36 BERBEKIDE^. 



considerable notice in India, and tliough its efficacy per se" seemed 

 questionable, it was administered with benefit as a tonic and febrifuge.' 

 But the Tusot of the natives being often badly prepared or adulterated, 

 the bark of the root has of late been used in its place, and in consequence 



/ 



efficacj 



V 



Description.— In B. asiatica (the only species we have examined) 

 tlie 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 

 stride. 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 



North 



Hills 







The root-bark of Berheris vulgaris L. was found by Polex (1836) to 

 contain another alkaloid named OxyacantJdne, 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. In the collection of 

 the Chinese customs at Paris, in 1878, the root-barks of Berhens 

 Lycium and B. chinensis, from the province of Shen-si, were likewise 



(N 



RHIZOMA PODOPHYLLI. 



Radix jpodophylli; Podophyllum Root. 



Botanical Origin — Fodopjhyllum 

 growing in moist shady situations thn 

 North American 

 Florida. 



stem 



L., a perennial herb 



om 



rising from between two leaves of the size of the hand composed ot 

 5 to 7 wedge-shaped divisions, somewhat lobed and toothed at the 

 apex. The yellowish pulpy fruit of the size of a pigeon s egg i^ 



_ ^ someti 



The leavevS partake of the active properties of the root. 



History — The virtues of the rhizome as an anthelminthic and emetic 



names for lyclum given by Ibn Baytar in ^ O'Shaughnessy, Bengal DispensatoPJ 



the 13th century are precisely those under (1842) 203—206. 



which TUsot is met with in the Indian ^ Journ. of R. Asiat. Soc, vii. (1S43) /•*• 



bazaars at the present day. ^ Pharm. Journ. vii. (1S66) 303. 



I The natives apply it in combination ^ Gmelin, Chemistry, xvii. (1866) 197< 

 with aliim and opium. 



