434 ASCLEPIADEA. 
The emetic properties of Calotropis were brought to the 
notice of the profession in Europe. by Dr. Duncan in 1829 
(Edin. Med. and. Surg. Journ., XXXIL., p. 65),.and they are 
noticed in the Bengal Dispensatory, where the drug is recom- 
mended as a substitute for Ipecacuanha. Since the publication 
of that work abundant testimony in its favour has been col- 
lected, a summary of which will be found in the Pharmacopeia 
of India. Duncan (1829) made a chemical examination of the » 
root bark, the activity of which he referred to an’ extractive 
matter which he termed Mudarine. A kind of gutta-percha 
was obtained from the juice of this plant by Dr. Riddell, 
Superintendent Surgeon H. H. the Nizam’s Army, in 1851. 
(Journ. Agri-Hort. Soc. of India, Vol. VILI.) In 1853 it was 
examined by Prof. Redwood, who found it to possess many 
properties in common with the gutta-percha of commerce. 
No further trial of this substance appears to have been made 
during the last 37 years. 
Modern physiological research has shown that the juice 
applied to the skin acts as an irritant, the practice of apply- 
ing it with salt to bruises and sprains to remove pain is there- 
fore rational; also the application of the fresh bark in chronic 
rheumatism. Given internally in small doses the drug stimu- 
lates the capillaries and acts powerfully upon the skin, it is 
therefore likely to be useful in elephantiasis and leprosy. 
(Casanora.) The benefit derived from the administration of 
the flowers in asthma is probably due to their nauseant action. 
Tn large doses Calotropis causes vomiting and purging, acting 
as an irritant emeto-cathartic. 
Description.—The root barks of 0. gigantea and 
C. procera are similar in appearance, and occur in short 
quilled pieces $ to $ of an inch thick. The outer surface is 
yellowish-grey, soft and corky, fissured longitudinally, and 
ean be easily separated from the middle cortical layer, which is 
white, friable, and traversed by narrow brown liber rays. ‘The 
taste is mucilaginous, bitter and acrid, and the odour peculiar. 
_ Microscopic structure.—In both kinda of root bark the suber _ 
consists of large thin-walled cells, generally polyhedeatey ae | 
