202 CUCURBITACEiE. 



honour of Pelletier, is readily soluble in water, alcohol or chloroform, 

 and has a somewhat aromatic odour. Several of its salts are crystal- 

 lizable, yet extremely hygroscopic. The yield of the root bark was 

 about i per cent, of the alkaloid, or about 2 per cent, of crystallizetl 

 sulphate from trees grown near Troyes, in the Champagne. 



Uses — A decoction, followed by a purgative, is stated by Waring' 

 and others to be most efficient for the expulsion of the tape-worm. 

 The fresh bark is said to bo preferable to the dried. 



Adulterations — The commercial drug frequently consists partly 

 or entirely of the bark of the stem or branches, characterized 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 dis- 

 tinctly 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 sempervirens and of Berheris vulgaris are 

 somewhat similar to the drug under notice, but their decoctions are not 

 affected by salts of iron. 



CUCUKBITACE^. 



FRUCTUS ECBALLII. 



Frudus Elaterli; Materium Fruit, Squirting Cucmnher, jfi?'^ 

 Cucumher; F. Concomhre imvyatif ou saiivage ; G. Springgun'^- 



Botanical Ovlgin—Echallium^ Elaterium A. Richard Q^o'^^^jf^' 

 Materium L.), a coarse, hispid, fleshy, decumbent plant without le 

 Jils^Jiaving a thick white perennial root. It is common througnoi 

 the Mediterranean region, extending eastward as far as boutn 

 Russia and Persia, and westward to Portugal. It succeeds v^ eu ^^ 

 Central Europe, and is cultivated to a small extent for medicinal 



Mitcham and Hitch 



H 



name of 2 

 who ex 



■y— Theophrastus mentions the plant under ^o*jP® ^"^'i^les, 

 ^i. ^Ikvo? aypiog. It is also particularly noticed by -'^^*^,% -^mi 

 3xplicitly describes the singular process for making eiai« ^^^ 

 {eXaWjpiov), which was almost exactly like that followed ai- 

 present day. ^^j 



, The Wild or Squirting Cucumber was well known and cultna 

 in gardens in England as early as the middle of the IGth century _^^^ 

 Description^The fruit is ovoid-oblong, nodding, about 11^^^^.^^ 

 long, hispid from numerous short fleshy prickles terminating ui 

 elongated points. It is attached by a long scabrous peduncle, is .^^ .^ 

 and green while young, becoming slightly yellowish when mature, 



n^-£?'^m ^"""^' °-^ ^^«^- S<^'<'>^ce, vi. allusion to the expulsion of the set 

 ^ 2 ?ii^r"''™f''^^^« o//«c/;a, 18G8. 93. erroneously written AciaJ""- 



£cballnm from IkPuWu,, I expel, in 3 Turner's Herbal!, lobS, part 



cds : often 



