EUPnORBIACE^. 245 



" Vasanfagandha, a Saiislirit word meaniug iij>n')i/;-/raffraHee, is, according to 

 Eoxburgli, a designation in tlio Tclinga or Telugu language of the same red powder. 



"The Hindustani name Kdmald has, witli slight variations in spelling, been 

 adopted by the Europeans iu India, and I shall therefore employ it (omitting the 

 accents indicating the long quantity of the vowels) as the most convenient term 

 by which to designate the red powder derived from the capsules of Rotflera tincfuria. 



" Kamala, as found in the Indian bazaars, has the aspect of a brick-red powder, 

 possessing from its structure that peculiar mobile character which we notice in 

 Lycopodium and Lnpuline. It also agrees with Lycopodium in the difficulty with 

 which it is mixed with water, and in the manner in which it ignites when thrown 

 into the air over the Hamc of a candle. Examined with a lens, or still better with 

 the compound microscope, it is seen to consist of garnet-red, semi-transparent, 

 roundish granules, of from ^Jn, to ^-J „■ of an inch in diameter, more or less mixed 

 with minute stellate hairs and the remains of stalks, leaves, etc. : the latter 

 substances however are easily removed by careful sifting, the ilrug thereby acquiring 

 a brighter red colour and more uniform appearance. 



" Kamala has but little smell or taste. It is insoluble in cold water, and nearly 

 so in boiling water. It is soluble in a solution of an alkaline carbonate, and stiU 

 more so in one of caustic alkali, a deep-red solution being in either case produced. 

 The addition of an acid to these solutions occasions a precipitate of resinous matter. 



" Treated with alcohol or ether, Kamala affords a large proportion of soluble 

 matter and a solution of a beautiful deep-red colour. The alcoholic solution upon 

 the addition of water becomes turbid from the precipitation of resin. By repeated 

 digestions in hot alcohol, the whole of the I'esinous colouring matter of Kamala may 

 be removed, a pale-whitish substance being the only residuum. 



"Dr. Thomas Anderson, Regius Professor of Chemistry in the University of 

 Glasgow, who has made Kamala the subject of special investigation, finds that 

 if a concentrated ethereal solution of Kamala bo allowed to stand for a couple of 

 days, it soliilifies into a mass of gi'anular ciystals. If these be drained, pressed in 

 bibulous paper, and purified fi'om adhering resin by repeated solution and crystalli- 

 zation in ether, the crystalline substance is obtained in a state of purity. It then 

 consists of yellow crystals having the form of minute plates and a fine satiny lustre. 

 This substance has been named by Dr. Anderson Rotilerine. 



"Dr. Anderson states that Rottlerine is insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in 

 cold alcohol, more so in boiling. In ether, it is readily soluble. It dissolves in an 

 alkaline solution with a dark-red colour. Its alcoholic solution is not precipitated by 

 acetate of lead. 



" A concentrated alcoholic solution of Kamala deposits upon cooling a pale 

 flooculent matter, sometimes in such abundance as completely to till the fluid. This 

 substance is soluble in boiling alcohol, but sparingly in cold ; hardly soluble in ether, 

 and insoluble in water. It appears to have no crystalline structure. It gives no 

 precipitate with the salts of lead or silver, and does not appear to form a compound 

 with any other substance. In cbyiug it shrinks much, resembling hydrate of alumina 

 coloured with oxide of iron. The quantity obtained was, however, too minute for 

 a full investigation of its properties. 



" Kamala is used throughout India as a dye for silk, its colour being extracted 

 by boiling it in a solution of carbonate of soda. I have a specimen of silk dyed with 

 it, which is of a rich orange-brown. The root of the tree is said to be also used in dyeing. 



" It is however in its character of an anthelmintic that Kamala appears most to 

 deserve the attention of the medical man and pharmaceutist. 



"Dr. C. Mackinnon, Superintending Surgeon, Bengal iledical Establishment, in 

 introducing to notice the new remedy, states : — 



' My attention wa.s first called to it by a gnnner of tlie Ijriijiide, afleotcd witli tapeworm, in 

 ■wliom botli turpentine and kousso liad failed to expel the worm. Ue stated that a companion 

 of his affected witli tapeworm, had taken the remedy with success. I immediately sent for some, 

 and, without any pn-vious preparation of the patient, gave him .3 drachms. He wa.s a large 



Powerful man, and this producing no effect, in 4 hours afterwards the same dose was repeated. 

 t now operated very freely and frequently, and with the fourth stool a large tapeworm, G yards 

 long, was passed. 



