St. Ignatius' Beans are about an inch in length ; their form is ovoid, yet by mutual pressure it is rendered very irregular, and they are 3-, 4-, or 5-sided, bluntly angular, or flattish, with a conspicuous hilum at one end. In the fresh state, they are covered with silvery adpressed hairs : portions of a shaggy brown epidermis are here and there perceptible on those found in commerce, but in the majority, the seed shows the dull grey, granular surface of the albumen itself. Notwithstanding the different outward appearance, the structure of St. Ignatius' Beans accords with that of nux vomica. The radicle how- ever is longer, thicker, and frequently somewhat bent, and the cotyledons are more pointed. The horny brownish albumen is translucent, very hard,, and difhcult to split. The whole seed swells considerably by prolonged digestion in warm water, and has then a heavy, earthy smell. The beans are intensely bitter and highly poisonous. Microscopic Structure — The hairs of the epidermis are of an analogous structure but more simple than in nux vomica. The albumen and cotyledons agree in structural features with those of the same parts in nux vomica. Chemical Composition — Strychnine exists to the extent of about 1"5 per cent. ; the seed also contains 0"5 per cent, of brucine. Dried over sulphuric acid and burnt with soda- lime, it yielded us an average of 1"78 per cent, of nitrogen, which would answer to about 10 per cent. of albuminoid matter. Commerce — We have no information as to the collection of the drug. The seeds are met with irregularly in English trade, being some- times very abundant, at others scarcely obtainable. Uses — The same as those of nux vomica. When procurable at a moderate price, the seeds are valued for the manufacture of strychnine. ^ Phil. Trans, xxi. (1699) 44. 87 ; Eay, until l."i65. Previous to the Spauisli occu- Hist. Plant. \\\. lib. 31. 118. ])ation, they were governed by petty chiefs, ^ The rhiliji]iines were wholly unknown and were freciuented for the purposes of com- to the Europeans of antitpiity or of tlie nierre by Japanese, Chinese, and Malays, iliddle Ages. They were discovered liy ■' Martigny, Enoyklojpddie d. Rohwaarcnk. Magellan in 1521, but their conquest by the i. (1843) 576. Spaniards was not eircctually commenced RADIX GENTIAN M. 389 RADIX SPIGELIiE. Radix ^2^ifjdim Marilandicm ; Indian Pinh Root, Carolina Pink Root, 8'pigelia} Botanical Origin — Sjngelia Marilandica L., an herbaceous plant ■about a foot high, indigenous in the woods of ISTortli America, from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and southward. According to Wood and Bache, it is collected chie% in the Western and South-western States. History — The anthelmintic properties of the root, discovered by the Indians, were brought to notice in Europe about the year 1754, by Linning, Garden, and Chalmers, physicians of Charleston, South Carolina. The drug was admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia in 1788. Description — Pink root has a near resemblance to serpentary, con- sisting of a short, knotty, dark brown rhizome emitting slender wiry roots. It is quite wanting in the peculiar odour of the latter drug, or indeed in any aroma ; in taste it is slightly bitter and acrid. Sometimes the entire plant with its quadrangular stems a foot high is imported. It has opposite leaves about 3 inches long, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, smooth or pubescent. Microscopic Structure — The transverse section of the rhizome, about y-^ of an inch in diameter, sliows a small woody zone enclosing a large pith of elliptic, outline, consisting of thin-walled cells. Usually the central tissue is decayed. In the roots, the middle cortical layer predominates ; it swells in water, after which its large cells display fine spiral markings. The nucleus-sheath observable in serpentary, is wanting in spigelia. Chemical Composition — Not satisfactorily known : the vessels of the wood contain resin, the parenchyme starch ; in the cortical part of the rhizome, some tannic matters occur, but not in the roots. FeneuUe (1823) asserts that the drug yields a little essential oil. The experi- ments of Bureau ^ show that spigelia acts on rabbits and other animals as a narcotico-acrid poison. Uses — Spigelia has long been reputed a most efficient medicine for the expulsion of Ascaris himhricoides, but according to Stille,^ its real value for this purpose has probably been over-estimated. This author speaks of it as possessing alterative and tonic properties. In England, it is rarely prescribed by the regular practitioner, but is used as a household medicine in some districts. It is much employed in the United States. GENTIANS^. RADIX GENTIANiE. Gentian Root ; F. Racine de Gentianc. ; G. Ensianwurzel. Botanical Origin — Gentiana lutea L., a handsome perennial herb, growing 3 feet high, indigenous to open grassy places on the mountains 1 Pinh Root is sometimes erroneously ^ Thera.j-ieutics and Materia Medica, Plaila- latinized in price-lists, "Radix caryoiihylU." delphia, ii. (1868) 651. ■^ De la famille des Loganiacies, 1856. 130. 390 GENTIANEM of Middle and Southern Europe. It occurs in Portugal, Spain, the Pyrenees, in the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, in the Apennines, the mountains of Auvergne, the Jura, the Yosges, the Black Forest, and throughout the chain of the Alps as far as Bosnia and the Danubian Principalities. Among the mountains of Germany, it is found on the Suabian Alps near Wiirzburg, and here and there in Thuringia, but not further north, nor does it occur in the British Islands. History — The name Oentiana is said to be derived from Gentius, a king of the lUyrians, living B.C. 180-167, by whom according to both Pliny and Dioscorides, the plant was noticed. Whether the species thus named was Gentiana lutea is doubtful. During the middle ages, gentian was commonly employed for the cure of disease, and as an antidote to poison. Tragus in 1552, mentions it as a means of dilating wounds, an application which has been resotred to in modern medical practice. Description — The plant has a cylindrical, fleshy, simple root, of pale colour, occasionally almost as much as 4 feet in length by 1|- inches in thickness, producing 1 to 4 aerial stems. The dried root of commerce is in irregular, contorted pieces, several inches in length, and -I to 1 inch in thickness ; the pieces are much wrinkled longitudinally, and marked transversely, especially in their upper portion, with numerous rings. Very often they are sj)lit to facilitate drying. They are of a yellowish brown; internally of a more orange tint, spongy, with a peculiar, disagreeable, heavy odour, and intensely bitter taste. The crown of the root, which is somewhat thickened, is clothed with the scaly bases of leaves. The root is tough and flexible, — brittle only immediately after drying. We found it to lose in weight about 18 per cent, by complete drying in a water-bath; it regained 16 per cent, by being afterwards exposed to the air. Microscopic Structure— A transverse section shows the bark separated by a dark cambial zone from the central column ; the radial arrangement of the tissues is only obvious in the latter part. In the bark, liber fibres are wanting ; and in the centre there is no distinct pith. The fibro-vascular bundles are devoid of thick-walled ligneous prosenchyme; this may explain the consistence, and the short even fracture of the root. It is moreover remarkable on account of the absence both of starch and oxalate of calcium ; the cells appear to contain chiefly sugar and a little fat oil. Chemical Composition — The bitter taste of gentian is due to a substance called Gentioincrin or Ge7itian-hitter} Several chemists, as Henry, Caventou, Trommsdorff, Leconte, and Dulk have described the bitter principle of gentian in an impure state, under the name of Gen- tianin, but Kromayer in 1862 first obtained it in a state of purity. Gcntiopicrin, C^^H'^O^-, is a neutral body crystallizing in colourless needles, which readily dissolve in water. It is soluble in spirit of wine, but in absolute alcohol only when aided by heat ; it does not dissolve in ether. A solution of caustic potash or soda forms Avith it a yellow solution. Under the influence of a dilute mineral acid, gentiopicrin is resolved into glucose, and an amorphous, yellowish-brown, neutral sub- 1 Gmelin, Chcwislry, xvi. (1864) 193. RADIX GENTIANyE. 3-9! stance, named Oentiogenin. Fresh gentian roots yield somewhat more than ji_ per cent, of gentiopicrin ; from the dried root it could not be obtained in a crystallized state. The medicinal Tincture of Gentian, mixed with solution of caustic potash, loses its bitterness in a few days, probably in consequence of the destruction of the gentiopicrin. Another constituent of gentian root is Gentianic Acid, C^^H^'^O^, a tasteless substance, forming pale yellow, silky crystals, which may be sublimed if cautiously heated. It is but very slightly soluble in water, whether cold or hot, or in ether, but dissolves in hot strong alcohol, from which it may be crystallized. It also dissolves in aqueous alkalis, forming crystallizable compounds. • Gentianic acid appears to be without action on the organism. Gentian root abounds in pectin ; it also contains to the extent of 12 to 15 per cent., an uncrystallizable sugar, of which advantage is taken in Southern Bavaria and Switzerland, for the manufacture by fermenta- tion and distillation of a potable spirit.^ This use of gentian and its consumption in medicine, have led to the plant being almost extirpated in some parts of Switzerland where it formerly abounded. Commerce — Gentian root finds its way into English commerce through the German houses ; and some is shipped from Marseilles. The quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1870, was 1100 cwt. Uses — Gentian is much used in medicine as a bitter tonic. Ground to powder, the root is an ingredient in some of the compositions sold for feeding cattle. Substitutes — It can hardly be said that gentian is adulterated, yet the roots of several other species possessing similar properties are occa- sionally collected ; of these we may name the following : — 1. Gentiana purpurea L. — This species is found in Alpine meadows of the Apennines, Savoy and Switzerland, in Transylvania, and in Southern Norway ; a variety also in Kamtchatka.^ The root is frequently collected ; it attains at most 18 inches in length and a diameter of about 1 inch at the summit, from which arise 8 to 10 aerial stems, clothed below with many scaly remains of leaves. The top of the root has thus a peculiar branched appearance, never found in the root of G. hitea, with which in all other respects that of G. pur2ncrea agrees. The latter is perhaps even more intensely bitter. 2. G. punctata L. — Nearly the same description applies to this species, which is a native of the Southern Alps, extending eastward to Austria, Hungary and Boumelia. 3. G. Pannonica Scop. — a plant of the mountains of Austria, un- known in the Swiss Alps, has a root which according to Yogl,^ does not attain the length or the thickness of the root of G. purpurea, with which it agrees in other respects. It is of&cinal in the Austrian Pharmacopoeia. 1 Til. Martins, PTiarm. Journ. xii. (1853) purpiirea, G. punctata and G. Pannonica. 371. He is decidedly of the opinion that they are 2 Grisehach {Die Vegetation der Erde, i. distinct species. 1872. 223) gives very interesting particnlars ^ Commentar zur osterrcichiscJicn Pharma- relating to the area of growth of Gentiana kopoe, i. (1869) 345. 392 OENTIANEm. HERBA CHIRATiE. Herba Chirettm vel Chiraytce ; CMretta or Chirayta. Botanical Origin — Ophelia'^ Cldrata Grisebacli {Gentiana CMrayita Eoxb.) an annual herb of the mountainous regions of Northern India, from Simla through Kumaon to the Murung district in South-eastern Nepal. History — Chiretta has long been held in high esteem by the Hindus, and is frequently mentioned in the writings of Susruta. It is called in Sanscrit Kirdta-tilda, which means the hitter plant of the Kirdtas, the Kiratas being an outcast race of mountaineers in the north of India. In England, it began to attract some attention about the year 1829 ; and in 1839 was introduced into the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. The plant was first described by Eoxburgh in 1814. Chiretta was regarded by Guibourt as the Calamus aromaticus of the ancients, but the improbability of this being correct was well pointed out by Fee^ and by Eoyle, and is now generally admitted. Description — The entire plant is collected when in flower, or more commonly when the capsules are fully formed, and tied up with a slip of bamboo into flattish bundles of about 3 feet long,^ each weighing when dry from 1|- to 2 Ife. The stem, -rw^^ to o^ ^^ i^^h in thickness, is of an orange-brown, sometimes of a dark purplish colour ; the tapering simple root, often much exceeding the stem in thickness, is 2 to 4 inches long and up to |- an inch thick. It is less frequently branched, but always provided with some rootlets. In stronger specimens, the root is some- what oblique or geniculate ; perhaps the stem is in this case the product of a second year's growth and the plant not strictly annual. Each plant usually consists of a single stem, yet occasionally two or more spring from a single root. The stem rises to a height of 2 to 3 feet, and is cylindrical in its lovjer and middle portion, but bluntly quadrangular in its upper, the four edges being each marked with a prominent decurrent line, as in Erytlirma Centaurium and many other plants of the order. The decussate ramification resembles that of other gentians ; its stems are jointed at intervals of 1|- to 3 or 4 inches, bearing opposite semi- amplexicaul leaves or their cicatrices. The stem consists in its lower portion of a large woody column, coated with a very thin rind, and enclosing a comparatively large pith. The upper parts of the stem and branches contain a broad ring of thick-walled woody parenchyme. The numerous slender axillary and ojDposite branches are elongated, and thus constitute a dense umbellate panicle. They are smooth and glabrous, of a greenish or brownish grey colour. The leaves are ovate-acuminate, cordate at the base, entire, sessile, the largest 1 inch or more in length, 3- to 5- or 7-nerved, the midrib being strongest. At each division of the panicle there are two small bracts. The yellow corolla is rotate, 4-lobed, with glandular pits above the base ; the calyx is one-third the length of the petals, which are about half an inch long. The one-celled, bivalved capsule contains numerous seeds. ' '0(pi\\€iv, to l)less, in (illusion to the. ^ The other kinds of chiretta to be named medical virtues of the herb. presently are usually much shorter. ^ Cuursd'I/is/oi7-r, 'iiat, pharmaceul'iqur, ii. (1828) 3S5. HERB A cum ATM 393 The flowers share the intense bitterness of the whole drug. The wood of stronger stems is devoid of the bitter principles. Chemical Composition — A chemical examination of chiretta has been made at our request under the direction of Professor Ludwig of Jena, by his assistant Mr. Hohn. The chief results of this careful and elaborate investigation may be thus described.^ Among the bitter principles of the drug, Ophelic Acid, Ci^H^^O^*^, occurs in the largest proportion. It is an amorphous, viscid, yellow substance, of an acidulous, persistently bitter taste, and a faint gentian- like odour. With basic acetate of lead, it produces an abundant yellow precipitate. Ophelic acid does not form an insoluble compound with tannin; it dissolves in water, alcohol and ether. The first solution causes the separation of protoxide of copper from an alkaline tartrate of that metal. A second bitter principle, Chiratin, C^'^H^^O^^ may be removed by means of tannic acid, with which it forms an insoluble compound. Chiratin is a neutral, not distinctly crystalline, light yellow, hygroscopic powder, soluble in alcohol, ether and in warm water. By boiling hydro- chloric acid, it is decomposed into Chiratogenin, C^^H^^O'^ and ophelic acid. Chiratogenin is a brownish, amorphous substance, soluble ir alcohol but not in water, nor yielding a tannic compound. No sugar is formed in this decomposition. These results exhibit no analogy to those obtained in the analysis of the European gentians. Finally, Hohn remarked in chiretta, a crystal- lizable, tasteless, yellow substance, but its quantity was so minute that no investigation of it could be made. The leaves of chiretta, dried at 100° C, afforded 7*5 per cent, of ash ; the stems 3 '7 ; salts of potassium and calcium prevailing in both. Uses — Chiretta is a pure bitter tonic, devoid of aroma and astrin- gency. In intense bitterness, it exceeds gentian, Erytlirmct and other European plants of the same order. It is much valued in India, but is not very extensively used in England, and not at all on the Continent. It is said to be employed when cheap, in place of gentian, to impart flavour to the compositions now sold as Cattle Foods. Substitutes and Adulteration — Four other species of Ophelia, namely 0. angustifolia Don, 0. densifolia Griseb., 0. elegans Wight, and 0. multifiora Dalz., two or three species of Exacum, besides Andro- graphis paniculata Wall. (p. 424), are more or less known in the Indian bazaars by the name of Chiretta'^ and possess to a greater or less degree the bitter tonic properties of that drug. Another Gentianacea, 8levogtia orieyitalis Griseb., is called Chota Chiretta, i.e. small chiretta. It would exceed due limits were we to describe each of these plants : we have therefore given a somewhat detailed description of the true chiretta, which will suffice for its identification. We have frequently examined the chiretta found in the English market, but have never met with any ■other than the legitimate sort.^ 1 For full details, see ArcJiiv der Phar- ^ Mr. E. A. "Webb lias pointed out a case made, 189 (1869) 229. of false-packing in which the roots oi Rubia 2 Moodeen Sheriff, Suppl. to the Pharma- cordifolia L. (Munjit) had been enclosed in copxia of India, 1869. pp. 138. 189. — Con- the bundles of chiretta. suit also Pliarmaxopeeia of India, 1868. pp. 148-9. 394 CONFOLVULACEM CONVOLVULACE^. SCAMMONIUM. Scammony ; F. Scammonec ; G. Scammonium. Botanical Origin — Convolvulus Scammonia L., a twining plant mucli resembling the common C. arvensis of Europe, but differing from it in being of larger size, and having a stout tap-root. It occurs in waste bushy places in Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, the G-reek Islands, extending north- ward to the Crimea and Southern Eussia, but appears to be wanting in Northern Africa, Italy, and in all the western parts of the Mediterranean basin. History — The dried milky juice of the scammony plant has been known as a medicine from very ancient times. Theophrastus in the 3rd century B.C. was acquainted with it; it was likewise familiar to Dioscorides, Pliny, Celsus, and Eufus of Ephesus, each of whom has given some account of the manner in which it was collected. The Arabian physi- cians also knew scammony and the plant from which it is derived. The drug was used in Britain in the 10th and 11th centuries, and would appear to be one of the medicines recommended to King Alfred the Great, by Helias, patriarch of Jerusalem.^ It is repeatedly named in the medical writings in use prior to the JSTorman conquest (a.d. 1066), in one of which, directions are given for recognizing the goodness of the drug by the white emulsion it produces when wetted. The botanists of the 16th and 17th centuries, as Brufnels, Gesner, Matthiolus, Dodonseus, and the Bauhins described and figured the plant, partly under the name of Scammonia Syriaca. The collecting of the drug ',was well described by Eussell, an English physician of Aleppo (1752), whose account^ is accompanied by an excellent figure repre- senting the plant and the means of obtaining its juice. Scammony was formerly distinguished by the names Aleppo and Smyrna, the former sort being twice or thrice as costly as the latter ; at the present day, Aleppo scammony has quite lost its pre-eminence. Localities producing the drug — Scammony is collected in Asia Minor, from Brussa and Boli in the north, to Macri and Adalia in the south, and eastward as far as Angora. But the most productive localities ■within this area, are the valley of the Mendereh, south of Smyrna ; and the districts of Kirkagach and Demirjik, north of that town. The neighbourhood of Aleppo likewise affords the drug. A little is obtained further south in Syria, from the woody hills and valleys about the lake of Tiberias and Mount Carmel. Production — The scammony plant has a long woody root, which throws off downwards a few lateral branches, and produces from its knotty summit, numerous twining stems which are persistent and woody 1 Such is the opinion expressed by the Persian) dmgs were included in the lost part Rev. 0. Cockayne. The letter of Helias to of the patriarch's letter. — See Lccclidoins, Alfred is imperfect, and mentions only bal- Wortcunning anHStarcraft of Early England, sam, petroleum, theriaka, and a white stone edited by Cockayne (Master of the Rolls used as a charm. But from the reference to Series), vol. ii. pages xxiv. 289. 175, also these four articles in another part of the MS., 273.281. in connexion with scammony, ammoniacum, " Medical Observations and Inquiries, i. tragacanth, and galbanum, there is gi-ound (1757) 12. for believing that the latter (Syrian and SCAMMONIUM. 395 at the base. In plants of three or four years old, the root may be an inch or more in diameter; in older specimens it sometimes acquires a diameter of three or four inches. In length, it is from two to three feet, according to the depth of soil in which it grows. When the root is wounded, there exudes a milky juice which dries up to a golden-brown, transparent, gummy-looking substance : — this is ptire scammony} The method followed in collecting scammony for use, appears to be nearly the same in all localities. It has been thus described to us by two eye-witnesses, both long resident in the East.^ Operations com- mence by clearing away the bushes among which the plant is commonly found ; the soil around the latter is then removed, so as to leave 4 or 5 inches of the root exposed. This is then cut off in a slanting direction at 2 to 4 inches below the crown, and a mussel-shell is stuck into it just beneath the lowest edge, so as to receive the milky sap which instantly flows out. The shells are usually left till evening, when they are collected, and the cut part of the root scraped with a knife, so as to remove any partially dried drops of juice. These latter are called by the Smyrna peasants, haimah or cream, the softer contents of the shell being called gala or milk. Sometimes the scammony is allowed to dry in the shell, and such must be regarded as representing the drug in its utmost perfection. But scammony in shells is not brought into commerce, though a little of it is reserved l3y the peasants for their own use. The contents of the shells and the scraped-off drops are next emptied into a covered copper pot or a leathern bag, carried home, made homo- geneous by mixing with a knife, and at once allowed to dry. In this way, a form of scammony is obtained closely approaching that dried in the shell. But it is a quality of exceptional goodness. Usually the peasant does not dry off the juice promptly, but allows his daily gatherings to accumulate ; and when he has collected a pound or two, he places it in the sunshine to soften, and then kneads it, sometimes with the addition of a little water, into a plastic mass, which he lastly allows to dry. By this long exposure to heat, and retention in a liquid state, the scam- mony juice undergoes fermentation, acquires a strong cheesy odour and dark colour, and when finally dried, exhibits a more or less porous or bubbly structure, never observable in shell scammony. Scammony is very extensively adulterated. The adulteration is often performed by the peasants, who mix foreign substances into the drug Avhile it is yet soft ; and it is also effected by the dealers, some of whom purchase it of the peasants in a half-dried state. The substances used for sophistication are numerous, the commonest and most easily detected being, according to our experience, carbonate of lime and flour. Wood- ashes, earth (not always calcareous), gum arable, and tragacanth are also employed ; more rarely, wax, yolk of egg, pounded scammony roots, rosin, or black-lead. Description — The pure juice of the root, simply dried by exposure to the sun and air, is an amorphous, transparent, brittle substance, of ^ Named probably from 'S.Kdfj.f.M, a trench foimd in Pharm. Journ. xiii. (1854) 264; or pit, in allusion to the excavation made the other is Mr. Edward T. Rogers, formerly around the root. of Caiffa, now (1874) British Consul at ^ The one was the late Mr. S. H. Maltass Cairo, of Smyrna, whose interesting paper may be 396 CONVOLrULACEM. resinous aspect, a yellowish-brown colour, and glossy fracture. Scammony possessing these characters is occasionally met with in the form of flattish irregular masses, about ^ to f of an inch in thickness, very brittle by reason of internal fissures, yet with but few air-cavities. In mass, it is of a chestnut- brown, but in small fragments it is seen to be very pale yellowish-brown and transparent, with the freshly fractured surface, vitreous and shining. When powdered, it is of a very light buff. Rubbed with the moistened hnger, it forms a white emulsion. Treated with ether, it yields 88 to 90 per cent, of soluble matter, and a nearly colourless residuum. This scammony as well as the pure juice in the shell, is very liable to become mouldy ; but besides this, it throws out if long kept, a white, mammillated, crystalline efflorescence, the nature of which we have not been able to determine. But if scammony is kept quite dry, neither mouldiness nor efflorescence makes its appearance. The ordinary fine scammony of commerce, known as Virgin ScaTn- mony, is also in large flat pieces or irregular flattened lumps and fragments, which in mass have a dark-grey or blackish hue. Viewed in thin fragments, it is seen to be translucent and of a yellowish-brown. It is very easily broken, exhibits a shining fracture, gives an ashy grey powder, and has a peculiar cheesy odour. Some of the pieces have a porous, bubbly structure, indicative of fermentation ; the more solid, often show the efflorescence already mentioned, Scammony has not much taste, but leaves an acrid sensation in the throat. Chemical Composition — Scammony owes its active properties as a medicine, to a resin shown (1860) by Spirgatis to be identical with that found in the root of the Mexican Ipomma Orizahensis, known in commerce as Male Jalap : this resin called Jalapin will be described in the next article. The other constituents of pure scammony are not well known. One of them is the substance which, as already stated, makes its appearance as small masses of cauliflower crystals on the surface of pure scammony, when the latter is kept in air not perfectly dry. Whether the odour observable in commercial scammony is due to a volatile fatty acid developed by fermentation, is a question still to be investigated. Commerce — The export of scammony from Smyrna amounted in 1871, to 278 cases, valued at £8320 ; in 1872 to 185 cases value £6100. According to a report of Consul Skene on the trade of JSTorthern Syria,^ 737 cases of scammony were exported from the province of Aleppo in 1872,— six-sevenths of the quantity being for England. Uses — Employed as an active cathartic, often in combination with •colocynth and calomel. Adulteration — Scammony is very often imported in an adulterated state, but the adulteration is so clumsily eff'ected, and is so easily dis- coverable by simple tests, or even by ocular examination, that druggists have but little excuse for accepting a bad article. We have already named the substances used in the sophistication of scammony : of these, the most frequent are carbonate of lime and farinaceous matter. The first may generally be recognized by examining the fractured surface of the drug with a good lens, when the white x')articles ^ Presented to Parliament, Jul}' 1873, SCAMMONIUM. 397 of thie carbonate will be perceived. If the surface is then touched (while still sub lente) with hydrochloric acid, effervescence will prove the presence of a carbonate. Other earthy adulterants can be discovered by incineration, or by examining the residue of the drug after treatment with ether. Starchy substances, the presence of which may be surmised by the scammony being difficult to break, are detectable by the micro- scope or by solution of iodine, a cold decoction of scammony not being affected by that reagent. Scammony that is ponderous, dull and clayey, not easily broken in the fingers, or which when broken does not exhibit a clean, glossy surface, or which does not afford at least 80 per cent, of matter soluble in ether, should be rejected. That which is made up in the form of hard, dark, circular cakes is widely different from pure scammony. Scammony may be distinguished from Resin of Scammony by its property of forming an emulsion when wetted. The resin is also more glossy and almost entirely soluble in ether. Radix Scammoniae. The frauds commonly practised on the scammony of commerce, have given rise to various schemes for obtaining the drug in a purer form, as well as at a more moderate price.^ So far back as 1839, the Edinburgh College prescribed a Resina Scammo7iu, which was prepared by exhausting scammony with spirit of wine, distilling off the spirit, and washing the residue with water. Such an extract was manufactured by the late Mr. Maltass of Smyrna, and occasionally shipped to London. In consequence of a suggestion made by Mr. Clark, manufacturer of liquorice at Sochia near Scala Nuova, a patent was taken out (1856) by Prof A. W. Williamson of London, for preparing this resin directly from the dried root by means of alcohol. The same chemist shortly after- wards devised an improved process, which consists in boiling the roots first with water and then with dilute acid, so as to deprive them of all matters soluble in those menstrua, and afterwards extracting the resin by alcohol. Eesin of Scammony, obtained either from scammony or from the dried root, is ordered in the Rritisii Pharmacopoiia of 1867, and is manufactured by a few houses. It is a brown, translucent, brittle sub- stance of resinous fracture, entirely soluble in ether, and not forming an emulsion when wetted with water. Scammony root is occasionally brought into the London market, sometimes in rather large quantity,^ but it is not generally kept by drug- gists, nor do we find it quoted in price- currents. Its collection is even opposed in some jjarts of Turkey by the local authorities.^ The root consists of stout, woody, cylindrical pieces, often spirally twisted, 2 to 3 inches in diameter, covered with a rough, furrowed, greyish-brown bark. They are internally pale brown, tough and resinous, with a faint odour and taste resembling jalap. A good sample yielded us o\ per. cent, of resin. 1 Scammony is quoted in a London price- ' ^ Such was the case at Aleppo, as we current, April, 1874, at 8s. to 36s. per lb. — know by a private letter from Mr. Consul Eesin of Scammony at 14s. per lb. Skene. — D. H. 2 Thus 100 bales were offered in a drug sale, 3 Julj', 1873. 398 CONVOLVULACEM. RADIX JALAPS. Tuber Jalapce ; Jalap, Vera Cruz Jalap ; F. Racine cle JalaiJ ; G. Jalape, Botanical Origin — Ipomcea Purga Hayne [Convolvulus PurgaWen- deroth, Exogonium Purga Bentliam)^ a tuberous-rooted plant, throwing out herbaceous, twining stems, clothed with cordate-acuminate, sharply auricled leaves, and bearing elegant salver-shaped, deep pink flowers. It grows naturally on the eastern declivities of the Mexican Andes, at an ele- vation above the sea of 5000 to 8000 feet, especially about Chiconquiaco and the adjacent villages, and also around San Salvador on the eastern slope of the Cofre de Perote. In these localities where rain falls almost daily, and where the diurnal temperature varies from 15° to 24° C. (60° to 75° F.)' the plant occurs in shady woods, flourishing in a deep rich vegetable soil. The jalap grows freely in the south of England, if planted in a sheltered border, but its flowers are produced so late in autumn that they rarely expand, and the tubers which develope in some abundance, are liable to be destroyed in winter unless protected from frost. The plant has been introduced on the Neilgherry Hills in the south of India ; it succeeds there remarkably well,^ and might be extensively propagated if there were any adequate inducement. History — The use as a purgative of the tuber of a convolvulaceous plant of Mexico, was made known by the early Spanish voyagers ; and so highly was the new drug esteemed that large quantities of it reached Europe during the 16th century. Monardes writing in 1565, says the new drug was called Euybarho de las Inclias or Buyhar'bo de Meclioacan, the latter name being given in allusion to the province of Michoacan whence the supplies were derived. Some writers have advanced the opinion that meclioacan root was the modern jalap, but in this we do not concur, for the description given of mechoacan and the place of its production do not apply well to jalap. Both drugs were moreover well known about 1610 ; they were perfectly distinguished by Colin an apothecary of Lyons (1619), who mentions jalap (" racine de lakcp ") as then newly brought to France.''^ They were however often confounded, or at least only distinguished by their differ- ence of tint. Thus jalap which at that period used to be imported cut into transverse slices,^ was termed from its darker colour, Black Meclioacan; and on the other hand, the paler mechoacan was in later times known as While Jalap. Mechoacan root is now known to consist (at least in part) of the large thick tuber of Ipomoea Jalapa Pursh {Batatas Jcdapa Chois.), a plant of the Southern United States and Mexico. As a drug, it has been long obsolete in Europe, having given place to jalap which is a more active and efficient purgative. The botanical source of jalap was not definitely ascertained until about the year 1829, when Dr. Coxe of Philadelphia published a descrip- ^ Thus at Ootacamund, Mr. Broup;hton, " Monardes, Hist, dcs 3f6dicainens, trad, in a letter to one of us (15 January, 1870), par Colin, ed. 2. 1619. 131.— The first edi- speaks of receiving "a cluster of tubei-s" tion of this work seems to be unknown, weighing over 9 lb., and remarks that tlie ' Ilill, Jlistoi-y of the Mat. Med., Lond. plant ^rows as easily as a yam. 1751. 541). RADIX JALAPJE. 399 tion and coloured figure, taken from living plants sent to him two years previously from Mexico/ Manner of Growth — Though we have cultivated the jalap plant for many years, we have had no opportunity of examining the seedling, but judging from analogy suppose that it has at first a small tap-root which gradually thickens after the manner of a radish. A root of jalap, called by some tuher and by others htbercule, throws out in addition to aerial stems, slender, prostrate, underground shoots which emit roots at intervals. These roots while but an inch or two long, become thickened and carrot-shaped, gradually enlarging into napiform tuber-like bodies, which emit a few rootlets from their surface and taper off below in long, slender ramifications. The thickened roots have no trace of leaf-organs ; the aerial stem grows from the shoot from which they originated. Fresh jalap roots (tubers) are externally rough and dark brown, internally white and fleshy. Collection — Jalap is said to be dug up in Mexico during the whole year.^ The smaller roots are dried entire ; the larger are cut transversely, or are gashed so that they may dry more easily. As drying by sun-heat would be almost impracticable owing to the wetness of the cKmate, the roots are placed in a net, and suspended over the almost constantly burning hearth of the Indian's hut, where they gradually dry, and at the same time often contract a smoky smell. Much of the jalap that has of late arrived, has been more freely sliced than usual, and has obviously been dried with less difficulty. According to Schiede, whose account was written in 1829,^ the Indians of Chiconquiaco were at that period commencing the cultivation of jalap in their gardens. Description — The jalap of commerce consists of irregular, ovoid roots, varying from the size of an Qgg to that of a hazel-nut, but occa- sionally as large as a man's fist. They are usually pointed at the lower end, deeply wrinkled, contorted and furrowed, and of a dark-brown hue, dotted over with numerous little, elongated, lighter coloured scars, running transversely. The large roots are incised lengthwise, or cut into halves or quarters, but the smaller are usually entire. Some of the small roots are spindle-shaped or cylindrical ; others can be found which are nearly globular, smooth and pitchy-looking, but these latter are seldom solid. Good jalap is ponderous, tough, hard and often horny, becoming brittle when long kept, and breaking with a resinous, non- ' fibrous fracture ; internally it is of a pale dingy brown or dirty white. It has a faint smoky, rather coffee-like odour, and a mawkish taste followed by acridity. Microscopic Structure — Seen in transverse section, jalap exhibits no radiate structure, but numerous small concentric rings, which in many pieces are very regularly arranged. They are due to the latici- ferous cells, differing from the surrounding parenchyme only by their ^ American Journal of Med, Sciences, v. ^ LvnuKa, iii. (1830) 473 ; Pharm. Journ. (1829) 300. j)l. 1-2. viii. (1867) 652.— We are not aware of any 2 It is plain that such a proceeding is more recent account, irrational. The roots should be dug up when the aerial stems have died down. 400 CONVOLVULACEM. contents and rather larger size. These laticiferous cells traverse the tissue in a vertical direction, constituting vertical bands, as may he observed on a longitudinal section ; the single cells are simply placed one on the other, and do not form peculiar ducts as in Laduca or Taraxacum. The hbro-vascular bundles of jalap are neither numerous nor large % they are accompanied by thin-walled cells, so that firm woody rays do not occur. Parenchymatous cells are abundant, and, on a longitudinal fracture especially if subsequently moistened, are seen to constitute con- centric layers. The laticiferous cells are always found in the outer part of each layer. The suberous coat with which the drug is covered, is made up of the usual tabular cells. The jDarenchyme of jalap is loaded with starch grains ; in the pieces which have been submitted to heat in order to dry them, the starch appears as an amorphous mass, and the drug then exhibits a horny consistence and greyish fracture, instead of being mealy. Crystals of calcium oxalate are frequently met with. The laticiferous cells contain the resin of jalap in a semi-fluid state, even in the dry drug ; drops of the resinous emulsion flow out of the cells, if thin slices are moistened by any watery liquid. Chemical Composition — Jalap owes its medicinal efficacy to a resin, which is extractable by exhausting the drug with spirit of wine, concentrating the alcoholic solution to a small bulk, and pouring it into water. The resin precipitated in this manner is then washed and dried ; it is contained in jalap to the extent of 12 to 18 per cent.^ Erom this crude resin, which is the Resina jalapce of the pharma- copoeias, ether or chloroform extracts 5 to 7 (12, Umney) per cent, of a resin which, according to Kayser^ partially solidifies when in contact with water in crystalline needles. We can by no means confirm Kayser's statement. The residue (insoluble in ether) is one of the substances to which the name Jalapiii has been applied.^ W. Mayer, 1852-1855, who designated it Convolmdin,^ found it to have the composition, C^^H^^O^^. When purified, it is colourless ; it dissolves easily in the fixed alkalis, and is not re-precipitated by acids, having been converted by assumption of water into amorphous Convolvulic Acid, which is readily soluble in water. Both convolvulin and convolvulic acid are resolved by moderate heating with dilute acids, or with emulsin, into crystallizable Convolvulinol, Q26jj5oQ7^ and sugar. Convolvulinol in contact with aqueous alkalis, is converted into Convohulmolic Acid, C-'^H'^^O^ which is slightly soluble in water and crystallizable. When convolvulin or its derivatives is treated with nitric acid, there is produced, together with oxalic acid, a body which has been termed Ifomc&ic Acid, C^*^H^^O^ isomeric with sebacic acid. Convolvulin (dry) melts at 150° C, but a small amount of water renders 1 Guibourt obtaiucd of it 17 per cent., percent, of resin. IJroui^liton is of opinion Umney 21 "5, S(pul)b 11 to 16, T. and JI. that exposure of tlic sliced tuber to the air in Smith "not more tluin 15," D. JIanbury 11 the process of drying, i'avours the formation to 15 '8. Jalap grown in Bonn, alforded to of resin, by the oxidation of a hydrocarbon. Man^uart 12 jier cent. ; a root cultivated at - Gmelin, Chr.mislrii, xvi. (18(i4) 159. Munich gave Widnmann 22 per cent. ; from ^ As by Pereira, Eleia. uf Mat. Med, ii. plants produced in Dublin, W. G. Smith (1850) 14(53. got 9 to 12 per cent. ; and line tubers from * Gmelin, oji. cit. xvi. 154. Uotacamund in India yielded to one of us 18 RADIX JALAFM. 401 it fusible below 100° C. It is insoluble in oil of turpentine and in ammonia. It dissolves in dilute nitric acid without becoming coloured or evolving gas. Convolvulin possesses in a high degree the purgative property of jalap, but this is not the case with convolvulinol. The other constituents of jalap include starch, uncrvstallizable sugar, gum, and colouring matter. The sugar according to Guibourt, exists to the extent of 19 per cent. Commerce — We have no means of knowing to what extent jalap is produced in Mexico. The imports of the drug into the United Kingdom, amounted in 1870 to 169,951 lb. Very considerable quantities have of late (1873) appeared in the London drug-sales. Uses — Jalap is employed as a brisk cathartic. Other kinds of Jalap. Besides true jalap, the roots of certain other Gonvohulacece of Mexico have been employed in Europe, either in the form of jalapin, or as adul- terants of the more costly, legitimate drug. The two following have been extensively imported and have been traced to their botanical source ; but there are others, of more occasional occurrence, the origin of wdiich has not been ascertained.^ 1. Light, Fusiform, or Woody Jalap, Male Jalap, Orizaba Boot, Jalap .Tops or Stalks, Ptcrgo macho of the Mexicans. This drug is derived from Ipomoza Orizahensis Ledanois,^ a plant of Orizaba, which is but imperfectly known. It is described as a pubescent climber, having a spindle-shaped root about 2 feet long, of woody and fibrous texture. The drug occurs in irregular, rectangular, or block-like pieces, evidently portions of a very large root, divided transversely and longitudinally. Sometimes it is more like true jalap, being in entire roots, of smaller size, spindle-shaped, not spherical. It has a somewhat lighter colour than jalap, and much deeper longitudinal wrinkles. The larger pieces often exhibit deep cuts from an axe or knife ; transverse slices are of rare occurrence. Although generally less ponderous than jalap, the Orizaba drug is nevertheless of a compact and often horny texture. From jalap it is easily distinguished by its radiated transverse section, and the numerous thick bundles of vessels which project as woody fibres from the fractured surface. In chemical constitution, Orizaba root is closely parallel to jalap. The resin was named by Mayer Jalapin ; ^ it is the Jalapin of Gmelin's Chemistry (xvi. 405), and perhaps the jalapin of English pharmacy.* In the pure state, it is a colourless amorphous translucent resin, dis- solving perfectly in ether, thus differing from convolvulin the correspond- ing resin of jalap. We find that it is readily soluble also in acetone, amylic alcohol, benzol and phenol, not in bisulphide of carbon. It has the composition C^^H^^O^^ so that it is homologous with convolvulin ; the decomposition-products of jalapin obtained by similar treatment, 1 For information about some of these, it miglit occasion greater confusion to consult Guibourt, Histoire des Drogues, ii. attempt to supersede it, and its several (1869) 523. derivatives. ^ Journ. de Chimie med. x. (1834) 1-22. ** It is at least a fact, that of numerous pi. 1. 2. samples of jalapin that we have examined 3 The name is ill-chosen and misleading, (1871), every one is completely soluble in but having been adopted in standard works, ether. D D 402 CONFOL VULACEjE. namely jalapic acid, jalapinol, and jalapinolic acid, are likewise homo- logous with the corresponding substances obtained from convolvulin. All these bodies when treated with nitric acid, yield ipomoeic acid. Jalapin has the same fusing point as convolvulin, and behaves in the same manner with alkalis. The root afforded us 11-8 per cent, of resin dried at 100" C. When perfectly washed, decolorized and dissolved in two parts of alcohol, this resin turned the plane of polarization of a ray of light 9"8° to the left, in a column of 50 nmi. long. Convolvulin under the same conditions turned it only 5'8°. The resin of Orizaba root is held by chemists to be identical with that of scammony, of which it has the drastic action. 2. Tampico Jahqj, — Purga de Sierra Gorda of the Mexicans. — The plant which affords this drug has been described by one of us (1869) under the name of Ipomceu simulaiis} It is closely related to /. Purga Hayne, from which by its foliage it cannot be distinguished, but it has a hell-shaped corolla and j^^ndtdoits fioicerhiids, which are very different. I. simulans Hanbury, grows in Mexico along the mountain range of the Sierra Gorda in the neighbourhood of San Luis de la Paz, from which town and the adjacent villages, its roots are carried down to Tampico. It has also been found on the lofty Cordillera near Oaxaca, but whether there collected we know not. The drug, to which in trade the name Tampico Jalap is commonly applied, has been imported during the last few years in considerable quantities. In appearance it closely approaches true jalap, but the roots are generally smaller, more elongated or finger-like, more shrivelled and corky-looking, wanting in the little transverse scars that are plentifully scattered over the. roots of true jalap. Many pieces occur however which it is impossible to distinguish by the eye from true jalap, with which it agrees also in odour and taste. Tampico jalap yielded to one of us, 10 per cent, of purified resin, entirely soluble in ether. Umney ^ obtained 12 to 15 per cent, of resin almost wholly soluble in ether ; Evans got 13 per cent., but found only about half of this to be soluble in ether.^ According to Andouard ^ the resin of Tampico jalap is not deficient in purgative powers. SEMEN KALADAN^. Semen Pharhifidis ; Kaladana. Botanical Origin — Pharhitis Ml ^ Choisy (Convolvulus Nil L.), a twilling annual plant, with a large blue corolla, much resembling the ilajor Convolvulus {Pharhitis hispida Chois.) of English gardens, but having three-lobed leaves. It is found throughout the tropical regions of both hemispheres, and is common in India, ascending the mountains to a height of 5000 feet. ' Hanbury, On a species of I-pomcRn, ^ Ihid. ix. (1868) 330. aftonling Tampico .faiiip, Journ. of Linn. * Kliulu su)- les Coiivolvulacies purgatives Soc, Hot. \i. (1871) 279, tab. 2 ;' Phanii. (tliese) Paris, 1864. 31. Journ. xi. (1870) 848 ; American Journ. oj '' Pharhitis from *op/97f colour, in allusion Pharm. xviii. (1870)330. " to the flower. In lliiukistani A^47 signifies * Pli'irm. Journ. ix. (1868) 282. blue, and Kala-donu, black seed. SEMEN KALADAN^. 403 History — The seeds of this plant were employed in medicine by the Arabian physicians under the name Habhiin-nil ; and they have probably been long in use among the natives of Hindustan. In recent times they have been recommended by O'Shaughnessy, Kirkpatrick, Bidie, Waring'^ and many other European practitioners in India, as a safe and efficient cathartic. Description — The shape of the seeds is that which would result if a nearly spherical body Avere divided perpendicularly around its axis into 6 or 8 almost equal segments, only that the back is less regularly vaulted. The seeds are \ of an inch high and nearly as much broad ; 100 of them weigh on an average about 6 grammes. There is a smaller variety imported from Calcutta, of which 100 seeds weigh but little over 3 grammes ; in every other respect the two sorts are identical. Both are of a dull black, excepting at the umbilicus which is brown and somewhat hairy. The adjacent parts of the thin shell (testa) crack in various directions, if the seed is kept for a short time in cold water. If it is removed from the upper part of the vaulted back, the radicle becomes visible, surrounded by the undulated folds of the cotyledons, which join perpendicularly, but cannot be easily unfolded by reason of the thin seminal integument. Cut transversely, the cotyledons show the same curled structure. Throughout their tissue, small bright glands in considerable number are observable, even without a lens. The kernel, which is devoid of albumen, has at first a nutty taste, with subsequently a disagreeable persistent acridity. When bruised in a mortar, the seeds evolve a heavy earthy smell. Microscopic Structure — The seed is covered with a dark blackish cuticle, formed of a densely packed tissue, the cells of which show zigzag outlines. The dark brown epidermis is composed of very close cylindrical cells, about 70 mkm. in length and 5 to 7 mkm. in diameter ; they require to be treated with chromic acid in order that their structure may be distinctly seen. The tissue of the kernels is made up of thick-walled cells. Between this tissue and the shell, there is a colourless layer, about 70 mkm. thick, of thin- walled corky parenchyme. The cotyledons contain in their narrow tissue, numerous granules of albuminous matter, mucilage, a little tannic acid, crystals of oxalate of calcium, and a few starch granules. The glands or hollows, before alluded to as occurring through- out the tissue of the cotyledons, are about 70 mkm. in diameter, and contain an oily liquid. Chemical Composition — By exhausting the seeds dried at 100° C. with boiling ether, we obtained a thick light-brownish oil having an acrid taste and concreting below 18° C. The powdered seeds yielded of this oil 14'4 per cent. Water removes from the seeds a considerable amount of mucilage, some albuminous matter and a little tannic acid. The first is soluble to some extent in dilute spirit of wine, and may be precipitated therefrom by an alcoholic solution of acetate of lead. The active principle of kaladana is a resin, soluble in alcohol, but neither in benzol nor in ether. From the residue of the seeds after exhaustion by ether, treatment with absolute alcohol removed a pale yellowish resin in quantity equivalent to 8-2 per cent, of the seed. ^ Pharm. Journ. vii. (1866) 496. D D 2 404 SOLAN ACEM. Kaladana resin, which has been introduced into medical practice in India under the name of Pharbitisin} has a nauseous acrid taste and an unpleasant odour, especially when heated. It melts about 160° C. The following liquids dissolve it more or less freely, namely, spirit of wine, absolute alcohol, acetic acid, glacial acetic acid, acetone, acetic ether, methylic and amylic alcohol, and alkaline solutions. It is on the other hand insoluble in ether, benzol, chloroform, and sulphide of carbon. With concentrated sulphuric acid, it forms a brownish yellow solution, quickly assuming a violet hue. This reaction however requires a very small quantity of the powdered resin. If a solution of the resin in ammonia, after having been kept a short time, is acidulated, no precipi- tate is formed ; but the solution is now capable of separating protoxide of copper from an alkaline solution of the tartrate, which originally it did not alter. Heated with nitric acid, the resin affords Mayer's Ipomceic Acid. From these reactions of kaladana resin, we are entitled to infer that it agrees with the resin of jalap or Convohulin. To prepare it in quantity, it would probably be best to treat the seeds with common acetic acid, and to precipitate it by neutralizing the solution. We have ascer- tained that the resin is not decomposed when digested with glacial acetic acid at 100° C, even for a week. We have had the opportunity of examing a sample of kaladana resin manufactured by Messrs. Eogers and Co., chemists of Bombay and Poena, which we found to agree with that prepared by ourselves. It is a light yellowish friable mass, resembling purified jalap resin, and like it, capable of being perfectly decolorized by treatment with animal charcoal. Uses — ^Kaladana seeds have cathartic powers like jalap. Besides the resin, an extract, tincture and compound powder have been introduced into the Pharmacopeia of India. In many parts of India the natives take the roasted seeds as a purgative. SOLANACEiE. STIPES DULCAMAR.^. Caules Dulcaniarce ; Bitter -siocct, Didca^nara, Woody Nightshade ; F. Douce amere, Morelle grim2Jante ; G. Bittersilss. Botanical Origin — Solanum Dulcamara L., a perennial shrubby plant, having small purple flowers and red berries, occurring tln^oughout Europe, except in the extreme north. It is also found in Northern Africa, and in Asia Minor, and has become naturalized in North America. It is common in moist, shady hedges and thickets." History — The stalks of bitter-sweet were introduced into medical practice by the German physicians and botanists of the 16th century, one of whom. Tragus (1552), has figured and described it, under the name of Ditlcis am.ara or Dulcamcwiim. * Phannacopceia of India, 1868. 156. or Ijiunuial, with herbaceous stems, and ber- * Solanum nigrum L. which slightly re- ries usually black. sembles dulcamara, is a low-growiug auuual STIPES nULCJMARM 405 Description — The older stems are woody ; the upper and younger are soft and green, long and straggling, attaining by the support of other pLints, a height of 6 feet or more, and dying back in the winter. For medicinal use, the shoots of a year or two old should be gathered, either late in the year, or early in the spring before the leaves come out. These shoots are several feet long, by about -|- of an inch thick, of a light greenish-brown, sometimes cylindrical, at others indistinctly 4- or 5 -sided, slightly furrowed longitudinally, or somewhat warty. The thin, shining cork-bark easily exfoliates, showing beneath it the mesophlogum which is rich in chlorophyll. The stalks are mostly hollow, and partially filled with a whitish pith. The wood when dried is about half or one-third as broad as the hollow centre, and the green bark con- siderably narrower than the wood ; the latter has a radiate structure, and in older stems exhibits two or three sharply-defined annual rings. The stems are usually cut into short lengths before being dried for use. The odour which is rather foetid and unpleasant, is to a great extent dissipated by drying. The taste at first slightly bitter, is afterwards sweetish. The bitter appears to be more predominant in the spring than in the autumn. Microscopic Structure — The epidermis of younger shoots consists of tabular thick-walled cells, many of them being elevated from the surface as short blunt hairs. The older stems are covered with the usual suberous envelope. The boundary between the mesophleeum and the endophloeum is marked by a ring of strong liber fibres, some of which also occur in the pith. The woody part is rich in large vessels. In the parenchymatous tissue of bitter-sweet, small crystals of oxalate of calcium, not of a well-defined outline, and minute starch granules are deposited. Chemical Composition — The taste of bitter-sweet appears due, according to Schoonbroodt (1867), to a bitter principle yielding by de- composition, sugar and Solanine, — the latter in very small amount. Solanine is an alkaloid ; it was first prepared in 1820 by Desfosses from the berries of Solanwm nigrum L., and was subsequently detected by the same chemist in the leaves and stalks of S. Dulcamara, and by Peschier in the berries. Winckler (1841) observed that the alkaloid of dulcamara stems can be obtained only in an amorphous state, and that it behaves to platinic and mercuric chlorides differently from the sola- nine of potatoes. Moitessier (1856) confirmed this observation, and obtained only amorphous salts of the solanine of bitter-sweet. Zv/enger and Kind on the one hand, and 0. Gmelin on the other (1859 and 1858), found that solanine, C^^H'^^ISrO^^ is a conjugated com- pound of sugar and a peculiar crystallizable alkaloid, Solanicline, Q25j£S9]^Q_ rjij^g latter, under the infiuence of strong hydrochloric acid, gives up water, and is converted into the amorphous and likewise basic compound, Solanicine, C^'^Ii^^'ISF^O. Lastly, Wittstein (1852) detected in the stems of bitter-sweet another amorphous alkaloid, Dulcamarine, which has a bitter-sweet taste, but differs in its reactions both from the solanine of potatoes and from that obtained by Winckler from dulcamara. It exists to the extent of scarcely Jg- per cent. Uses-^D.ulcamarais occasionally given in the form of decoction, in 406 SOL AN ACE JS. rheumatic or cutaneous affections ; but its real action, according to Garrod, is unknown. Tliis physician remarlcs^ that it does not dilate the pupil or produce dryness of the throat like belladonna, henbane or stramonium. He has given to a patient 3 pints of the decoction per diem without any marked action, and has also administered as much as half a pound of the fresh berries with no ill effect. FRUCTUS CAPSICI. Pod Pepper, Red Pepper, Guinea Pepper, Chillies, Capsicum ; F. Piyiient OIL Corail des Jardins, Puivre d'Inde ou de Ouinee ; G. Spanischer Pfeffer. Botanical Origin — The plants, the fruits of which are known as Pod Pepper, have for a long period been cultivated in tropical countries, and are now found 'in such numerous varieties, that an exact determina- tion of the original species is a point of great difficulty. Of several species having pungent fruits, the two following are those which supply the spice found in British commerce : — 1. Capsicum fastigiatum Blume,^ a small ramous shrub, with 4-sided, fastigiate, diverging branches ; fruit-bearing peduncles sub-geminate, slender, erect ; fruit very small, subcylindrical, oblong, straight, with calyx obconical and truncate. It occurs apparently wild in Southern India, and is extensively cultivated in Tropical Africa and America. lioxburgh, who describes this plant under the name C minimum, terms it East Indian Bird Chilly or Cayenne Pepper Capsicum. Wight says that it is consumed by the natives of India, but that it is not the sort preferred. It is this species that the authors of the British Phar- macopoeia have cited as the source of the Fructus Capsici to be used in medicine, and it certainly furnishes the greater part of the Pod Pepper now found in the London market. - 2. C. annuum L., an herbaceous (sometimes shrubby ?) plant, with fruit extremely variable in size, form and colour, in some varieties erect, in others pendulous. According to Naudin, in whose opinion we concur, C. longum DC.^ and C grossum Willd. are not specifically distinct from this plant. It furnishes the larger kinds of Pod Pepper and, as we believe, much of the Cayenne Pepper which is imported in the state of powder. History — All species of Capsicum appear to be of American origin: no ancient Sanskrit or Chinese name for the genus is Ivuown, and the Latin and Greek names that have been referred to it, are extremely douljtful* The earliest reference to the fruit as a condiment that we have met with, occurs in a letter written in 1494 to the Chapter of Seville by Chanca, physician to the iieet of Columbus in his second voyage to the ^ Essryitials of Materia Medica, 1855.196. botanist, to which latter the name C. fnt- * AVif^ht, Icones Plant. liidicB Orient, iv. tcscenn is nsually ap])lied. (1850) ub. 1617 ; C'ajjsiaim Qmnlmiimlcioxh. ' The chief distinction between C.a?rrt«wm Flvr. Ind. \. (1832) 574. Farre has ascer- and C. loiujam, is that the former has an tained that this is tlie Ca/i.^kum frut/'srenn ol' erect, the latter a pendulous fruit, tlie Spccicx I'lduturniii of Linnifus, but not * Duual in De Cand. Prodromus, xiii. i. that of the HorLxm CliJ'ortianus of the same 412. FRUCTUS CAPSICI. 407 West Indies. The writer in noticing the procluetions of Hispaniola, remarks tliat the natives live on a root called Age, whicli they season with a spice they term Agi, also eaten with fisli and meat.^ The first of these words signifies yam, the second is the designation of Eed Pepper, and still the common name for it in Spanish. Capsicum and its uses are more particularly described by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, who reached Tropical America from Spain in a.d. 1514.^ In the Historia Stirpium of Leonhard Fuchs, published at Basle in 1542, may be found tlie first and excellent figures of Capsicum longum DC. under the name of Siliquastmm or Calicut Fcppcr ; the author states that the plant had been introduced into Germany from India a few years previously. From this might be inferred an Indian origin ; but on the other hand, Clusius asserts that the plant was brought from Pernambuco by the Portuguese, whose commercial intercourse with India would easily explain it being carried thither at an early period. He further states, that the American capsicum had been generally introduced into the gardens of Castille, and that it was used all the year round, green or dried, as a condiment and as pepper. He also saw it cultivated in abundance at Briinn in Moravia in 1585.^ Capsicum longum DC. was grown in England by Gerarde (1597 et antea), who speaks of the pods as well known, and sold " in the shops at Billingsgate by the name of Ginnie Pepper." Description — As already indicated, the Pod Pepper of commerce is of two kinds, namely : — 1. Fruits of Capsicum fastigiatum — These are i to f of an inch in length, by about -f^ of an inch in diameter, of an elongated, sub- conical form, tapering to a blunt point, and slightly contracted towards the base. The calyx, which is not always present, is cup-shaped, 5-toothed, 5-sided, supported on a slender, straight pedicel, f to 1 inch long. The fruits, which are somewhat compressed and shrivelled by drying, and also brittle when old, have a leathery, smooth, shining, translucent, thin, dry pericarp, of a dull orange-red, enclosing about 18 seeds, attached in two cells to a thin centi^al partition. The seeds have the form of roimdish or ovate discs, about | of an inch in diameter, somewhat thickened at the edges; the embryo is curved, almost into a ring. The taste of the pericarp, and likewise of the seeds^ is ex- tremely pungent and fiery. The dried fruit has an odour by no means feeble, whicli we cannot compare to that of any other substance. 2. Fruits of Capsicum annuum of the commonest variety, resemble those of C. fastigiatum, except that thej^ are of larger size, being from 2 to 8 or more inches in length, often rather more tapering towards the extremity. The seeds scarcely surpass in size those of C. fastigiatum. Microscopic Structure — The pericarp consists of two layers, the outer being composed of yellow thick-walled cells. The inner layer is twice as broad and exhibits a soft shrunken parenchyme, traversed by thin fibro-vascular bundles. The cells of the outer layer especially are ^ Letters of Christopher- Columbus^ trans- ^ Caroli Clusii Cures poster ioTCs, Antvci-p. , lated by Major (Hakluyt Society), 1870. 68. 1611. 95. 2 Oviedo, Historia de las Indices Madrid, i. (1851) 275 408 SOLANACE^. the seat of tbe fine granular colouring matter. If it is removed by an alcoholic solution of potash, a cell-nucleus and drops of fat oil make their appearance. The structural details of this fruit afford interesting subjects for microscopical investigation. Chemical Composition — Bucholz in 1816, and about the same time Braconnot, traced the acridity of capsicum to a substance called Capsicin. It is obtained by treating the alcoholic extract with ether, and is a thick yellowish red liquid, but slightly soluble in water. When gently heated, it becomes very fluid, and at a higher temperature is dis- sipated in fumes which are extremely irritating to respiration. It is evidently a mixed substance, consisting of resinous and fatty matters. Felletar in 1869, exhausted capsicum fruits with dilute sulphuric acid, and distilled the decoction with potash. The distillate, which was strongly alkaline and smelt like conine, was saturated with sulphuric acid, evaporated to dryness, and exhausted with absolute alcohol. The solution after evaporation of the alcohol, was treated with potash, and yielded by distillation a volatile alkaloid having the odour of conine. From experiments made by one of us (F.) we can fully confirm the observations of Felletar. We have obtained the volatile base in question, and find it to have the smell of conine. It occurs both in the pericarp and in the seeds, but in so small proportion that we were unsuccessful in isolating it in sufficient quantity to allow of accurate examination. Dragendorff states (1871) that petroleum ether is the best solvent for the alkaloid of capsicum ; he obtained crystals of its hydrochlorate, the aqueous solution of which was precipitated by most of the usual tests, but not by tannic acid. The colouring matter of capsicum fruits is sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily in chloroform. After evaporation, an intensely red soft mass is obtained, which is not much altered by potash. The fruits of Capsicum fastigiatum have a somewhat strong odour ; on distilling consecutively two quantities, each of 50 ft)., we obtained a scanty amount of flocculent fatty matter, which possesses an odour suggestive of parsley. Both this matter, as well as the distilled water, were neutral to litmus paper, and the water tasteless. We separated the latter and exposed the remaining greasy mass to a temperature of about 50° C, when it for the most part melted. The clear liquid on cooling solidified, and now consisted of tufted crystals, which we further purified by recrystallization from alcohol. Thus about 2 centigrammes were obtained of a neutral white stearoptene, having a decidedly aromatic, not very persistent taste, by no means acrid, but rather like that of the essential oil of parsley. The crystals melted at 38° C. On keeping them for some days at the temperature of the water-bath, covered with a watch-glass, some drops of essential oil were volatilized, which had the same taste and did not solidify ; the crystals were consequently accom- panied by a liquid oil. When kept for some days more in that condition, the crystals themselves began to be volatilized, and the part remaining behind acquired a brownish hue. This no doubt points out another impurity, as we ascertained by the following experiment. With boiling solution of potash, the stearoptene produces a kind of soap, which on cooling yields a transparent jelly. If this is dissolved and diluted, it beconies turbid by addition of an acid., This probably RALIX BKLLADONNM 409 depends upon the presence of a little fatty matter, a suggestion whicli is confiraied by the somewhat offensive smell given off by our stearoptene if it is heated in a glass tube. Commerce— Chillies or Pod Pepper are shipped from Zanzibar, Western Africa and N"atal, but no general statistics of the quantity imported into Great Britain are accessible. The exports from Sierra Leone in 1871 reached 7258 ib.^ The colony of Natal which produces Cayenne Pepper in the county of Victoria, vi^here sugar-cane and coffee are also grown, shipped in the same year 0072 Ib.^ Official returns^ show that in 1871 Singapore imported 1071 cwt. (119,952 ft).) of chillies, chiefly from Penang and Pegu. The spice is largely consumed by the Chinese. Bombay imported of dried chillies in thp year 1872-3, 5567 cwt. (623,504 fb.) principally from the Madras Presidency, and exported 3323 cwt.* Uses — Capsicum on account of its pungent properties, is often ad- ministered as a local stimulant in the form of gargle, and occasionally as a liniment; and internally to promote digestion. In all warm countries, it is much employed as a condiment. RADIX BELLADONNiE. Belladonna, Root ; F. Bacine de Belladone ; G. Bdladonnaiourzel. Botanical Origin — Air opa Belladonna. 'L.,'Sii'si[\,g[.di\)ro\x^ or slightly downy herb, with a perennial stock, native of Central and Southern Europe, where it grows in the clearings of woods. The plant extends eastward to the Crimea, Caucasia and Northern Asia Minor. In Britain, it is chiefly found in, the southern counties, but even of these it is a doubtful native. In a few localities in England and, France as well as in North America, the plant is cultivated for medicinal use. History — Although a plant so striking as belladonna can, hardly have been unknown to the classical authors, it cannot with certainty be-- identified in their writings. Saladinus of Ascoli,^ who wrote an enumeratioii of medicinal iplants. about A.D. 1450, names the leaves of both Solatrum.furiale and Solatrum minus, the former of which is probably Belladonna. However tliis may be, the first indubitable notice of it that we have met with, is. in the Grand Hcrhier ^Tmied at Paris, probably about 1504.'' The plant is also mentioned , about this period as Solatruyn m-Qxtale qv Bolvjurtz, in , the writings of Hieronymus Brunschwyg.'' 1 Blue Book of the,, Colony of Sierra Leone ^ Le Grand Herhier en francoys^ contendf, for 1871. les qualitez, vertus et proprietez des herbes, ^ Do. of ISTatal for 1871. &c., Paris (no date) 4°. cap. De Solastro 3 Do. of the Straits, Settlements for 1871. ricstico. * Statc7nent of the Trade and Navigation '' Das destillier Bitch (sub. voce Nacht- of Bombay fo7' 1872-7Bi-pt. ii. 58. 91. schet Wasser). Strassb. 1515. But there are 5 Compendium Aromata,rioru7n, 1488. e.arlier editions. 410 r ' . ;; ' ^ solan a cem. In 1542, belladotma was well figured as Solanuvi somniferum or Dollhraut, by the Gtrmaii botanist Leonhard Fuchs, who fully recognized its poisonous properties.^ Yet it was confounded by other writers of this period, as Tragus,^ who reproduced Fuchs' figure as " Solanum hortense ! " Matthiolus (1548), who terms the plant Solanum tnajus, states that it is called by the Venetians Herba Bella donna, from the circumstance of the Italian ladies using a distilled wa- er of the plant as a cosmetic. The introduction of the root of belladonna into British medicine is of recent date, and is due to Mr. Peter Squire of London, who recom- mended it as the basis of a useful anodyne liniment, about the year 1860. ■ Description — Belladonna has a large, fleshy, tapering root, 1 to 2 inches thick, and a foot or more in lengtli, from which diverge stout branches. Externally the fresh roots are of an earthy brown, rough with cracks and transverse ridges. The bark is thick and juicy, and as well as the more fibrous central portion, is internally of a dull creamy white. A transverse section of the main root shows a distinct radiate structure. "The root has an earthy smell with but very little taste. Dried root of Belladonna is sold in rough irregular pieces of a dirty greyish colour, whitish internally, breaking easily with a short fracture, and having an earthy smell not unlike that of liquorice root. Eoots not exceeding the thickness of the finger should be preferred. The drug is for the most part imported from Germany, and is often of doubtful quality. English-grown root purchased in a fresh state (the large and old being rejected), then washed, cut into ti-ansverse segments and dried by a gentle heat, furnishes a more reliable and satisfactory article. Microscopic Structure— There is a considerable structural differ- ence between the main root and its branches, the former alone containing a distinct pith. This pith is included in a woody circle, traversed by narrov/ medullary rays. In the outer part of the woody circle, paren- chymatous tissue is more prcA^alent than vascular bundles. The transverse section of the branches of the root, exhibits a central vascular bundle instead of a medullary column. The outer vascular bundles show no regular arrangement ; and medullary rays are not clearly obvious in the transverse section. The woody parts, both of the main root and its branches, contain very large dotted vessels accompanied by a prosenchyniatous tissue. The cells of the latter, however, are always thin-walled; the absence of proper so-called ligneous tissue explains the easy fracture of the root. Sometimes the prosenchyme in which the vessels are imbedded, assumes a broM'nish hue and a waxy appearance, and such parts exhibit a very irregular structure. In the cortical portion of belladonna root, many of the cells of the middle layer, and likewise some of the central parts of the root, are loaded with extremely small octahedric crystals of calcium oxalate. V>\\t most of the parenchymatous cells are iilled up with small starcli gniuules. 1 Uistorla Stirpium, Basil. 1512. C8J. - Dc Stirpium, p. 301, FOLIA BELLADONN.K 411 Chemical Composition — In 1833, Mein prepared from the root, and Geioer and Hesse from the herb, the crystallizable olVoXoidi Atropine, G^'^W-mO^. The researches of Lefort (1872) have proved that the roots contain it in very variable proportions, the young being much richer in alkaloid than the old.^ The maximum proportion obtained was 0'6 per cent. ; this was from root of the thickness of the finger. Large old roots, 7 or 8 years of age, afford from 0'25 to 0"31 per cent. They have besides a smaller proportion of bark than young roots, and it is chiefly in the bark that the alkaloid appears to reside. Manufacturers of atropine employ exclusively the root. Ludwig and Pfeifl'er (1861) by decomposing atropine with potassium chromate and sulphuric acid, obtained benzoic acid and propylamine. Other products are formed when atropine is treated with strong hydro- chloric acid, baryta water or caustic soda, thus — Atropine, C^''H^^]SrO^ + H^O = Tropic Acid, C^HioQ^ + Tro2nne, C^Hi^NO. Tropic acid crystallizes, and is easily resolved into Atropic Acid and Isatropic Acid, each corresponding to the formula C^H^O^, but otherwise remakably dissimilar. Tropine is a strongly alkaline body, readily soluble both in water and alcohol, and furnishing tabular crystals by the evaporation of its solution in ether. ISTeither tropine nor tropic acid, it is stated by Kraut (1863), is present in the leaves and root of belladonna. Hiibschmann (1858) detected in belladonna root a second but un- crystallizable alkaloid, called Belladownine ; it has a resinous aspect, is distinctly alkaline, and when heated emits, like atropine, a peculiar odour. The root further contains according to Eichter (1837) and Hiibsch- mann, a fluorescent substance, as well as a red colouring matter called Atrosin} The latter occurs in greatest abundance in the fruit, and would probably repay further investigation. Uses — Belladonna root is chiefly used for the preparation of atro- pine, which is employed for dilating the pupil of the eye. A liniment made with belladonna root is used for the relief of neuralgic pains. FOLIA BELLADONNA. Belladonna Leaves ; Y. Feiiilles de Belladone ; G. Tollkraut. Botanical Origin — Atropa Belladonna L. (p. 409). History — Belladonna Leaves and the extract prepared from them were introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia of 1809. For further particulars regarding the history of belladonna, see the preceding article. Description — Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade produces thick, smooth herbaceous stems, which attain a height of 4 to 5 feet. They are simple in their lower part, then usually 3-forked, and afterwards 2- forked, producing in their upper branches an abundance of bright green leaves, arranged in unequal pairs, from the bases of which spring the 1 For Lcfort'ti process for estimating atro- " Gmelin, Clumistry, xvii. (1866) 1. pine, see p. 412, 412 SO LAN ACE jT!. solitary, pendulous, purplish, bell-shaped flowers, and large shining blacis berries. The leaves are 3 to 6 inches long, stalked, broadly ovate, acuminate, attenuated at the base, soft and juicy ; those of barren roots are alter- nate and solitary. The young shoots are clothed with a soft, short pubescence, which on the calyx is somewhat more persistent, assuming the character of viscid, glandular hairs. If bruised, the leaves emit a somewhat offensive, herbaceous odour which is destroyed by drying. When dried, they are thin and friable, of a brownish green on the upper surface and greyish beneath, with a disagreeable, faintly bitter taste. Of fresh leaves, 100 lb. yield 16 ft). of dried (Squire). Chemical Composition — The important constituent of belladonna leaves is Atropine. Lefort (1872) ^ estimated its amount by exhausting the leaves previously dried at 100° C. by means of dilute alcohol, con- centrating the tincture, and throwing down the alkaloid with a solution of iodo-hydrargyrate of potassium. The precipitate thus obtained was calculated to contain 38 '2 5 per cent, of atropine. Lefort examined leaves from plants both cultivated and growing wild in the environs of Paris, and gathered either before or after flowering. He found cultiva- tion not to affect the percentage of alkaloid, — that the leaves of the young plant were rather less rich than those taken at the period of full inflorescence, — and that the latter (dried) yielded 0-44 to 0*48 per cent, of atropine. Belladonna herb yields Asparagine, which according to Biltz (1839) crystallizes out of the extract after long keeping. The crystals found in the extract by Attfield (1862) were however, chloride and nitrate of potassium. The same chemist obtained by dialysis of the juice of belladonna, nitrate of potassium, and square prisms of a salt of magnesium containing some organic acid ; the juice likewise affords ammonia.^ The dried leaves yielded us 14"5 per cent, of ash consisting mainly of calcareous and alkaline carbonates. Uses — The fresh leaves are used for making Extract um Belladonnm, and the dried for preparing a .tincture. They should be gathered while the plant is well in flower. HERBA STRAMONII. Stravinnium, Thornci'pplc ; F. Hcrhc de Stramoine ; G. StechapfdUdtter. Botanical Origin — Datura^ Stramonium L., a large, quick-growing, upright annual, with white flowers like a convolvulus, and ovoid spiny- fruits. It is now found as a weed of cultivation in almost all the temperate and warmer regions of the globe. In the south of England it is often . met with . in rich waste ground, chiefly near gardens or habitations. ^ Journ. dc Pharm. xv. (1872) 269. 341. opened.— H. S. Evans in Pkcmn. Joum. ix. 2 The fresh juice kept for a fiiw days has (18.00) 260. been known to evelve red vapours (nitrous ^ Daltira from the Sanskrit name Ifhiis- acid ?) when the vessel containinj? it was tiira, applied to D. fastiwsa L. The origin of the word Strunwnium is not known to us. HERB A STRJMONII. 