52 



CINCH ONAGER. 



published an account of it in the Linnsean Transac- 

 tions under the name of Calicocca Ipecacuanha. 

 Decandolle has since discovered that the plant be- 

 longs to the genus Cephaelis, and has retained the 

 specific name Ipecacuanha, which is the Peruvian 

 name of the plant, and is derived from /;;/, signifying 

 root, and Cacuanha, the name of the district where 

 the root is procured. 



There are three kinds of ipecacuan root known in 

 commerce the brown, or annulated ; the black, or 

 striated ; and the white. The first of these, which is 

 exported from Rio Janeiro to Portugal, is the true me- 

 dicinal Ipecacuan of this country, and is the root of the 

 Cephaelis ipecacuanha. The root of this plant is creep- 

 ing, three or four inches long, compact, irregularly 

 twisted and knotted, and about the size of a goose- 

 quill. It is not a continuation of the underground hori- 

 zontal stem, but the offsets from that part of the stem. 



The black, or striated ipecacuan, is the root of the 

 Psychotria emctica, a native of Peru and Isew Grenada, 

 where it is much used as an emetic. It used to be 

 exported from Carthagena to Cadiz, but is now 

 seldom brought to Europe, as its action is much less 

 certain than that of the brown ipecacnan. This 

 root is not knotted like that of the Cephaelis. 



Another root, under the name of white ipecacuan, 

 is sometimes introduced into commerce. This is the 

 product of a totally different plant, Richardsonia 

 JBraziliensis, and is known in Brazil under the name 

 of Poaia Crauca. It has a pale whitish colour, a 

 nauseous odour, and a very acrid taste. The roots of 

 various species of Cynanckum, Viola, lonidium, and 

 Euphorbia, are also imported under the general name 

 of ipecacuan, and mixed with the root of the true 

 species. They all possess emetic properties in a 

 greater or less degree. 



By recent analysis, it has been ascertained that 

 the properties of ipecacuan are owing to the presence 

 of an alkaline substance, to which the name of emetin, 

 or emetia, has been given. In the brown ipecacuan, 

 there are sixteen parts of this substance in the 

 hundred ; in the striated, fourteen ; and in the white, 

 only five or six. Besides emetin, the true ipecacuan 

 contains oily or fatty matter, wax, gum, starch, gallic 

 acid, and woody fibre. Emetin exists almost entirely 

 in the inner ligneous, and not in the outer or cortical 

 part of the root. The mode of procuring emetin is 

 as follows : Separate all soluble matter irom the 

 powdered root of ipecacuan by cold water ; evaporate 

 the solution to a certain degree in a water bath ; add 

 sub-carbonate of magnesia in excess, and afterwards 

 evaporate to dryness ; then add strong alcohol, which 

 dissolves the emetin and resin ; evaporate this tinc- 

 ture to the consistence of an extract ; dissolve in 

 water and again evaporate. In this way emetin is 

 procured, mixed with some impurities. It presents the 

 form of brown semi-transparent scales, having a bitter 

 acrid taste. 



Another mode of preparation is, by first adding 

 ether to the powder of ipecacuan, in order to dissolve 

 the fatty matter ; then boiling the resin which remains 

 in alcohol, and afterwards treating it with magnesia. 

 By this means emetin is thrown down, which may be 

 dissolved in alcohol, and then evaporated, so as to 

 obtain crystals. 



In order to purify emetin, add an acid, and then 

 an alkali, mix with animal charcoal, dissolve in 

 alcohol, and evaporate. 



When obtained in a pure state emetin is a white 



pulverulent, alkaline substance, scarcely soluble in 

 cold water, soluble in alcohol, and not in ether. 

 In doses of a grain to three grains it produces 

 copious vomiting, and it has been distinctly proved 

 to be the active principle of ipecacuan. 



Ipecacuan has been much employed in medicine, 

 and has been exhibited in the form of powder, in- 

 fusion and wine. Its chief use is as an emetic, for 

 which purpose twenty or thirty grains of the pow- 

 der, and from half an ounce to an ounce of the 

 wine, are usually given to adults. In small doses 

 ipecacuan produces sickness, and acts as a gentle 

 laxative, while in still smaller doses it stimulates 

 the stomach and promotes digestion. 



As an emetic ipecacuan is preferable to common 

 tartar emetic in cases where vomiting is to be pro- 

 duced at the same time that the stomach is to be 

 strengthened in a certain degree, and also in cases 

 where any bowel complaint exists. 



Emetin acts more rapidly than ipecacuan in pro- 

 ducing vomiting, and its effect is generally followed 

 by sweating and a tendency to sleep. Ipecacuan 

 is also used to produce sweating, more especially 

 when combined with opium, constituting the powder 

 commonly known by the name of Dovers powder. 

 As an expectorant it is also frequently employed, and 

 lozenges are made of it which are useful in coughs 

 and catarrhs. A full dose of ipecacuan sometimes 

 checks an accession of fever, and is useful in inflam- 

 matory eruptive diseases. In nervous diseases, bowel 

 complaints, and cases of poisoning, the powers of this 

 medicine are often called into action. Ipecacuan 

 loses much by keeping, especially when exposed to 

 light. 



The genus Psychotria contains nearly 180 species, 

 some of which deserve to be noticed. They are 

 chiefly West Indian plants, bearing white flowers, 

 and sometimes exhibiting a very beautiful foliage. 

 Psychotria emetica has been already alluded to as 

 furnishing the black or striated variety of ipecacuan. 



The root of this plant differs from that of the cephae- 

 lis, in its cylindrical form, and in having contractions 

 or strangulations at moderate distances with inter- 

 vening striated spaces. Psychotria herbacea also 

 supplies a root having emetic properties. The seeds 

 of this species are used by the negroes in Jamaica 

 instead of coffee. Pyschotria noxia is accounted 

 poisonous in Brazil. Psychotria nitida has received the 

 specific name of Mapouria, because the mapouris, or 

 wild cows in Guiana, feed on its leaves and branches. 

 Psychotria involucrata is aromatic when dried or 

 bruised, and an infusion of its leaves is used in asthma. 

 One of the species, Psychotria parasilica is found grow- 

 ing as a parasite on the trees in the West Indies. 



The genus Ejcostemma has been separated from 

 cinchona in consequence of the corolla being smooth 

 and the stamens projecting beyond it. It contains 

 nineteen species, most of which grow in the islands 

 of the Gulf of Mexico and on the American conti- 

 nent. Exostemma caribceum and floribundum yield 

 bitter barks, which are sometimes mixed with the 

 true cinchona. By analysis the bark of the latter 

 species is found not to contain any trace of quinia, or 

 cinchonia. . 



Rondeletia febrifuga yields a fever bark which is 

 used at Sierea Leone, and barks of a similar kind are 

 furnished by Porthmdia hexandra, Macrocnemum co- 

 rymbosum, cuspidaium and aitstrale, Guettarda coccinea 

 and Coutarea hcxandria. Portlandia grandiflora. a 



