THE MICROSCOPE. 



the microscope by persons having had no experience in this line of 

 work before. But to understand what belongs to the pure powder 

 one should become accjuainted with the physical appearance as well 

 as the structure of the root itself. 



The botanical name is Cephc'etis ipecac- 

 uanha while the common name is ipecac. 

 It belongs to the natural order Rubiaceae. 

 It is indigenous to the damp forests of 

 Brazil, New Granada, and the north- 

 eastern portion of Bolivia between about 

 V 1 ><••',''"•-' V'i^x^y~'-r- 8' and 22° south latitude. So it is entirely 

 .^ / I ?*.U'.i 10- j_^A^ an imported drug. 



The roots are numerous, spreading 

 horizontally from their origin. At first 

 slender and white, but when fully grown 

 about ^ of an inch in diameter. In pre- 

 paring the drug for market the smaller 

 roots are discarded, only those of an aver- 

 age thickness being used. They are long, 

 seldom branched, of an orange-brown, or 

 of a dull gray-brown occasionally almost 

 black, irregularly bent and twisted and 

 covered with a very thick bark. There 

 are numerous deep longitudinal furrows 

 running the entire length of the root, trans- 

 versely marked by ring-like furrows closely 

 packed together. The depressions be- 

 tween the rings being sometimes as deep 

 as the woody cord. These corrugations 

 frequently number twenty to the inch, and 

 t,Mve the appearance of rings strung on 

 a cord, hence the name annulated 

 ipecacuanha, which is applied to this root 

 and by which it is distinguished from the 

 non-officinal ipecacuanhas. The woody 

 cord is about ^^ of an inch in diameter, 

 ^_ ^ , , and when wet shows distinct medullary 



FIG. I. Cross section of Ipecac- . ^ 



uanharoot. x 60. rays. There is no pith present. The 



thick bark composes about three-fourths the bulk and weight of 

 the root, and separates readily from the woody cord. 



