THE INDIAN ACONITES 



ACONITUM 



ROTUNDIFOLJUM 



Jadvar 



and perhaps half an inch thick at its upper extremity. In structure it is of a 

 uniform white farinaceous substance within ; transverse sections seem to consist 

 of four, or sometimes five, isolated cambium strands, the vessels of which show 

 prominently the radiating wedge-shaped formation. 



The discovery made by Dr. H. A. D. Jowett that the alkaloid exists in very 

 small proportions, destroys any chance for the drug in the future ; and the still 

 Inert. more recent opinion that it is inert, has no antiperiodic virtue (arrived at 



by the expert Committee appointed by the Government to investigate the 

 Indigenous Drugs of India), renders it necessary to remove the root from con- 

 sideration as a drug, except as a mild bitter tonic. Several European and Native 

 merchants and chemists furnished me with parcels of the roots of .4. paim-attun 

 under the name atis, and others of the true alia largely adulterated with 

 A. iHiiimiiniii. These facts may be accepted as showing that in Indian phar- 

 macy the two roots are regarded as similar, if not identical in properties. 

 [Of. Taleef Shereef (Playfair, transl.), 1833, 8.] 



D.E.P., 

 i., 98. 

 Bikma. 



Jadvar. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 96. 



A. palmatum, D. Don. ; Stapf, I.e. 156-8 ; Fl. Br. Ind., i., 28 

 (excl. syn.) ; Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 3, 89. A species met with in the 

 alpine Himalaya of Nepal, Sikkim, and South Tibet, at altitudes of from 

 10,000 to 15,000 feet. 



This is best known by the names bikma, bishma, wakhma, vakhma, and nirb'mi. 

 In Sikkim (according to Mr. C. Gilbert Rogers) it is the seto-bikhuma (or white 

 bikhuma, the black bikhuma being A. im-i>iintmn). The word bikhuma or 

 bikhma might be translated " resembling-ftiM," but also has the meaning of 

 non-poisonous bikh. So also nir-bish means free from poison (bish). It seems 

 probable that while that is the meaning of nirvishi, the word often confused 

 with it nirvisha denotes an antidote to poison. The nirvisha most quoted 

 by writers is the substance separately designated jadvar. The late Dr. Moodeen 

 Sheriff paid much attention to the subject of the jadvars of modern Indian 

 pharmacy, and one at least of those he described would seem to be the root of 

 .4. ixiiiiKttu HI. It has come to me from all parts of India broken into short 

 lengths and often bearing the name jadvar. What the nirvisha or jadvar of the 

 Ancients may have been is a subject beyond the scope of this work. 



As met with in commerce bikhma root is pale-brown ; it exists for the most 

 part in long straight pieces, sometimes twisted together, but is never completely 

 pyramidal. The fragments range from 1 to 3 inches in length and to \ inch 

 thick. In structure they are almost pure white, are of a starchy consistence 

 and, on tranverse section, show a double ring of large though inconspicuous 

 cambium strands in the form of circular or horseshoe-shaped patches. It is 

 perhaps the most easily recognised of all the Indian commercial aconite roots. 



The alkaloid present in this root has been found identical with that of A. 

 lietfropht/iitttn, and it is thus impossible to put faith in its reputation as an 

 antidote for poison. But according to Dutt, the Sanskrit name for A. heteru- 

 ttitijiimn is ativisha or ataicha, a circumstance if correct that would confirm the 

 identical properties of atis and bikhma. 



A. rotundifolium, Km. et Kir. ; Stapf, I.e. 149-51 ; FL Br. Ind., 

 i., 29 ; also A. violaceum, Jacq. ; Stapf, I.e. 144 ; A. multifidum, 

 Royle, Illust. Him. Bot., 45, 56 ; A. dissectum, Madden, Journ. As. Soc., 

 Beng., 1846, xv., 95 (non D. Don) ; A. Napellus, var. multifidum and 

 also rigidum, FL Br. Ind., i. 29. 



These pretty little Alpine aconites are characteristic of the Western Hima- 

 laya (along with -4. /!<>/<'*/>!< >/"""') between the area of the poisonous forms 

 of the East and Central Himalaya and that of the poisonous forms which re- 

 appear on the extreme West. They have no commercial value, though in the 

 Panjab these roots are occasionally seen in the drug-shops, and appear to be 

 known as tilia kacJiang or dudhia. They can with difficulty be distinguished 

 from the roots of A. ltet<T<>i>it>ji!ni>i. 



II. Poisonous Aconites that contain bikhaconitine (in one species) 

 and pseudaconiiine (in some at least of the others). These roots are in 

 India traded in under the names " Nepal Aconite," bish, bikh, etc. 

 [C/. Herbert, Travels, 1677, 369.] They can very appropriately, therefore, 



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