GELSEMIUM 351 



STRYCHNINE AND ITS OFFICIAL PREPARATIONS. 



Strychnina, Dose: %Q to Mo S r - (o.ooi to 0.003 Gm.). 



Strychnine Sulphas, > 4 gr. (o.ooi Gm.). 



Strychninae Nitras, . . r 34o 8 r - (0.0015 Gm.). 



436. IGNATIA, N.F. ST. IGNATIUS' BEAN. The seeds of Strych'nos igna'tia 



Lindley, a tree growing in the Philippine Islands, where they are much 

 esteemed as a medicine, and whence they were introduced to the medical 

 world by the Jesuits, who conferred upon them the name of the founder 

 of their order. The fruit is pear-shaped, and contains 10 to 15 of these 

 hard, heavy seeds lying one upon the other and imbedded in a dry medullary 

 mass, but the seeds come into market separate. Their shapes are various, 

 owing to the manner in which they were situated in the fruit; but their 

 general form is ovate, somewhat flattened, and more or less angular. They 

 are about 25 mm. (i in.) long, but considerably narrower, and have at one 

 end a small depression indicating their point of attachment (hilum). Their 

 testa is of a less silky nature than that of nux vomica, and of a gray-brown 

 color. In commerce they are perfectly smooth, the testa and hairs being 

 . removed by the rubbing of the seeds against one another, and therefore 

 the outer surface consists of dull brown or blackish horny albumen, trans- 

 lucent when fresh. The embryo is oblong, situated in the broad end of the 

 seed, the cotyledons extending only about half the distance across the irregu- 

 lar cavity. Inodorous; taste excessively bitter. 



CONSTITUENTS. Same as nux vomica (435) but in different proportions, 

 the strychnine existing to the extent of about 1.2 per cent, against % to % 

 per cent, in nux vomica. Ignatia was once used for the preparation of this 

 alkaloid, strychnine, but rarely at the present day, as nux vomica is im- 

 ported in such large quantities and is a much cheaper source. Dose: ^ 

 to 5 gr. (0.0324 to 0.3 Gm.). 



437. HOANG-NAN or HWANG-NAO. TROPICAL BINDWEED. The bark of 

 Strych'nos malaccen'sis Bentham, a creeping vine growing in the moun- 

 tains of Tonquin. This bark is in general use among the natives of Tonquin, 

 Cochin-China, Venezuela, etc., as a remedy in leprosy and hydrophobia, and 

 as an antisyphilitic and alterative. First brought to the notice of the medical 

 profession by the missionary fathers. It contains strychnine and brucine 

 in about equal proportions, and probably has aboxit the same range in medi- 

 cine as nux vomica. Dose: % to 5 gr. (0.0324 to 0.3 Gm.). 



438. GELSEMIUM. GELSEMIUM 



YELLOW JASMINE 

 The dried rhizome and roots of Gelse'mium sempervir'ens Aiton. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Stem smooth, climbing. Leaves short-petiolate, 

 shining, ovate. Flowers in short axillary clusters, very fragrant; corolla 

 bright yellow, funnel-form, 5-lobed. 



HABITAT. Southern United States, notably Florida. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG.- Generally in very light and fibrous cylindrical 

 sections, 90 to 200 mm. long, 4 to 15 mm. in diameter; externally 

 of a brownish-yellow color, slightly wrinkled; tough, breaking with 

 a fibrous, splintery fracture; bark thin, with silky bast fibers, adhering 

 to the light-yellowish, porous, broadly rayed wood; the wood-cells 

 are more or less indurated and free of starch-grains; medullary rays 

 contain few starch-granules; pith small; odor characteristic; taste 

 persistently bitter. 



