EADIX TODDALI^. 



Ill 



a form of B. cvenalata) have to our knowledge been imported on one 

 occasion (1873). They are liearly an inch long, oval, rounded at 

 fhr base, strongly crenate, and grow from inibesceiU shoots. 



other 



Afr 



jrenera they were not to be mistaken for the genuine drug. 



RADIX TODDALI^. 



^v.^«nA^«x wii^iix — ^ y^vv^v^vv^,^ ^^cvt^^^t^.v ^ ^^..., a ramous prickly 

 Ijush/ often climbing over the highest trees, common in the souther 



■ 



Botanical Origin — Toddalia acideata Pers., 



n 



parts o£ the Indian Peninsula as the Coromandel Coast, South Concans, 

 and Canara, also found in Ceylon, Mauritius, . the Indian Archipelago 

 and Southern China. ' 



History—The pungent aromatic properties which pervade the 

 plant, hut especially the fresh root-bark, are well known to the natives 

 of India and have been utilized in their medical practice. They have 

 also attracted the attention of Europeans, and the root of the plant is 

 now recognized in the Pharmacopoeia of India. 



It is from this and other .species of Toddalia, or from the allied 

 genus Zcmthoxylum,^ that a drug is derived which under the name of 

 ^^opez Root had once some celebrity in Europe. This drug which was 



^iyn&ii'o, was first made known by the" Italian physician Redi;'* who 

 described it in 1G71 from specimens obtained by Pigneiro i 

 of the river Zambesi in Eastern Africa,- the very locality in which 

 in our times Toddalia lartceolata Lam. lias been collected by Dr. Kirk.' 



z 



P 



at the moutl 



It was actually introduced into European medicine by Gaubi 

 )77l a-s a remedy for diarrhoea, and acquired so much reputatiu 



ion that 



as admitted to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia of 171)2. The root 

 appears to have been sometimes imported from Goa, but iis place of 

 o'rowth and botanical origin were entirely unknown, and it was always 

 *^^xtremely rare and costly ."^ It has long been obsolete in all countries 

 ^j^cept Holland, where until recently it was to be met with in the 

 Shops. The Pharmacopceia Keerlandica of 1851 says of it "On go 

 '(^f'-^nica perquum dubia—Patria Malacca ?" 



Description— Tlie specimen of the root of Toddalia aculeata 

 ^^ hich we have examined was collected for us by Dr. G. Bidie of Madras 

 ^^noso statements regardintr the stimulant and tonic action of the drug 



"lay be found i 

 ^■oody 



>/ 



i 



442. It is a dense 

 ,^e evidently been 

 lianieter, covered 



2 t£ '"^ ^^^i^ley and Triinen, part 18. 

 WtVv'^T ^r"" ^<f'^ff*ox7jlum sent to xxs 

 ^rKB(;K^^^ A''- ^'^^^^^^li^^yk of the Buiteii- 

 ^^ that nf "r^ 7 T ^""^^^^ ^'^^ exactlythe aspect 

 ^•tich Z I '^^^"^^'^^- The root of Z. Biw,d 



? liuiu- 



- «iso o. ^^ ^•^i^inmed in the fresli state 

 ^ith a ?n?f^^ ^*^!^ similar. It is covered 

 Vfcrj- bitter f ^^^ ^'' ^^^^^'^ ^^^^ having a 

 '**"" ^'^at of pSiii ''''^^' "" '^™''^ pnngency 



3 Eaperknze hffonw a diverse 

 raJL Firenze, ll>71. 121. 



4 Oliver, Ftor. of Trop. Africa, i. (1868) 



307. 



* Advermrki, Leidae, p. i8. 



« Our friend Dr, de Vry informs us 

 that he remembers the price in Holland 

 in 1828 being equivalent to about 24y. tlie 

 ounce ! 



