428 LOGANIACE^. 



amount of crystals,— insufficient for analysis. Dissolved and injected 

 mto 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 Tylophor(E~Th.iB root is met with 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 incli in 

 thickness, emitting 2 to 3 aerial stems, and a considerable number of 



wiry roots. 



bji 



m diameter, and are very brittle. The whole drug is of a pale yello^rish 

 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 

 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. 



LOGANIACEJE. 



NUX VOMICA. 



Semen Nucis Vomicce; Ahix Vomica; F. Noix vomique; G. BrecJmv.^s. 



Botanical Origin— Strychnos Nux-vomica L., a moderate sized tree 

 with short, thick, often crooked stem, and small, greenish-white, tubular 

 ttowers ranged in terminal corymbs. It is indigenous to most parts of 

 India, espepally the coast districts, and is found in Burmah, Siara, 

 Cochin China and Northern Australia. 



The ovary of 8. 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 

 nilcd 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 tmn, smooth, somewhat hard shell, which at first is greenish, but when 

 inature,_ 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 

 which is hard and durable, is very bitter. 



" ''•mTtrlrl^z/ff '"*'''? '- ^1 *^^ P'^^P ^ perfectly white, crystalline residue, vlucji 



cxSne^ft-^;£, :'^'^v ; v"^ '^^ ^"^ ^^^« 'ii^^^J^^^l '" ^'^^^^^ ^"^1 precipitated .v.th 



enabled to aft wi^th^^^^^ ""^ 7T ^'^'^^^'^^^^^ of potassimn. Vhe crysUUh^ed 



Thwaiterof the r vVfef ^ • fr ' '^P''- Precipitate dried, and moistened y>th 



Ceylon The 'l;,^,-^!?^ hardens, strong sulphuric acid, exhibited the %^olet 



T^r.T./dilutedSw&l^f^ hue characteristic of strychnine. , . . 



consistent elly haviJ. a ."i/lh"'^ ""■ T'^ ^o eoiifu-m this experfmcnt, we ohtameJ 



action and^ very bittp? fn 1^^*^^ ^^''^/^- through tlie obliging assistance of Dr. Bid.e 



^-as mixed S s a£d V ' P'^f ^^ '* "^ ^^^^'^^' ^'^"^e of the white pulp taken 



then exhausted bvboiliL.hf' Y""^' ^l"^ ^^^h a spoon from the interior of the npe 



liqmd left on iaporafion T^^'n- ^\^ ^''"'t' '"^"^l ^^ oi.oe immersed per se in spirit 



resmoid mass, whi?h w ^^ y^^}'''''']^}' of wine. The alcoholic fluid gave abundant 



acetic acid. The col^urllsa .nT-fK"" • TJ"i evidence of th e presence of strychnine. 



oiouriess solution yielded 2 According to Cleghorn by the hornhiH 



