568 . SOLANACER:. 
white hairs, which give it a hoary appearance. The odour is 
pungent and disagreeable like horse’s urine. 
- The dried root as it appears in commerce: is of very uniform 
Appearance, being from 4 to 8 inches long, and from } to } 
ich in diameter at the thickest portion a little below ine! 
crown ; if is plump, smooth, tapering, and of a light yellowish 
brown colour externally, white internally, brittle; fracture 
short and starchy. The root is seldom branched. Attached 
to the crown are the remains of several slender stems. 
Microscopic examination shows the substance of the root to be 
principally composed of starch, enclosed in delicate oval cells ; 
the cortical portion is about 5, inch in thickness. The vas- 
cular system consists of a ee central bundle of scalariform 
and dotted vessels; round this several smaller bundles and 
single vessels are arranged in a radiating manner. It has a 
mucilaginous and slightly bitter taste. In the “ Materia Medica 
of Western India” an opinion is expressed that the commercial 
article'cannot be the root of W. somnifera. This opinion was 
founded upon a comparison of the drug with the root of that 
plant as found in the salt marshes near Bombay, where it ac- 
quires a twisted, woody form, entirely different to the tapering, 
starchy root which it has when growing in sweet soil. Young 
roots obtained from Satara exactly corresponded with the drug 
of commerce. Another point of difference is the red colour of 
the inner bark in the Bombay roots, which was not observed in 
those from the Deccan, The foliage, flowers and fruit of both 
is appear to be identical. 
_ © Chemical composition.—Dr. Trebat i in 1886 separated an 
ye elksloldigeom the Mediterranean plant, which forms a crystalline 
see ees ee hypnotic action, but not producing mydriasis. 
ly named the alkaloid Somniferine. ( Lancet.) 
the Indian plant, reduced to fine powder and 
with a ! afforded: a a red-coloured tincture 
dto dryness. The 
late racer 4 