413 History — The question of the native country and early distribution of D. 8tramon.mm has been much discussed by botanical writers. Alphonse De Candolle,^ who has ably reviewed the arguments advanced in favour of the plant being a native respectively of Europe, America or Asia, enounces his opinion thus : — that D. Strmnonium L. appears to be indigenous to the Old World, probably the borders of the Caspian Sea or adjacent regions, but certainly not of India ; that it is very doubtful if it existed in Europe in the time of the ancient Eoman Empire, but that it appears to have spread itself between that period and the discovery of America. Stramonium was cultivated in London towards the close of the 16th century by Gerarde, who received the seed from Constantinople and freely propagated the plant, of the medicinal value of which he had a high opinion. Its use in more recent times is due to the experiments of Storck.2 Description — Stramonium produces a stout, upright, herbaceous green stem, which at a short distance from the grouud, throws out spreading forked branches, in the axil of each fork of which, arises a solitary wliite flower, succeeded by an erect, spiny, ovoid capsule. At each furcation and directed outwards, is a large leaf. This arrangement of parts is repeated, and as the plant grows vigorously, it often becomes much branched and acquires in the course of the summer a considerable size. The leaves of stramonium have long petioles, are unequal at the base, oval, acuminate, sinuate-dentate with large irregular pointed teeth or lobes, downy when young, glabrous at maturity. When fresh, they are somewhat firm and juicy, emitting when handled a disagreeable foetid smell. The larger leaves of plants of moderate growth, attain a length of 6 to 8 or more inches. For medicinal purposes, the entire plants are pulled up, the leaves and younger shoots are stripped off, quickly dried, and then broken and cut into short lengths, so as to be conveniently smoked in a pipe, that being the method in which the drug is chiefly consumed in England. The offensive smell of the fresh plant is lost by drying, being replaced by a rather agreeable tea-like odour. The dried herb has a bitterish saline taste. Chemical Composition — The leaves of stramonium contain in com- mon with the seeds, the alkaloid Daturine (see p. 414), but in extremely small proportion, not exceeding in fact, -^^ to {^ per mille. They are rich in saline and earthy constituents; selected leaves dried at 100° C. yielded us 17'4 per cent, of ash. Uses — Scarcely employed in any other way than in smoking like tobacco, for the relief of asthma. Substitute — Datura Tatula L. — This plant is closely allied to D. Stramonium L., propagating itself on rich cultivated ground with nearly the same facility ; but it is not so generally diffused. De Candolle is of opinion that it is indigenous to the warmer parts of America, whence it was imported into Europe in the 16th 1 Geographie Botanique, ii. (1855) 731. Hyoscyamum, Aconitum . . . esse remedia * Libellus quo demonstratur Stramonium, Vindob. 17(32. 414 SOLAN ACEM century, and naturalized first in Italy, and then in South- Western Europe. By many botanists, it has been united to B. Stramonium, but Naudin ^ who has studied both plants with the greatest attention, especially with reference to their hybrids, is decidedly in favour of consi- dering them distinct. 'D. Tatv.la differs from D. Stramonium, in having stem, petiole, and nerves of leaves, purplish instead of green ; and corolla and anthers of a violet colour instead of wJiite, — characters which, it must be admitted, are of very small botanical value. D. Tatula has been recommended for smoking in cases of asthma, on the ground of it being stronger than D. Stramonium; but we are not aware of any authority as to the comparative strength of the two species. SEMEN STRAMONII. Stramonium Seeds ; F. Semences de Stramoine ; G-. Steehapfelsamen. Botanical Origin — Datura Stramonium, L., see preceding article. Description — The spiny, ovoid capsule of stram.onium, opens at the summit in four regular valves. It is bilocular, with each cell incom- pletely divided into two, and contains a large number (about 400) of flattened, kidney-shaped seeds. The seeds are blackish or dark brown, about 2 lines long and -I a line thick, thinning off towards the hilum which is on the straighter side. The surface of the seed is finely pitted, and also marked with a much coarser series of shallow reticulations or rugosities. A section parallel to the faces of the seed, exhibits the long, contorted embryo, following the outline of the testa, and bedded in the oily white albumen. The cylindrical form of the embryo is seen in a transverse section of the seed. The seeds have a bitterish taste, and when bruised, a disagreeable odour. When the entire seeds are digested in spirit of wine, they afford a tincture displaying a green fluorescence. Microscopic Structure — The testa is formed of a row of radially extended, thick-walled cells. They are not of a simply cylindrical form, but their walls are sinuously bent in and out in the direction of their length. Viewed in a direction tangential to the surface, the cells appear as if indented one into the other. Towards the surface of the seed, the cell-walls are elevated as dark brown tubercles and folds, giving to the seed its reticulated and pitted surface. The albumen and embryo ex- hibit the usual contents, namely fatty oil and albuminoid substances. Chemical Composition — The active constituent of stramonium seeds, is the highly poisonous alkaloid Daturine, of which they afford only about yV per cent., while the leaves and roots contain it in still smaller proportion.- Daturine was discovered in 1833, by Geiger and Hesse, and regarded as identical with atropine by A. von Planta (1850), who found it to have the same composition as that alkaloid. The two bodies exhibit the same relations as to solubility and fusing point (88-90° C.) ; and they also agree in crystallizing easily. The experiments of Schroff (1852) tending to show that although daturine and atropine act in the ' Comptes HeiuhiSyh'. (1802) 321. ^ Giintlier in Wi,t;fger.s .and Iln.semann'.s Jiihreshericht for 1869. 54. SEMEN ET FOLIA DATUR/E ALBM 415 same manner, the latter has twice the poisonous energy of the former, raised a further question as to the identity of the two alkaloids. From the observations of Erhard (1866), it would appear that the crystalline form of some of their salts is different. In stramonium seeds, daturine appears to be combined with malic acid. The seeds yielded to Cloez (1865) 2-9 per cent, of ash and 25 per cent, of fixed oil. Uses — Stramonium seeds are prescribed in the form of extract or tincture, as a sedative or narcotic. SEMEN ET FOLIA DATUR^E ALB^. Seeds and Leaves of the Indian or iVIiite-Jlowered Datura. Botanical Origin — Datura alba Nees, a large, spreading annual plant, 2 to 6 feet high, bearing handsome, tubidar, white flowers 5 to 6 inches long. The capsules are pendulous, of depressed globular form, rather broader than high, covered with sharp tubercles or thick short spines. They do not open by regular valves as in D. Stramoniuvi, but split in different directions and break up into irregular fragments. D. alba appears to be scarcely distinct from D. fastuosa L, Both are common in India, and are grown in gardens in the south of Europe.^ History — The mediseval Arabian physicians were familiar with Datura alba, which is well described by Ibli Bay tar ^ under precisely the same Arabic name [Jouz-masaJ) that it beaxs at the present day ; they were also fully aware of its poisonous properties. Garcia d'Orta ^ (1563) observed the plant in India and has narrated that its flowers or seeds are put into food, to intoxicate persons it was designed to rob. It was also described by Christoval Acosta, who in his book on Indian drugs,^ mentions two other varieties, one of them with yellow flowers, the seeds of either being very poisonous and often admi- nistered with criminal intent, as well as for the cure of disease. Graham ^ says of the plant that it possesses very strong narcotic properties, and has on several occasions been fatally used by Bombay thieves, who have administered it in order to deprive their victims of the power of resistance. The seeds and fresh leaves have a place in the Pharmacopceia of India, 1868. Description — The seeds of D. alba are very different in appearance from those of D. Stramonium, being of a light yellowish brown, rather larger size, irregular in shape and somewhat shrivelled. Their form has been likene'd to the human ear ; they are in fact obscurely triangular or flattened-pearshaped, the rounded end being thickened into a sinuous, ^ Seeds of D. alba sent to us frora Madras fastuosa). — 3. Plants with double corollas of by Dr. Bidie, were sown by our friend M. large size and of a yellow colour. Naudin of CoUioure (Pyrenees Orientales), ^ Sontheimer's translation, i. 269. and produced the plant under three forms, ' Aromatum historia, 1574, lib. 2. c. 24. viz. : — 1. The true D. alba as figured in * Tradado de la Brogas . . . de las Indias Wight's Icones, — 2. Plants with flowers, Orientales, Burgos, 1578. 85. violet without and nearly white within {D. ' Catalogue of Bombay Plants, 1839. l4l. 416 SOLANACEM convoluted, triple ridge, wdiile the centre of the seed is somewhat de- pressed. The hilum runs from the pointed end, nearly half-way up the length of the seed. The testa is marked with minute rugosities, but is not so distinctly pitted as in the seed of the D. Stramonium ; it is also more developed, exhibiting in section large intercellular spaces to which are due its spongy texture. The seeds of the two species agree in internal structure as well as in taste ; but those of D. alba do not give a fluorescent tincture. The leaves, which are only employed in a fresh state, are 6 to 10 inches in length, with long stalks, ovate, often unequal at the base, acuminate, coarsely dentate with a few spreading teeth. They evolve an offensive odour when handled. Microscopic Structure — The testa is built up of the same tissues as in D. Stramonium, but the thick-walled cells constituting the spongy part are far larger, and distinctly show numerous secondary deposits, making a fine object for the microscope. Chemical Composition — Neither the seeds nor the leaves of D. alba have yet been examined chemically, but there can scarcely be any doubt that their very active properties are due to Daturim, for the pre- paration of which the former would probably be the best source. Uses — The seeds in the form of tincture or extract have been em- ployed in India as a sedative and narcotic, and the fresh leaves, bruised and made into a poultice with flour, as an anodyne application. FOLIA HYOSCYAMI. Henbane Leaves ; F. Feuilles de Jtosquiame ; Gr. Bilseukraut. Botanical Origin — Hyoscyamus niger L., a coarse, erect herb, with soft, viscid, hairy foliage of unpleasant odour, pale yellowish flowers elegantly marked with purple veins, and 5-toothed bottle-shaped calyx. It is found throughout Europe from Portugal and Greece to Central Norway and Finland, in Egypt, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Persia, Siberia and Northern India. As a weed of cultivation, it now grows also in North America ^ and Brazil. In Britain, it occurs wild chiefly in waste places near buildings ; and is cultivated for medicinal use. Henbane exists under two varieties, known as annual and biennial, but scarcely presenting any other distinctive character. Biennial He7ibane (Hyoscijamus niger var. a. biennis) is most esteemed for pharmaceutical preparations. It is raised by seed, the plant pro- ducing the first year, only a rosette of luxuriant stalked leaves, 12 or more inches in length. In the second, it throws up a flo\yer stem of 2 to 3 feet in height, and the whole plant dies as the fruit matures. Annual Henbane (H. niger var. /S anmia, vel agrestis) is a smaller plant, coming to perfection in a single season. It is the usual wild form, but it is also grown by the herbalists.- ^ It had Lecotne naturalized in North plants "sprung up since the English planted, Aftierica prior to 1672, as we find it men- and kept cattle in New England." tioned by Josselyn in his iV-Ji^; England's '■^ Pluirm. Jvurn. i. (1860) 414. Rarities dincovercd (Lond. 1672) among the FOLIA IIYOSCVAMT. 417 History — Hyoscyamiis, under which name it is probable the nearly- allied South European species, H. alhus L., was generally intended, was medicinal among the ancients, and particularly commended by Dios- corides. In Europe, henbane has been employed from remote times. Bene- dictus Crispus, archbishop of Milan, in a work written shortly before A.D. 681, notices it under the name of Hyoscyamus and Symphoniaca} In the 10th century, its virtues were particularly recorded by Macer Floridus ^ who called it Jusquimnus. Frequent mention is made of it in the Anglo-Saxon works on medicine of the 11th century,^ in which it is called Henhell, and sometimes Belene, the latter word perhaps traceable in ^tXivovvrla, which Dioscorides * gives as the Gallic designation of the plant. The w^ord Hennebone, with the Latin and French synonyms Ji/squi- amus and Chenille, occurs in a vocabulary of the 13th century ; and Hennelane in a Latin and English vocabulary of the 15th century.^ In the Arholayre, a printed French herbal of the 15th century,^ we find the plant described SiS Hanihane or HaneMne with the following explana- ation — " EUe est aultrement appeler cassilago et aultrement simphoniaca. La semence prpprement a nom jusquiame ou hanebane, et heri)e a nom cassilago. . ." Both Hyoscyamus and Jtcsquiamus are from the Greek 'TocTKvafjbGq, i.e. Hog-bean. Though a remedy undeniably potent, henbane in the first half of the last century had fallen into disuse. It was omitted from the London pharmacopoeias of 1746 and 1788, and restored only in 1809. Its re-introduction into medicine was chiefly due to the experiments and recommendations of Storck.*" Description — The stems of henbane, wdiether of the annual or biennial form, are clothed with soft, viscid, hairy leaves, of which the upper constitute the large, sessile, coarsely-toothed bracts of the unilateral flower-spike. The middle leaves are more toothed and subamplexicaul. The lower leaves are stalked, ovate-oblong, coarsely dentate, and of large size. The stems, leaves, and calyces of henbane are thickly beset with long, soft, jointed hairs ; the last joint of many of these hairs exudes a viscid substance occasioning the fresh plant to feel clammy to the touch. In the cultivated plant, the hairiness diminishes. After drying, the broad light-coloured midrib becomes very con- spicuous, while the rest of the leaf shrinks tnuch and acquires a greyish green hue. The drug derived from the flowering plant as found in commerce, is usually much broken. The foetid, narcotic odour of the fresh leaves is greatly diminished by drying. The fresh plant has but little taste. Dried henbane is sold under three forms, which are not however generally distinguished by druggists. These are 1. Annual plant, foliage and green tops. 2. ^zeTima/^/awf!, leaves of the first year. 3. Biennial plant, foliage and green tops. The third form is always regarded as the ■^ S. de Renzi, CoUeciio Salernitama, Na- " Lib. iv. c. 69. (ed. Sprengel). poll, i. (1852) 74. 84 ^ Wright, Volume of Vocahidaries, 1857. " De Viribiis Herbamm, edited by Cliou- 141. 265. Jant, Lips. 1832, 108. ^ See p. 130. i:ote 9, also Bninet, IJaiiue 3 LeecMovis, &c. of Early England, iii. dw Lihraire, i. (1860) 377- (1866) 313. " See p. 413, note 2. E E 418 sou N ACE J^. "best, but no attempt has been made to determine with accuracy the relative merits of the three sorts. Chemical Composition — Hyoscy amine, the most important among the constituents of henbane, was obtained in an impure state by Geiger and Hesse in 1833. Hohn in 1871 first isolated it from the seeds, which are far richer in it than the leaves.^ The seeds are deprived of the fatty oil (26 jDcr cent.) and treated with spirit of wine containing sul- phuric acid, which takes out the hyoscyamine in the form of sulphate. The alcohol is then evaporated and tannic acid added ; the precipitate thus obtained is mixed with lime and exhausted with alcohol. Tlie hyoscyamine is again converted into a sulphate, the aqueous solution of which is then precipitated with carbonate of sodium, and the alkaloid dissolved by means of ether. After the evaporation of the ether, hyos- cyamine remains as an oily liquid which after some time concretes into wart-like tufted crystals, soluble in benzol, chloroform, ether, as well as in water. Hohn and Eeichardt assign to hyoscyamine the formula, Cisjjssjs^Qs. The seeds yield of it only 0-05 per cent. Hyoscyamine is easily decomposed by caustic alkalis. By boiling with baryta in aqueous solution, it is split into Hyoscine, C^H^^N, and Syoscinic Acid, C^H^^O^. The former is a volatile alkaloid ; hyoscinic acid, a crystallizable substance having an odour resembling that of em- pyreumatic benzoic acid.- x^ttfield ^ has pointed out, that extract of henbane is rich in nitrate of potassium and other inorganic salts. In the leaves, the amount of nitrate is, according to Thorey,^ largest before flowering, and the same observation applies to hyoscyamine. Uses — Henbane in the form of tincture or extract is administered as a sedative, anodyne or hypnotic. The impropriety of giving it in conjunction with free potash or soda which render it perfectly inert, has been demonstrated by the experiments of Garrod.^ Hyoscyamine, like atropine, powerfully dilates the pupil of the eye. Substitutes — Hyoscyamus albus L., a more slender plant than H. nigcr L., with stalked leaves and bracts, a native of the Mediterranean region, is sometimes used in the south of Europe as medicinal henbane. H. insamts Stocks, a plant of Beluchistan, is mentioned in the Pharma- co'ixeia of India as of considerable virulence, and sometimes used for smoking. FOLIA TABACI. Herba Nicotiance ; Tobacco ; F. Tabac ; G. Tabakbldtter. Botanical Origin — Nicotiana Tabacitm L. — The common Tobacco plant is a native of the New World, though not now known in a wild ' From the experiments of Schooiibroodt the aliove substances as prepared by the (1868), there is reason to believe that the said cliemists.— F. A. F., July 1871. active prineiijle of henbane can be nioue ^ Pltarm. Journ. iii. (1862) 447. easily extracted from thu /VcsA than from •» Wiggers and Jliiseniann, Jahresbericht the drwd plant. " 1869. 5(3. « I have had the opportunity of examining '^ Pharm. Journ. .wii. (1S5S) 462; xviii, (1859) 174. FOLIA TABACf. 41.9 state. Its cultivation is carried on in most temperate and sub-tropical countries. History — It is stated Ly Von Martius ^ that the practice of smoking tobacco has beeii widely diffused from time immemorial among the natives of South America, as well as among the inhabitants of the valley of the ]\Iississippi as far north as the plant can be cultivated. The Spaniards became acquainted with tobacco when they landed in Cuba in 1492, and on their return introduced it into Europe for the sake of its medicinal properties. The custom of inhaling the smoke of the herb was learnt from the Indians, and by the end of the 16th century had become generally known throughout Spain and Portugal, whence it passed into the rest of Europe, and into Turkey, Egypt, and India, not- withstanding that it was opposed by the severest enactments botli of Christian and Mahommedan governments. It is commonly believed that the practice of smoking tobacco was much promoted in England, as well as in the north of Europe generally, by the example of Sir Walter Ealeigh and his companions. Tobacco was introduced into China, probably by way of Japan or Manila, during the 16th or 17th century, but its use tvas prohibited by the emperors both of the Ming and Tsing dynasties. It is now culti- vated in most of the provinces, and is universally employed.^ The first tolerably exact description of the tobacco plant is that given by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, governor of St. Domingo, in his Historia genci'al de las Incliasj^ printed at Seville in 1535. In this work, the plant is said to be smoked through a branched tube of the shape of the letter Y^ Avhich tlie natives call Tabaco. It was not until the middle of this century that growing tobacco was seen in Europe, — first at Lisbon, whence the French ambassador, Jean Moot, sent seeds to France in 1560 as those of a valuable medicinal plant, which was even then diffused throughout Portugal.^ Monardes ^ writing in 1571, speaks of toloacco as brought to Spain a few years previously, and valued for its beauty and for its medicinal virtues. Of the latter he gives a long account, noticing also the methods of smoking and chewing the herb, prevalent among the Indians. He also supplies a small woodcut representing the plant, which he states to have white flowers, red in the centre. Jacques Gohory ® who cultivated the plant in Paris at least as early as 1572, describes its flowers as shaded with red, and enumerates various medicinal preparations made from it. In the Maison Bustique of Charles Estienne, edition of 1583, the author gives a "Discours sur la Nicotiane ou Petum mascle,'' in which he claims for the plant the first place among medicinal herbs, on account of its singular and almost divine virtues. 1 Beitrdge zur Ethnograplde unci S2JracIien- ' Segunda parte del lihro de las cosas que kunde Americas, zumal Brasiliens, i. (1867) se traen de nuestras Indias occidentales, que 719. sirven al uso de medicina. ])o se trata del ^ Msijevs in JTong Kong Notes and Queries, Tabaco . . . , Sevilla, 1571. 3. jMay 1867 ; F. P. Smith, Mat. Med. and " Instruction sur Vherbe Petum ditte en Nat. Hist, of China, 1871. 219. France I'herhe de la Royne ou Medicee . . , 3 Lib. V. c. 2. Paris, 1572. * Nicot, Thresor de la, languc Frangoyse, faris, 1606. 429. E E 2 420 SOLAXACE.-^. The cultivation of tobacco in England, except on a very small scale in a physic garden, has been prohibited by law ^ since 1660. Description — Amongst the various species of NicofAana cultivated for the manufacturing of smoking tobacco and snuff, N. Tctbacum is by far the most frequent, and is almost the only one named in the pharma- copoeias as medicinal. Its simple stem, bearing at the summit a panicle of tubular pink flowers, and growing to the height of a man, has oblong, lanceolate, simple leaves, with the margin entire. The lower leaves, more broadly lanceolate and about 2 feet long by 6 inches wide, are shortly stalked. The stem-leaves are semi-amplexicaul, and decurrent at the base. Cultivation sometimes produces cordate-ovate forms of leaf, or a margin more or less uneven, or nearly revolute. All the herbaceous parts of the plant are clothed with long soft hairs, made up of broad, ribbon-like, striated cells, the points of which exude a glutinous liquid. Small sessile glands are situated here and there on the surface of the leaf. The lateral veins proceed from the thick midrib in straight lines, at angles of 40° to 75°, gently curving upwards only near the edge. In drying, the leaves become brittle aud as thin as paper, and always acquire a brown colour. Even by the most careful treatment of a single leaf, it is not possible to preserve the green hue. The smell of the fresh plant is narcotic ; its taste bitter and nauseous. The characteristic odour of dried tobacco is developed during the process of curing. Chemical Composition — The active principle of tobacco, first isolated in 1828 by Posselt and Eeimann, is a volatile alkaloid termed Nicotine, C^*^H^*N^. It is easily extracted from tobacco by means of alcohol or water, as a malate, from which the alkaloid can be separated by shaking it with caustic lye and ether. The ether is then expelled by warming the liquid, which finally has to be mixed with slaked lime and distilled in a stream of hydrogen, when the nicotine begins to come over at about 200° C. Nicotine is a colourless oily liquid, of sp. gr. 1"027 at 15° C. ; it boils at 250° C, and does not concrete even at — 10° C. It has a strongly alkaline reaction, an unpleasant odour, and a burning taste. It quickly assumes a brown colour on exposure to air and light ; and appears even to undergo an alteration by repeated distillation in an atmosphere deprived of oxygen. Nicotine dissolves in water, but separates on addition of caustic potash. Most salts of nicotine crystallize with difficulty ; its hydrochlorate forms with chloride of zinc a compound obtainable in crystals of considerable size. Nicotine is the highly poisonous principle of tobacco ; it occurs in the dried leaves to the extent of about 6 per cent., but is subject to great variation. It has not been met with in tobacco-smoke by Vohl and Eulenberg (1871), though other chemists assert its occurrence. The vapours were found by the former, to contain numerous basic substances of the picolinic series, and cedpd to caustic potash, hydrocyanic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, several volatile fatty acids, phenol and creasote. There was further observed in * 12 Car. II. c. 31 ; 15 Car. II. c. 7. — tobacco, soo Tieilemann, Geschkh'e des Ta- For further informatinn 071 the history of haks, Frankfurt, 185i. FOLIA TAB ACL 421 the imperfect combustion of tobacco, the formation of lauiinse fusible at 94° C. and having the composition C^^Jl^^. Tobacco leaves, v^^hether fresh or dried, yield when distilled M^ith vsrater, a turbid distillate in which, as observed by Hermbstadt in 1823, there are formed after some days, crystals of Nicotianin or Tobacco Gam- -plior. According to J. A. Barral, nicotianin contains 7 "12 per cent, of nitro- gen (?). By submitting 4 kilogrammes of good tobacco of the previous year to distillation witli much water, we obtained nicotianin, floating on the surface of the distillate, in the form of minute acicular crystals, which we found to be devoid of action on polarized light. The crystals have no peculiar taste, at least in the small quantity we tried ; they have a tobacco-like smell, perhaps simply due to the water adhering to them. When an attempt was made to separate them by a filter, they entirely disappeared, being probably dissolved by an accompanying trace of essential oil. The clear water showed an alkaline reaction partly due to nicotine ; this was proved by adding a solution of tannic acid, which caused a well-marked turbidity. Among the ordinary constituents of leaves, tobacco contains albumin, resin and gum. In smoking, these substances as well as the cellulose of the thick midrib, would yield products not agreeable to the consumer. The manufacturer therefore discards the midrib, and endeavours by further preparation to ensure at least the partial destruction of these unwelcome constituents, as well as the formation of certain products of fermentation (ferment-oils), which may perhaps contribute to the aroma of tobacco, especially when saccharine substances, liquorice, or alcohol, are added in the maceration to which tobacco is subjected. Tobacco leaves are remarkably rich in inorganic constituents, the pro- portion varying from 16 to 27 per cent. According to Boussingault, they contain when dry about 1 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and from 3 to 5 per cent, of potash, together with 2h to 4^ per cent, of nitrogen partly in the form of nitrate, so that to enable the tobacco plant to flourish, it must have a rich soil or continual manuring. The lime amounting to between a quarter and a half of the entire quantity of ash, is in the leaf combined with organic acids, especially malic, perhaps also citric. The proportion of potash varies greatly, but may amount to about 30 per cent, of the ash. Commerce — There were imported into the United Kingdom in the year 1872, 45,549,700 ft. of Unmanufactured Tobacco, rather more than half of which was derived from the United States of America. The total value of the commodity thus imported was £1,563,882 ; and the duty levied upon the quantity retained for home consumption, amounted to £6,694,037. Uses — Tobacco has some reputation in the removal of alvine obstructions, but it is a medicine of great potency and is very rarely used. Substitutes — Of the other species of Nieotiana cultivated as Tobacco, N. rustica L. is probably the most extensively grown. It is easily distinguished by its greenish yellow flowers, and its stalked ovate leaves. In spite of their coarser texture, the leaves dry more easily than those of N. Tahactcm, and with some care may even be made to retain 422- SCKOFRULARIACEM. their green colour. N. rustica famishes East Indian Tobacco, also the kinds known as Latakia and Turkish Tobacco. N. Fersica Lindl. yields the tobacco of Shiraz. N. quadrivalvis Pursh, iV. multivalvis Lindl. and N. repanda Willd. are also cultivated plants, the last named, a plant of Havana, being used in the manu- facture of a much valued kind of cigar. SCROPHULARIACE^. FOLIA DIGITALIS. Foxglove Leaves ; F. Feuilles de Digifale ; G. FingerhutUdtter. Botanical Origin — Digitalis purpurea L., an elegant and stately plant, common throughout the greater part of Europe, but preferring siliceous soils and generally absent from limestone districts. It is found on the edges of woods and thickets, on bushy ground and commons, becoming a mountain plant in the warm parts of Europe. It occurs in Central and Southern Spain, Northern Italy, France, Germany, the British Isles and Southern Sweden, and in Norway as far as 62° N". lat. ; it is however very unequally distributed, and is altogether wanting in the Swiss Alps and the Jura.^ As a garden plant it is well known. History — We are acquainted with no very ancient accounts of the use of foxglove in medicine. Fuchs ^ and Tragus " about the middle of the 16th century figured the plant ; the former gave it the name Digitalis, remarking that up to the time at which he wrote, there was none for the plant in either Greek or Latin. At that period it was regarded as a violent medicine. It had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1650 and in several subsequent editions. The investigation of its therapeutic powers (1776-9) and its introduction into modern practice are chiefly due to Withering, a well-known English botanist and physician.^ The word foxglove is said to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Foxes- gleui, i.e. fox-music, in allusion to an ancient musical instrument consisting of bells hung on an arched support.^ Description — Foxglove is a biennial or perennial, the leaves of which ought to be taken from the plant while in full flower. The lower leaves are ovate with the lamina running down into a long stalk ; those of the stem become gradually narrower, passing into ovate-lanceolate with a short broadly-winged stalk, or are sessile. All have the margin crenate, crenate-dentate, or sub-serrate, are more or less softly pubescent or nearly glabrous on the upper side, much paler and densely pubescent on the under, which is marked with a prominent network of veins. The prin- cipal veins diverge at a very acute angle from the midrib, which is thick and fleshy. The lower leaves are often a foot or more long, by 5 to 6 inches broad ; those of the stem are smaller. 1 Dr. R. 0. Cunningham found (18GS) * Dc Slirpium . . . noriievclaturis, etc. Digitalis pwrpur&a completely naturalizeil 1552 — '^Crunpanala sylveslrin sou Digitalis." about Ran Carlos in the Islaml of Chiloo in ' Withering (William), Account of the Southern Chili. Foxglorr, Birmingham, 1785. 8°. » De Hist. Stirpiuvi, 1542. 892. ^ Prior, Foimlar Names of British Plants, ed. 2. 1870. 84. FOLI/l DIGITALIS. 4-2 :j When magnified, the tip of each denature or serrature of the leaf, is S^care J/mi< that it is " ouely found planted 1368. — Nor do we know if L. lanata Boiss. in gardens with ns." a very fragrant species closely allied to L. •* Seeniann's Journ. of Bat. Ang. 18fio. p. S'pica DC, and a native of Spain, is distilled 239. We boriovv Mr. Baker's careful descrip- in that country. tion of M. xiridis. •^ Bentham, Handbook of the British Fiora, * Part 2. (1568) 54. 1858. 413.— Parkiu-on (1640) remarks of 432 LABIATE. The plant varies slightly in the shape of its leaves, elongation of spike and hairiness of calyx. The entire plant emits a most fragrant odour when rubbed, and has a pungent aromatic taste. Production — Spearmint is grown in kitchen gardens, and more largely in market gardens. A few acres are under cultivation with it at Mitcham, chiefly for the sake of the herb, Avhich is sold mostly in a dried state. The cultivation of spearmint is carried on in the United States in precisely the same manner as that of peppermint, but on a much smaller scale. Mr. H. Gr. Hotchkiss of Lyons, Wayne County, State of ISTew York, has informed us that his manufacture of the essential oil amounted in 1870 to 1162 ft). The plant he employs appears from the specimen with which he has favoured us, to be identical with the spearmint of English gardens, and is not the Curled Mint {Mentha crisim) of Germany. Chemical Composition — Spearmint yields an essential oil {Oleum Menthm viridis) in which reside the medicinal virtues of the plant. Kane ^ who examined it, gives its sp. gr. as 0-914, and its boiling point as 160° C. The oil yielded him a considerable amount of stearoptene. Gladstone 2 found spearmint oil to contain a hydrocarbon almost identical with oil of turpentine in odour and other physical properties, mixed with an oxidized oil to which is due the peculiar smell of the plant. The latter oil boils at 225° C. ; its sp. gr. is 0'951, and it w^as found to be isomeric with carvol, C^°H^*0. Uses — Spearmint is used in the form of essential oil and distilled water, precisely in the same manner as peppermint. In the United States, the oil is also employed by confectioners and the manufacturers of perfumed soap. Substitutes — Oil of spearmint is now rarely distilled in England, its high cost^ causing it to be nearly unsaleable. The cheaper foreign oil is offered in price-currents as of two kinds, namely American and German. Of the first we have already spoken : the second termed in German Krausemilnzol, is the produce of Mentha aquatiea L. var. 7 crispa. Bentham, a plant cultivated in Northern Germany. HERBA MENTH./E PIPERITvE. Peppermint ; F. Mentlie poivree ; G. PfefferminzP: Botanical Origin — Mcntlia piperita- Hudson (non Linn.)j an erect, usually glabrous perennial, much resembling the Common Spearmint of the gardens, but differing from it in having the leaves all stalked, the flowers larger, the upper whorls of flowers somewhat crowded together, and the lower separate. In the opinion of Bentham it is possibly a mere variety of M. hirsuta L., with which it can be connected by numerous interniftdiate forms. Peppermint rapidly propagates itself by runners, and is how found in wet places in several parts of England, as well as on the Continent. ' Philosophical Magaziw, xiii. (1838) HA. ^ Price from 1824 to 1839, 40a-. to 48s. - Journ. of Chemical Society, ii. (1864) pei- tb. 11. BERBA MENTHJi PIPERITA 4;)3 It is cultivated on the large scale in England, France, Germany, and North America. History — Mentha piperita was first observed in Hertfordshire by Dr. Eales and communicated to Ray, who in the second edition of his Synopsis Stirpium Britannicarum, 1696, noticed it under the name of Mentha spicis hreviorihus et habitiorihis, foliis Menthce fuscm, sapore fervido piperis ; and in his Historia Plantarum^ as "Mentha palustris . . . Peper-Mint." ^ Dale who found the plant in the adjoining county of Essex, states ^ that it is esteemed a specific in renal and vesical calculus ; and Eay in the third edition of his Synopsis, declares it superior to all other mints as a remedy for weakness of the stomach and for diarrhoea. Peppermint was admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia in 1721, under the designation of Mentha piperitis sapor e. The cultivation of peppermint at Mitcham in Surrey, dates from about 1750,* at which period only a few acres of ground were there devoted to medicinal plants. At the end of the last century, above 100 acres were cropped with peppermint. But so late as 1805 there were no stills at Mitcham, and the herb had to be carried to London for the extraction of the oil. Of late years the cultivation has diminished in extent, by reason of the increased value of land and the competition of foreign oil of peppermint. In Germany, peppermint became practically known in the latter half of the last century, especially through the recommendation of Knigge.^ Description — The rootstock of peppermint is perennial, throwing out runners. The stem is erect, 3 to 4 feet high, when luxuriant some- what branched below with erecto-patent branches, firm, quadrangular, slightly hairy, often tinged with purple. Leaves all stalked, the stalks of the lower ^ to | of an inch long, naked or nearly so, the leaf lanceolate, narrowed or rather rounded towards the base, the point narrowed out and acute, the lowest 2 to 3 inches long by about f of an inch broad, naked and dull green above, paler and glandular all over, but only slightly hairy upon the veins beneath; the teeth sharp, fine, and erecto-patent. Inflo- rescence in a loose lanceolate or acutely conical spike, 2 to 3 inches long by about f of an inch broad at the base, the lowest whorls separate, and usually the lowest bracts leaf-like. Bracteoles lanceolate acuminate, about equalling the expanded flowers, slightly ciliated. Pedicels 1 to 1^ lines long, purplish, glandular but not hairy. Calyx often purplish, the tube about 1 line long and the teeth \ a line, the tube campanulate-cylindrical, purplish, not hairy, but dotted over with prominent glands ; the teeth lanceolate subulate, furnished with short erecto-patent hairs. Corolla . reddish purple about twice as long as the calyx, naked both within and without. Nut smooth^ (rw^ose, according to our observation). The odour and taste are strongly aromatic. 1 Tomus iii. (1704) 284. ^ Lysons, Environs of London, i. (1800) '^ I have examined the original specimen 254. still preserved among Ray's plants in the ^ De Menthd Piperitide Commentatio, British Museum and find it to agree per- Erlangse, 1780. fectly with the plant now in cultivation. — ® This description is borrowed fi-om Mr. D. H. Baker's paper on the English Mints, referred ' Pharmacologice Supplementum, Lond. to at p. 431, note 3. 1705. 117. F F 434 LABIATE. In var. 2. vulgaris of Sole, M. piperita jS. Smith, the plant is more hairy, with the spikes broader and shorter, or even bluntly capitate. Chemical Composition — The constituent for the sake of whicli peppermint is cultivated, is the essential oil, Oleum Menthce piperitce, a colourless, pale yellow, or greenish liquid, of sp. gr, varying from 0'84 to 092. It has a strong and agreeable odour, with a powerful aromatic taste, followed by a sensation of cold when air is drawn into the mouth. We find that the Mitcham oil examined by polarized light in a column 50 mm. long, deviates 14'2° to the left. When oil of peppermint is cooled to -4° C, it sometimes deposits colourless hexagonal crystals of Fejjpermint Camphor, C^*^H^^ + H^O, called also MentJwl. This camphor (the deposit of which in the oil we have not observed) boils at 210° C. and possesses the odour of the crude oil ; it deviates the ray of polarized light to the left. The proportion of menthol contained in oils of different origin is very variable. Pure crystallized menthol is sometimes found in commerce under the name of Chinese Oil of Peppermint.^ The liquid part of the oil of peppermint has not yet been chemically investigated. Oil of peppermint is not uniform in constitution, nor in its flavour and chemical behaviour. Accurate means of ascertaining its value and purity are wanting. If 50 to 70 drops of peppermint oil are shaken with one drop of nitric acid, sp. gr. about 1'2, the mixture changes from faintly yellowish to brownish and, after an hour or two, exhibits a bluish, violet or greenish colour ; in reflected light, it appears reddish and not transparent. The colour thus produced lasts a fortnight. We have thus examined the various samples of peppermint oil at our command, and may state that the finest among them assume the most beautiful coloration and fluor- escence, which however shows very appreciable differences. An infe- rior oil of American origin was not coloured ; and a very old sample of an originally excellent English oil was likewise not coloured by the test. Menthol, that is to say the Chinese oil of peppermint, is not altered when similarly treated.^ The nitric acid test is not capable of revealing adulterations of peppermint oil, for the coloration takes place with an oil, to which a considerable quantity of oil of turpentine has been added. Eemarkable colorations of a different hue are also displayed by the various kinds of oil of peppermint if other chemical agents are mixed with it. Thus green or brownish tints are produced by means of anhydrous chloral ; the oil becomes bluish or greenish or rose-coloured if shaken with a concentrated solution of bisulphite of sodium. It is worthy of note that oils of different origin, which cannot be distin- guished by means of nitric acid, exhibit totally different colorations if mixed with either of the liquids just named. This behaviour may be of some use in the examination of commercial sorts of peppermint oil. As to bisulpliite of sodium, it yields a solid compound with certain kinds of peppermint oil, which we have not yet examined. ' It is distilled at Canton from a plant of 800 lb. ; it was valued at about 30s. per which appears to be Mentka arvouiis L. var. lb. — See also Fliickiger in Pliarni. Jom")i. Javanica (M. Javunica 131.) The oil was Oct. 14, 1871. 321. exported from Canton in 1872, to the extent * Phann. Joum. Feb. 25, 1871. 682. UERBA MENTUJE PIPERITM. 435 Production and Commerce — In several parts of Europe as well as in the United States, peppermint is cultivated on the large scale as a medicinal plant. In England the culture is carried on in the neighbourhood of Mitcham in Surrey, near Wisbeach in Cambridgeshire, Market Deeping in Lin- colnshire, and Hitchin in Hertfordshire. At Mitcham in 1850, there were about 500 acres under cultivation ; in 1864 only about 219 acres.^ At Market Deeping there were in 1871 about 150 acres cropped with peppermint. The usual produce in oil may be reckoned at 8 to 12 ft), per acre. The fields of peppermint at Mitcham are level, with a rich, friable soil, well manured and naturally retentive of moisture. The ground is kept free from weeds, and in other respects is carefully tilled. The crop is cut in August, and the herb is usually allowed to dry on the ground before it is consigned to the stills. These are of large size, holding 1000 to 2000 gallons, and heated by coal; each still is furnished with a condensing worm of the usual character, which passes out into a small iron cage secured by a padlock, in which stands the oil separator. The distillation is conducted at the lowest possible temperature. The water that comes over with the oil is not distilled with another lot of herb, but is for the most part allowed to run away, a very little only being reserved as a perquisite of the workmen. The produce is very variable, and no facilities exist for estimating it with accuracy.^ It is however stated that a ton of dried peppermint yields from 1\ to Z\ pounds of oil, which equals O'll to 0*15 per cent. But we have been assured by a grower at Mitcham that the yield is as much as 6 pounds from a ton, or 0-26 per cent. At Mitcham and its neighbourhood, two varieties of peppermint are at present recognized, the one being known as White Mint, the other as Black Mint, but the differences between the two are very slight. The Black Mint has purple stems ; the White Mint, green stems, and as we have observed, leaves rather more coarsely serrated than those of the Black. The Black Mint is more prolific in essential oil than the White, and hence more generally cultivated ; but the oil of the latter is superior in delicacy of odour and commands a higher price. White Mint is said to be principally grown for drying in bundles, or as it is termed " hunching." Peppermint is grown on a vastly larger scale in America, the localities where the cultivation is carried on being Southern Michigan, Western New York, and Ohio. In Michigan where the plant was introduced in 1835, there were in 1858 about 2100 acres devoted to its growth, all with the exception of about 100 acres being in the county of St. Joseph. The average produce of this district was estimated in 1858, at 15,000 ft>; but the yield fluctuates enormously, and in the exceptionally fine season of 1855, it was reckoned at 30,000 ft). We must suppose that it is now much larger, for we have been informed by Mr. H. G. Hotchkiss, of Lyons, Wayne County, State of New York, one of the most well- known distillers, in a letter under date Oct. 10, 1871, that the quantity ^ Pharm. Journ. x. (1851) 297. 340 ; also These they let to smaller cultivators who Warren in Pharm. Journ. vi. (1865) 257. pay so much for distilling a charge, ie. what- To these papers and to personal inquiries we ever the still can be made to contain, without are indebted for most of the particulars re- reference to weight. Hence the dried herb lating to peppermint culture at Mitcham. is preferred to the fresh, as a larger quantity * Only the larger growers have stills. can be distilled at one time. F F 2 436 LABI ATM sent out by him in the previous year, reached the enormous amount of 57,365 ib. From the statistics quoted by Stearns^ it would appear that the produce of oil per acre is somewhat higher than in England, but from various causes, information on this head cannot be very reliable. Peppermint is cultivated at Sens in the department of the Yonne in France^ and in Saxony, and very recently it has been tried in the Neilgherry Hills in Southern India. Peppermint oil varies greatly in commercial value, that of Mitcham commanding twice or three times as high a price as the finest American. Even the oil of Mitcham is by no means uniform in quality, certain plots of ground affording a product of superior fragrance. A damp situation or badly drained ground, is well known to be unfavourable both to the quantity and quality of oil. The presence of weeds among the peppermint is an important cause of deterioration to the oil, and at Mitcham some growers give a gratuity to their labourers to induce them to be careful in throwing out other plants when cutting the herb for distillation. One grower of peppermint known to us was compelled to abandon the cultivation, owing to the enormous increase of Mentha arvensis L. which could not be separated, and which when distilled with the peppermint ruined the flavour of the latter. In America great detriment is occasioned by the growth of Erigeron Canachnsc L. Newly cleared ground planted with peppermint, is liable to the intrusion of another plant of the order Compositce, Erechtites hieracifolia Ea£, which is also highly injurious to the quality of the oil.^ Uses — A watery or spirituous solution of oil of peppermint is a grateful stimulant, and is a frequent adjunct to other medicines. Oil of peppermint is extensively consumed for flavouring sweetmeats and cordials. HERBA PULEGII. Pennyroyal * ; F. Menthe pouliot, Pouliot vulgaire ; G. Polei. Botanical Origin — Mentha Pulegmm L., a small perennial aromatic plant, common throughout the south of Europe and extending north- ward to Sweden, Denmark, England and Ireland, eastward to Asia Minor and Persia, and southward to Abyssinia, Algeria, Madeira and Teneriffe. It has been introduced into North ^ and South America. For medicinal use it is cultivated on a small scale. History — Pennyroyal was in high repute among the ancients. Both Dioscorides and Pliny describe its numerous virtues. In Northern Europe it was also much esteemed, as maybe inferred from the frequent reference to it in the Anglo-^Saxon works on medicine. ' To whose paper On the Peiypennint Plan- ^ Maisch, American Journ. of Pliarm., tatio'iis of Michigan in the Proceedings of the March 1870. 120. Americ. Pharm. Assocn. for 1858, we owe * Pennyroyal, in old herbals Puliol royal, the few particulars for which we can here is derived from Puleium regium, an old afford space. Latin name given from the su])posed efficacy ^ Journ. dc Pharm. viii. (1868) 130. — of the plant in destroying lleas (Prior). Abstract from Roze, La Menthe poivrie, sa ' The native Pennyroyal is however a dif- culture til France, se.'^'-ds (40,000 lb.), once a year by way of Lake Baikal and Irkutsk to Moscow, whence it was transmitted to St. Petersburg, to be there delivered to the Crown apothecaries and in part to be sold to druggists. We are indebted for these accounts chiefly to Calau,'^ an apothecary appointed to supervise the examination of rhubarb, and who resided a long time at Kiachta. An exact account of the remarkable policy of the Eussian Government in relation to that drug, was also given by Von Schroders ^ in 1804. So long as China kept all her ports closed to foreign commerce, except Canton in the extreme soutli, a large supply of fine rhubarb ' From the OiTnian word 'Brnrkc, the name ^ Ganger's Rep. filr Pharvi. und Cliemie, ajiplied to persons appointed for the exami- 1842. 45"2-457; Pharm.. Journ. ii. (1843)658. nation of merchandize ])roiight to the ports •'' Canstatt's Jnhrcsbcrickt for 1864. i. of the Baltic. 35-42. RADIX RHEl. 445 found its way to Europe by way of Kussia. But the unpleasant accompaniments of the Eussian supervision, which was exercised with unsparing severity,^ and the extreme tediousness of the land-transport, made the Chinese very ready to accept an easier outlet for their goods. Accordingly we find that the opening of a number of ports in the north of China, exerted a very depressing influence on the trade of Iviachta, which was augmented by the rebellion that raged in the interior of China for some years from 1852. On these accounts, Eussia in 1855 removed certain restrictions on the trade, though without abandoning the Ehubarb Office. She withdrew in 1860, the custom-houses to Irkutsk, and declared Kiachta a free port, while by the treaty with China of November 1860, she insisted on that country abandoning all restrictions on trade. But the over-land rhubarb trade had already been destroyed : the Chinese tempted by the increased demand occasioned by the new trading- ports, became less careful in the collection and curing of the root, while the Eussians insisted with the greatest strictness on the drug being of the accustomed quality. Hence it happened that from 1860, hardly any rhubarb was delivered at Kiachta, either for the government use or to private traders ; and in 1863, the Ehubarb Office was abolished. Thus, the so-called Russian or Muscovitic or Crown Rhiibarlj, familiarly known in England as Turhey Rliubarh, a drug which for its uniformly good quality long enjoyed the highest reputation, has become a thing of the past, which can only now be found in museum collections. It began to appear in English commerce at the commencement of the last century. Alston,^ who lectured on botany and materia medica at Edinburgh in 1720, speaks of rhubarb as brought from Turkey and the East Indies, — " and of late, likewise from Muscovy." It has been shown {p. 443) that rhubarb was shipped from Syria in the 12th century. Vasco da Gama^ mentions it in 1497, among the exports of Alexandria. In fact, the drug was carried from the far east to Persia, whence it was brought by caravans to Aleppo, Tripoli, Alexandria, and even to Smyrna. Erom these Levant ports it reached Europe, and was distributed as Turkey Rhubarb; while that which was shipped direct from China, or by way of India, became known as China, Canton, or East India Rhuharl. The latter was already the more common sort in England as early as 1640.* As the rhubarb of the Levant disappeared from trade, that of Eussia took not only its place but likewise its name, until the term " Turkey Rhubarb " came to be the accepted designation of the drug imported from Eussia. This strange confusion of terms was not however preva- lent on the Continent, but was chiefly limited to British trade. The risk and expense of the enormous land-transport over almost the whole breadth of Asia, caused rhubarb in ancient times to be one of the very costly drugs. Thus at Alexandria in 1497, it was valued at twelve times the price of benzoin. In France in 1542,^ it was worth ten times as much as cinnamon, or more than four times the price of 1 Thus in 1860, the Eussians compelled par A. Herculano e o Barao de Castello de the Chinese to burn 6000 lb. of rhubarb, Paiva, ed. 2. Lisboa, 1861. 115. on the pretext that it was too sjJiaZL' * Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, 1640. 2 Lectures on the Mat. Med. i. (1770) 502. 155. * Roteiro da viagem de Vasco da Gatna, * Leber, Appreciation' de la fortune privee au moijen dge, ed. 2. 1847. 308-9. 446 POLYQONACEM saffron. At Ulni in 1596/ it was more costly than opium. A German price-list of 1614,^ shows Badix Rha Barhari to be six times as dear as fine myrrh, and more than twice the price of opium. An official English list^ giving the price of drugs in 1657, quotes opium as Qs. per lb., scammony ] 2s., and rhubarb 16s. Production and Commerce — The .districts of the Chinese Empire which produce rhubarb, extend over a vast area. They are comprised in the four northern provinces of China Proper, known as Chihli, Shansi, Shensi,^ and Honan ; the immense north-western province of Kansuh, formerly partly included in Shensi, but now extending across the desert of Gobi and to the frontiers of Tibet ; the province of Tsing-hai in- habited by Mongols, which includes the great salt lake of Koko-nor and the districts of Tangut, Sifan, and Turfan ; and lastly the mountains of the western province of Szechuen. The plant is found on the pas- turages of the high plateaux, growing particularly well on spots that have been enriched by encampments. What little we further know regarding the production of rhubarb and its preparation for the market, is due partly to Chinese authorities and partly to Catholic missionaries,^ and is of a rather meagre and unsatisfactory character. The root is dug up at the beginning of autumn when the vegetation of the plant is on the decline, and the operation is probably continued for a few months, or in some districts for the whole winter. It is cleaned, its cortical part sliced off, and the root cut into pieces for drying. This is performed either by the aid of fire heat, or by simple exposure to sun and air, or the pieces are first partially dried on a hot stone, and then strung on a cord and suspended until the desiccation is complete. Ehubarb is now purchased for the European market chiefly at Han- kow on the upper Yangtsze, whither it is brought from the provinces of Shensi, Kansuh, and Szechuen. From Hankow it is sent down to Shanghai, and there shipped for Europe. The exports from Hankow are thus stated in official documents.*^ 1866 1S67 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 Peculs^ 2985 3425 2866 3398 3370 3859 3167 Much smaller quantities (554 peculs in 1872) are shipped from Tientsin ; and there are occasional exportations from Canton, Amoy, and Foochow. The imports of rhubarb into the United Kingdom in 1870, amounted to 343,306 lb., the estimated value of which was £62,716.^ Description — China Ehubarb as imported into Europe,^ consists of portions of a massive root which display considerable diversity of form, 1 Reicliard, Beitrdqe zur Geschichte dcr by Collin in his thesis Des Rhuharhes, Paris, A'polhckcn, Ulm, 1825. 208. 1871. 22. 24. '^ 8ee p. 177, note 3. " Reports on Trade at the Treaty Ports of ^ Book of the Values of Mercliandize im- China for 1870 ; Uomvicrcial Rcjiorts from ported, according to u-hich, Excizc is to be her Majesty's Consuls in China, 1872. No. 3. paid hij the First Buyer, Lond. 1657. I>- 57. ■* According to Consul Hughes of Hankow, ^ 1 jicoul - 1331, ft. San-yuan in Shensi (north of Singanfu) is " Annual Statement of the Trade and A^a- one of the jirincijial marts for rhubarlj. viyatiun of the United K hujdom for 1870. 79. ' YiiYia in Pharm. Juurn vii. (1866)375; " It is now often trimmed by wholesale Chauveau, Vicar A})Ostolic of Tibet (1870) druggists to simulate the old Russian rhy. and 15iet a French missionary botli ipioted barb. RADII HEEL 447 arising from the various operations of paring, slicing and trimming, to which they have been subjected. Thus some pieces are cylindrical or rather barrel-shaped, others conical, while a large proportion are plano- convex, and others again are of no regular shape. These forms are not all found in the same package, the drug being usually sorted into round andj^a^ rlivharb. In dimensions we find 3 to 4 inches the commonest length, though an occasional piece 6 inches long or more, may be met witli. The width may be stated at 2 to 3 inches. The outer surface of the root is somewhat shrivelled, often exhibiting portions of a dark bark that have not been pared away. Many pieces are pierced with a hole, in which may be found the remains of a cord used to suspend the root while drying. The drug is dusted over with a bright brownish-yellow powder, on removal of which the outer side of the root is seen to have a rusty-brown hue, or viewed with a lens to be marked by the medullary rays, which appear as an infinity of short broken lines of deep brown, traversing a white ground. The character which most readily distinguishes the rhubarb of China, is that well-developed pieces, broken transversely, display these dark lines arranged as an internal ring of star-like, spots. Although this character is by no means obvious in every piece of Chinese rhubarb, it is of some utility from the fact that in European rhubarb, such spots are generally wholly wanting, or at most occur only sparingly and in an isolated manner. In judging of rhubarb, great stress is laid upon the appearance of the root when broken, and the circumstance of the fractured surface presenting no symptoms of decay, discoloration, or sponginess.^ In good rhubarb, the interior is found to be compact, and beautifully veined with reddish-brown and white, sometimes not unmixed with iron-grey. The root when chewed tastes gritty, by reason of the crystals it contains of oxalate of calcium ; but it is besides bitter, astringent and nauseous. The odour is peculiar, and except by the druggist, is mostly regarded as very disagreeable. Microscopic Structure — The tissue of rhubarb is made up of a white parenchyme, brown medullary rays and a few irregularly scattered very large fibro-vascular bundles, which are devoid of ligneous cells. On a transverse fracture of specimens, which are not too much peeled, a narrow dark cambial zone may be distinguished. In that part of the root, only the medullary rays display the usual radial arrangement, and in the interior of the root no regular structure is met with. There is no well-marked pith, but the central portion of the tissue shows a mixture of white parenchyme and brown medullary rays running in every direc- tion. In full-grown roots, the central part is separated from the cambial zone by the band of stellate patches already mentioned. As to the contents of the white cells, they are loaded either with starch or tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium, the amount of the latter being especially liable to variation. Scheele, after having discovered the oxalic acid, pointed out in 1784, that the crystals under notice consist ^ The quality and appearance of rhubarb dark or decayed portion removed with a are far more regarded in England than on chisel or file, while the operator is not allowed the Continent. To insure a fine powder of to handle the drug except with leather brilliant hue, the drug is most carefully pre- gloves, pared, each root being split open, and any 448 POLYGON ACEM. of that acid in combination with lime. The medullary rays contain the substances peculiar to rhubarb, but none of them occur in a crystalline state. Chemical Composition — The active constituent of the root has long been supposed to reside in the yellowish red contents of the medul- lary rays. Schrader as early as 1807, prepared a Rhuharh-Bitter, to which he attributed the medicinal powers of the drug. Since then, several sub- stances of the same kind have been separated by various methods, and described under different names : such are the Rliabarherstoff of Tromms- dorff, the Bheumin of Hornemann, the Rhabarberin of Buchner and Herberger, the Rhuharh- Yellow or Rhein, and the Rhdbarhic Acid of Brandes. Schlossberger and Dopping in 1844, first recognized among the above- named substances, a definite chemical body named Chrysophan or Chryso- phanic Acid, C^^H^O*, which had been previously found by Eochleder and Heldt in the yellow lichen, Parjiulia parietina. It partly forms the yellow contents of the medullary rays of rhubarb, and when isolated, crystallizes in golden yellow needles or in plates. It dissolves in ether, alcohol, or benzol ; though scarcely soluble in water, it is nevertheless extracted from the root to some extent by that solvent, probably by reason of some accompanying substances. Alkalis dissolve it, forming fine dark red solutions. By precipitating alcoholic solutions of extract of rhubarb with ether, Schlossberger and Dopping obtained together with chrysophan, three resinous bodies which they named Aporetin, Phoioretin, and Erythroretin. De la Rue and Miller (1857) extracted from rhubarb in addition to chrysophan, an allied substance, Emodin, which crystallizes in orange- coloured prisms, sometimes as much as two inches long. Its composi- tion was found to agree with the formula C^^II^*^0^^. The latest researches on this difficult subject are those of Kubly,^ who has obtained from rhubarb the following constituents : — 1. Rheo-tannic Acid, C^^H^^O^^ a yellowish powder abundantly pre- sent in rhubarb, soluble in water or alcohol, not in ether. Its solutions produce blackish-green precipitates with persalts of iron, and greyish ones slowly turning blue, with protosalts of the same. 2. Rheumic Acid (Rheumsdwc), C^^H^^O^ obtained as a reddish- brown powder, by boiling rheo-tannic acid with a dilute mineral acid, a fermentable sugar being developed at the same time. Rheumic acid exhibits nearly the same reactions as rheo-tannic acid, but is very sparingly soluble in cold water. It partly pre-exists in rliubarb. 3. Neutral colourless substance, sparingly soluble in hot water, and separating from the latter in prismatic crystals of the formula C^*^H^^O* ; no name has yet been given to it. 4. Phceorctin, C^^H^'^O", agreeing with the substance thus named by Schlossberger and Dopping. It is a brown powder, soluble in alcohol or in acetic acid, but not in ether, chloroform or water. 5. Chrysophan, described above ; it agrees in composition with Alizarin. A pectic ^natter, which abounds in rhubarb, has not yet been satis- factorily examined. As to the mineral constituents, their amount is ' Fhann. Zntschrift f. Jiusilcmd, vi. (1807) 603 -fJ27; ab.stract in Wiggcrs and llusemanii'3 Juhresbericht for 1807. 40. . RADIX REEL 449 exceedingly variable. Two samples of good China Ehubarb dried at 100° C. and incinerated, yielded respectively 12-9 and 13-87 per cent of ash. Another sample which we had particularly selected on account of its pale tint, afforded no less than 43"27 per cent, of ash. The ash consists of carbonates of calcium and potassium. English rhubarb from Banbury (portions of a large specimen) left after incineration 10 '90 per cent, of ash. From a practical point of view the chemical history of rhubarb is far from satisfactory, for we are still ignorant to what principle the drug owes its therapeutic value, or what the pharmaceutical preparations in which the active matter may be most appropriately exhibited. Chrysophan is said to act as a purgative, but less powerfully than rhubarb itself. Uses — Ehubarb is one of the commonest and most valuable purga- tives ; it is also taken as a stomachic and tonic. Substitutes — These are found in the roots of the various species of Bheum, cultivated in Europe. In most countries, the cultivation of rhubarb for medicinal use has at some time been attempted. Yet in but few instances has it been persistently carried on ; and though the drug produced has often been of good appearance and by no means devoid of the characteristic properties of Asiatic rhubarb, it has failed to gain the confidence of medical men, and to acquire much importance in the drug-market. These results are doubtless owing in large measure to the species of Bheum cultivated, which has never been that which yields the finest Chinese rhubarb. Now that the true kind has been obtained, a much greater success may be anticipated.^ The European rhubarb most inte- resting from our point of view is English Rhubarb — So early as 1535, Andrew Boorde, an English Carthusian monk and practitioner of medicine, obtained seeds of rhubarb, which he sent as " a grett tresure " to Sir Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State to Henry VIII. ; but as he says they " come oiott of larlary" we must be allowed to hold their genuineness as doubtful.^ In the following century, namely about the year 1608, Prosper Alpinus of Padua cultivated as the True Ehubarb, a plant which is now known as Bheum Bhajjonticum L., a native of Southern Siberia and the regions of the Volga.^ From this stock. Sir Matthew Lister, physician to Charles I., procured seeds when in Italy, and gave them to Parkinson,* who raised plants from them. CoUinson obtained rhubarb plants from seeds procured in Tartary, and sent to him in 1742, by Professor Siegesbeck of St. Petersburg.^ About 1777, Hayward, an apothecary of Banbury in Oxfordshire, commenced the cultivation of rhubarb, with plants of Bh. Bhapontictim, raised from seeds sent from Eussia in 1762. The drug he produced was so good that the Society of Arts awarded him in 1789, a silver medal and in 1794 a gold medal.^ The Society also awarded medals about the same time (1789—1793) to growers of rhubarb in Somersetshire, Yorkshire 1 Mr. Uster of Bodicott near Banbury ^ Prosper Alpinus, Be Rhapontico, Lugd, has already (1873) commenced the cultiva- Bat. 1718. tiou of Rheum officinale Baillon. * Theatrum Botanicum, 1640. 157. * Boorde's Introdicctimi and Byetary, re- ^ jaWwyiajHortusCollinsomamoSjldiiZAZ. printed by the Early English Text Society, ^ Trans, of Soc. of Arts, viii. (1790) 75; 1870. 56. xii. (1794) 225. G G 450 POLYGON AGEM. and Middlesex, some of whom, it appears, cultivated Bli. palmatum. On tlie death, of Hayward in 1811, his rhubarb plants came into the possession of Mr. P. Usher, by whose descendants, Mr. E. Usher and sons^ they are still cultivated at Bodicott, a village near Banbury. We had the XDleasure of inspecting the rhubarb fields of Messrs. Usher on Sept. 4. 1872, and of seeing the whole process of preparing the root for the market.^ The land under cultivation is about 17 acres, the soil being a rich friable loam. The roots are taken from the ground during the autumn up to the month of November. It is considered advantageous that they should be 6 or 7 years old, but they are seldom allowed to attain more than 3 or 4 years. The clumps of root as removed from the field to the yard, where the trimming takes place, are of huge size, weighing with the earth attached to them, as much as 60 or 70 ft. They are partially cleaned, the smaller roots are cut off, and the large central portion is rapidly trimmed into a short, cylindrical mass the size of a child's head. This latter subsequently undergoes a still further paring, and is finally sliced longitudinally ; the other and less valuable roots are also pared, trimmed, and assorted according to size. The fresh roots are fleshy, easily cut, and of a beautiful deep yellow. All are dried in buildings constructed for the purpose and heated by flues. The drying occupies several weeks. The root after drying has a shrivelled, unsightly appearance, which may be remedied by paring and filing. The finished drug has to be stored in a warm dry place. When well prepared, Banbury rhubarb is of excellent appearance. The finest pieces, which are semi-cylindrical, are quite equal in size to the drug of China. The colour is as good, and the fractured surface exhibits pink markings not less distinct and brilliant. Even the smaller roots which are dried as sticks, have internally a good colour and afford a fine powder. But the odour is somewhat different from that of Chinese rhubarb ; the taste is less bitter but more mucilaginous and astringent, and the root is of a more spongy, soft, and brittle texture. The struc- ture is the same as that of the Chinese rhubarb, except that, as already stated, the star-like spots, if present, are isolated, and not arranged in a regular zone. The drug commands but a low price, and is chiefly sold, it is said, for exportation in the state of powder. It is not easily purchased in London. FrencJi and German Rhubarb — The cultivation of rliubarb was commenced in France in the latter half of the last century, and has been pursued with some enthusiasm in various localities. The species grown were Bhcum ijalmahim L., Bli. undulatum L, Bh. comijactu7ii L. and Bli. Bliaijonticum L. The first was thought by Guibourt - to afford a root more nearly approaching than any other, the rhubarb of China ; but it is that which is cultivated the least readily, the central root being liable to premature decay. Both this plant and Rli. undiLlatiitii, were formerly cultivated by order of the liussian Government on a large scale at Kolywan and Krasnojarsk in Soutliern Siberia, but the culture has, we believe, been long abandoned. '^ ^ No use is made of the leaves. oflercd for sale iu Loudon, Dec. 1, 1853. ^ Histoirc dcs Drorjues, ii. (1849) 398. Samples of the drug now 80 years old, are •^ Twelve chests of this rhubarb said to be iu my possession and still sound and good. of the crop of 1793, which had been lying — D. H. in the Russian Goyemment warehouses, were MYBISTICA. 451 As to France/ it appears from inquiries we have lately made (1873), that except in the neighbourhood of Avignon and in a few other scattered localities, the cultivation has now ceased. Elieum Bhaponticum is the source of the rhubarb which is produced at Austerlitz and Auspitz in Moravia, and at Ilmitz, Kremnitz and Erauenkirchen in Hungary. Some rhubarb is also produced in Silesia from Bh. Emodi Wall. {Bh. australe Don.) MYEISTICE.^. M Y R I S T I C A. N'uclei Myristicce, Semen MyristiccB, Nux m.oscliata ; Nutmeg; F. Muscade, Noix de Muscade ; G. Muskatnuss. Botanical Origin — Myristica fragrans Houttuyn {M. moschata Thunb., M. ojjicinalis Linn. 1), a handsome, bushy, evergreen tree, with dark shining leaves, growing in its native islands to a height of 40 to 50 feet. It is found wild in Jilolo, Ceram, Amboyna, Bouro, the western peninsula of New Guinea, and in many of the adjacent islands, including the very small volcanic group of Banda, south of Ceram ; but it is not indigenous to any of the islands westward of these, or to the Philippines (Crawfurd). The nutmeg-tree has been introduced into Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra, Malacca, Bengal, the islands of Singapore and Penang, as well as Brazil and the West Indies ; but it is only in a very few localities that the cultivation has been attended with success. In its native countries, the tree comes into bearing in its ninth year, and is said to continue fruitful until 60 or even 80 years old, yielding annually as inany as 2000 fruits. It is dioecious, and one male tree furnishes pollen sufficient for twenty female. History — It has been generally believed that neither the nutmeg nor mace was known to the ancients. C. F. Ph. von Martins ^ however maintains that mace was alluded to in the comedies of Plautus,^ written about two centuries before the Christian era. The words Macer. Macar, Machir or Macir, occurring in the writings of Scribonius Largus, Dioscorides, Galen, and Pliny are thought by Von Martins to refer in each instance to mace. But that the substance desig- nated by these names was not mace, but the bark of a tree growing in Malabar, was pointed out by Acosta nearly three centuries ago, and by many subsequent writers, and as we think, with perfect correctness.^ Nutmegs and mace were imported from India at an early date by the Arabians, and thus passed into^western countries. Aetius, who was resident at the court of Constantinople about the year 540, appears to have been acquainted with the nutmeg, if that at least is intended by the term Nuces Indicce, prescribed together with cloves, spikenard, costus, calamus aromaticus and sandal wood, as an ingredient of the Sufumigium moschatum.^ "^ Flora Brasiliensis, fasc. 11-12. 133; * Aetius,',tetrabiblosiv.serm.4. c. 122. — It also in BtKhner's Repertoriumfur Pharmacie, must however be admitted that Nux Indica, ix. (1860) 529-538. in mediseval authors usually signifies the 2 Pseudolus, act. iii. scena 2. Coco-nut. 3 Merat et De Lens, Diet, de Mat. Med. iv. (1832) 173. G G 2 452 MTRISTICEm. Masndi^ who appears to have visited India in a.d. 916-920, pointed out that tlie nutmeg, like cloves, areca nut and sandal wood, was a pro- duct of the eastern islands of the Indian Archipelago. The Arabian geographer Edrisi, who wrote in the middle of the 12th century, men- tions both nutmegs and mace as articles of import into Aden;^ and again " Nois mouscades " are among the spices on which duty was levied at Acre in Palestine, circa a.d. 1180.^ About a century later, another Arabian author, Kazwini,^ expressly named the Moluccas as the native country of the spices under notice. One of the earliest references to the use of nutmegs in Europe, occurs in a poem written about 1195, by Petrus d'Ebulo^ describing the entry into Eome of the Emperor Henry VI., prior to his corona- tion in April, 1191. On this occasion, the streets were fumigated with aromatics, which are enumerated in the following line : — " Balsama, thus, aloe, myristica, cynnama, nardus." By the end of the 12th century, both nutmegs and mace were found in Northern Europe, — even in Denmark, as may be inferred from the allu- sion to them in the writings of Harpestreng.*^ In England, mace though well known, was a very costly spice, its value between a.d. 1284 and 1377 being about 4s. Id, per lb., while the average price of a sheep during the same period was but Is. ^d., and of a cow 9s. odJ It was also dear in Erance, for in the Gompte de r execution of the will of Jeanne d'Evreux, queen of Erance, in 1372, six ounces of mace are appraised per ounce, at 3 sols 8 deniers, equal to about 8s. 3d of our present money .'^ The use of these spices was diffused throughout Europe long before the Portuguese in 1512 had discovered the' mother-plant in the isles of Banda. The Portuguese held the trade of the Spice Islands for about a century, when it was wrested from them by the Dutch, who pursued the same policy of exclusiveness that they had followed in the case of cloves and cinnamon. In order to secure their monopoly, they endeavoured to limit the trees to Banda and Amboyna, and to exterminate them else- where, which in fact they did at Ceram and the small neighbouring islands of Kelang and ISTila. So completely was the spice trade in their hands, that the crops of sixteen years were said to be at one time in their warehouses, those of recent years being never thrown on the market. Thus the crop of 1744 was being sold in 1760, in which year an im- mense quantity of nutmegs and cloves was burned at Amsterdam lest the price should fall too low.^ During the occupation of the Spice Islands by the English from 1796 to 1802, the culture of the nutmeg was introduced into Bencoolen ^ Les Prairies d' or, i. (1861) 341. remarkable that nutmegs are not meutionecl, 2 Giographie, trad, par Jaubert, i. (1836) though wacc is named repeatedly. 51. '^ Leber, Ai^priciution dc la fortune pinvec 3 In the work quoted at p. 250, note 8. auvioycn dgc, ed. 2, 1817. 95. "* Kosmograj^hie, iibersetzt vou Ethe, i. '■* Vahiioiit do Bcimare, Diet. d'Histoirc (1869) 227. Nat. iv. (1775) 297.— This author wites as ' Carmen dc motihus siculis, Basil., 1746. an eye-witness of the destruction he has 23. — A new edition of this work by Prof. recorded: — "LelO Juin 1760, j'en ai vu a "Winklemann is now (1874) in the press. Amsterdam, prts de rAmiraute, un feu dont •^ iJanslcc Largehog, ([uoted by Meyer, ruliment etoit estiiau luiit millions argent Gcscldchte der Botuniic, xVi. {lioQ) 5Z7. dc France: on dcvoit en brulcr autant ' Rogers, Hist, of Agriculture and Prices le lendemain. Les pieds des si)ectateurs ill England, \. (1866) 361-362. 628. —It is baignoient dans I'huile essenticlle de cor substances ..." MYRISTICA. 453 and Penang,'^ and many years afterwards into Singapore. Extensive plantations of nutmeg-trees were formed in the two islands last named, and by a laborious and costly system of cultivation were for many years highly productive.^ In 1860, the trees were visited by a de- structive blight which the cultivators were powerless to arrest, and which ultimately ,!led to the ruin of the plantations, so that in 1867, there was no such thing as nutmeg cultivation either in Penang or Singapore.^ Though so long valued in Europe and Asia, neither nutmegs nor mace are ever emj)loyed as a condiment in the islands where they are indigenous.* Collection arid Preparation — Almost the whole surface of the Banda Isles, observes Mr. Wallace,^ is planted with nutmeg-trees, which thrive under the shade of the lofty Canarium commune. The light volcanic soil, the shade, and the excessive moisture of these islands, where it rains more or less every month in the year, seem exactly to suit the nutmeg-tree, which requires no manure and scarcely any attention. In Bencoolen,® the trees bear all the year round, but the chief harvest takes place in the later months of the year, and a smaller one in April, May and June. The fruit as it splits, is gathered by means of a hook attached to a long stick, the pericarp removed, and the mace carefully stripped off. The nuts are then taken to the drying house (a brick building), placed on frames, and exposed to the gentle heat of a smoul- dering fire, with arrangements for a proper circulation of air. This drying operation lasts for two months, during which time the nutmegs are turned every second or third day. At the end of this period, the kernels are found to rattle in the shell, an indication that the drying is complete. The shells are then broken with a wooden mallet, the nutmegs picked out and sorted, and finally rubbed over with dry sifted lime. In Banda the smaller and less sightly nutmegs are reserved for the preparation of the expressed oil. The old commercial policy of the Dutch originated the singular practice of breaking the shell, and immersing the kernel of the artificially dried seed in milk of lime, — sometimes for a period of three months. This was done with a view to render impossible the germination of any nutmegs sent into the market. The folly of such a proceeding was demonstrated by Teijsmann, who proved that mere exposure to the sun for a week is sufficient to destroy the vitality of the seed. By immersion in milk of lime, many nutmegs are spoiled and the necessity is incurred of a second drying. Lumsdaine has also shown that even the dry liming process is, to say the least, entirely needless. 1 How tempting the cultivation must * Crawfurd, Dictioimry of tlie IndAan have appeared, may be judged from the Islands, 1856. 304.— Much additional infor- price of mace, which we find quoted on the mation will be found in this work. 3 January, 1800, in the io?icZo5i Price CtMTCwi ^ The Malay Archipelago, \. (1869)452. — (which gives onlj import prices), as 85s. to See also Bickmore, Travels in the East Indian 90s. per B. ;— to these rates must be added Archipelago, 1868. 225. the duty of 7s. Id. per lb. ® Lumsdaine, Pharm. Journ. xi. (1852) " Seemann, Hooker's Journ. of Bot. iv. 516. For further information on the ma- (1852) 83. nagement of nutmeg plantations in Sumatra, ^ Collingwood in Journ. of Linnean Society, consult the original paper. Bot, X. (1869) 45. 454 MYRISTICEM Nutmegs are well preserved in their natural shell, in which state the Chinese have the good sense to prefer them. The process of liming nutmegs is however still largely followed ; and the prejudice in favour of the spice thus prepared is so strong in certain countries, that nutmegs not limed abroad, have sometimes to be limed in London to fit them for exportation, Penang nutmegs are always imported in the natural state, — that is, un-limed. Description — The fruit of Myristica fragrans is a pendulous, globose drupe, about 2 inches in diameter, and not unlike a small round pear. It is marked by a furrow which passes round it, and by which at maturity its thick fleshy pericarp splits into two ]Dieces, exhibiting in its interior a single seed, enveloped in a fleshy foliaceous mantle or arillus, of fine crimson hue, which is onace. The dark brown, shining, ovate seed is marked with impressions corresponding to the lobes of the arillus ; and on one side, which is of paler hue and slightly flattened, a line indicating the raphe may be observed. The bony testa does not find its way into European commerce, the so-called nutmeg being merely the kernel or nucleus of the seed. Nutmegs exhibit nearly the form of their outer shell with a corresponding diminution in size. The London dealers esteem them in proportion to. their size, the largest which are about one inch long by -^ of an inch broad, and four of which will weigh an ounce, fetching the highest price. If not dressed with lime, they are of a greyish brown, smooth yet coarsely furrowed and veined longitudinally, marked on the flatter side with a shallow groove, A transverse section shows that the inner seed coat {endopleura) penetrates into the albumen in long, narrow brown strips, reaching the centre pf the seed, thereby imparting the peculiar marbled appearance familiar in a cut nutmeg. At the base of the albumen and close to the hilum, is the embryo, formed of a short radicle with cup-shaped cotyledons, whose slit and curled edges penetrate into the albumen. The tissue of the seed can be cut with equal facility in any direction. It is extremely oily, and has a delicious aromatic fragrance, with a spicy rather acrid taste. Microscopic Structure — The testa consists mainly of long, thin, radially arranged, rigid cells, which are closely interlaced and do not exhibit any distinct cavities. The endopleura which forms the adhering coat of the kernel and penetrates into it, consists of soft-walled, red- brown tissue, with small scattered bundles of vessels. In the outer layers the endopleura exhibits small collaj)sed cells ; but the tissue which fills the folds that dip into the interior, consists of much larger cells. The tissue of the albumen is formed of soft-walled parenchyme, which is densely filled with conspicuous starch-grains, and with fat, partly crystallized. Among the prismatic crystals of fat, large thick rhombic or six-sided tables may often be observed. With these are associated grains of albuminoid matter. Chemical Composition — After starch and albuminoid matter, the principal constituent of nutmeg is the/«i^, which makes up about a fourth of its weight, and is known in commerce by the incorrect name of Oil of Mace (see p. 456). The volatile oil, to which the smell and taste of nutmegs are chiefly MYRISTICA. 