l8o MENISPERMACEJE 



Odor faint; taste slightly aromatic, very bitter, and mucilaginous. 

 Dose: 30 gr. (2 Gm.). 



SUBSTITUTION. American calumba has frequently been used. It is al- 

 most uniformally much smaller, the color is not yellow, it contains no 

 starch and is not mucilaginous. The decoction gives brown precipi- 

 tate with ferric chloride. 



Powder. Characteristic elements: See Part iv, Chap. I, B. 



CONSTITUENTS. A neutral crystalline principle, calumbin, extremely 

 bitter, berberine, calumbic acid, and starch, of which it contains 



FIG. 83. Columbo Cross-section of root, (i.sdiam.) A, Annual ring of growth. B, Medulla. 



(Photograph.) 



\ 



33 per cent. No tannin is present ; it can therefore be compounded 

 with salts of iron. The best solvent for the bitter principle is dilute 

 acetic acid. This liquid, however, is not a good menstruum. Ash, 

 8 per cent. 



Preparation of Calumbin. Infusion of columbo, made with 3 per cent, of 

 oxalic acid, is neutralized with ammonia. Evaporate to one-third, and when 

 cool, shake out with ether. On evaporation of ethereal solution, white calumbin 

 is obtained. 



ACTION AND USES. A simple tonic, stimulating the appetite through the 

 gustatory nerves, increasing in turn the gastric and salivary secretions. 

 Its special value as a tonic resides in the fact that it has no disagree- 

 able effects, such as nausea, headache, or febrile disorder, like other 

 remedies of its class. Externally, antiseptic, disinfectant, and anthel- 

 mintic. 



OFFICIAL PREPARATION. 



Tinctura Calumbae (20 per cent.), Dose: i to 4 f 5 (4 to 15 mils). 



