114 APPENDIX. 



CARYOPHYLLEiE. 



False Bikli or Bikhma. 



Towards the end of 189 1 certain medico -legal exhibits were 

 received in the Chemical Examiner's Department, Calcutta, from the 

 Mongyr District, including a parcel of roots labelled Bikhma, 

 Bickhma or Bishma, we may mention, is the vernacular name for 

 Aconitum palmattim. Specimens were sent for identification to the 

 Calcutta Bazaars, and recognized as Bikhma ; we also forwarded some 

 to Nepal, where it was recognized, and stated to be sold as Bikhma 

 in the Bazaars. Up to this period we had had no opportunity of ex- 

 amining authentic specimens of Bikhma, and being doubtful whether 

 the drug we had received from Mongyr was time Bikhma or not, we 



forwarded a sample to Dr. Dymock, Bombay, who reported as 



follows : — " They appear to be the rhizomes of an aroid, and are not 



unlike those of the genera Lagenandra, Ainim, and Cryptocoryne. 



They have been cured by some smoking process, have a strong tarry 



odour, and are somewhat translucent, tough, and flexible. They 



have no resemblance in structure to any kind of aconite. I have 



never seen them before," Dr. D. Prain, of the Royal Botanic 



Gardens, Seebpore, to whom we also submitted a specimen, wi'ote: **I 



cannot identify it for certain, but it is, I think, a leguminous rhizome. 



It might be a glycynrhiza." Subsequently Dr. Dymock kindly sent 



us a specimen of true A, pahnatum : '* some of the same batch I sent 



to Fliickiger, and which was examined by Shimoyama. I kept it as 



being a remarkably fine sample; as the drug is expensive, it may be 



adulterated with aconite. Bs. 6 per lb. is the price, and aconite is 



only 9 annas." His sample, when compared with ours, was wholly 



dissimilar. Under the circumstances we thought it might be of 



interest to examine the spurious Bikhma, and our results are 



embodied in this note. In the condition in which the roots were 



received they were so homy that it was impossible to powder them, 



and they were cut into fragments, exposed to a temperature of about 



80° C. for some time, allowed to cool, and then at once pulverised. 



During the process the dust caused watering of the eyes and sneezing. 



When dried at 100^ C. the powder lost 6-23 per cent, of moisture. 



In extracting the powder 315-5 grammes were exhausted with boiling 



rectified spirit, and the tincture evaporated on a water -bath until it 



ceased to smell of alcohol. The resulting extract was of a dark 