455 due, amounts to between 2 and 3 per cent./ and consists, according to Cloez (1864), almost entirely of a hydrocarbon, C^'^H^'^, boiling at 165° C, which Grladstone ^ who assigns it the same composition, calls Myristicene. The latter chemist found in the crude oil, an oxygenated oil, Myristicol, of very difficult purification and possibly subject to change during the process- of rectifying. It has a high boiling point (about 220'' C. ?) and the characteristic odour of nutmeg ; unlike carvol and menthol with which it is isomeric, it does not form a crystalline compound with hydrosulphuric acid. Oil of nutmegs, distilled in London by Messrs. Herrings and Co., examined in a column 200 mm. long, we found to deviate the ray of polarized light, 15°*3 to the right; that of the Long Nutmeg {Myristica fatua Houtt.), furnished to us by the same firm, deviated 28°'7 to the right. From the facts recorded by Gmelin,^ it would appear that oil of nutmeg sometimes deposits a stearoptene called Myristicin, We are not acquainted with such a deposit ; yet we have been kindly furnished by Messrs. Herrings with a crystalline substance which they obtained during the latter part of the process of distilling both common and long nutmegs. It is a greyish greasy mass, which by repeated crystallizations from spirit of wine, we obtained in the form of brilliant, colourless scales, fusible at 54° C, and still possessing the odour of nutmeg. The crystals are readily soluble in benzol, bisulphide of carbon or chloro- form, sparingly in petroleum ether ; their solution in spirit of wine has a decidedly acid reaction, and is devoid of rotatory power. By boiling them with alcohol, sp. gr. 0'843, and anhydrous carbonate of sodium, we obtained a solution which after removal of the alcohol, left a residuum perfectly soluble in boiling w^ater, forming a jelly on cooling. By adding hydrochloric acid to the warm aqueous solution, the original crystallizable substance again made its appearance, yet almost devoid of odour. It is in fact nothing else than Myristic Acid (see next page). Production and Commerce — The nutmegs and mace now brought into the market are to a large extent the produce of the Banda Islands,'' of which however only three, namely Lontar or the Great Banda, Pulo Ai, and Pulo ISTera, have what are termed Nutmeg Parks. According to official statements of the Dutch, the first-named island possessed in 1864, about 266,000 fruit-bearing trees ; Ternate on the western coast of Jilolo, 46,000; Menado in the island of Celebes, 35,000, and Amboyna, only 31,000. The nutmegs of the Banda Islands are shipped to Batavia. The quantity exported from Java in 1871 (all, we believe, from Batavia, and therefore the produce of the Banda Islands) is stated as 8107 peculs (1,080,933 ft).), of which 2300 peculs (306,666 ft).) were shipped to the United States, and a rather larger quantity to Singapore.^ The last- named port also shipped in the same year a very large quantity (310,576 ft).) of nutmegs to North America.^ ^ Messrs. Herrings & Co. of London have from tlie fact that the Great Banda, the informed us, that 2874 ft. of nutmegs dis- largest of them, is but about 7 miles long by tilled in their laboratory, afforded 67 ft. of 2 miles broad ; while the entire group occu- essential oil, i.e. 2"33 i^er cent. jjies no more than 17'6 geogi-aphical square ^ Journ. of Chemical Soc. x. (1872) i. miles. 3 Chemistry, xiv. (1860) 389. ^ Consular R&ports, August 1873. 952-3. * Some idea of the extremely small area ^ Blue Booh for the : Colony of the Straits of these famous islands may be gathered Settlements for 1871, Singapore, 1872. 456 MYRlSTICHm. Nutmegs were exported from Padang in Sumatra in the year 1871, to the extent of 2766 peculs (368,800 ib.), chiefly to America and Singapore. The quantity imported into the United Kingdom in 1870, was 537,978 ib. Uses — Nutmeg is a grateful aromatic stimulant, chiefly employed for flavouring other medicines. It is also in constant use as a condi- ment, though less appreciated than formerly. Oleum Myristicse expressum. Oleum Maciclis ; Balsamum vel Oleum Nucistce ; Expressed Oil of Nutmegs, Nutmeg Butter, Oil of Mace ; !F. Beurre de Muscade ; G. Muskathutter, Muskatnussol. This article reaches England chiefly from Singapore, in oblong, rectangular blocks, about 10 inches long by 2| inches square, enveloped in a wrapper of palm leaves. It is a solid unctuous substance of an orange-brown colour, varying in intensity of shade, and presenting a mottled aspect. It has a very agreeable odour and a fatty aromatic taste. In operating on 2 lb. of nutmegs, first powdered and heated in a waterbath and pressed while still hot, we obtained 9 ounces of solid oil, €quivalent to 28 per cent. This oil, which in colour, odour and consist- ence does not differ from that which is imported, melts at about 45° C. ; and dissolves perfectly in two parts of warm ether or in four of warm alcohol sp. gr. "800. Nutmeg butter contains the volatile oil already described, to the extent of about 6 per cent., besides several fatty bodies. One of the latter, termed Myristin, C^^H^^O^, may be obtained by means of benzol, or by dissolving in ether that part of the butter of nutmeg which is insoluble in cold spirit of wine. The crystals of myristin melt, according to Playfair (1841), at 31° C. By saponification, they furnish glycerin, and Myristic Acid, C^^H^so^, the latter fusing at 53°-8 C.^ Myristin also occurs in spermaceti as well as, according to Mulder, in small quantity, in the fixed oils of linseed and poppy seed. Nutmegs accord- ing to Comar (1859) yield 10 to 12 per cent, of myristin. That part of nutmeg butter, which is more readily soluble in spirit of wine or benzol, contains another fat, which however has not yet been investigated. It is accompanied by a reddish colouring matter. MACIS. Mace; F. Macis ; G. Macis, MuskatUilthc. Botanical Origin — Myristica fragrans Houttuyn (see p. 451). The seed which deprived of its hard outer shell or testa, is known as the nutmeg, is enclosed when fresh in a fleshy net-like envelope, somewhat resembling the husk of a filbert. This organ which is united though not very closely, at the base of the stony shell both with the hilum and the contiguous portion of the raphe, of which parts it is an expansion, is termed arillus^ and when separated and dried, constitutes the mace of 1 Graelin, Chemistry, xvi. (1864) 209. sec Baillon, Hist. (Us Planics, ii. (1870) " On tlic iiatuio and origin of this organ, 499. MACIS. 457 the sho]:)s. In the fresh state it is fleshy, and of a beautiful crimson ; it envelopes the seed completely only at the base, afterwards dividing itself into broad flat lobes, which branch into narrower strips overlapping one another towards the summit. History — Included in that of the nutmeg (see preceding article). Description — The mace separated from the seed by hand, is dried in the sun, thereby losing its brilliant red hue and acquiring an orange- brown colour. It has a dull fatty lustre, exudes oil when pressed with the nail, and is horny, brittle and translucent. Steeped in v/ater it swells rather considerably. The entire arillus compressed and crumpled by packing, is aboiit If inches long with a general thickness of about yV of an inch or even -jV at the base. Mace has an agreeable aromatic smell nearly resembling that of nutmeg, and a pungent, spicy, rather acrid taste. Microscopic Structure — The uniform, small-celled, angular paren- chyme, is interrupted by numerous brown oil-cells of larger size. The inner part of the tissue contains also thin brown vascular bundles. The cells of the epidermis on either side are colourless, thick-walled, longitudinally extended, and covered with a peculiar cuticle of broad, flat, riband-like cells, which cannot however be removed as a continuous film. The parenchyme is loaded with small granules, to which a red colour is imparted by Millon's test (solution of mercurous nitrate) and an orange hue by iodine. The granules consequently consist of albu- minous matter, and starch is altogether wanting. Chemical Composition — The nature of the chemical constituents of mace may be inferred from the following experiments performed by one of us : — 17 grammes of finely powdered mace were entirely ex- hausted by boiling ether, and the latter allowed to evaporate. It left behind 5'57 grm., which after drying at 100° C. were diminished to 4-17. The difference, 1"40 grammes, answers to the amount of essential oil, of which consequently 8-2 per cent, had been present. The residue, amounting to 24-5 per cent., was a thickish aromatic balsam, in which we have not been able to ascertain the presence oifat ; it consisted of resin and semi-resinified essential oil. Alcohol further re- moved l'4per cent, of an uncrystallizable sugar, which reduced cupric oxide. The drug having been thus treated with ether and with alcohol, yielded almost nothing to cold water, but by means of boiling water 1*8 per cent, of a mucilage was obtained, which turned blue by addition of iodice, or reddish violet if previously dried. This substance is not soluble in an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide ; it appears rather to be an intermediate body between mucilage and starch.' The composition of mace is therefore very different from that of nutmeg. As to the volatile oil, of which several observers have obtained from 7 to 9 per cent. ,2 it is a fragrant colourless liquid which we found, when examined in a column 200 mm. long, deviated the ray 18°'8 to the right. Its greater portion consists according to Schacht (1862) of Macenc, (^lojjie^ a hydrocarbon boiling at 160° C, and distinguished from oil of 1 See my paper: Ueber StdrTce und Cellulose ^ In an actual experiment (1868) in the in Archiv der Pliarm. 196 (1871) 31. — laboratory of Messrs. Herrings & Co., Lon- F. A. F. don, 23 lb. of mace yielded 23 ozs. of volatile oil, which is equivalent to Q\ per cent. 458 LAUBACEA. turpentine by not forming a crystalline hydrate when mixed with alcohol and nitric acid. KoUer (1865) states that macene is identical with the hydrocarbon of oil of nutmeg (myristicene), yet the latter is said by Cloez to yield no solid compound when treated with hydrochloric gas. Macene on the other hand furnishes crystals of C^*^Hi^,HCl. Crude oil of mace contains like that of nutmeg, an oxygenated oil, the properties of which appear to have been not yet investigated. Commerce — Mace, mostly the produce as it would appear of the Banda Islands, was shipped from Java in 1871, to the extent of 2101 peculs (282,133 Sb.) ; and from Padang in Sumatra (excluding shipments to Java) to the amount of 457 peculs (60,933 ib.).^ The spice is exported principally to Holland, Singapore, and the United States. Uses — Mace is but rarely employed in medicine. It is chiefly con- sumed as a condiment. LAUEAOE^. CAMP HO RA. Camphor,^ Common Gamplior, Laurel Camphor; F. Camphre ; G. Gamplur. Botanical Origin — Cinnamomum Campliora Er. Nees et Ebermaier (Laurus Campliora L., Campliora officinarum C. Bauh.), the Camphor tree or Camphor Laurel, is widely diffused, being found throughout Central China and in the Japanese Islands. In China, it abounds principally in the eastern and central provinces, as in Chekiang, Fokien and Kiangsi. It is likewise plentiful in the island of Formosa, where it covers the whole line of mountains from north to south, up to an eleva- tion of 2000 feet above the level of the sea. It flourishes in tropical and subtropical countries, and forms a large and handsome tree in sheltered spots in Italy as far north as the Lago Maggiore. The leaves are small, shining, and glaucous beneath, and have long petioles ; the stem affords excellent timber, much prized on account of its odour for making clothes' chests and the drawers of cabinets. Camphor is obtained from other plants besides the camphor laurel, the most remarkable being Dryohalanops aromatica, a noble tree of the Indian Archipelago, further described at p. 464. History — The two kinds of camphor afforded by the two trees just named, have always been regarded by the Chinese as perfectly distinct substances, and in considering the history of camj)hor this fact must be borne in mind. On perusing the accounts of Laurel Camphor given by Cliinese writers,^ the remarkable fact becomes apparent, that although the tree was evidently well known in the 6th century, and probably even earlier, ^ Consular Reports, Axv^vmi 1873. 952-3. ' Passages from several have been trans- - The word Camphor, generally written lated and kindly placed at our disposal by by old Latin authors Capltura, and by Mr. A. Wylie. Dr. Bretschueider of Pekin English Camphire, is derived from the has also been good enough to aid us in the Arabic Kdfiir, which in turn is supposed to same manner. come from the Sanskrit Karpura, signifying vShitc. CAMPHORA. 459 and is specially noticed on account of its valuable timber, no mention is made in connexion with it of any such substance as caiwplior. Le-she-chin, the author of the celebrated herbal Ptm-tsao-hang-muh, written in the middle of the 16th century, was well acquainted with the two sorts of camphor, — the one produced by the camphor laurel of his own country, the other imported from the Malay islands ; and he narrates how the former was prepared by boiling the wood, and refined by repeated dry sublimations. Marco Polo, towards the end of the 13th century, saw the forests of Fokien in South-eastern China, in which, says he, are many of the trees which give camphor.^ It would thus appear that Laurel Camphor was known as early as the time of Marco Polo, yet it is certain that the more ancient notices which we shall now quote, have reference to the much valued Malay Camphor, which remains up to the present day one of the most precious substances of its class. There is no evidence that camphor reached Europe during the classical period of Greece and Eome. The first mention of it known to us, occurs in one of the most ancient monuments of the Arabic lan- guage, the poems of Imru-l-Kais,^ a prince of the Kindah dynasty, who lived in Hadramaut in the beginning of the 6th century. Nearly at the same period, Aetius of Amida (the modern Diarbekir) used camphor medicinally, but from the manner in -which he speaks of it, it was evidently a substance of some rarity.^ In fact for many centuries subsequent to this period, camphor was regarded as one of the most rare and precious of perfumes. Thus, it is mentioned in a.d. 636, with musk, ambergris, and sandal wood, among the treasures of Chosroes 11. , of the Sassanian dynasty of kings of Persia, in the palace at Madain on the Tigris, north of Babylon.^ Among the immense mass of valuables dispersed at Cairo on the downfall of the Patimite Khalif Mostanser in the 11th century, the stores of Camplior of Kaisur, and the figures of melons in camphor adorned with gold and jewels, besides vast quantities of musk and aloes wood, are noticed with astonishment by Arabian historians.^ It is also on record that about A.D. 642, Indian princes sent camphor as tribute or a gift to the Chinese Emperors ; ^ — further, that in the Teen- paou period (a.d. 742—755), the Cochinchinese brought to the Chinese court a tribute of Barus camphor said by the envoy to be found in the trunks of old trees, the like of which for fragrance was never seen again.'' Masudi,^ four centuries later, mentions a similar present from an Indian to a Chinese potentate, when 1000 wxnn'^ of aloes wood were accompanied by 10 menu of camphor, the choice quality of the latter being indicated by the remark that it was in pieces as large or larger than a pistachio-nut, ^ Yule, Book of Ser Marco Polo, ii. (1871) ° Quatremere, Mem. sur VEgypte, ii. (1811) 185. 366-375.— It is interesting to find that Kd- i-* 2 In the description of Arabia by Ibn fure-kaisuri, i. e. Kaisur Camplior is a term Hagik el Hamdany, fol. 170 of the MS. at still known in the Indian bazaars. Aden (Prof. Sprenger). , ^ Kauffer, (?e5c7acfei;o?i Ostoi^i, ii. (1859) 3 He directs two ounces of camphor to 491. be added to a certain preparation, provided "^ Translation from the Chinese communi- camphor is sufficiently abiindant.- — Tetr. iv. cated by Mr. A. Wylie. sermo 4. c. 114. ^ Les Prairies d' or, i. (Paris, 1861) 200. * G. Weil, GescMchte der Chalifen, i. ' The Arabian mend or menn is equal to (Mannheim, 1846) 75. ' 2i pounds Troy. 460 LdURACE^. Again, between a.d. 1342 and 1352, an embassy left Pekin bearing a letter from the Great Khan to Pope Benedict XII., accompanied by presents of silk, precious stones, eampho7\ musk, and spices.^ Ibn Batuta, the celebrated traveller, relates that after having visited the King of Sumatra, he was presented on leaving (a.d. 1347) with aloes-wood, cam'plwr, cloves, and sandal-wood, besides provisions. Ishak ibn Amran, an Arabian physician living towards the end of the 9th century, and Ibn Khurdadbah, a geographer of the same period, were among the first to point out that camphor is an export of the Malayan Archipelago ; and their statements are repeated by the Arabian writers of the middle ages, who all assert that the best camphor is produced in Fansur. This place, also called Kansiir or Kaisiir, was visited in the 13th century by Marco Polo, who speaks of its camphor as selling for its weight in gold ; Yule ^ believes it to be the same spot as Barus, a town on the western coast of Sumatra, still giving a name to the camphor produced in that island. From all these facts and many others that might be adduced,^ it undoubtedly follows that the camphor first in use was that found native in the trunk of the Sumatran Dryobalanops aromatica, and not that of the Camphor Laurel. At what period and at whose instigation the Chinese began to manufacture camphor from the latter tree, are not known. Camphor was known in Europe as a medicine as early as the 12th century, as is evident from the mention of it by the abbess Hildegard * (who calls it gawplioroi), Otho of Cremona,^ and the Danish canon Harpestreng {pb. A.D. 1244), Garcia d'Orta states (1563) that it is the camphor of China which alone is exported to Europe, that of Borneo and Sumatra being a hundred times more costly, and all consumed by eastern nations. Kampfer,*^ who resided in Japan in 1690-92, and who figured the Japanese camphor tree under the name Laurus canipliorif&ra, expressly declares the latter to be entirely different from the camphor tree of the Indian Archipelago. He further states that the camphor of Borneo was among the more profitable commodities imported into Japan by the Dutch, whose homeward cargoes included Japanese camphor to the extent of 6000 to 12,000 ib. annually.'^ This camphor was refined in Holland by a process long kept secret, and was then introduced into the market. In Pomet's time (1694 and earlier), crude camphor was common in France, but it had to be sent to Holland for purification. It is doubtful whether at that period, or even much later, any camphor was obtained from Formosa. Du Halde ^ makes no allusion to it as a production of that island ; nor does he mention it among the commodities of Emouy (Amoy), which was the Chinese port then in most active communication with Formosa. Production — The camphor of European commerce is produced in ^ Yule, Cathay a/iid the way thither, ii. ■* S. Hildegardis Opera Omnia, accurante 357. J. P. Migne, Paris, 1855. 1145. ^ The Book of Ser Mareo Polo, ii. 244. •'' Choulant, Macer Floridus, Lips. 1832. ^ For further historical details, compare 161. my paper in the Schweizerischc jyocJixnschri/t ° Amoniitatcs exotica^ (1712) 770. /. Pharmacic, 27 Sept., 4 and 11 Oct. 1867, ^ Hist, of Japan, translated by Scheuchzer, and in Buchuer's Rcpcrtoriiim f. Pharmacic i. (1727) 35.3. 370. xvu. (1868) 28.— F. A. F. « Description de la Chine, i. (1735) 161. CAMPHOR A. 461 the island of Formosa and in Japan, We have no evidence that any is manufactured at the present day in China. In Formosa, the camphor-producing districts lie in the narrow belt of debateable ground, which separates the border Chinese settlements from the territory still occupied by the aboriginal tribes. The camphor is prepared from the wood, which is cut into small chips from the trees, by means of a gouge with a long handle. In this process there is great waste, many trees being cut and then left with a large portion of valuable timber to perish. The next operation is to expose the wood to the vapour of boiling water, and to collect the camphor which volatilizes with the steam. For this purpose, stills are constriicted thus : — a long wooden trough, frequently a hollowed trunk, is fixed over a furnace and protected "by a coating of clay. Water is poured into it, and a board perforated with numerous small holes is luted over it. Above these holes, the chips are placed and covered with earthen pots. A fire having been lighted in the furnace, the water becomes heated, and the steam passing through the chips, carries with it the camphor, which condenses in minute white crystals in the upper part of the pots. From these it is scraped out every few days, and is then very pure and clean. Four stills, each having ten pots placed in a row over one trough, are generally arranged under one shed. These stills are moved from time to time, according as the gradual exhaustion of timber in the locality renders such transfer desirable. A considerable quantity of camphor is however manufactured in the towns, the chips being conveyed thither from the country. Camphor is brought from the interior to Tamsui, the chief port of Formosa, in baskets holding about half a pecul each (1 pecul = 133|-ib.), lined and covered with large leaves. Upon arrival, it is stored in vats holding from 50 to 60 peculs each, or it is packed at once in the tubs, or lead-lined boxes, in which it is exported. From the vats or tubs, there drains out a yellowish essential oil known as Camphor Oil, which is used by the Chinese in rheumatism.^ Kampfer in his account^ of the manufacture of camphor in the Japanese province of Satzuma and in the islands of Gotho, describes the boiling of the chips in an iron pot covered with an earthen head containing straw in which the camphor collects. He does not mention any draining of the product from essential oil. Purification — Camphor as it arrives in Europe requires to be purified by sublimation. The crude drug consists of small crystalline grains, which cohere into irregular friable masses, of a greyish white or pinkish hue. Dissolved in spirit of wine, it leaves from 2 to 10 per cent, of impu- rities consisting of gypsum, common salt, sulphur, or vegetable fragments. In Europe, crude camphor is sublimed from a little charcoal or sand, iron filings or quick-lime, and sent into the market as Refined Cann'plior in the form of large bowls or concave cakes, about 10 inches in diameter, 3 inches in thickness, and weighing from 9 to 12 Ib.^ Each bowl has a 1 The foregoing particulars are chiefly ^ Op. cit. p. 772. extracted from the Trade Re'port of Tamsui ^ These are the dimensions of the cakes by E. C. Taintor, Acting Commissioner of manufactured in the laboratory of Messrs. Customs, published in the Reports on Trade Howards of Stratford, but it is obvious that at the Treaty Forts in China for 1869, they may vary with different makers. Shanghai, 1870. 462 lAJJEACEm. large round hole at the bottom, corresponding to the aperture of the vessel in which the sublimation has been conducted. This operation is performed in peculiar glass flasks termed homholoes, in the upper half of which the pure camphor concretes. These flasks having been charged and placed in a sand-bath, are rapidly heated to about 120°-190° C. in order to remove the water. Afterwards the temperature is slowly in- creased to about 204° C, and maintained during 24 hours. The flasks are finally broken. As camphor is a neutral substance, the addition of lime probably serves merely to retain traces of resin or empyreumatic oil. Iron would keep back sulphur were any present. The refining of camphor is carried on to a large extent in England, Holland, Hamburg, and Paris. It is a process requiring great care on account of the inflammability of the product. The temperature must also be nicely regulated, so that the sublimate may be deposited not merely in loose crystals, but in compact cakes. In India where the con- sumption of camphor is very large, the natives effect the sublimation in a copper vessel, the charge of which is 1| maunds (42 lb.) : fire is applied to the lower part, the upper being kept cool.^ Description — Purified Camphor forms a colourless crystalline, translucent mass, traversed by numerous fissures, so that notwithstand- ing a certain toughness, a mass can readily be broken by repeated blows. By spontaneous and extremely slow evaporation at ordinary tempera- tures, camphor sublimes in lustrous hexagonal plates or prisms, having but little hardness. If triturated in a mortar, camphor adheres to the pestle, so that it cannot be powdered loer se. But if moistened with spirit of wine, ether, chloroform, methylic alcohol, glycerin, or an essential or fatty oil, pulverization is eiiected without difficulty. By keeping a short time, the powder acquires a crystalline form. With an equal weight of sugar, camphor may also be easily powdered. Camphor melts at 175° C, boils at 205° C, and volatilizes somewhat rapidly even at ordinary temperatures. To this latter property, com- bined with slight solubility, must be attributed the curious rotatory motion which small lumps of camphor (as well as barium butyrate, stannic bromide, and a few other substances) exhibit when thrown on to water. The solubility of camphor in water is very small, 1300 parts dissolv- ing about one ; but even this small quantity is partially separated on addition of some alkaline or earthy salt, as sulphate of magnesium. Alcohols, ethers, chloroform, carbon bisulphide, volatile and fixed oils and liquid hydrocarbons, dissolve camphor abundantly. The sp. gr. of camphor at 0° C. and up to G° C. is the same as that of water ; yet at a somewhat higher temperature, camphor expands more quickly, so that at 10° to 12° C. its sp. gr. is only 0-992. In concentrated solution or in a state of fusion, camphor turns the plane of polarization strongly to the right. Oflicinal solution of camphor {Spiritus Gamjjhorce) is too weak, and does not deviate the ray of light to a considerable amount.- Crystals of camphor are devoid of rotatory power.^ ^ llattlieson, England to Delhi, Lond. "* Dcs Cloizeaiix, Comptes Rendus, Ixx. 1870. 474. (1870) 1209. - Plmrm. Journ. 18 April, 1874. 830. CAMPHOR J. 463 The taste and odour of camphor are sui generis, or at least are com- mon only to a group of nearly allied substances. Camphor is not altered by exposure to air or light. It burns easily, affording a brilliant smoky flame. Chemical Composition — Camphor, G^^W-'^O, by treatment with various reagents, yields a number of interesting products : thus when repeatedly distilled with chloride of zinc or anhydrous phosphoric acid, it is converted into Cymol, C^°ff*, a body contained in many essential oils, or obtainable therefrom. Camphor, and also camphor oil, when subjected to powerful oxidizing agents, absorbs oxygen, passing gradually first into crystallized Cam- fhoric Add, C^*^H^^O^ and afterwards into Campliretic Acid} C^'^ff^O'', water and carbonic acid being at the same time eliminated. Many essential oils, resins and gum-resins likewise yield these acids when similarly treated. By means of less energetic oxidizers, camphor may be converted into Oxy-cam-plioT. C^^H^^O'^, still retaining its original odour and taste (Wheeler, 1868).2 Commerce — Two kinds of crude camphor are known in the English market, namely : 1. Formosa or China Camphor, imported in chests lined with lead or tinned iron, and weighing about 1 cwt. each ; it is of a light brown, small in grain, and always wet, as the merchants cause water to be poured into the cases before shipment, with a view, it is pretended, of lessening the loss by evaporation. The exports of this camphor from Tamsui in Formosa^ in the years 1870—71—72 were as follows : — 1870 1871 1872 14,481 peculs (1,930,800 Yb.) 9691 peculs (1,292,133 K>.) 10,281 peculs (1,370,800 K..) The shipments of camphor from Takow, the other open port of Formosa, are of insignificant amount. Planks of camphor wood are now exported in some quantity from Tamsui. 2. Japan Camphor is lighter in colour and occasionally of a pinkish tint ; it is also in larger grains. It arrives in double tubs (one within the other) without metal lining, and hence is drier than the previous sort ; the tubs hold about 1 cwt. It fetches a somewhat higher price than the Formosa camphor. Hiogo and Osaka exported in 1871, 7089 peculs (945,200 lb.), and Nagasaki 745 peculs (99,333 lb.), the total value being 116,718 dollars.* The imports of Unrefined Camphor into the United Kingdom amounted in 1870 to 12,368 cwt. (1,385,216 lb.); of Refined Camphor in the same year to 2361 cwt.^ 1 Schwanert in Liebig's Annalen, 128 ^ Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in (1863) 77.— KacMer (1871) has disputed the China for 1872, part. 2. p. 124. existence of this acid. * Commercial Reports from H. M. Consuls ^ For information respecting the numerous in Japan, ISo. 1, 1872. — The returns for other compounds of camphor, consult Gmelin, Hiogo and Osaka are upon the authority of Chemistry, siv. (1860) 338 ; Watts, Did. of the Chamber of Commerce. Chemistry, i. (1863) ; Schoiiemmer, Carbon ^ Statement of the Trade arid Navigation Compounds, 1874. 303. of the United Kingdom for 1870, p. 61 — no later returns accessible. 464 LAVRACEJE. Camphor is largely consumed by the natives of India ; the quantity of the crude drug imported into Bombay in the year 1872-73, was 3801 cwt/ Uses — Camphor has stimulant properties and is frequently used in medicine both internally and externally. It is largely consumed in India. Other kinds of Camphor ; Camphor Oils. Barus Oamplior, Borneo Camphor, Malayan Camphor, Dryo- halanop)S Camphor. — This, as already explained, is the substance to which the earliest notices of camphor refer. The tree which affords it is Dryobalanops aromatica Gartn. [D. GampJiora Colebrooke), of the order Bi'pterocar'pem, one of the most majestic objects of the vegetable kingdom. The trunk is very tall, round, and straight, furnished near the base with huge buttresses ; it rises 100 to 150 feet without a branch, then producing a dense crown of shining foliage, 50 to 70 feet in dia- meter, on which are scattered beautiful white flowers of delicious fragrance.'"^ The tree is indigenous to the Dutch Eesidencies on the north-west coast of Sumatra, between 0° and 3° IST. lat., from Ayer Bangis to Barus and Singkel, and to the northern part of Borneo, and the small British island of Labuan. The camphor is obtained from the trunk, in longitudinal fissures of which it is found in a solid crystalline state, and extracted, by laboriously splitting the wood. It can only be got by the destruc- tion of the entire tree ; — in fact, many trees afford none, so that to avoid the toil of useless felling, it is now customary to try them by cutting a hole in the side of the trunk, but the observation so made is often fallacious. Spenser St. John, British Consul in Borneo, was told that trees in a state of decay often contain the finest cam- phor.^ The camphor when collected is carefully picked over, washed and cleaned, and then separated into three qualities, the best being formed of the largest and purest crystals, while the lowest is greyish and pulverulent. It is difficult to state how much camphor is usually obtained from a single tree, but Colebrooke's statement that a tree should produce about 11 tt). is, we suspect, near the truth.^ A good proportion of the small quantity produced is consumed in the funeral rites of the Batta princes, whose families are often ruined by the lavish expense of providing the camphor and buffaloes which the custom of their obsequies requires. The camphor which is exported, is eagerly bouglit for the China market, but some is also sent to Japan, Laos, Cochin China, Cambodia, and Siam. ^ Statement of the Trade and Navirjation thickest and oldest trees rarely contain more of Bombay for 1872-73. ii. 27. than 2 ounces ! If the latter statement were - For some recent observations on the true, it would require at least 1000 trees to hotany of iJryohalanojis, sec paper by W. T. yield^a single pecul of camphor. Miquel (Proc/. Thiselton Dyer in Trimeu's Journ. of Botany, Florw Sumatrana; (56. ) confirms Colebrooke, Api-il 1874. 98. in stating that 100 lb. Avas said to be the ^ Life in the Forests of tlic Far East, ii. produce of 9 trees. Another report whicli (1862) 272. lie quotes, is to the effect that a single tree * De Vriese and Motley in Hooker's Jouni, yields only a few catties (1 catty = Ii lb. ov o/.Bo<.iv. (1852; 33.202. De Vriese declares 604 grammes), this to be quite exaggerated, and that the C AMPHORA. 465 The quantity annually shipped from Borneo was reckoned by Motley in 1851 to be about 7 peculs (933 lb.). The export from Sumatra was estimated by De Vriese at 10 to 15 quintals per annum,^ The quantity imported into Canton in 1872 was returned as 23y\p peculs (3159 lb.), value 42,326 taels, equivalent to about 80s. per ib.^ In the Annual Statement of the Trade of Bombay for the year 1872-3, 2 cvft.oi Malayan Cam'plior is stated to have been imported ; it was valued at 9141 Es. (£914). The price in Borneo in 1851 of camphor of fine quality, was 30 dollars per catty, or about 95s. per lb. : consequently the drug never finds its way into European commerce. Borneo Camphor, also termed by chemists Borneol or Camphyl Aleohol, is somewhat harder than common camphor, also a little heavier so that it sinks in water. It is less volatile, and does not crystallize on the interior of the bottle in which it is kept ; and it requires for fusion a higher temperature, namely 198° C. It has a somewhat different odour, resembling that of common camphor with the addition of patchouli or ambergris. The composition of borneol is represented by the formula Qiojji8Q_ j|3 j^g^y -J3Q converted by the action of nitric acid into common camphor, which it nearly resembles in most of its physical properties. Conversely, as Berthelot (1858) has shown, borneol^ may be prepared from common camphor by heating the latter with alcoholic potash; or, according to Baubigny (1866) by treating a solution of camphor in toluol with sodium. Gmnplior Oil of Borneo — Besides camphor, the Dryolalanops furnishes another product, a liquid termed Camphor Oil, which must not be confounded with the camphor oil that drains out of crude laurel camphor. This Borneau or Sumatran Camphor Oil is obtained by tapping the trees, or in felling them (see also p. 202). In the latter way. Motley in cutting down a tree in Labuan in May 1851, pierced a reser- voir in the trunk from which about five gallons of camphor oil were obtained, though much could not be caught.^ The liquid was a volatile oil holding in solution a resin, which after a few days' exposure to the air, was left in a syrupy state. This camphor oil, which is termed Bor- neene, is isomeric with oil of turpentine, C^'^H^^, yet in the crude state, holding in solution borneol and resin. By fractional distillation, it may be separated into two portions, the one more volatile than the other but not differing in composition. Camphor Oil of Formosa, which has been already referred to as draining out of the crude camphor of Cinnamomum Camphora, is a brown liquid holding in solution an abundance of common camphor, which it speedily deposits in crystals when the temperature is slightly reduced. From Borneo Camphor Oil, it may be distinguished by its odour of sassafras. We find no optical difference in the rotatory power of the oils ; both are dextrogyre to the same extent, which is still the case if the camphor from the lauraceous camphor oil is separated by 1 In Milburn's time {Oriental Commerce, ii. ^ Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in 1813. 308), Sumatra was reckoned to export China for 1872, p. 30. 60 peculs, and Borneo 30 peculs a year. ^ More correctly a substance of the same Kondot's statement that China imports of composition yet differing in optical power, Barus camphor about 800 peculs annually is and therefore termed Camphol. plainly erroneous. ^ Ibn Khurdadbah in the 9th century, mentions it as being obtained in this way. H H 466 LAURACEJi. cooling. Borneo camplior oil, for a sample of which we are indebted to Prof, de Vriese, deposits no camphor even when kept at — 15° C. Ngai Canvplior, Blumea Camphor — It has been known for many- years that the Chinese are in the habit of using a third variety of camphor, having a pecuniary value intermediate between that of common camphor and of Borneo camphor. It has been lately shown (1874) that this substance is manufactured at Canton, the plant from which it is obtained being Blumea halsamifera DC, a tall herbaceous Composita called in Chinese Ngai, abundant in Tropical Eastern Asia. The drug has been supplied to us -^ in two forms, — crude and pure, — the first being in crystalline grains of a dirty white, contaminated with vegetable remains ; the second in colourless crystals as much as an inch in length. By sublimation, the substance may be obtained in distinct, brilliant crystals, agreeing precisely with those of Borneo camphor, which they also resemble in odour and hardness, as well as in being a little heavier than water and not so volatile as common camphor. The chemical examination of ISTgai camphor, performed by Plowman,^ under the direction of Prof. Attfield, has proved that it has the composi- tion C-*^H^®0, like Borneo camphor. But the two substances differ in optical properties,^ an alcoholic solution of Ngai camphor being levogyre in about the same degree that one of Borneo camphor is dextrogyre. By boiling nitric acid, Borneo camphor is transformed into common {dextrogyre) camphor, whereas Ngai camphor affords a similar yet levogyre camphor, in all probability identical with the stearoptene of Chrysan- themum Parthenium Pers. As ISTgai camphor is about ten times the price of Formosa camphor, it never finds its way to Europe as an article of trade. In China, it is consumed partly in medicine and partly in perfuming the fine kinds of Chinese ink. The export of this camphor by sea from Canton, is valued at about £3,000 a year. CORTEX CINNAMOMI. Cortex Cinnamomi Zeylanici ; Cinnamon ; E. CannelU dc Ceylan ; G. Zimmt, Ceylon Zimmt, Kaneel. Botanical Origin — Ginnamomum Zcylanicum Breyne, — a small evergreen tree, richly clothed with beautiful, shining leaves usually some- what glaucous beneath, and having panicles of greenish flowers of dis- agreeable odour. It is a native of Ceylon, where, according to Thwaites, it is gene- rally distributed through the forests up to an elevation of 3000 feet, and one variety even to 8000 feet. It is exceedingly variable in stature, and in the outline, size and consistence of the leaf; and several of the extreme forms are very unlike one another and have received specific names. But there are also numerous intermediate forms; and in a large suite of specimens, many occur of which it is impossible to determine whether they should be referred to this species or to that. i^Through the courtesy of Mr. F. H, - Phunn. Journ., March 7, 1874. 710. Ewer, of the Imperial Maritime Customs, ^ Fliickiger in Pharm. Journ., April 18, Canton. " 1874. 829. CORTEX CINNAMOML 467 Thwaites ^ is of opiniou that some still admitted species, as G. ohtusi- folium Nees and 0. incrs Eeinw., will prove on further investigation to be mere forms of C. Zcylanicum. Beddome,^' Conservator of Forests in Madras, remarlcs that in the moist forests of South-western India, there are 7 or 8 well-marked varieties which might easily be regarded as so many distinct species, but for the fact that they are so connected inter se by intermediate forms, that it is impossible to find constant characters worthy of specific dis- tinction. They grow from the sea level up to the highest elevations and, as Beddome thinks, owe their differences chiefly to local circumstances, so that he is disposed to class them simply as forms of C. Zeylanicum. History — Cinnamon was held in high esteem in the most remote times of history. In the words of the learned Dr. Vincent, Dean of Westminster,^ it seems to have been the first spice sought after in all oriental voyages. Both cinnamon and cassia are mentioned as precious odoriferous substances in the Mosaic writings and in the Biblical books of Psalms, Proverbs, Canticles, Ezekiel and Ptevelations, also by Theo- phrastus, Herodotus, Galen, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo and many other writers of antiquity : and from the accounts which have thus come down to us, there appears reason for' believing that the spices referred to were nearly the same as those of the present day. That cinnamon and cassia were extremely analogous, is proved by the remark of Galen, that the finest cassia differs so little from the lowest quality of cinnamon, that the first may be substituted for the second, provided a double weight of it be used. It is also evident that both were regarded as among the most costly of aromatics, for the offering made by Seleucus II., king of Syria, and his brother Antiochus Hierax, to the temple of Apollo at Miletus, B.C. 246-227, consisting chiefly of vessels of gold and silver, included also two pounds of Cassia {icaa-la), and the same quantity of Cinnamon In connexion with this subject there is one remarkable fact to be noticed, which is that none of the cinnamon of the ancients was obtained from Ceylon. "In the pages of no author," says Tennent,^ "European or Asiatic, from the earliest ages to the close of the thirteenth century, is there the remotest allusion to cinnamon as an indigenous production, or even as an article of commerce in Ceylon." Nor do the annals of the Chinese, between whom and the inhabitants of Ceylon from the 4th to the 8th centuries, there was frequent intercourse and exchange of commodities, name Cinnamon as one of the productions of the island. The Sacred Books and other ancient records of the Singhalese are also completely silent on this point. Cassia under the name of Kioei, is mentioned in the earliest Chinese herbal,- — that of the emperor Shen-nung, who reigned about 2700 B.C., in the ancient Chinese Classics,^ and in the Bh-ya, a herbal dating from 1 Enuiimratio Plantariim Zeylanice, 1864. ■* CMshull, Antiqtiitates Asiaticce, 1728. 252. — Consult also Meissner in De Cand. 65-72. Prod. XT. sect. i. 10. s Ceylon, i. (1859) 575. " Flora Sylvatica for Soutliern India, 1872, *> We are indebted to Dr. Bretsclineider of 262. Pekiu for these references to Chinese litera- * Commerce and Navigation of the An- ture. For information about some of the dents in the IndAan Ocean, ii. (1807) 512. works quoted, see his pamphlet On the Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works, 1870. H H 2 468 LAunAc:EM. 1200 B.C. In the Hai-yao-'pen-ts'ao, written in the 8th century, mention is made of Tien-cJm kwei. Tien-chu is the ancient name for India :. perhaps the allusion may be to the cassia bark of Malabar. In connexion with these extremely early references to the spice, it may be stated that a bark supposed to be cassia is mentioned as imported into Egypt together with gold, ivory, frankincense, precious woods, and apes, in the 17th century B.c.^ The accounts given by Dioscorides, Ptolemy and the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, indicate that cinnamon and cassia were obtained from Arabia and Eastern Africa ; and we further know that the importers were Phoenicians, who traded by Egypt and the Eed Sea with Arabia. Whether the spice under notice was really a produc- tion of Arabia or Africa, or whether it was imported thither from Southern China (the present source of the best sort of cassia) is a question which has excited no small amount of discussion. We are in favour of the second alternative, — firstly, because no sub- stance of the nature of cinnamon is known to be produced in Arabia or Africa ; and secondly, because the commercial intercourse which was undoubtedly carried on by China with India and Arabia, and which also existed between Arabia, India and Africa, is amply sufficient to explain the importation of Chinese produce.^ That the spice was a production of the far East, is moreover implied by the name Darchmi (from dar, wood or bark, and Chini, Chinese), given to it by the Arabians and Persians. If this view of the case is admissible, we must regard the ancient cinnamon to have been the substance now known as Chinese, Cassia lignea or Chinese Cinnamon, and cassia as one of the thicker and perhaps less aromatic barks of the same group, such in fact as are still found in commerce. Of the circumstances which led to the collection of cinnamon in Ceylon, and of the period at which it was commenced, nothing is known. That the Chinese were concerned in the discovery is not an unreasonable supposition, seeing that they traded to Ceylon, and were in all probability acquainted with the cassia-yielding species of Cin- namomum of Southern China, a tree extremely like the cinnamon tree of Ceylon. Whatever may be the facts, the early notices of cinnamon as a pro- duction of Ceylon are not prior to the 13th century. The very first according to Yule;^ is a mention of the spice by Kazwini, an Arab writer of about a.d. 1275, very soon after which period it is noticed by John of Montecorvino, a missionary friar who visited India. This man, in a letter under date 1292 or 1293, still extant in the Medicean library at Elorence, says that the cinnamon tree is of medium bulk, and ^ Diimiclien, Fleet of an Egyi^an Queen, trade of C'liina -westward, met the trade of Leipzig, 1868, p. 1. the Eed Sea, no longer in Ceylon, but on the ^ " . . That there was an ulterior com- coast of Malabar, apparently at Calicut, merce beyond Ceylon is indubitable ; for at where the Portuguese found it on their first Ceylon the trade from Malacca and the arrival. Here, says Marco, the ships from Gold'-ii Chersonese, met the merchants froia Aden obtained their lading from the Kast, Arabia, Persia and Egypt. This might pos- and carried it into the lied Sea for Alexan- sibly have been in the hands of the Malays dria, whence it passed into Europe by means or even the Chinese, who seem to have been of the Venetians. — See also Yule, Book of navigators in all ages as universally as the Scr Marco Polo, ii. (1871) 325. 327. Arabians " Vincent, op. cit. ii. ^ Op. cit. ii. 255. 284. 285.— In the time of Marco Polo, the 4 CORTEX CINNAMOMI. 469 in trunk, bark and foliage, like a laurel, and that great store of its bark is carried fortli from the island wliich is near by Malabar/ Again, it is mentioned by the Mahomedan traveller Ibn Batuta about A.D. 1340,^ and a century later by the Venetian merchant ISTicolo di Conti, whose description of the tree is very correct.^ The circumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope led to the real dis- covery of Ceylon by the Portuguese in 1505, and to their permanent occupation of the island in 1536, chiefly for the sake of the cinnamon. It is from the first of these dates that more exact accounts of the spice be"an to reach Europe. Thus in 1511, Barbosa distinguished the fine cinnamon of Geylon from the inferior Cannella trista of Malabar. Garcia d'Orta about the middle of the same century, stated that Ceylon cinnamon Avas forty times as dear as that of Malabar. Clusius, the translator of Garcia, saw branches of the cinnamon-tree as early as 1571, at Bristol and in Holland. At this period, cinnamon was cut from trees growing wild in the forests in the interior of Ceylon, the bark being exacted as tribute from the Singhalese kings by the Portuguese. A peculiar caste called chalias, who are said to have emigrated from India to Ceylon in the 13th century, and who in after-times became cinnamon-peelers, delivered the bark to the Portuo-uese. The cruel oppression of these chalias was not mitigated b}'- the Dutch, who from the year 1656 were virtually masters of the whole seaboard, and conceded the cinnamon trade to their East India Company as a profitable monopoly, which the Company exercised with the greatest severity.^ The bark previous to shipment was minutely examined by special officers, to guard against frauds on the part of the chalias. About 1770, De Koke conceived the happy idea, in opposition to the universal prejudice in favour of wild-growing cinnamon, of attempting the cultivation of the tree. This project was carried out under Gover- nors Falck and Van der Graff with extraordinary success, so that the Dutch were able independently of the kingdom of Kandy, to furnish about 400,000 lb. of cinnamon annually, thereby supplying the entire European demand. In fact, they completely ruled the trade, and would even hum the cinnamon in Holland, lest its unusual abundance should reduce the price. After Ceylon had been wrested from the Dutch by the English in 1796, the cinnamon trade became the monopoly of the English East India Company, who then obtained more cinnamon from the forests, -especially after the year 1815, when the kingdom of Kandy fell under British rule. But though the chalias had much increased in numbers, the yearly production of cinnamon does not appear to have exceeded 500,000 ft). The condition of the unfortunate chalias was not ameliorated until 1833, when the monopoly granted to the Company was finally abolished, and Government ceasing to be the sole exporters of cinnamon, permitted the merchants of Colombo and Galle to share in ' the trade. Cinnamon however was stiU. burdened with an export duty equal to a third or a half of its value, in consequence of which and of the com- 1 Yule, Cathay and the way thither, i. 213. Viaggi, i. (1563) 339 ; Kunstmaun, Kennt- ^ Travels of Ibn Batuta, translated by niss Indiens im funfzehnten Jahrhundcrt, Lee, Lond. 1829. 184. 1863. 39. 3 Eamusio, Raccolta delle Navigationi et * Tennent, op. cit. ii. 52. 470 LAUR ACTUM petition with cinnamon raised in Java, and with cassia from China and other places, the cultivation in Ceylon began to suffer. This duty was not removed until 1853. The earliest notice of cinnamon in connexion with Northern Europe that we have met with, is the diploma granted by Chilperic II., king of the Franks, to the monastery of Corbie in Normandy, A.D, 716, in which provision is made for a certain supply of spices and grocery, including 6 lb. of Cinnamon} The extraordinary value set on cinnamon at this period is remarkably illustrated by some letters written from Italy, in which mention is here and there incidentally made of presents of spices and incense.^ Thus in A.D. 745, Gemmulus, a Eoman deacon, sends to Boniface, archbishop of Mayence (" cum magna revercntid "), 4 ounces of Cinnamon, 4 ounces of Costus, and 2 pounds of Pepper. In A.D. 748, Theophilacias, a Eoman archdeacon, presents to the same bishop similar spices and incense. LuUus, the successor of Boniface, sends to Eadburga, ahbatissa TJianetensis,^ circa A.D. 732-751 — " unum' gra.2Jliium argenteum ct storacis ct cinnamomi partem aliquam " ; and about the same date, another present of cinnamon to archbishop Boniface is recorded. Under date a.d. 732-742, a letter is extant of three persons to the abbess Cuneburga, to whom the writers offer — " turis et piperis ct cinnamomi permodica xcnia, sccl omni mentis affectione clestinata." Of the pecuniary value of this price in England, there are many notices from the year 1264 downwards.* In the 16th century it was probably not plentiful, if we may judge from the fact that it figures among the jSTew Year's gifts to Philip and Mary (1556-57), and to Queen Elizabeth (1561-62).5 Production and Commerce ^ — The best cinnamon is produced, according to Thwaites '^ from a cultivated or selected form of the tree (var. a), distinguished by large leaves of somewhat irregular shape. But the bark of all the forms possesses the odour of cinnamon in a greater or less degree. It is not however always possible to judge of the quality of the bark from the foliage, so that the peelers when collecting from uncultivated trees, are in the habit of tasting the bark before commencing operations, and pass over some trees as unfit for their purpose. The bark of varieties 3. mnltiflorum and 7. ovalifoliiim is of very inferior quality, and said to be never collected unless for the purpose of adulteration. The best variety appears to find the conditions most favourable to its culture, in the strip of country, 12 to 15 miles broad, on the south-west coast of Ceylon, between Negumbo, Colombo and Matura, where the tree is grown up to an elevation of 1500 feet. A very sandy clay soil, or fine white quartz, with a good sub-soil and free exposure to the 1 Pardessus, Diplomata, etc., Paris 1849. ^ Nicliolls, Progresses and Processions' of ii. 309. Q. Elizahcth, i. (1823) xxxiv. 118. ® Ja'ffe, BihUotheca Rerum Germanicaruin, " Additional infoniiation may be found in Berlin, iii. (1866) 1.54. 199. 214. 216-8. 109. two papers by Jlarsliall, in Thomson's Annals 8 Doubtless Eculburh, third abbess of of Philosophy, x. (1817) 241 and 346; see Minster in the Isle of Thanet in Kent. She also Leschcnault de la Tour, M&n. du died A.D. 751. Musec d'Hist. not. viii. (1822) 436-446. * Eden, State of the Poor, ii. (1797) ap- ^ Op. cit. 252-253. pendi.x ; liogr-rs. Hist, (f Ar/ricicUurc and Prices in England, ii. (1866) 543. CORTEX CINNAMOMI. 471 sun and rain, are the circumstances "best adapted for the cultivation. The management of the plantations resembles that of oak coppice in England. The system of pruning checks the plant from becoming a tree, and induces it to form a stool from which four or five shoots are allowed to grow ; these are cut at the age of 1-A- to 2 years, when the greyish-green epidermis begins to turn brown by reason of the formation of a corky layer. They are not all cut at the same time, but only as they arrive at the proper state of maturity ; they are then 6 to 10 feet high and -|- to 2 inches thick. In some of the cinnamon gardens at Colombo, the stools are very large and old, dating back it is supposed,^ from the time of the Dutch. In consequence of the increased flow of sap which occurs after the heavy rains in May and June, and again in November and December, the bark at those seasons is easily separated from the wood, so that a principal harvest takes place in the spring, and a smaller one in the latter part of the year. The shoots having been cut off by means of a long sickle-shaped hook called a catty, and stripped of their leaves, are slightly trimmed with a knife, the little pieces thus removed being reserved and sold as Cinnamon Chips. The bark is next cut through at distances of about a foot, and slit lengthwise, when it is easily and completely removed by the insertion of a peculiar knife termed a mama, the separation being assisted if necessary, by strongly rubbing with the handle. The pieces of bark are now carefully put one into another, and the compound sticks firmly bound together into bundles. Thus they are left for 24 hours or more, during which a sort of "fermentation " (?) goes on which facilitates the subsequent removal of the exterior part. This is accomplished by placing each quill on a stick of wood of suitable thickness, and carefully- scraping off with a knife the outer and middle cortical layer. In a few hours after this operatiou, the peeler commences to place the smaller tubes within the larger, also inserting the small pieces so as to make up- an almost solid stick, of about 40 inches in length. The cinnamon thus prepared is kept one day in the shade, and then placed on wicker trays in the sun to dry. When sufficiently dry, it is made into bundles of about 30 ft), each.i The cinnamon gardens of Ceylon were estimated in 1860-64, to occupy an area of about 14,400 acres.^ At present the cultivation of coffee is displacing that of cinnamon. Mr. Home of the Botanical Garden of Mauritius, writing in 1866, observes that no new plantations are now laid out, and that many of the old ones are going to ruin. The exports of cinnamon from Ceylon have been as follows :— 1871 1872 1,359,327 lb., Yalue ^67,966. 1,267,953 K)., value £6i,7i7. Of the last named quantity, 1,179,5161b. were shipped to the United Kingdom, 53,439 lb. to the United States of North America, and 10,000 lb. to Hamburg. Besides the above-named exports of cinnamon, the official 1 Formerly called fardelo or fardello, a sive in the earlier part of the century, as we name signifying in the Romance languages may judge by the statement that the five hundlc or package. The word fardel having principal cinnamon gardens around ISTe- the same meaning, is found in old English gumbo, Colombo, Barberyn, Galle, and writers. Matura, were each from 15 to 20 Tniles in cir- ^ Yet the cultivation was far more ext-en- cumferencs (Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 163). 472 LATJRACEM. statistics^ record the export of " Cinnamon Barh" — 8846 ft. in 1871 — 23,449 ft. in 1872. This name includes two distinct articles, namely Cinnamon Chips, and a very thick bark derived from old stems. The Cinnamon Chips which, as explained on the previous page, are the first trimmings of the shoots, are very aromatic ; they used to be considered worthless, and were thrown away. The second article, to which in the London drug sales the name " Cinnamon Bark " is restricted, is in flat or slightly channelled fragments, which are as much as ^ of an inch in thickness, and remind one of New Granada cinchona bark. It is very deficient in aromatic qualities, and quite unfit for use in pharmacy. In most other countries into which Cinnamomum Zeylanicum has been transplanted, it has been found that, partly from its tendency to pass into new varieties and partly perhaps from want of careful cultivation and the absence of the skilled cinnamon-peeler, it yields a bark appreciably different from that of Ceylon. Of other cinnamon-producing districts, those of Southern India may be mentioned as affording the Malabar or Tinnevclly, and the Tellicherry Cinnamon of commerce, the latter being almost as good as the cinnamon of Ceylon.^ The cultivation in Java commenced in 1825. The plant according to Miquel is a variety of C. Zeylaniciim, distinguished by its very large leaves which are fre- quently 8 inches long by 5 inches broad. The island exported in 1870, 1109 peculs (147,866 ft.) ; in 1871 only 446 peculs (59,466 ft.).^ Cinnamon is also grown in the French colony of Guyana and in Brazil, but on an insignificant scale. The samples of the bark from those countries which we have examined are quite unlike the cinnamon of Ceylon. That of Brazil in particular has evidently been taken from stems several years old. The importations of cinnamon into the United Kingdom from Ceylon are declining, as the following figures w^Ul show : — • 1869 1870 1871 1872 2,611,473K). 2,148,4051b. 1,430,518 It). 1,015, 4611b. During 1872, 56,000 ft. of cinnamon were imported from other countries. Description — Ceylon cinnamon of the finest description, is imported in the form of sticks, about 40 inches in length and f of an inch in thickness, formed of tubular pieces of bark about a foot long, dexterously arranged one within the other, so as to form an even rod of considerable firmness and solidity. The quills of bark are not rolled up as simple tubes, but each side curls inwards so as to form a channel with in-curving sides, a circumstance that gives to the entire stick a somewhat flattened cylindrical form. The bark composing the stick is extremely thin, measuring often no more than y^ of an inch in thickness. It has a light brown, dull surface, faintly marked with shining wavy lines, and bearing here and there scars or holes at the points of insertion of leaves or twigs. The inner surface of the bark is of a darker hue. The bark is brittle and splintery, with a fragrant odour, peculiar to itself and the allied barks of the same genus. Its taste is saccharine, pungent, and aromatic. The bales of cinnamon which arrive in London are always re-packed ^ Ceylon Blue Books for 1871 and 1872, * Some of it however is very thick, tliougli printed at Colombo. neatly (milled. ^ Uoiuiular licporis, Aug. 1873. 952. CORTEX CINNAMOMI. 473 in tlie dock warehouses, in doing which a certain amount of breakage occurs. The spice so injured is Ivept separate and sold as Small Cin- namon, and is very generally used for pharmaceutical purposes. It is often of excellent quality. Microscopic Structure — By the peeling above described, Ceylon cinnamon is deprived of the suberous coat and the greater part of the middle cortical layer, so that it almost consists of the mere liber {endo- lohlcemii). Three different layers are to be distinguished on a transverse section of this tissue : — 1. The external surface which is composed of one to three rows of large thick- walled cells, forming a coherent ring ; it is only interrupted by bundles of liber-fibres, which are obvious even to the unaided eye ; they compose in fact the wavy lines mentioned in the last page. 2. The middle layer is built up of about ten rows of parenchymatous thin-walled cells, interrupted by much larger cells containing deposits of mucilage, while other cells, not larger than those of the parenchyme itself, are loaded with essential oil. 3. The innermost layer exhibits the same thin-walled but smaller cells, yet intersected by narrow, somewhat darker, medullary rays, and likewise interrupted by cells containing either mucilage or essential oil. Instead of bundles of liber-fibres, fibres mostly isolated are scattered through the two inner layers, the parenchyme of which abounds in small starch granules accompanied by tannic matter. On a longitudinal section, the length of the liber-fibres becomes more evident, as well as the oil-ducts and gum-ducts. Chemical Composition — The most interesting and noteworthy constituent of cinnamon is the essential oil, which the bark yields to the extent of J to 1 per cent., and which is distilled in Ceylon, — very seldom in England. It was prepared by Porta ^ of Naples, who mentions it as early as 1589. In the latter part of the last century, 'it used to be brought to Europe by the Dutch. During the five years from 1775 to 1779 inclusive, the average quantity annually disposed of at the saleG of the Dutch East India Company was 176 ounces. The wholesale price in London between 1776 and 1782, was 21s. per ounce ; but from 1785 to 1789, the oil fetched 63s. to 68s., the increase in value being doubtless occasioned by the war with Holland commenced in 1782. The oil is now largely produced in Ceylon, from which island the quantity exported in 1871 was 14,796 ounces ; and in 1872, 39,100 ounces.^ The oil is shipped chiefly to England. Oil of cinnamon is a golden-yellow liquid, having a sp. gr. of 1*035, a powerful cinnamon odour, and a sweet and aromatic but burning taste. It deviates a ray of polarized light a very little to the left. The oil consists chiefly of Cinnamic Aldehyde, C'lI^O, together with a variable proportion of hydrocarbons. At a low temperature it becomes turbid by the deposit of a camphor, which we have not examined. The oil easily absorbs oxygen, becoming thereby contaminated with resin and cinnamic acid. Cinnamon contains sugar, mannite, starch, mucilage, and tannic acid. The Ginnamomin of Martin (1868) has been shown by Wittstein to be ^ Magios Naturalis libri xx. Neap. 1589. * Ceylon Blue Boohs for 1871 and 1872, 184. 474 LAURACEM very probably merely mannite. The effect of iodine on a decoction of cinnamon will be noticed under the head of Cassia Lignea, Cinnamon afforded to Schatzler (1862) 5 per cent, of ash consisting chiefly of the carbonates of calcium and potassium. Uses — Cinnamon is used in medicine as a cordial and stimulant, but is much more largely consumed as a spice. Adulteration — Cassia lignea being much cheaper than cinnamon, is very commonly substituted for it. So long as the bark is entire, there is no difficulty in its recognition, but if it should have been reduced to powder, the case is widely diff'erent. We have found the following tests of some service, when the spice to be examined is in powder : — Make a decoction of powdered cinnamon of known genuineness ; and one of similar strength of the suspected powder. When cool and strained, test a fluid ounce of each with one or two drops of tincture of iodine. A decoction of cinnamon is but little aff'ected, but in that of cassia a deep blue-black tint is immediately produced (see p. 479). The cheap kinds of cassia known as Cassia vera, may be distinguished from the more valuable Chinese Cassia as well as from cinnamon, by their richness in mucilage^ This can be extracted by cold water as a thick glairy liquid, giving dense ropy precipitates with corrosive sublimate or neutral acetate of lead, but not with alcohol. Other products of the Cinnamon Tree. Essential Oil of Cinnamon Leaf {Oleum Cinnamomi foliorum) — This is a brown, viscid, essential oil, of clove-like odour, which is some- times exported from Ceylon. It has been examined by Stenhouse (1854), who found it to have a sp. gr. of 1'053, and to consist of a mixture of Eugenic Acid (p. 253) with a neutral hydrocarbon having the formula, Qiojji6_ j(3 2^^Q contains a small quantity of benzoic acid. Essential Oil of Cinnamon Root {Oleum Cinnamomi radicis) — A yellow liquid, lighter than water, having a mixed odour of camphor and cinnamon, and a strong camphoraceous taste. Both this oil and that of the leaf were described by Kampfer (1712) and by Seba in 1731,^ and perhaps by G-arcia d'Orta so early as 1563. Solid camphor may also be obtained from the root. A water distilled from the flowers, and a fatty oil expressed from the fruits are likewise noticed by old writers, but are unknown to us. CORTEX CASSIiE LIGNEiE. Cassia Lignea, Cassia Bar!:. Botanical Origin — Various species of Cinnamomum occurring in the warm countries of Asia from India eastward, afford what is termed in commerce Cassia Baric. The trees are extremely variable in foliage, inflorescence and aromatic properties, and the distinctness of several of the species laid down even in recent works is still uncertain. The bark which bears par excellence the name of Cassia or Cassia lignea, and which is distinguished on the Continent as Chinese Cinnamon, is a production of the provinces of Kwangsi and Kweichau in Southern T Phil. Tran-i. xxxvi. (1731) 107. CORTEX GASSIJS LIGNEJR 475 China. The French expedition of Lieut. Garnier for the exploration of the Mekong and of Cochin China (1866— G8) found cassia, growing in about N. lat. 19° in the forests of one of tlie affluents on the left bank of the Mekong near the frontiers of Annam. A part of this cassia is carried by land into China, while another part is conveyed to Bangkok.^ Although it is customary to refer it without hesitation to a tree named Ginna- mommn Cassia, we find no warrant for such reference : no competent observer has visited and described the cassia-yielding districts of China proper, and brought therefrom the specimens requisite for ascertaining the botanical origin of the bark.^ Cassia lignea is also produced in the Khasya mountains in Eastern Bengal, whence it is brought down to Calcutta for shipment.^ In this region there are three species of Cinnamomum, growing at 1000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level, and all have bark with the flavour of cinnamon, more or less pure : they are G. obtusifolium ISTees, G. paucijlorujn IsTees, and G. Tamala Fr. N'ees et Eberm. Cinnamomum iners Eeinw., a very variable species occurring in Con- tinental India, Ceylon, Tavoy, Java, Sumatra and other islands of the Indian Archipelago, and possibly in the opinion of Thwaites a mere variety of G. Zeylanicum, but according to Meissner well distinguished by its paler, thinner leaves, its nervation, and the character of its aroma, would|appear to yield the cassia bark or wild cinnamon of Southern India.* G. Tamola Fr. Nees et Eberm., which besides growing in Khasya is found in the contiguous regions of Silhet, Sikkim, Nepal, and Kumaon, and even reaches Australia, probably affords some cassia bark in Northern India. Large quantities of a thick sort of cassia have at times been imported from Singapore and Batavia, much of which is produced in Sumatra. In the absence of any very reliable information as to its botanical sources, we may suggest as probable mother-plants, G. Cassia Bl. and C. Bur- m.anni BL, var. a, Chinense, both stated by Teijsmann and Binnendijk to be cultivated in Java.^ The latter species growing also in the Philippines, most probably affords the cassia bark which is shipped from Manila. History — ^In the preceding article, we have indicated (p. 467) the remote period at which cassia bark appears to have been known to the Chinese ; and have stated the reasons that lead us to believe the cin- namon of the ancients was that substance. It must, however, be observed that Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo and others, as well as the remarkable inscription on the temple of Apollo at Miletus, represent cinnamon and cassia as distinct, but nearly allied sub- stances. While on the other hand, the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, in enumerating the products shipped from the various 1 Thorel, Notes medicales du Voyage d'Ex- ^ Hooker, Himalayan Journals, ed. 2. ii. ■ploration dii, Mekong et de C'ochinchine, Paris, (1855) 303. 1870. 30. * A specimen of the stem-bark of C. iners ^ The greatest market in China for cassia from Travancore, presented to us by Dr. and cinnamon according to Dr. F. Porter Waring, has a delightful odour, but is quite Smith, is Taiwu in Ping-nan hien (Sin-chau devoid of the taste of cinnamon.- fu), in Kwangsi province. — Mat. Med. and ^ Catalogus Plantanom quae in Horto Nat. Hist, of China, 1871. 52. — The capital Botanico Bogoricnsi coluntur, Batavia, 1866. of Kwangsi is Kweilin fu, literally Cassia- 92. Forest, 476 LAURACEM. commercial ports of Eastern Africa ^ in tlie first century, mentions Cassia (xaaia or KacraLa) of various kinds, but never employs the word Cin- namon (Kivvafj-cofjiop). In the list of productions of India on which duty was levied at the Eoman custom house at Alexandria, circa a.d. 176-180, Ginnamomum is mentioned as well as Cassia turiana, Xylocassia and Xylocinmamomum} Of the distinction here drawn between cinnamon and cassia, we can give no explanation ; but it is worthy of note that twigs and hranclics of a Ginnamomum are sold in the Chinese drug shops, and may not im- probably be the xylocassia or xylocinnamon of the ancients.^ The name Cassia lignea would seem to have been originally bestowed on some such substance, rather than as at present, on a mere bark. The spice was also undoubtedly called Cassia syrinx and Cassia fistularis (p. 195), — names which evidently refer to a bark which had the form of a tube. In fact there may well have been a diversity of qualities, some perhaps very costly. It is remarkable that such is still the case in China, and that the wealthy Chinese employ a thick variety of cassia, the price of which is as much as 18 dollars per catty, or about 56s. per ib.^ "Whether the Aromata Cassias, which were presented to the Church at Eome under St. Silvester, a.d. 314-335, was the modern cassia bark, , is i-ather doubtful. The largest donation, 200 lb., which was accompanied by pepper, saffron, storax, cloves, and balsam, would appear to have arrived from Egypt.^ Cassia seems to have been known in Western Europe as early as the 7th century, for it is mentioned with cinnamon by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville.^ Cassia is named in one of the Leech-books in use in England prior to the Norman con- quest.'^ The spice was sold in London as Canel, in 1264, at lOd. perib., sugar being at the same time 12d., cumin 2cl., and ginger 18d^ In the Bohe of Nurhirc^ written in the 15th century by John Eussell, chamber- lain to Humphry, duke of Gloucester, cassia is spoken of as resembling cinnamon, but cheaper and commoner, exactly as at the present day. Production — We Iiave no information whether the tree which affords the cassia bark of Southern China is cultivated, or whether it is exclusively found wild. The Calcutta cassia bark collected in the Khasya mountains and 1 Yiiicent, Commerce ami Kavigation of ^ Vignolins, Llher Pontificalis, Eomse i. tlie Ancients in the Indian Ocean, ii. (1807) (1724) 94. 95. 1.30. 134. 149. 150. 157. — That the ancients ** Migne, Patrologia- Cursus, Ixxxii. (1850) should confound the different kinds of cassia 622. — St. Isidore evidently quotes Galen, is really no matter for surprise, when we but his remarks imjdy that Loth spices modems, whether botanists, pharmacolo- wore known at the period when he wrote. feet high, the branches of which are crowded with purple flowers in the early spring before the full expansion of the obloug, lanceolate, deciduous leaves. The flowers are succeeded by red berries. It is a native of the hilly parts of almost the whole of Europe, from Italy to the Arctic regions, and extends eastM^ard to Siberia. In Britain, it occurs here and there in a few of the southern and midland counties, and even reaches Yorkshire and Westmoreland, but there is reason to think it is not truly indigenous. Gerarde> who was well acquainted with it, did not regard it as a British plant. History — The Arabian physicians used a plant called Mdzariyun, the effects of which they compared to those of euphorbium ; it was probably a species of Dafline-. B. Mezereum was known to the early botanists of Europe, as Dwplinoides, Gliamcdma, Thymelcea, or Chamce- da'plw.e. Tragus described and figured it in 1546, under the name of Mezereum Germanicum . Description — Mezereon has a very tough and fibrous bark easily re- moved in long strips \vhich curl inw^ards as they dry ; it is collected in winter and made up into rolls or bundles. The bark, which rarely exceeds -g-V of an inch in thickness, has an external greyish or reddish-brown corky coat which is easily separable from a green inner layer, white and satiny on the side next the wood. That of younger branches is marked with prominent leaf-scars. The bark is too tough to be broken, but easily tears into fibrous strips. When fresh, it has an unpleasant odour wdiich is lost in drying ; its taste is persistently burning and acrid. Applied in a moist state to the skin, it occasions after some hours, redness and even vesication. Microscopic Structure — The cambial zone is formed of about ten rows of delicate unequal cells. The liber consists chiefly of simple fibres alternating with parenchymatous bundles, and traversed by medullary rays. The fibres are very long, — frequently more than 3 mm., and from 5 to 10 mkm. in diameter, their walls being always but little thickened. In the outer part of the liber, there occur bundles of thick-walled bast- tubes, while chlorophyll and starch granules a^^pear generally throughout the middle cortical layer. The suberous coat is made up of about 30 dense rows of thin- walled tabular cells, which examined in a tangential section, have an hexagonal outline. Small quantities of tannic matter are deposited in the cambial and suberous zones. Chemical Composition — The acrid principle of mezereon is a resinoid substance contained in the inner bark ; it has not yet been examined. The fruits were found by Martins (1862) to contain more than 40 per cent, of a fatty, vesicating oil, which appears to be likewise present in the bark. The name Dajjhnin has been given to a crystallizable substance obtained by Vauqueliu in 1808, from Dapline alpina, and afterwards detected by C. G. Gmeliu and Baer in the bark of D. Mezereum. Zwenger CAIilC/E. 4,^7 in 1860, ascertained it to be a non-volatile giucoside of bitter taste, having the composition, C^^H^^O^'l When daphnin is boiled with dilute hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, it furnishes Daplinetin, C^^H^'^0^, described by Zwenger as crystallizing in colourless prisms. By dry distillation- of an alcoholic extract of mezereon bark, the same chemist obtained Umhelliferone (p. 287). Uses — Mezereon taken internally is supposed to be alterative and sudorific, and useful in venereal, rheumatic and scrofulous complaints ; but in English medicine it is never now given except as an ingredient of the Compound Decoction of Sarsaparilla. An ethereal extract of the bark has been introduced (1867) as an ingredient of a powerful stimulating liniment. On the Continent, the bark itself, soaked in vinegar and water, is applied with a bandage as a vesicant. Substitutes — Owing to the difficulty of procuring the bark of the root of D. Mezereum, the herbalists who supply the London druggists have been long in the habit of substituting that of D. Laureola L., an evergreen species, not uncommon in woods and hedge-sides in several parts of England. The British P]iar7naco'pceia (1864 and 1867) permits Cortex Mezerei to be obtained indiscriminately from either of these species, and does not follow the London College in insisting on the hark of the root alone. That of the stem of D. Laureola corresponds in structure with the bark of the true mezereon, but wants the prominent leaf-scars that mark the upper branches of the latter ; it is reputed to be somewhat less acrid than mezereon bark. The mezereon bark of English trade is now mostly imported from Germany, and seems to be derived from D. Mezereum. In Trance, use is made of the stem-bark of D. Gnidium L., a shrub growing throughout the whole Mediterranean region as far as Morocco. The bark is dark grey or brown, marked with numerous whitish leaf-scars wdiich display a spiral arrangement, at least in the younger stems. The leaves themselves, some of which are occasionally met with in the drug, are sharply mucronate and very narrow. As to structural peculiarities, the bark of D. Gnidium has the medullary rays more obvious and more loaded with tannic matters than those of I). Mezereum ; but the middle cortical layer is less developed. The bark, which is called Ecorce de Garou, is employed as an epispastic. ARTOCAEPACE^. CARICiE. Fructus Caricm, Fici ; Figs ; E. Figues ; (3-. Feigen. Botanical Origin^ — Ficus Carica L., a deciduous tree, 15 to 20 feet in height, with large rough leaves, forming a handsome mass of foliage. The native country of the fig stretches from the steppes of the Eastern Aral, along the south and south-west coast of the Caspian Sea (Ghilan, Mazanderan and the Caucasus) through Kurdistan, to Asia Minor and Syria. In these countries, the fig-tree ascends into the mountain region, growing undoubtedly wild in the Taurus at an elevation of 4800 feet.i 1 Eitter, Erdkunde von Asien, vii. (1844) 2. 544. 488 AETOGARPACEM The fig-tree is repeatedly mentioned in tlie Scriptures, where with the vine, it often stands as the symbol of peace and plenty. Neither fig nor vine was known in Greece, the Archipelago and the neighbouring coasts of Asia Minor during the Homeric age, though both were very common in the time of Plato. The fig-tree was early introduced into Italy, whence it reached Spain and Gaul. Charlemagne (a.d. 768-814) ordered its cultivation in Central Europe. It was brought to England in the reign of Henry VIII. by Cardinal Pole, whose trees still exist in the garden of Lambeth Palace. But it had certainly been in cultivation at a much earlier period, for the historian Matthew Paris relates ^ that the year 1257 was so inclement that apples and pears were scarce in England, and that figs, cherries and plums totally failed to ripen. At the present day, the fig-tree is found cultivated in most of the temperate countries both of the old and new world. Its fruit can only be preserved in those regions where the summer and autumn are very warm and dry. History — Figs were a valued article of food among the ancient Hebrews ^ and Greeks, as they are to the present day in the warmer countries bordering the Mediterranean.