BERBERIS 31 



septic, and preservative was introduced to the medicine 

 and pharmacy of today. 



BERBERIS (Berberis, Barberry) 



Berberis aquifolium is mentioned in the 1900 edition only. 

 The New York edition of 1830 names "The berries of Berberis 

 Canadensis." The editions of 1860 and 1870 mention in their 

 Secondary List "The bark of the root of Berberis vulgaris." All 

 other editions of the U. S. P. ignore Berberis completely. 



The berberis officially recorded in the Pharmacopeia 

 of the United States, Berberis aquifolium, or Mahonia, 

 was brought to the attention of physicians by Dr. 

 Bundy, an Eclectic physician of California, through the 

 manufacturing house of Parke, Davis and Company, 

 Detroit, who established it in general professional use. 

 (467). Mahonia had previously been used throughout 

 the Western States as a domestic remedy in the direc- 

 tion commended by Dr. Bundy, and in many respects 

 it paralleled the domestic and official uses of its near 

 relatives in the Orient and elsewhere. 



The Pharmacopeia of India, under the common 

 name Berberis, recognizes three species of barberry, all 

 having domestic records as tonics, dating from the 

 earliest tunes, and being used in decoction or infusion 

 in inflammatory discharges, as well as in applications 

 for various forms of ophthalmic inflammation. The 

 Arabian physicians employed this plant. Dioscorides 

 (194), Pliny (514), Celsus (136), Galen (254a) and 

 others recognized it. It was one of the Indian drugs 

 on which the Alexandrians levied duty, 176-180 A. D. 

 Among Greek antiquities are preserved small vases of 

 barberry, showing its value in ancient times. Among 

 these vases is one bearing the label of a certain Hera- 

 elides of Tarentum, who is mentioned by Celsus as 



