CASSIA FISTULA 



237 



they are usually free from the small trifoliate leaves, 

 when bruised; taste very bitter. 



Odor slight, stronger 



247." CASSIA FISTULA, N.F. CASSIA FISTULA 



Powder. Greenish-brown. Characteristic elements: Sclerenchyma with bast 

 fibers, long, thick-walled, associated with crystal fibers containing calcium oxalate 

 prisms; ducts, spiral, annular, and reticulate; trichomes, non-glandular (0.5 to 

 0.7 n in diam.), thick- walled, yellowish, one-celled; pollen, brownish; grains, oval. 



CONSTITUENTS. A neutral crystalline principle, 

 scoparin, C2oH 20 Oio + 5H 2 O, to which the 

 diuretic action is due, and the colorless, volatile, 

 liquid alkaloid, sparteine, Ci 8 H 2 6N2, acting as a 

 powerful cardiac tonic; this is oily, very bitter, 

 soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and ether; it 

 has been made official as the salt, sparteinae sul- 

 phas. Prisms freely soluble in water. Oxida- 

 tion products, such as oxysparteine, CuH^^O, 

 produce an increase of heart activity, while 

 dioxysparteine, CisI^NzO, produces an inverse 

 effect upon the heart. Sparteine has an aniline- 

 like odor. 



Preparation of Scoparin. Allow a concentrated 

 decoction of broom-tops to gelatinize; express and 

 purify the jelly-like mass by repeated solution in hot 

 water, and finally in hot alcohol. 



Preparation of Sparteine. Extract plant with 

 acidulated water and distil concentrated liquid with 

 NaOH. A colorless oily liquid, forming crystalline 

 salts. Sulphate official. 



ACTION AND USES. Scoparius is a reliable diuretic 

 and laxative in small doses of 10 to 30 gr. (0.6 

 to 2 Gm.), and is an efficient remedy in dropsy. 

 Dose of sparteinae sulphas: J to i gr. (0.0081 

 to 0.065 Gm.). Used to regulate heart action. 



PURGING CASSIA 



FIG. 128. Cassia fistula, two- 

 thirds natural size. A, Ventral 

 view. B, Dorsal view. 



The dried fruit of]Cas'sia fist'ula Linne". 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Tree from 20 to 50 feet high, with showy racemes 

 I to 2 feet long, of bright yellow, fragrant flowers, followed by cylindrical 

 pods of the same length. Legume woody, indehiscent. Tropical, extensively 

 cultivated. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. Cylindrical pods or legumes 450 to 600 mm. (18 to 24 

 in.) long and about 25 mm. (i in.) in diameter, with a blackish-brown, woody 

 pericarp; indehiscent, but with two smooth sutures or bands on opposite sides 

 running the whole length of the pod, and showing the union of the two valves. 

 The dorsal band is marked with a fine ridge, while the ventral band is seem- 

 ingly divided into two by a shallow, longitudinal groove. The interior of 

 the pod consists of numerous (25 to 100) transverse cells, each containing a 