^ In the time of Pliny many varieties were in cultivation. The Latin word Garica was first used to designate the dried fig of Caria, a strip of country in Asia Minor opposite Ehodes, an esteemed variety of the fruit corresponding to the Smyrna fig of modern times. In a diploma granted by Chilperic II., king of the Franks, to the monastery of Corbie, a.d. 716, mention is made of " Karigas" in con- nexion with dates, almonds and olives, by which we think dried figs (Caricce) were intended.^ Dried figs were a regular article of trade during the middle ages, from the southern to the northern parts of Europe. In England, the average price between a.d. 1264 and 1398, was about l^d. per lb., raisins and currants being 2f d^ Description — A fig consists of a thick, fleshy, hollow receptacle of a pear-shaped form, on the inner face of which grow a multitude of minute fruits. This receptacle, which is provided with an orifice at the top, is at first green, tough and leathery, exuding when pricked a milky juice. The orifice is surrounded and almost closed by a number of thick, fleshy scales, near which and within the fig, the male flowers are situated, but they are often wanting or are not fully developed. The female flowers stand further within the receptacle, in the body of which they are closely packed ; they are stalked, have a 5-leafed perianth and bipartite stigma. The ovary which is generally one-celled, becomes when ripe, a minute, dry, hard nut, popularly regarded as a seed. As the fig advances to maturity, the receptacle enlarges, becomes softer and more juicy, a saccharine fluid replacing the acrid milky sap. It also acquires a reddish hue, while its exterior becomes purple, brown or yellow, though in some varieties it continues green. The fresh fig has 1 Enrjlish History, Boliii's cilitioii, iii. ^ On the Kivicra of Genoa, dried iigs eaten (1854) 255. witli l>read are a common winter food of tlie ^ .See in particular 1 Sam. xxv. 18 and peasantry. 1 Chron. xii. 40 ; whore we read of large "* I'ai'tlessus, Diphmala, Chartcc, etc., ii. .supplies of dried figs heing provided for the (1849) 309. use of fighting men. '' Rogers, Hist, of Ariricalturc and Prices in England, i. (1866) 6'32. FRUCTUS MORI. 489 an agreeable and extremely saccharine taste, bnt it wants the juiciness and refreshing acidity that characterize many other fruits. If a fig is not gathered, its stalk loses its firmness, the fruit hangs pendulous from the branch, begins to shrivel and become more and more saccharine by loss of water, and ultimately if the climate is favourable, it assumes the condition of a dried fig. On the la.rge scale however, figs are not dried on the tree, but are gathered and exposed to the sun and air in light trays till they acquire the proper degree of dryness. Dried figs are termed by the dealers, either natural or pulled. The first are those which have not been compressed in the packing, and still retain their original shape.^ The second are those which after drying- have been made supple by squeezing and kneading, and in that state packed with pressure into drums and boxes. Smyrna figs, which are the most esteemed sort, are of the latter kind. They are of irregular, flattened form, tough, translucent, covered with a saccharine efflorescence ; they have a pleasant fruity smell and luscious taste, rigs of inferior quality, as those called in the market Greek Figs, differ chiefly in being smaller and less pulpy. Microscopic Structure — The outer layer of a dried fig is made up of small, thick- walled and densely packed cells, so as to form a kind of skin. The inner lax parenchyma consists of larger thin-walled cells, traversed by vascular bundles and large, slightly branched, laticiferous vessels. The latter contain a granular substance not soluble in water. In the parenchyme, stellate crystals of oxalate of calcium occur, but in no considerable number. Chemical Composition.' — The chemical changes which take place in the fig during maturation are important, but no researches have y«t been made for their elucidation. The chief chemical substance in the ripe fig is grape sugar, which constitutes from 60 .to 70 per cent, of the dried fruit. Gum and fatty matter appear to be present only in very small quantity. We have observed that unripe figs contain starch. Production and Commerce — Dried figs were imported into the United Kingdom in 1872, to the amount of 141,847 cwt., of which 91,721 cwt. were shipped from Asiatic Turkey, the remainder being from Portugal, Spain, the Austrian territories and other countries. The value of the total imports is estimated at £231,571. Uses — Dried figs are thought to be slightly laxative, and as such are occasionally recommended in habitual constipation. They enter into the composition of Confectio Sennm. MORACE^. FRUCTUS MORI. Baccce Mori, Mora ; Midherries ; F. Mures ; G. Maulheeren. Botanical Origin — Morus nigra L., a handsome bushy tree, about 30 feet in height, growing wild in Northern Asia Minor, Armenia, and the southern Caucasian regions as far as Persia. In Italy, it was em- 1 The \vord Eleme applied in the London (" Eleme Figs") is probably a corruption of hops to dried figs of superior quality the Turkish elUme, signifying Imnd-piclccd. 490 MORACEM ployed for feeding tlie silkworm until alDout the year 1434, when M. alba L. was introduced from the Levant/ and has ever since been commonly preferred. Yet in Greece, in many of the Greek islands, Calabria and Corsica, the species planted for the silkworm is still M. nigra. The mulberry tree is now cultivated throughout Europe, yet except- ing in the regions named, by no means abundantly. It ripens its fruit in England, as well as in Southern Sweden and Gottland, and in favour- able summers even in Christiania (Schiibeler). History — The mulberry tree is mentioned in the Old Testament,^ and by most of the early Greek and Eoman writers. Among the large number of useful plants ordered by Charlemagne (a.d. 812) to be cultivated on the imperial farms, the mulberry tree {Morarius) did not escape notice.^ We meet with it also in a plan sketched a.u. 820, for the gardens of the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland.^ The cultiva- tion of the mulberry in Spain is implied by a reference to the prepara- tion of 8yriq) of Mulberries, in the Calendar of Cordova ^ which dates from the year 961. A curious reference to mulberries, proving them to have been far more esteemed in ancient times than at present, occurs in the statutes of the abbey of Corbie in Normandy, in which we find a Brevis de Melle, showing how much honey the tenants of the monastic lauds were required to pay annually, followed by a statement of the quantity of Mulberries which each farm was expected to supply.^ Description — The tree bears unisexual catkins ; the female, of an ovoid form, consists of numerous flowers with green four-lobed perianths and two linear stigmas. The lobes of the perianth overlapping each other become fleshy, and by their lateral aggregation form the spurious berry, which is shortly stalked, oblong, an inch in length, and, wdien ripe, of an intense purple. By detaching a single fruit, the lobes of the former perianth may be still discerned. Each fruit encloses a hard lenticular nucule, covering a pendulous seed with curved embryo and fleshy albumen. Mulberries are extremely jnicy and have a refreshing, subacid, saccharine taste ; but they are devoid of the fine aroma that distin- guishes many fruits of the order Rosacem. Chemical Composition — In an analysis made by H. van Hees (^1857) mulberries yielded the following constituents : — Glucose and uncrystallizable sugar Free acid (supposed to be ■malic) A-lbuminous matter Peotic matter, fat, salts, and gum Ash Insoluble matters (the seeds, pectose, cellulose, &-c.) Water lOO'OO ' A. De CandoUe, GCogr. holaniquc, ii. * F. Keller, Banriss dns Klostcrs S. (1855) 856. ii'aUen, facsimile, Ziirich, 1844. * 2 Sam. V. 23, 24. ' Le Calcmlricr de Cordouc de. I'annie 961, 3 Pertz, Monumcnta Ocnm.nice hisforiea publie i_iar K. Dozy, Leyde, 1873. 67. fLe"es) iii (1835) 181. " GiK'rarrl, Polyptique de VAbbi Irminon, ^ ° Paris, ii. 335. . 919 . 1-86 . 0-39 . 203 . 0-57 ) 1-25 . 84-71 HERB A CANNABIS. 491 With regard to the results of researches on other edible fruits, made about the same time in the laboratory of Fresenius, it would appear that the mulberry is one of the most saccharine, being only surpassed by the cherry (10"79 of sugar) and grape (10'6 to 19"0)/ It is richer in sugar than the following, namely : — Easpberries, yielding 4 per cent, of sugar and 1'48 of (malic) acid. Strawberries „ iVT „ „ 1'31 „ „ Whortleberries „ 5-8 „ ,, 1-34 „ „ Currants „ 61 „ „ 2-04 „ „ The amount of free acid in the mulberry is not small, nor is it exces- sive. The small proportion of insoluble matters is worthy of notice in comparison, for instance, with the whortleberry which contains no less than 13 per cent. The colouring matter of the mulberry has not been examined. The acid is probably not simply malic, but in part tartaric. Uses — The sole use in medicine of mulberries is for the preparation of a syrup, employed to flavour or colour other medicines. In Greece, the fruit is submitted to fermentation, thereby furnishing an inebriating beverage. OANNABINE.^. HERBA CANNABIS. Cannabis Inclica : Indian Hemv ; F. Chanvre Indien ; G. Hanfkraut. Botanical Origin — Cannabis sativa L, Common Hemp, an annual dioecious plant, native of Western and Central Asia, cultivated in tem- perate as well as in tropical countries. It grows wild luxuriantly on the banks of the lower Ural and Volga near the Caspian Sea, extending thence to Persia, the Altai range, and Northern and Western China. It is found in Kashmir and on the Himalaya, growing 10 to 12 feet high, and thriving vigorously at an elevation of 6000 to 10,000 feet. It likev/ise occurs in Tropical Africa, on the eastern and western coasts as well as in the central tracts watered by the Congo and Zambesi, but whether truly indigenous is doubtful. It has been naturalized in Brazil, north of Eio de Janeiro, the seeds having been brought thither by the negroes from Western Africa. The cultivation of hemp is carried on in many parts of continental Europe, but especially in Central and Southern Eussia. The hemp plant grown in India, exhibits certain differences as con- trasted with that cultivated in Europe, which were noticed by Eumphius in the 17th century, and which, at a later date, induced Lamarck to claim for the former plant the rank of a distinct species, under the name of Cannabis indica. But the variations observed in the two plants are of so little botanical importance and are so inconstant, that the main- tenance of C. indica as distinct from C. sativa has been abandoned by general consent. In a medicinal point of view, there is a wide dissimilarity between hemp grown in India and that produced in Europe, the former being vastly more potent. Yet even in India there is much variation, for according to Jameson, the plant grown at altitudes of 6000 to 8000 ^ The fig excepted, which is much more saccharine than any. 492 CANNABINEJE. feet, affords the resin known as Charas, which cannot be obtained from that cultivated on the plains.^ History — Hemp has been propagated on account of its textile fibre and oily seeds from a remote period. The ancient Chinese herbal called Rlc-ya, written about the 5th cen- tury B.C., notices the fact that the hemp plant is of two kinds, the one producing seeds, the other flowers only.^ In the writings of Susruta on Hindu medicine, supposed to date some centuries before the Christian era, hemp (Bliangd) is mentioned as a remedy. Herodotus states that hemp grows in Scythia both wild and cultivated, and that the Thracians make garments from it which can hardly be distinguished from linen. He also describes how the Scythians expose themselves as in a bath to the vapour of the seeds thrown on hot coals.^ The Greeks and Romans appear to have been unacquainted with the medicinal powers of hemp, unless indeed the care-destroying NrjTrepQi'i should, as Eoyle has supposed, be referred to this plant. According to Stanislas Julien,* ansesthetic powers were ascribed by the Chinese to preparations of hemp as early as the commencement of the 3rd century. The employment of hemp both medical and dietetic, appears to have spread slowly through India and Persia to the Arabians, amongst whom the plant was used in the early middle ages. The famous heretical sect of Mahomedans, whose murderous deeds struck terror into the hearts of the Crusaders during the 11th and 12th centuries, derived their name of Hasliisliin or, as it is commonly written, assassins, from hashish the Arabic for h&mp,^ which in certain of their rites, they used as an in- toxicant.^ The use of hemp (bhang) in India was particularly noticed by Garcia d'Orta '' (1563), and the plant was subsequently figured by Eheede, who described the drug as largely used on the Malabar coast. It would seem about this time to have been imported into Europe, at least, occasionally, for Berlu in his Treasury of Drugs, 1690, describes it as coming from Bantam in the East Indies, and " of an infatuating quality and per- nicious use." It was Napoleon's expedition to Egypt that was the means of again calling attention to the peculiar properties of hemp, by the accounts of De Sacy (1809) and Eouger (1810). But the introduction of the Indian drug into European medicine is of still more recent date, and is chiefly due to the experiments made in Calcutta by O'Shaughnessy in 1838—39.^ 1 Journ. of the Agric. and Sortie. Soc. of states that the Afghan cliicf wlio murck'rcd India, viii. 167. Dr. Forbes in 1842, had for sonic days pre- 2 Bretschneider, On Chinese Botanical viously been more or less intoxicated with Works, 1870. 5. 10. Part of the Rh-ya was Charas or Bhang. written in the 12th cent. B.C. " Colloquies dos simples e drogas e cousas ^ Rawlinson's translation, iii. (1859) book medicinacs da India, ed. 2, Lisboa, 1872, 4, chap. 74-5. 2f. 4 Comptes Ilendus, xxviii. (1849) 195. ^ For a notice of them, see O'Shaughnessy, s Hence the words assassin and assassi- On the preparation of the Indian Ilcmp nate. Weil, however, is of opinion tliat the or Gunjah, Calcutta, 1839 ; also Bengal I)is- word assasAW is more probably derived from jvniatory, Calcutta, 1842. 579--604. An sikkin, a dagger. — Geschichtc dcr Ckalifen, immense number of references to writers who iv. (1860) 101. ^'y no means 1873. 334. evident by what process they were collected. * Stewart, Punjab Plants, Lahore, 1869. ^ Forsyth, Correspondence on Mission to 216. 496 CANNABINEM throngli Central and Southern Siberia to the Altai mountains. It has been introduced into North America, Brazil (Eio Grande do Sul), and Australia. History — Hops have been used from a remote period in the brewing of beer, of which they are now regarded as an indispensable ingredient. Hop gardens, under the name humularia or humuleta, are mentioned as existing in Erance and Germany in the 8th and 9 th centuries ; and Bohemian and Bavarian hops have been known as an esteemed kind since the 11th century. A grant alleged to have been made by William the Conqueror in 1069, of hops and hop-lands in the county of Salop ^ would indicate, were it free from doubt, a very early cultivation of the hop in England. As to the use made of hops in these early times, it would appear that they were regarded in somewhat of a medicinal aspect. In the Herharium of Apuleius,^ an English manuscript written about A.D. 1050, it is said of the hop (hymele) that its good qualities are such that men put it in their usual drinks ; and St. Hildegard,^ a century later, states that the hop (Jioppho) is added to beverages, partly for its wholesome bitterness, and partly because it makes them keep. Hops for brewing were among the produce which the tenants of the abbey of St. Germain in Paris ^ had to furnish to the monastery in the beginning of the 9th century; yet in the middle of the 14th century, beer without such addition was still brewed in Paris. The brewsters, bakers and millers of London were the subject of a mandate of Edward I. in A.D. 1298 ; but there is no reason for inferring that the manufacture of malt liquor at this period involved the use of hops. It is plain indeed that somewhat later, hops were not generally used, for in the 4th year of Henry VI. (1425—26), an information was laid against a person for putting into beer " an unwholesome weed called an hopjy;'^ ^ and in the same reign, Parliament was petitioned against " that wicked weed called hops." But it is evident that hops were soon found to possess. good qualities, and that though their use was denounced, it was not suppressed. Thus in the regulations for the household of Henry VIII. (1 530-31), there is an injunction that the brewer is " not to put any hops or brimstone into the ale";^ while in the very same year (1530), hundreds of pounds of Elemish hops were purchased for the use of the noble family of L'Estranges of Hunstanton.^ In 1552, the cultivation of hops in England was distinctly sanctioned by the 5th and 6th of Edward VI. c. 5, which directs that land formerly in tillage should again be so cultivated, excepting it should have been set with hops or saffron. IsTotwithstanding these facts, hops were for a long period hardly regarded an essential in brewing, as may be gathered from the remark of Gerarde {oh. A.D. 1607), who speaks of them as used " to season " beer or ale, explaining that notwithstanding their manifold virtues, they 1 Blount, Tenures of Land and Customs * Guerard, Polyptique dc Vahhi Irminon, of Manors, edited by Hazlitt, 1874. 16.'). i. 0844) 714. 896. 2 Lcechdoms, fVortciinniiig and Starcraft, ^ The authority for this statement is an of Early England, edited by Cockayne, i. isoLited memorandum in a MS. volume (No. (1864) 173 ; ii. (1865) ix. 980) by Thomas Gybbons, preserved in the ^ Optra, Omnia, accurante J. P. Migne, Harleiun collection in the British Museum. I'aris, ISo.'J. 1153. " Archoeoloqia, iii. (1786) 157. " Ibid. x.\v. (1834) 505. i STE OB III IJ UMULI. 497 "rather make it a physical drinke to keepe the body in health, than an ordinary drinke for the quenching of our thirst." In reality, other herbs were for a long period employed to impart to malt liquor a bitter or aromatic taste, as Ground Ivy {ISfepeta Gleclioma Benth.) anciently called Ale-hoof or Gill ; Alecost {Balsamita vulgaris L.) ; Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale L.j ; and Sage (Salvia officinalis L.). Even Long Pepper and Bay Berries were used for the same purpose/ but in addition to hops. Though English hops were esteemed superior to foreign, and were extensively grown as early as 1603, as shown by an act of James I.,'^ Flemish hops continued to be imported in considerable quantities down to 1693. Structure — The inflorescence of the male plant constitutes a large panicle; that of the female is less conspicuous, consisting of stalked catkins which by their growth develope large leafy imbricating bracts, ultimately forming an ovoid cone or strobile, which is the officinal part. This catkin consists of a short central zigzag stalk, bearing overlapping rudimentary leaflets, each represented by a pair of stipules. Between them are 4 female florets, each supported by a bract. After flowering, the stipules as well as the bracts are much enlarged, and then form the persistent, yellowish-green, pendulous strobile. At maturity, each bract infolds at its base a small lenticular closed fruit or nut, Jg- of an inch in diameter. The nut is surrounded by a membranous, one-leafed perigone, and contains within its fragile, brown shell, an exalbuminous seed. These fruits, as well as the axis and the base of all the leaflike organs, are beset with numerous shining, translucent glands, to which the aromatic smel'l and taste of hops are due. Description — Hops as found in commerce, consist entirely of the fully developed strobiles or cones, more or less compressed. They have a greenish yellow colour, an agreeable and peculiar aroma, and a bitter aromatic burning taste. When rubbed in the hand they feel clammy, and emit a more powerful odour. By keeping, hops lose their greenish colour and become brown, at the same time acquiring an unpleasant odour, by reason of the formation of a little valerianic acid. Exposure to the vapour of sulphurous acid retards or prevents this alteration. For medicinal use, hops smelling of sulphurous acid should be avoided, though in reality the acid speedily becomes innocuous. Liebig has refuted the objections raised by brewers to the sulphuring of hops. Chemical Composition — Besides the constituents of the glands which are described in the next article, hops contain 3 to 5 per cent, of a tannin, stated by Wagner to resemble Morindannic Acid ; also chloro- phyll, gum, from 5 to 9 per cent, of aish constituents, chiefly potassium salts, and about 12 per cent, of water. Siewert (1870) has analysed six specimens of hops grown in Germany in which he found the resin soluble in alcohol, to vary from 9 7 to 18'4 per cent. The odour of hops resides in an essential oil, of which the yield is from 1 to 2 per cent. Personne found the oil to contain Valerol, (jejjioQ^ which passes into valerianic acid ; the latter in fact occurs in 1 Holinshed, Chronicles, vol. i. book 2. ^1 James I. (anno 1603) cap. 18. cap. 6. K K 498 CANNAmNim. the glands, yet according to Melm^ only to the extent of O'l to O'lY peT cent. When distilled from the fresh strobiles the oil has a greenish colour, hut a reddish-brown M^hen old hops have been employed. We find it to be devoid of rotatory power, neutral to litmus paper, and not striking any remarkable coloration with concentrated sulphuric acid. Griessmayer (1874) has shown that hops contain Trimethylamine, and in small proportion, a liquid volatile alkaloid not yet analysed, ■which he terms Lupuline. The latter is stated to have the odour of conine, and to assume a violet hue when treated with chromate of potassium and sulphuric acid. Production and Commerce — England was estimated as having in 1873, 63,276 acres under hops. The chief district for the cultivation is the county of Kent, where in that year 39,040 acres were devoted to this plant. Hops are grown to a much smaller extent in Sussex, and in still diminished quantity in Herefordshire, Hampshire, Worcestershire and Surrey. The other counties of England, and the principality of Wales produce but a trifling amount, and Scotland none at all. In continental Europe, hops are most largely produced in Bavaria and Wurtemberg, Belgium and France, but in each on a smaller scale than in England. France in 1872 is stated to have 9223 acres under hops.^ Notwithstanding the extensive production of hops in England, there is a large importation from other countries. The importation in 1872, was 135,965 cwt, valued at £679,276 : of this quantity, Belgium supplied 66,930 cwt, Germany 36,612 cwt., Holland 16,675 cwt., the United States 10,414 cwt., France 5328 cwt. During the same period, hops were exported from the United Kingdom to the extent of 31,215 cwt.^ Uses — Hops are administered medicinally as a tonic and sedative, chiefly in the form of tincture, infusion or extract. GLANDULE HUMULI. Lnipulina ; Lupulin, Lwpulinic Grains ; F. Lupuline ; G. Hopfendrusen, Hopfenstaul). Botanical Origin — Humulus Lupulus L. (see preceding article). The minute, shining, translucent glands of the strobile, constitute when detached therefrom, the substance called Lupulin. History — The glands of hop were separated and chemically ex- amined by L. A. Planche, a pharmacien of Paris, whose observations were first briefly described by Loiseleur-Deslongchamps in 1819.* In the following year, Dr. A. W. Ives of ISTew York published ^ an account of his experiments upon hops and their glands, to which latter he applied the name of Lupulin. Payen and Chevallier, Planche and others, made further experiments on the same subject, endorsing the recommendation of Ives that lupulin (or, as they preferred to call it, Lupuline) might' be advantageously used in medicine in place of hops. Production — Lupulin is obtained by stripping off the bracts of hops, ^ Tliese, Montpellier, 1867. ■* Manuel des Planies vsuelles et indi- ' Agricultural Re.turns of Great Britain, ghies, 1819. ii. 503. &c., 1873, jjiesented to Parliament, 48. 49. ' Silliman's Journ. of Science, ii. (1820) 70. 71. 302. ' Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom for 1872. 49. 93. GLAND Vim mm ull 499 and shaking and rubbing them ; and then separating the powder by a sieve. The powder thus detached, ought to be washed by decantation, so as to remove from it the sand or earth with which it is always con- taminated ; finally it should be dried, and stored in well-closed bottles. From the dried strobiles, 8 to 12 per cent, of lupulin may be obtained. Description — Lupulin seen in quantity appears as a yellowish- brown granular powder, having an agreeable odour of hops and a bitter aromatic taste. It is gradually wetted by water, instantly by alcohol or ether, but not by potash or sulphuric acid. By trituration in a mortar, the cells are ruptured so that it may be worked into a plastic mass. Thrown into the air and then ignited, it burns with a brilliant flame like lycopodium. Microscopic Structure — The lupulinic gland or grain, like the generality of analogous organs, is formed by an intumescence of the cuticle of the nuculse and bracts of hop (see p. 497). Each grain is originally attached by a very short stalk, which is no longer perceptible in the drug. The gland, exhausted by ether and macerated in water, is a globular or ovoid thin-walled sac, measuring from 140 to 240 mkm. It consists of two distinct, nearly hemispherical parts ; that originally provided with the stalk is built up of tabular polyhedric cells, whilst the upper hemisphere shows a continuous delicate membrane. This part therefore easily collapses, and thus exhibits a variety of form, the greater also as the grains turn pole or equator to the observer.^ The hop gland is filled with a thick, dark brown or yellowish liquid, which in the drug is contracted into one mass occupying the centre of the gland. It may be expelled in minute drops when the wall is made to burst by warming the grain in glycerin. The colouring matter, to which the wall owes its fine yellow colour, adheres more obstinately to the thinner hemisphere, and is more easily extracted from the thicker part by means of ether. Chemical Composition — The odour of lupulinic grains resides in the essential oil, described in the previous article. The bitter principle formerly called Z^^pw/m orLupulite was first isolated by Lermer (1863) who called it the hitter acid of hops {HopfeTibittersdure). It crystallizes in large brittle rhombic prisms, and possesses in a high degree the peculiar bitter taste of beer, in which however it can be present only in very small proportion, it being nearly insoluble in water though easily dissolved by many other liquids. The composition of this acid, C^^H^^O'^, appears to approximate it to absinthiin ; it is contained in the glands in but small proportion. Still smaller is the amount of another crystallizable con- stituent, regarded by Lermer as an alkaloid. The main contents of the hop gland consist of wax [Myricylic palmitate, according to Lermer), and resins, one of which is crystalline and unites with bases. A good specimen of German lupulin, dried over sulphuric acid, yielded us 7"3 per cent, of ash. The same drug exhausted by boiling ether, afforded 76'82 per cent, of an extremely aromatic extract, which on exposure to the steam bath for a week, lost 3'03 per cent., this loss corre- ^ For a full account of the fonnation of be found in Mehu's Etude du Hoiiblmi et du the glands, see Trecul, Annales des Sciences Lupulin, Montpellier, 1867. Nat., Bot, i. (1854) 299. An abstract may K K 2 500 ULMACEM spending to the volatile oil and acids. The residual part was soluble in glacial acetic acid and could therefore contain but very little fatty matter. Uses — The drug has the properties of hops, but with less of astringency. It is not often prescribed. Adulteration — Lupulin is apt to contain sand, and on incineration often leaves a large amount of ash. Other extraneous matters which are not unfrequent, may be easily recognized by means of a lens. As the essential oil in lupulin is soon resinified, the latter should be pre- ferred fresh, and should be kept excluded from the air. ULMACE^. CORTEX ULMI. Elm, Baric; F. Ecorce d'Orme ; G. JJlmenrinde, Buster r inch. Botanical Origin — Uhnus campestris Smith, the Common Elm, a stately tree, widely diffused over Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, extending in Norway to 66° N". lat. ; southward to Northern Africa and Asia Minor, and eastward as far as Amurland, Northern China, and Japan. It is probably not truly indigenous to Great Britain ; but the Wych Elm, U. montana With., is certainly wild in the northern and western counties.^ History — The classical writers, and especially Dioscorides, were familiar with the astringent properties of the bark of irreXea, by which name Ulmiis campestris is understood. Imaginary virtues are ascribed by Pliny to the bark and leaves of tllmus. Elm bark is frequently prescribed in the English Leech Books of the 11th century, at which period a great many plants of Southern Europe had already been introduced into Britain.^ Its use is also noticed in Turner's Herhal (1568) and in Parkinson's Theater of Plants (1640), the author of the latter remarking, that " all the parts of the Elme are of much use iu Physicke." Description — Elm bark for use in medicine should be removed from the tree in early spring, deprived of its rough corky outer coat, and then dried. Thus prepared, it is found in the shops in the form of broad flattish pieces, of a ritsty yellowish colour, and striated surface especially on the inner side. It is tough and fibrous, nearly inodorous, and has a woody, slightly astringent taste. Microscopic Structure — The liber which is the only officinal part, consists of thick-walled, tangentially extended parenchyme, in which there are some larger cells filled with mucilage, while the rest contain a red-brown colouring matter. The mucilage forms a stratified deposit within the cell. Large bast-bundles arranged in irregular rows, alternate with the parenchyme and are intersected by narrow, reddish, medullary rays consisting of 2 or 3 rows of cells. The bast-bundles contain I On the word ehn. Dr. I'lior rcniurks ^ Leechdoms, JFortcunning and Starcraft that it is nearly identical iu alt the Gev- of Early England, edited by Rev. 0. raanio and Scandinavian dialects, yet does Cockayne, ii (1865) pp. 53. 67. 79. 99. 127 not find its root in any of them, but is an and p. xii. — In the Anglo-Saxon recipes, both ada[)tation of the Latin Ulraus, — Popular Elm. and Wych Elm are named. Aamcs of British Plants, ed. 2. 1870. 71. COR TKX UL MI FUL V,K 5 0 J numerous long tubes about 30 mkm. thiuk, with narrow cavities ; a,nd besides these, soniewliat larger tubes with porous transverse walls (cribriform vessels). Each cubic cell of the neighbouring bast-paren- chyme, encloses a lai-ge crystal, seldom well defined, of oxalate of calcium. Chemistry — The chief soluble cdnstituent of elm bark is mucilage with a small proportion of tannic acid. The concentrated decoction yields a brown precipitate with perchloride of iron ; the dilute assumes a green coloration with that test. Starch is wanting, or only occurs in the middle cortical layer which is usually rejected. Elms in summer-time frequently exude a gum which, by contact with the air, is converted into a brown insoluble mass, called Ulmin. This name has been extended to various decomposition-products of organic bodies, the nature and affinities of which are but little known.^ Uses — Elm bark is prescribed in decoction as a weak mucilaginoug astringent, but is almost obsolete. CORTEX ULMI FULV^. Sliiopery Elm Barh Botanical Origin — Ulmus ftdva Michaux, the Eed or Slippery Elm, a small or middle-sized tree, seldom more than 30 to 40 feet high, grow- ing on the banks of streams in the central and northern United States from Western ISTew England to Wisconsin and Kentucky, and found also in Canada. History — The Indians of North America attributed medicinal virtues to the bark of the Slippery Elm, which they used as a healing application to wounds, and in decoction as a wash for skin diseases. Bigelow writina; in ].824, reinarks that the mucilagiridus qualities of the inner bark are well knowii. Description — The Slippery Elm Bark used in medicine consists of the liber only. It forms large fiat pieces, often 2 to 3 feet long by several inches broad, and usually -^-^ to -^^ of an inch thick, of an ex- tremely tough and fibrous texture. It has a light reddish-brown colourj an odour resembling that of fenugreek (which is common to the leaves also), and a simply mucilaginous taste. In collecting the bark the tree is destroyed, and no effort is made to replace it, the wood being nearly valueless. Thus the supply is dimin- ishing year by year, and the collectors who formerly obtained large quantities of the bark in New York and other eastern states, have now to go westward for supplies.^ Mi£roscopic Structure — The transverse section shows a series of undulating layers of large yellowish bundles of soft liber fibres, alter- nating with small brown parenchymatous bands. The whole tissue is traversed by numerous narrow medullary rays, and interrupted by large intercellular mucilage-ducts. In order to examine the latter, longitu- dinal sections ought to be moistened with benzol, aqueous liquids causing great alteration. In a longitudinal section, the mucilage-ducts are seen to be 70 to 100 mkm. long, and to contain colourless masses of mucilage, ^ Gmelin, Chemistry, xvii. (1866) 458. ^ Proceedings of the American Pharma- ceutical Associaiion for 1873, sxi. 435. 502 EUPHORBIACEjE. distinctly showing a series of layers. Crystals of calcium oxalate, as well as small starch grains, are very plentiful throughout the surround- ing parenchyme, but not in the mucilage-ducts. Chemical Composition — The most interesting constituent of the bark is the mucilage, which is imparted to either cold or hot water but does not form a true solution. The bark moistened with 20 parts of water swells considerably, and becomes enveloped by a thick neutral mucilage, which is not altered either by iodine or perchloride of iron. This mucilage when diluted even with a triple volume of water, will yield only a few drops when thrown on a paper lilter. The liquid which drains out is precipitable by neutral acetate of lead. By addition of absolute alcohol, the concentrated mucilage is not rendered turbid, but forms a colourless transparent fluid deposit. Uses — Slippery Elm Bark is a demulcent like althaea or linseed. The powder ^ is much used in America for making poultices ; it is said to preserve lard from rancidity, if the latter is melted with it and kept in contact for a short time. EUPHORBIACE^. EUPHORBIUM. UuphorMum, Gum 'Eu'plwT'hium ; T. Gomme-r^sine d'Uwphorhe ; G. UuphorMum. Botanical Origin — Euphorbia resinifera Berg, a leafless, glaucous, perennial plant resembling a cactus, and attaining 6 or more feet in height. Its stems are ascending, fleshy and quadrangular, each side measuring about an inch. The angles of the stem are furnished at intervals with pairs of divergent, horizontal, straight spines about \ of an inch long, and confluent at the base into ovate, subtriangular discs. These spines represent stipules : above each pair of them is a depression, indicating a leaf-bud. The inflorescence is arranged at the summits of the branches, on stalks each bearing three flowers, the two outer of which are supported on pedicels. The fruit is tricoccous, ^^^j- of an inch wide, with each carpel slightly compressed and keeled. The plant is a native of Morocco, growing on the lower slopes of the Atlas in the southern province of Suse. Dr. Hooker and his fellow travellers met with it in 1870, at Imsfuia, south-east of the city of Morocco, which appears to be its westward limit. H istory — Euphorbium was known to the ancients. Dioscorides ^ and Pliny " both describe its collection on Mount Atlas in Africa, and notice its extreme acridity. According to the latter writer, the drug received its name in honour of Euphorbus, physician to Juba II., king of Mauri- tania. This monarch, who after a long reign died about a.d. 18, was distinguished for his literary attainments, and was the author of several books * which included treatises on opium and euphorbium. The latter work was apparently extant in the time of Pliny. Euphorbium is mentioned by numerous other early Avriters on medi- 1 Tliat sold in America is sometimes adul- ' ].il). v. c. 1 ; lib. xxv. c. 38. teratf^il with faiiiiaccous Bubstauces. * Smith, Diet, of ('rrack and Roman Bio- '* Lilj. ill. c. f;C. . of ash ; the kernels dried at 100° C. S'O per cent. Commerce — The shipments of croton seeds arrive chiefly from i Warrington, Pharm. Journ. vi. (1865) 382-387. 510 wpnoRmAcu:^. Cochin or Bombay, packed in cases, bales or robbins ; but there are no statistics to show the extent of the trade. Uses — Croton seeds are not administered. The oil is given internally as a powerful cathartic, and is applied externally as a rubefacient. Substitutes — The seeds of Croton Pavance Hamilton, a native of Ava and Camrup (Assam), and those of C. oUongifolius Eoxb., a small tree common about Calcutta, are said to resemble those of C. Tiglium L., but we have not compared them. Those of Baliospermum montanum Miill. Arg. {Croton polyandrwn Eoxb.) partake of the nature of croton seeds, and according to Eoxburgh, are used by the natives of India as a purgative. SEMEN RICINI. Semen Cataputice majoris ; Castor Oil Seeds, Palma Christi Seeds ; P. Semence de Ricin ; G. Ricinussamen. Botanical Origin — Ricinus communis L., the castor oil plant, is a native of India where it bears several ancient Sanskrit names.-^ By cultivation, it has been distributed through all the tropical and many of the temperate countries of the globe. In the regions most favourable to its growth, it attains a height of 40 feet. In the Azores, and the warmer Mediterranean countries as Algeria, Egypt and Greece, it becomes a small tree, 10 to 15 feet high ; while in France, Germany and the south of England, it is an annual herb of noble foliage, growing to a height of 4 or 5 feet. In good summers, it ripens seeds in England and even as far north as Christiania in Norway. Ricinus communis exhibits a large number of varieties, several of ■which have been described and figured as distinct species. MtiUer, after a careful examination of the whole series, maintains them as a single species, of which he allows 16 forms, more or less well marked.^ Baillon ^ follows the same course. History — The castor oil plant was known to Herodotus who calls it Kt/ct, and states that it furnishes an oil much used by the Egyptians. At the period when he wrote, it would appear to have been already introduced into Greece, where it is cultivated to the present day under the same ancient name.* The Kihajon of the Book of Jonah, rendered by the translators of the English Bible, gourd, is believed to be the same plant. Kt/ct is also mentioned by Strabo as a production of Egypt, the oil from which is used for burning in lamps and for unguents. Theophrastus and Nicander give the castor oil plant the name of KpoTwy. Dioscorides, who calls it Kt'/ci or KpoTwv, describes it as of the stature of a small fig-tree, with leaves like a plane, and seeds in a prickly pericarp, observing that the name Kporwr is applied to the seed on account of its resemblance to an insect [Ixodes Rici?ius Latr.], known by that appellation. He also gives an account of the process for extracting castor oil (Klklvov eXatov), which he says is not fit for food, but is used externally in medicine ; he represents the seeds as ^ The most usual \s Eranda or Yerdnrla, ^ Hist, des Planles ; EupTwrbiades (1874) ■which passes into several other languages. 110. '^ De Cundolle, Frodrovius, xv. sect. 2. ■* Heldreich, Nutzpflanzen Gricclienlands, 1017. Athen, 1862. 58. smtEN Ricmt. 511 extremely purcjative. There is a tolerably correct figure of Ricinus in the famous MS. Dioscorides which was executed for tlie Empress Juliana Anicia in a.d. 505, and is now preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna. The castor oil plant was cultivated by Albertus Magnus, Bishop of Eatisbon, in the middle of the 13th century.-^ It was well known as a garden plant in the time of Turner (1568), who mentions the oil as Oleum cicinum vel ricininum.^ Gerarde at the end of the same century, was familiar with it under the name of Hicinus or Kik. The oil he says is called Oleum, cicinum or Oleum de Gherua, and used externally in skin diseases. After this period the oil seems to have fallen into complete neglect, and is not even noticed in the comprehensive and accurate Pharmacologia of Dale (1693). In the time of Hill (1751) and Lewis (1761) Palma Christi seeds were rarely found in the shops, and the oil from them was scarcely known.^ In 1764, Peter Canvane, a physician who had practised many years in the West Indies, published a " Dissertation on the Oleum Palm.ce Christi, sive Oleicm Bicini ; or (as it is commonly call'd) Castor Oil" * strongly recommending its use as a gentle purgative. This essay which passed through two editions and was translated into French, was followed by several others,^ thus thoroughly drawing attention to the value of the oil. Accordingly we find that the seeds of Ricinus were admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia of 1788, and directions given for preparing oil from them. Woodville in his Medical Botany (1790) speaks of the oil as having "lately come into frequent use." At this period and for several years subsequently, the small supplies of the seeds and oil required for European medicine, were obtained from Jamaica.^ This oil was gradually displaced in the market by that produced in the East Indies : the rapidity with which the consumption increased, may be inferred from the following figures, representing the value of the Castor Oil shipped to Great Britain from Bengal in three several years, namely 1813-14, £610; 1815-16, £1269 ; 1819-20, £7102.7 Description — The fruit of Ricinus is a tricoccous capsule, usually provided with weak prickles, containing one seed in each of its three cells. The seeds attain a length of y%- to -^q, and a maximum breadth of j^ of an inch, and are of a compressed ellipsoid form. The apex of ^ De Vegetabilihus, ed. Jessen, 1867. 347. in tliose days, may te judged from the fact ^ Turner's Herbal, pt. ii. 116. that the stock in 1777, of a London whole- * HiW, Hist, of the Mat. Med., J^ondi. 17 51. sale druggist (Joseph Gurney Bevan, pre- 637. — Lewis, Hist, of the Mat. Med., Lond. decessor of Allen and Hauburys) was 2 1761. 468. Bottles (1 Bottle = 18 to 20 ounces) valued ^ The word cantor in connection with the at 8s. per bottle. The accounts of the same seeds and oil of Ricinus, has come to us house show at stocktaking in 1782, 23 from Jamaica, in which island, by some Bottles of the oil, which had cost 10s. per strange mistake, the plant was once called bottle. In 1799, Jamaica exported 236 Agnus Castus. The true Agnus Castus Casks of Castor Oil and 10 Casks of seeds {Vitex Agnus-castus L.) is a native of the (Renny, Rist. of Jamaica, 1807. 235). Mediterranean countries and not of the West "^ H. H. Wilson, Review of the External Indies. Commerce of Bengal from J813 to 1828, * For a list of which consult Merat et De Calcutta 1830, tables pp. 14-15. (We have Lens, Diet, de Mat. Med., vi. (1834) 95. reduced the value from Sicca rupees to ® How small was the traffic in Castor Oil sterling.) 512 EUPBORBIACEM. the peed is prolonged into a short beak, on the inner side of which is a large tumid caruncle : from this latter proceeds the raphe as far as the lower end of the ventral surface, where it forks, its point of disappear- ance through the testa being marked by a minute protuberance. If the caruncle is broken off, a black scar formed of two little depressions, remains. The shining grey epidermis is beautifully marked with brownish bands and spots, and in this respect exhibits a great variety of colours and markings. It cannot be rubbed off, but may after maceration be peeled off in leathery strips. The black testa, grey within, is not thicker than in croton seed, but is much more brittle. The kernel or nucleus fills the testa completely, and is easily separated, still covered by the soft white inner membrane. The kernel in respect to structure and situation of the embryo, agrees exactly with that of Croton Tiglmm (p. 508), excepting that the some- what gaping cotyledons of Ricinus are proportionately broader, and have their thick midrib provided with 2 or 8 pairs of lateral veins. If not rancid, the kernel has a bland taste, with but very slight acridity. Microscopic Structure — The thin epidermis consists of pentagonal or hexagonal porous tabular cells, the walls of which are penetrated in certain spots by brownish colouring matter, whence the singular markings on the seed. It is these cells only that become blackened when a thin tangential slice is saturated with solution of ferric chloride in alcohol. Beneath these tabular cells, there is found in the unripe seed ^ a row of encrusted colourless cells, deposited in a radial direction on the testa. In the mature seed this layer of cells is not perceptible, and therefore appears to perish as the seed ripens. The testa itself is built up of cylindrical, densely packed cells, 300 to 320 mk-m. long, and 6 to 10 mkm. in diameter. The kernel shares the structure of that of C. Tiglium, but is devoid of crystals of oxalate of calcium. If the endopleura of Ricinus is moistened with dilute sulphuric acid, acicular' crystals of sulphate of calcium separate from it aftef a few hours. When thin slices of the kernel are examined under concentrated glycerin, no drops of oil are visible, notwithstanding the abundance of this latter ; and it becomes conspicuous only by addition of much water. Hence it is probable that the oil exists in the seed as a kind of compound with its albuminoid c6ntents.^ As to the latter, they partly form in the albumen of Ricinvs, beautiful octohedra or tetrahedra, which are also found in many other seeds. Chemical Constitution — The most important constituent of the Seed is the fixed oil, called Castor Oil, of which the peeled kernels afford at most, half of their weight. Tlie oil, if most carefully prepared from peeled and winnowed seeds by pressure without heat, has but a slightly acrid taste, and contains bnly a very small proportion of the still unknown drastic constituent of ' Gris, Annales des Sciences Xat., Bot., k'ri/stnl/e prole inarticjer ICiirper, Leipzig, XV. (1861) 5-9. 18.0!) 01. and tub. 2 fig. 10 ; Pfefler, Fro- ^ Sachs, Lelirhiich der Botanik, 1870. f>Z. te.lnkarner in Pringsheim's Jalirhncher fiir ^ For further particulars, see Trei'ul, i4?m. icisscnuchciftliche Butanik, viii. ^1872) 429. des Sc. A'at., Bot., x. (1858) 355 ; Hadlkot'er, 464. SEMEN raciNi. 513 the seeds. Hence, the seeds themselves, or an emulsion prepared with them, act much more strongly than a corresponding quantity of oil. Castor oil, extracted by absolute alcohol or by bisulphide of carbon, likewise purges much more vehemently than the pressed oil. The castor oil of commerce has a sp. gr. of about 0-96, usually a pale yellow tint, a viscid consistence, and a very slight yet rather mawkish odour and taste. Exposed to cold, it does not in general entirely solidify until the temperature reaches —18° C. In thin layers it dpes up to varnish- like film. Castor oil is distinguished by its power of mixing in all proportions with glacial acetic acid or absolute alcohol. It is even soluble in four parts of spirit of wine ('SSS) at 15° C.,and mixes without turbidity with an equal weight of the same solvent at 25° C. The commercial varieties of the oil however, differ considerably in these as well as in some other respects. The optical properties of the oil demand further investigation, as we have found that some samples deviate the ray of polarized light to the right and others to the left. By saponification, castor oil yields several fatty acids, one of which appears to be Palmitic Acid. Another acid (peculiar to the oil), is Bicinoleic Acid, C^^H^^O^ ; it is solid below. 0° C. does not solidify in contact with the air by absorption of oxygen, and is not homologous with oleic or linoleic acid, neither of which is found in castor oil.^ Castor oil is nevertheless thickened if 6 parts of it are warmed with 1 part of starch and 5 of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1'25), Bicinelaidin being thus formed. From this, Ricinela'idic Acid may easily be obtained in briUiant crystals. As to the albuminoid matter of the seed, Fleury (1865) obtained 3"23 per cent, of nitrogen which would answer to about 20 per cent, of such substances. The same chemist further extracted 46"6 per cent, of fixed oil, 2*2 of sugar and mucilage, besides 18 per cent, of cellulose. According to Bower,^ the seeds contain a protein substance and a body resembling amygdalin, by the mutual reaction of which in the presence of water, there is produced in very small quantity, a foetid poisonous substance which strongly attacks the digestive organs. These statements require investigation. Tuson in 1864, by exhausting castor oil seeds with boiling water, obtained from them an alkaloid which he named Eicinine. He states that it crystallizes in rectangular prisms and tables, which when heated fuse, and upon cooling solidify as a crystalline mass ; the crystals may even be sublimed. Burnt on platinum foil, they leave no residue. Pticinine dissolves readily in water or alcohol, less freely in ether or benzol. Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves it without coloration. With mercuric chloride, it combines to form tufts of silky crystals, soluble in water or alcohol. Heated with potash, it evolves ammonia. Pticinine is said to have but little taste, and not to be the purgative principle of the seeds. Werner (1869) on repeating Tuson's process on 30 lb. of Italian castor oil seeds, also obtained a crop of crystals, which in appearance and solubility had many of the characters ascribed to ricinine, but differed in the essential point that when incinerated they 1 Gmelin, C%cm/s^y//, xvii. (18G6) 131-1-M. - Am. Journ. of Pharm.xxvi. (1854) 207. L L 514 EUPHORBIA GEM. left a residuum of magnesia. When heated witli potash, they gave off no ammonia ; AVerner regarded them as the magnesium salt of a new acid. Tuson ^ repudiates the suspicion that ricinine may be identical with Werner's magnesium compound. E. S. Wayne of Cincinnati has recently (1874) found in the leaves of Bicinus, a substance apparently identical with Tuson's ricinine ; but he considers that it has no claim to be called an alkaloid. The testa of castor oil seeds afforded us 10-7 per cent, of ash, one tenth of which we found to consist of silica. The ash of the kernel previously dried at 100° C, amounts to only 3"5 per cent. Production and Commerce— Castor oil is most extensively pro- duced in India, where two varieties of the seeds, the large and the small, are distinguished, the latter being considered to yield the better product. In manufacturing the oil, the seeds are gently crushed between rollers, ■ and freed by hand from husks and unsound grains. At Calcutta, 100 parts of seed yield on an average 70 parts of cleaned kernels, which by the hydraulic press afford 46 to 51 per cent, of their weight of oil ; the oil is afterwards subjected to a very imperfect process of purification by heating it with water. '^ The exports of castor oil from Calcutta^ in the year 1870—71, amounted to 654,917 gallons, of which 214,959 gallons were shipped to the United Kingdom, The total imports of castor oil into the United Kingdom'* in the year 1870, were returned as 36,986 cwt. (about 416,000 gallons), valued at £82,490. Of this quantity, British India (chiefly Bengal) furnished about two-thirds ; and Italy 11,856 cwt. (about 133,000 gallons), whUe a small remainder is entered as from " other parts." Italian Castor Oil, which has of late risen into some celebrity, is pressed from the seed of plants grown chiefly about Yerona and Legnago, in the north of Italy. The manufactory of Mr. Bellino Valeri at the latter town produced in the year 1873, 1200 quintals of castor oil, entirely from Italian seed. Two varieties of Bicinus are cultivated in these localities, the black-seeded Egyptian and the red-seeded American ; the latter yields the larger percentage, but the oil is not so pale in colour. The seeds are very carefully deprived of their integuments, and having been crushed, are submitted to pressure in powerful hydraulic presses, placed in a room which in winter is heated to about 21° C. The outflow of oil is further promoted by plates of iron warmed to 32-38° C, being placed between the press-bags. The peeled seeds yield about 40 per cent, of oil.^ All the castor oil pressed in Italy is not pressed from Italian seed. By an official return*^ it appears that in the years 1872-73, there were exported from Bombay to Genoa 1350 cwt. of castor oil seeds, besides 2452 gallons of castor oil. There are no data to show what was ex- ported from the other presidencies of India in that year. Uses — Castor oil is much valued as a mild and safe purgative ; whUe ^ Chemical Xcws, xxii. (IS 70) 229. * Aiimcal Statement of the Trade, d:c. of 2 Madras Exhibition of Itav: Froducls, etc. the U.K. for 1870. — No later returns. iif Houther')i India, — Ileports by the Jiuics, ^ H. Groves, Pharm. Journ. viii. (1867) Madras, 1856. 28. 250. •* Annual Volume of Trade and Kaviga- " Annual Statement of the Trade and tion for the Bewjal Presidcncij for 1870-71, Kavicjalion of the Prcsidew.y of Bombay for Calcutta, 1871. 119, 1872-73, part ii. 87. 88. KAMALA. 515 the commoner qualities are used in soap-making, and in India for burning in lamps. The seeds are not now administered. The leaves of the plant applied in decoction to the breasts of women, are said to promote or even to occasion the secretion of milk. This property which has long been known to the inhabitants of the Cape Verd Islands ^ was particu- larly observed' by Dr. McWilliam about the year 1850. It has even been found that the galactagogue powers of the plant are exerted when the leaves are administered internally. KAMALA. Kamela, Glandidce RottUrce. Botanical Origin — Mallotus Philippinensis Miill. Arg. (Croton Philippense Lam., Rottlera tindoria Eoxb., Echiniis Pliilippinensis Baillon), a large shrub, or small tree, attaining 20 or 30 feet in height, of very wide distribution. It grows in Abyssinia and Southern Arabia, throughout the Indian peninsulas, ascending the mountains to 5000 feet above the sea-level, in Ceylon, the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, Eastern China and in North Australia,, Queensland and New South Wales. The tricoccous fruits of many of the Eupliorhiacece are clothed with prickles, stellate hairs, or easily removed glands. This is especially the case in the several species of Mallotus, most of which have the capsules covered with stellate hairs, together with small glands. In that under notice, the capsule is closely beset with ruby-like glands which, when removed by brushing and rubbing, constitute the powder known by the Bengali name of Kamala. These glands are not confined to the capsule, but are scattered over other parts of the plant, especially among the dense tomentum with which the under side of the leaf is covered. History — This drug is mentioned by some of the Arabian physicians ^ as early as the 10th century, under the name of Kanlil or Wars. Ibn Khurdadbah, an Arab geographer, living a.d. 869—885, states that from Yemen come striped silks, ambergris, loars, and gum.^ It is described to be a reddish yellow powder like sand, which falls on the ground in the valleys of Yemen, and is a good remedy for tapeworm and cutaneous diseases. One writer compares it to powdered saffron ; another speaks of two kinds, — an Abyssinian which is Hack (or violet), and an Indian which is red. Abul- Abbas el-JSTebati, who was a native of Spain, remarks that the drug is known in the Hejaz and brought from Yemen, but that it is unknown in Andalusia and does not grow there. In modern times, we find JSTiebuhr "^ speaks of the same substance (as " uars") stating it to be a dye-stuff, of which quantities are conveyed from Mokha to Oman. The drug must have been long known in India, for it has several Sanskrit names : one of these is Kapila, which as well as the Telugu Kdpila-'podi, is sometimes used by Europeans, though not ^ Frezier, Voyage to the South 8eas, Lond. "^ Quoted by Ibn Bay tar, — see Sontbeimer's 1717. p. 13.— Turner in bis Herbal (1568) translation, ii. (1842) 326, 585. gives tbe plant an opposite cbaracter, for tlie ^ Ibn Kbordadbeb, Livra dcs routes ct des bruised leaves, says he, " swage tbe brestes 2^'''o^"inces, trad, par Barbier de Meynard. — or pappes swellinge wyth to muche i)lenty of Joiorn. Asiatiqice, v. (1565) 295. milke." -^ Description de I' Arabic, 1774. 133. L L 9 516 EUPHORBIACEJ^. SO frequently as the word Kamala or Kamda, whicli belongs to the Hindustani, Bengali and Guzratti languages. It does not appear that as a drug the glandular powder of Mallotus, or as it is more conveniently called, Kamala, attracted any particular notice in Europe until a very recent period, though it is named by Ainslie, Eoxburgh, Eoyle and Buchanan, the last of whom gives an interesting account of its collection and uses.^ In 1852, specimens of it as found in the bazaar of Aden under the old Arabic name of Wars, were sent to one of us by Port-Surgeon Vaughan, with information as to its properties as a dye for a silk and as a remedy in cutaneous diseases.^ But the real introduction of the drug as a useful medicine is due to Mackinnon, surgeon in the Bengal Medical Establishment, who adminis- tered it successfully in numerous cases of tapeworm. Anderson of Calcutta, C. A. Gordon, and Corbyn in India, and Beared in London, confirmed the observations of Mackinnon, and fully established the fact that kamala is an efficient tsenifuge.^ It was introduced into the British PharmacoiJceia in 1864. Production — Kamala is one of the minor products of the Govern- ment forests in the Madras Presidency, but is also collected in many other parts of India. The following particulars have been communicated to us by a correspondent * in the North-west Provinces : — '•' . . , Enormous quantities of Rottlera tinctoria are found grow- ing at the foot of these hills, and every season numbers of people, chiefly women and children, are engaged in collecting the powder for exportation to the plains. They gather the berries in large quantities and throw them into a great basket in which they roll them about, rubbing them with their hands so as to divest them of the powder, which falls through the basket as through a sieve, and is received below on a cloth spread for the purpose. This powder forms the Kampala of commerce, and is in great repute as an anthelmintic, but is most ex- tensively used as a dye. The adulterations are chiefly the powdered leaves, and the fruit-stalks with a little earthy matter, but the percentage is not large. The operations of picking the fruit and rubbing off the powder commence here in the beginning of March and last about a month. . . ." The powder is collected in a similar manner in Southern Arabia, whence it is shipped to the Persian Gulf and Bombay. It is also brought under the name of Wars, from Hurrur, a town in Eastern Africa, which is a great trading station between the Galla countries and Berbera.^ Description — Kamala is a fine, granular, mobile powder, consisting of transparent, crimson granules, the bright colour of which is mostly somewhat deadened by the admixture of grey stellate hairs, minute fragments of leaves and similar foreign matter. It is nearly destitute of taste and smell, but an alcoholic solution poured into water emits a melon-like odour. Kamala is scarcely acted on by water, even at a boiliDg heat; on the other hand, alcohol, ether, chloroform or benzol extract from it a splendid red resin. Keither sulphuric nor nitric acid 1 Journey thruiujlu Mi/sorc, Canara, etc., •• F. E. G. Matthews, Esq., of Naincc ''''■il. Lond. 1807, i. 168. 211, ii. 343. '' Burton, Jowrn. of 11. Geogr. Suci ''/, 2 Pharm. Journ. xii. (1853) 386. 589. xxv. (1855) 146. 3 Ibid. xvii. (1858) 408. KAMALA. 517 acts upon it in the cold, nor does oil of turpentine become coloured by- it unless warmed. It floats on water, but sinks in oil of turpentine. When sprinkled over a flame, it ignites after the manner of lycopodium. Heated alone, it emits a slight aromatic odour ; if pure, it leaves after incineration, about 1'37 per cent, of a grey ash. Microscopic Structure — The granules of kamala are irregular spherical glands, 50 to 60 mkm. in diameter ; they have a wavy surface, are somewhat flattened or depressed on one side, and enclose within their delicate yellowish membrane, a structureless yellow mass in which are imbedded numerous, simple, club-shaped cells containing a homogeneous, transparent, red substance. These cells are grouped in a radiate manner around the centre of the flattened side, so that on the side next the observer, 10 to 30 of them may easily be counted, while the entire gland may contain 40 to 60. In a few cases, a very short stalk-cell is also seen at the centre of the base. AA^hen the glands are exhausted by alcohol and potash, and broken by pressure between flat pieces of glass, they separate into individual cells which swell up slightly, while the membranous envelope is com- pletely detached, and appears as a simple coherent film. After this treatment the cells, but not their membranous envelope, acquire by prolonged contact with strong sulphuric acid and iodine water, a more or less brown or blue colour : the walls of the cells alone correspond therefore to cellulose. Vogl (1864) supposes that a cell of the epidermis of the fruit first developes a young cellule, which by partition is resolved into the stalk-cell and the true mother-cell of the small clavate resin- cellules. At first, the contents of the latter do not differ from the mass in which they are imbedded, and perhaps pass gradually into resin by metamorjDhosis of the cellular substance. The glands of kamala are always accompanied by colourless or brownish, thick- walled, stellate hairs, two or three times as long as the glands, often containing air, which do not exhibit any peculiarity of form but resemble the hairs of other plants, as Veriascum or AUJicea. Chemical Connposition— Kamala has been analysed by Anderson of Glasgow (1855) and by Leube (1860). From the labours of these chemists, it apjDears that the powder yields to alcohol or ether nearly 80 per cent, of resin. We find it to be soluble also in glacial acetic acid or in bisulphide of carbon, not in petroleum ether. By treatment of .the resin extracted by ether with cold alcohol, Leube resolved it into two brittle reddish yellow resins, of which the one termed resin a. is more easily soluble and fuses at 80° C, and the other called resin /9. dissolves less readily and fuses at 191° C. Both dissolve in alkaline solutions and can be precipitated by acids without apparent change. Leube assigns to Eesin a. the composition C^'^H^QS, and to Kesin /3. C^^Heoio. Anderson found that a concentrated ethereal solution of kamala allowed to stand for a few days, solidified into a mass of granular crystals, which by repeated solution and crystallization in ether, were obtained in a state of purity. This substance, named by Anderson JRottlerin, forms minute, platy, yellow crystals of a fine satiny lustre, readily soluble in ether, sparingly in cold alcohol, more so in hot, and insoluble in water. The mean of four analyses gave the composition of rottlerin as C^^H^O*^. 518 EUPHORBIA CE/H. No definite compound of the substance with a metallic oxide could be obtained. We have been able to confirm the foregoing observations so far as that we have once obtained an abundance of minute acicular crystals, by allowing an ethereal solution of kamala to evaporate spontaneously to a syrupy state. But the purification of these crystals which was attempted by our friend Mr. T. B. Groves/ was unsuccessful, for when freed fi:om the protecting mother-liquor, they underwent a change and assumed an amorphous form. With many samples of kamala we find that no crystals whatever can be obtained by evaporation of an ethereal solution : such was also the experience of Leube, who was led from it to question the existence of rottlerin. Kamala contains traces of citric and tannic acids, gum, and volatile oil, besides about 3 ]Der cent, of hygroscopic water. Uses — The drug is administered for the expulsion of tapeworm ; it has also been used as an external application in herpes circinnatus. In India it is employed for dyeing silk a rich orange-brown. Adulteration — Kamala is very liable to adulteration with earthy substances, even to the extent of 60 per cent. This contamination may easily be known by the grittiness of the drug, and 'by a portion of it sinking when it is stirred up with water, but in the most decisive manner, by incineration. Sometimes kamala contains an undue proportion of foreign vegetable matter, as remains of the capsules, leaves, &c., which can partly be separated by a lawn sieve. Substitute — A very remarkable form of kamala was imported a few years ago from Aden by Messrs. Allen and Hanburys, druggists, of London.'' It arrived neatly packed in oblong, white calico bags, of three sizes, each inscribed with Arabic characters, indicating with the name of the vendor or collector, the net weight, which was either 100, 50, or 25 Turkish ounces. The drug was in coarser particles than ordinary kamala, of a deep purple and had a distinct odour resembling that which is ]Droduced when a tincture of common kamala is poured into water. It had been care- fully collected and was free from earthy admixture, yet it left npon incineration 12 per cent, of ash. Under the microscope, it presented still greater difierences, the grains being cylindrical or subconical, ] 70 to 200 mkm. long, by 70 to 100 mkm. broad, with oUong resin-cells, arraliged perpendicularly in three or four storeys ; mixed with the grains were a few long, simple hairs. Another fact of some interest is, that at a temperature of 93" to 100° C, this kamala becomes quite black, while common kamala undergoes no change of colour. ISTo information as to the place of production of this drug could be obtained, nor more than two supplies, in all 136 lb. There can be little doubt that it is derived from a species of Mallotus, but whether Indian, Arabian or African, is a point on which there is no evidence. Through the kindness of Mr. Binnendyk of the Botanical Garden at Buitenzorg in Java, we have been enabled to examine the fru.its of numerous species of Mallotus {Bottlera), and those of Goslodcpas, Majpj^a and ^ Yearbook of Plumnaqj, 1872. .'')9f). one of ;is in Fhann. Journ. ix. (1868) 279, '■^ It has been iiarticulaily described by with wood-cute. FRUCTUS PIPERIS NIGRI. 519 Chloradenia ; but not one of them bears glands resembling those "under notice. We have also examined the specimens of Eottlera in the Kew herbarium, and consulted Dr. Miiller of Geneva, author of the memoir on Eiiflwr'hiacem in the Prodromus of De Candolle, but without dis- covering any clue to the name of the plant supplying the drug under notice. PIPERACE.E. FRUCTUS PIPERIS NIGRI. Piper nigmm ; Black Pepper ; F. Poivre noir ; G. Schivca'zer P/effer. Botanical Origin. — Piper nigrum L. — The pepper plant is a perennial climbing shrub, with jointed stems branching dichotomously, and broadly ovate, 5- to 7-nerved, stalked leaves. The slender flower- spikes are opposite the leaves, stalked and from 3 to 6 inches long ; and the fruits are sessile and fleshy. Piper nigrum is indigenous to the forests of Travancore and Malabar, whence it has been introduced into Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, the Philippines and the West Indies. History. — Pepper^ is one of the spices earliest used by mankind, and although now a commodity of but small importance in comparison with sugar, coffee and cotton, it was for many ages the staple article of trade between Europe and India. In the 4th century B.C., Theophrastus noticed the existence of two kinds of pepper (TreTrepC), probably the Black Pepper and Long Pepper of modern times. Dioscorides stated pepper to be a production of India, and was acquainted with White Pepper (XevKov ireTrepL). Pliny's information on the same subject is curious ; he tells us that in his time a pound of long pepper was worth 15, of white 7, and of black pepper 4 denarii ; and expresses his astonishment that mankind should so highly esteem pepper, which has neither a sweet taste nor attractive appearance, or any desirable quality besides a certain pungency. In the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written about A.D. 64, it is stated that pepper is exported from Barake, the shipping place of Nelkunda, in which region, and there only, it grows in great quan- tity. These have been identified with places on the Malabar Coast between Mangalore and Calicut.^ Long pepper and Black pepper are among the Indian spices on which the Eomans levied duty at Alexandria about A.D. 176.^ Cosmas Indicopleustes,^ a merchant and in later life a monk, who wrote about a.d. 540, appears to have visited the Malabar Coast, or at all events had some information about the pepper plant from an eye- witness. It is he who futnishes the first particulars about it, stating ^ The word pepper, whicli with slight va- ^ Vincent, Commerce and Navigation of nations has passed into ahnost all languages, the Ancients, ii. (1807) 458. comes from the Sanskrit name for Long ^ Yincent, o^i. cit. ii. (1807) 754 ; also Pepper, pippali, the change of the Mnto r Meyer, GescMclite cler Botanik, ii. (1865) 167. having been made by the Persians, in wliose ^ Migne, Patrologice C^lrsus, series Grseca, ancient language the I is wanting. Ixxxviii. (1860) 443. 446. 520 PIPERAGE^. tliat it is a climbing plant, sticking close to high trees like a vine. Its native country he calls Male} The Arabian authors of the middle ages, as Ibn Khurdadbah {circa A.D. 869-885), Edrisi in the middle of the 12th, and Ibn Batuta in the 14th century, furnished nearly similar accounts. Among Europeans who described the pepper plant with some exact- ness, one of the first was Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Malabar Coast in A.D. 1166. Another was the Catalan friar, Jordanus,^ about 1330 ; he described the plant as something like ivy, climbing trees and forming fruit, like that of the wild vine. " This fruit," he says, " is at first green, then when it comes to maturity, black." Nearly the same statements are repeated by Mcolo Conti, a Venetian, who at the begin- ning of the 15th century, spent twenty -five years in the East. He observed the plant in Sumatra, and also described it as resembling ivy.^ In Europe, pepper during the middle ages was the most esteemed and important of all spices, and the very symbol of the spice trade, to which Genoa, Venice and the commercial cities of Central Europe were indebted for a large part of their wealth ; and its importance as a means of promoting commercial activity during the middle ages, and the civili- zing intercourse of nation with nation, can scarcely be overrated. Tribute was levied in pepper,^ and donations were made of this spice, which was often used as a medium of exchange when money was scarce. During tlie siege of Ptome by Alaric, king of the G-oths, A.n. 408, the ransom demanded from the city, included among other things, 6000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, and 3000 pounds of pepper.^ Eacts of this nature, of which a great number might be enumerated, sufficiently illustrate the part played by this spice in mediaeval times. The general prevalence during the middle ages of pcppcr-rents, which consisted in an obligation imposed upon a tenant to supply his lord with a certain quantity of pepper, generally a pound, at stated times, shows how acceptable was this favourite condiment, and how great the desire of the wealthier classes to secure a supply of it when the market was not always certain.^ The earliest reference to a trade in pepper in England that we have met with, is in the Statutes of Ethelred, A.D. 978-1016,'^ where it is enacted that the Easterlings coming with their ships to Billingsgate should pay at Christmas and Easter for the privilege of trading with London, a small tribute of cloth, five pairs of gloves, ten pounds of p)eijper, and two barrels of vinegar.^ The merchants who trafficked in spices were called Piperarii, — in ^ Bar (as in Mala&«?-) merely signifies in ^ Zosimus, Htstoria (Lips. 1784) lib. v. c. Arabic, coast. 41. ^ Mirahilici descripta by Friar Jordanus, " Rogers, Agriculkcre and Prices in Eng- translated by Col. Yule. Loudon, Hakluyt land, i. (1866) 626. The term pep'percorn Society, 1863. 27. rent, which has survived to our times, now '' " Piperis arbor persimilis est ederse, only signifies a nominal payment, grana ejus viridia ad formani grani juniperi, "^ Ancient Lav;s and Institutes nf Englaiul, quae modico cinerc aspersa torrentur ad published by the Record Coraiuission, i. solem. "■ — Kunstmann, Kemiiaiss ladAeas im (1840) 301. XV. Jahrhundert, Miinchen (1863) 40. ^ A striking contrast to the announcement ■* For some examples of this, see IHstoire in a commercial paper, 27 Feb. 1874, that de la vie 2n-ivee des Frang- is, par Le Grand the stock of pepper in the imblic warehouses d'Aussy, nouvelle eu., ii. (ISlf.^ 182. of Loudon the previous week was 6035 tons ! FR UCTVS FIPERIS NIG II I. 521 English Pepinrcrs, in French roivriers or Pehricrs. As a fraternity or guild, they are mentioned as existing in London in the reign of Henry II. (a.d. 1154-1189). They were siibseqiiently incorporated as the Grocers' Company, and had the oversight and control of the trade in spices, drugs, dye-stuffs, and even metals.^ The price of pepper during the middle ages was always exorbitantly high, for the rulers of Egypt extorted a large revenue from all those who were engaged in the trade in it and other spices.^ Thus in England between a.d. 1263 and 1399, it averaged Is. per tb., equivalent to about 8s. of our present money. It was however, about 2s. per lb. (= 16s.) between 1350 and 1360.^ In 1370, we find pepper in France valued Y sous 6 deniers per ft>. (= fr. 21. c. 30) : — in 1542 at a price equal to fr. 11 per lb.* The high cost of this important condiment contributed to incite the Portuguese to seek for a sea-passage to India. It was some time after the discovery of this passage (a.d. 1498) that the price of pepper first experienced a considerable fall ; while about the same period, the cultivation of the plant was extended to the western islands of the Malay Archipelago. The trade in pepper continued to be a monopoly of the Crown of Portugal as late as the 18 th century. The Venetians used every effort to retain the valued traffic in their own hands, but in vain ; and it was a fact of general interest when on the 21st of January 1522, a Portuguese ship brought for the first time the spices of India direct to the city of Antwerp. Strange to say, they were received with great mistrust ! Pepper was heavily taxed in England. In 1623, the imposts levied on it amounted to 5s. per lb. ; and even down to 1823, it was subject to a duty of 2s. 6c^. per lb. Production — In the south-west of India, the plant, or Peppe^^^ Vine as it is called, grows on the sides of the narrow valleys where the soil is rich and moist, producing lofty trees by which a constant, favourable coolness, is maintained. In such places, the pepper- vine runs along the ground and propagates itself by striking out roots into the soil. The natives tie up the end of the vines lying on the ground to the nearest tree, on the bark of which the stems put out roots so far as they have been tied, the shoots above that hanging down. The plant is capable of growing to a height of 20 or 30 feet, but for the sake of convenience it is usually kept low, and is often trained on poles. In places where no vines occur naturally, the plant is propagated by planting slips near the roots of the trees on which it is to climb. The pepper plants if grown on a rich soil, begin to bear even in the first year, and continue to increase in productiveness till about the fifth, when they yield 8 to 10 lb. of berries per plant, which is about the average produce up to the age of 15 to 20 years ; after this they begin to decline. When one or two berries at the base of the spike begin to turn red, the whole spike is pinched off. ISText day the berries are rubbed off with ^ Herbert, Hist, of the huelve great Livery ^ Eogers, op. cit. i. 641. Companies of London, Loud. 1834. 303, 310.. •* Leber, Ap2jreciation de la fortune privec ^ Keinaud, Noiovcau Journal asiatigue, o.u moyen-dgc, ed. 2, Paris 1847. 95. 305. 1829, Juillet, 22-51. 522 TITERAGHm. the liands and picked clean ; tlien dried for three days on mats, or on smooth hard ground, or in bamboo baskets near a gentle fire. In Malabar, the pepper-^ne flowers in May and June, and the fruits become fit for gathering at the commencement of the following year.^ Description — The small, round, berry-like fruits grow somewhat loosely to the number of 20 to 30, on a common pendulous fruit-stalk. They are at first green, then become red, and if allowed to ripen, yellow ; but they are gathered before complete maturity, and by drying in that state turn blackish grey or brown. If left until quite ripe, they lose some of their pungency and gradually fall off. The berries after drying are spherical, about \ inch in diameter, wrinkled on the surface, indistinctly pointed below by the remains of the very short pedicel, and crowned still more indistinctly by the 3- or 4-lobed stigma. The thin pericarp tightly encloses a single seed, the embryo of which in consequence of premature gathering is undeveloped, and merely replaced by a cavity situated below the apex. The seed itself contains within the thin red-brown testa, a shining albumen, grey and horny without^ and mealy within. The pungent taste and peculiar smell of pepper are familiar to all. Microscopic Structure — The transverse section of a grain of black pepper exhibits a soft yellowish epidermis, covering the outer pericarp. This is formed of a closely-packed, yellow layer of large, mostly radially-arranged, thick-walled cells, each containing in its small cavity a mass of dark-brown resin. The middle layer of the pericarp consists of soft, tangentially-exteuded parenchyme, containing an abundance of extremely small starch granules and drops of oil. The shrinking of this loose middle layer is the chief cause of the deep wrinkles on the surface of the berry. The next inner layer of the pericarp exhibits towards its circumference, tangentially -arranged, soft parenchyme, the cells of which possess either spiral striation or spiral fibres, but towards the interior, loose parenchyme free from starch and containing very large oil-cells. The testa is formed in the first place of a row of small yellow thick- walled cells. Next to them follows the true testa, as a dense, dark- brown layer of lignified cells, the individual outlines of which are undistinguishable. The albumen of the seed consists of angular, radially -arranged, large-celled parenchyme. Most of its cells are colourless and loaded with starch; others contain a soft yellow amorphous mass. If thin slices are kept under glycerin for some time, these masses are slowly transformed into needle-shaped crystals of piperin. Chemical Composition — Pepper contains resin and essential oil, to the former of which its sharp pungent taste is due. The essential oil has more of the smell than of the taste of pepper.