96 : ORD. XLIV.  Piperite. PIPER CUBEBA. 
& 
Leone, Batavia, Guinea, and the Isle of France. The stems are round, 
_ smooth, long, creeping and rooting. The leaves are from one to two inches 
in length, mostly elliptic-lanceolate, or cordate, entire, solitary at each joint 
of the stems, and supported on channelled footstalks, about half an inch in 
length. ‘Che flowers are small, and produced in crowded, solitary, terminal, 
spikes. The fruit is a smooth, fleshy, globular, one-celled berry, on a short 
stalk, of a deep red colour at first, but changing to brown and coriaceous 
when dried, containing a single roundish seed.* Fig. (a) section of the fruit ; 
(6) a seed ; (c) the embryo. 
Sensible and Chemical Properties, &c. The berries (the officinal part of 
this plant) are of a grayish brown colour when dry; they have a strong 
aromatic odour, and a hot, spicy, pungent taste: when chewed, they heat 
the mouth, but leave a cool sensation on the palate. If dried with much 
heat previous to pulverisation, they are said to lose a considerable portion 
of their active properties. According to the analysis of M. Vauquelin,t 
cubebs contain a coloured resin, a thick volatile oil of a reddish colour, 
nearly concrete ;{ a resin analogous to that of balsam of copaiba, coloured 
gummy matter, extractive, analogous to that of the Leguminose, and various 
saline substances. The watery infusion of the powdered berries is of a 
reddish brown colour, cloudy, with the odour and flavour of the drug: its 
colour is not altered by sulphate of iron, but a precipitate falls. The pow- | 
dered berries should be kept in close-stopped bottles, as it quickly loses its 
active properties, if exposed to the atmosphere. 
Medical Properties and Uses. Cubebs are diuretic and gently aperient : 
_by the Indian practitioners they are used as a grateful stomachic and car- 
minative ; and we are told the Arabs also use them asa condiment. Cubebs 
were introduced into this country a few years ago as a remedy for gonor- 
rhea, in which they were said to moderate the inflammation and discharge; 
and in the majority of cases cut short the disease in less tine than any 
medicine previously made use of. Mr.Jefferies, who published an essay on this © 
subject a few years since, considers it not only as a very safe remedy, but, in 
the generality of cases, infinitely more useful and expeditious than any 
* The figuré accompanying the above description was made from an original drawing, 
- copied from dried specimens in the Museum of the Hon. East India Company. 
+ Journ. Pharm. vi. 309. ; 
; Two pounds and a half have been found to afford about two ounces of oil. 
al 
