160 ARTSTOLOCHTACEJ^. 



properties is given. In Bombay Sapsan is cliiefly prescribed lu 

 the bowel complaints of children and in cholera ; it is regarded 

 as a stimulant tonic, and is also applied externally to the 

 abdomen. Babu T. N. Mukharji states that the juice of the 

 fresh leaves is very useful in the croup of children, by induc- 

 ing vomiting/ without causing any depression, [Am-sferdam 

 Ca/., p. 21.) 



, Description. — The drug as sold in the shops consists of 

 the root and stem, the latter in by far the larger proportion ; ui 

 many parcels the stem only is to be found It is either in short 

 pieces, or the whole stem may be twisted into a kind of circular 

 bundle. The thickest portion of the stem is i to i an inch or 

 more in diameter, and has a central woody column made up oi 

 about ten wedge-shaped portions. The bark is thick and corky, 

 marked with longitudinal ridgres and numerous small warty 



„*«.*v*^.^..^ *^"0 



projections ; it is of a yellowish-brown colour. The taste i3 

 bitter and camphoraceous, and the odour aromatic and agreeable. 



1 3Iicrosco2n'c sfrudifre. — The wedge-shaped woody columns are 

 traversed by large vessels, the medullary rays are distinct ana 

 easily traced into the bark ; in the latter, which consists of 

 starchy and corky parenchymatous tissue, there is a circulai 

 zone of large yellow stone-cells. 



Chemical composition. — The air-dried roots were contused an 



ml- 



digested for several days with warm 80 per cent, alcohol, -l^ 



greater part of the alcohol from the resultant tincture ^va3 



removed by distillation, but the last traces could be separuted 



by spontaneous evaporation with difficulty, owing to 



resinous matter separating and floating on the surface and thus 



preventing evaporation. The extract still containing alcohol, and 



which possessed a strong smell of the drug, was mixed with water 



and agitated with light petroleum ether. During agitation a 



r!:irk viscid resinous mass separated, as well as a small aniouufc 



oi a bright yellow powder. The clear aqueous solution, after 



separation of the petroleum ether, was gently heated to expel 



alcohol, and the residue acidified with sulphuric acid a"^ 



agitated with ether. After separation of the ether, the aqueous 



s 



oft 