- The drug yields from 1-6 to 2-2 per cent, of this volatile oil, which agrees with oil of ^ For a full account of the cultivation of odorem'spirans, saporis parum acris." — Hort. pepper, sec Buchanan, Jownicy/z-owi A/ar^ras Malah. vii. 24.— The oil was however ob- throuyh Mysore, C'anara and Malabar, ii. tained about a century before this by J. B. (1807) 455-520 ; iii. 158. Porta of Naples (Magiie Nat. lib. xx., 16^9. - As noticed by Kheede in 1688—". . . 185). oleum ex jiipeie destillatura levem piperis FRUCTUS PIPERIS NIGRT. 523 turpentine in composition as well as in specific gravity and boiling point. We find it, in a column 50 mm. long, to deviate the ray of polarized light 3°-4 to the left. The most interesting constituent of pep^jer, Piperioi, which pepper yields to the extent of 2 to 3 per cent., agrees in composition with the formula C^'^H^^N^O^ and is therefore isomeric with morphine. Piperin has no action on litmus paper ; it is not capable of combining directly with an acid, yet unites Avith hydrochloric acid in the presence of mer- curic and other metallic chlorides, forming crystallizable compounds. It is insoluble in M^ater ; when perfectly pure, its crystals are devoid of colour, taste and smell. Its alcoholic solution is without action on polarized light. Piperin may be resolved, as found by Anderson in 1850, into FijJeric Acid, Cl2Hl'^0^ and Pipericlin, C^ff ^N. The latter is a liquid colourless alkaloid, boiling at 106° C, having the odour of pepper and ammonia, and directly yielding crystallizable salts. Besides these constituents, pepper also contains some fatty oil in the mesocarp. Of inorganic matter, it yields upon incineration about 5 per cent. Commerce — The import of pepper into the United Kingdom during 1872, was 27,576,710 lb. valued at £753,970. Of this quantity, the Straits Settlements supplied 25,000,000 lb., and British India 256,000 lb. Black Pepper is imported into the colony of Singapore {the chief port of the Straits Settlements) from Pthio, the Malayan Peninsula and Penang : — White Pepper almost exclusively from Ehio.-^ The exports of pepper from the United Kingdom in 1872, amounted to 17,891,620 lb., the largest quantity being taken by Germany (5,201,574 lb.) Then follows Italy (2,288,647 ft).) ; and Eussia, Holland and Spain, each of which took more than a million pounds.^ The varieties of pepper quoted in price -currents are Malabar, Aleppee and Cochin, Penang, Singapore, Simti. Uses — Pepper is not of much importance as a medicine, and is rarely if ever prescribed, except indirectly as an ingredient of some preparation. Adulteration — Whole pepper is not, we believe, liable in Europe to adulteration ;^ but the case is widely different as regards the pulverized spice. Notwithstanding the enormous penalty of £100, to which the manufacturer, possessor, or seller of adulterated pepper is liable,"^ and the low cost of the article, ground pepper has hitherto been frequently sophisticated by the addition of the starches of cereals and potatoes, of sago, mustard husks, linseed and capsicum. The admixture of these substances may for the most part be readily detected after some practice, by the microscope.^ White Pepper, This form of the spice is prepared from black pepper by removing its dark outer layer of pericarp, and thereby depriving it of a portion of its pungency. ^ Shoe Book of the Straits Settlements for for adulterating black pepper in tlie Indian 1871. bazaars. 2 Annual Statement of the Trade of the * By the 59 George III. c. 53 § 22 (1819), U.K. for 1872. 59. 125. ^ Consult, Hassall, Food and itsAdultera- ^ According to Moodeen Slieriif (Suppl. to tions, Lond. 1855. 42 ; Evans, Pharm. Pharm. of India, 134) the berries oi Emhclia Journ. i. (I860) 605. Pdhes Biirm. are said to be sometimes used 524 PIP BRACED. Buchanan, referring to Travancore, remarks that white pepper is made by allowing the berries to ripen ; the bunches are then gathered, and having been kept for three days in the house, are washed and bruised in a basket with the hand till all the stalks and pulp are removed. The finest white pepper is obtained from Tellicherry, on the Malabar Coast, but only in small quantity. The more important places for its preparation are the Straits Settlements, whence 2 to 2|- millions of pounds are annually exported. Most of the spice finds its way to China, where it is highly esteemed. In Europe, pepper in its natural state is with good reason preferred. The grains of white pepper are of rather larger size than those of black, and of a warm greyish tint. They are. nearly spherical or a little flattened. At the base, the skin of the fruit is thickened into a blunt prominence, whence about 12 light stripes run meridian-like towards the depressed summit. If the skin is scraped off, the dark-brown testa is seen enclosing the hard translucent albumen. In anatomical structure, as well as in taste and smell, white pepper agrees with black, which in fact it represents in a rather more fully-grown state. FRUCTUS PIPERIS LONGI. Fiper longum ; Long Pepper ; E. Poivre long ; G-, Langer Pfeffer. Botanical Origin — Piper offieinarum C. DC. {Chavica ^ officinarum Miq.), a dioecious shrubby plant, with ovate-oblong acuminate leaves, attenuated at the base, and having pinnate nerves. It is a native of the Indian Archipelago, as Java, Sumatra, Celebes and Timor. Long pepper is the fruit-spike, collected and dried shortly before it reaches maturity. Piper longum L. {Chavica Roxhurgliii Miq.), a shrub indigenous to Malabar, Ceylon, Eastern BengaJ, Timor and the Philippines, also yields long pepper, for the sake of which it is cultivated along the eastern and western coasts of India. It may be distinguished from the previous species, by its 5-nerved leaves, cordate at the base.^ History — A drug termed Heirept fxaKpbv, Pip)er longum-, was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and may have been the same as the Long Pepper of modern times. In the Latin verses bearing the name of Macer Eloridus,^ ^vliich were probably written in the 10th century, mention is made of Black, White, and Long Pepper. The last-named spice, or Macropiper, is named by Simon of Genoa,^ who was physician to Poj^e Nicolas IV. and chaplain to Boniface VIII. (a.d. 1288-1303), and travelled in the East for the study of plants. Saladinus ^ in the middle of the 15th century enumerates long pepper among the drugs necessary to be kept by apothecaries, and it has liad a place in the pharmacopoeias to the present time. Production — In Bengal, the plants are cultivated by suckers, and require to be grown on a rich, high and dry soil ; they should be set ^ The Kcnus Cliavica separated from Plprr - For good figures of the two plants, sec by Mirpiel, has been re-united to it by Cusimir Ihiynca Arziuy-Gciodchsc, xiv. tabb. 20. 21. de CandoUe [Prod. xvi. s. 1). The hitter '^ Choulaut, Macer Floridus de Viribus genus is now comiiosed of not fewer than Ilcrhirihm, Lijisiiv, 1832. 114. 620 species ! ' Clucls Samdionis, Venet. 1510. = See p. 388, note 8, FRUCTUS PIPERIS LONOL 525 about five feet asunder. An English acre will yield in the first year about three maunds (1 maund = 80 lb.) of the pepper, in the second twelve, and in the third eighteen ; after which as the plant becomes less and less productive, the roots are grubbed up, dried, and sold as Pipli-nvdl, of which there is a large consumption in India as a medicine. The pepper is gathered in the month of January, when full grown, and exposed to the sun until perfectly dry. After the fruit has been col- lected, the stem and branches die down to the ground.^ Description — Long pepper consists of a multitude of minute baccate fruits, closely packed around a common axis, the whole forming a spike of 1^ inch long and i of an inch thick. This spike is supported ^on a stalk i- an inch long ; it is rounded above and below, and tapers slightly towards its upper end. The fruits are ovoid, yV of an inch long, crowned with a nipple-like point (the remains of the stigma), and arranged spirally with a small peltate bract beneath each. A transverse section of a spike exhibits 8 to 10 separate fruits, disposed radially with their narrower ends pointed towards the axis. Beneath the pericarp, the thin brown testa encloses a colourless albumen, of which the obtuser end is occupied by the small embryo. The long pepper of the shops is greyish-white, and appears as if it had been rolled in some earthy powder. When washed, the spikes acquire their proper colour, — a deep reddish-brown. The drug has a burning aromatic taste, and an agreeable but not powerful odour. The foregoing description applies to the long pepper of English commerce, which is now obtained chiefly from Java (see next page), where P. officinarum is the common species. In fact the fruits of this latter, as presented to us by Mr. Binnendyk, of the Botanical Garden, Buitenzorg, near Batavia, offer no characters by which we can distin- guish them from the article found in the London shops. Those of P. Beth L. var. 7. densum are extremely similar, but we do not know that they are collected for use. Microscopic Structure — The structure of the individual fruits resembles that of black pepper, exhibiting however some characteristic differences. The epicarp has on the outside, tangentially-extended, thick- walled, narrow cells, containing gum ; the middle layer consists of wider, thin-walled, obviously porous parenchyme containing starch and drops of oil. In the outer and middle layers of the fruit, numerous large thick- walled cells are scattered, as in the external pericarp of Piper nigrum ; in long pepper however, they do not form a closed circle. The inner pericarp is formed of a row of large, cubic or elongated, radially- arranged cells, filled with volatile oil. A row of smaller tangentially- extended cells separates these oil-cells from the compact brown-red testa, which consists of lignified cells like the inner layer of the testa of black pepper, but without the thick-walled cells peculiar to the latter. The albumen of long pepper is distinguished from that of black pepper by the absence of volatile oil. Chemical Constituents — The constituents of long pepper appear to be the same as those of black pepper. We are not aware of any recent analysis, or whether the proportions of piperin and of volatile oil 1 Roxburgh, Flora Indica, i. (1832) 155. 526 FIFERACEJl. have been determined. The resin and volatile oil reside exclusively in the pericarp. Commerce — Long pepper is at present exported from Singapore, whither it is brought chieliy from Java, and to a much smaller extent from Ehio. The quantity exported from Singapore in 1871, amounted to 3366 cwt., of which only 447 cwt. were shipped to the United Kingdom, the remainder being sent chiefly to British India.^ There is a con- siderable export of long pepper from Calcutta. Uses — Long pepper is scarcely used as a medicine, black pepper having been substituted in the few preparations in which it was formerly ordered, but it is employed as a spice and in veterinary medicine. The aromatic root of Piper longiim, called in Sanskrit Pippali-mula (whence the modern name pipli-mid), is a favourite remedy of the Hindus and also known to the Persians and Arabs. CUBEB^. Fructus vel Baccce ml Pi]per Ciibebm ^ ; Gulebs ; F. Gubebes ; G-. Cuhchen. Botanical Origin — Piper Ciibeha Linn. f. {Cvheba officinalis Miq.), a climbing, woody, dicecious shrub, indigenous to Java, Southern Borneo and Sumatra. History — Cubebs appear to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabian physicians of the middle ages, who describe them as having the form, colour, and properties of pepper. Masudi^ in the 10th century stated them to be a production of Java. Edrisi"^ the geographer, in A.D. 1153, enumerated them among the imports of Aden. Among European writers, Constantinus Africanus of Salerno was acquainted with this drug as early as the 11th century ; and in the beginning of the 13th, its virtues were noticed in the writings of the Abbess Hildegard in Germany, and even in those of Heurik Harpestreng in Denmark.^ Cubebs are mentioned as a production of J?iv?i'i^'grant isle de Javva ") by Marco Polo ; and by Odoric, an Italian friar, who visited the island about forty years later. In the 13th century, the drug was an article of European trade. Duty was levied upon them as Cubelias silvestres at Barcelona in 1271.*^ They are mentioned about this period as sold in the fairs of Champagne in France, the price being 4 sous per lb.*" They were also sold in England : in accounts under date 1284, they are enumerated with almonds, saffron, raisins, white pepper, grains [of paradise], mace, galangal and gingerbread, and entered as costing 25. per lb. In 1285 — 2s. 6d. to 3s. per lb. ; while in 1307, 1 ft. purchased for the King's Wardrobe cost 9s.^ From the journal of expenses of John, king of France, while in England during 1359—60, it is evident that cubebs were in frequent ^ Bh(c Book of the Straits Settlements foi ' Buui'(|uclot, Etudes sur les foires de 1871. Champagne, iUmoircs etc. de Vlnstitut, v. '^ Cuheha from tlie Arabic Kabdbah. (1865) 288. •* Les Prairies d'or, i. 341. ^ Rogers, Ilist. of Afirlculture and Prices * Giorjraphie, trad, par Jaubert, i. 51. 89. in Emjlaml, i. G27-8, ii. 544. — To get some ' Meyer, Ocschichtc der Botanik, iii. 537. idea of the relative value of commodities " ^a.\ym-AnY,2Iemoriassobre la Marina, etc. then and now, multiply the ancient prices de Barcclo'aa, i. 44. by 8. CUBES M. 527 use as a spice. Among those who could command such luxuries, they were eaten in powder with meat, or they were candied whole. A patent of pontage granted in 1.305 by Edward I., to aid in repairing and sustaining the Bridge of London, and authorizing toll on various articles, mentions among groceries and spices, ciibeb& as liable to impost.^ Cubebs are mentioned in the Gonfecthuch of Hans Tolcz of Nuremberg, dating about 1480.^ It cannot however be said that cubebs were a common spice, at all comparable with pepper or ginger, or even in such frequent use as grains of paradise or galangal. Garcia d'Orta (1563) speaks of them as but seldom used in Europe ; yet they are named by Saladinus as necessary to be kept in every apotheca^ In a list of drugs to be sold in the apothecaries' shops of the city of Ulm, A.D. 1596, cubebs are mentioned as Frudus carpcsiorum vel ciibebarum, the price for half an ounce being quoted as 8 Jcreuzcrs, the same as that of opium, best manna, and amber, while black and white pepper are priced at 2 kreuzers} The specific action of cubebs on the urino-genital organs has been known only in very recent times. Writers on materia medica even at the commencement of the present century, mention the drug simply as an aromatic stimulant resembling pepper, but inferior to that spice and rarely employed,^ — in fact it had so far fallen into disuse that it was omitted from the London Pharmacopoeia of 1809. According to Crawfurd, its importation into Europe, which had long been discontinued, recom- menced in. 1815, in consequence of its medicinal virtues having been brought to the knowledge of the English medical officers serving in Java, by their Hindu servants.*^ Cultivation and Production'^— Cubebs are cultivated in small special plantations and also in coffee plantations, in the district of Banjoemas in the south of Java. The fruits are bought by Chinese who carry them to Batavia. They are likewise produced in Eastern Java and about Bantam in the north-west ; and extensively in the Lampong country in Sumatra. There has of late been a large distribution of plants among the European coffee planters. The cultivation of cubebs is easy. In the coffee estates certain trees are required for shade : against these, Piper Cuheba is planted, and climbing to a height of 18 to 20 feet, forms a large bush. Description — The cubebs of commerce consist of the dry glo- bose fruits, gathered when full grown, but before they have arrived at maturity. The fruit is about ^ of an inch in diameter, when very young sessile, but subsequently elevated. on a straight thin stalk, a little longer ^ Liber nicjer Scaccarii, Lond. 1771, i. it was altogether omitted. See also Murray's *478. — A translation may be found in tlie System of Mat, Med. and Pharm. i. (1810) Chronicles of London Bridge, 1827. 155. 266. 2 Choulant, Macer Floridus etc., Lips. ^ Dictionary of the Indian Islands, 1856. 1832. 188. 117. — Mr. Crawfurd himself communicated 3 Compendiicm a.romatariorum, Bonon., to the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical 1488. ■ Journal of 1818 (siv. 32) a paper making '' Eeichard, Beitrdge zicr Qeschiehtc dcr known the " wonderful success " with which Apotheken, 1825. 124. cubebs had been used in gonorrhcea. 5 In Duncan's Edinburgh New Dispensa- ^ We are indebted for some particulars tory, ed. 2. 1804, Piper Cicbeba is very. under this head to my friend Mr. Binnendyk, briefly described, but with no allusion to it of the Buitenzorg Botanical Garden near possessing any special medicinal properties. Batavia. — D. H. In the 6tli edition of the same work (1811) 528 PIPERACEM or even twice as long as itself. By this stalk tlie fruit is attached in considerable numbers (sometimes more than 50) to a common thickened stalk or rachis, about 1| inch long. Commercial cubebs are spherical, sometimes depressed at the base, very slightly pointed at the apex, strongly wrinkled by the shrinking of the fleshy pericarp ; they are of a greyish-brown or blackish hue, frequently covered with an ashy-grey bloom. The stalk is the elongated base of the fruit, and remains permanently attached. The common axis or rachis, which is almost devoid of essential oil, is also frequently mixed with the drug. The skin of the fruit covers a hard, smooth brown shell containing the seed, -which latter when developed, has a compressed spherical form, a smooth surface, and adheres to the pericarp only at the base ; its apex either projects slightly or is pressed inwards. The albumen is solid, whitish, oily, and encloses a small embryo, below the apex. In the cubebs of the shops, the seed is mostly undeveloped and shrunken, and the pericarp nearly empty. Cubebs have a strong, aromatic, persistent taste, with some bitterness and acridity. Their smell is highly aromatic and by no means dis- agreeable. Microscopic Structure — This exhibits some peculiarities. The skin of the fruit below the epidermis, is made up of small, cubic, thick- walled cells, forming an interrupted row, and only half as large as in black pepper. The broad middle layer consists of small-celled un- developed tissue, containing drops of oil, granules of starch, and crystalline groups of cubebin, probably also fat. This middle layer is interrupted by very large oil-cells, which frequently enclose needle-shaped crystals of cubebin, united in concentric groups. The much narrower inner layer consists of about four rows of somewhat larger, tangentially- extended, soft cells, holding essential oil. Next to these comes the light-yellow brittle shell, formed of a densely packed row of encrusted, radially-arranged, elongated, thick-walled cells. Lastly, the embryo is covered with a thin brown membrane, and exhibits the structure and contents of that of Piper nigrum, excepting that in P. Cubcba the cells are rounder, and the crystals consist of cubebin and not of piperin. Chemical Composition — The most obvious constituent of cubebs is the volatile oil, the proportion of which yielded by the drug, varies from 6 to 15 per cent. The causes of this great variation may be found in the constitution of the drug itself, as well as in the alterability of the oil, and the fact that its boiling point, 220 to 250° C, is so much higher than that of water. This oil, which is the source of the aroma of the fruit, is polymeric with oil of turpentine, and strongly deviates the ray of polarized light to the left. In cold weather, old oil of cubebs deposits large, rhombic octohedra of a substance which has been termed Caniphor of Ctibchs or Hydrate of Ctibehenc, having the composition C^°H'*^,2H-0 ; by long keeping we find it sometimes assumes the form of a viscid liquid, in this respect resembling anethol. The liquid portion of the oil, termed Ciibehen, is indicated by the formula, C^°H^^, Another constituent of cubebs is Culchin, crystals of which may sometimes be seen in the pericarp even witli a common lens. It was discovered by Soubeiran and Capitaine in 1839 ; it is an inodorous. I CUBES M 529 tasteless, neutral substance, crystallizing in small needles or scales, of a ]>early lustre, nearly insoluble in cold but slightly soluble in hot water, it dissolves freely in boiling alcohol, but is mostly deposited upon cooling ; it requires 30 parts of cold ether for solution. Bernatzik obtained from cubebs 0-40 per cent, of cubebin.^ Schmidt 2-5 per cent.^ The crystals which are deposited in an alcoholic or ethereal extract of cubebs, consist of cubebin in an impure state. Cubebin is devoid of any remarkable therapeutic action ; its composition answers to the formula, G^^W^O^'^. The resin extracted from cubebs consists of an indifferent portion, nearly 3 per cent., and of Ciibebic Acid, amounting to about 1 per cent. of the drug. Both are amorphous, and so according to Schmidt, are the salts of cubebic acid. Bernatzik however, found some of them, as that of barium, to be crystallizable. Schulze (1873) prepared cubebic acid from the crystallized sodium-salt, but was unable to get it other than amorphous. The resins, the indifferent as well as the acid, possess the therapeutic properties of the drug. Schmidt further pointed out the presence in cubebs, of gum (8 per cent.), fatty oil, and malates of magnesium and calcium. Commerce — Cubebs were imported into Singapore in 1872 to the extent of 3062 cwt., of which amount 2348 cwt. were entered as from ISTetherlands India. The drug was re-shipped during the same year to the amount of 2766 cwt., the quantity exported to the United Kingdom being 1180 cwt., to the United States of America 1244 cwt., and to British India 104 cwt.^ In the previous year, a larger quantity was shipped to India than to Great Britain. Uses — Cubebs are much employed in the treatment of gonorrhoea. The drug is usually administered in powder ; less frequently in the form of ethereal or alcoholic extract, or essential oil. Bernatzik and Schmidt, whose chemical and therapeutical experi- ments have thrown much light on the subject, have shown that the efficacy of cubebs being dependent on the indifferent resin and cubebic acid, preparations which contain the utmost amount of these bodies and exclude other constituents of the drug, are to be preferred. They would reject the essential oil, as they find its administration devoid of thera- peutic effects. The preparations which consequently are to be recommended, are the berries deprived of their essential oil and constituents soluble in water, and then dried and powdered ; an alcoholic extract prepared from the same, or the purified resins. Adulteration — Cubebs are not much subject to adulteration, though it is by no means rare that the imported drug contains an undue pro- portion of the inert stalks (rachis)^ that require to be picked out before the berries are ground. Dealers judge of cubebs by the oiliness and strong characteristic smell of the berries when crushed. Those which 1 Bernatzik, in Canstatt's Jahreshericht ^ Sti'aits Settlements Bhte Book for 1872. iiber die Fortschritte in der Pharirmcie, xiv. 294. 338. — There are no statistics for shoM^- (1866) i. 15. ing tlie total import of cubebs into the 2 Wiggers and Husemann, Jahreshericht, United Kingdom. 1870. 52. ^ They yielded to Schmidt 1 "7 per cent, of oil and 3 per cent, of resin. M M 530 PIP BRACED. have a large proportion of the pale, smooth, ripe berries, which look dry when broken, are to be avoided. We have occasionally found in the commercial drug a small, smooth, two-celled fruit, of the size, shape, and colour of cubebs, but wanting the long pedicel. A slight examination suffices to recognize it as not being cubebs. "We have also met with some cubebs of larger size than the ordi- nary sort, much shrivelled, with a stouter and flattened pedicel, one and a half times to twice as long as the berry. The drug has an agreeable odour different from that of common cubebs, and a very bitter taste. From a comparison with herbarium specimens, we judge that it may possibly be derived from Piper crassipes Korthals (Cuheha crassipes Miq.), a Sumatran species. The fruits of Piper Lowong Bl. {Cuheha Lovjong Miq.), a native of Java, and those of P. rihesioides Wall. (Cuheha Wallichii Miq.) are extremely cubeb-like. Those of Piper caninum A. Dietr. {Ciiheha carina Miq.), a plant of wide distribution throughout the Malay Archi- pelago, for a specimen of which we have to thank Mr. Binnendyk of Buitenzorg, are smaller than true cubebs, and have stalks only half the diameter of the berry. In the south of China, the fruits of Laurus Cuheha Lour, have been frequently mistaken by Europeans for cubebs. The tree which affords them is unknown to modern botanists ; Meissner refers it doubtfully to the genus Tetranthera} African Cubebs or West African Black Pepper. This spice is the fruit of Pij^er Clusii Cas. DC. {Cuheha Clusii Miq.) ; it is a round berry having a general resemblance to common cubebs but somewhat smaller, less rugose, attenuated into a slender pedicel once or twice as long as the berry and usually curved. The berries are crowded around a common stalk or rachis ; they are of an ashy grey tint, and have a hot taste and the odour of pepper. According to Stenhouse, they contain piperin and not cubebin.^ The fruit of Piper Clusii was known as early as 1364 to the merchants of Eouen and Dieppe, who imported it from the Grain Coast, now Liberia,^ under the name of pepper. The Portuguese likewise exported it from Benin as far back as 1485, as Pimicnta de raho, i.e. tailed pepper, and attempted in vain to sell it in Flanders."^ Clusius received from London a specimen of this drug, of which he has left a good figure in his Exotica^ He says that its importation was forbidden by the King of Portugul for fear it should depreciate the pepper of India. The spice was also known to Gerarde and Parkinson ; in our times it has been afresh brought to notice by the late Dr. Daniell.*' In tropical Western Africa, it is used as a condiment.'' 1 De Candollc, Frocl. xv. sect. i. 199 ; * Giovanni di Barros, VAsia, i. (Vcnct. TTanbury iu Pharvi. Journ. iii. (1862) 20.5, 1661) 80. witli figure. ■'' Lib. i. c. 22. p. 184. ^ Pfiarm. Journ. xiv. (1855) 363. " VJuvrm. Journ. xiv. (1855) 198. ' Margry, Les luiviyations fran^aises ct la ^ One cask of it was ofl'ered for sale in revolution inarilima du XIV" cm XVI" London as " C^icts," 11 Feb. 1S58. sUdc, 1867. 26. HERB A MITICO. 531 HERBA MATICO. Matico. Botanical Origin — Piper angustifolium Euiz et Pavon {Artantlie elongata Miq.) a shrub growing in the moist woods of Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, New Granada and Venezuela, also cultivated in some localities. A slightly different, somewhat stouter form of the plant with leaves 7 to 8 inches long (var. a. cordulatum Gas. DC), occurs in the Brazilian provinces of Bahia, Minas Geraes and Ceara, as well as in Peru and the northern parts of South America. History — The styptic properties of this plant are said to have been discovered by a Spanish soldier named Matico,^ who having applied some of the leaves to his wounds, observed that the bleeding was thereby arrested ; hence the plant came to be called Yerha or Falo del Soldado (soldier's herb or tree). The story is not very probable, but it is current in many parts of South America, and its allusion is not confined to the plant mider notice. The hsemostatic powers of matico, which are not noticed in the works of Euiz and Pavon, were first recognized in Europe by Jeffreys,^ a physi- cian of Liverpool, in 1839, but they had already attracted attention in North America as early as 1827. Description — Matico, as it arrives in commerce, consists of a com- pressed, coherent, brittle mass of leaves and stems, of a light green hue and pleasant herby odour. More closely examined, it is seen to be made up of jointed stems bearing lanceolate, acuminate leaves, cordate and •unequal at the base, and having very short stalks. The leaves are rather thick, with their whole upper surface traversed by a system of minute sunk veins, which divide it into squares and give it a tessellated appear- ance. On the under side, these squares form a corresponding series of depressions which are clothed with shaggy hairs. The leaves attain a length of about 6 inches by 1| inches broad. The flower and fruit spikes which are often 4 to 5 inches long, are slender and cylindrical with the flowers or fruits densely packed. The leaves of matico have a bitterish aromatic taste. Chemical Composition — The leaves yield a small amount of essential oil, which we find slightly ^ dextrogyre ; a large proportion of it distills at 180^ to 200° C, the remainder becoming thickish. Both portions are lighter than water; but another specimen of the oil of matico which we had kept for some years, sinks in water. We have observed that in winter the oil deposits remarkable crystals of a cam- phor, more than half an inch in length, fusible at 103° C. Matico further affords, according toMarcotte (1864'),'^ a crystal lizable acid, named Artantliic Acid, besides some tannin. The latter is made evident by the dark brown colour which the infusion assumes on addition of ferric chloride. The leaves likewise contain resin, but as shown by Stell in 1858, neither piperin, cubebin, nor any analogous principle such as the so-called Maticin formerly supposed to exist in them. 1 Matico is the diminutive of Mateo, tlie ^ Deviating only 0'7° in a column 50 mm. Spanish for Matthew. long.' 2 Remarks on the efficacy of Medico as a ** Guibourt (et Planchon), Hist des styptic and astringent, 3rd ed., Lond. 1845. Drocjues, ii. (1869) 278. M M 2 532 AUISTOLOCtllACEM. Commerce — The drug is imported in bales and serons by way of Panama. Uses — Matico leaves previously softened in water, or in a state of powder, are sometimes employed to arrest the bleeding of a wound. The infusion is taken for the cure of internal haemorrhage. Substitutes — Several plants have at times been brought into tlie market under the name of matico. One of these is Pvpei' aduncum L. {Artanthe aclunca Miq.), of which a quantity was imported into London from Central America in 1863, and first recognized by Bentley.-"- In colour, odour, and shape of leaf it nearly agrees with ordinary matico ; but differs in that the leaves are marked beneath by much more pro- minent ascending parallel nerves, the spaces between which are not rugose but comparatively smooth and nearly glabrous. In chemical characters, the leaves of P. aduncum appear to accord with those of P. angustifolium. PipcT aduncum is a plant of wide distribution throughout Tropical America. Under the name of Nhandi or Piper longum, it was men- tioned by Piso in 1648^ on account of the stimulant action of its leaves and root, — a property which causes it to be still used in Brazil, where however, no particular styptic virtues seem to be ascribed to it.^ The fruits are there employed in the place of cubebs. According to Triana, Piper lancecefolium HBK. {Artanthe Miq.) and another species not recognized, yield matico in New Granada.* Wal- tlieria glom.erata Presl (SterculiaceaS) is called Palo del Soldado at Panama and its leaves are used as a vulnerary.^ AEISTOLOCHIACE^. RADIX SERPENTARIiE. Radix Serpent arice Virginianm ; Virginian Snahe-root, Scrp)entary Boot ; P. Serpentaire de Virginie ; G. Schlangenwurzel. Botanical Origin — Aristolochia Serpentaria L., a perennial herb, commonly under a foot high, with simple or slightly branched, flexuose stems, producing small, solitary, dull purple flowers, close to the ground. It grows in shady woods in the United States, from Missouri and Indiana to Florida and Virginia, — abundantly in the Alleghanies and in the Cumberland Mountains, less frequently in New York, Michigan and the other ISTorthern States. The plant varies exceedingly in the shape of its leaves. History: — The earliest account of Virginian snake-root is that of Thomas Johnson, an apothecary of London who published an edition of Gerarde's Herbal in 1636. It is evident however that Johnson con- founded a species of Aristolochia from Crete, with what he calls " that 1 Fharin. Journ. V. (1864)290. •* Exposition de 18G7— Catalogue de M. ^ JDe Medicind Brasilicnsi, lib. 4. c. 57. Jose Triana, p. 14. ^ Lanfigaard, Diccimuirio dc Medicina ° Seemann, Botany of the. Herald, 1852- doineHitca e 'pnpular, Kio dc Janeiro, ii. (18G5) 57. 85. 44. RADIX SFdiPENTARim. 533 snake-weed that was brought from Virginia and grew with Mr. John Tradescant at South Lambeth, anno 1632." It was very briefly noticed by Cornuti in his Ganadcnsium Plantarum Historia (1635), and in a much more inteUigent manner by Parkinson in 1640. These authors, as well as Dale (1693) and Geoffroy (1741), extol the virtues of the root as a remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake, or of a rabid dog. Serpentary was introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia in 1650. Description — The snake-root of commerce includes the rhizome, which is knotty, contorted, scarcely 1 inch in length by | of an inch in thickness, bearing on its upper side the short bases of the stems of previous years, and throwing off from the under, numerous, slender, matted, branching roots, 2 to 4 inches long. The rhizome is often still attached to portions of the weak, herbaceous stem, which sometimes bears the fruit, — more rarely flowers and leaves. The drug has a dull brown hue, an aromatic odour resembling valerian but less unpleasant, and a bitterish aromatic taste, calling to mind camphor, valerian and turpentine. Microscopic Structure — In the rhizome, the outer layer of the bark consists of a single row of cuboid cells ; the middle cortical portion {■meso])hlceum) of about six layers of larger cells. In the liber, which is built up of numerous layers of smaller cells, those belonging to the medullary rays are nearly cuboid with distinctly porous walls, those of the liber bundles being smaller and arranged in a somewhat crescent- shaped manner. Groups of short, reticulated or punctuated vessels alternate in the woody rays with long, porous, ligneous cells, those close to the pith having thick walls. The largest cells of all are those composing tlie pith; the latter, seen in transverse section, occupies not the very centre of the rootstock, but is found nearer to its upper side. The rootlets exhibit a central fibro-vascular bundle, surrounded by a nucleus sheath. In the mesophloeum both of the rootstock and the rootlets, there occur a few cells containing a yellow essential oil. The other cells are loaded with starch. Chemical Composition — Essential oil exists in the drug to. the extent of about i per cent. ; and resin in nearly the same proportion. The outer cortical layer, as well as the zone of the nucleus-sheath, con- tains a little tannin, and a watery infusion of the drug is coloured greenish by perchloride of iron. Neutral acetate of lead precipitates some muci- lage as well as the bitter principle (the so-calledAristolochin of Chevallier?) which latter may also be obtained by means of tannic acid. It is an amorphous, bitter substance, which deserves further investigation. By an alkaline solution of tartrate of copper the presence in serpentar}^ of sugar is made evident. Commerce — ^Virginian snake-root is imported from New York and Boston, in bales, casks or bags. Uses — The drug is employed in the form of an infusion or tincture as a stimulating tonic and diaphoretic ; it is more often prescribed in combination with cinchona bark than by itself. Its ancient reputation for the cure of snake-bites is now disregarded. Adulteration and Substitution — Virginian snake-root is said to be sometimes adulterated with the root of Spigdia Marilandica L., 534 CUFULIFER^. whicli has neither its smell nor taste (see p. 389); or with that of Cyi^ripeclium puhescens L., which it scarcely at all resembles. It is not uncommon to find here and there in the serpentary of commerce, a root of Panax quinquefolium L. accidentally collected, but never added for the purpose of adulteration. The root of Aristolochia reticulata ISTutt., a plant of Louisiana and Arkansas, has been brought into commerce in considerable quantity as Texan or Bed Biver Snake-root} We are indebted for an authentic specimen from the Cherokee country, to Mr. Merrell, a large dealer in herbs at St. Louis, Missouri, who states that all the serpentary grown south-west of the Eocky Mountains is the produce of that species. The late Prof. Parrish of Philadelphia was kind enough to supply us with specimens of the same drug, as well as with reliable samples of true Virginian or Middle States Snake-root. The Texan snake-root is somewhat thicker and less matted than that derived from A. Serpentaria, but has the odour and taste of the latter ; some say it is less aromatic. The plant, portions of which are often present, may be easily distinguished by its leaves being coriaceous, sessile and strongly reticulated on their under surface. CUPULIFER^. CORTEX QUERCUS. Oak Bark ; F. Ecorce de Chene ; G. Eiclienrinde. Botanical Origin — Quercus Bolur L., a tree, native of almost the whole of Europe, from Portugal and the Greek Peninsula as far north as 58° N. lat. in Scotland, 62° in Norway, and 56° in the Ural Mountains. There are two remarkable forms of this tree which are regarded by many botanists as distinct species, but which are classed by De CandoUe^ as sub-species. Sub-species I. Pedunc^data—wiih. leaves sessile or shortly stalked, and acorns borne on a long peduncle. Sub-species II. Sessilifiora — with leafstalks more or less elongated, and acorns either sessile or growing on a short peduncle. Both forms occur in Britain. The first is the common oak of the greater part of England and the lowlands of Scotland. The second is frequently scattered in woods in which the first variety prevails, but it rarely constitutes the mass of the oak woods in the south of England. In North Wales however, in the hilly parts of the north of England, and in Scotland, it is the commoner of the two forms (Bentham). History — The astringent properties of all parts of the oak^ were well known to Dioscorides, who recommends a decoction of the inner bark in colic, dysentery and spitting of blood. Yet oak bark seems at no time to have been held in great esteem as a mediciDC, probably on ^ Wit'^Miid m American Journ. of Pharnn. " Prodromes, xvi. (1864) sect. 2. lUsc. 1. X. (1845) 10 — also Proceedings of the •' rrubably not (J. Jiobar L. American Pharmaceutical Association, xxi. (1873) 441. I CORTEX QUERCUS. 535 account of its commonness ; and it is now almost superseded by other astringents. For tanning leather, it has always been largely employed. Description — For medicinal use, the bark of the younger stems or branches is collected in the early spring. It varies somewhat in appear- ance according to the age of the wood from which it has been taken : that usually supplied to English druggists is in channelled pieces of variable length and a tenth of an inch or less in thickness, smooth, of a shining silvery grey variegated with brown, dotted over with little scars. The inner surface is light rusty-brown, longitudinally striated. The fracture is tough and fibrous. A transverse section shows a thin, greenish cork-layer, within which is the brown parenchyme, marked v/ith numerous rows of translucent colourless spots. The smell of dry oak bark is very faint ; but when the bark is moistened, the odour of tan becomes evident. The taste is astringent and in old barks, slightly bitter. Microscopic Structure — The outer layer of young oak bark con- sists of small flat cork-cells; the middle layer of larger thick-walled cells, slightly extended in a tangential direction and containing brown grains and chlorophyll. This tissue passes gradually into the softer narrower parenchyme of the inner bark, which is irregularly traversed by narrow medullary rays. It exhibits moreover a ring, but slightly interrupted, of thick-walled cells (sclerenchyme) and isolated shining bundles of liber fibres. Groups of crystals of calcium oxalate are frequent in the middle and inner bark, but the chief constituents of the cells are brown granules of colourino; matter and tannin. As the thickness of the bark increases, the liber is pushed more to the outside, the middle cortical layer being partly thrown off by secondary cork-formation (rhytidoma, see p. 317). Hence the younger barks, which alone are medicinal, are widely different from the older in structure and appearance. Chemical Composition — The most interesting constituent is a peculiar kind of tannin. Stenhouse pointed out in 1843, that the tannic acid of oak bark is not identical with that of nutgalls ; and such many years afterwards was proved to be the case. The first-named substance, now called Querci-tannic Acid, yields by destructive distillation, pyrocatechin but not pyrogallol. It does not afford by oxidation, gallic acid. A solution of gelatine is precipitated by querci-tannic acid as well as by gallo-tannic acid ; yet the compound formed with the latter is very liable to putrefaction, whereas the tannin of oak bark, which is accompanied by a large amount of extractive matter, furnishes a stable compound, and is capable of forming good leather. As querci-tannic acid has not yet been isolated in a pure state, the exact estimation of the strength of the tanning principle in oak bark has not been accomplished, although it is important from an economic as well as from a scientiiic point of view. The best method is that of Neubauer (1873), which depends upon the amount of permanganate of potassium decomposable by the extract of a given weight of oak bark. ISTeubauer found in the bark of young stems, as grown for tanning purposes, from 7 to 10 per cent, of querci-tannic acid, soluble in cold water. A colourless, crystallizable, bitter, neutral substance, soluble in water but not in absolute alcohol or ether, was extracted from oak bark in 536 CUPULIFER^. 1843 by Gerber, and named Quercin. It req[uires further examination : C. Eckert ^ could not detect its existence in young oak bark. Uses — Occasionally employed as an astringent, chiefly for external application. GALLiE HALEPENSES. Gallc& Turcicm ; Galls, Nutgalls, Oak Galls, Aleppo or Turkey Galls; r. Noix de Galle, Galle d'Alep ; G. Levantische oder Aleppische Gallen, Galldpfel. Botanical Origin — Quercus Lusitanica Webb, var. infectoria {Q. infedoria Oliv.),^ a shrub or rarely a tree, found in Greece, Asia Minor, Cyprus and Syria. It is probable that other varieties of this oak, as well as allied species, contribute to furnish the Aleppo galls of commerce. History — Oak galls are named by Theophrastus who lived in the 3rd or 4th century B.C., and were well known to other ancient writers. Pliny ^ mentions the interesting fact that paper saturated with an infusion of galls may be used as a test for discovering sulphate of iron, when added as an adulteration to the more costly verdigris : this, according to Kopp, is the earliest instance of the scientific application of a chemical reaction.^ For tanning and dyeing, galls have been used from the earliest times. IsTutgalls have long been an object of commerce between Western Asia and China. Barbosa in his Description of the East Indies ^ written in 1514, calls them Magican ^ and says they are brought from the Levant to Cambay by way of Mekka, and that they are worth a great deal in China and Java. From the statements of Porter Smith," we learn that , they are still prized by the Chinese. Formation — Many plants are punctured by insects for the sake of depositing their eggs, which operation gives rise to those excrescences which bear the general name of gall? Oaks are specially liable to be visited for this purpose by insects of the order Hymenoptera and the genus Gynips, one species of which, Gynips Gallm tinctorial Olivier (Biplolepis Gallce, tinctorice. Latreille), occasions the galls under notice. The female of this little creature is furnished with a delicate borer or ovipositor, which she is able to protrude from the extremity of the abdomen : by means of it, she pierces the tender shoot of the oak, and deposits therein one or more eggs. This minute operation occasions an abnormal affluence to the spot, of the juices of the plant, the result of which is the growth of an excrescence often of great magnitude, in the centre of which (but not as it appears until the gall has become full- grown) the larva is hatched and undergoes its trausformatiops. 1 Wittsteiii, Vicrteljahresschr. fur 2)>'al'L t'le Tamil, Telugu, Malayalim and Canare.se Pkarm. xiii. (1864) 494. liiiigu:iS'. Austro-caledo)iicum, Vieill. ;^ and in Western Australia ' Proceedings of the Royal Society, xi. * Secmaun, Flora Viticiids, 18(35-73. (18G2) 402. __ 210-215. ■^ For ii figure, see Pharm. .hntrv. iii. ^ Suulioiraii in Joarn. de Pliarm. xi. (1814) ;JS7. _ (1s7o>24;J. ^ From the lUtnnis liiiotcl at ji. 2'j7, lioti' 5. LIGNUM SANTA LL 5 4 1 from Fusamis spicatus Br. (Santahcm spicatum DC, S. cycjnorum Miq.)^ In India, the sandal-wood tree is protected by Government and is the source of a profitable commerce. In other countries it has been left to itself, and has -usually been extirpated, at least from all accessible places, within a few years of its discovery. History — Sandal wood, the Sanskrit name for which, Ghandana, has passed into many of the languages of India, is mentioned in the Nirukta or writings of Yaska, the oldest Yedic commentary extant, written not later than the 5th century B.C. The wood is also referred to in the ancient Sanskrit epic poems, the Ramayana and Maliabharata, parts of which may be of nearly as early date. The author of the Periplus of the Erytlirean Sea, written about the middle of the 1st century, enumerates sandal wood {BuXa aayaXtva) among the Indian commodities imported into Omana in the Persian Gulf ^ The T^avSdva mentioned towards the middle of the 6th century by Cosmas Indicopleustes ^ as brought to Taprobane (Ceylon) from China and other emporia, was probably the wood under consideration. In Ceylon, its essential oil was used as early as the 9th century in embalm- ing the corpses of the princes. Sandal wood is named by Masudi* as one of the costly aromatics of the Eastern Archipelago. In India, it was used in the most sacred buildings, of which a memorable example still exists in the famous gates of Somnath, supposed to be 1000 years old.^ Among European writers, Constantinus Africanus, who flourished at Salerno in the 11th century, was one of the earliest to mention Sandalum.^ Ebn Serabi, called Serapion the Younger, who lived about the same period, was acquainted with white, yclloiu, and red sandal wood.'' All three kinds of sandal wood also occur in a list of drugs ^ in use at Frankfort, circa A.D. 1450 ; and in the Compendium Aromatariorum of Saladinus, published in 1488, we find mentioned as proper to be kept by the Italian apothecary, — "Sandali trium generum, scilicet aTbi, ruhii ct citrini" Whether the red sandal here coupled with white and yelloiu, was the inodorous wood of Pterocarpus santalinus, now called Lignum santalinum ruhrum or Bed Sanders (see p. 175), is extremely doubtful. It may have meant real sandal w^ood, of wdiich three shades, designated lohite, red and yellow, are still recognized by the Indian traders.^ ^ Whether Santalum laoiceolatum Br., a when they Avore taken back to India. They tree found throughout K. and E. Australia are now preserved in the citadel of Agra, and cillaA. sandal wood hy the colonists, is For a representation of the gates, see .4 rc/ii^o- an object of trade, we know not. logia, xxx. (1844) pi. 14. ^ Vincent, Commerce and Navigation of ^ Opera, Basil. 1536-39, Lib. de Gradibus, the Ancients, ii. (1807) 378. _ 369. ^ Migne, Patrologice Cursus, series Grseca, '^ Liber Serapionis aggregcttus in medicinis torn. 88. 446. sim,plicibtos, 1473. ^ Les Prairies d^Or, texte et traduction ^ Fliickiger, Die Frankfurter Liste, Halle, par Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Cour- 1873. 11. teille, i. (1861) 222. » Thus Milburn in his Oriental Commerce ^ They are 11 feet high and 9 feet wide, (1813), says — ". . . the deeper the colour, and richly carved out of sandal wood ; they the higher is the perfume ; and hence the were constructed for the temple of Somnath merchants sometimes divide sandal into red, in Guzerat, once esteemed the holiest temple yellow, and toMie, but these are all different in India. On its destruction in a.d. 1025, shades of the same colour and do not arise the gates were carried off to Ghuzni in Af- from any difference in the species of the ghanistan, where they remained until the tree.'' — (i. 291.) capture of that city by the English in 1842, 542 SANTALACEM On the other hand we learn from Barbosa,^ that about 1511, white and yelloiu sandal wood were worth at Calient on the Malabar Coast, from eight to ten times as much as the red, which would show that in his day, the red was not a mere variety of the other two but something far cheaper, like the Eed Sanders Wood of modern commerce. In 1635, the subsidy levied on sandal wood imported into England was Is. per lb. on the white, and 2s. per lb. on the yelloiv.^ The first figure and satisfactory description of Santalum album, occur in the Hei-barium Amboinense of Eumphius (ii. tab. 11). Production — The dry tracts producing this valuable wood, occupy patches of a strip of country lying chiefly in Mysore and Coimbatore, about 250 miles long, north and north-west of the Neilgherry Hills, and having Coorg and Canara between it and the Indian Ocean ; also a piece of country further eastward in the districts of Salem and North Arcot, where the tree grows from the sea-level up to an elevation of 3000 feet. In Mysore where sandal wood is most extensively produced, the trees all belong to Government and can only be felled by the proper officers. This privilege was conferred on the East India Company by a treaty with Hyder Ali, made 8 August, 1770, and the monopoly has been maintained to the present day. The Mysore annual exports of sandal wood are about 700 tons, valued at £27,000,^ They are shipped from Mangalore. A similar monopoly existed in the Madras Presidency until a few years ago, when it was abandoned. But sandal wood is still a source of revenue to the Madras Government which by the systematic management of the Forest Department has of late years been regularly increasing. The quantity of sandal wood felled in the Eeseived Forests during the year 1872—73, was returned as 15,329 maunds (547|- tons).* The sandal-wood tree, which is indigenous to the regions just mentioned, used to be reproduced by seeds sown spontaneously or by birds ; but it is now being raised in regular plantations, the seeds being sown two or three in a hole with a chili {Capsicum) seed, the latter pro- ducing a quick-growing seedling which shades the sandal while young.^ It is probable that the nurse-plant affords sustenance, for it has been lately shown ^ that Santalum is parasitic, its roots attaching themselves by tuber-like processes to those of many other plants ; and it is also said that young sandal plants thrive best when grass is allowed to grow up in the seed-beds. The trees attain their prime in 20 to 30 years and have then trunks as much as a foot in diameter. A tree having been felled, the branches are lopped off, and the trnnk allowed to lie on the ground for several months, during which time the white ants eat away the greater part of the inodorous sapwood. The trunk is then roughly trimmed, sawn into billets 2 to 2^ feet long, and taken to the forest depots. There the wood ^ liainnsio, Navigationi et Viaggi. etc., "• Ilrport of the Administration of the Vcnet. 1554. fol. 357 b., Lihro di Odoardo Madras Presidency during the year 1872-73, Barhosa Fortoghcsc. Madras, 1874. 18. 143. * The lUdcs of Miirchandizcs, Lond. 1635. ■'' Beddome, Flora Sylvatica for Southern 3 11 H. ]-5ad(jii P\MUhn\hy China for 1871 (p. 50) "«?u7 1872 (pp. (;2. order ot' tlie Inspector-General ol' (Ju.stonis, 1.'j9). .Shanf,'liai, 18G7. 120. 121. — One pccul ■' From tlie oflicial ilocnnient quoted at = 13:'.ilt). p. .542, note 3. ■' See \\. 297, note 5. TKREBlNTUllLi VULGARIS. 545 it is largely consumed in the celebration of sepulchral rites, wealthy Hindus showing their respect for a departed relative by adding sticks of sandal wood to the funereal pile. The powder of the wood made into a jiaste with water, is used for making the caste mark, and also for medicinal purposes. The consumption of sandal wood in China appears to be principally for the incense used in the temples. CONIFERiE. TERElBINTHINA VULGARIS^. Crude or Comvii on Turpentine ; F. Terehenthine commune ; G. Gemeiner Terpentliin. Botanical Origin — The trees which yield Common Turpentine may be considered in two groups, namely, European and American. 1. European — In Finland and Russia Proper, the Scotch Pine, Finns silvestris L. ; in Austria and Corsica, P. Laricio Poiret ; and in South- western Prance, P. Pinaster Solander [P. maritima Poiret), known as the Pin maritime, yield turpentine in their respective countries. 2. AmericoAi — In the United States, the conifers most important for terebinthinous products, are the Swamp Pine, Pinus austrdlis Michaux {P. palustris Mill), and the Loblolly Pine, P. Ta^da L. History — The resin of pines and firs was well known .to the ancients, who obtained it in miicli the same manner as that practised at the present day. The turpentine used in* this country has for many years past been derive'ood, there is a large amount of an exfoliating corky coat, displaying as it is removed, bright rosy tints, while the liber is of a different texture, slightly fibrous and whitish. The inner surface is smooth and of a pinkish brown, 1 Leehorcs on the Materia Medica, Loud. former cannot be touched without adheriii^c ii. (1770) 398. , to the fingers, while the latter will have . ^ Thus if a thin layer of true Venice tu]-- become a dry, .liard varnish, pentine and another of common turpentine '* Herba.ll, enlarged by Johnson, Lund, be spread on two sheets of paper, it will b^ 16-36. 1366. tounil alter t".;e lapse ot some weeks that the 552 CONIFER.K or pale yellow. The bark breaks with a short fracture, exhaling an agreeable balsamic terebinthinous odour ; it has a well-marked astringent taste. For medicinal use, the inner bark is to be preferred. Microscopic Structure — A transverse section exhibits resin-ducts, but far less numerous than in the bark of many allied trees. The medullary rays are not very distinct. Throughout the middle layer of the bark, large isolated thick-walled cells of very irregular shape are scattered. Chemical Composition — Lareli bark has been examined by Sten- house,^ who finds it to contain a considerable amount of a peculiar tannin, yielding olive-green precipitates with salts of iron. The same chemist also discovered^ in larch bark an interesting crystal lizable substance called Larixin or Larixinic Acid, which has the coiliposition, C-^°H>°0^ It may be obtained by digesting the bark in water at 80° C. and evaporating the infusion to a syrupy consistence. From this by still further cautious heating in a retort, the laxixin may be distilled, during which operation some of it crystallizes on the inner surface of the receiver, the remainder being dissolved in the distilled liquor. From the latter it may be obtained in crystals by evaporation. The substance forms colourless crystals, sometimes as much as an inch long ; it volatilizes even at 93° C, and melts at 153i°. It requires about 88 parts of water for solution at 15° C, but more freely dissolves in boiling water or in alcohol. From ether, in which it is but sparingly soluble, it separates in brilliant crystals. The solutions have a bitterish astrin- gent taste and a slightly acid reaction, and assume a purple hue on addition of ferric chloride. When a solution of baryta is added to a concentrated solution of larixin, the latter being in excess, a bulky gelatinous precipitate falls ; it is readily soluble in boiling water and is deposited again on cooling. Larixin is allied to pyrogallol and pyro- catechin, but differs from both in that it exists ready formed, and is an educt, not a product. Stenhouse failed to obtain it either from the bark of Fi7nis Abies L., or from that of F. silvestris L. Uses — Larch bark, chietiy in the form of tincture, has been pre- scribed to check profuse expectoration in cases of chronic broncliitis ; it has also been found useful in arrestiii"' internal hpemorrhaae; TEREBINTHINA CANADENSIS. Balsamum Canaclense ; Canada Balsam, Canadian T'urpcntiti6 ; i". Tire- hentJiine oil Batinie de Canada ; G. Canada- Balsam: Botanical Origin — Finus laharnea L. (Abies hdlsamea Marshall), the Balsam Fir or Balin of Gilead l^ir, a handsome tree, 20 to 40 feet high, with a trunk G to 12 inches in diameter, sometimes attaininn- still larger dimensions, growing in profusion in the Northern and Western United States of America, ISTova Scotia and Canada, but not observed beyond 62' K lat. It resembles the Silver Fir of Europe (Finus Ficea L), but has tlie bracts short-pointed and the cones more acute at each end. ^ Pnityrr/inris of the Jloyri.l Society, -vi. ^\ lite the name //ajv'.rm instoad of Zcn-mV, (1862) 404. with the coiicuitbiicp of Dr. Stenhouse. » Ph.il. Tronic., vol. 152 (1802^5.3.- Wo TKU KB IN Til lyj CJi\JJ)l'.NSIS. 5 5 3 Canada bulsam is also furnished by Finns Fraseri Piivsli, tlie Sniall- frnited or Double Balsam Fir, a tree found on the niouutaius of Penn- sylvania, A'^irginia, and southward on the highest of the Alleghanies.^ Fmus Canadensis L. {AMes Canadensis Mi chx.), the Hemlock Spruce or Pt^russe, a large tree abundant in the same countries as F. halsamea, and extending throughout British America to Alaska, is said to yield a similar turpentine, which however has notj'et beeil sufficiently examined. The Hemlock Spruce is of considerable importance on account of the resin collected from its trunk, and the essential oil distilled from its foliage, the latter operation hieing performed on a large scale in Madison County, New York. The inner ba,rk of the tree is a valuable material for tanning. History — Lewis, in his Histdry of the Materia Medica. published in 11 'ol, Bdij^ tli^t " ah elegant halsam" obtained from the Canada Fir, is sometimes brought into Europe uiider the name of Balsamuvi Canadense. Canada balsam was lirst introduced into the London Pharmacopceia in 1788. From the books of a London druggist, J. Gurney Bevan, we find that its wholesale price in 1776 was 4s., in 1788, 5s. per lb. Description — Canada balsam is a traiisparent resin of honey-like consistence, and of a light straw-colour with a greenish tint. By keeping, it slowly becomes thicker and of a somewhat darker hue, but always retains its transparency. When carefully examined- in direct sunlight, it exhibits a slight greenish fluorescence in the same degree as other turpentines or as copaiba ; this optical power appears to increase if the balsam is exposed to a heat of about 200° C. Canada balsam has a pleasant aromatic odour and bitterish, feebly acrid, not disagreeable taste. On account of its flavour it is sometimes called Balm of Gilead, but erroneously, as this latter is derived from a tree of the genus Balsa.modehdron growing in Arabia. We found a good commercial balsam to have a sp. gr. of 0'998 at 14-5° C, water at the same temperature being I'OOO. Four parts, mixed with one of benS;ol and examined in a column of 50 mm. in length, deviated a ray of polarized light 2° to the right. The balsam is perfectly soltible in any ])roportion in chloroform, benzol, ether, or warm amylic alcohol ; and the solution in each case reddens litmus. With sulphide of carbon; it mixes readily, but the mixture is somewhat turbid; Glacial acetic acid- acetone or absolute alcohol dissolve the balsam partially, leaving after ebullition and cooling, a considerable amount of amorphous residue. Colophony and Venice turpentine are completely dissolved by the liquids in question, as well as by spirit of wine containiiig 70 to 75 pet cent, of alcohol. Chemical Conipositioii ^ — Like all analogous exudations of the ConiferiB, Canada turpentine is a mixtiire o'f resins with an essential oil: li" the latter is allowed to evaporate, the former are left as a transparent somewhat tough and elastic mass. The proportioii of the components is within certain limits, variable in differeiit samples. The specimen before- nifentioned lost after an exposure in a steam-bath during several days, no 1 Asa Gray, Botany of the Northern Unite A ^, The experiments.rletailed under this head Staits, New York, 1866. 422: li^ere performed by Dr. F. 554 CONLFERM. less than 20 per cent, of volatile oil, or even 24 per cent, if the experi- ment was made on a veiy small scale, as with 20 grammes or less in a thin layer. By distillation with water, it is not easy to obtain more than 17 to 18 per cent, of essential oil. The resin in this case is a touoh, elastic non-transparent mass, retaining obstinately a large proportion of water, which can only be removed by keeping it for some time at a tempera- ture of 100°-176° C. The oil as obtained by distillation with water is colourless, and has the odour of common oil of turpentine rather than the agreeable smell of the balsam ; it consists of an oil, C^^H^^, mixed with an insionificant proportion of an oxygenated oil, the presence of which may be proved by the slight evolution of hydrogen on addition of metallic sodium, after the oil has been freed from water by contact with fused chloride of calcium. After this treatment, a small proportion begins to distil at about 160° C, but by far the larger part boils at 167° C, a small portion only distilling at last at 170° C. and above. The oil obtained at 167° examined under the conditions already mentioned, has a sp. gr. of 0'863, and the power of rotating a ray of polarized light, 5 '6° to the left. Tiie portion distilling at 160° does not differ in this respect ; but that passing over at 170°, deviates the ray 7-2° to the left. The oil readily dissolves a large proportion of glacial acetic acid ; an equal wei-dit of each mixes perfectly at about 54° C, but some acetic acid separates on cooling. The essential oil of Canada balsam, saturated with dry hydrochloric acid, does not yield a solid crystallizable compound ; but this is easily- obtained on addition of fuming nitric acid and gently heating, when the inside of the retort becomes covered by sublimed crystals of C^^H^*^ -|- H CI. Thus, this oil in its general characters, bears a close resemblance to the essential oils of the cones of Pinus Picea L., and of the leaves of P. Pumilio Hauke, and to most of the French varieties of oil of turpentine, rather than to the American turpentine oils, which rotate to the right, and combine immediately with H CI to form a solid crystalline compound. On the other hand, the resin of Canada balsam is dextrogyre : two parts of it, entirely deprived of essential oil and dissolved in one of benzol, deviating the ray 8-5° to the right. The optical powers of the two com- ponents (oil and resin) are therefore antagonistic. The resin of Canada balsam consists however of two different bodies. 787 per cent, of it being soluble in boiling absolute alcohol, and 21-3 (in our specimen) remaining as an amorphous mass, readily soluble in ether. Neither the alcoholic nor the ethereal solution yields a crystalline residue if allowed to evaporate. They redden litmus, but we did not succeed in obtaining any crystallized resinous acid, such as ahietic, crystals of which are so readily formed if common turpentine or colo- phony is digested with dilute alcohol. Glacial acetic acid acts upon the resins like absolute alcohol. Caustic alkalis do not dissolve either the balsam or the resin ; the former however is considerably thickened by incorporation with \ of its weight of recently calcined magnesia. If the mixture, moistened with dilute alcohol, is kept at 93° C. for some days and frequently stirred, a mass of hard consistence, finally trans- lucent, results. Caustic aminonia heated with the balsam in a closed bottle, forms a thick milky jelly, which does jiot afterwards separate. Tl'Ji KB IN Til IN A A R G EN TOR J TEN SIS. 5 5 5 Hence, according to uiir inveatigations, 100 parts of Canada turpen- tine consist of Essential oil, C^'^tP'^, with a very small proportion of an oxygenated oil ... ... ... ... ... 24 Resin soluble in boiling alcohol ... ... ... 60 Resin soluble only in ether ... ... ... ... 16 The result of Wirzen's examination of Canada balsam ^ are not in complete accordance with tliose here stated. He found 16 per cent, of oil and three different amorphous resins, one of which had the com- position of abietic acid. Production and Commerce — Canada balsam is obtained either by puncturing the vesicles which form under the bark of the trunk and branches, and collecting their fluid contents in a bottle, or by making in- cisions. It is obtained principally in Lower Canada, and is shipped from Iviontreal and Quebec, in kegs or large barrels. In the neighbourliood of Quebec, about 2000 gallons (20,000 lb.) used to be collected annually; but in 1868, owing to distress among the farmers, the quantity obtained was unusually large, and it was estimated that nearly 7000 gallons would be exported to England and the United States.^ During a recent scarcity (1872-73) a sort of balsam from Oregon has been substituted in the American market for true Canada bialsam.-^ Uses — The medicinal properties of Canada balsam resemble those of copaiba and other terebinthinous oleo-resins, yet it is now rarely employed as a remedy. The balsam is much valued for mounting objects for the microscope, as it remains constantly transparent and uncrystalline. It is also used for making varnish. TEREBINTHINA ARGENTORATENSIS. Strassburg Turpentine ; F. Terehenthine cV Alsace ou de Strasbourg, Terd- henthinc clu sapin ; G. Strassburg cr Terpenthin. Botanical Origin — Pinus Picea L, {Abies pectinata DC), the Silver Fir,* a large handsome tree, growing in the mountainous parts of Middle and Southern Europe from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus, and extending under a slightly different form (var. j3. Cephalonica) into continental Greece and the islands of Eubcea and Cephalonia. History — Belon in his treatise Dc Arboribus coniferis (1553) described this turpentine, which is also briefly yet accurately noticed by Samuel Dale,^ a learned apothecary of London and the friend of Sloane and Ray. It had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia until 1788, when it was omitted from the materia medica. Extraction — The resin of P. Picea, like that of P. balsamea, is con- tained in little swellings of the bark of young stems, and is extracted by 1 De balsamis. et lorcefsertim de Balsamo ^ Proceedings of the America,n Pharma- Canadense, Helsingforsise, 1849, — abstracted ccutirul Association, Philadelphia, 1873. 119 in the JahreshericU of Witjgers for 1849., 38. — also 1874. 433. ^ From iuformation obligingly conimiini- * Sapin in French ; Weisstanne or Edel- cated by Mr. N". Mevcer of Montreal and Mr. tanne in German. H. Sugden Evans of Loudon. * Pharmacologia, Lond. 1693. 39.5. 556 CONIFEILK the tedious process of puncturing them and receiving in a suitable vessel the one op two drops which exude froni each. It is still collected near Barr in the Vosges (1873), though only to a very small extent. Description — An authentic sample collected for one of us by the Surveyor of Forests in the Bernese Jura, resembles very closely Canada balsam, but is devoid of any distinct fluorescence. It has a light yellow colour, a very fragrant odour,^ more agreeable than that of Canada balsam, and is devo-id of the acrid bitterish taste of the latter. AVe found our speciiiien to have the sp. gr. of distilled water. It deviates a ray of polarized light 3° to the left, if examined either pure or diluted with a fourth of its weight of benzol, in the manner described at p. 553. Our drug is soluble in the same liquids as the Canadian, yet is miscible with glacial acetic acid, absolute alcohol and acetone, without leaving any considerable flocculent residue; It is even soluble inspirit of wine, the solution being but very little turbid. .The solutions have an acid reaction. Chemical Composition — After the complete desiccation of a small quantity, there remained 72'4 per cent, of a brittle, transparent resin, soluble in glacial acetic acid, but not entirely in absolute alcohol or in acetone. By submitting half a pound of the turpentine to distillation with water, i^e obtained 24 per cent, of essential oil, the remaining resin being when cold, perfectly friable. The fresh oil, purified by sodium, deviates the ray of polarized light to the left, whereas the re- maining resin, dissolved in half its weight of benzol, shows a weak dex- trogyre I'otation. The oil boils at 163° C. After having kept it for two years and a half in a Avell-stopped bottle; we find that it has become considerably thicker and now deviates to the right. If saturated with dry hydrochloric acid, the oil does not yield a solid compound. This oil has nearly the same agreeable odour as the crude oleo- resin, yet the essential oil of the cones of the same tree is still more fragrant. The latter is one of the most powerfully deviating oils, the totation being 51°' to the left, and it is consequently extremely different from the oil obtained from the turpentine of the stem, though its com- position is represented by the same, formula, C^'^H^^. A peculiar sugar called Ahief/ife, nearly related to mannite but having the composition, C^^H^'^O^, h9,s been detected by Bochleder - ill the leaves of the Silver Fir. Uses — Strassburg turpentine piossesses the properties of common turpentine, with the advantage of a very agreeable odour. It was formerly held in great esteem, but has now become nearly forgotten. PIX BURGUNDICA. Pix ahietina ; Bwrjundy Pitcli. ; F. Foix dc Bourgogne ou des Vosges, Poix jauv.e ; G. Fichteoiharz, Tanncnharz. Botanical Origin — Pinus Abies L. {Abies excclsa DC), the IS^orway Spruce Fir,'^ a noble tree attaining an elevation of 100-160 feet, widely ^ Hence it is sometimes called in Freiieb ^ Pessc or Epicia of the Freucli ; Fichte or Tir6henthinc an citron. Ixothtanne of tlie Germans. , ' \Vig;; proilufc is sometimRs niucli smaller ; 1808, 3'ic'l(latl only ITi ounces of essential oil, 24.Tlb. (I'stillcd by Mrssis. Allen and Wan- or 044 percent, burys. Plough C-oiirt, Lombard Street, 8 -M-iy, HERB J SABINJS. 56' HERBA SABINE. Cacuminavel Summitates Sahince ; Savin or Savine ; F. Sabine; G. ScvenkratU. Botanical Origin — Junipervs Sabina L., a woody evergreen shrub, usually of small size and low-growing, spreading habit, but in some localities erect and arborescent. It occurs in the Southern Alps of Austria and Switzerland, and in the adjacent mountains of France and Piedmont, ascending to elevations of 4000 to 5000 feet. It is also found in the Pyrenees, Central Spain, Italy and the Crimea ; likewise in the Caucasus, where it reaches 12,000 feet above the sea level. Eastward, it extends to the Elburs range south of the Caspian, and throughout Southern Siberia. In North America, it has been gathered on the banks of the river Saskatchewan, at Lake Huron and in Newfoundland. History — Savin is mentioned as a veterinary drug by Marcus Po.rcius Cato,-"^ a Eoman writer on husbandry who flourished in the second century B.C. ; and it was well known to Dioscorides and Pliny. The plant which is frequently named in the early English leech-books written before the Norman Conquest,^ may probably have been intro- duced into Britain by the Eomans. Charlemagne ordered that it should be cultivated on the imperial farms of Central Europe. Its virtues as a stimulating application to wounds and ulcers are noticed in the verses of Macer Floridus,^ composed in the 10th century. Description — The medicinal part of savin is the young and tender green shoots, stripped from the more woody twigs and loranches. These are clothed with minute scale-like rhomboid leaves, arranged alternately in opposite pairs. On the younger twigs, they are closely adpressed, thick, concave, rounded on the back, in the middle of which is a con- spicuous depressed oil gland. As the shoots grow older, the leaves become more pointed, and divergent from the stem. Savin evolves when rubbed or bruised, a strong and not disagreeable odour. The fruit or galbulus resembling a small berry of the size of a pea, grows on a short recurved stalk, and is covered with a blue bloom. It is globular, dry, but abounding in essential oil, and contains 1 to 4 little bony nuts. Chemistry — The odour of savin is due to an essential oil, of which the fresh tops afford 2 to 2| per cent., and the berries about 10 per cent. Examined in a column 50 millimetres long, it was found to deviate the ray of polarized light 27° to the right, the oil used having been distilled by one of us in London from the fresh plant cultivated at Mitcham. The same result was obtained from the oil extracted ten years previously from savin collected wild on the Alps of the Canton de Vaud. We find that by the prolonged action of the air, if the oil is kept in a vessel not carefully closed, the rotatory power after the lapse of years is greatly reduced. Savin oil has the same composition as oil of turpentine ; we have not been able to obtain from it a crystallized hydrochloride. Savin tops contain traces of tannic matter. ^ Cap. Ixx. {Buhiis mcdicavienkon). ^ Choiilant, Macer FJoridus de viribus her- ^ Cockayne, Leechdoms, d;c. of Early Eng- barum, Lipsia?, 1832. 48. land, ii. (1865) xii. 568 CONIFERM Uses — Savin is a powerful uterine stimulant, producing in over- doses very serious effects. It is but rarely administered internally. An ointment of savin, wbicli from tlie chlorophyll it contains is of a fine gi'een colour, is used as a stimulating dressing for blisters. Substitutes — There are several species of juniper which haA^e a con- siderable resemblance to savin ; and one of them, commonly grown in gardens and shrubberies, is sometimes mistaken for it. T\ns>iBJuniperus Virginiana L., the Red Cedar or Savin of JSTorth America. In its native country it is a tree, attaining a height of 50 feet or more, but in Britain it is seldom more than a large shrub, of loose spreading growth, very different from the low, compact habit of savin.^ The foliage is of two sorts, consisting either of minute, scale-like, rhomboid leaves like those of savin, more rarely of elongated, sharp, divergent leaves, a quarter of an inch in length, resembling those of Common Juniper. Both forms often occur on the same branch. The plant is much less rich in essential oil than true savin ^ for which it is sometimes substituted in the United States. The foliage of Jimiperus Plicenicea L., a Mediterranean species, has a considerable resemblance to savin for which it is sometimes substituted,^ but it is quite destitute of the peculiar odour of the latter. ^ We have examined numerous herbarium specimens (wild) of J. Virginiana and J. Sabina, but except difference of stature and habit, can observe scarcely any cha- racters for separating them as species. The fruit-stalk in J. Virginiana is often pen- dulous as in /. Sabina. Each plant has two forms, — arboreous and fruticose. ^ This we ascertained by distilling under precisely similar conditions 6 lb. 6 oz. of the fresh shoots of each of the two plants, Juni- perus Sabina and J. Virginiana : the first gave 9 drachms of essential oil, the second only 4 a drachm. The latter was of a dis- tinct and more feeble odour, and a different dextrogyre power. ^ Bonplandiax. (1862) 55. A AMYL UM MARJNT.E. 5 G 9 iffloHorntglctitin^, CANNACEiE. AMYLUM MARANT^. Arrowroot Botanical Origin — Maranta arundAnacea L. — An herbaceous "branching plant, 4 to 6 feet high, with ovate-lanceolate, puberulons or nearly glabrous leaves, and small white flowers, solitary or in lax racemes. It is a native of the tropical parts of America from Mexico to Brazil, and of the West Indian Islands ; and under the slightly dif- ferent form known as M. indica Tussac, it occurs in Bengal, Java and the Philippines. This Asiatic variety is now found in the West Indies and Tropical America, but apparently as an introduced plant.^ History — The history of arrowroot is comparatively recent. Passing over some early references of French writers on the West Indies to an Herhe aux fleches, which plant it is impossible to identify with Maranta, we find in Sloane's catalogue of Jamaica plants (1696), Oanna Indica radice alba alexipharm.aea. This plant discovered in Dominica, was sent thence to Barbados and subsequently to Jamaica, it being, says Sloane, " very nnuch esteemed for its alexiioharmack qualities." It was observed, he adds, that the native Indians used the root of the plant with success against the poison of their arrows, " hy only mashing and applying it to the poison d, woimds " ; and further, that it cures the poison of the man- chineel (Hippomane Mancinella L.), of the wasps of Guadaloupe, and -even stops " a hegun gangreen." ^ Patrick Browne (1756) notices the reputed alexipharmic virtues of Maranta, which was then cultivated in many gardens in Jamaica, an4 says that the root "■washed, powid^ed fine and hUachcd, makes a finejlour. oMd starch" — sometimes used as food when provisions are scarce.^ 1 We accept the opinion of Kornicke of linnseus labelled M. arundinwceci, is M. (3fo7iograjjhice Marantcarum. Prodronius, indica. We have ourselves made arrowrooj; Bull, de la Soc. imp. des Naturalistes de from the fresh rhizomes of M. arundinacea, Moscoit, XXXV. 1862, i.) that Maranta arun- in order to compare it with an authentic dinacea L. and M. indica Tuss. are one specimen obtained in Java from M. indica : and the same species. Grisebach maintains no difference could be found between them, them as distinct (Flora of the British West ^ Sloan e, Catal. plant, qua} igiins. Ja7)iaica Indian Islands, 1864, 606), allowing both sjjonte proveniimt, vel vidgb coluntur, Lond to be natives of Tropical America ; iDut he 1696. 122 ; also Hist, of Jamaica, i. (1707) fails to point out any important character 25-3. by which they may be distinguished from ^ Cirdl OMd Natitral History of Jamaica, each other. According to Miquel {Linncea 1756. 112. 113. xviii. 1844. 71) the plant in the herbarium 570 CA^NACEM. Hughes, when writing of Barbados in 1750, describes arrowroot as a very useful plant, the juice mixed with water and drunk, being regarded as " a preservative against any poison of an liot nature " ; while from the root the finest starch is made, far excelling that of wheat.^ The pro- perties of Maranta. arundinacea as a counter-poison are insisted upon at some length by Lunan,'"^ who concludes his notice of the plant by detail- ing the process for extracting starch from the rhizome. Arrowroot came into use in England about the commencement of the present century, the supplies being obtained, as it would appear, from Jamaica.^ The statements of Sloane, which are confirmed by Browne and Lunan, plainly indicate the origin and meaning of the word arrowroot, and disprove the notion of the learned C. F. Ph. von Martins (1867) that the name is derived from that of the iLruac or Aroaquis Indians of South America, who call the finest sort of fecula they obtain from the Mandioc, Aru-aru. It is true that Maranta arundinacea is known at the present day in Brazil as Ara.ruta, but the name is certainly a corruption of the English word arrowroot, the plant according to general report having been introduced.^ Manufacture — For the production of arrowroot, the rhizomes are dug up after the plant has attained its complete maturity, which in Georoia is at the be^innins; of winter. The scales which cover them are removed and the rhizomes washed ; the latter are then ground in a mill, and the pulp is washed on sieves, or in washing machines constructed for the purpose, in order to reniove from it the starch. This is allowed to settle down in pure water, is then drained and finally dried with a gentle heat. Instead of being crushed in a mill, the rhizomes are some- times grated to a pulp by a rasping machine. In all stages of the process for making arrowroot, nice precautions have to be taken to avoid contamination with dust, iron mould, insects, or anything which can impart colour or taste to the product. The rhizome contains about 68 per cent, of water, and yields about a fifth of its weight of starch.