\ 



NAT. ORDER. CEPH^LH)^. 177 



short, fimbricated, withering stipules, embracing the stem ; the 

 JloiDcrs are aggregated in a sohtary head, on a round, downy ybo^ 

 stalk, terminating the stem ; somewhat drooping and encompassed 

 by a four-leaved involucre ; the fords are sessile, from fifteen to 

 twenty-four in number, interspersed with little bracteas; the calyx 

 is very small, five-toothed, superior, persistent ; the corolla is mono- 

 petalous, the border shorter than the tube ; woolly about the throat, 

 swelling upwards, and divided into five, ovate, acute, spreading 

 segments ; the f laments are short, capillary, inserted into the upper 

 part of the tube, surrounded at their base with a short nectariferous 

 rim, and bearing oblong, linear, erect anthers; the germen is ornate, 

 surmounted by a thread-shaped style, as long as the tube, and ter- 

 minated by two obtuse stigmas which are the length of the anthers ; 

 the fruit is a one-celled berry, of a reddish-purple color, becoming 

 wrinkled and black, and containing two smooth, oval seeds. \ 



Brown ipecacuan was first introduced into Europe about the 

 middle of the last century ; but it is impossible to ascertain at what 

 period this root was first made known for its emetic effects in this 

 country. Piso published an account of it in 1618. Although the 

 root of this plant has long been employed as an emetic, and as other- 

 wise forming a valuable remedial agent in our list of materia medica ; 

 yet the botanical characters of the plant itself were unknown, till 

 Professor Brotero of Coimbra determined the genus to which it 

 ought to be referred. According to Decandole, the term Ipecacu- 

 anha, in South America, implies vomiting-root, and therefore it is 

 implied to the roots of very different plants, such as the Asclepias 

 currassavica, Cynanchum Ipecacuanha, Viola Parviflora, Viola Ipe- 

 cacuanha, Viola calceoiaria, and Cynanchum tormentosum : and some- 

 times to the Dorstenia brasiliensis, Dorstenia arifolia, and to the Eu- 

 phorbia ipecacuanha. Two varieties of the root are brought to this 

 country, packed in bales from Rio Janeiro, the brown and the white, 

 but whether they be the roots of one and the same plant, or other- 

 ■wise, does not appear to be exactly determined. Accordino- to 

 Mutis, the former is the root of the Ccphcelis, and the latter, on the 



