154 POLYGONE^E 



CONSTITUENTS. Volatile oil (^ per cent.), containing borneol, aristol- 

 ochine, C32H2aN2Oi3 (very bitter), tannin, resin, starch, etc. 



Preparation of Aristolochine. Precipitate decoction with lead acetate; ex- 

 haust precipitate with hot alcohol; evaporate; dissolve out alkaloid with water. 

 It is bitter, yellow, amorphous, or in needles; soluble in alcohol, water, precipitated 

 by tannin. 



ACTION AND USES. Aromatic stimulant and tonic. Its only possible 

 therapeutic virtue is as a stimulant to the gastric mucosa Wood. 

 Dose: 5 to 30 gr. (0.3 to 2 Gm.). 



Tinctura Cinchonas Composita (2 per 



cent, of serpentaria), I to 4 fl. dr. (4 to 15 mils). 



119. ASARUM CANADENSE Lmne\ CANADA SNAKE-ROOT. Asarum, N.P. 

 WILD GINGER. A long, creeping rhizome, more or less contorted. In 

 commerce broken into pieces from 100 to 150 mm. (4 to 6 in.) long, from the 

 thickness of a straw to that of a goose-quill; somewhat quadrangular or two- 

 edged; externally grayish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, beset with small 

 fibers, easily broken off; internally nearly white, the small wood-bundles 

 surrounding a large pith; odor peculiar, aromatic; taste aromatic and pungent. 

 It contains a large percentage of volatile oil which is often used in perfumery. 

 This contains asarol, probably identical with linalool, its acetic and valerianic 

 esters, methyl eugenol. Aromatic stimulant and tonic. Dose: 30 gr. (2 Gm.). 



POLYGONE^;. Buckwheat Family 



Herbs or woody plants with alternate, entire leaves, and with the stipules in 

 the form of sheaths above the smaller joints of the stem. Fruit an akene. The 

 leaves and stem are very rich in crystals of calcium oxalate. 



Synopsis of Drugs from the Polygonea 



A. Roots. B. Rhizome. 



RHEUM, 120. Bistorta, 124. 



*Rumex, 121. C. Herb. 

 Canaigre, 122. Polygonum, 123. 



120. RHEUM. RHUBAEB 

 RHUBARB 



The dried rhizome and roots of Rhe'um officinale Baillon, Rheum palmatum Linne', 

 and the Var. Tanguticum Maximowicz, and probably other species of Rheum, 

 deprived of most of the cortex and carefully dried. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Botanical history somewhat obscure. It is 

 known, however, from authentic specimens, that the plant is a herbaceous 

 perennial with acidulous juice, resembling the garden rhubarb, but attain- 

 ing a larger size than any other species. Leaves very large, roundish, cordate 

 at base, and 5- to 7-lobed. The flower-stem, 6 to 8 feet high, bears flowers 

 having a greenish perianth; ovary (and fruit) triangular, i -celled. 