^ Description — Arrowroot is a brilliant white, insipid, inodorous powder, more or less aggregated into lumps which seldom exceed a pea in size ; when pressed, it emits a slight crackling sound. It exhibits the general properties of starch, consisting entirely of granules which are subsph erica], or broadly and irregularly egg-shaped ; when seen in water they show a distinct stratification in the form of fine concentric rings around a small star-like hilum. They have a diameter of 5 to 7 mkm. when observed in the air or under benzol. If the water in which they lie be cautiously heated on the object- stage of the microscope, the tumefaction of the granules will be found to begin exactly at 70° C. I Ko tv ml Histnry of Barbados, 11^^.2-2.1. Amazon, it is called ' ararMa' — plainly a ^ Hortus Jamaicensis, \. (1814)30. corruption of the English name, and ex- ^ Thus in 179£, there were exported from plained liy the fact that it was first culti- Jamaica 24 casks and boxes of "Indian vated, as I was told, from tubers obtained in Arrov)-rooi." — Kenny, Hist, of Jamaica, 23.5.' the Kast Indies." ■• Since the above was written, the follow- '" 'I'his was in the Gei'nian colony of Blu- ing lines bearing on this question have been menau in Southern Brazil — Eborhard, Arch. nci'iviil from Mr. S]iruce ;— ". . 1 know not der Pharm. 134 (1868) 2.')7. Martins' derivation of ' arrowroot.' On the JMTLUM MARJNTJE. 571 Heated to 100° C. with 20 parts of distilled water, arrowroot yields a semitransparent jelly of somewhat earthy taste and smell. I\y hydro- chloric acid of sp. gr. 1"0G, arrowroot is but imperfectly dissolved at 40° C. The specific gravity of all varieties of starch is affected by the v^ater which they retain at the ordinary temperature of the air. Arrowroot after prolonged exposure to an atmosphere of average moisture, and then kept at 100° C. till its weight was constant, was found to have lost 13'3 per cent, of water. On subsec][U.ent exposure to the air, it regained its former proportion of water. Weighed in any liquid which is entirely devoid of action on starch, as petroleum or benzol, the sp. gr. of arrowroot was found by one of us to be 1"504:; but 1'565 when the powder had been previously dried at 100° C. Microscopic Structure of Arrowroot and of Starch in general. — The granules are built up of layers,— a structure which may be rendered evident by the gradual action of chloride of calcium, chromic acid, or an amriioniacal solution of cupric oxide. When one of these liquids in a proper state of dilution is made to act upon starch, or when for that purpose a liquid is chosen vi^hich does not act upon it energetically, such as diastase, bile, pepsin, or saliva, it is easy to obtain a residue, which according to ISTageli, is no longer capable of swelling up in boiling water, nor is immediately turned blue by iodine, except on the addition of sudphuric acid ; but which is dissolved by ammoniacal cupric oxide. These are the essential properties of cellulose ; and this residue has been regarded as such by ISTageli, while the dissolved portion has been distinguished aS Granulose (Maschke, 1852). Nageli in his important monograph oh starch,^ has described the action of saliva when digested with starch for a day, at a temperature of 40° to 47° C. ; he says that the residue is a skeleton, corresponding in form to the original grain but somewhat smaller, light, and very mobile in water. He concludes that its interstitial spaces must have been pre- viously filled with granulose. This experiment which has been repeated by one of us (F.), does not in our opinion warrant all the inferences that ISTageli has drawn from it : it is true that many separate parts of the grain are dissolved by the saliva, while others have disappeared down to a mere film, and others again have been attacked in a very irregular manner. But we cannot agree with the statement that anything comparable to a skeleton of the grain has been left. After longer action at a higher temperature, which however must not exceed 65° C, a more copious dissolution of the starch either by saliva or by bile, takes place ; but in no case is it complete.^ Chemistry of Starch — The formula, C'^H^'^D^, is commonly assigned to starch, from whatever plant derived. Musculus however showed in 1861, that by the action of dilute acids or of Diastase, starch is resolved into Dextrine, C^^H^^O^'', and Dextrose, CH^^O*^, with wdiich decomposi- tion, the formula, C^^H^^O^^ would be more in accord. Cold water is not without action on starch : if the latter be con- 1 Die StdrkeJcorner, Zurich, 1858. 4°. lulose — Archiv der Pharmacie, 196 (1871) 7. ^ Further particulars on this question may — F. A. F. be found in my paper Uebe?' Starke und C'el- 572 CdNNACEM tiuuously triturated witli it, the filtrate, in wliich no particles can be detected by the microscope, will assume a blue colour on addition of iodine, without the formation of a precipitate. The proportion of starch thus brought into solution is infinitely small, and always at the expense of the integrity of the grains. It is even probable that the solution in this case is due to the minute amount of heat, which must of necessity be developed by the trituration. Certain reagents capable of attacking starch, act upon it in very dif- ferent ways. The action in the cold of concentrated aqueous solutions of easily soluble neutral salts or of chloyal hydrate is remarkable. Potassium bromide or iodide, or calcium chloride for instance, cause the grains to swell, and render them soluble in cold water. At a certain degree of dilution, a perfectly clear liquid is formed, which at first con- tains neither dextrin nor sugar; it is coloured blue but is not precipi- tated by iodine water ; and starch can be thrown down from it by alcohol. This precipitate, though entirely devoid of the structural peculiarity of starch, still exhibits some of the leading properties of that substance ; it is coloured in the same maimer by iodine, does not dissolve even wdien fresh in amn^oniacal cupric oxide, and after drying, is insoluble in water whether cold or boiling. The progress of the solvent is most easily traced when calcium chloride is used, as this salt acts more slowly than the others we have mentioned. It leaves scarcely any perceptible residue. This fact in our opinion militates against the notion that -starch is composed of a peculiar amylaceous substance, deposited within a skeleton of cellulose. The remarkable action of iodine upori starch was discovered in 1814 by Colin and G-aultier de Claubry It is extremely different in degree according to the peculiar kind of starch, the proportion of iodine, and the nature of the substance the grains are impregnated with, before or after their treatment with iodine. The action is even entirely arrested (no blue colour being produced) by the presence in certain proportion of quinine, tannin, Aqiia picis, and of other bodies. The combination of iodine with starch does not take place in equi- valent proportions, and is moreover easily overcome by heat. The iodine combined with starch an^ounts at the utipost to 7"o per cent. The com- pound is most readily formed in the presence of water, and then pro- duces a deep indigo blue. Almost all other substances capable of pene- trating starch grains, weaken the colour of the iodine compound to violet, reddish yellow, yellow or greenish blue. These different shades, the production of which has been described by ISTageli with great diffuseness, are merely the colours which belong to iodine itself in the solid, liquid or gaseous foj-m. They must be referred to the fact that the particles of iodine diffuse themselves in a peculiar but hitherto unexplained manner, within the grain or in the swollen and dissolved starch. Commerce of Arrowroot — The chief kinds of arrowroot found in commerce are known as Bermuda, St. Vincent, and Natal; but that of Jamaica and other West India Islands, of Brazil, Sierra Leone and the East Indies are quoted in price-currents, at least occasionally. Of these, the Bermuda enjoys the highest reputation and commands by far the highest price; but its good quality is shared by the arroAvroot of other localities, from which when equally pure, it can in nowise be distinguished. AMFL UM MARANTJE. 5 7 3 The importations of arrowroot into the United Kingdom during the year 1870, amounted to 21,770 cwt., value £33,063. Of this ciuantity, ibhe island of St. Vincent in the West Indies furnished nearly 17,000 cwt., and the colony of Natal about 3000 cwt. The manufacture of arrowroot in the West India Islands appears to be on the decline, and the Ber- mudas in particular, now ship but an insignificant quantity.^ Uses — Arrowroot boiled with water or milk is a much-valued food in the sick-room. It is also an agreeable article of diet in the form of pudding or blancmange. Adulteration — Other starches than that of Maranta are occasionally sold under the name of Arrowroot. Their recognition is only possible by the aid of the microscope. Substitutes for Arrowroot. Potato Starch — This substance known in trade as Farina or . Potato Flour is made from the tubers of the potato (Solannvi tuherosmn L.) by a process analogous to that followed in the preparation of arrow- root. It has the following characters : — examined under the microscope, the granules are seen to be chiefly of two sorts, the first small and spherical, the second of much larger size, often 100 mkm. in length, having an irregularly circular, oval or egg-shaped outline, finely marked with concentric rings round a minute inconspicuous hililra. When heated in water, the grains swell considerably even at 60° G. Hydro- chloric acid, sp. gr. 1'06, dissolves them at 40° C. quickly and almost completely, the granules being no longer deposited, as in the case of arrowroot similarly treated. The mixture of arrowroot and hydrochloric acid is inodorous, but that of potato starch has a peculiar tliough not powerful odour. Canna Starch, Tous-les-Mois,^ Toulemci, Tolomane—A species of Canna is cultivated in the West India Islands, especially St. Kitts, for the sake of a peculiar starch which, since about the year 1836, has been extracted from its rhizomes by a process similar to that adopted in making arrowroot. The specific naine of the plant is still undetermined : though we have obtained living roots from St. Kitts, and have cultivated the plant for several years, it has not hitherto flowered, and the foliage affords no characters sufficient for distinguishing the species. The starch, which bears the same name as the plant, is a dull white powder, having a peculiar satiny or lustrous aspect, by reason of the extraordinary magnitude of the starch granules of which it is composed. These granules examined under the microscope, are seen to be flattened and of irregular form, as circular, oval, oblong, or oval-truncate. The centre of the numerous concentric rings with which each granule is marked, is usually at one end rather than in the centre of a granule. The hilum is inconspicuous. The granules though far larger than those of 1 In the year 1868, ouly 60 cwt., in 1869, or Descourtilz, who all describe the Balisier 91 cwt. or Canna. It seems more likely that the ^ It is commonlj^ stated that the name term is the result of an attempt to confer a Tous-les-mois was given in consequence of meaning on an ancient name — perhaps the plant flowering all the year round. But Touloida, which is one of the Carib desig- this explanation appears improbable : no nations for Canna and Calathea. such name is mentionedby Eochefort, Aablet, 574 ZINGIBERACEJE. the potato, are of tlie same density as the smaller forms of that starch, and like them, float perfectly on chloroform. When heated, they begin to burst at 72° C. Dilute hydrochloric acid acts upon them as it does on arrowroot. Canna starch boiled with 20 times its weight of water, affords a jelly less clear and more tenacious than that of arrowroot, yet applicable to exactly the same purposes. The starch is produced on a very small scale, and is but little known and not much esteemed in Europe.^ Gurcuma Starch, Tikor, Tikhar. — The pendulous, colourless tubers of some species of Curcuma, but especially of G. angustifolia Koxb. and G. leucorrhiza Eoxb., have long been utilized in Southern India for the preparation of a sort of arrowroot, known by the Hindustani name of Tikhar, and sometimes called by Europeans, Uast Indian Arroiproot.'^ The granules of this substance much resemble those of Maranta, but they are neither spherical nor egg-shaped. On the contrary, they are rather to be described as flat discs, 5 to 7 mkm. thick, of elliptic or ovoid outline, sometimes truncate ; many attain a length of 60 to 70 mkm. They are always beautifully stratified both on the face and on the edge. The hilum is generally situated at the narrower end. We have observed that when heated in water, the tumefaction of the grains commences at 72° C. Curcuma starch, which in its general properties agrees with common arrowroot, is rather extensively manufactured in Travancore, Cochin and Canara on the south-western coast of India, but in a very rude manner. Drury ^ states that it is a favourite article of diet among the natives, and that it is exported from Travancore and Madras; we can add that it is not known as a special kind in the English market, and that the article we have seen offered in the London drug sales as East Indian Arrowroot, was the starch of Maranta. ZINGIBERACE^. RHIZOMA ZINGIBERIS. Radix Zingiber is ; Ginger ; F. Gingemhre ; G. Ingwer. Botanical Origin — Zingihcr oJfirAnaleB.o^QOQiAmomu'tn Zingiber L.), a reed-like plant, with annual leafy stems, 3 to 4 feet high, and flowers in cone-shaped spikes borne on other stems thrown up from the rhizome. It is a native of Asia, in the warmer countries of which it is universally cultivated,* but not known in a wild state. It has been introduced into most tropical countries, and is now found in the West Indies, South America, Tropical Western Africa, and Queensland in Australia. History — Ginger has been known in India from the remotest times under the old Sanskrit name of SrlngavSra, from which has been derived the Greek name Zt'y'yi^epL and the Latin Zingiber. As a spice it was ' 20 liarrels from St. Kitts were otfered in forwank-d to us by A. F. Sealy, Esq. of that publLc .sale in London, 10 May, 1871, and Ijlace. bou;. of garbled cardamoms.^ Ludlow, an Assistant Conservator of Forests, reckons 1 Thwaites, Enumeratio Plantanmi Zcy- bert, i. (1836) 73, 51. — It is questionable lanice, 1864. 318. whether Elettaria is intended at p. 51. ^ Meyer, GescMcMe d. Botanik, ii. (1855) ^ Description of the Coasts of East Africa 167 ; Vincent, Commerce of the Ancients, ii. cmd Malabar, Hakhiyt Society, 1866. 59. (1807) 698. 64, 147. 154. &c. ^ S. Hieronymi Ojgera Omnia, ed. Migi\e, ^ In the work quoted at p. 492, note 7. ii, (1845) 297. "^ Hortus Malaharictcs, xi. (1692) tab. 4-5. * Oeogra-phie d'Edrisi, traduite par Jau- ^ Report on the Administration of Coorcj for the year 1872-73, Bangalore, 1873. 44. 584 ZINGIBEBACEM that not more than 28 ft), can be got from an acre of forest. From what he says, it further appears that the plants which come up on clearings of the Coorg forests are mainly seedlings, which make their appearance in the same g'was^-spontaneous manner as certain plants in the clearings of a wood in Europe. He says they commence to bear in about 3^ years after their first appearance.^ The plan of cultiva- tion above described is that pursued in the forests of Travancore, Coorg and Wynaad. 2. On the lower range of the Pulney Hills, near Dindigul, at an elevation of about 5000 feet above the sea, the cardamom plant is cultivated in the shade. The natives burn down the underwood, and clear away the small trees of the dense moist forests called sliolas, which are damp all the year round. The cardamoms are then sown, and when a few inches high, are planted out, either singly or in twos, under the shade of the large trees. They take five years before they bear fruit ; " in October " remarks our informant,^ " I saw the plants in full flower and also in fruit, — the latter not however ripe." 3. In North Canara and Western Mysore, the cardamom is cultivated in the betel-nut plantations. The plants, which are raised from seed, are planted between the palms, from which and from plantains, they derive a certain amount of shade. They are said to produce fruit in their third year. Cardamoms begin to ripen in October, and the gathering continues during dry weather for two or three months. All the fruits on a scape do not become ripe at the same time, yet too generally the whole scape is gathered at once and dried, — to the manifest detriment of the drug. This is done partly to save the fruit from being eaten by snakes, frogs and squirrels, and partly to avoid the capsules splitting, which they do when quite mature. In some plantations however, the cardamoms are gathered in a more reasonable fashion. As they are collected, the fruits are carried to the houses, laid out for a few days on mats, then stripped from their scapes, and the drying completed by a gentle fire-heat. In Coorg, the fruit is stripped from the scape before drying, and the drying is some- times effected wholly by sun-heat. In the native states of Cochin and Travancore, cardamoms are a monopoly of the respective governments. The rajah of the latter state requires that all the produce shall be sold to his officials, who forward it to the main depot at Alapalli or Aleppy, a port in Travancore, where his commercial agent resides. The rajah is tenacious of his rights, and inserts a clause in the leases he grants to European coffee-planters, of whom a great many have settled in his territory, requiring that cardamoms shall not be grown. The cardamoms at Aleppy are sold by auction, and bought chiefly by Moplali merchants for transport to different parts of India, and also, through third parties, to England. All the lower qualities are consumed in India, and the finer alone shipped to Europe. In the forests belonging to the British Goverinnent, cardamoms are ^ Elliot, Experiences of a. Planter in the information on tliis head IVom Dr. J5randis, Jxiwjles of Mysore, Loud. ii. (1871) 201. Inspeetor-Gcucral of Forests in India, and 209. Dr. King, Director of the Botanic Garden, " Colonel Beddonic, Conservator of Forests, Calcutta. Madras. AVe liuve likewise to acknowledge FRUCTUS CARDAMOMI. 585 mostly reckoned among the miscellaneous items of produce ; but in Coorg, the cardamom forests are now let at a rental of £3000 per annum, under a lease which will expire in 1878.^ Dr. Cieghorn, late Conservator of Forests in the Madras Presidency, observes in a letter to one of us, that the rapid extension of coffee culture along the slopes of the Malabar mountains has tended to lessen the production of cardamoms, and has encroached considerably upon the area of their indigenous growth. A recent writer ^ has shown from his own experience, that the cultivation of the cardamom is a branch of industry worth the attention of Europeans, and has given many valuable details for insuring successful results. Description — The fruit of the Malabar cardamom as found in com- merce, is an ovoid or oblong, three-sided, three-valved capsule, contain- ing numerous seeds arranged in three cells. It is rounded at the base, and often retains a small stalk ; towards the apex it is more or less contracted and terminates in a short beak. The longitudinally-striated, inodorous, tasteless pericarp is of a pale greyish-yellow, or buff, or brown when fully ripe, of a thin papery consistence, splitting lengthwise into three valves. From the middle of the inner side of each valve, a thin par- tition projects towards the axis, thereby producing three cells, each of which encloses 5 to 7 dark brown, aromatic seeds, arranged in two rows and attached in the central angle. The seeds, which are about 2 lines long, are irregularly angular, transversely rugose, and have a depressed hilum and a deeply channelled raphe. Each seed is enclosed in a thin colourless aril. Cardamoms vary in size, shape, colour and flavour : those which are shortly ovoid or nearly globular, and y%- to y^^- of an inch in length, are termed in trade language sliorts ; while those of a more elongated form, pointed at each end, and ^^ to xV of an inch long, are called short- longs. They are further distinguished by the names of localities, as Malabar, Madras, and AUppy. The Malabar Cardamoms, which are the most esteemed, are of full colour, and occur of both forms, namely shorts and short-longs ; they are brought to Europe via, Bombay. The Madras are chiefly of elongated form {short-longs) and of a more pallid hue ; they are shipped at Madras and Pondicherry. Those termed Aleppy are generally shorts, plump, beaked and of a peculiar greenish tint ; they are imported from Calicut, and sometimes from Aleppy. Cardamoms are esteemed in proportion to their plumpness and heaviness, and the sound and mature condition of the seeds they contain. Good samples afford about three-fourths of their weight of seeds. ^ The fruits of the second form (var. /3) of Eldtaria Cardamomum, known in trade as Ceylon Cardamoms, are from 1 to 2 inches in length, and y\p to y%- of an inch in breadth, distinctly three-sided, often arched, and always of a dark greyish-brown. The seeds are larger and more numerous than those of the Malabar plant and somewhat different in odour and taste. Microscopic Structure — The testa of the seed consists of three distinct layers, namely an exterior of thick- walled, spirally-striated cells, ^ Eeport quoted at p. 583, note 8. (Information from tlie laboratory accounts ^ Elliot, op. cit., chap. 12. of Messrs. Allen and. Hanburys, Plough. ^ Thus 202 ib. shelled at various times Court, Lombard St.) during 10 years, afforded 1544 lb. of seeds. 586 ZINQIBERACEm. somewliat longitudinally extended, and exhibiting on transverse section, square, not very large, cavities : then a row of large cells with thin transverse walls ; and finally, an internal layer of deep brown, radially- arranged cells, the walls of which have so thick a deposit that at the most only small cavities remain. The granular, colourless, sac-shaped albumen encloses a horny endo- sperm, in which the embryo is inserted, the projecting radicle being directed towards the hilum. The cells of the albumen have the form of elongated polyhedra, almost entirely filled with very small starch granules. Besides them, there occur in most of the cells, somewhat larger masses of albuminoid matter having a rhombohedric form, dis- tinctly observable when thin slices of the seed are examined under almond oil in polarized light. These remarkable crystalloid bodies resemble those occurring in the seeds of cumin (p. 296). Chemical Composition — The parenchyme of the albumen and embryo is loaded with fatty oil and essential oil, the former existing in the seed to the extent of about 10 per cent. The essential oil, which amounts on an average to 4'6 per cent., has a sp. gr. of about 0'93, and the odour and flavour of the seeds. It appears to consist of two bodies, a liquid volatile oil, and a crystal- line solid camphor, having the formula, QJ^^^^I^-OJ', and therefore isomeric or identical with turpentine-camphor. Essential oil of carda- moms has been found by Luboldt (1860) to be strongly dextrogyre. The water which comes over when cardamoms are distilled, contains acetic acid. The ash of cardamoms, in common with that of several other plants of the same order, is remarkably rich in manganese.-^ Commerce — There are no statistics to show the production of cardamoms in the south of India or even the quantity exported. The shipments in the year 1872-73 from Bombay, to which port the drug is largely sent from the Madras Presidency, amounted to 1650 cwt., of which 1055 cwt. were exported to the United Kingdom.^ Cardamoms, the produce of Ceylon and therefore of the large, variety, were exported from that island in 1872, to the extent of 9273 lb. — the whole quantity being shipx^ed to the United Kingdom.^ Uses — Cardamoms are an agreeable aromatic, often administered in conjunction with other medicines. As an ingredient in curry powder, they have also some use as a condiment. But the consumption in England is small in comparison with what it is in Eussia, Sweden, Norway and parts of Germany, where they are constantly employed as a spice for the flavouring of cakes. In these countries, Ceylon carda- moms are also used, but exclusively for the manufacture of liqueurs. In India, cardamoms, besides being used in medicine, are employed as a condiment and for chewing with betel. Other sorts of Cardamom. The fruits of several other plants of the order Zingihcracecv have at various times been employed in pharmacy under the common name 1 Pharm. Joum. iii, (1872) 208. •' C'ci/h,i, Blue Book for 1872, Colombo, '^ Slulcmcnt of the Trade, tfcc. of Bomhaij 1873, 543. for 1872-73. ii. 58. 90. FRUCTUS CARDAMOML 587 of Cardamom. We sliall liere notice only tliose wliicli have some im- portance in European or Indian commerce.- Round or Cluster Cardamom — Amomum Cardamomum L., the mother-plant of this drug, is a native of Cambodia, Siam, Sumatra and Java. During the intercourse with Siam, which was frequent in the early- part 'of the 17th century, this drug, which is there in common use, occasionally found its way into Europe. Clusius received a specimen of it in 1605, as the true Amo7num of the ancients, and figured it as a great rarity.^ As Amomum verum, it had a place in the pharmacopoeias of this period. Parkinson (1640), who figures it as Amomum genuinum, says that " of late days it hath been sent to Venice from the East Indies." Dale (1693) and Pomet (1694) both regarded it as a rare drug; the latter says it is brought from Holland, and that it is the only thing that ought to be used when Amomum is ordered. In 1751, it was so scarce that in making the Theriaca Andromachi, some other drug had always to be substituted for it.^ Thus, it had completely disappeared, when about the year 1853, commercial relations were re-opened with Siam ; and among the com- modities poured into the market, were Hound Cardamoms. They were not appreciated, and the importations becoming unprofitable, soon ceased.* They are nevertheless an article of considerable traffic in Eastern Asia. Pound Cardamoms are produced in small compact bunches. Each fruit is globular, y^g- to y'^ of an inch in diameter, marked witli longi- tudinal furrows, and sometimes distinctly three-lobed. The pericarp is thin, fragile, somewhat hairy, of a buff colour, enclosing a three-lobed mass of seeds, which are mostly shrivelled as if the fruit had been gathered unripe. The seeds which have a general resemblance to those of the Malabar cardamom, have a strong camphoraceous, aromatic taste. There is a large export from Siam of cardamoms of this and the following sort. The shipments from Bangkok in 1871, amounted to 4678 peculs (623,733 ft).), value 232,464 dollars, and were all to Singapore and China.^ There were also imported into Singapore during the same year, 102 cwt. from Java, and 75 cwt from Sumatra of [Pound?] Cardamoms.^ Xanthioid Cardamom ; Wild or Bastard Cardamom of Siam — This is afforded by Amomum xanthioides Wallich, a native of Tenasserim and Siam. During the past twenty years, the seeds of this plant, deprived of their capsules, have often been imported into the London market, and they are now also common in the bazaars of India.'^ They closely resemble the seeds of the Malabar cardamom, differing chiefly in flavour and in being rather more finely rugose. Occasionally they ^ For additional information on tlie various * Thus 43 bags, imported direct from sorts of Cardamom, consult Guibourt, Hist. Bangkok, were offered for sale in London, des Drog. ii. (1869) 215-227 ; Pereira, Ele- 26 March, 1857, and bought in at Is. Qd. ments of Mat. Med. ii. (1850) 1128 ct seq.; per lb. Hanbury in Pliarrn. Journ. xiv. (1855) 352. ^ Commercial Rc^mrt of H. M. Consul- 416. ; Journ. de Pharm., Mai et Juin, 1855. General in Siam for 1871. ® Exoticorum Lihri, 377. ^ Blue Book of the Straits Settlements for 3 Hill, History of the Mat. Med., Lond. 1871. (1751) 472. ^ Moodeen Sheriff, Su'pplement to Phar- macopoeia of India, Madras, 1869. 44. 270. 588 ZINGIBEUACEm. are imported still cohering in ovoid, three-lobed masses, as packed in. the pericarp. Sometimes they are distinguished as Bastard or Wild, but are more generally termed simply Cardamom Seeds. They are a considerable article of trade in Siam, but in commercial returns are not distinguished from the preceding. The fruits of this si3ecies grow in round clusters and are remarkable for having the pericarp thickly beset with weak fleshy spines,^ which gives them some resemblance to the fruits of a Xantliiiim, and has sug- gested the specific name. Bengal Cardamom — This drug, which with the next two has been hitherto confounded under one name,^ is afforded by Amomum aromaticum. iioxb., a native of the valleys on the eastern frontier of Bengal. According to Eoxburgh,^ the plant blossoms during the hot season before the periodical rains, and matures its fruit in September ; the latter is then gathered and sold to the drug dealers, under the name of Morung Elaclii. Bengal cardamoms ^ average about an inch in length, and are of ovoid or slightly obconic form, and obscurely 3 -sided ; the lower end is rounded and usually devoid of stalk. The upper part of the fruit is provided with 9 narrow jagged wings or ridges, which become apparent after maceration ; and the summit terminates in a truncate bristly nipple, — never protracted into a long tube. The pericarp is coarsely striated, ■ and of a deep brown. It easily splits into 3 valves, inclosing a 3-lobed mass of seeds, 60 to 80 in number, agglutinated by a viscid saccharine pulp, clue to the aril with which each seed is surrounded. The seeds are of roundish form, rendered angular by mutual pressure, and about ^ of an inch long ; they have a highly aromatic, camphora- ceous taste. Nepal Cardamom — The description of the Bengal cardamom applies in many points to this drug, to which it has a singularly close resemblance. The fruit is of the same size and form, and is also crowned in its upper part with thin jagged ridges, and marked in a similar manner with longitudinal striae ; and lastly, the seeds have the same shape and flavour. But it difi'ers, firstly, in l3earing on its summit a tubular calyx, which is as long or longer than the fruit itself; and secondly, in the fruit being often attached to a short stalk. The fruits are borne on an ovoid scape, 3 to 4 inches long, densely crowded with overlapping bracts, which are remarkably broad and truncate with a sharp central claw, — very distinct from the much narrower ovate bracts of A. aroniaticum, as shown in Eoxburgh's unpublished drawing of that plant. The plant, which is unquestionably a species of Amomum, has not yet been identified w'itli any published description. "We have to thank Colonel Eichard C. Lawrence, British Eesident at Katmandu, for sending us a fruit-scape in alcohol, some dried leaves, and also the drug itself, — the last agreeing perfectly with specimens obtained through other channels. ^ See figure in I'hann. Journ. xiv. (1855) Gardens, Calcutta, lias Leon good enough to 418. send us a large sample of IJeugal cardamoms, . " As by Pereira, Elcm. of Mat. Med. ii. wliicli lie says are Lest known in the bazaars 1850) 1135. as Baro Elacld. They quite agi-ee with ^ Flora Tndka, Seranipore, i. (1832) 45. specimens previously in our possession. * ilr. John Scott, of the Koyal Botanical FRUCTUS CARDAMOM!. 589 The ISTepal cardamom, the first account of which is due to Hamilton,^ is cultivated on the frontiers of Nepal near Darjiling. The plant is stated by Col. Lawrence to attain 3 to 6 feet in height, and to be grown on well-watered slopes of the hills, under the shelter of trees. The fruit is exported to other parts of India. Java Cardamom — A well-marked fruit, produced by Amomum maximum Koxb., a plant of Java. The fruits are arranged to the number of 30 to 40 on a short thick scape, and form a globose group, 4 inches in diameter. They are stalked, and of a conical or ovoid form, in the fresh state as much as 1-| inches long, by 1 inch broad. Each fruit is provided with 9 to 10 prominent wings, |^ of an inch high, running from base to apex, and coarsely toothed except in their lowest part. The summit is crowned by a sliort, withered, calycinal tube. Mr. Binnendyk, of the Botanical Garden of Buitenzorg, in Java, who has kindly supplied us with fine specimens of A. maximum, as well as with an admirable coloured drawing, states that the plant is cultivated, and that its fruits are sold for the sake of their agreeable edible pulp. We do not know whether the dried fruits or the seeds are ever exported. Pereira confounded them with Bengal and Nepal cardamoms. Korarima Cardamom — The Arab physicians were acquainted with a sort of cardamom called Heil, which was later known in Europe and is mentioned in the most ancient printed pharmacopoeias, as Cardamomum majus? Like some other Eastern drugs, it gradually disappeared from European com^merce, and its name came to be transferred" to Grains of Paradise, which to the present day are known in the shops as Semina Cardamomi majoris. The true Cardamomum majus is a conical fruit, in size and shape not unlike a small fig reversed, containing roundish angular seeds, of an agreeable aromatic flavour, much resembling that of the Malabar cardamom, and quite devoid of the burning taste of grains of paradise. Each fruit is perforated, having been strung on a cord to dry ; such strings of cardamoms are sometimes used by the Arabs as rosaries. The fruit in question is called in the Galla language Korarima, but it is also known as Ourdgi spice, and by its Arabic names of Heil and Hah- hal-hahashi.^ According to Beke, it is conveyed to the market of Baso in Southern Abyssinia from Tumhe, a region lying in about 9° jST. lat. and 35° E. long ; thence it is carried to Massowali on the Eed Sea and shipped for India and Arabia.* Von Heuglin ^ speaks of it as brought from the Galla country. It is not improbable that it is the same fruit wliich Speke ^ saw growing in 1862, at Uganda in lat. 0°, and which he says is strung like a necklace by the Wagonda people. Pereira proposed for the plant the name of Amomum Korarima, but it has never been botanically described. ^ Account of tJie Kingdom of Nepal, ^diiih, "f7-equens in re culinarid et mcclicd, loco 1819. 74-75. pipcris:' ^ As the Tfsa-Z6ri{s ^?wnaten'orMm, printed * Pereira, P/iarm. Jb?M'?i. vi. (1847) 466; at Milan in 1496, in which it is called Heil Elem. of Mat. Med. ii. (1850) 1136 ; Vaughan, or Gardamomum majus. Pharm. Jottrn. xii. (1853) 587. p ^ So named by Forskal in 1775 [Materia ^ Reise nacli Abessinien, Jena, 1868. 223. Medico, Kahirvna, 151. n. 41) who says ^ Journal of the. discovery of the source of the Nik, 1863. 648 (appendix). 590 ZINGIBEBACEM GRANA PARADISI. Semina Garclamomi majoris, Piper Mehgueta ; Grains of Paradise, Guinea Grains, Melegueta Pepper'^ ; F. Graines de Paradis, Maniguette ; G. Paradieskorner. Botanical Origin — Amomum Melegueta Eoscoe — an herbaceous, reed-like plant, 3 to 5 feet high, producing on a scape rising scarcely an inch above the ground, a delicate wax-like, pale purple flower, which is succeeded by a smooth, scarlet, ovoid fruit, 3 to 4 inches in length, rising out of sheathing bracts. It varies considerably in the dimensions of all its parts, according to more or less favourable circumstances of soil and climate. In Demerara, where the plant grows luxuriantly in cultivation, the fruit is as large as a fine pear, measuring with its tubular part as much as 5 inches in length by 2 inches in diameter ; on the other hand in some parts of West Africa, it scarcely exceeds in size a large filbert. It has a thick fleshy pericarp, enclosing a colourless acid pulp of pleasant taste, in which are imbedded the numerous seeds. A. Melegueta is widely distributed in tropical West Africa, occurring along the coast region from Sierra Leone to Congo, Of its distribution in the interior, we have no exact information. The littoral region, termed in allusion to its producing grains of paradise, the Grain Coast, lies between Liberia and Cape Palmas; the Gold Coast whence the seeds are now principally exported, is in the Gulf of Guinea, further eastward. History — There is no evidence that the ancients were acquainted with the seeds called Grains of Paradise ; nor can we find any reference to them earlier than an incidental mention under their African name, in the account 2 of a curious festival held at Treviso in a.d, 1214: it was a sort of tournament, during which a sham fortress held by twelve noble ladies and their attendants, was besieged and stormed by assailants armed with flowers, fruits, sweetmeats, perfumes and spices, amongst which last figure — Melegetm I After this period there are many notices, showing the seeds to have been in general nse. Nicolas Myrepsus,^ physician at the court of the Emperor John III. at Nicsea, in the 13th century, prescribed MeveyeTat ; and his contemporary Simon of Genoa * at Eome, names the same drug as Melegete or Melcgette. Grana Paradisi are enumerated among spices sold at Lyons ^ in 1245 ; and, as Gr-cyn Paradijs, in a tariff of duties levied at Dordrecht in Holland^ in 1358. And again, among the spices used by John, king of France when in England, a.d. 1359— GO, Grainne de Paradis is repeatedly mentioned.'' ^ The namo Mdeguda spelt in various antidotis, cap. xxii. ways, as MclcgcUe, Mcllujctla, Mallayudta, * Clavis SancUionis, Venet. 1510. 19. 42._ Manigete, Maniguette, is an African designa- ^ Bibliothek d. lit. Vcrciiis, Stuttgart, xvi. tion forgi-ains of Paradise. p. xxiii. ^ Eolaudiui Patavini Chronica— Pertz, " Sartorius und Lappcnberg, GeschiclUe Mcmurncnta Gcnnmiicc liislorica ; ncripto-res, dcr Dcutschcn Hansa, ii. 448. xix. (1866) 45-46. '' Doiiet d'Arcq, 219. 266— sec p. 479, ^ Dc Coia])ositlone Mcdicamcntoi-wm, ; de note 4. GRAN A PARABISL 591 In the earliest times, the drug was conveyed by the long land journey from Tropical Africa to the coast of Tripoli/ as it is in small quantities up to the present day ; and being the produce of an unknown region and held in great esteem, it acquired the name of Grains of Paradise. Towards the middle of the 14th century, there began to be direct commercial intercourse with Tropical Western Africa. Margry ^ relates that ships were sent thither from Dieppe in 1364, and took cargoes of ivory and malaguette, from near the mouth of the river Cestos. A century later, the coast was visited by the Portuguese, who termed it Terra de malaguet. The celebrated Columbus also, who traded to the coast of Guinea, called it Costa di Maniguetta. Soon after this period, the spice became a monopoly of the kings of Portugal. English voyagers visited the Gold Coast in the 16th century, bringing thence in exchanging for European goods, gold, ivory, pepper, and Grains of Paradise.^ The pepper was doubtless that oi Piper Clusii (p. 530). Grains of paradise, often called simply grains, were anciently used as a condiment like pepper. They were also employed with cinnamon and ginger in making the spiced wine called Mppocras, in vogue during the 14th and 15th centuries. In the hands of modern botanists, the plant affording this drug has been the subject of a complication of errors which it is needless to discuss. Suffice it to say, that Amomum Granum Paradisi as described by Linnaeus cannot be identified; — that in 1817, Afzelius, a Swedish botanist, who resided some years at Sierra Leone, published a descrip- tion of " Amomum Granum Paradisi ? Linn./' ^ but that the specimen of it alleged to have been received from him, and now preserved in the herbarium of Sir J. E. Smith, belongs to another species. Under these circumstances, the name given to the grains of paradise plant by Eoscoe, A. Melegueta, has been accepted as quite free from doubt.^ Description — The seeds are about y^ of ^^ moh. in diameter, rather variable in form, being roundish, bluntly angular or somewhat pyramidal. They are hard, with a shining, reddish- brown, shagreen-like surface. The hilum is beak-shaped and of paler colour. The seeds when crushed are feebly aromatic, but have a most pungent and burning taste. Microscopic Structure — In structure, grains of paradise agree in most respects with cardamom seeds. Yet in the former, the cells of the albumen have very thin, delicate walls which are much more elongated. Of the testa, only the innermost layer agrees with the corresponding part of cardamom ; whilst the middle layer has the cell walls so much thickened that only a few cavities, widely distant from one another, remain open. The outer layer of the testa consists of tliick-walled cells, the cavities of which appear on transverse section, radially extended. The albumen is loaded with starch granules of 2 to 5 mkm. diameter, the whole amount in each cell being agglutinated, so as to form a coherent mass. Chemical Composition — Grains of paradise contain a small pro- 1 G. di Barros, ^sm, Yenet. 1561. 33 (65). " I have repeatedly raised Aonomum Mele- ^ Quoted at p. 530, note 3. gucta from commercial Grains of Paradise, 3 Hakluyt, Prhicipal Navigations, ii. pt. and have cultivated the plant for some years, 2.— First Yoiage of the Primerose and Lion obtaining not only flowers, but large well- to Guinea and Benin, a.d. 1553. ripened fruits containing fertile seeds. — ' ^ Bemcdia Quinecnsia, Upsalise. p. 71. D. H. 592 ORCEIBACBM. portion of essential oil ; 53 Bb. yielded us only 2| oz., equivalent to nearly 0'30 per ^ent.^ The oil is faintly yellowish, neutral, of an agreeable odour reminding one of the seeds, and of an aromatic, not acrid taste. It has a sp. gr. at 15'5° C, of 0'825. It is but sparingly soluble in absolute alcohol or in spirit of wine ; but mixes clearly with bisulphide of carbon ; it dissolves iodine without explosion. When saturated with dry hydrochloric gas, no solid compound is formed. The oil begins to boil at about 236° C, and the chief bulk of it distils at 257°-258° : the residual part is a thick brownish liquid. Examined in a column of 50 mm. long, the crude oil deviates 1'9° to the left. The portion passing over at 257°-258° deviates 1'2°, the residue 2° to the left. The optical behaviour is consequently in favour of the supposition that the oil is i homogeneous. This is corroborated by the results of three elementary analyses which lead to the formula, Q20H32o^ or C10H16 -f Ci'^Hieo. In order to ascertain whether the seed contains a fatty oil, 10 grammes, powdered with quartz, were exhausted with boiling ether. This gave upon evaporation 0-583 grm. of a brown viscid residue, almost devoid of odour, but of intense pungency. As it was entirely soluble in glacial acetic acid or in spirit of wine, we may consider it a r&sin, and not to contain any fatty matter. The seeds, dried at 100° C, afforded us 2'15 per cent, of ash, which, owing to the presence of manganese, had a green hue. Commerce — Grains of paradise are chiefly shipped from the settle- ments on the Gold Coast, of which Cape Coast Castle and Accra are the more important. Of&cial returns^ show that the exports in 1871 from this district, were as follows : — to Great Britain 85,502 lb., the United States 35,630 K)., Germany 28,501 ft)., France 27,125 ft)., Holland 14,250 ft).— total, 191,011 ft). (1705 cwt.) Uses — The seeds are used in cattle medicines, occasionally as a condiment, but chieiiy, we believe, to give a fiery pungency to cordials. ORCHIDACE^. SALEP. Radix Salep, TmcUx Satyrii ; Salep ; F. Salep ; G. Balcplinollmi. Botanical Origin — Most, if not all, .species of Orchis found in Europe and JSTorthern Asia, are provided with tubers which, when duly prepared, are capable of furnishing salep. Of those actually so used, the following are the more important, namely — Orchis 7nascula L., 0. Morio L., 0 militaris L., 0. ustulata L., 0. pyramiclalis L,, 0. coriopliora L., and 0. longicruris Link. These species which have the tubers entire, are natives of the greater part of Central and Soutliern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus and Asia Minor.^ 1 This oil was obtained and tried in mcdi- ^ Blue Book for the Colony of tlic Gold cine in tlic beginning ol' the 17tli eentury. — Coast in 1871. Porta, Z>c Ui-slilkUionc, lioniLC, l^JOS, lib. iv. ^ Tehihatcheff enumerates 36 species of c. 4. Orchiti as occurring in Asia Jliuor. — Asie Miacure, Bot. ii. ISOO, SALEP. 593 The following species witli palmate or lobed tubers have a geographical area no less extensive, namely, 0. maculata L., 0. saccifera Brongn., 0. conopsea L., andj^O. latifolia L, The last-named reaches North- Western India and Tibet ; and 0, conopsea occurs in Amurland in the extreme- east of Asia. The salep of the Indian bazaars, known as 8dlih misri, for fine laced by iodine or bromine, the compounds thus obtained being crystallizable. W. von Leutner ^ extracted from vanilla nearly 1 per cent, of vanillin, which he found to afford with 182 parts of water at 18° C, a solution reddening litmus. Some interesting researches performed in Hofmann's laboratory at Berlin by Tiemann and Haarmann, have shown (1874) that vanillin may be formed artificially. In the sapwood of pines, there occurs a substance called Goniferin, C^'^H'^O^ -f 2 H-O, first observed in 1861 by Hartig, and examined in 1866 by Kubel. By means of emulsin, coni- ferin taking up H^O, can be resolved into sugar and another crystallizable substance, according to the following equation : — C^'^H^^O^ + H^O = Q6JJ12Q6 ^_ C^^H^^O^ The second substance thus derived, may be col- lected by means of ether, which dissolves neither coniferin nor sugar. By oxidizing it, or coniferin itself, by bichromate of potassium and sul- phuric acid. Vanillin was obtained. Upon fusing it with potash, Pro- tocatechuic Acid, C^H^O*, is formed. In fact, according to these researches, vanillin, C^*^H^O^, must be regarded as the methylic aldehyde of that acid. This view is confirmed by the decomposition that ensues upon heating vanillin in a closed tube with hydrochloric acid, during which methylic chloride, CH^Cl, is formed. Leutner also found in vanilla, fatty and waxy matters 11*8, resin 4'0,. gum and sugar 16*5 per cent. ; and obtained by incineration of the drug 4"6 per cent, of ash. Production and Commerce — The chief seats of vanilla-production in Mexico are the coast-regions of the State of Vera Cruz, the centre of ^ Wittstein's Vicrteljaliresschrift f. praTct. Bull, de la Soc. chimique de Paris, xvii. Pharm. xiii. (1864) 481. (1872) 12. - Journ. de Pharm. sii. (1870) 254 ; ^ Wiggers and Husemann, JahreshericM fur 1872. 35. 598 IRIDACEM the culture being Jicaltepec in the vicinity of Nautla.^ Vanilla is like- wise obtained on the western declivity of the Cordilleras in the State of Oaxaca, and in lesser quantity in those of Tabasco, Chiapas, and Yucatan. The eastern parts of Mexico exported in 1864, by way of Vera Cruz andTampico, about 20,000 kilo, of vanilla, chiefly to Bordeaux. Since then, the production seems to have much declined, the im- portation into France having been only 6869 kilo in 1871, and 1938 in 1872.2 The cultivation of vanilla in the small Erench colony of Ei^union or Bourbon (40 miles long by 27 miles broad), introduced by Marchant in 1817 from Mauritius, has of late been very successful, notwithstanding many difficulties occasioned by the severe cyclones which sweep peri- odically over the island ; in 1871, the quantity exported was 39,200 ft).^ The neighbouring island of Mauritius also produces vanilla, of which it shipped in 1872, 7139 lb.'' There is likewise a very extensive culti- vation of vanilla in Java. Vanilla comes into the market chieliy by way of Prance, which country, according to the official statistics just quoted, imported in 1871, 29,914 kilo. (65,981 lb.) ; in 1872, 26,587 kilo. (58,643 lb.) Of the last- named quantity, only about half was retained for home consumption. Uses — Vanilla has long ceased to be used in medicine, at least in this country, but is often sold by druggists for flavouring chocolate, ices, creams, and confectionary. miDACE^. RHIZOMA IRIDIS. Radix Iridis FlorentincG ; Grris Root ; Y. Racine d' Iris ; Qr.Veilcliemvurzel. Botanical Origin— This drug is derived from three species of Iris, namely : — 1. Iris Gcrmanica L., a perennial plant with beautiful large deep blue flowers, common about Florence and Lucca, ascending to the region of the chestnut. It is also found dispersed throughout Central and Southern Europe, and in Northern India and Morocco ; and is one of the com- monest plants of the gardens round London, where it is known as the Blue Flag. 2. I. pallida Lam., a plant resembling the preceding, but with flowers of a delicate pale blue, growing wild in stony places in Istria. It is abundant about Florence and Lucca in the region of the olive, but is a doubtful native. 3. /. Florentina L., a species bearing large white flowers, indigenous to the coast region of Macedonia and the south-western shores of the o ^ Ouliure (hi vaniUier au Mcxique, in the "^ Consul .Scf^rave of lluuuiou in the Omi- licvuc Oolonialc, ii. (1849) 383-390. suhir Ilqwrts, presented to rarliament, Aug. " Documents Stalistiqi'es riunis par VAd- 1872. lainistr/ftion des Douancn snr In Commerce "' Jla mil ins Blue BooJc for the year 1B7 '2. lie la Franc, auutu 1872, \k G1. RHIZOMA IRIDIS. 599 Black Sea, Hersek in the Gulf of IsTiiid, and about Adalia in Asia Minor. It also occurs in the neighbourhood of Elorence and Lucca, but in our opinion only as a naturalized plant. ^ These three species, but especially /. Gcrmanica and /. 'pallida, are cultivated for the production of orris root in the neighbourhood of Florence. They are planted on the edges of terraces and on waste, stony places contiguous to cultivated ground. /. Florentina is seldom found beyond the precincts of villas, and is far less common than the other two. History — In ancient Greece and Eome, orris root was largely used in perfumery ; and Macedonia, Elis, and Corinth were famous for their unguents of iris.^ Theophrastus and Dioscorides were well acquainted with orris root ; the latter, as well as Pliny, remarks that the best comes from Illyricum, the next from Macedonia, and a sort (-still inferior from Libya ; and that the root is used as a perfume and medicine. Visiani ^ considers that Iris Gcrmanica is the Illyrian iris of the ancients, which is highly probable, seeing that throughout Dalmatia (the ancient Illyri- cum) that species is plentiful, and /. Florentina and I. pallida do not occur. At what period the two latter were introduced into Northern Italy we have no direct evidence, but it was probably in the early middle ages. The ancient arms of Florence, a white lily or iris on a red shield, seem to indicate that that city was famed for the growth of these plants. Petrus de Crescentiis ^ of Bologna, who flourished in the 13th century, mentions the cultivation of the ivhiU as well as of the purple iris, and states at what season the root should be collected for medicinal use. But the true Illyrian drug was held to be the best ; and Valerius Cordus ^ (ob. 1544) laments that it was being displaced by the Florentine, though it might easily be obtained through the Venetians. Orris root mixed with anise was used in England as a perfume for linen as early as 1480 (p. 277), under which date it is mentioned in the Wardrobe Accounts of Edward IV. All the species of iris we have named were in cultivation in England in the time of Gerarde, — that is, the latter end of the 16th century. The starch of the rhizome was formerly reckoned medicinal, and directions for its preparation are to be found in the Traicte dc la Chymie of Le Febvre, published in 1660. Production — The above-mentioned species of iris are known to the Tuscan peasantry by the one name of Giaggiolo. The rhizomes are col- lected indiscriminately, the chief quantity being doubtless furnished by the two more plentiful species, /. Gcrmanica and /. pallida. They are dug up in August, are then peeled, trimmed, and laid out in the sunshine to dry, the larger bits cut off being reserved for replanting. At the establishment •■■ From observations made at Florence in /. Florentina — bracts greeii and fleshy; tbe spring of 1872, I am led to regard tlie flower-stem short as in J. Qeronanica ; is a three species here named as quite distinct. more tender plant than the other two and The following comparative characters are blossoms a little later. — D. H. perhaps worth recording : — ^ Yox further information, consult Bliim- I. Gcrmanica — flower-stem scarcely Ij ner, Die geiverlliclic TMitigkcit cler Volker times as tall as leaves ; floAvers more crowded clcs Tclassischen AUerthums, 1869. 57. 76. 83. thn.n in I. pcoUida, varying in depth of colour ^ Florcc Dalmatica, i. (1842) 116. but never pale blue. ^ Dc omnibus agrioultxwoe ;parlibns, Basil. I. fcMida — bracts brown and scariose ; 1548. 219. flower-stem twice as high as leaves. _ ^ Dispcnsatorium, Norimb, 1529. 288. 600 IRIBACEuK of Count Strozzi, founded in 1806 at Pontasieve near Florence, wliich lies in the midst of tlie orris district, the rhizomes, collected from the peasants by itinerant dealers, are separated into different qualities, as selected (scelti) and so?^fe (^?^ sorte), and are ultimately offered in trade either entire, or in small bits (frantuiiii), parings {raspature), powder {polvere di , giaggiolo o d' ireos), or manufactured into orris peas. The growing of orris is only a small branch of industry, the crops being a sort of side-product, but it is nevertheless shared between the tenant and landowner as is usual on the Tuscan system of husbandry.- Description — The rootstock is fleshy, jointed and branching, creeping horizontally near the surface of the ground. It is formed in old plants of the annual joints of five or six successive years, the oldest of which are evidently in a state of decay. These joints are mostly dichotomous, subcylindrical, a little compressed vertically, gradually becoming ob- conical, and attaining a maximum size when about three years old. They are 3 to 4 inches long and sometimes more than 2 inches thick. Those only of the current year emit leaves from their extremities. The rhizome is externally yellowish -brown, internally white and juicy, with an earthy smell and acrid taste. By drying, it gradually acquires its pleasant violet odour, but it is said not to attain its maximum of fragrance until it has been kept for two years. We have carefully compared with each other the fresh rhizomes of the three species under notice, but are not able to point out any definite character for distinguishing them apart. Dried orris root as found in the shops, occurs in pieces of 2 to 4 inches long, and often as much as 1^ inches wide. A full-sized piece is seen to consist of an elongated, irregularly subcorneal portion emitting at its broader end one or two (rarely three) branches which, having been cut short in the process of trimming, have the form of short, broad cones, at- tached by their apices to the parent rootstock. The rootstock is flattened, somewhat arched, often contorted, shrunken and furrowed. The lower side is marked with small circular scars, indicating the point of insertion of rootlets. The brown outer bark has been usually entirely removed by peeling and paring ; and the dried rhizome is of a dull, opaque white, ponderous, firm and compact. It has an agreeable and delicate odour of violets, and a bitterish, rather aromatic taste, with subsequent acridity. A sort of orris root which has been dried without the removal of the outer peel, is found under the name of Irisa in the Indian bazaars, and now and then in the London market. It is, we suppose, the produce of Iris Germanica L. (/. Ncpalensis Wall.), which according to Hooker, is cultivated in Kashmir. Orris root of rather low quality is now often imported from Morocco ; it is obtained, we believe, exclusively from /. Germanica, Microscopic Structure — On transverse section, the white bark about 2 mm. broad, is seen to be separated by a fine brown line from the faintly yellowish woody tissue. The latter is traversed by numerous vascular bundles, in diffuse and irregular rings, and exhibits here and there small shining crystals of oxalate of calcium. It is ^ Groves, Pkarni. Jouni. Sept. 21, 1872. 229. — We have also to tliank liiin for iufor- matiou conimimicated personally. I CROCUS. 601 made up uniformly of large thick-walled spherical porous cells, loaded with starch granules, which are oval, rather large and very numerous ; prisms of calcium oxalate are also visible. The spiral vessels are small and run in very various directions. The foregoing description is applicable to any one of the three species we have named. Chemical Composition — When orris root is distilled with water, a solid crystalline substance, called Orris Camphor, is found floating on the aqueous distillate. This substance, which we obtained from the laboratory of Messrs. Herrings & Co. of London, is yielded, as we learn from Mr. XJmney, to the extent of 0'12 per cent. — that is to say, 3 cwt. 3 qrs. 23 lb. of rhizome afforded of it 8|- ounces.^ We have purified it by means of charcoal, and re crystallization from dilute alcohol, when we finally got it in very light voluminous scales, which fuse at 51'5° C, but do. not volatilize to any considerable extent even at 160°. These crystals we found to contain on an average of three analyses, carbon 73 '9 6, and hydrogen 12°26 per cent. This leads to the formula C^^H^^O^, which is that of Myristic Acid (see p. 455). The crystals have an acid reaction ; they are easily soluble in caustic alkali, and are again separated by an acid : — in fact, we believe them to be simply myristic acid, impregnated with a little essential oil which they obstinately retain. The results obtained by Dumas in 1835, do not accord with ours. By exhausting orris root with spirit of wine, a soft brownish resin is obtained, together with a little tannic matter. The resin has a slightly acrid taste ; the tannin strikes a green colour with persalts of iron. Commerce — Orris root is shipped from Leghorn, Trieste and Mogador, — from the last-named port, to the extent in 1872 of 456 cwt.^ There are no data to show the total imports into Great Britain. Trance imported in the year 1870, about 50 tons of orris root. Uses — Frequently employed as an ingredient in tooth-powders, and in France for making issue-peas ; but the chief application is as a perfume. CROCUS. Croci stigmata ; Saffron ; ^ F. and G, Safran. Botanical Origin — Crocus sativus L., a small plant with a fleshy, bulb-like corm and grassy leaves, much resembling the common Spring Crocus of the gardens, but blossoming in the autumn. It has an elegant purple flower, with a large orange-red stigma, the three pendulous divisions of which are protruded beyond the perianth. The Saffron Crocus is supposed to be indigenous to Greece, Asia Minor, and perhaps Persia, but it has been so long under cultivation in the East that its primitive home is somewhat doubtful.^ ^ The produce of some previous operations, "* Chappellier has pointed out that in which 23 cwt. of orris were distilled, Crocus sativus L. is unknown in a wild afforded but little over one -tenth per cent. state, and that it hardly ever produces seed ■ ^ Consular Reports, Aug. 1873. 917. even though artificially fertilized ; and has ^ The word Saffron is derived from the argued from these facts that it is probably a Arabic Asfar, yellow. hybrid. — Bulletin de la Soc. hot. de France, XX. (1873) 191. 602 IBID ACE JS. History — Saffron, either as a medicine, condiment, perfume, or dye, has been highly prized by mankind from a remote period, and has played an important part in the history of commerce. Under the Hebrew name Carcom, which is supposed to be the root of the word Crocus, the plant is alluded to by Solomon ; ^ and as Kpo/co?, by Homer, Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Theocritus. Virgil and Columella mention the saffron of Mount Tmolus ; the latter also names that of Corycus in Cilicia, and of Sicily, both which localities are alluded to as celebrated for the drug by Dioscorides and Pliny. Saffron was an article of traffic on the Eed Sea in the first century ; and the author of the Periplus remarks that Kpo/co? is exported from Egypt to Southern Arabia, and from Barygaza in the gulf of Cambay.^ It was cultivated at Derbend and Ispahan in Persia, and in TransDxania in the 10th century,^ whence it is not improbable the plant was carried to China, for according to the Chinese it came thither from the country of the Mahommedans. Chinese writers have recorded that under the Yuen dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368), it became the custom to mix Sa-fa-lang (Saffron) with food.* There is evidence to show that saffron was a cultivated production of Spain ^ as early as a.d. 961; yet it is not so mentioned, but only as an eastern drug, by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville in the 7th century. As to France, Italy, and Germany, it is commonly said that the saffron crocus was introduced into these countries by the Crusaders. Porchaires, a Prench nobleman, is stated to have brought some bulbs to Avignon towards the end of the 14th century, and to have commenced the cultivation in the Comtat Venaissin, where it existed down to recent times. About the same time, the growing of saffron is said to have been introduced by the same person into the district of Gatinais, south of Paris.*^ At that period, saffron was one of the productions of Cyprus,'' with which island Prance was then, through the princes of Lusignan, particularly related. During the middle ages, the saffron cultivated at San Gemignano in Tuscany was an important article of exportation to Genoa.^ That of Aquila in the kingdom of Naples was also famous, and was still distinguished in price-lists at the beginning of the present century. The growing of saffron in Sicily which was noticed even by Columella, is carried on to the present day, but the quantity produced is insufficient even for home consumption.^ In Germany and Switzerland, where a more rigorous climate must have increased the ditficulties of cultivation, the production of saffron was an object of industry in many localities.-^^ The saffron crocus is said to have been introduced into England during the reign of Edward III, (a.d. 1327—1377).^^ Two centuries 1 Canticles, cli. iv. 14. '' De Mas I^atric, Hist, dc Vile de Chypre, '^ Lasseu, Indischo Alter tliimishundc, iii. iii. 498. (1857)52. ^ Bourquelot, Foires de la ' Champagne, 3 Istaclivi, UucJt, der Lander, iibersetzt Mem. de I'Acad. des iuscript. ct belles-lettres von Mordtmann, 87. 93. 124. 126 ; Edrisi, de I'lustitut, y. (1865) 286. Geographic, ti-ad. par Jaubert, 168. 192. ^ Inzcnga, in Annali di AgricoUura, Sici- ■' Bi'etsclincidei, Cki/iesc Botanical JForks, liana, i. (1851) 51, Foochow, 1870. 15. ^^ Tragus, Dc Stirpiium, etc. 1552. p. 763; '' Le Calendricr de Cordouc de Vannic Ochs, G'cm-Jiichte der Stadt %tnd Landschaft 961, Leyde, 1873. 33. 109. Basel, iii. (1819) 189. " Conrad et Waldmann, Traili da Safran " i\loraut, llist. and Anliq. of Essex, ii. da Odti'iiais, i'aris, 1846. " (1768) 545. „ CROCUS. 603 later, it appears tliat Englisli saffron was even exported to the Continent, for in a priced list of the spices sold by the apothecaries of the north of Erance, a.d. 1565-1570, mention is made of three sorts of saffron, of which " Safren cV EngleUrre " is the most valuable.^ In the beginning of the last century (1723-28), the cultivation of saffron was carried on in what is described by a contemporary writer - as — " all that large tract of ground that lies between Haffron Walden and Cambridge, in a circle of about 10 miles diameter." The same writer remarks that saffron was formerly grown in several other counties of England. The cultivation of the crocus about Saffron Walden, which was in full activity when ISTorden^ wrote in 1594, had ceased in 1768, and about Cambridge at nearly the same time.* Yet the culture must have lingered in a few localities, for in the. early part of the present century, a little English saffron was still brought every year from Cambridgeshire to London, and sold as a choice drug to those who were willing to pay a high price for it. Saifron was employed in ancient times to a far greater extent than at the present day. It entered into all sorts of medicines, both internal and external ; and it was in common use as a colouring and flavourino- ingredient of various dishes for the table. The drug, from its inevitable costliness, has been liable to sophistication from the earliest times. Both Dioscorides and Pliny refer to the frauds practised on it, the latter remarking — " aduUeratur nihil cegiie." During the middle ages, the severest enactments were not onlv made, but were actually carried into effect, | against those who were guilty of sophisticating saffron, or even of possessing the article in an adulterated state. Thus at Pisa in a.d. 1305, the fundacarii, or keepers of the public warehouses, were required by oath and heavy penalties to denounce the owners of any falsified saffron con- signed to their custody.^ The Pepperers of London about the same period were also held responsible to check dishonest tampering with saffron.^ In Erance, an edict of Henry II., of 18 March, 1550, recites the advantages derived from the cultivation of saffron in many parts of the kingdom, and enacts the confiscation and burning of the drug when falsified, and corporal punishment of offenders.^ The authorities in Germany were far more severe. A 8afransclicm (Saffron-inspection) was established at jSTuremberg in 1441, in which year 13 Sb. of saffron was publicly burnt at the Schonen Brunnen in that city. In 1444, Jobst Eindeker was burnt together with his adulterated saffron ! — And in 1456, Hans Kolbele, Lienhart Erey and a woman, implicated in falsifying saffron, were buried alive. The Safranschau was still in vigour as late as 1591 ; but new regulations 1 The other sorts are " Safren Cahdome " that at Fulbourn, a village near Canibrido'e said " Safren JVoort." — Archives ginerales (hi there had been no tithe of sa,ffron since Pas de Calais, quoted by Dorvault, Revtie 1774. pharmaceutique de 1858. p. 58. ^ Bonaiui, Statuti inediti della citta di 2 Douglass, Phil. Trans. Nov. 1728. 566. Pisa dal xii. al xiv. secolo, iii. (1857) 101. 2 Description of Essex, Camden Society, ® Riley, Memorials of London and London 1840. 8. Life in the 13th, lith, and 15th centuries, '^ Morant, op. cit. ; Lysous, Magim Bri- 1868. 120. to7!9ii«, vol. ii. pt. 1. (1808) 36. Lysons records "^ De la Mare, TraAte de la Police Paris iii. (1719) 428. 604 IRIDAGEM. for the inspection of saffron were passed in 1613> There was also in the same city a Oewurzschau, or Spice-inspection, from 1441 to 1797. Description — The flower of the saffron crocus has a style 3 to 4 inches long, which in its lower portion is colourless and included within the tube of the perianth. In its upper part it becomes yeUow, and divides into three tubular, filiform, orange-red stigmas, each about an inch in length. The stigmas expand towards their ends, and the tube of which they consist, is toothed at the edge and slit on its inner side. The stigma is the only part ofdcinal, and alone is rich in colouring matter. Commercial saffron {Hay Saffron of the druggists) is a loose mass of thread-like stigmas, which when unbroken are united in threes at the upper extremity of the yellow style. It is unctuous to the touch, tough and flexible ; of a deep orange-red, peculiar aromatic smell, and bitter and rather pungent taste. It is hygroscopic and not easily pulverized ; it loses by drying at 100° C. about 1 2 per cent, of moisture which it quickly reabsorbs.^ The colouring power of saffron is very remarkable : we have found that a single grain rubbed to fine powder with a little sugar, will impart a distinct tint of yellow to 700,000 grains (10 gallons) of water. Microscopic Structure — The tissue of the stigma consists of very thin, sinuous, closely-felted, thread-shaped cells, and small spiral vessels. The yellow colouring matter penetrates the whole, and is partly deposited in granules. The microscope likewise exhibits oil-drops, and small lumps probably of a solid fat. Large isolated pollen grains are also present. Chemical Composition — The splendid colouring matter of saffron has long been known as Pvlychroit ; but in 1851, Quadrat, who instituted some fresh researches on the drug, gave it the name of Crocioi, which was also adopted in 1858 by Eochleder.^ The experiments of AVeiss in 1867 * have shown : — 1. That this substance {Polycliroit, Crocin of Eochleder) is a peculiar glucoside which by the action of acids, splits into sugar, volatile oil and a new colouring matter. 2. That saffron contains only a minute quantity of ready-formed essential oil and sugar. 3. That this free essential oil is probably identical with that wliich is produced in the decomposition of polycliroit. 4. That polycliroit as hitherto prepared, has always contained a certain proportion of the new colouring matter produced by decom- position. For the natural glucoside, Weiss retains the name of Polycliroit, while the new colouring matter which results from its decomposition by an acid, he terms Crocin. It agrees with the Crocclin of Eochleder. Polychroit was prepared by Weiss in the following manner : saffron ^ J. F. Roth, Geschichic dcs NiirnhcrgiscJien Allen & HniiLurys, Plough Court, Lombard Ha-ndels, 1800-1802, iv. 221. Strwt.) ^ Eight lots of safFron weighing in toto •' Gnielin, Ckcmutrij, xvi. (1864) .507. 61 lb., dried at various times during the "' "Wiggers and Husemann, Jahresbericlit course of nine years, lost 7 lb. 2\ oz., 'i.e. for 1868. 35. 11 7 per cent. — (Laboratory records of Messrs. CROCUS. 605 was treated with ether, by which fat, wax, and essential oil were removed ; and it was then exhausted with water. From the aqueous solution, gummy matters and some inorganic salts were precipitated by strong alcohol. After the separation of these substances, polychroit was precipitated by addition of ether. Thus obtained, it is an orange-red, viscid, deliquescent substance, which, dried over sulphuric acid, becomes brittle and of a fine ruby colour. It has a sweetish taste but is devoid of odour, readily soluble in spirit of wine or water, and sparingly in absolute alcohol. By dilute acids, it is decomposed into Crocin, sugar, and an aromatic volatile oil having the smell of saffron. Weiss gives the following formula for this decomposition : — C48XI60O1S + H^O = 2(Ci^ff806^ _,_ c^oHi^O + C^Hi^O^ ■ polychroit crocin essential oil sngar Crocin is a red powder, insoluble in ether, easily soluble in alcohol, and precipitabie from this solution on addition of ether. It is only slightly soluble in water, but freely in an alkaline solution, from which an acid precipitates it in purple-red flocks. Strong sulphuric and nitric acids occasion the same colours as with polychroit ; the former producing deep blue, changing to violet .and brown, and the latter green, yellow, and finally brown. It is remarkable that hydrocarbons of the benzol class do not dissolve the colouring matter of saffron. The oil obtained by decomposing crocin is heavier than water ; it boils at about 209° C, and is easily altered, — even by water. It is probably identical with the volatile oil obtainable to the extent of one per cent, from the drug itself, and to which its odour is due. Saffron contains sugar (glucose ?), besides that obtained by the decom- position of polychroit. It leaves after incineration 5 to 6 per cent, of ash. Production and Commerce — In France, the flowers are collected at the end of September or in the beginning of October. The stigmas are quickly taken out, and immediately dried on sieves over a gentle fire, to which they are exposed for only half an hour. According to Dumesnil^ 7000 to 8000 flowers are required for yielding 500 grammes (17|- oz.) of fresh saffron, which by drying is reduced to 100 grammes. Notwithstanding the high price of saffron, its cultivation is by no means always profitable, from the many difficulties by which it is attended. Besides occasional injury from weather, the bulbs are often damaged by parasitic fungi as stated by Duhamel in 1728 ^ and again by Montague in 1848.^ The most considerable quantity of saffron is now produced in Lower Arragon, Murcia and La Mancha in Spain, and brought into commerce as Alicante and Valencia Sajfron. The quantity of safiron exported from Spain in 1864 was valued at £190,062 ; in 1865, £135,316 ; in 1866, £47,083. The drug was chiefly exported to France.* French saffron, which enjoys a better reputation for purity than the Spanish, is cultivated in the arrondissement of Pithiviers-en-Gatinais, in the department of the Loiret^ which district annually furnishes a 1 Bulletin da la Societe imperiale cVaccli- ^ Etude inicrograpMqtie de la maladie du mutation, Aviil, 1869. Safran, cojinu sous lenom de tacon. - Mem. de I'Acad. des Sciences, 1728. p. ^ Statistical Tables relating to Foreign 100. Countries (Blue Book), 1870. 286. 289. 606 miBACHM. quantity valued at 1,500,000 (£60,000) to 1,800,000 francs.i The culti- vation is carried on by small peasant-proprietors. In Austria, Maissau, north-east of Krems on the Danube, still produces excellent saffron though only to a very small extent; the district was formerly celebrated for the drug. Saffron is produced in considerable quantity in Ghayn, an elevated mountain region separating Western Afghanistan from Persia.^ A very little is collected at Pampur in Kashmir, under heavy imposts of the Maharaja.^ Saffron is also cultivated in some districts of China. Finally, the cultivation has been introduced into the United States, and a little saffron is collected by the German inhabitants of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.* But in almost all countries the cultivation of saffron is on the decline, and in very many districts has altogether ceased. The imports of saffron into the United Kingdom amounted in 1870 to 43,950 ft)., valued at £95,690. The article is largely exported to India, but there are no general statistics to show the amount. Bombay imported in the year 1872-73, 21,994 lb., value £35,115.5 Uses — Saffron is of no value for any medicinal effects, and retains a place in the pharmacopoeia solely on the ground of its utility as a colouring agent. A peculiar preference for it as a condiment exists in various countries, but especially in Austria, Germany and some districts of Switzerland. This predilection prevails even in England, — at least in Cornwall, where the use of saffron for colouring cakes is still common. Saffron is largely used by the natives of India in 'religious rites, in medicine and for the colouring and flavouring of food. As a dye-stuff saffron is no longer employed, at least in this country, its use having been superseded by less costly substances. Adulteration — Saffron is often adulterated, but the frauds prac- tised on it are not difficult of detection. Sometimes the falsification consists in the addition of florets of Calendula dyed with logwood, or of saffiower, or the stamens of the saffron crocus, any of which may be detected if a small pinch of the drug be dropped on the surface of warm water, when the peculiar form of the saffron stigma will at once become evident. Another adulteration of late much j^ractised, and not always easy to detect by the eye, consists in coating genuine saffron with carbonate of lime, previously tinged orange-red. If a few shreds of such saffron be placed on the surface of water in a wineglass and gently stirred, the water will immediately become turbid, and the carbonate of lime will detach itself as a white powder and subside. Saffron thus adulterated will freely effervcsee when dilute hydrochloric acid is dropped upon it. We have examined Alicante Saffron the weight of which had been increased more than 20 per cent, by this fraudulent admixture. The earthy matter employed in sophisticating saffron is said to be sometimes emery powder, rendered adherent by lioney. We have found that adul- terated with carbonate of lime to leave from 12 to 28 per cent, of ash. ^ Dmnesnil, 1. c. * Proc. of iUc American Fharm. Assoc. - Bellow, From the Iiuliis to the Tirjris, 1866. 254. Lond. 1874. 304. ' Annual Statement of the Trade and =* rowell, Funjah Products, i. (1808) 449. Xavirjatiini of the Presidency of Bombay for 1872-73. pt. ii. 30. SmiEN ABEC/K GO 7 VMMM. SEMEN ARECiE. Nuccs Arccce vel Bctd ; Areca Nuis, Betel Nuts ; F. 8cmence ou Noix d'Arec ; G. AreJcanilsse, Betelnusse. Botanical Origin — Areca Catechu L., a most elegant palm, witli a straight smooth trunk, 40 to 50 feet high and abont 20 inches in circum- ference. The inflorescence is arranged on a branching spadix, with the male flowers on its upper portion and the female near its base. The tree is cultivated in the Malayan Archipelago, the warmer parts of the Indian Peninsula, Ceylon, Indo-China and the Philippines. It is pro- bably indigenous to the first-named region. History — The Areca palm is mentioned in the Sanskrit writings as Guvdca. It is called in Chinese Pin-lang, a name apparently derived from Pinang, a designation for the tree in the Malay Islands, whence the Chinese anciently derived their supply of the seeds. The oldest Chinese work to mention the j:'m-Za%^, is the San-fu-liuang-tu, O: description of Chang-an, the capital of the Emperor Wu-ti, B.C. 140-86. It is there stated that after the conquest of Yunnan, B.C. Ill, some remarkable trees and plants of the south were taken to the capital, and among them more than 100 pin-lang, which were planted in the im23erial gardens. Bret- schneider/ to whose researches we are indebted for this information, cites several other Chinese works, from the first century downwards, showing that areca nuts were brought from the then unsubdued provinces of Southern China, the Malayan Archipelago and India. The custom of presenting areca nut to a guest, is alluded to in a work of the 4th century. The Arabian writers were well acquainted with the areca nut, which they called Fdfal, and with the Indian custom of masticating it with lime. Areca nut though held in great estimation among Asiatics as a masti- catory, and supposed to strengthen the gums, sweeten the breath and improve digestion, has not until recently been regarded as possessing any particular medicinal powers beyond those of a mild astringent. It has often been administered as a vermifuge to dogs, and in India and China is given with the same intent to the human subject. Some success- ful trials recently made of it for the expulsion of tapeworm, have led to it being included in the Additions to the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867, published in 1874. Description — The areca palm produces a smooth ovoid fruit, of the size of a small hen's egg, slightly pointed at its upper end, and crowned with the remains of the stigmas. Its exterior consists of a thick pericarp, at first fleshy, but when quite mature, composed of fine stringy fibres running lengthwise, with much coarser ones below them. This fibrous coat is consolidated into a thin crustaceous shell or endocarp, which surrounds the solitary seed. The latter has the shape of a very short rounded cone, scarcely an inch in height ; it is depressed at the centre of the base, and has frequently a tuft of fibres on one side of the depression, indicating its connexion with the pericarp. The testa, which seems to be partially adherent to the endocarp, is obscurely defined, and insepa- ^ On the study of Chinese botanical works, Foocliow, 1870. 27. 