EUONYMUS 



293 



lobed; seeds inclosed in a red aril. Ornamental in autumn from its copious 

 crimson fruit, drooping in long peduncles. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. In quilled or curved pieces about 2 mm. (^3 in.) thick. 

 The periderm is of an ash-gray color, covered with blackish patches or ridges, 

 and removable in scales from the whitish or yellowish -brown inner bark; 

 fracture, smooth and short. It contains a hygroscopic tissue, which readily 

 absorbs moisture, thus becoming less brittle; odor distinct; taste sweetish, 

 bitter and somewhat acrid. It is sometimes mixed with branches and pieces 

 of the wood. 



Powder. Light brown. Characteristic elements: Sclerenchyma consisting of 

 long, thin- walled bast fibers; ducts and wood fibers sometimes present; spherical 

 starch grains and rosette-shaped calcium oxalate crystals also present. 



CONSTITUENTS. Its chief constituent of therapeutic value, euonymin, is bitter, 

 amorphous, and precipitated from its solution by phosphomolybdic acid and 

 lead subacetate. This product is not 

 to be confounded with a resinoid of 

 the same name (see below). The 

 bark also contains atropurpurin, aspa- 

 ragin, euonic acid, fixed oil, and 

 albumen. 



Preparation of Euonymin. Add chloro- 

 form to a dilute alcoholic tincture and 

 shake; separate chloroformic solution and 

 evaporate; treat residue with ether, then 

 alcohol, and lead acetate; add H 2 S to 

 precipitate lead; finally evaporate. Solu- 

 ble in ether, alcohol, and water. The 

 eclectic resinoid, by this name, is a dried 

 precipitate, resulting when concentrated 

 alcoholic tincture is added to water. 



ACTION AND USES A cholagogue cathartic 

 in doses of 0.8 to 30 gr. (0.5 to 2 

 v Gm.); also tonic and laxative. 



OFFICIAL PREPARATIONS. 



Extractum Euonymi (From Fl'ext.), .... Dose: i to 5 gr. (0.065 to -3 Gm.). 

 Fluidextractum Euonymi, ^ to 2 fl.dr. (2 to 8 mils). 



327. CELASTRUS SCANDENS Linne". CLIMBING STAFF-TREE. FALSE BIT- 

 TER-SWEET. Habitat: North America. (Root-bark.) Alterative, diaphor- 

 etic, diuretic, and emetic; has been used in chronic affections of the liver. 

 Dose of fluidextract: i to 2 fl. dr. (4 to 8 mils). 



328. ACER RUBRUM Linne (Aceraceae). RED OR SWAMP MAPLE. The bark of 

 this indigenous maple was the favorite remedy of the Indians for sore eyes; it 

 is. a mild astringent. 



FIG. 167. Cross-section of Wahoo bark. 

 Magnified 15 diam. 



SAPINDACE^. Soapberry Family 



Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs. Stem with watery juice, erect or climbing. 

 The members of the order are called soap worts because of the fruit of many species 

 containing a saponaceous principle. The flowers are unsymmetrical, racemed, 

 or panicled, the pedicels often changed into tendrils/ The order furnishes a 

 variety of dissimilar products, as will be seen in Guarana, 329; dZsculus glabra, 

 330; stEsculus hippocastanum, 331; Acer rubrum, 328; and Macassar oil, 332. 



