ACTIONS AND USES 571 



flowers. It abounds in most parts of temperate Europe, 

 thrives best between 3000 and 5000 feet above the sea- 

 level, and is extensively cultivated in the mountainous 

 districts of the Alps, Vosges, and Pyrenees. All parts of 

 the plant are bitter and tonic, but only the rhizome is 

 officinal. It occurs in cylindrical, usually more or less 

 branched, often twisted, pieces, or in longitudinal slices, 

 marked by transverse annular wrinkles and longitudinal 

 furrows, and varying in length and thickness. It has a 

 peculiar aromatic and rather disagreeable odour, and a 

 taste at first sweet, but afterwards bitter. When moist, 

 it is tough and flexible ; when dry, brittle, and easily pul- 

 verised. The powder is yellow, with a shade of brown, 

 and readily yields its bitterness to water, alcohol, and ether. 



Gentian root contains gentianose, a sugar, which, in 

 Southern Bavaria and Switzerland, is fermented into a 

 drinking spirit ; a large amount of pectin, a little volatile 

 oil and fat, the yellow crystalline gentianin, or gentianic 

 acid (C 14 H 10 5 ), which is inert ; and about O'l per cent, of 

 an intensely bitter glucoside, gentiopicrin (C 2 oH 30 12 ), ob- 

 tainable in colourless crystals, which are soluble in water 

 and alcohol. In its actions gentiopicrin is nearly allied 

 to quinine. 



Roots of other Gentianaceae are frequently mixed with 

 those of G. lutea ; but this is not of much importance, since 

 all are possessed of similar properties. Admixture, how- 

 ever, sometimes occurs of poisonous roots, such as monks- 

 hood, belladonna, and white hellebore, which may be 

 distinguished by the absence of the pure bitter taste and the 

 bright yellow colour so characteristic of true gentian. 

 Gentian powder, especially that met with abroad, is stated 

 to be occasionally adulterated with yellow ochre, easily 

 detected by heating the suspected specimen with a little 

 sulphuric acid, filtering, and testing for iron. 



ACTIONS AND USES. Gentian is a pure bitter, and is pre- 

 scribed as a stomachic and tonic for all veterinary patients. 

 It resembles calumba, chiretta, quassia, and lupulus or 

 hops. It is virtually devoid of astringency. It may be 

 taken as a type of these simple bitters all of which pro- 

 duce similar effects clinically, although their exact mode of 