608 PALMJE. rable from tlie nucleus. Its surface is conspicuously marked with a net- work of veins, running cliiefly from the hilum. When a seed is split open, it is seen that these veins extend downwards into the white albumen, reaching almost to its centre, thus giving the seed a strong resemblance both in structure and appearance to a nutmeg. The emhryo, which is small and conical, is seated at the base of the seed. Areca nuts are dense and ponderous, and very difficult to break or cut. They have when freshly broken a weak cheesy odour, and taste slightly astringent. Microscopic Structure — The white horny albumen is made up of large thick-walled cells, loaded with an albuminoid matter, which on addition of iodine assumes a brown hue. The cell-walls display large pores, the structure of which, after boiling in caustic ley, becomes clearly evident in polarized light. The brown tissue which runs into the albu- men is of loose texture, and resembles the corresponding structure in a nutmeg. The thin walls of its cells are marked with fine spiral striations, and in this tissue, as well as on the brown surface of the seed, delicate spiral vessels are scattered. All the brown cells assume a rich red if moistened with caustic lye, and a dingy green with ferric chloride. Chemical Composition— We have exhausted the powder of the seeds, previously dried at 100° C, with ether ; iind thereby obtained a colourless solution, which after evaporation left an oily liquid, concretino- on cooling. This fatty matter, representing 14 per cent, of the seed, was thoroughly crystalline and melted at 39° C. By saponification, we obtained from it a crystalline fatty acid fusing at 41° C, which may consequently be a mixture of lauric and myristic acids. Some of the fatty matter was boiled with water : the water on evaporation afforded an extremely small trace of tannin but no crystals, which had catechin been present should have been left. The powdered seeds which had been treated with ether, were then exhausted by cold spirit of wine ('832), which afforded 14* 7 7 per cent, (reckoned on the original seeds) of a red amorphous tannic matter, which after drying, proved to be but little soluble in water, whether cold or boiling. Submitted to destructive distillation, it afforded Pyrocatcchin. Its aqueous solution is not altered by ferrous sulphate, unless an alkali is added, when it assumes a violet hue, with separation of a copious dark purplish precipitate. On addition of a ferric salt in minute quan- tity to the aqueous solution of the tannic matter, a fine green tint is produced, quickly turning brown by a further addition of the test, and violet by an alkali. An abundant dark precipitate is also formed. The seeds having been exhausted by both ether and spirit of wine, were treated with water, which removed from them chiefly mucilage precipitable by alcohol. The alcohol thus used afforded on filtration, traces of an acid, the examination of which was not pursued. After exhaustion with ether, spirit of wine and water, a dark brown solution is got by digesting the residue in ammonia : from this solution, an acid throws down an abundant brown precipitate, not soluble even in boiling alcohol. We have not been able to obtain crystals from an aqueous decoction of the seeds, nor by exhausting them directly with boiling spirit of wine. We have come therefore to the conclusion that Catechin (p. 215) is not a constituent of areca nuts, and that any extract made from them must be essentially different to the Catcclno of Acacia or of SANGUIS DRAGON IS. 609 NaucUa, and rather to be considered a kind of tannic matter of the nature of Ratmihia-red or Cincliona-rcd. By incinerating the powdered seeds, 2'26 per cent, were obtained of a brown ash, which besides peroxide of iron, contained phosphate of magnesium. Commerce — Areca nuts are sold in India both in the husk (peri- carp) and without it, and the two sorts are enumerated in the Customs Eeturns under distinct heads. Their widespread consumption in the East gives rise to an enormous trade, of which some notion may be formed by a consideration of the few statistics bearing upon it which are accessible. Thus, Ceylon exported of areca nuts in the year 1871, 66,543 cwt, value £62,593 ; in 1872, 71,715 cwt., — the latter quantity entirely to India.^ The Madras Presidency largely trades in the same commodity,. In the year 1872-73, there were shipped thence to Bombay, 43,958 cwt.,. besides about two millions of the entire fruit.^ An extensive traffic in areca nuts is carried on at Singapore and especially in Sumatra. Uses — Powdered areca nut may be given for the expulsion of tape- worm in the dose of 4 to 6 drachms, taken in milk. The remedy should be administered to the patient after a fast of about twelve hours ; some recommend the previous exhibition of a purgative. It is said to be efficacious against hcmhricus as well as tcenia. The charcoal afforded by burning areca nuts in a close vessel is sold as a tooth powder ; but except greater density, it possesses no advantage over the charcoal from ordinary wood. As a masticatory, areca nut is chewed with a little lime and a leaf of the Betel Pepper, Piper Beth L. The nut for this purpose is used in a young and tender state, or is prepared by boiling in water ; it is some- times combined with aromatics, as camphor or cardamom. SANGUIS DRACONIS. Besina Draconis ; Dragon's Blood ; F. Sang-dragon ; G. Draclienhhd. Botanical Origin — Calamus Draco Willd, [Dcemonorops Draco Mart.) — This is one of the Eotang or Eattan Palms, remarkable for their very long flexible stems, which climb among the branches of trees by means of spines on the leafstalk. The species under notice, called in Malay Botang Jernang, grows in swampy forests of the Eesidency of Palembang and in the territory of Jambi, in Eastern Sumatra, and in Southern Borneo, which regions furnish the dragon's blood of com- merce. It is said to occur also in Penang and in various islands of the Sunda chain. History — The substance w^hich is mentioned by Dioscorides under the name of Kivvd/3apiS^. syphilitica H.B.K., with flowers in a raceme of imibels, discovered on the Cassiquiare 1 Kunth, Synopsis Plant, i. (1822) 278. — innor nerves being prominent and enclosing Smilax officinalis is a large, strong climber, an elliptic area. The llowers are in stalked attaining a height of 40 to 50 feet, with a umbels. A fine specimen of the plant is l)erfectly square stem armed with prickles gnnving (1874) in the Itoyal Gardens, Kew, at the angles. The leaves are often a foot but has not flowered. in length, of variable form, being triangular, - "We owe them to the kindness of H. J. ovate-oblong, or ol)long-lanceoiate, either Kcmble, Esq., who procured them with gradually naiTowing towards the apex or specimens of the root, from the Government rounded and apiculate, and at the base either garden at Castleton. attenuated into the petiole, or truncate, or ^ Figured in Nees von Esenbeck's Planicc cordate. They are usually 5 -nerved, the 3 Mcdicinalcs, suppl. tab. 97. RADIX SARSAPARILLJE. G 4 1 in New Granada, and well figured by Berg and Schmidt from an authentic specimen, appears from Poppig's statements to yield some of the sarsaparilla shipped at Para. But Kunth states that Poppig's plant gathered near Ega, is not that of Humboldt and Bonpland. Spruce, who collected S. syphilitica (herb. JSTo. 3770) in descending the Pdo Negro in 1854, has informed us that the Indians in various places in the Amazon valley always strenuously asserted it to be a species worthless for " Salsa." S. 'papyracca, described by Poiret ^ in 1804, and figured by Martins ^ is but very imperfectly known. It has foliage resembling that of >S'. officinalis, but, judging from Spruce's specimens (No. 1871) collected on the Eio Negro, a multangular stem. It is probably the source of the Parct Sarsaparilla. S. cordato-ovata Eich. is a doubtful plant, perhaps identical with S. Sclwmburgkiana Knth., a Panama species. Poppig alleges that its root is mixed with that of the plant which he calls S. syphiliticct. S. PuThampuy Euiz, a Peruvian species, said to afford a valuable sort of sarsaparilla, is practically unknown, and is not admitted by Kunth.^ History — Monardes '^ has recorded that sarsaparilla was first intro- duced to Seville about the year 1545, from New Spain ; and a better variety soon afterwards from Honduras. He further narrates that a drug of excellent quality was subsequently imported from the province of Quito, that it was collected in the neighbourhood of Guayaquil, and was of a dark hue, and larger and thicker than that of Honduras. These statements are confirmed by the testimony of earlier writers. Thus, Joao Eodriguez de Castello Branco, commonly known as Amatus Lusitanus, a Portuguese physician of Jewish origin, who practised chiefly in Italy, has left a work (1556) recording his medical experiences and narrating cases of successful treatment.^ One of the latter concerns a patient suffering from acute rheumatism, for whom he finally prescribed Sarsaparilla. This drug, he explains, has of late years been brought from the newly found country of Peru, that it is in long whip-like roots, growing from the stock of a sort of bramble resembling a vine, that the Spaniards call it Zarza parrilla, and that it is an excellent medicine. About the same period, sarsaparilla was described by Auger Terrier,*^ a physician of Toulouse, who states that in the treatment of syphilis, which he calls Lues Hispianica, it is believed to be better than either China root or Lignum sanctum. Girolamo Cardano of Milan, in a little work called De radice Gina et Sarza Farilia judicium, expresses similar opinions. Turner in the third part of his Herlall, printed in 1568, mentions Salsaperilla, to which he says new writers ascribe the same virtues as to guaiacum. Pedro de Cieza de Leon, in his Chronicle of Peru,'^ which contains the ^ Lamarck, Encyclopedic metliodiqiie, Bot., qicatuor, Basilese, 1556. 365. vi. 1804. 468. ' ^ De Pudendagra lue Hispanica, lihri ^ Flor. Bras. i. (1842-71) tab. 1. duo, first piiblislied at Toulouse in 1553, and ^ It must not be supposed that all species many times repiriuted. We have consulted of Smilax are capable of furnishing the the Antwerp edition of 1564, with which drug. There are many, even South Ame- Cardano's work is printed. The latter is rican, whicli like the S. aspiera oi Europe, said to have first appeared in 1559. liave tliin, wiry roots, which would never "^ Parte pritnera dc Ice Chronica, del Pent,, pass for medicinal sarsaparilla. Sevilla, 1553. folio Ixix.^ — a translation for ^ Pages 18 and 88 of the work quoted at the Halcluyt Society in 1864, by Markham, p. 480, note 5. who observes that Cieza de Leon never him,- ^ Curationum mcdicinalitim ccnturice self visited Guayaquil. T T 642 SMILACHja. observations made by liim in South America between 1532 and 1550, gives a particular account of the sarsaparilla which grows in the province of Guayaquil and the adjacent island of Puna, and recommends the sudorific treatment of syphilis, exactly as pursued at the present time. Gerarde,^ who wrote about the close of the century, states that the sarsaparilla of Peru is imported into England in abundance. Collection of the root — Mr. Eichard Spruce, the enterprising botani- cal explorer of the Amazon valley, has communicated to us the follow- ing particulars on this subject, which we give in his own graphic words : — " "When I was at Santarem on the Amazon in 1849-50, where consi- 'derable quantities of sarsaparilla are brought in from the upper regions of the river Tapajoz, and again when on the Upper Eio Negro and Uaup^s in 1851—53, I often interrogated the traders about their criteria of the good kinds of sarsaparilla. Some of them had bought their stock of Indians of the forest, and had themselves no certain test of its genuine- ness or of its excellence, beyond the size of the roots, the thickest fetching the best price at Para. Those who had gathered sarsaparilla for them- selves, were guided by the following characters : — 1. Many stems from a a-oot. 2. Prickles closely set. 3. Leaves thin. — The first character was (to them) alone essential, for in the species of Smilax that have solitary stems, or not more than two or three, the roots are so few as not to be worth grubbing up ; whereas the multicaul species have numerous long roots, — three at least to each stem, — extending horizontally on all sides. " In 1851, when I was at the falls of the Ptio Negro, which are crossed by the equator, nine men started from the village of St. Gabriel to gather Salsa, as they called it, at the head of the river Cauaburis. During their absence I made the acquaintance of an old Indian, who told me that four years ago he had brought stools of Salsa from the Cauaburis and had planted them in a tahocdl, — a clump of bamboos, indicating the site of an ancient Indian village, — on the other side of the falls, whither he invited me to go and witness the gathering of his first crop of roots. On the 23rd March, I visited the tahocdl, and found some half-dozen plants of a Smilax with very prickly stems, but no flowers or fruit. At my request the Indian operated on the finest plant first. It had five stems from the crown, and numerous roots about 9 feet long, radiating hori- zontally on all sides. The thin covering of earth was first scraped away from the roots by hand, aided by a pointed stick ; and had the salsa been the only plant occupying the ground, the task would have been easy. But the roots of the salsa were often clifficult to trace among those of bamboo and other plants, which had to be cut through with a knife whenever they came in the way. The roots being at length all laid bare — (in this case it was the work of half a day, but with large plants it sometimes takes up a whole day or even more) — they were cut off near the crown, a few slender ones being allowed to remain, to aid the plant in renewing its growth. The stems also were shortened down to near the ground, and a little earth and dead leaves heaped over the crown, which would soon shoot out new stems. " The yield of this plant, of four years' growth, was 16 lb. — half a Portuguese arroha — of roots ; but a well-grown plant will afford at the first cutting from one to two arrobas. In a couple of years, a plant may be cut again, but the yield will be much smaller and the roots more slender and less starchy." ^ Ucrhall, enlarged Ly Johusou, 1636. 859. ] RADIX SARSAPARILLM 643 General Description — The medicinal species oi Smilax have a thick, short, knotty rhizome, called by the druggists chumj), from which grow- in a horizontal direction, long fleshy roots, from about the thickness of a quill to that of the little finger. These roots are mostly simple, forked only towards their extremities, beset with thread-like branching rootlets of nearly uniform size, which however are not emitted to any great extent from the more slender part of the root near the stock. When fresh, the root is plump,^ but as found in commerce in the dried state, it is more or less furrowed longitudinally, at least in the vicinity of the rhizome. When examined with a good lens, both roots and rootlets may be seen in some specimens to be clothed with short velvety or shaggy hairs. The presence or absence in greater or less abundance, of starch in the bark of the root, is regarded as an important criterion in estimating the good quality of sarsaparilla. In England, the non-amylaceous or non- mealy roots are preferred, they alone being suitable for the manufacture of the dark fluid-extract that is valued by the public. On the Continent, and especially in Italy, sarsaparilla which when cut exhibits a thick bark, pure white within, is the esteemed kind. The more or less plentiful occurrence of starch in the roots of Smilctx is a character which has no great botanical significance, and appears, indeed, to vary in the same species. If one examines Jamaica sarsapa- rilla by shaving off a little of the bark, one finds the large majority of roots to be non-amylaceous in their entire length ; but others can be picked out which, though non-amylaceous for some distance from the rhizome, acquire a starchy bark, which is loliite internally in their middle and lower portions ; — and there are still others which are slightly starchy even as they start from the parent rhizome, becoming still more so as they advance. In Guatemala sarsaparilla, which is considered a very mealy sort, it is easy to perceive that the bark is hardly amylaceous in the vicinity of the rhizome, but that it acquires an enormous deposit of fecula as it proceeds in its growth. Sarsaparilla varies greatly in the abundance of rootlets, technically called heard, with which the roots are clothed. This character depends partly on natural circumstances, and partly on the practice of the col- lectors who remove or retain the rootlets at will. Dr. Ehys of Belize has stated that the proportion of rootlets depends much on the nature of the soil, their development being most favoured by moist situations. Dry sarsaparilla has not much smell, yet when large quantities are boiled, or when a decoction is evaporated, a peculiar and very perceptible odour is emitted. The taste of the root is earthy and not well marked, and even a decoction has no very distinctive flavour. Microscopic Structure — On a transverse section of the root, its fibro-vascular bundles are seen to be restricted to the central part, being all enclosed by a brown ring. Within this ring, the bundles are densely packed so as to form a ligneous zone. The very centre of the section consists of white medullary tissue, through which sometimes a certain number of fibro-vascular bundles are scattered. A similar medullary parenchyme is met with between the brown ring or nucleus sheath and the epidermis. On a longitudinal section, the latter exhibits several rows ^ We have been kindly permitted to exa- Kew ; and have found that it agrees in ap- mine the fresh root of the large plant of pearance and in structure with Jamaica sar- Smilax officinalis in the Eoyal Gardens, saparilla. T T 2 ,644 ' SMILACEjE. of elongated cells, having their outer brown walls thickened by secondary deposits. The brown nucleus sheath, on the other hand, consists of only one row of prismatic cells, their inner and lateral walls alone having secondary deposits. The vascular bundles contain large scalariforni vessels and lignified prosenchymatous cells. The parenchymatous cells, if not devoid of solid contents, are loaded with large compound starch granules ; some cells also exhibit bundles of acicular crystals of calcium oxalate. In non-mealy sarsaparilla, the vessels and ligneous cells sometimes contain a yellow resin. The various sorts of sarsaparilla differ, not only in being mealy or non-mealy, but also as regards the thickness of the ligneous zone, which in some of them is many times thinner than the diameter of the central medullary tissue. In other kinds, this diameter is very much smaller. Yet the nucleus sheath affords still better means for distinguishing the sorts of this drug, if we examine its single cells in a transverse section. The outline of such a cell may be of a square or somewhat rounded shape, or it may be more or less extended. In this case it may be extended in the direction of a radius, or in the direction of a tangent. The secondary deposits may vary in thickness. Sorts of Sarsaparilla — In the present state of our knowledge, no botanical classification of the different kinds of sarsaparilla being pos- sible, we shall resort to the arrangement adopted by Pereira and place them in two groups, — the mealy or those of which starch is a prevalent constituent, and the non-mealy or those in which starch exists to a com- paratively small extent. (A). Mealy Sarsaixirillas. 1. Honduras Sarsaparilla — This drug is exported from Belize, It is made up in hanks or rolls, about 30 inches long and 2h to 4 inches or more in diameter, closely wound round with a long root so as to form a neat bundle. The hanks are united into bales by large pieces of hide, placed at top and bottom, and held together with thongs of the same, further strengthened with iron hoops. The roots are deeply furrowed, or sometimes plump and smooth, more or less provided with learcl or rootlets. In a very large proportion of tlieir length, they exhibit when cut, a thick bark loaded witli starch ; yet in those parts which are near the rhizome, the bark is brown, resinous and non-amylaceous. They are of a pale brown, sometimes verging into orange. But the drug is subject to great variation, so that it is impos- sible to lay down absolutely distinctive characters. The annual imports into the United Kingdom of sarsaparilla from British Honduras during the five years ending with 1870, averaged about 52,000 lb. 2. Guatemala Sarsaparilla — This sort of sarsaparilla, which first appeared in commerce about 1852, resembles the Honduras kind in many of its characters and is packed in a simikar manner. But it has a more decided orange hue ; the roots as they start from the rhizome are lean, shrunken and but little starchy, but they become gradually stouter (-/„■ inch diam.) and acquire a thick bark wliich is internally very white and mealy. There is a tendency in the bark of tliis sarsaparilla to crack and split off, so that bare spaces showing the central woody column are not un frequent. RADIX SAliSATARlLL/R. 645 According to Beutloy,^ wlio exaniiiied specinieiis of the plant, this drug is derived from Smilax pcqiyracm ; Ave are not prepared to agree in this opinion. o. Brazilian, Para or Lisbon Sarsaparilla — Though formerly held in high esteem, Brazilian sarsaparilla is not now appreciated in England, and is rarely seen in the London market.^ It is packed in a very distinctive manner, the roots being tightly compressed into a cylin- drical bundle, 3 feet or more in length and about 6 inches in diameter, firmly held together by the flexible stem of a bignoniaceous plant, closely wound round them, the ends being neatly shaved off. (B). Noii-mcaly Sarsaparillas. 4. Jamaica Sarsaparilla — To the English druggist this is the most important variety ; it is that which appears to have the greatest claim to possess some medicinal activity, and it is the only sort admitted to the British Pharmacopceia. Although constantly called Jamaica Sarsapa- rilla, it is well known that it only bears the name of Jamaica through having been formerly shipped from Central America by way of that island.^ At the commencement of the last century, Jamaica was an emporium for sarsaparilla, great quantities of which, according to Sloane,^ were brought thither from Honduras, ISTew Spain and Peru. Its actual place of growth, according to De Warszewicz (1851), is the mountain range known as the Cordillera of Chiriqui, in that part of the isthmus of Panama adjoining the republic of Costa Eica : here the plant grows at an elevation of 4000 to 8000 feet above the level of the sea. The i'oot is brought by the natives to Boca del Toro on the Atlantic coast for shipment. The drug consists of roots, 6 feet or more in length, bent repeatedly so as to form bundles about 18 inches long, and 4 in diameter, which are secured by being twined round (but less trimly and closely than the Honduras sort) with a long root of the same drug. The rhizome is entirely absent, but the fibre or beard is preserved, and is reckoned a valuable portion of the drug. The roots are deeply furrowed, shrunken, and generally more slender than in the Honduras kind ; the bark when shaved off with a penknife is seen to be brown, hard and non-mealy throughout. Yet it is by no means uncommon to find roots which have a smooth bark rich in starch. In colour, Jamaica sarsaparilla varies from a pale earthy brown to a deeper more ferruginous hue, the latter tint being the most esteemed. The sarsaparilla referred to at p. 640 as grown in the island of Jamaica, •is a well-prepared drug, yet so pale in colour and so amylaceous, that it finds but little favour in the English market. There were exported of it from Jamaica in 1870, 1747 ft. ; in 1871, 1290 ft.^ 5. Mexican Sarsaparilla — The roots of this variety are not made into bundles, but are packed in straight lengths of about 3 feet into bales, ^ Pharm, Journ. xii. (1853) 470, with aiDjilied to the governor of Jamaica for pi-o- 'iigure. tection, which was accorded The protec- 2 "We noticed &Q rolls of it from Para, torate lasted until 1860, wnen Mosquitia offered for sale 15 Dec. 1853. — D. H. v.-as ceded to the government of Nicaragua. •^ The connexion between Jamaica and * Nat. Hist, of Jamaica, i. (1707), infro- Central America dates back from the time duction p. Ixxxvi. of Charles 11., during Avhose reign (1661-85), ^ Bhie BooJes — Island of Jamaica for 1 870 the king of the Mosquito Territorj^, a dis- and 1871. trict never conquered by the (Spaniards, 646 SMILACEjE. the chump and portions of an angular (but not square) thorny stem being frequently retained. The roots are of a pale, dull brown, lean, shrivelled, and with but few fibres. When thick and large, they have a somewhat starchy bark, but when thin and near the rhizome, they are non- amylaceous. 6. Guayaquil Sarsaparilla — An esteemed kind of sarsaparilla has long been exported from Guayaquil (p. 641). Mr. Spruce has informed us that it is obtained in most of the valleys that debouch into the plain on the western side of the Equatorial Andes, but chiefly in the valley of Alausi, where in 1859, he saw plants of it at the junction of the small river Puma-cocha with the Yaguachi. The plant appears to be very productive, an instance being on record of as much as 75 tb. of fresh roots having been obtained from a single stock. ^ Guayaquil sarsaparilla differs considerably from the sorts previously noticed. It is rudely packed in large bales, and is not generally made into separate hanks. The rhizome (chump) and a portion of the stem are often present, the latter being round and not prickly. The root is dark, large and coarse-looking, with a good deal of fibre. The bark is furrowed, rather thick, and not mealy in the slenderer portions of the root which is near the rootstock ; but as the root becomes stout, so its bark becomes smoother, thicker and amylaceous, exhibiting when cut a fawn-coloured or pale yellow interior. The quantity exported from Guayaquil in 1871, was 1017 quintals, value £3814.2 Chemical Composition — Galileo Pallotta, about the year 1824, first succeeded in obtaining from sarsaparilla a peculiar principle, which he believed to be an alkaloid, and termed Pariglina, or as now written, Farillin. He exhausted the crude drug with boiling water and mixed the decoction with milk of lime, whereby a greyish precipitate was pro- duced. This was dried, and treated with hot alcohol which extracted the parillin. Pallotta says the substance slightly reddens litmus, but does not explicitly state whether he got it in crystals or not. It appears however to agree with the body which other chemists obtained crystal- lized, and which was called Saheioarin by Thubeuf in 1831, Parillinie Acid by Batka in 1833, and Smilacin by others. We have isolated parillin by exhausting Mexican sarsaparilla with boiling spirit of wine, and evaporating the tincture. The brown residue after repeated treatment with alcohol and charcoal, afforded crystals which we purified by re-crystallization from spirit of wine. We also got it from the knotty rhizomes. The process in this case was the following. The rhizomes coarsely powdered were exhausted by ^^'ater at a not higher temperature than 60° C, in order not to take up starch. The aqueous liquid was then evaporated to the consistence of a syrup, and mixed with twice its volume of spirit of wine, by which mucilaginous matter and salts were separated. From the filtered liquid, the alcohol Avas distilled off, and the remaining solution then deposited a crop of yellowish warty crystals of parillin, which were purified by repeated re-crystallization from dilute alcohol and the use of a little charcoal. 1 Journ. of Linn. Soc, Bot., iv. (1860) ' Vice-Cousul Sniitli on the commerce of -iQ,- ' Ecuiulor — Consulur Rrporta, presented to rarliament, July 1872. RADIX SARSAPARILLjE. 647 Parillin forms colourless acicular crystals, soluble in 1200 parts of water at 20° C, and much more abundantly in hot water. The solutions are neutral, and froth when shaken. Parillin at 25° C. requires 25 parts of alcohol, sp. gr. 0-814, for solution ; the latter is of a persistently acrid taste, and devoid of rotatory power. In warm concentrated sulphuric acid parillin turns reddish brown, and on addition of stannous cldoride assumes a fine violet hue. Parillin is insoluble in ether and nearly so in chloroform. Its hot aqueous solution is capable of separating a little cuprous- oxide from an alkaline solution of tartrate of copper ; if parillin is boiled for several days with dilute sulphuric acid, the liquid after having been duly neutralized, exhibits an increased reducing power ; we have not been able, however, to ascertain that in this process there is any formation of sugar. According to the researches of Klunge at present (1874) being carried on in the laboratory of one of us (R), the formula of parillin is nearly 0^^'R-^0^ + 2>B^0. At 100° C, the sub- stance loses SH^O. ' By boiling parillin with moderately dilute sulphuric acid (about 1-42 sp. gr.) or with concentrated hydrochloric acid, Klunge obtained brilliant scaly crystals of a body which we call Parigenin. Its compo- sition appears nearly to answer to the formula, C^'^H^^O^+ffO. But parigenin is well marked as a distinct substance from parillin by the^ following characters : — it is less soluble in water ; it requires for solution 44 parts of alcohol, sp. gr, 0"814 ; its solutions do not froth, nor have they any acrid taste. With warm concentrated sulphuric acid, parigenin affords a yellow solution, which is not altered by stannous chloride, but displays a greenish fluorescence. Parigenin, unlike parillin, is freely soluble in ether or chloroform ; it is energetically acted upon by acetyl chloride, — not so parillin. We cannot regard the above formulae as ^^ltimately settled ; perhaps the formation of parigenin is due to or connected with the elimination of water. Parigenin may also be obtained directly by heating with concentrated sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, the syrupy solution, obtained in the process for making parillin. The presence in sarsaparilla of starch, resin, and calcium oxalate, as revealed by the microscope, has been already pointed out. Pereira ^ examined the essential oil, which is heavier than water and has the odour and taste of the drug ; 140 ft), of Jamaica sarsaparilla afforded of it only a few drops. The nature of the dark extractive matter which water removes from the root in abundance, and the proportion of which is considered by druggists a criterion of goodness, has not been studied. Commerce — The importation of sarsaparilla into the United King- dom in 1870 (later than which year we have no returns) amounted to 345,907 ft)., valued at £26,564. Uses — Sarsaparilla is regarded by many as a valuable alterative and tonic, but by others as possessing little if any remedial powers. It is still much employed, though by no means so extensively as a few years ago. The preparations most in use, are those obtained by a pro- longed iDoiling of the root in water. 1 Elements of Mat. Med. ii. (1850) 1168. 648 SMILACEM TUBER CHIN^. Eaclix China' ; China Root ; F. Squine ; G. Chinavjurzel. Botanical Origin — Smilax China L. {S. fcrox Wallich), a woody, thorny, climbing sliriib, native of Cliina and Japan, also of Eastern India, as Nepal, Khasia, Sikkini, and Assam, is commonly said to afford this drug. The chief authority for this statement is Kampfer, who figured the plant in his Amcenitates in 1712, and whose specimen is still pre- served in the British Museum. S. glahra Eoxb. and S. lancecefolia Eoxb., natives of India and Southern China, have tubers which, according to Roxburgh, cannot be distinguished from the China root of medicine, though the plants are perfectly distinct in appearance from B. China. Dr. Hance,^ of Whampoa, received a living specimen of China root, which proved to be that of 8. glabra. The three above-named species all grow in the island of Hongkong. History — The use of this drug as a remed}^ for syphilis was made known to the Portuguese at Goa by Chinese traders about A.D. 1535. Garcia d'Orta, who makes this statement, further narrates that so great was the reputation of the new drug, that the small quantities first brought to Malacca were sold at the rate of 10 crowns per ganta, a weight of 24 ounces. The reported good effects of China root on the Emperor Charles V. who was suffering from gout, acquired for the drug a great celebrity in Europe, and several works ^ were written in praise of its virtues. But though its powers were soon found to have been greatly over-rated, it still retained some reputation as a sudorific and alterative, and was much used at the end of the 17th century in the same way as sarsaparilla. It still retains a place in some modern pharmacopoeias. Description — The plant produces stout fibrous roots, here and there thickened into large tubers, which when dried become the drug China root. These tubers as found in the market, are of irregularly cylindrical form, usually a little flattened, sometimes producing short knobby branches. They are from about 4 to 6 or more inches in length, and 1 to 2 inches in thickness, covered with a rusty-coloured, rather shining bark, which in some specimens is smooth and in others more or less wrinkled. They have no distinct traces of rudimentary leaves, which however are perceptible on those of some allied species. Some still retain portions of the cord-like woody runners on which they grew ; the bases of a few roots can also be observed. The tubers mostly show marks of having been trimmed with a knife. China root is inodorous and almost insipid. A transverse section exhibits the interior as a dense granular substance of a pale fawn colour. Microscopic Structure — Tlie outermost cortical layer is made up of brown, thick-walled cells, tangentially extended. They enclose ^ Trimen's Juurn. of Bot. i. (1872) 102. Indian ones from Khasia, Assam, and — S. glabra and S. lancecefolia have been Nepal. fif^red by Seemann in his Botany of the ^ The earliest of which is by Andreas Herald, 1852-57, tabb. 99-100. *V. China YeaaVnis, EpLs/ola rationcm, modumqice pro- is well represented in the Kcw Herl)arium, pinandi raiUcis C'hymre decocti, quo 'iiwpcr where we have examined s])ccim(;ns from invictissimus Carolus V. imjierator usus est, Nagasaki, Hakodadi, and Yokoliama ; from Venet. 1546. Loochoo, Corea, I'ormosa, Ningpo ; and SACCIIARUM. 6' 4 9 numerous tufts of nccdlc-sliaped crystals of calcium oxalate, and reddish brown masses of resin. The bark is at once succeeded by the inner parenchyme Avhich contrasts strongly with it, consisting of large, thin- walled, porous cells which are completely gorged with starch, but here and there contain colouring matter and bundles of crystals. The starch granules are large (up to 50 mkm.), sj)herical, often flattened and angular from mutual pressure. Like those of colchicum, they exhibit a radiate hilum : very frequently they have burst and run together, probably in consequence of the tubers having been scalded. The vascular bundles scattered through the parenchyme, contain usually two large scalariform or reticulated vessels, a string of delicate thin- walled parenchyme, and elegant wood-cells with distinct incrusting layers and linear pores. Chemical Composition — The drug is not known to contain any substance to which its supposed medicinal virtues can be referred. We have endeavoured to obtain from it Parillin, the crystalline principle of sarsaparilla, but without success. Commerce — China root is imported into Europe from the South of China — usually from Canton. The quantity shipped from that port in 1872, was only 384 peculs (51,200 lb.) ; while the same year there was shipped from Hankow, the great trading city of the Yangtsze, no less than 10,258 peculs (1,367,733 lb.), all to Chinese ports.' Uses — ISTotwithstanding the high opinion formerly entertained of the virtues of China root, it has in England fallen into complete disuse. In China and India, it is still held in great esteem for the relief of rheumatic and syphilitic complaints, and as an aphrodisiac and demulcent. Polak asserts that the tubers of Smilax are consumed as food by Turcomans and Mongols.'' Substitutes — Several American species of Smilax furnish a drug which at various times has been brought into commerce as Baclix CMnm occidentalis. Of the exact species it is difficult to speak with certainty : but S. Pseudo-China L. and ;S^. tamnoides L., growing in the United States from New Jersey southward ; >S'. Balhisiana Knth, a plant common in all the "West Indian Islands ; and S. Ja'picanga Griseb., >S'. syringoides Griseb. and S. Brasilicnsis Spreng., are reputed to afford large tuberous rhizomes which in their several localities, replace the China root of Asia, and are employed in a similar manner. GRAMINE^. SACCHARUM. Sugar, Cane Sugar, Sucrose ; F. Sucre, Sucre de caome ; G. Zucker, Bohrzucher. Botanical Origin — Saccharum officinarum L., the Sugar Cane. The jointed stem is from 6 to 12 feet high, solid, hard, dense, internally 1 Returns of TracU at the Treaty Ports in fuh-ling, — the second Fuh-lhig or Pe-fuli- C/ima /or 1872, pp. 34, 154. ^Kng.—Pharm. Journ. iii. (1862) 421; F. 2 "We quote this statement with reserve, Porter Smith, Mat. Med. and Nat. Hist, of knowing that both Chinese and Europeans China, 1871. 198 ; Dragendorff, Volks- sometimes confound China root with the mcdicin Turlcestans in Buchner's Pi,e])er- singular fungoid production termed Pac7i.t/?na tormm, xxii. (1873) 135. Cocas. The first is called in Chinese Tu- 650 • GB AMINES. juicy, and hollow only in tlie flowering tops. Several varieties are cul- tivated, as tlie Country Cane, the original form of the species ; the Ribbon Cane, with purple or yellow stripes along the stem ; the Bourbon or TaJiiti Cane, a more elongated, stronger, more hairy and very productive variety. Saccliarum violaceum Tussac, the Batavian Cane, is also con- sidered to be a variety ; but the large S. Chinense Eoxb. introduced from Canton in 1796 into the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta, may be a distinct species ; it has a long, slender, erect panicle, while that of S. offi.cinaruni is hairy and spreading, with the ramifications alternate and more com- pound, not to mention other differences in the leaves and flowers. The sugar cane is cultivated from cuttings, the small seeds very seldom ripening. It succeeds in almost all tropical and subtropical cou.ntries, reaching in South America and Mexico an elevation above the sea of 5000—6000 feet. It is cultivated in most parts of India and China up to 30—31° IST. lat., the mountainous regions excepted. From the elaborate investigations of Eitter,^ it appears that Saccha- rnm ojficinarum was originally a native of Bengal, and of the Indo- Chinese countries, as well as of Borneo, Java, Bali, Celebes, and other islands of the Malay Archipelago. But there is no evidence that it is now found anywhere in a wild state. History — The sugar cane was doubtless known in India from time immemorial, and grown for food as it still is at the present day, chiefly in those regions which are unsuited for the manufacture of sugar.^ Herodotus, Theophrastus, Seneca, Strabo, and other early writers had some knowledge of raw sugar, which they speak of as the Honey of Canes or Honey made by human hands, not that of bees ; but it was not until the commencement of the Christian era, that the ancients mani- fested an undoubted acquaintance with sugar, under the name of Sac- charon. Thus Dioscorides ^ about a.d. 77, mentions the concreted honey called "S^aKxctpov found upon canes (eVt rwv Ka\d/j.oov) in India and Arabia Felix, and Avhich in substance and brittleness resembles salt. 'Plinj evidently knew the same thing under the name Saccharum ; and the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a.d. 54-68, states that honey from canes, called aaKyapi, is exported from Barygaza, in the Gulf of Cambay, to the ports of the Bed Sea, west of the Bromontwium Aroma- tum, that is to say to the coast opposite Aden. Whether at that period sugar was produced in Western India, or was brought thither from the Ganges, is a point still doubtful. Bengal is probably the country of the earliest manufacture of sugar; hence its names in all the languages of Western-Asiatic and European nations are derived from the Sanskrit Sharkard, signifying a substance in the shape of small grains or stones. It is strange that this word contains no allusion to the taste of the substance. Candy, as sugar in large crystals is called, is derived from the Arabic Kand or Kandat, a name of the same signification. An old Sanskrit ^ Erdhandc von Asicn, ix. "West-Asien, a distant country, lias been the subject of Berlin, 1840. pj). 230-291. much discussion. Some have supposed it to - The production which the Englislx be the sugar cane ; others, an aromatic grass translators of the Bible have rendered Sivcd (Andro2)ogon). In our opinion, there is more C'anr, and whicJi is alluded to l)y the reason to conclude that it was Cassia Bark. prophets Isaiah (ch. xliii. 24) and Jeremiah •* Lib. ii. c. 104. (eh. vi. 20) as a commodity imported from SACCHARUM. 651 name of Central Bengal is Gura, whence is derived the word Gula, meaning raio siigar, a term for sugar universally employed in the Malayan Archipelago, where on the other hand they have their own names for the sngar cane, although not for sugar. This fact again speaks in favour of Eitter's opinion, that the preparation of sugar in a dry crystalline state is due to the inhabitants of Bengal. Sugar under the name oi Shi-mi, i.e. Stonc-lioncy, is frequently mentioned in the ancient Chinese annals among the productions of India and Persia; and it is recorded that the Emperor Tai-tsung, A.D. 627-650, sent an envoy to the kingdom of Magadha in India, the modern Bahar, to learn the method of manufacturing sugar.^ The Chinese, in fact, acknowledge that the Indians between a.d. 766 and 780 were their first teachers in the art of refining sugar, for which they had no particular ancient written character. An Arabian writer, Abu Zayd al Hasan/ informs us that about A.D. 850, the sugar cane was growing on the north-eastern shore of the Persian Gulf ; and in the following century, the traveller Ali Istakhri ^ found sugar abundantly produced in the Persian province of Kuzistan, the ancient Susiana. About the same time (a.d, 950), Moses of Chorene, an Armenian, also stated that the manufacture of sugar was flourishing near the celebrated school of medicine at Jondisabur in the same province, and remains of this industry in the shape of millstones, &c. still exist near Ahwas. Persian physicians of the 10th and 11th centuries, as Ehazes, Haly Abbas, and Avicenna, introduced sugar into medicine. The Arabs cul- tivated the sugar cane in many of their Mediterranean settlements, as Cyprus, Sicily, Italy, Northern Africa and Spain. The Calendar of Cor- dova^ shows that as early as a.d. 961, the cultivation was well under- stood in Spain, which is now the only country in Europe where sugar mills stOl exist.^ WiUiam II., King of Sicily, presented in a.d. 1176 to the convent of Monreale, mills for grinding cane, the culture of which still lingers at Avola near Syracuse, though only for the sake of making rum. In 1767, the sugar plantations and sugar houses at this spot were described by a traveller *^ as " worth seeing." During the middle ages, England in common with the rest of ISTorthern Europe, was supplied with sugar from the Mediterranean countries, especially Egypt and Cyprus. It was imported from Alexandria as early as the end of the 10th century by the Venetians, with whom it long remained an important article of trade. Thus we find'^ that in a.d. 1319, a merchant of Venice, Tommaso Loredano, shipped to London 100,000 lb. of sugar, the proceeds of which were to be returned in wool, which at that period constituted the great wealth of England. Sugar was then very dear: thus from 1259 to 1350, the average price in Eng- land was about Is. per ft)., and from 1351 to 1400, Is. 7c?.^ In France during the same period, it must have been largely obtainable, though doubtless expensive. King John II. ordered in 1353, that the apothe- ^ Bretscliii eider, Chinese JBotanical Works, ^ There are several in the neighbourhood 1870. 46. of Malaga. 2 Pdtter, I.e. 286. ^ Eiedesel, Travels througJi Sicily, Lend. 3 Buck cler Lander, translated by Mordt- 1773. 67. mann, Hamburg, 1845. 57. '' Marin, Commercio de! Veneziani, v. 306. ■i Le Calendrier de Cordoue de I'annee ^ Kogers, Hist, of AgricitUure and Prices 961, par R. Dozy, Leyde, 1873. 25. 41. 91. in England, i. (1866) 633. 641, ()52 QRAMINEjE. caries of Paris should not use honey in making those confections whicli ought to be prepared with the good white sugar called cafetin?- The importance of the sugar manufacture in the East was witnessed in the latter half of the 13th century by Marco Polo f and in 1510 by Barbosa and other European travellers ; and the trading nations of Europe rapidly spread the cultivation of the cane over all the countries, of which the climp.te was suitable. Thus, its introduction into Madeira goes back as far as a.d. 1420 ; it reached St. Domingo in 1494,^ the Canary Islands in 1503, Brazil in the beginning of the 16th century, Mexico about 1520, Guiana about 1600, Guadaloupein 1644, Martinique in 1650,^ Mauritius towards 1750, NataP and New South Wales'^ about 1852, while from a very early period, the sugar cane had been propagated from the Indian Archipelago over all the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The ancient cultivation in Egypt, probably never quite extinct, has been revived on an extensive scale by the present viceroy, Ismail Pasha. There were 13 sugar factories, making raw sugar, belonging to the Egyptian government at work in 1872, and about 100,000 acres of land- devoted to sugar cane. The export of sugar from Egypt in 1872, reached 2 millions of kantars or about 89,200 tons.'' The imperfection of organic chemistry previous to the middle of the 18th century, permitted no exact investigations into the chemical nature of sugar. Marggraf of Berlin^ proved in 1747, that sugar occurs in many vegetables, and succeeded in obtaining it in a pure crystallized state from the juice of beet-root. The enormous practical importance of this discovery did not escape him, and he caused serious attempts to be made for rendering it available, which were so far successful that the first manufactory of beet-sugar was established in 1796 by Achard at Kunern in Silesia. This new branch of industry ^ was greatly promoted by the prohibi- tive measures, whereby Napoleon excluded colonial sugar from almost the whole Continent ; and it is now carried forward upon such a scale that 640,000 to 680,000 tons of beetroot sugar are annually produced in Europe, the entire production of cane sugar being estimated at 1,260,000 to 1,413,000 tons.io Among the British colonies, Mauritius, British Guiana, Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica produce at present the largest quantity of sugar. Production — No crystals are found in the parenchyme of the cane, the sugar existing as an aqueous solution, chiefly within the cells of the centre of the stem. The transverse section of the cane exhibits numerous fibro-vascular bundles, scattered through the tissue, as in other monoco- tyledonous stems ; yet these bundles are most abundant to^^'ards the ^ Ordonnanccs dcs rois d.(i France, ii. " Consul Eogers, Report on l/ie 2'radc of (1729) 535. Cairo for 1872, prescnti'd to Parliament. ^ Yule, Booh of Scr Marco Polo, ii. (1871) ^ Exi^tricnccs chyrnlqacs faitcs dans If 79. 171. isO. &c. dessein de tircr un veritable Sucre dc divcrscs •' Letters of Christ. Columhus (Hakluyt plantcs qui croisscnt dans nos contries, par Sornety) 1870. 81-84. Mr. Marggraf, traduit du latiu — Hist, de ■' De CaudoUe, Georjr. hotanique, 83G. V Academic royale dcs Sciences ct belles ■' The value of the sugar exported from Icttres, annee 1747 (Berlin 1749) 79-90. Xatal in 1871 reached the astonishing " And also that of ?/i///t' iif/yf/-, -wliich was amount of £180,490. then much used on the Continent to adulte- ''' Yet owing to the gold discoveries, the ■rn/c cane sugar, propagation of the cane in Australia was '" Produce Markets Revicv:, March 28, litthi thouglit of until about 1860 or 1867, 1808. when small lots of sugar were made. SACCIURUM. ' 653 exterior, where they form a dense ring covered with a tliin epidermis, which is very hard by reason of the silica whicli is deposited in it.^ In the centre of tlie stem the vascular handles are few in number ; the parenchyme is far more abundant, and contains in its thin-walled cells an almost clear solution of sugar, with a few small starch granules and a little soluble albuminous matter. This last is met with in larger quantity in the cambial portion of the vascular bundles. Pectic principles are combined with the walls of the medullary cells, which however do not swell much in water (Wiesner). From these glances at the microscopical structure of the cane, the process to be followed for obtaining the largest possible quantity of sugar, becomes evident. This would consist in simply macerating thin slices of the cane in water, which would at once penetrate the paren- chyme loaded with sugar, without much attacking the fibro-vascular bundles containing more of albuminous than of saccharine matter. By this method, the epidermal layer of the cane would not become saturated with sugar, nor would it impede its extraction, — results which necessarily follow Avhen the cane is crushed and pressed.- The process hitherto generally practised in the colonies, — that of extracting the juice of the cane by crushing and pressing, — has been elaborately described and criticized by Dr. leery of Mauritius.^ In that island, the cane, six varieties of which are cultivated, is when mature, composed of Cellulose, 8 to 12 per cent.; Sugar, 18 to 21 ; Water includ- ing albuminous matter and salts, 67 to 73. Of the entire quantity of juice in the cane, from 70 to 84 per cent, is extracted for evaporation, and yields in a crystalline state about three-fifths of the sugar which the cane originally contained. This juice, called in French msou, has on an average the following composition : — Albuminous matters ... ... ... ... 0*03 Granular matter (starch ?) . . , ... ... ... 0 1 0 Mucilage containing nitrogen ... ... ... 0*22 Salts 0-29 Sugar 18-36 Water 81-00 100-00 The first two classes of substances render the juice turbid, and greatly promote its fermentation, but they easily separate by boiling, and the juice may then be kept a short time without undergoing change. In many colonies the yield is said to be far inferior to what it should be ; yet the juice is obtained in a state allowing of easier purification, when its extraction is not carried to the furthest limit. 1 Stems of American sugar cane, dried at means of cold water from the sliced and 100° C, yielded 4 per cent, of ash, nearly dried c&ne, seem to promise good results. — ■ half of which was silica. — Popp, in Wiggers' See a paper by Dr. H. S. Mitchell in Joiwn. JcchresbericU, 1870. 35. of Soc. of Arts, Oct. 23, 1868. 2 The plan of obtaining a syrup by mace- ^ Annales de Chimie et de Physique, v. rating the sliced fresh cane, has been tried (1865) 350-410. — See also, for Cuba, Alvaro in Guadaloupe, bi;t abandoned owing to Eej-noso, Ensayo sohre el cuUivo dc la cana some practical difRculties in exhausting the de Aziccar, Madrid, 1865. 359. — For Britislr cane, and in carrying on the evaporation of Guiana, Catal. of Contributions from Brit. the liquors with sufficient rapidity. Ex- Guiana to Paris ExMi. 1867. pp. xxxviii.- periments for extracting a pure syrup by xli. 654 ' GRAMINEM In beet root as well as in tlie sugar cane, cane sugar only was said to be present ; leery liowever lias proved that in the cane, some uncrystallizable (inverted) sugar is always present. Its quantity varies much, according to the places where the cane grows, and its age. The tops of quick- growing young canes yielded a vcsou containing 2*4 per cent, of uncrystal- lizable sugar; 3 "6 of cane sugar; and 94 of water. Moist and shady situations greatly promote the formation of the former kind of sugar, which also prevails in the tops, chiefly when immature. Hence that observer concludes that at first the uncrystallizable variety of sugar is formed, and subsequently transformed into cane sugar by the force of vegetation, and especially by the influence of light. Perfectly ripened' canes contain only y^ to -J^- of all their sugar, in the uncrystallizable state. Description and Chemical Composition — Cane sugar is the type of a numerous class of well-defined organic compounds, of frequent occurrence throughout the vegetable and animal kingdoms, or artificially obtained by decomposing certain other substances ; in the latter case however, glucose or some other sugar than cane sugar, is obtained. Cane sugar C^^H^^O^^ melts, without change of composition, at 160° C, several other kinds of sugar giving off water, with which they form crystallized compounds at the ordinary temperature. Cane sugar forms hard crystals of the oblique rhombic system, having a sp. gr. of 1'59. Two parts are dissolved by one part of cold water,^ and by much less at an elevated temperature ; a slight depression of the thermometer is observable in the former case. One part of sugar dis- solved in one of water, forms a liquid of sp. gr. 1-23 ; two of sugar in one of water, a liquid of sp. gr. 1-33. Sugar ];equires 65 parts of spirit of wine (sp. gr. 0'84) or 80 parts of anhydrous alcohol for solution ; ether does not act upon it. A ray of polarized light is deviated by an aqueous solution of cane sugar to the right, but by some other kinds of sugar to the left, as first shown by Biot. These optical powers are highly important, both in the practical estimation of solutions of sugar, and in scientific studies con- nected with sugar or saccharogenous substances. The optical as well as chemical properties of sugar are altered by many circumstances, as the action of dilute acids or alkalis, or by the influence of minute fungi. Yeast occasions sugar to undergo alcoholic fermentation. Other ferments set up an action by which butyric, lactic or propionic acid are jiroduced. Cane sugar is of a purer and sweeter taste than most other sugars. Though it does not alter litmus ])aper, yet with alkalis it forms com- pounds some of which are crystallizable. From an alkaline solution of tartrate of copper, cane sugar throws down no protoxide, unless after boiling. If sugar is kept a short time in a state of fusion at 160^ C, it is con^^erted into one equivalent of (Jrapc Svfjar and one of Lcvulosan ; the former can be either isolated by crystallization or destroyed by fer- mentation, the latter being incapable of crystallizing or of undergoing fermentation. Cane sugar which has been melted at 160° C, is deliquescent and readily soluble in anhydrous alcohol, and its rotatory power is diminished or entirely destroyed. It is no longer crystallizable, and its fusing point ^ It is commonly stated that three parts can be dissolved in one of cold water ; but this is not the fact. SACCHARUM. 655 has become reduced to about 93° C. Yet before undergoing these evident alterations, it assumes an amorphous condition if allowed to melt with a third of its weight of water, becoming always a little coloured by pyrogenous products. In the course of time however, this amorphous sugar loses its transparency and reassumes the crystalline form. Like sulphur and arsenious acid, it is capable of existing either in a crystallized or an amorphous state. If sugar is heated to about 190° C, water is evolved, and we obtain the dark brown products commonly called Garmnel or Burnt Sugar. They are of a peculiar sharp flavour, of a bitter taste, incapable of fer- menting and deliquescent. One of the constituents of caramel, Cara- mdane, C^^ff^O*', has been obtained by Gelis (1862) perfectly colourless. When the heat is augmented, the sugar at last suffers a decomposition resembling that which produces tar (see p. 561), its pyrogenous products being the same or very analogous to those of the dry distillation of wood. Varieties of Cane Sugar — The experiments of Marggraf referred to at p. 652, showed that cane sugar is by no means confined to the sugar cane ; and it is in fact extracted on an extensive scale from several other plants, of which the following deserve mention. Beet Root — The manufacture of cane sugar from the fleshy root of a cultivated variety of Beta inaritima L., is now largely carried on in Continental Europe and in America, and with admirable results. Of fresh beet root, 100 parts contain on an average 80 per cent, of water, 11 to 13 of cane sugar, and about 7 per cent, of pectic and albu- minous matters, cellulose and salts. Of the total amount of juice which the root contains, eight-ninths are extracted : and by the best process now in practice, 8 to 9 parts of sugar from every 100 parts of fresh root. The yield of crystalline sugar is still on the increase, owing to continual improvements in the mechanical and chemical parts of the process. Palm — Several species are of great utility for the production of the sugar called by Europeans Jaggery} This substance is obtained by the natives of India in the following manner : — The young growing spadix, or flowering shoot, of the palm is cut off near its apex ; and an earthen vessel is tied on to the stump to receive the juice that flows out. This vessel is emptied daily ; while to promote a continuous flow of sap, a thin slice is cut from the wounded end. The juice thus collected, if at once boiled down, yields the crude brown sugar known as jaggery. If allowed to ferment, it becomes the inebriating drink called Toddy or palm wine ; or it may be converted into vinegar. The spirit distilled from toddy is Arrack. Of the sugar-yielding palms of Asia, Phcenix silvestris Eoxb., which is supposed to be the wild form of the date palm, is one of the more important. The coco-nut palm, Cocos nucifera L. ; the magnificent Palmyra palm, Borassus fiahelliformis L. ; and the Bastard Sago, Caryota urens L., also furnish important quantities of sugar. In the Indian Archipelago, sugar is obtained from the sap of Arenga saccharifera Mart., which grows there in abundance as well as in the Philippines and the Indo-Chinese countries. It is also got from A%>a fruticans Thunb., a tree of the low coast regions, extensively cultivated in Tavoy. 1 A word of_ Sanskrit origin, corrupted from the Canarese, sliarkari. 656 GR AMINES. De Vry^ has advocated the manufacture of sugar from the palm as the most philosophical, seeing that its juice is a nearly pure aqueous solution of sugar : that as no mineral constituents are removed from the soil in this juice, the costly manuring, as well as the laborious and destructive processes required to eliminate the juice from such plants as the sugar cane and beet root, are avoided. And finally, that palms are perennial, and can many of them be cultivated on a soil unsuitable for any cereal. Maple — In America, considerable quantities of sugar identical with that of the cane, are obtained in the woods of the Northern United States and of Canada, by evaporating the juice of maples. The species chiefly employed are Acer saccharinum Wang., the Common Sugar Maple, and its variety (var. nigrum) the Black Sugar Maple. A. Pennsylvanicum L., A. Negundo L. {Negunclo aceroides Moench.) and^. dasycarpum Ehrh. are also used ; the sap of the last is said to be the least saccharine. As the juice of these trees yields not more than about 2 per cent, of sugar, it requires for its solidification a large expenditure of fuel. The manufacture of maple sugar can therefore be advantageously carried on only in countries remote from markets whence ordinary sugar can be procured, or in regions where fuel is extremely plentiful. In North America, it flourishes only between 40° and 43° N. lat. We are not aware of any estimate of the total production of maple sugar. The Census of Pennsylvania of 1870, gave the following figures as referring to its manufacture in that State : — 1850 1860 1870 2,326,525 K). 2,768,965 B. 1,545,917 Rj.^ Sorghum — Another plant of the same order as Saccharum, is Sorghum saccliaratum Pers. {Holcus saccharatus L.) a native of IsTorthern China,^ which has of late been much tried as a sugar-yielding plant both in Europe and North America ; yet without any great success, as the purification of the sugar is accomplished with peculiar difficulty. As in the sugar cane, there are in sorghum, crystallizable and uncrystal- lizable sugars, the former being at its maximum amount when the grain reaches maturity. The importance of the plant however, is rapidly increasing on account of the value of its leaves and grain, as food for horses and cattle, and of its stems which can be employed in the manu- facture of paper and of alcohol. Commerce — The value of the sugar imported into the United Kingdom is constantly increasing, as shown by the following figures : — 1868 1870 1872 Unrefined . . £13,339,758 £14,440,502 £18,044,898 Refined . . . £1,156,188 £2,744,366 £3,142,703 The quantity of Unrefined Sugar imported in 1872, was 13,776,696 cwt., of which about 3,000,000 cwt. were furnislied by the Spanisli West "India Islands, 2,700,000 cwt. by the British AYest India Islands, 1,800,000 cwt. by Brazil, 1,100,000 cwt. by Prance, and 960,000 cwt. by Mauritius. 1 Joiirn. dr. PlKtrrn. i. (1SG5) 270. — Sicavd, MonoftrapJiic dc la. Cannr a siicrr - Consul Kortri;^lit, in (Jonsnlar llcporls de la Chine, ditc kSoiglin-;i-sucrc, Jljirsoillo, presented to Parliaiiu'iit, .Tuly 1872. p. 988. 1856; Joulie, Journ. dc Pharm. i. (1865) ■Introduced into Europe in 1850, by M. 188. de Montigny, French Con.sul at Sliangliui. IIORDEUM BECORTICATUM. 657 Uses — Eefined sugar is employed in pharmacy for making syrups, electuaries and lozenges, and is useful not merely for the sake of covering the unpleasant taste of other drugs, but also on account of a preservative influence which it exerts over their active constituents. Muscovado or Eaw Sugar is not used in medicine. The dark uncrys- tallizable syrup, known in England as Molasses, Golden Syrup, and Treacle ^ and in foreign pharmacy as Syru]jus Hollandicus vel communis, which is formed in the preparation of pure sugar by the influence of heat, alkaline bodies, microscopic vegetation, and the oxygen of the air, is sometimes employed for making pill-masses. The treacle of colonial sugar alone is adapted for this purpose, that of beet root having a dis- agreeable taste, and containing from 19 to 21 per cent, of oxalate, tartrate and malate of potassium, and only 56 to 64 of sugar.^ The treacle of colonial sugar usually contains 5 to 7 per cent, of salts. HORDEUM DECORTICATUM. Hordeum 'perlatum, Fmctus vel Semen Hordei ; Pearl Barley ; F, Orge monde on 'perle ; G. Gerollte Gerste, Gerstegraupen. Botanical Origin — Hordeum disfichum L., — the Common or Long- eared Barley, is probably indigenous to western temperate Asia, but has been cultivated for ages throughout the northern hemisphere. In Sweden, its cultivation extends as far as 68° 38' JSF. lat. ; on the ISTorwegian coast up to the Altenfjord in 70° N. lat. ; even in Lapland, it succeeds as high as 900 to 1350 feet above the level of the sea. In several of the southern Swiss Alpine valleys, barley ripens at 5000 feet, and in the Himalaya at 11,000 feet. In the Equatorial Andes, where it is exten- sively grown, it thrives up to at least 11,000 feet above the sea. !N"o other cereal can be cultivated under so great a variety of climate. According to Bretschneider,^ barley is included among the five cereals which it is related in Chinese history were sowed by the Emperor Shen-nung, who reigned about 2700 B.C. ; but it is not one of the five sorts of grain which are used at the ceremony of ploughing and sowing as now annually performed by the emperors of China. Theophrastus was acquainted with several sorts of barley (Kpcdr]), and among them, with the six-rowed kind or hexasticlion, which is the species that is represented on the coins struck at Metapontum* in Lucania, between the 6th and 2nd centuries B.C. Strabo and Dioscorides in the 1st century allude to drinks made from barley, which according to Tacitus were even then familiar to the German tribes, as they are known to have been still earlier to the Greeks and Egyptians. Barley is mentioned in the Bible as a plant of cultivation in Egypt and Syria, and must have been, among the ancient Hebrews, an important ^ How the word Treacle came to be trans- ^ Landolt, Zeitschr. f. analyt. Clwm. vii. ferred from its application to an opiate (1868) 1-29. medicine to become a name for molassesy we ^ On OJiinese Botanical Works, &c., Foo- know not. In the description of sugar- chow, 1870. 7. 8. making given by Salmon in his English ^ Metapontum lay in the plain between Physician or Druggist's Shop opened, Lond. the rivers Bradano and Basento in the gulf 1693, treacle is never mentioned, but only of Taranto. " melussas." V U 658 OR AMINE JE. article of food, judging from the quantity allowed by Solomon to the servants of Hiram, king of Tyre (B.C. 1015). The tribute of barley paid to King Jotham by the Ammonites (b.c. 741) is also exactly recorded. The ancients were frequently in the practice of removing the hard inte- guments of barley by roasting it, and using the torrefied grain as food. Manufacture — For use in medicine and as food for the sick, barley is not employed in its crude state, but only when deprived more or less completely of its husk. The process by which this is effected, is carried on in mills constructed for the purpose, and consists essentially in passing the grain between horizontal millstones, placed so far apart as to rub off its integuments without crushing it. Barley partially deprived of its husk, is known as Scotch, hulled or Pot Barley. When by longer and closer grinding, the whole of the integuments have been removed, and the grain has become completely rounded, it is termed Fearl Barley. In the British Pharmacopoeia, it is this sort alone which is ordered to be used. Description — Pearl Barley is in subspherical or somewhat ovoid grains about 2 lines in diameter, of white farinaceous aspect, often partly yellowish from remains of the adhering husk, which is present on the surface, as well as in the deep longitudinal furrow with which each grain is indented. It has the farinaceous taste and odour which are common to most of the cereal grains. Microscopical Structure — The albumen which constitutes the main portion of the grain, is composed of large thin-walled parenchyme, the cells of which on transverse section, are seen to radiate from the furrow, and to be lengthened in that direction rather than longitudinally. In the vicinity of the furrow alone, the tissue^of the albumen is narrower. Its predominating large cells show a polygonal or oval outline, whilst the outer layer is built up of two, three or four rows of thick-walled, coherent, nearly cubic gluten-cells. This layer, about 70 mkm. thick, is coated with an extremely thin brown tegument, to which succeeds a layer about 30 mkm. thick, of densely packed, tabular, greyish or yellowish cells of very small size ; this proper coat of the fruit in the furrow, is of rather spongy appearance. In some varieties of barley, the fruit is constituted of the above tissues alone and the shell, but in most the paleee are likewise present. They consist chiefly of long fibrous, thick-walled cells, two or four rows deep, constituting a very hard layer. On transverse section, this layer forms a coherent envelope, about 35 mkm. thick; its ceUs when exa- mined in longitudinal section, show but a small lumen of peculiar undu- lated outline from secondary deposits. The o'luten-cells varying considerably in the different cereal grains, afford characters enough to distinguish them with certainty. In wheat, for instance, the gluten-cells are in a single row, in rice they form a double or single row, but its cells are transversely lengthened. The inner tissue of the albumen in barley is filled up with large irregularly lenticular, and with extremely small globular starch gi-anules, the first bein'"'- 20 to 35 mkm., the latter 1, 2 to 3 mkm. in diameter, with no considerable number of intermediate size. The concentric layers constituting the large granules, may be made conspicuous l)y moistening with chromic acid. The layer alluded to as being composed of rjluten-cclls, is loaded with HOBDEUM DECOBTICATUM. 659 extremely small granules of albuminous matters (gluten), which, on addition of iodine, are coloured intensely yellow. These granules, which considering barley as an article of food, are of prominent value, are not confined to the gluten-cells, but the neighbouring starch-cells also contain a small amount of them: and in the narrow zone of denser tissue projecting from the furrow into the albumen, protein principles are equally deposited, as shown by the yellow coloration which iodine produces. The gluten-cells, the menibrauG cmlryonnaire of Mege-Mouries, con- tain also, according to the researches on bread ^ made by this chemist (1856), Ccrealin, an albuminous principle soluble in water, which causes the transformation of starch into dextrin, sugar, and lactic acid. In the husks {epiderme, epicarpe and endocmpe) of wheat, Mege-Mouries found some volatile oil and a yellow extractive matter, to which, together with the cerealin, is due the acidity of bread made with the flour containing the bran. Chemical Composition — Barley has been submitted to careful analyses by many chemists, more especially by Lermer.^ The grains contain usually 13 to 15 per cent, of water; after drying, they yield to ether 3 per cent, of fat oil, with insignificant proportions of tannic and bitter principles, residing chiefly in the husks. Lermer further found in the whole grains, 63 per cent, of starch, 7 of cellulose, 6'6 of dextrin, 2'6 of nitrogen, a small amount of lactic acid, and 2*4 of ash. The analysis of Poggiale (1856) gave nearly the same composition, namely, water 15, oil 2-4, starch 60, cellulose 8 '8, albuminous principles 10-7, ash 2-6. The protein, or albuminous matter, consists of different principles, chiefly insoluble in cold water. The soluble portion is partly coagulated on boiling, partly retained in solution : 2-5 per cent, of nitrogen, as above, would answer to about 16 per cent, of albuminous matters. Their soluble part seems to be deposited in the starch-cells, next to the gluten- cells, which latter contain the insoluble portion. The ash according to Lermer, contains 29 per cent, of silicic acid, 32'6 of phosphoric acid, 22*7 of potash, and only 3*7 of lime. In the opinion of Salm-Horstmar, fluorine and lithia are indispensable con- stituents of barley. The fixed oil of barley, as proved in 1863 by Hanamann, is a com- pound of glycerin with either a mixture of palmitic and lauric acids, or less probably with a peculiar fatty acid. Beckmann's Hordeinic Acid obtained in 1855 by distilling barley with sulphuric acid, is probably lauric acid. Lintner (1868) has shown barley to contain also a little Cholestcrin (p. 678). Barley when malted loses 7 per cent. ; it then contains 10 to 12 per cent, of sugar, produced at the expense of the starch ; before malting, no sugar is to be found, but only dextrin. Uses — Barley as a medicine is unimportant. A decoction is some- times prescribed as a demulcent or as a diluent of active remedies. An aqueous extract of malt has been employed. 1 He actually examined lolieat, not barley ; ^ Wittstein, Vierteljaliresschr. filr prakf. we assume the chemical constitution of the PJiarm. xii. (1863) 4-23. two grains to he similar. u u 2 660 OR AMINES. OLEUM ANDROPOGONIS. Oleum Qraminis Inclici ; Indian Grass Oil. Botanical Origin — Among the numerous species of Andropogon^ •wliicli have foliage abounding in essential oil, the following furnish the fragrant Grass Oils of commerce : — 1. Andropogon Nardus L.," — a noble-looking plant, rising when in flower to a height of 6 or more feet, extensively cultivated in Ceylon and Singapore for the production of Citronella Oil. 2. A. citratus J)G.^ Lemon Grass, — a large coarse glaucous grass, known only in a cultivated state, and very rarely producing flowers. It is grown in Ceylon and Singapore for the sake of its essential oil, which is called Zem 071 Grass Oil, Oil of Verhena or Indian Melissa Oil; it is also commonly met with in gardens throughout India and is not unfre- quent in English hothouses. In Java it is called SireJi. 3. A. Scho&nanthus L.,^ a grass of Northern and Central India, having leaves rounded or slightly cordate at the base, yielding by distillation the oil known as Rusa Oil, Oil of Ginger Grass or of Geranium. History — The aromatic properties of certain species of Andropogon were well known to Eheede, Eumphius, and other early writers on Indian natural history ; and an oil distilled from the Sireh grass in Amboyna was known as a curiosity, as early as 1717.^ But it is only in very recent times that the volatile oils of these plants have become objects of commerce with Europe. Lemon grass oil is mentioned by Eoxburgh in 1820, as being distilled in the Moluccas ; and it was first imported into London about the year 1832. Citronella oil is of much more recent introduction. Ginger grass oil, called in Hindustani, Rusa lut tel, is stated by Waring ^ to have been first brought to notice by Dr. N. Maxwell in 1825, Production — Citronella and Lemon grass are cultivated about Galle and at Singapore, the same estate often producing both. The grasses are distilled separately, the essential oils being regarded as entirely dis- tinct, and having different market values. In Ceylon they are cut for distillation at any time of year, but mostly in December and January. On the Perseverance Estate at Gaylang, Singapore, belonging to Mr. John Fisher, an area of 950 acres is cultivated with aromatic grasses and. other plants, for the production of essential oils. The manulacture was tried on a small scale in 1865, and has been so successful that an aggre- gate of 200 lb. of various essential oils is now produced daily. These oils 1 Major-General Muiiro has at our request Lurgli, Flora InJica, i. (1S20) 278, quoad investigated the botanical characters ol' the observationes, sed nou quoad diagnosis, fragrant species of Andropogon, and cxa- * Veutcnat, Jardin dc Cds, 1803. tab. rained a numerous suite of s])e(;imeus in our 89 ; J. Martini Itoxb. Flor. Ind. i. (1820) possession. The synonyms in foot-notes are 280 ; A. ^mchnodcs Trinius, Sjjecies Gra- given upon his authority. 'inirnim, iii. (1836) tab. 327 ; A. Calamus '^ A. Martini Thwaites, Enum. Planlarutn aroTiialicuti l^oylc, Jlhistrations of Bot. of Zcylanioi nee aliorum. IIima,layan Mountains, 1839. tab. 97. ^41 2 A. a7ra•■ ("»'•- -_ - ,. 1813; A. Schcenanthus Wallich, Plant. ^ Pharmacopoeia of India, 1S6S. 465. ^^iji Asiat. rariores, iii. (1832) tab. 280 ; Kox- OLEUM ANDROPOGONIS. 661 are stated to be Citronella, Lemon Grass, I'atcliouly, Nutmeg, Mace, Pepper, and Oniam (p. 269) : and mint is now being cultivated.^ Ginger grass oil is distilled in the collectorate of Khandesh in the Bombay Presidency. That produced in the district of Nim;ir in the valley of the Nerbudda, is sometimes called Grass Oil of Nimdr. We have no particulars of the distillation, which however must be carried on extensively. Description — The Indian grass oils are lighter than water, devoid of rotatory power when examined by polarized light, and do not alter litmus paper. They are all extremely fragrant, having an odour like a mixture of lemon and rose. Lemon grass, which in colour is a deep golden brown, has an odour resembling that of the sweet-scented verbena of the gardens, Lippia citriodora H.B.K. Ginger grass oil, the colour of which varies from pale greenish yellow to yellowish-brown, has the odour of Pelargonium Radula Ait. The colour of citronella oil is a light greenish-yellow. The manufacture of Winter of Ceylon, and of Pisher of Singapore, have a reputation for excellence, and are generally indicated by name in drug sale catalogues. Chemical Composition — Stenhouse^ examined in 1844, oil of ginger grass given to him by Christison as Oil of Namur (or Nimdr). The sample was of deep yellow, and apparently old, for when mixed with water and subjected to distillation, it left nearly one-half its bulk of a fluid resin, the oil which passed over being colourless. After rectification from chloride of calcium, it was shown to consist of a hydrocarbon mixed with a small proportion of an oxygenated oil. The latter having been decomposed by sodium, and the oil again rectified, a second analysis was made which proved it isomeric with oil of turpentine. A genuine grass oil from Khandesh, derived as we suppose from the same species, -which was examined by one of us (P.), yielded nothing crystalline when saturated with dry hydrochloric acid ; but when the liquid was afterwards treated with fuming nitric acid, crystals of the compound, C^^^H^^, HCl, sublimed into the upper part of the vessel. We have observed that the oils both of lemon grass and citronella yield solid compounds, if shaken with a saturated solution of bisulphite of sodium. Citronella oil was found by Gladstone (1872) to be composed chiefly of an oxidized oil, which he called Gitronellol, and which he separated by fractional distillation into two portions, the one boiling at 202—205° C, the other at 199-202° 0. The sp. gr. of the first at 20° C. was 0-8749, of the second 0'8741. The composition of each portion is indicated by the formula, C^H^^O. Commerce — The growing trade in grass oil is exemplified in a striking manner by the following statistics. The export of Citronella Oil from Ceylon in 1864, was 622^000 ounces, valued at £8230. In the Ceylon Bhie Booh, published at Colombo last year, the exports for 1872 are returned thus : — To the United Kingdom . . . • . . 1,163,074 ounces British. India 5,713 ,, United States of North America . . . 426,470 ,, 1,595,257 ounces.^ 1 Strcdts Settlements Bhie Booh for 1872, ^ In addition to which, there were " 248 Singapore, 1873. 465. dozens and 33 ^j«c^a(7es " of the same oil 2 Mem. of Ghem. Soc. ii. (1845) 122, shipped to the United States. 662 GRAMINEM. Oil of Lemon Grass, whicli is a more costly article and less extensively produced, was exported from Ceylon during the same year to the extent of 13,515 ounces, more than half of which quantity was shipped to the United States. There are no analogous statistics for tliese two oils from Singapore, where, as stated at p. 660, they are now largely manufactured. By the official Beport on the External Commerce of Bomhay, published in 1867, we find that during the year ending 31 March, 1867, Grass Oil [i.e. Ginger-grass or Bijjsa oil'] was exported thence to the amount of 41,643 lb. This oil is shipped to England and to the ports of the Eed Sea. Uses — Grass oils are much esteemed in India as an external appli- cation in rheumatism. Eiisa oil is said to stimulate the growth of the hair. Internally, grass oil is sometimes administered as a carminative in colic ; and an infusion of the leaves of lemon grass is prescribed as a dia- phoretic and stimulant. In Europe and America, the oils are used almost exclusively by the soapmakers and perfumers,^ But the most remarkable use made of any grass oil, is that for Q.divl- teYEding Attar of Base in European Turkey. The oil thus employed is that of Andropogon Schcenanthus L. (see p. 237) ; and it is a curious fact that its Hindustani name is closely similar in sound to the word rose. Thus under the designation Busa, Roivsah, Bosa, Bos4, or Boshe,^ it is exported in large quantities from Bombay to the ports of Arabia, pro- bably chiefly to Jidda, whence it is carried to Turkey by the Mahom- medan pilgrims. In Arabia and Turkey, it appears under the name Iclris yciglii, while in the attar-producing districts of the Balkan it is known, at least to Europeans, as Geranium Oil or Balmarosa Oil. Before being mixed with attar, the oil is subjected to a certain prej)aration, which is accomplished by shaking it with water acidulated with lemon juice, and then exposing it to the sun and air. By this process recently described by Baur,^ the oil loses a penetrating after-smell, and acquires a pale straw colour. The optical and chemical differences between grass oil thus refined and attar of rose, are slight and do not indicate a small admixture of the former. If grass oil is added largely to attar, it will prevent its congealing. Adulteration — The grass oil prepared by the natives of India is not unfrequently contaminated with fatty oil. Other Products of the genus Andropogon. Herba Schoenanthi vel Squinanthi, Jnneus odoratus, Fomum Ca.melorum. The drug bearing these names has had a place in pharmacy from the days of Dioscorides down to the middle of the last century, and is stiU met with in the East. The plant which affords it, formerly confounded with other species is now known to be Androjoogon laniger Desf , a grass of wide distribution, growing in hot dry regions in Northern Africa (Algeria), Arabia, and North-western India, reaching Tibet, where ^ The foliage of the large odoriferous " 50 cases, containing about 22iJ0 lb., im- .species of Androj)0(jon is used in India for ported from Boniba)', Avere oli'ered as '\Ilose thatching. It is eaten voraciously by cattle, Oil" at public sale, by a London drugbroker, whose flesh and milk become flavoured with 31 July, 1873. its strong aroma. ^ See p. 235, note 1. RHIZOMA GRAMINIS. 