RUBIACE.E 



OFFICIAL PREPARATIONS. 



Fluid extractum Ipecacuanhae, . . . Dose: 3 to 8 nj{ (0.2 to 0.5 mil) ; 15 to 60 tiR 



(l to 4 mil). 

 Syrupus Ipecacuanhas (7 per cent.), Adult exp. 30 tig (2 mils), Emetic 



6 fl. dr. (24 mils). 

 Pulvis Ipecacuanhae et Opii (10 

 per cent, of each), 5 to 15 gr. (0.3 to i Gm.). 



531. RUBIA. -MADDER. The rhizome of Ru'bia tinc'torum Linne". Habitat: 

 Levant and Southern Europe, chiefly supplied from Holland, where it is 

 cultivated. Usually comes into market in a coarse, red powder. Its most 

 important constituent is alizarin, a red coloring-matter soluble in water and 

 alcohol. Chiefly used as a dye. 



532. CINCHONA. CINCHONA 

 PERUVIAN BARK 



The dried bark of Cincho'na Ledgeriana Moens, Cincho'na calisa'ya Weddell, 

 Cinchona officinalis Linne", and of hybrids of these with other species of 

 Cinchona, yielding, when assayed, not less than 6 per cent, of cinchona 

 alkaloids. 



SOURCE, VARIETIES, HISTORY, ETC. The genus Cinchona is composed 

 of over three dozen species, but few furnish the commercial barks. 

 It is well known that the original source of the drug is South America 

 (10 N. lat. to 19 S. lat., from about 3000 to 12,000 feet above sea- 

 level), the area of the growth of the various species being confined 

 exclusively to the Andes, chiefly on the eastern face of the Cordilleras 

 occasionally on the western face, which is covered by forests. The 

 best known varieties from South America were the dark brown Loxa 

 bark and the pale yellow-gray Huanuco. The cinchonas seldom 

 form an entire forest, but rather groups interspersed among tree- 

 ferns, gigantic climbers, bamboos, etc., sometimes growing separately 

 in exposed situations, but under peculiar climatic conditions, such as 

 a great humidity of atmosphere and a mean temperature of about 

 62. Shade seems to favor the development of alkaloids. Dymock 

 calls attention to the fact that " the north or shaded side of a tree 

 has a richer bark than that on the south side," a fact which explains 

 the success of the "mossing system."* 



Cultivated trees in recent years have been the chief source of the 

 commercial barks. To some extent the cultivation has been carried 

 on in South America, but great success has attended the persevering 



There are four methods of collecting or harvesting the bark: (i) By taking it in longitudinal 

 strips from the standing tree and leaving the bark to renew over the exposed wood; (2) by scraping 

 and shaving off the bark: (3) by coppicing; and ^4) by uprooting. The first is most in use . . . 

 The trees are barked preferably in the rainy season, when the bark "lifts," or is more easily removed 

 from the wood. The coolie inserts the point of a knife in the tree as far as he can reach and draws 

 it down, making an incision in the bark straight to the ground; he then makes another cut parallel 

 to the first, about an inch and a half distant, and, loosening the bark with the back of the knife, 

 the strip or ribbon is taken off. If the operation is performed carefully and the cambium cells are 

 not broken, a new layer of bark will be formed in place of that which is taken away. The tree is 

 then covered with moss, grass, or leaves, bound on by strings of fiber. All this is done to foster 

 the growth of the new bark (renewed barkl from the cambium and to thicken the untouched layers 

 of natural bark, which is now termed mossed bark. Pharntacographia Indica. 