663 it is found up to an elevation of 11,000 feet. Mr. Tolbort lias sent us specimens under the name of Khdvi, gathered by himself in 1800 between Multan and Kot Sultan, and quite agreeing with the drug of pharmacy. The grass has an aromatic pungent taste, which is retained in very old specimens. We are not aware that it is distilled for essential oil. Cuscus or Vetti-ver^ — This is the long fibrous root of Androjwfjon muricatus Eetz, a large grass found aljundantly in rich moist ground in Southern India and J3engal Inscriptions on copper-plates lately dis- covered in the district of Etawah, south-east of Agra, and dating from A.D. 1103 and 1174, record grants of villages to Brahmins by the kings of Kanauj, and enimierate the imposts that were to be levied. These include taxes on mines, salt pits and the trade in precious metals, also on mahwali (Bassia) and mango trees, and on Cuscus Grass} Cuscus, which appears occasionally in the London drug sales, is used in England for laying in drawers as a perfume. In India, it serves for making tatties or screens, which are placed in windows and doorways, and when wetted, diffuse an agreeable odour and coolness. It is also used for making ornamental baskets and many small articles, and has some reputation as a medicine. RHIZOMA GRAMINIS. Radix Graminis ; Couch Grass, Quitch Grass, Dog's Grass ; F. Chiendent' commun ou Petit Chiendent ; G. Quecheniourzel, Grasiourzel. Botanical Origin — Agropyrum repens P. Beauv. (Triticum repens L.), a widely diffused weed, growing in fields and waste places in all parts of Europe, in Northern Asia down to the region south of the Caspian, also in North America ; and in South America to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. History — The ancients were familiar with a grass termed "Aypcoo-ri'i and Gramen, having a creeping rootstock like that under notice. It is impossible to determine to what species the plant is referable, though it is probable that the grass Cynodon Dactylon Pers., as well as Agropyrum. repens, was included under these names. Dioscorides asserts that its root taken in the form of decoction, is a useful remedy in suppression of urine and vesical calculus. The same statements are made by Pliny ; and again occur in the writings of Ori- basius ^ and Marcellus Empiricus * in the 4th, and of Aetius ^ in the 6th century, and are repeated in the mediaeval herbals.^ Turner '' and Gerarde both ascribe to a decoction of grass root, diuretic and lithontriptic virtues. The drug is still a domestic remedy in great repute in France, being taken as a demulcent and sudorific in the form of tisane. Description — Couch-grass has a long, stiff, pale yellow^, smooth 1 Cuscus, otherwise -written Klius-lchus, a •' TetrabiLli primte, sermo i. name adopted by the English in India, is ® As in the Herliarius Patavice printed in probably from the Persian Khas. "Vefii-ver 1485, in which it is said of Gramen — " aqna is the Malyalim name of the plant. decoctionis ejus . . . valet contra dissnriam ^ Proc. of Asiat. Soc. of £e7igal, Aug. 1S73. . . . et frangit lapidem et curat vulnera 161. vesicfe et provocat urinam . . . ." ^ Be virtute simplicium, cap. i. (Agrostis). '' Herball, part 2, 1568. 13. ^ Be mcdicamentis, cap. xxvi. 664 ORAMINEJE. rhizome, yV of an inch in diameter, creeping close nnder the surface of the ground, occasionally branching, marked at intervals of about an inch by nodes, which bear slender branching roots and the remains of sheath- ing rudimentary leaves. As found in the shops, the rhizome is always free from rootlets, cut into short lengths of | to -^ of an inch, and dried. It is thus in the form of little, shining, straw-coloured, many-edged, tubular pieces, which are without odour, but have a slightly sweet taste. Microscopic Structure — A transverse section of this rhizome shows two different portions of tissue, separated by the so-called nucleus-sheath. The latter consists of an unbroken ring of prismatic cells, analogous to those occurring in sarsaparilla. In BMzoma Graminis, the outer part of the tissue exhibits a diffuse circle of about 20 liber bundles, and the interior part about the same number of fibro-vascular bundles more densely packed. The pith is reduced to a few rows of cells, the rhizome being always hollow, except at the nodes. No solid contents are to be met with in the tissue. Chemical Composition — The constituents of couch-grass include no substance to which medicinal powers can be ascribed. The juice of the rhizome afforded to H. Mliller ^ about 3 per cent, of sugar, and 7 to 8 per cent, of Triticin, C^^H^^O^^, a tasteless, amorphous, gummy sub- stance, easily transformed into sugar if its concentrated solution is kept for a short time at 110° C. "When treated with nitric acid, it yields oxalic acid. The rhizome affords also another gummy matter containing nitrogen, and quickly undergoing decomposition ; the drug moreover is somewhat rich in acid malates. Mannite is probably occasionally pre- sent as in taraxacum (p. 353), for such is the inference we draw from the opposite results obtained by Stenhouse and by Volcker. Starch, pectin and resin are wanting. The rhizome leaves 4| per cent, of ash. Uses — A decoction of the rhizome has of late been recommended in mucous discharge from the bladder. Substitutes — Agroijyrum acutum E. et S., A. 'j^ungcns E. et S., and A. junceum P. Beauv., by some botanists regarded as mere maritime varieties of A. reopens, have rootstocks perfectly similar to this latter. Cynodon Dactylun Pers., a grass very common in the South of Europe and Northern Africa, affords the Gros Gliiendent or Ghicnclcnt idicd-dc-xiouh of the French. It is a rhizome differing from that of couch-grass in being a little stouter. Under the microscope, it displays an entirely different structure, inasmuch as it contains a large number of much stronger fibro-vascular bundles, and a cellular tissue loaded with starch, and is therefore in appearance much more woody. It thus approximates to the rhizome of Carex arenaria L., wliich is as much used in Germany as that of Cynodon in Southern Euroi^e. The latter appears to contain Asiiaragin (the Cynodin of Semmola -), or a substance similar to it. 1 ^Irc/wt; c?cr P/t«rm. 203. (1873) 17. mola, Napoli, 1841. —Abstracted in the ■-* Delia C'mocZwia, nuovo prodotto oi'f^anico, Jahresbericht of Berzelius, Tubingen, 1845. ti-(ivato nella [gramigna olficinale, Cijnodon 535. JDactylon. — Operc minori di G-iovanni Sem- IL~CRYPTOGAMOUS or FLOWERLESS PLANTS. tXt^^tll^. LYCOPODIACEiE. LYCOPODIUM. Semen vel Spondee Lycopodii ; Lycopodium ; F. Lycopode • G. Bdrlappsamen, Hexenmehl. Botanical Origin — Lycopodium clavatum L. — This plant, the Com- mon Clubmoss, is almost cosmopolitan. It is found on hilly pastures and heaths throughout Central and Northern Europe from the Alps and Pyrenees to the Arctic regions, in the mountains of the east and centre of Spain, throughout Eussian Asia to Amurland and Japan, in North and South America, the Falkland Isles, Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. It occurs throughout Great Britain, but is most plentiful on the moors of the northern counties. The part of the plant employed in pharmacy, is the minute spores, which, as a yellow powder, are shaken out of the kidney-shaped capsules or sporangia, growing on the inner side of the bracts covering the fruit-spike. History — The Common Clubmoss was well known as Muscus ter- restris or Muscus clavatus, to the older botanists, as Tragus, Dodon^us, Tabernaemontanus, Bauhin, Parkinson and Eay, by most of whom its supposed virtues as a , herb have been commemorated. Though the powder (spores) was officinal in Germany, and used as an application to wounds in the middle of the 17th century,^ it does not appear to have been known in the English shops until a comparatively recent period. It is not included by Dale - in the list of drugs sold by London druggists in 1692, nor enumerated in English drug lists of the last century; and it never had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia. Description — Lycopodium is a fine, mobile, inodorous, tasteless powder of pale yellow hue, having at 1 6° C, a sp. gr. of 1-062. It floats on water and is wetted with difficulty, yet sinks in that fluid after ^ Schvodev, Pharinacopceia MecUco-chymica, - Pharmacol ogia, Lond. 1693. ed. 4, Lugd. 1656. 538. G66 LYCOPODIACEM boiling. By strong trituration it coheres, assumes a grey tint, and leaves an oily stain on paper ; it may then be mixed with water. It is imme- diately moistened by oily and alcoholic liquids, chloroform, or ether. It loses only 4 per cent, of moisture when dried at 100° C. When slowly heated, it burns away quietly, but when projected into flame, it ignites instantly and explosively, burning with much light, an effect exhibited by some other pulverulent bodies having a peculiar structure, as fern spores and kamala. Microscopic Structure — Under the microscope, lycopodium is seen to be composed of uniform cells or granules, 25 mkm. in diameter, each bounded by four faces, one of which (the base) is convex, while the others terminate in a triangular pyramid, the three furrowed edges of which do not reach quite to the base. These tetrahedral granules are marked by minute ridges, forming by their intersections, regular five- or six-sided meshes. At the points of intersection, small elevations are produced, which under a low magnifying power, give the granules a speckled appearance. Below this network, lies a yellow, coherent, thin, but compact membrane, which exhibits considerable power of resistance, not being ruptured either by boiling water or by potash lye. Oil of vitriol does not act upon it in the cold, even after several days ; but it instantly penetrates the grains and renders them transparent, while at the same time numerous drops of oil make their appearance and quickly exude. Chemical Composition — One of the most remarkable constituents of lycopodium spores is a fixed oil, which they contain to the astonishing amount of 47 per cent. Bucholz pointed out its existence in 1807, but obtained it only to the extent of 6 per cent. Yet if the spores are thoroughly comminuted by prolonged trituration with sand, and are then exhausted with chloroform or ether, we find that the large propor- tion above mentioned can be obtained. The oil is a bland liquid, which does not solidify even at - 15° C. By subjecting lycopodium or its extract to distillation with or without an alkali, Stenhouse obtained volatile bases, the presence of which we can fully confirm ; but they occur in exceedingly small pro- portion. The ash of lycopodium amounts to 4 per cent. ; it is not alkaline ; it contains alumina, and one per cent, of phosphoric acid, constituents likewise found in the green parts of the plant. Production and Commerce — To obtain lycopodium, the tops of the plant are cut as the spikes approach maturity, taken home, and the powder shaken out and separated by a sieve. It is collected chiefly in -July and August, in Paissia, Germany and Switzerland. The quantit}^ obtained varies greatly by reason of frequent failures in the growth of the plant. France imported in 1870, 7262 kilo. (10,017 ft).) of lycopodium, chiefly from Germany. The consumption in England is probably very much smaller, but there are no data to consult. Uses — Lycopodium is not now regarded as possessing any medicinal virtues, and is only used externally for dusting excoriated surfaces and for jjlacing in jnll boxes to prevent the mutual adhesion of pills. It is also employed by the pyrotechnist. I ItmZOMA FILTCTS. G67 Adulteration — Tlic spores are so peculiar in structure, that they can be distinguished with certainty by the microscope from all other substances. It is only the species of clubmoss that are nearly related to L. clavatwn,'^ that yield an analogous product, and this may be used with equal advantage. Starch and dextrin, which are sometimes fraudulently mixed with the spores, are easily recognized by the well-known tests. Inorganic admixtures, as gypsum or magnesia, may be detected by their sinking in bisulphide of carbon, whereas lycopodium rises to the surface ; or by incineration, a good commercial drug leaving about 4 per cent, of ash. The pollen of phsenogamous jDlants, as of Pinus silvestris, looks at first sight much like lycopodium, but its structure is totally different. FILICES. RHIZOMA FILICIS. Badix Filicis maris ; Male Fern Rhizome, Male Fern Boot ; !F. Racine de Fougere male ; G. Farnv)urzel. Botanical^ Origin — Aspidium Filix-mas Swartz {Polypodium L.) The male fern is one of the most widely distributed species. It occurs all over Europe from Sicily to Iceland, in Greenland, throughout Central and Eussian Asia to the Himalaya and Japan ; is found throughout China, and again in Java and the Sandwich Islands. In North America it is wanting in the Eastern United States, being principally replaced by the nearly allied Aspidium marginale Sw. and A. Ooldieaniim Hook. ; but it is met with in Canada, California and Mexico, as well as in N"ew Granada, Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru; and throughout Africa from Algeria to the Cape Colony and Mauritius. History — The use of the rhizome of ferns as a vermifuge, was known to the ancients,^ but was subsecj[uently nearly forgotten until revived by the introduction of certain secret remedies for tapeworm, of which powdered male fern rhizome, combined with drastic purgatives, was a chief constituent. A medicine of this kind was prepared by Daniel Mathieu, a native of Neuchatel, born in 1741, who established himself as an apothecary in Berlin. His treatment for the parasite was so successful that it attracted the notice of Frederick the Great, who purchased his nostrum for an annuity of 200 thalers (£30), besides conferring upon him the dignity of Aulic Councillor.^ Great celebrity was also gained for the method of treating tapeworm practised by Madame ISTuffler or Nuffer, the widow of a surgeon at Murten (Morat) in Switzerland, who in 1775 obtained for the secret from Louis XIV., after an inquiry by savans of the period, the sum of 18,000 livres. Her method of treatment consisted in the administration of — 1. Panada made of bread with a little butter. 2. A clyster of salt water and olive oil. 3. The " specifique " — simply powd^ered fern-root. 4. A purgative 1 Especially L. annotinum, L. compla- ^ Coruaz, Les families mkliccdes de la natmn, and L. inundatuon. villc de NeitcJidtel, 1864. 20. 2 Murray, Apparatus Medicaminum, v. (1790) 453-471. 668 FILICES. bolus of calomel, gamboge, scammony, and Gonfectio hyacinthidis, — given in the foregoing order. ^ Pescliier^ of Geneva recommended as a substitute for the bulky- powder of the root, an ethereal extract, an efficient preparation, which though proposed in 1825, was scarcely used in England until about 1851 ; at present it is the only form in which male fern is employed. Description — The fresh rhizome or caudex is short and massive, 2-3 inches in diameter, decumbent, or rising a few inches above the ground, and bearing on its summit a circular tuft of fronds, which in their lower part are thickly beset with brown chaffy scales. Below the growing fronds are the remains of those of previous seasons, which retain in their firm, fleshy bases, vitality and succulence for years after their upper portion has perished. From among these fleshy bases, spring the black, wiry, branching roots. The rhizome is rather fleshy, and easily cut with a knife, internally of a bright pale yellowish green ; it has very little odour and a sweetish astringent taste. Tor pharmaceutical use, it should be collected in the late autumn, winter or early spring, divested of the dead portions, split open, dried with a gentle heat, reduced to coarse powder, and at once exhausted with ether. Extract obtained in this way is more efficient than that which has been got from rhizome that has been kept some time. Microscopic Structure — On transverse section of the rootstock, the tissue, shows rounded, somewhat polyhedral cells with porous walls ; the outer cells are brown and rather smaller, but do not exhibit the regular flattened shape, usual in many suberous coats. Within this cortical layer, there is a circle of about 10 large vascular bundles, besides a large number of smaller ones scattered beyond the circle. The leaf-bases exhibit a somewhat different structure, their vascular bundles, usually 8, forming but one diffuse circle. The cells of the parenchyme contain starch, greenish or brownish granules of tannic matter, and drops of oil. In the green, vigorously vegetating parts of the rootstock there are numerous smaller and larger intercellular spaces, into which a few stalked glands project, as shown by Prof. Schacht of Bonn in 1863. These globular glands originate from the cells bordering the intercellular s]3aces. After their complete development, and the appearance of starch in the adjacent parenchyme, they exude a greenish fluid, which when thin slices of the rliizome are kept some time in glycerin, solidifies in acicular crystals.'^ Such glands appear to be wanting in most of the allied ferns, such as Asjndium Oreoptcris Sw. and Asplenium Filix-fcemina Bernh. They have been observed by one of us (F.), in the rhizome of ^. spinulosum Sw. Similar glands but not exuding a green liquid, occur between the palea; below the vegetating cone of the rootstock. Chemical Composition — Of the numerous examinations which have been made of this drug, those of Bock (1852), and of Luck (1800)^ ^ Traitcment contre le T&iiia ou ver soli- " Bibliothequn Universellc, xxx. (1825) 205; tcdre, jrraiiqui, a Moral en Suisse, examini xxx. (1826) 326. '■// cproxivi, a Paris. Public pear ordre du ^ The cliemical nature of this body ro- iioi, 1775. 4°, pp. 30. 3 plates, one rcpre- mains to be ascertained. The crjstals are senting the plant, its rhizome and leaves. — probably Filicic Acid, accompanied by Also English translation by Dr. Simmons, chlorophyll and essential oil. London, 1778. 8". RHIZOMA FILICIS. 669 may be especially mentioned. Besides the imiversally distributed con- stituents of plants, there have been found in the rhizome 5 to 6 per cent, of a green fatty oil, traces of volatile oil, resin, tannin (Luck's Tannaspidic and Pteritannic Acids) and crystallizable sugar, which according to Bock, is probably cane sugar. The medicinal ethereal extract, of which the rhizome yields about 8 per cent., deposits a colourless, granular, crystalline substance, noticed by Peschier as early as 182G, and subsequently designated by Luck, Filicic Acid. Grabowski (1867) assigned it the formula, C^^H^^O^ We learn from Prof. Buchheim that he regards filicic acid as the source of the medicinal efficacy of the drug. By fusion with potash, filicic acid is converted into phloroglucin and butyric acid. The green liquid por- tion of the extract consists mainly of a glyceride called Filixolin, from which Luck obtained by saponification two acids, the one volatile, Filos- mylic Acid, the other non-volatile, termed Filixolic Acid. Malin (1867) showed that the tannic acid of male fern may be decomposed by boiling dilute acids, into sugar and a red substance, Filix-red, C-'^H^^O"^^, analagous to Cinchona-red. Schoonbroodt ^ performed some interesting experiments with fresJi fern root, showing that it contains volatile ctcids of the fatty series, among which is probably formic ; but also a fixed acid, accompanied by an oil of disagreeable odour. The liquid distilled from the dried root did not evolve a similar odour, nor did it contain any acid body. A small quantity of essential oil was obtained by means of ether from the alcoholic extract of the fresh but not of the dried root- stock. The substance called Asjjidinc, regarded by Pavesi as the active con- stituent, seems to be essentially filicic acid. The rhizome of male fern yields 2 to 3 per cent, of ash, consisting mainly of phosphates, carbonates, and sulphates of calcium and potassium, together with silica. Uses — The ethereal extract has been prescribed for all kinds of intestinal worms ; but recent experience goes to prove that its effects are chiefly exhibited in cases of tapeworm. It is equally and thoroughly efficacious in the three kinds respectively termed Tc&nia solium, T. inedio-cannellcda and Botlirioccplmlus latus. Substitution — The rhizomes of AsjiiUniiLin Filix-foemina Bernh., Aspidiu7ii Oreopteris Sw., and A. spinulostcm Sw. may be mistaken for that of A. Filix-mas. The best means of distinguishing them is afforded by transverse sections of the leaf-bases. In Filix-mas, the section exhibits 8 vascular bundles, — in the other ferns named, only 2, — a difference easily ascertained by examination under a lens. 1 Journal cle Medecine cle Bruxelles, 1867 and 1868 — also Wittsteiu's Vierteljahres- sclirift fiir praht. Pharm. xviii. (1869) 106. G70 LICHENES. ftallosnt^. LICHENES. LICHEN ISLANDICUS. Iceland Moss ; F. Lichen on Mousse d'Islande ; Gr. Isldndisches Moos. Botanical Origin — Gctraria Islandica Achariiis/ — It is abundant in high northern latitudes, as Greenland, Spitzbergeu, Siberia, Scandi- navia and Iceland, where it grows even in the plains. It is found in the mountainous parts of Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain, in Switzerland and in the Southern Danubian countries. It also occurs in North America and in the Antarctic regions. ,_ History — In the North of Europe, this lichen has long been used under the general name of Mosi, Mossa ot Mus as an article of food. Ole Borrich, of Copenhagen (1671), called xtMuscus catharticus, under the notion that in early spring it possesses purgative properties.^ Its medicinal employment in pulmonary disorders was favourably spoken of by Hjarne in 1683,^ but it is only since 1757 that it has come into general use as a medicine, chiefly on the recommendation of Linnaeus and Scopoli. Description — The plant consists of an erect, foliaceous, branching thaUus, about 4 inches high, curled, channelled or rolled into tubes, terminating in spreading truncate, flattened lobes, the edges of which are fringed with short thick prominences. The thallus is smooth, grey, or of a light olive-brown; the under surface is paler and irregularly beset with depressed white spots. The apothecia (fruits), which are not very common, appear at the apices of the thallus, as rounded boss-like bodies, x% to y% of ^^ i^ch across, of a dark, rusty colour. The colour and mode of division of the thaUus vary greatly, so tliat many varieties of the plant have been distinguished. In the dry state, Iceland moss is light, harsh and springy ; it absorbs water in which it is placed, to the extent of a third of its weight, becoming soft and cartilaginous ; it ordinarily contains about 10 per cent, of hygroscopic water. It is inodorous, Init when wetted has a slight seaweed-like smell ; its taste is slightly bitter. ^ C'etruria from cclra, an ancieut shield of ■' Murray, Apparatus Medicaminum, v. hide, in allusion to the circular apothecia. (1790) 510. 2 Berlins, Materia Mcdica, Stockliolm, ii. (1778) 856. LICHEN ISLANDICUS. 671 Microscopic Structure — A transverse section exhibits when strongly magnified, a broad loose central layer of long, thick-walled branching cells or hyphcv, containing air, and enclosing wide hollow spaces. This middle layer encloses a certain number of larger cells called gonidia, coloured with chlorophyll. The gonidia are not destroyed either by strong sulphuric acid, or by boiling them with potash. They assume however a deep violet colour when treated with caustic potash and then left for 24 hours in a solution of iodine in potassium iodide. The tissue on either side of this central layer consists of very thickly felted hyphas, without intervening spaces, and does not appear to contain any particular substance. This compact and tenacious tissue passes into a thin cortical layer consisting of cells very closely bound together. Under the influence of reagents this layer becomes very evident : thus when moistened with strong sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, it separates from the rest of the tissue as a coherent membrane, and rolls itself backward. On boiling with water the inner tissue swells up, the cell- walls being partly dissolved. Thin slices of the lichen are coloured reddish or pale blue by iodine water, — more distinctly blue, if previously treated with sulphuric acid. The colour spreads uniformly over the inner tissue, but no starch granules can be detected ; the cortical layer is merely coloured brown by iodine. The white spots on the outer surface of the thallus are resolved by pressure under a plate of glass into minute round transparent granules, not coloured by iodine, and thick branched cells like those of the central layer. The short, thick prominences on the edge of the thallus, frequently terminate in one or more sac-like cavities {spermogonia) containing a large number of simple bar-shaped cells {spermatia), only 6 nikm. long ; they are enveloped in transparent mucus, and may be expelled by pressure under glass. It has been shown by Stahl (1874) that they repre- sent the fertilizing corpuscles of seaweeds of the class Floridece. The observations of De Bary (1866) and Schwendener (1867-70) confirmed and much extended by the researches of Bornet^ (1873-74), have shown that the gonidia of lichens are referable to some species of Alga, and are capable of an independent existence ; that the relations of the hyphse to the gonidia are of such a nature as to exclude the possibility of either of those bodies being produced by the other ; and further, that the theory of parasitism is the only one capable of explaining these relations in a satisfactory manner. Under this singular theory, lichens are compound organisms, formed of an alga, and of a fungus living upon it as a parasite. Chemical Composition — Boiling water extracts from Iceland moss, as much as 70 per cent, of the so-called Lichenin or Lichen- starch, a body which is perfectly devoid of structure. The decoction (1 : 20) gelatinizes on cooling, and assumes a reddish or bluish tint by solution of iodine. This property of lichenin is plainly seen, when the drug is first exhausted by boiling spirit of wine containing some carbonate of potassium ; and then boiled with 50 to 100 parts of water, and the decoc- tion precipitated by means of alcohol. The lichenin thus obtained in a purer state, must be deprived of alcohol by cautiously washing it with 1 Reclierches sur les gonidies des Lichens. — Ann. des Sciences nat. (Bot.) xvii. (1873) 45-110, 11 plates ; also xix. (1874) 314-320. 672 FUNOI. water. Powdered iodine will now immediately impart to it while still moist an intense blue. Its composition, C^'^H^'^Oio, agrees with that oi" starch and cellulose ; and it must be regarded as a modification of the latter, being likewise soluble in water and in ammoniacal solution of copper. Lichenin is not a kind of mucilage, because it yields but insignificant traces of mucic acid, if treated with concentrated nitric acid ; and also because it contains no inorganic constituents.^ The very trifling proportion of mucic acid it furnishes, may depend upon the presence, in small amount, of an independent mucilaginous body. The chlorophyll of the gonidia is not soluble in hydrochloric acid, and hence is distinguished by Knop and Schnedermann as Thallochlor ; its quantity is extremely small. The bitter principle of cetraria, called Cctraric Acid or Getrarin, QisjjieQS^ crystallizes in microscopic needles, is nearly insoluble in cold water, and forms with alkalis, yellow, easily soluble, bitter salts. The lichen also contains a little sugar, and about 1 per cent, of a peculiar body, Liclieno-stcaric Acid, C^^H^^O^, the crystals of which melt at 120" C. The Liclienic Acid found by Pfaff in 1826 in Iceland moss, and formerly regarded as a peculiar compound, has been proved identical with fumaric acid. In common with many lichens, cetraria contains Oxalic Acid and is said to yield also some tartaric acid. The ash which amounts to 1-2 per cent, consists to the extent of two-fifths, of silicic acid combined chiefly Avith potash and lime. Collection and Commerce — Iceland moss is collected in many districts where the plant abounds, at least for local use, as in Sweden, whence some is shipped to other countries. It is also gathered in Switzerland, especially on the mountains of the canton of Lucerne, and in Spain.- None is exported from Iceland. Uses — It is given in decoction as a mild tonic, combined with more active medicines. It is very little employed in Iceland, and only in seasons of scarcity, when it is sometimes ground and mixed with the flour used in making the grout or grain soup. Occasionally it is taken boiled in milk. It is not given, as has been asserted, to domestic animals. An interesting application of Iceland moss has recently been tried in Sweden. Sten-Stenberg treats it with sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, when 72 per cent, of grape sugar are formed, which may be con- verted into alcohol." FUNGI. SECALE CORNUTUM. Ergota * ; Ergot of Rye, Spurred Rye ; F. Seigle crgot6; G. Mutterhorn. Botanical Origin — Chtviceps jjurpurea Tulasne, a fungus of the order Fyrenoraycctcs, of which ergot is an immature form, it being the ' The vaiious mucilages and gimis yield ^ Dinglcr's Puhjtcchnisches Journal, 197 from 4 to 20 per cent, of ash, but pure (1870) 177 ; also Chcmisclics Gentralblatt, ichenin yields no7w. 1870. G07. - Cat. of Spaniah Froduclio/is, — London * From the French crr/ot, anciently argot, Exhibition, 1851. a cock's spur. SWALE COBNUTUM. 673 sderotium (termed in the British Pharmacopoeia comjjacf mycelium oi spawn) developed within the palere of luimerous plants of the order Graminem. Ergot is obtained almost exclusively from rye, Secede cereale L. ; Imt the same fungus is produced on grasses belonging to many other genera, as Agropymm, Alopeeurus, A'nimopldlct, Anthoxanthum, Arrhencttheram, Avena, Brctchypodium, Calamagrostis, Dactylis, Glyceria, Hordeiim, Lolium, Poa, and Tritiemn. Other organisms of diverse form, but of doubtful speciiic distinctness, are developed in Molinict, Oryza, Phragmites, and other grasses. In the order Cyperaceoi (e.g. Scirpus), peculiar ergots are known. History — Although it is hardly possible that so singular a production as ergot should be unnoticed in the writings of the classical authors, we believe no undoubted reference to it has been discovered.^ The earliest date under which we find ergot mentioned on account of its obstetric virtues, is towards the middle of the 16th century, by Adam Lonicer of Frankfort, who describes its appearance in the ears of rye, and adds that it is regarded by women to be of remarkable and certain efficacy.^ It is also very clearly described in the writings of Johannes Thalius (1588), who speaks of it as used, " ad sistenclum sangtoinem." ^ In the next century, it was noticed by Caspar Bauhin (1623), who termed it Seeale hixurians;^ and in 1693, by the English botanist Eay, with allusion to its medicinal properties.^ Eathlaw, a Dutch accoucheur, employed ergot in 1747. Thirty years later, Desgranges of Lyons prescribed it with ' success ; but its peculiar and important properties were hardly allowed until the commencement of the present century, when Dr. Stearns of New York succeeded in gaining for them fuller recognition.^ Ergot of rye was not however admitted into the London Pharmacopoeia until 1836.'' The use of flour containing a considerable proportion of ergot, gives rise to a very formidable disease, distinguished in modern medicine as Ergotism, but known in early times by a variety of names, as Morbus spasmodicus, convulsivus, mcdignus, epidemieus vel cerecdis, Raphania, Conmdsio rapliania ^ or Ignis sancti Antonii. Some of the malignant epidemics which visited Europe after seasons of rain and scarcity during the middle ages, have been referred with more or less of probability to ergot- disease.^ The chroniclers of the 6th and 8th centuries note the occurrence of maladies which may be suspected as due to ergotized grain. There is less of doubt regarding the epidemics that prevailed from the 10th century and were frequent in Erance, and in the 12th in Spain. In the year 1596, Hesse and the adjoining regions were ravaged by a frightful pestilence, which the Medical Eaculty of Marburg attributed to the presence of ergot in the cereals consumed by the population. The same disease appeared in 1 Consult Pliny's iVai.ZTMi. book 18. ch. 44 50s. per Bb., that is to say, from twelve to ^ Kreuterbtich, ed. 1582. 285 (not in the fifteen times its present value, edition of 1560). « pereira, Mem. of Mat. Med. ii. (1850) 3 Sylva Hercynia, Francof. 1588. 47. 1007. * Pinax Theatri Botanici, Basil. 1623. 23. ® Consult Haser, Lchrhuch der GescMcTiU ^ Hist. Plant, ii. (1693) 1241. der Medicin und der Volkskranhheiten, 1845. 6 Stille, Therapeutics and Mat. Med. ii. i. 256. 830, ii. 94 ; C. F. Heusinger, Me- {1868) 609. cherches de Pathologic comparee, Cassel, i. 7 From 1825 to 1828, the wholesale price (1853) 543-554 ; Merat et De Lens, Diet. of ergot of rye in London was from 36s. to Mat. Med. iii. 131, vii. 268. X X 6 74 FUN 01. Trance in 1630, in Voigtlanclia (Saxony) in tlie years 1648, 1649 and 1675 ; again in various parts of France, as Aquitaine and Sologne, in 1650, 1670 and 1674. Freiburg and the neighbouring region were visited by the same malady in 1702 ; other parts of Switzerland in 1715-16 ; Saxony and Lusatia in 1716 ; many other districts of Germany in 1717, 1722, 1736 and 1741—2.^ The last epidemic in Europe occasioned by ergot, appears to be that which, after the rainy season of 1816, visited Lorraine and Burgundy, and proved fatal to many people of the poorer class. Ergot disease is sometimes observed in Abyssinia at the present day,^ and a few cases of it have even been lately recorded in Bavaria.^ Formation — The true nature of ergot has long been the source of a great diversity of opinion, now set at rest by the admirable researches of L. R Tulasne, from whose M^moire sur VErgot des Glumacks,^ the following account is for the most part extracted. The formation of ergot often affects only a few caryopsides in a single ear ; sometimes however, more than twenty. In the former case, the healthy development of the other caryopsides is not prevented, but if too many are attacked, the entire ear decays. The more isolated ergots generally grow larger, and attain their greatest size on rye which springs up here and there among other cereals. The first symptom of ergot- formation is the so-called honey-clew of rye, a yellowish mucus, having an intensely sweet taste, and the peculiar disagreeable odour frequently belonging to fungi. Drops of this mucus show themselves here and there on the ears in the neighbourhood of diseased grains, and attract ants and beetles of various kinds, especially the yellowish-red Ehagonyclict melanura Fabr., but not bees. On this account, the beetle in question has been supposed to be instrumental in the development of ergot, and it may possibly be so, but only by transporting the saccharine mucus from one plant to another. The honey-dew of rye contains neither oil-drops nor starch. After dilution with water, it produces a rapid and abundant separation of cuprous oxide from an alkaline solution of cupric tartrate. Dried over sulphuric acid, it solidifies into a crystalline mass. After a few days, the drops of honey- dew dry up and disappear from the ear. The grain at this period becomes completely disintegrated, and devoid of starch. The ergotised soft ovaries are covered with, and penetrated by a white, spongy, felted tissue, the mycclmm of the young fungus. It is made up of slender, threadlike cells, the hyphce, the outer layer of which consists of radially- diverging cells, the lasiclia. The whole mycelium forms by its crevices and folds, a number of cavities opening externally ; from its outer layer, which is also called the hymeimim or spermatoplwrnm, an immense number of agglutinated, elongated granules, the conidia, are separated. These cells, the products of the basidia, are not more than 4 mkm. in length, and give the lioral organs the appearance of being covered with a whitish dust. The honey-dew likewise contains an abundance of conidia, but it is only on dilution that they arc precipitated and become easily perceptible; the forinatiou of the honey-dew is 1 Tissot of La\i.sannc, Thil. Trans. Iv. -.T\x. won Wnv^Wn, Ecisc TUtch Abcssinien, (17G6) 106. — See also Ilial. de la Soc. ruy. dc &,c: Jena, 1868. 180. Med., annee 1776. 345 ; and Mem. de Mid. ^ Wiggers and Huscmaiin, Jahreshcricht rl dc I'hjs. mCd. anu'-c 1770. 2G0-311. for 1870. 582. 417. "' Ann. des Sciences nal., Bot., xr. (1853) 1-50 and 4 plates. SEC ALE CORNUTUM. G75 intimately connected witli that of the conidia themselves. Ergot in this primary or mycelium stage was regarded as an independent fungus by Lcveille (1827), who named it Sphacclia segeium. According to Ktihn (18G3), it may even be directly reproduced by germination of the conidia within the ears of rye. T]ie mycelium penetrates and envelops the caryopsis, with the ex- ception of the apex, and thereby prevents its further growth, destroying especially the epicarp and the embryo. At the base of the caryopsis, there is formed by tumefaction and gradual transverse separation of the thread-cells of the mycelium, a more compact kernel-like body (the future ergot) violet-black without, white within, which gradually but largely increases in size, and ultimately separates from the mycelium as the loose tissue of the latter dries and shrinks up after the completion of its functions. By this growth, the remains of the caryopsis, still recognizable by their hairs and by the rudiments of the style, as well as by the surviving portions of the mycelium-tissue, become visible above the palea3 on the apex of the mature ergot, now projecting prominently from the ear. Very rarely tlie ergot is crowned by a fully developed seed ; in the commercial drug, the apex is usually broken off. It is evident that in the process of development just described, the very tissue of the caryopsis of the rye does not undergo a transformation, but that it is simply destroyed. Neither in external form, nor in anatomi- cal structure does ergot exhibit any resemblance to a caryopsis or a seed, although its development takes place between the flowering time and that at which the rye begins to ripen. It has been regarded as a com- plete fungus, and as such was named by De Candolle (1816J Sclerotium Clavus and by Fries Spermcedia Clavus. No further change in the ergot occurs while it remains in the ear ; but laid on damp earth, interesting phenomena take place. At certain points, small orbicular patches of the rind, fold themselves back, and gradually throw out little white heads. These increase in size, whilst the outer layers of the neighbouring tissue gradually lose their firmness and become soft and rather granular, at the same time that the cells, of which they are made up, become empty and extended. In the interior of the ergot, the cells retain their oil drops unaltered. The heads assume a greyish-yellow colour, changing to purple, and finally after some weeks stretch themselves towards the light on slender shining stalks of a pale violet colour. The stalks often attain an inch in length, with a thickness of about | a line. They consist of thin, parallel, closely felted cell-threads, devoid of fat oil. Ergot is susceptible of this further development only so long as it is fresh, that is to -say, at most until the next flowering time of rye. Within this period however, even fragments are capable of development. There are sometimes also pro- duced colourless threads of mould which belong to other fungi, as Verticillium cylindrosporum Corda, and which frequently overgrow the Claviceps} ^ Ergot of rye collected by myself in after the cold winter of 1869-70, Claviccps, August, placed upon earth in a garden-pot even in the greenhouse, did not make its and left in the open air unprotected throiiZ-h appearance before the 11th May. The the winter, began to develope the Clavia^ns earliest instance of fully developed ergots on the 20tli March, and on another occasion which I ever observed, occurred on the 11th on the 20th April, at which date some sowed of June ; more frequently they are seen only in February also began to start. Sharp in the beginning of July. — F. A, F, frost ax^pears to retard the vegetation ; thus, X X 2 676 IVNGI. At tlie point where the stalk joins the spherical or somewhat flattened head, the latter is depressed and surrounds the stalk with an annular border. After a short time there appear on the surface of the head, which is yV of an inch in diameter, a number of brownish warts, in which are the openings of minute cavities, the conceptacula or perifhecia. On transverse section, they appear arranged radially round the circum- ference of the head. In each cavity are a large number of delicate sacs, only 3-5 mkm. thick, and about 100 mkm. long, the thecco or asci, each containing, as is usual in fungi, 8 spores. These are simple thread- shaped cells, filled with a homogeneous solid mass. The thicker ends of the spore-sacs (asci) open while still within the perithecium ; the spores issue united in a bundle, and are emitted from the aperture of the perithecium. In consequence of their somewhat glutinous consistence, they remain united even after their extrusion, and form white silky flocks ; their number in the 20 or 30 heads sometimes produced from a single ergot, often exceeds a million. The heads them- selves die in two or three weeks after they have begun to make their appearance. They represent the true fructification of the fungus. This state of the plant appears to have been first noticed in 1801 by Schumacher, who called it SpJiceria ; it was subsequently known as Cordicejjs, Cordyliceps, Keyitrosporium, &c., until Tulasne proved it to be the final stage of development of ergot. The three different forms of this structure, namely, the mycelium, :the ergot, and the fruit-bearing heads, are therefore merely successive states of one and the same biennial fungus, which have been appropri- ately united by Tulasne under the name of Claviceps purpurea. The middle stage forms the sclerotium, which occurs in a large number of the most various fungi, and is a special state of rest of these plants. The direct proof that the mycelium is produced from spores of the fruit- head sown on ears of rye, was supplied by Kiihn in 1863. It has already been mentioned that the same organism is produced from conidia ; whence it appears that a twofold formation of ergot is possible, as is ■frequently the case in other fungi. Description — Spurred rye, as found in commerce, consists of fusi- form grains, which it is convenient to term ergots. They are from ^- to 1^ inch in length, and -I to 4 lines in diameter; their form is subcylindrical or obtusely prismatic, tapering towards the ends, generally arched, with a longitudinal furrow on each side. At the apex of each ergot, there is often a small whitish easily detached appendage, while the opposite extremity is somewhat rounded. The ergots are firm, horny, somewhat elastic, have a close fracture, are brittle when dry, yet difiicult to pulverize. The whitish interior is frequently laid bare by deep transverse cracks. The tissue is but imperfectly penetrated by water, even the thinnest sections swelling but slightly in that fiuid. Ergot of rye has a peculiar offensive odour, and a mawkish, rancid taste. It is apt to become deteriorated by keeping, especially when pulverized, partly from oxidation of the oil, and partly from the attacks of a mite of the genus Tromhidium. To assist its preservation, it should be thoroughly dried, and kept in closed bottles. Microscopic Structure — In fully developed ergot, no organs can be distinguished. It consists of uniform, densely felted tissue of short, SEC ALB CORNUTUM. G77 thread-like, somewhat tlnck-wnlled cells, which are irregularly packed and so intimately matted together that it is only by prolonged boiling of thin slices with potash, and alternate treatment witli acids and ether, that the individual cells can be made evident. Without such treatment, the cells even in the thinnest sections show a somewhat rounded, nearly isodiametric outline. This pseudo-parenchyme of ergot exhibits therefore an aspect somewhat different from that of the loosely felted cells (Jiyphcc) of other fungi. Ergot nevertheless is not made up of cells differing from those of fungi generally. If thin longitudinal slices of the innermost tissue are allowed to remain in a solution of chromic . acid containing about 1 per cent., they will distinctly show the liyphce, which are however considerably shorter than those of other fungi. They contain numerous drops of fat oil, but neither starch nor crystals. It is remarkable that this nearly empty and not much thickened paren- chyme should form so compact and solid a tissue. The cell-walls of the tissue of ergot are not coloured blue, even after prolonged treatment with iodine in solution of potassium iodide ; or when the tissue has been previously treated with sulphuric acid, or kept for days in contact with potash and absolute alcohol at 100° C, In this respect the cellulose of fungi differs from that of phanerogamic plants. Of the outermost rows of cells in ergot, a few only are of a violet colour, but they are not otherwise distinguishable from the colourless tissue, — or at most by the somewhat greater thickness of their walls. Chemical Composition — The composition of ergot has been several times investigated, and elaborately by Wiggers as early as 1830. The drug contains about 30 per cent, of a fatty, non-drying, yellowish, saponifiable oil, chiefly consisting of olein, jDalmitin, and small pro- portions of volatile fatty acids, especially acetic and butyric, combined with glycerin. The oil is accompanied by small quantities of resin and cliolesterin. It is erroneous to attribute to this oil the poisonous proper- ties of ergot, although it has been shown by Ganser,^ to display irritating properties when taken in doses of about 6 grammes. But the effects observed appear dependent on the presence in it of resin (7 per cent.) According to Wenzell (1864), ergot of rye contains two peculiar alkaloids, which he designated ^c&o^wie and Ergotine? They are soluble in •water, and have an alkaline reaction and a bitterish taste. They were not got in a state of purity, but merely as brownish substances forming deliquescent compounds with acids, — in either case, amorphous. Ganser however, claims to have obtained long acicular crystals of the hydro- chlorate of ergotine. Ecboline possesses in a high degree the special medicinal properties of ergot of rye; ergotine, which is less bitter, is but little active. Manassewitz (1867) obtained 0"12 per cent, of ergotine; Ganser, 0'04 of the same alkaloid, and 0*16 of ecboline. The two bodies may be easily separated by mercuric chloride, which yields an insoluble compound with ecboline only. Manassewitz assigned to ergotine the formula C^'^H^^N^O^, which requires confirmation. The two bases of ergot were found by Wenzell, to be combined with ^ Arcliiv cler Pharm. cxli^. (1870) 200. macien of Chambery, \\A.e Journ. de Pharm. 2 The name Ergotine has also been given iv. (1843) 107 ; Pereira, Mem. of 3£at. Med. to a medicinal extract of ergot, prepared ii. (1850) 1012. after a method devised by Bonjean, a phar- 678 FUNGT. Ergotic Acid, the existence of wliieli has been further proved hy Ganser. It is a volatile body yielding crystallizable salts. Ergot in common with other fungi/ contains a sugar termed Mycose, closely allied to cane sugar, and still more so to Trclicdose, from which it differs only in having a rather less dextrogyre power. Mycose crystallizes in rhombic octohedra, having the composition C^^H^-O^^ + 2H^0. Mitsclierlich obtained of it about one-tenth per cent. It appears that the sugar exuded in the first stage of growth of the fungus, — the so-called rye lioncy-deio, — is in its principal characters different from mycose. Instead of the latter, Mitsclierlich as well as Fiedler and Ludwig, sometimes obtained from ergot, Mannite. The red colouring onatter of ergot is soluble neither in benzol, alcohol, nor ether, but is easily extractable by alcohol or water mixed with a little ammonia, or by a mineral acid (not acetic). From its neutralized alcoholic solution, it may be precipitated by acetate of lead. It appears to contain iron and nitrogen (Winckler, Manassewitz). Spectroscopically examined, we find its solution to extinguish the blue and the green ray. Schoonbroodt in 1866, as well as Ludwig in 1869, ]3ointed out the presence in ergot of Gholestcrin, a crystallizable x^rinciple widely distri- buted in the animal kingdom, and which has been detected in other fungi. It may be isolated by shaking the fat oil of ergot with warm alcohol. Ganser thus obtained 0-036 parts of chloresterin from 100 of the drug. Schoonbroodt also found in ergot. Lactic Acid. Several other chemists have further proved the presence of acetic and formic acids. Starch is entirely wanting in ergot at all times. The drug yields about 3 per cent, of nitrogen, corresponding probably to a large amount of albuminoid matter. Ganser however obtained only 3-2 per cent, of albumin sohiblc in loater. AVhen ergot or its alcoholic extract is treated with an alkali, it yields as products of the decomposition of the albuminoid matters, ammonia or ammonia-bases, — according to Ludwig and Stahl, Mcthylaminc, — accord- ing to others, Trimetliylmninc. Manassewitz, as well as Wenzell, state that phosphate of trimethylamine is present in an aqueous extract of ergot, but Ganser ascertained that no such base -pre-exists in ergot. We have found that the crystals which abound in the extract after it has been kept for some time, are an acid phosphate of sodium and ammonium with a small proportion of sulphate.^ Production and Commerce— Ergot of rye is chiefl}^ imported into London from Vigo in Spain and from Teneriffe ; it is also shipped from Hamburg and France. Dr. de Lanessan, writing to one of us from Vigo in 1872, remarks that vast quantities of rye are grown in Galicia, and that owing to the humidity of tlie climate, the grain is extensively ergotizcd, — in fact the parasite is present in one ear out of every three. At the time of harvest the ergots are picked out, and the rye is thus rendered fit for food. Southern and Central Eussia furnish considerable supplies of the drug. In the central parts of Eiu'ope, ergot does not everywhere occur 1 See Miintz in Comptcs Rendus, Ixxvi. odour of herring brine may assist in the (1873) 649. same object. Extraction of the fattj- oil with - The red colour of an alcoholic solution carbon bisulphide may also be recomiuiiided m Isobutyric Acid . . 35t) Isocajuputene . . . 248 Isolusin 73 Ispaghiil Seeds . . . 440 Jaggery 655 Jalap 398 „ fusiform, light, or male . .401 „ resin of . . . 400 „ stalks or tops . 401 Jalap, Tampico . . . 402 „ Vera Cruz . . 398 „ woody . . . 401 Jalapin 400 „ of Mayer . . 401 „ m scammouy 396 Jateorliiza palmata . 22 Jervic Acid . . . . 631 Jervine 631 Jinjili Oil . . . . 425 Juckborsten . . . 165 Juncus odoratus . . 662 Juniper Berries . . 565 „ Tar. . . . 563 Juuiperiu . . . . 566 Junijjerus communis . 565 „ Oxycedrus 563 „ Phoenicea . 568 „ Sabina . . 567 „ Virginiana 568 Jusquiame . . . . 416 Justicia paniculata . 424 Kaddigbeeren . . . 565 Kaladana .... 402 Kalmus ..... 613 Kalumbawurzel . .22 Kannala or Kamela . 515 Kamillen 344 Kampferid . . . .582 Kaneel 466 Kapila or Kapila-podi 515 Kariyat or Creyat . 424 Kat or Kut . . . .214 Kayu-puti Oil . . . 247 Kikar 207 Kinic Acid . . 325, 326 Kino 170 „ African . . . 173 „ Australian . .174 „ Bengal . . .173 „ Botany Bay . 174 „ butea . . .173 „ Bast Indian . 170 „ • eucalyptus . .174 „ Gambia . . .173 „ palas or pulas . 173 Kinone . . . 325, 359 Kino-red 172 !Kino-tannic Acid . .172 Kirschlorbeerblatter . 226 Klatschrosen ... 37 Knorpeltang . . . 679 INDEX. VAC.K Kokkelskorner ... 30 Kokmu Butter ... 79 Korarima .... 589 Kordofon-Gummi . . 206 Koriander .... 293 Kosin 229 Koso, Kosso, Kousso . 228 Krameria argentea . 76 „ cistoidea . 77 „ grandifolia 76 ,, Ixina . . 76 „ secundiflora 77 ,, tomentosa . 76 „ triandra . 74 Kreasote (Creasote) . 562 Kreosol or Creosol 96, 562 Kreuzdornbeeren . .139 Kreuzkiimmel . . . 295 Kiimmel 271 „ langer oder Romische . 295 Kurkuma .... 577 Kut or Kat .... 214 Kyphi ..... 125 Labiate 428 Laburnine . . . .150 Lactic Acid in opium 56 Lactuca altissima . . 354 „ sativa . . . 354 „ Scariola . . 354 „ virosa . 353, 354 Lactucarium . . . 354 Lactucerin .... 356 Lactucic Acid . . , 356 Lactucin 356 Lactucone . . . .356 Lactucopicrin . . . 357 Laitue vireuse . . . 353 Lakriz ..... 159 Lakrizwurzel . . .156 Lanthopine .... 55 Larcli Bark . . . ,551 „ Turpentine . , 549 Larix Europgea . . . 549 „ Sibiriea . '• . . 560 Larixin 552 Larixinic Acid . . . 552 Laudanine . . . . 55 Laudanosine ... 55 Latjrace^ . . . .458 Laurel, Common . . 226 Laurier-cerise . . . 226 695 VKOV. Laurus Camphora . . 458 „ Cubeba. . . 530 „ Sassafras . . 483 Lausesamen . . 5, 633 Lavandula Spica . . 430 „ Stoechas . 430 „ vera. . . 428 Lavendelblumen . . 428 Lavender Flowers . . 428 „ oil of . . . 429 Ledebouria hyacin- tbina 629 LEatJMiNOSiE . . . 148 Leinsamen .... 89 Lemon 103 „ essence of . . 106 „ grass . . . 660 Leontodon Iiispidus . 353 „ Taraxacum 351 Leontodonium . . . 352 Lerp ...... 373 Lettuce, garden . . 354 „ Opium . . 354 „ prickly . . 353 Levulin ..... 353 Levulosan .... 654 Liane a reglisse . .164 Xiichen Islandicus . 670 „ starch . . . 671 LiCHENES 670 Liclienic Acid . . .672 Licbenin 671 Lichend-stearic Acid . 672 Lignum Aloes . . .616 „ Brasile . . .189 „ Campechianuml86 „ Giiaiaci . . 92 „ Hsematosyli . 186 „ Pterocarpi . 175 „ Q-uassiee . .118 „ sanctum . . 92 „ Santali . . 540 „ santalinum rubrum . 175 „ Vit£8 ... 92 LlLIACE^ .... 616 Limettic Acid . . . 440 Limon 103 Limonin . . . , .105 Lin 89 LlNE^E 89 Linoleic Acid ... 90 Linoxyn 90 Linseed 89 696 PAGE Linum usitatissimum . 89 Lippia citriodora . . 661 Liquidambar Altingi- ana . 247 „ Formosana . 246 „ imberbe . . 241 „ orientalis . 241 „ styraciflua . 246 Liquiritiee radix . .156 „ succus . .159 Liquorice, extract of . 159 „ Indian . .164 ,, paste . . 161 ,, root . . . 156 „ „ Kussian 158 „ „ Spanish 158 5, Solazzi . .161 „ Spanish . 159 Lobelacrin .... 358 Lobelia inflata . . . 357 LoBELIACEiE . . . 357 Lobelianin .... 358 Lobelic Acid . . . 359 Lobeliin 358 Lobelina 358 LOGANIACE^ . . . 384 Logwood 186 „ extract of .188 Long Pepper . . .524 Lopez Eoot .... 101 Lowenzahnwurzel . . 351 Loxa Bark .... 315 Luban 120 „ Meyeti . . .135 Lukrabo 71 Lupulin 498 Lupuline (alkaloid) . 498 Lupulinic Grains . . 498 Lupiilite 499 Lupulus 495 Lycium 34 Lycopodiace.'E . . 665 Iiycopodium . . . 665 „ clavatum 665 Mace 456 „ oil of . . . . 456 ]\Iacene 457 Macis 456 Macrotin 16 Magellanischer Zimmt 17 Mag.voliace^e . , 17 Maha-tita .... 425 INDEX. FAOE Malimira .... 3 Malabathri folia . . 480 Male Fern .... 667 Maleic Acid . . .504 Malic Acid in euphor- bium 504 Mallotus Philippinen- sis 515 Malvace^ .... 84 Mandehi, bitter . . 219 „ siisse . . .216 Mangosteen, oil of . 79 Maniguette .... 590 Manihot utiLissima . 222 Manna 366 „ Alhagi. . . 371 „ Australian , 373 „ BrianQon . . 373 „ flake . . .368 „ Lerp . . .373 „ oak. . . . 372 „ -sugar . . . 369 „ tamarisk . .371 „ Tolfa . . .368 Mannitan .... 326 Mannite 369 „ in aconite .11 „ in ergot . . 678 „ in taraxacum 353 Mannitic Acid ... 369 Mannitose . . . .369 Maranta arundinacea . 569 „ indica . . 569 Margarin .... 376 Margosa Bark . . . 135 Margosic Acid . . . 137 Margosine .... 137 Marshmallow Root . 84 Mastich, Alpha-resin 145 „ Beta-resin . 145 „ Bombay . . 145 „ East India . 145 Masticbe .... 142 Masticin 145 Maticin 531 Matico 531 Matricaria Chamo- milla . 345 „ suaveolens 346 Maulbeeren .... 489 May Apple .... 35 Meadow Saftron . . 636 Meconic Acid . . 56, 59 Meconidiae .... 55 Meconine . . . PAGE . 56 Meerrettig . . . . 66 Meerzwiebel . . . 627 Melaleuca ericifolia . 249 „ Leucadendron 247 „ linariifolia . 249 „ minor . . . 247 Melanthace^e . . 630 Melegueta Pepper . 590 Melezitose . . . . 373 Melia Azadirachta . 135 „ Azedarach . . 136 „ indica . . . 135 MeLIACEtE . . . . 135 Melitose .... . 373 Menispermace^ . . 22 Menispermine . . . 32 Menispernium Cocculus 30 Mentha crispa . . 432 „ piperita . . 432 „ Pulegium . . 436 „ viridis . . . 431 Menthe poivree . 432 „ pouliot . 436 Menthol . . . . 434 Mesit .... . 562 Mespilodaphne . 485 Metacopaivic Acid 84, 204 Metastyrol . . . . 244 Methol . . . . . 562 Methyl alcohol in 1 ^ar. 562 Methylamine in er got 678 Methylnornarcotine . 55 Mezereon Bark . 486 Mimosa Catechu . 213 „ Suma . . . 213 „ Sundra . 213 Mint, Black . . 435 „ White . . 435 Mishmi Bitter . . 3 Mohnkapseln . . 38 INIohrenkiimmel . . 295 Molasses . . . . . 657 Momiri . . . . 5 Momordica Elater] um 260 MORACE.-E . . . . 489 Morel le grimpante . 404 Moringa . . . . 68 Morintannic Acid . 497 Morphine or Morp hia 54 „ estimati an 59 Morus alba . . . . 490 „ nigra . . 489 Moschuswurzel . . . 278 INDEX. G97 Moss, Ceylon . . . PAGE G81 TAOK Myroxylon Toluife ra . 177 I- ACE Nutmeg, expressed oil „ Irish .... 679 Myrrh . . . . . 124 of ... . . . 456 „ Jaffna .... 631 „ Arabian . . . 129 Nuts, Areca . . 607 Mother Cloves . . . 255 Myrrha . . . 124 „ Betel . . . . 607 Mousse d'Irlande . . 679 Myrtacete . . . . 247 Nux moschata . . . 451 „ d'Islande . . 670 Myrtus Pimenta . . 255 Nux Vomica . . . 384 „ perl(5e . . . 679 . INIoutarde Anglaise . 64 Oak bark . . . . 534 „ blanche^ . 64 Napelline . . . . 9 „ galls . . . . 536 „ grise . . 61 Naphthalene . , 562 „ manna . . . . 372 „ noire . . 61 Narceine . . . . 55, 59 Ognon marin . . . 627 Mucuna pruriens . . 165 Narcotine . . 54, 55, 59 OU, citronella . . . 660 „ prurita . . 165 Nardostachys . . . 278 „ geranium . 660, 662 Mudar 380 Narthex Asafoetida . 280 „ ginger grass . . 660 Mudarine . .381 382 Nataloin . . . . . 624 „ lemon grass . . 660 Mulberries .... 489 Nauclea Gambir . . 298 „ melissa . . . . 660 Mures 489 Nectandra cinnamo- „ Namur or Nimar 661 Muscade 451 moides. 480 ,, palmarosa . . . 662 „ beurre de 456 „ Cymbarum 485 „ rusa . . . 660, 662 Muskatbliithe . . . 456 „ Roditei . . 481 „ theobroma . . 87 Muskatbutter . . . 456 Nectandria . . . . 482 „ verbena. . . . 660 Muskatnuss . . . 451 Nelkenkopfe . . . 255 Okro .... . . 86 Muskatnussol . . . 456 Nelkenpfeffer . . 255 Olea cuspidata . . . 374 Mustard, black, brown, Nelkenstiele . . 254 „ Europsea . . . 374 red . . 61 Nepaline . . . . . 9 Oleace^ . . . . 366 „ oUof. . . 62 Neroli Camphor . . 114 Oleic Acid in almonds 219 „ white . . 64 „ oil of . . 113 „ „ in arachis . 163 Mutterharz . . . . 285 Nerprun . . . . 139 Olein .... . . 376 Mutterkorn .... 672 Neugewiirz . . . . 255 Oleum Andropogonis 660 Mutterkummel . . 295 Ngai Camphor . . . 466 „ Arachis . . 163 Mycose 678 Nicker seeds . . 185 „ Aurantii florumllS Myricylic palmitate . 499 Nicotiana multivalvis 422 „ Bergamii . . 108 Myristic Acid . . . 456 „ Persica 422 „ Bergamottse . 108 „ „ fromkokum 81 „ quadrivalvis 422 „ Cacao . . . 87 „ „ „ orris . 601 „ repanda . 422 „ cadinum . . 563 Myristica .... 451 ,, rustica . 421 „ Cajuputi . . 247 „ fatua . . 455 „ Tabacum L . 418 ,, Crotonis . . 508 „ fragrans 451 Nicotianin . . . 421 „ Garcinise . . 79 „ moschata . 451 Nicotine . . . . 420 „ Graminis In- „ officinalis . 451 Nieswurzel . . . 1 dici . . . 660 Mtristice^ . . . 451 „ weisse . 630 „ Juniperi empy- Myristicene .... 455 Nightshade, deadly . 411 reumaticum 563 Myristicin .... 455 „ woody . 404 „ Iiimonis . . 106 Myristicol .... 455 Nim Bark . . . 135 „ Macidis . . 456 Myristin 456 Nipa fruticans . . 655 „ Myristicse expres- Myrocarpus frondosus 184 Noix d'arec . . . . 607 sum . . . 456 Myronate of potassium 62 „ Igasur . . 387 „ Neroli . . . 113 Myrosin 62 „ de muscade . 451 „ Nucistse . . 456 Myrospermum Pereiree 179 „ vomique . . 384 „ Olivse . . . 374 „ toluife- Nornarcotine . . 55 „ Rosse . . . 233 rum 177 Nunnari Root . . 379 „ Sesami . . 425 Myroxocarpin . . . 184 Nutgalls . . . . 536 „ Spicee . . . 430 Myroxylon Pereirse . 179 Nutmeg . . . . 451 „ Theobromatis . 87 „ peruiferum 184 „ Butter . 456 „ Tiglii . . . 508 698 INDEX. PAGE Olibanum . . . .120 Olive oil 374 Olivenol . . .. . .374 Omam 269 Ophelia angustifolia . 393 „ Chirata . . 392 „ densifolia'. . 393 „ elegans . .393 „ inultiflora . . 393 OphelicAcid . . .393 Opianic Acid ... 54 Opiauyl 56 Opium 40 „ Abkari . . ■ . 49 [ „ of Asia Minor 43 „ Chinese . . 50 „ Constantinople 43 „ East Indian . 47 55 Egyptian . . 45 „ European . . 46 „ Malwa ... 50 ,/ Patna . . 48, 58 „ ' Persian ... 45 „ Smyrna . . 43 „ Turkey ... 43 Opopanax .... 291 Orange, Bigarade . .111 „ bitter . . .111 „ Flower Water 113 „ Peel . . .111 „ „ oil of . 115 „ SeviUe. . .111 Or.CHiDACE^ . . . 592 Orchis, species yielding Salep . . . 592, 593 Ordeal Bean . . .167 Oreodaphne opifera . 485 Orge mond^ ouperle . 657 Orizaba Eoot . . . 401 Orme 500 Ornithogalum altissi- mum 629 Ornus Europaja . . 366 Orris Camphor . . . 601 „ Eoot .... 598 Otto of Eose . . .233 Oxyacanthine ... 35 Oxycaraphor . . . 463 Oxycannabin . . , 494 Oxycopaivic Acid . . 204 Oxylinoloic Acid . . 90 Paks Tree . . . .173 Palma Christi Seeds . 510 PAGE PAGB Palm/e .... . 607 Peppermint camphor . 434 Palmarosa Oil . . . 662 „ oil . . . 434 Palmitic Acid . . . 376 „ „ Chinese 434 ,, „ in arachis 163 | Periploca indica . . 379 Palo del Soldado . . 531 Perlmoos .... 679 Panax quiuquefolium Perubalsam .... 179 73, 534 Peruvian Bark . . . 302 Papaver dubium . . 37 Peruvin 183 „ officinale . . 38 Petaia Rhoeados . . 37 „ Ehceas . . . 37 „ Rosoe centifolise 232 „ setigerum . . 38 „ „ Gallicse . 230 „ somniferuB a . 38 Petit Grain, essence . 115 Papaverace^ . 37 Pfeffer 519 Papaveric Acid . 38 „ langer . . . 524 Papaverin . . . . 40 „ Spanischer 406 Papaverine . . 55, 59 Pfeflferminze . . . 432 Papaverosine . . 40 Pfriemenkraut . . . 148 Paracajuputene . 248 Phajoretin .... 448 Paracumaric Acid . 626 PharbitisNH . . . 402 Paradieskdrner . . 590 Pharbitisin .... 404 Paradigitaletin . . 423 Phenol ..... 179 Paraffin .... . 562 Phloroglucin from cate- Paramenispermine . 32 chin 216 Para-oxybenzoic A cid „ dragon's from aloes . . 627 blood 612 „ „ benzoin . 365 „ gamboge 79 „ „ dragon'sb ood 612 55 kino . ^ . 172 PareiraBrava . . . 25 „ „ scoparin 149 „ fals e . 28 Phoenix silvestris . 655 55 whi te. 29 Photo- santonin .349 55 yell ow 30 Phyco-erythrin . . . 680 Paricine . . . . 321 Physostigma veneno- Parigenin . . . 647 sum 167 Pariglina . . . 646 Physostigmine . . . 169 Parillin . . . . 646 Pichurim Beans . 485 Parillinic Acid . . 646 Picrtena excelsa . . 118 Passulaj majores . 140 Picrasma excelsa . . 118 Pavot .... . 38 Picric Acid . . . 627 Paytine . . . . 322 Picrotoxin .... 31 Peachwood . . . 186 Pignons d'Inde . . 508 Pellitory Eoot . . 342 Pimaric Acid . 548 ,559 Pelosine in bibiru . 482 Piment des Anglais . 255 „ in pareira . 27 „ jardins . 406 Pennyroyal . . . . 436 Pimcnta acris . . . 257 Penny^vort, Indian . 264 „ officinalis 255 Pepper, black . . . 519 „ Pimento . . 257 55 Afric an. 530 Pimento .... 255 „ Cayenne . 406 Pimienta de Tabasco 257 „ Guinea . , 406 PimpincUa Anisum 276 „ Jamaica . . 255 Pine, loblolly . . ,545 „ long . . . . 524 „ Scotch . . 545 „ pod or red . . 406 „ swamp . . 545 „ white . . . 523 Piuic Acid .... 548 Peppermint . . . . 432 Pink Eoot . . . 389 IMJL'X. G99 Pinus ALies . . PAOH 55 () Piu nigra .... I'AOK 564 Pruiius Aniygdalus . I'AfJK 219 „ australis . . 545 ,, sicca 501 „ iloiiicstica . . 223 „ lialsainea 552 „ solida .... 564 „ Lauro-cerasus 226 „ Canadensis . 553 Plantagine-K . . . 440 „ u;conomica 224 ,, Ccdrus . . 373 Plantago Cynops . . 441 „ scrotina . . 224 „ Fraseri . . 553 „ decumbens . 440 „ Virginiana 224 „ Laricio . . 545 „ Ispaghula . 440 Pseud-aconitine . . 9 „ Larix . . 549 ,, Psyllium . . 44] Pseudo-morphine . 55, 58 „ Ledebonrii . 560 Plocaria Candida . . 681 Psychotria emetica . 336 „ niaritinia 545 Plosslea floribunda . 121 Pteritannic Acid . . 669 „ palustris 545 Poaya 332 Pterocarpus Draco 613 „ Picea . . 555 Pockliok .... 92 „ erinaceus . 173 „ Pinaster 545 Podopliyllin . . . 36 „ indicus . . 170 ,, Pumilio . . 554 Podophyllum peltatum 35 „ Marsupiuni 170 „ silvestris . 545 , 560 „ resin 36 „ santalinu-S . 175 „ Tffida . . 545 Pois a gratter . . 165 Ptychotis Ajowan 269 Piper aduncum 532 „ Guenic . . 185 „ Coptica 269 „ augustifolium 531 „ pouillieux . . 165 Puchury Beans . . . 485 ,, Betle . . . 525 „ Qu(^nic[ues 185 Punica Granatum . . 257 „ caniuuni . . 530 Poivre .... 519 Punicin 260 „ Clusii . . . 530 ,, de Guinee . . 406 Punico-tannic Acid . 259 „ crassipes . . 530 „ cl'Iude . . 406 Purgo macho . . . 401 „ Cubeba . . 526 „ de la Jama'ic|ue 255 Purga de Sierra Gorda 402 „ lanceaefoliuni 532 „ long .... 524 Purgirkorner . . . 508 „ longuni . . . 524 Poix de Bou.rgogne . 556 Pyrethre 342 „ Lowong . . . 530 „ jaune . . . 556 Pyrethrin .... 343 „ nigrum . . 519 „ liquide . . . 560 Pyrocatechin from „ officinarum . 524 „ noire .... 564 Areca nut , 608 „ ribesioides . 530 ,, des Vosges . . 556 „ from bearberry . 358 PiPERACE.E . . . 519 Poke, Indian . . . 632 „ „ cutch . . . 216 Piperic Acid . . 523 Polei ...... 436 „ „ kino 172,173,174 Piperidin . . . 523 Polychroit .... 604 „ in tar . . 561 ,562 Piperiu 523 Polygala Senega . . 72 Pyro-guaiacic Acid . 96 Pipli-mnl . . 525 , 526 POLYGALE^ . . . 72 „ guaiacin . . . 96 Pirus Cydonia . . 239 Polygalic Acid . . 73 Pyroleum Oxycedri . 563 „ glabra. . . 373 POLYGONACEJE . . 442 Pyroligneous Acid 562 Pissenlit .... 351 Pomegranate Peel . . 257 Pistache de terre . . 163 Pomegranate-root Bark 259 Qinnab 493 Pistacia Atlantica . 146 Pomeranzenschale . . 111 Quartenylic Acid . . 509 „ Cabulica 145 , 146 Pontefract Cakes . . 162 Quassia amara . 118, 119 „ galls . . . 540 Poppy Capsules . . 38 ,, excelsa . . 118 „ Khinjuk . . 145 „ Heads . . . 38 „ Wood . . . 118 „ • Lentiscus . . 142 „ red .... 37 „ „ Surinam 119 ,, Palffistina . 146 Potato Starch . . . 573 Quassiin 119 „ Terebinthus 146 Pouliot vulgaire . . 436 Queckenwurzel . . . 663 Pitayo Bark . . . 317 Prophetin .... 262 Quercetin . . 216 ,301 Pitch, black . . . 564 Protocatechuic Acid Quercin 536 „ Burgundy . . 556 from Kino . 172 Quercitannic Acid 535 Pitoya Bark . . 321 „ „ Scoparin 149 Quercitrin .... 231 Pitoyine .... 321 Protopine .... 55 Quercus infectoria . . 536 Pix abietina . . 556 ProvencerOel . . . 374 „ Lusitanica , . 536 „ Burgundica . 556 Pruneaux a medecine 223 „ Eobur .... 534 „ liquida . . . . 560 Prunes 223 „ sj)ecies yielding- „ navalis . . . 564 Prunier de St, Julien 223 Manna . . 372 700 INDEX. Quetschen or Zwet- sclien . . . . . 224 Quiiiamine . . 320, 324 Quince, Bengal . .116 „ Seeds . . .239 Quinicine . . . .321 Quinidine . . 320, 323 Quinine . . . 320,322 „ iodo-sulpliate . 323 Quinoidine .... 322 Quinone orKinone 326,359 Quinovic or Chinovic Acid 326 Quinovin or Chinovin 326 Quinquina .... 302 Quitch Grass . . . 663 Quittensanien . . . 239 Radix Abri .... 164 35 Aconiti . . . 7 3J „ hetero- phylli 14 3J „ Indie a 12 JJ Althssse . . . 84 J3 Armoracise 66 ;j Arnicse . 349 53 Belladonnge . 409 53 CalumbEe . . 22 33 Cliinte . . . 648 35 „ occidentalis 649 33 Cimicifugse . 15 33 Columbo . . 22 33 EUebori nigri . 1 33 Enulte . . . 34(1 33 Filicis . . . 667 33 Gentianse . 389 35 Glycyrrliizse . 156 53 Gramuiis . . 663 33 Helenii . . . 340 55 Hellebori all:)i . 630 33 Hellebori nigri 1 3) Hemidesmi . 379 35 Inulse . . . 340 33 Ipecacuanlise 331 53 Jalapse . . . 398 53 Kramerise . 74 55 Lopeziana . 101 35 Melampodii 1 35 Pyrethri 342 35 Katanhiiu . 74 !5 Rhei . . . 442 33 SarsaparillcC C3f) 35 Sassafras . 4S3 PAnE Radix Satyrii . . . 592 „ Scammoniie . 397 „ Senegae ... 72 „ Serpentarise . 532 „ Spigeliise . . 389 „ Sumbul . . 278 „ TaraxacI . . 351 „ Toddalise . .101 „ Tylophora? . . 383 „ Valerianae . . 337 Raifort 66 Raisins 140 RANUNCULACEiE . . 1 Rasamala . . 242, 247 Rasot or Rusot ... 34 Ratanliia-red ... 75 „ -tannic acid . 75 Ratauhiawarzel . . 74 Ratanhin 75 Red Poppy Petals . . 37 „ Sanders Wood . 175 Reglisse 156 ,, d'Araerique . 164 ,, sue de . . . 159 Reseda lutea ... 63 ,, luteola ... 63 Resina Benzoe . .361 „ Draconis . . 609 „ Gwaiaci . . 94 „ Jalapte . . . 400 „ Podophylli . 37 „ Scammonit'e . 397 Resorcin . . . 176, 288 Rhabarber .... 442 Rhabarberin . . . 448 Rhabarbic Acid . . 448 Rhamnace.'E . . .139 Rhamnegine . . . 140 Rliamnetin .... 140 Rhamnetine .... 140 Rhamnine . . . .140 Rhamnocathartiu . . 139 Rhamnus cathartica . 139 Rhatania Root ... 74 Rhatany, Brazilian . 76 „ New Granada 76 „ Par;i ... 70 „ Payta ... 74 „ Peruvian . . 74 „ Savanilla . . 76 Rhein 448 Rheo-tannic Acid . . 448 Rheum australe . .451 „ coinpactuni . 450 Rheum Emodi . . . PAGE 451 officinale . . 442 35 33 55 palmatuni . . Rhaponticuni undulatum 450 450 450 Rheumic Acid . . . 448 Rheumin 448 Rhizoma Calami aro- Hiatici 613 5) Coptidis . 3 3? Curcurase . 577 33 Filicis . . . 667 3) Galangse . 580 33 Graminis . 663 35 Iridis . 598 33 Podophylli . 35 Veratri albi . 630 „ „ viridis 632 „ Zingiberis . 574 Rhceadic Acid ... 38 Rhosadine 38, 4(\ 55, 59 Rhceagenine .... 55 Rhubarb 442 33 Canton . 445 33 China 445 35 crown 445 5) East India . 445 5) English . . 449 French . 450 German . . 450 55 JNIuscoA'itic . 445 Russian . . 445 53 Turkey . . 445 Rhub arb-bitter . 448 Rhubarb-yello^y . . 448 Rhus Bucki-amela . 538 53 Coriaria . . . 538 3) semialata . . . 538 Richardsonia scabra . 337 Ricinelaidic Acid . . 513 Ricinelaidin . . . . 513 Ricinine .... . 513 Ricinoleic Acid .. . 513 Ricinus communis . . 510 Rohrencassie . . . 195 Rohrzucker .... 649 Rolum Bark . . .137 Romarin 438 Rosabiiora .... 232 „ canina . . 236, 238 „ centifolia . . . 232 „ Damascena . . 233 „ Gallica. . . . 230 ROSACE-K . . . . ■l\i\ INDEX. 701 r.\(;i: Rose, Attar of . . . ii:i3 „ Cabbage . . . 232 „ Damask . . . 232 „ Dog .... 238 „ leaves . . . 230 „ Mallocs . . .242 „ oil 233 „ pale . . . .232 „ petals, red . . 230 „ Provence . . . 232 „ Provins . . .230 „ de Puteaux . . 232 „ rouge .... 230 Roseau aromatique . 613 Rosemary .... 438 oil of . . 439 Rosenoi 233 Rosin, black . . . 548 „ transparent . 548 „ yellow . . . 548 Rosinen 140 Rosmarinus officinalis 438 Rosocyanin . . . .579 Rottlera tiuctoria . .515 Rottlerin . . . .517 RuBiACE^ .... 298 Ruby Wood . . .175 Rusa ka tel . . . . 660 Rusot or Rasot ... 34 Riisterrinde .... 500 RUTACE^ .... 97 Rye, spurred , . . 672 Sabadilla officinarum . 633 Sabadillic Acid . . 635 Sabadilline .... 635 Sabatrine .... 635 Sabine 567 Sabzi .493 Saccharuxn .... 649 „ officinarum 649 Saffron 601 „ meadow . . 636 Safran 601 Safrene . . . . . 484 Safrol 484 Sagapenum . . . .291 Salad Oil ? . . . . 374 Salep 592 Salib misri .... 593 Salicylic Acid . . . 253 Salix fragilis . . . 373 Salsepareille . . . 639 Salsepariii . . . . Bamadcra; imlica . Saml)()la Sambucus nigra . . Sandalwood . . . „ „ red . . Sandelliolz . . . . „ rotlies . . Sanders Wood, red . Sang-dragon . . . Sanguis Draconis Santal Santal citrin, bois de . SantalacetE . . . Santalic Acid . . . Santalin Santalum album . . „ Austro-caledoni- dicum . . „ cygnoruni . . „ Freycinetianum . „ pyrularium . . „ rubrum „ spicatum „ Yasi . Santonic Acid Santonica . Santonin . . Santoninic Acid Sapogenin . Saponin . . Sarothamnus vulgaris Sarsa Sarsaparilla . . . . „ Brazilian . „ Guatemala „ Guayaquil . „ Honduras . „ Indian „ Jamaica „ Lisbon „ Mexican „ Parti . Sarza .... Sassafras Bark . „ Camphor „ Nuts . „ officinale „ Oil 203, „ Root Sassafrasholz Sassafrid . Sassafrin . . Sassarubin . 484, I'ACB 640 120 278 297 540 175 540 175 175 609 609 176 540 540 176 176 540 540 541 540 540 175 541 540 349 346 348 349 73 37 148 639 639 645 644 646 644 379 645 645 645 645 639 483 484 485 483 485 483 483 485 485 485 PAGp; Satyrii radix . . . 592 Savin 567 Scamtnonium . . . 394 Scaiuinony .... 394 „ resin . . 397 „ root . . 397 Schierlingsbliitter . . 268 Schierlingsfrucht . . 266 Schiffspecli .... 564 Schlangenwurzel . . 532 Scliosnanthus . . . 662 Schoenocaulou offici- nale 633 Scliusterpech . , . 564 Schwarzes Pech . . 564 Scilla indica .... 629 „ maritima . . 627 Scillitin 629 Sclerotium Clavus . 675 Scoparii cacumina . .148 Scoparin 149 Scorodosma fcetidum . 280 Scrophularia frigida . 373 ScROPHULARIACKyE . 422 Secale cornutum . . 672 Seidelbaste-Rinde . . 486 Seigle ergots . , . 672 Semen Ajavse . . . 269 „ Ammi . . . 271 „ Amomi . . . 255 „ Arecse . . . 607 „ Badiani . . 20 „ Bonducellse . 185 „ Carui . . .271 „ Cataputise . . 510 „ Cinse . . , 346 „ Colchici . . 638 „ Contra . . . 346 „ Cydonise . . 239 „ et folia Daturse albse . . . 415 „ Foeni-grseci . 150 ,, Gynocardise . 70 „ Ignatii . . . 387 „ Ispaghulse . 440 „ Kaladanae. . 402 „ Lini .... 89 „ Nucis vomicae 384 „ Physostigma- tis. Ricini . Sabadillse sanctum Santonicse 167 510 633 346 346 702 INDEX. PAGE 1 PAGE Semen Sinapisnigrse 61 Smilax glabra . . . 648 „ }, al^' 36. 64 „ Japicanga . . 649 „ StapMsagrise 5 „ lanceajfolia . 648 „ Stramonii . . 414 „ medica . . . 640 „ Tiglii . . . 508 „ officinalis . . 639 „ Zecloarise . . 346 „ papyracea . . 641 Semencine . . . . 346 „ Pseudo-China 649 Seiie, feailles de . . 189 „ Purhampuy . 641 Senega Eoot . . . 72 „ Schomburg- Senegin .... . 73 kiana . . . 641 Seneka Eoot . . . 72 „ syphilitica . . 640 Senf, schwarzer . 61 „ syringoides . 649 „ weisser . . . 64 „ tamnoides . . 649 Senna . 189 Snake-root, black . . 15 „ Alexandrian . 191 „ Eed Eiver 534 „ Arabian . . . 192 „ Texan . . 534 „ Bombay . . . 192 „ Virginian 532 „ East Indian . 192 Socaloin .... . 625 „ Moka . . . 192 SOLANACE^ . . . . 404 „ Tinnevelly . . 192 Solanicine . . . . 405 Sennacrol . . . . 193 Solanidine . .• . . 405 Sennapicrin . . . . 193 Solanine .... . 405 Serpentaire . . , . 532 Solanum Dulcamara . 404 Serpentary Eoot . . 532 „ nigrum . . 405 Sesame Oil . . . . 425 „ tuberosum L . 573 Sesames . . . . 425 Solazzi Juice . . . 161 Sesamol . . . . 425 Solenostemma Argel . 194 Sesamum indicum . 425 Sont . 207 Setse Mucunse . . 165 Sorghum saccharatum 656 SetAvall . . . . 338 Soymida febrifuga . 137 Sevenkrant . . . 567 Spanish Juice . . . 159 Shir-kkislit . . . 372 Sparteine . . . . 149 Siddlii . . . . 493 Spartium Scopariunx . 148 Simaruba excelsa . 118 SpearmLut . . . . 431 SiMARUBEiE . . . . 118 Spermoedia Clavus . 675 Sinalbin . . . . . 65 Sphacelia segetura . 675 Sinapic Acid . . 66 Sphterococcus lichen- Sinapine, sulphate . 65 oides . . . . 681 Sinapis alba . . . . 64 Spigelia ]\Iarilandi -ia . 389 „ juncea . . . 64 Spike, oil of . . . 430 „ nigra . . . 61 Spogel Seeds . . 440 Sinapoleic Acid . . 63 Spriuggurke . . . 260 Sinigrin . . . . . 62 Spurred Eye . 672 Sireh Grass . . . . 660 Squill. . . . . 627 Sison Amomuui . . 271 Squinanthus . 662 Skulein . . . . . 629 Squine . . . . 648 Slevogtia orientali s . 393 Stacte .... . 126 Smilace/e , . . . 639 Staphisagrine . . 7 Smilacin . . . . . G46 Staphisaigre . . . 5 Smilax Balbisiana . . 649 Stapliisaine . . . 6 ,, Brasiliensi s . 649 Star-Anise . . . . 20 „ Cliina . . . 648 Starch, Canna . . . 573 J, cordutu-ov dta. 641 „ chemistry ( f . 571 „ fero.\ . . 048 1 „ Curcuma . . 574 PAGE Starch, Potato . . . 573 „ structure of .571 Stavesacre .... 5 Stearophanic Acid . 32 Stechapfellalatter . .412 Stechapfelsamen . . 414 Stephanskurner . . 5 StePvCuliace^ . . 87 Sternanis .... 20 Stinkasant .... 280 Stipes Dulcamarse . 404 Stizolobium pruriens . 165 Storax, liquid . . . 241 „ true ..... 246 Stramoine, herbe . . 412 „ semences . 414 Stramonium . . .412 „ Seeds . 414 Strobili Humuli . . 495 Strychnic Acid . . . 386 Strychnine . . 385, 388 Strychnos colubrina . 386 „ Ignatii . . 387 „ Nux- vomica 384 „ Philippensis 387 „ Tieute . .386 Sturmhut . . . 7, 11 Styphnic Acid . . . 288 Styrace^e .... 361 StjTacin 244 Styrax Benzoin . .361 „ calamita . . . 245 ,, Finlaysonianum 361 ,, liquida . . .241 „ officinale . . . 246 „ subdenticulatimi 365 Styrol 244 „ from Balsam of Tolu . 179 „ ,, Benzoin . 365 „ „ Dragon's Blood . 611 Styronc 244 Sue d'Alocs . . . .616 Succus Glycyrrhizae 159 Sucre de canne . . . 649 Sucrose 649 Sugar 649 „ beet root . . . 655 „ burnt .... 655 „ maple .... 656 „ palm .... ()55 „ sorghum . . . ()56 Sumbul Eoot . . .278 PAd!" Sumbuliunic Acitl . . 27i) Sumbiilic Acid . . . 279 Sunilnilin .... 27t) Sumbulolic Acid . . 279 Sureau ' . . '. . .297 Siissholz 15G Sweet Flag root . ,613 „ Gum. . . . 24G „ Wood bark . 505 Swietenia febrifuga . 137 Sylvio Acid . . , 548, 559 Synantlirose . . . 342 Syrup, golden . , .657 Syrupus communis . 657 „ HoUandicus . 657 Tabac 418 Tabakbliitter . . .418 Taj -pat 480 Talcli or Talha . , 206, 210 Tamarind . . . .197 Tamarindi pulpa . .197 Tamarindus indica . 197 „ occidentalis 198 Tamarix gallica . .371 „ orientalis . . 540 Tannaspidic Acid . .669 Tannenliarz . . . .556 Tannic Acid from galls 538 Tar 560 „ beech .... 564 „ birch 564 „ juniper .... 563 „ oil of 564 „ water .... 563 Taraxacerin .... 353 Taraxacin .... 353 TaraxacumDens-Ieonis 351 „ ofE-ciiiale . 351 Tecamez Bark . . .321 Teel Oil 425 Tepln-osia ApoUiaea . 194 Terebinthina Argen- toratensis 555 „ Canadensis 552 „ CMa . . . 146 „ Cypria . . 146 „ laricina . . 549 „ Veneta . . 549 „ vulgaris . 545 Terebenthine d'Alsace 555 „ de Briancon . 549 de Canada . 552 INDEX. VACF. Terebentliino do Chio 146 „ de Chypres . 146 „ commune . . 545 „ du m(51ezc . . 549 „ du Siipin . . 555 „ de Strasbourg 555 „ de Venise . . 549 Terpenthm, Chios . .146 „ Cyprischer . . 146 „ gemeine . . . 545 „ Liirchen- . . . 549 ,, Strassburger . 555 „ Venetianischer . 549 Terra Japonica (cate- chu) .213 „ „ (Gambier) 298 Tetracetylene . . . 244 Thalictrum foliolosum 5 Thalleioquin . , \ 322 Thallochlor .... 672 Thebaicine . . . . 55 Thebaine . . . . 55, 58 Thebenine .... 55 Thebolactic Acid . . 56 Theobroma Cacao . . 87 „ leiocarpum . . 87 „ oil of . . . . 87 „ pentagonum . , 87 „ Salzmannianum 87 Thornapple .... 412 Thridace 354 Thus Americanum . 549 „ masculum . . .120 „ vulgare . . .549 Tliyme 437 „ Camphor . . 437 „ oil of . . . 438 THTMELEiE .... 486 Thymene .... 438 Thymiankrant . . . 437 Thymol 438 „ from ajowan . 270 Thymus vulgaris . . 437 Tigala 373 TiglinicAcid . . .509 Tiglium ofl&cinale . . 508 Tikhar or Tikor . . 574 Til Oil 425 Tinospora cordifolia . 32 „ crispa . . 33 Tita 4 Tobacco 418 „ Camphor . . 421 „ Indian . . 357 703 Toddalia aculeata . . I'ACK 101 Toddy 655 Tolene 179 ToUkraut .... 411 Tolomane .... 573 Tolubalsam .... 177 Toluene 562 Toluifera Balsamum . 177 Toluol or Toluene 183 ,562 „ from Dragon's Blood . . 611 Toulema 573 Tous-les-mois . . . 573 Toute-epice .... 255 Tragacanth, flake . . 154 „ Syrian . 155 „ vermicelli 154 Tragacantha . 151 Traganthin .... 155 Treacle or Molasses . 657 Trehala 373 Trehalose .... 678 TrigoneHa Fcenum- gr£ecum .... 150 Trimethylamine in ergot . .678 „ in hop 498 Triolein 376 Tripalmitin .... 376 Triticin .... 664 Triticum repens . 663 Tropic Acid .... 411 Tropine .... 411 Tuber Chin^ . . 648 Turanjabin . . . 371 Turmeric 577 Turpentine, American 547 „ Bordeaux . 547 „ Canadian . 552 „ Chian . 146 „ common 545 „ Cyprian 146 „ larch . 549 „ Strassburg 555 „ Venice 549 Tylophora asthmatica 382 Tyrosia 75 IjLMACEiE . . . 500 Ulmenriude .... 500 Ulmiu 501 Ulmus campestris . 500 „ fulva . . 501 „ montana . 500 704 INDEX. PAGE Umbellifer^ . . . 264 UmbeUiferone . . .287 „ from asafoetida 285 „ „ mezereon 487 „ „ sumbul . 279 Uncaria acida . . . 298 „ Gambler . . 298 Urginea altissima . . 629 „ indica . . • 629 „ maritima . .627 „ Scilla . . .627 Ursone 360 Uvse passse . . .140 Vaccinium Vitis-idsea 360 Valerene 340 Valerian Boot . . . 337 Valeriana angustifolia 338 J, officinalis . 337 ' „ Phu . . .340 ValerianacejE . . 337 Valerianic Acid . . 339 Valerol 340 „ from hop . .497 Vanilla 595 „ planifolia . . 595 Vanillic Acid , Vanillin . . . „ artificial Veilchenwurzel Vellartn . . Veratramarin Veratric Acid Veratrine Veratrum album „ friffidum PAGE 597 596 597 598 265 631 635 634 630 C32 „ Lobelianum 632 „ nigrum . . 632 „ officinale . 633 „ viride . . 632 Verek 206 Verzino 189 Vetti-ver 663 Vikunia 255 Virginic Acid ... 73 Vitis vinifera . . .140 Waclibolderbeeren . 565 Waltlieria glomerata . 532 Wattle tree .... 207 Weihrauch . . . .120 Whortleberry^ red . . 360 PAGE Wild black Cherry bark 224 Winter's Bark 55 55 Wood Apple 5, Oil . Wormseed . Wurmsamen false 17 19 118 81 346 346 Ximenia Americana . 222 Xylene 562 Xylenol 627 Yegaar 135 Zanthoxylum . ZeitlosenknoUen Zeitlosensamen . Zimmt . . . Ziugiber oflS.cinale Zingiberace^ . Zitwersamen Zucker . . . Zwetschen . . Zygophylle^ . 101 636 638 466 574 574 346 649 224 92 THE END, LONDON : It. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOK, I'lllNTERS, BREAD STREET IIILL. ht «r^ 'I » ... ^ >^j .-;<-t:! ■^i