392 



PARE1RA BRAVA. 



of Pareira 

 Brava. 



1873. diverse from that represented, though generally less eccentric, 

 with always a distinct central pith. The wood is tasteless, 

 and often seems to have been injured hy damp. It should 

 he rigidly excluded from pharmaceutical use. 



Various kinds Several other sorts of Pareira Brava are known at least in 

 South America. One, of which there is a parcel now in the 

 London market, is remarkable for its large size, and for being 

 internally of a fine yellow. As it is also very bitter, it prob- 

 ably contains berberine. 



Another sort is derived from Abuta rufescens, Aublet, a well- 

 marked plant growing in Guiana and North Brazil. Specimens 

 of a thick woody root, marked Abutua grande or Parreira Brava 

 grande, and attributed to this species, have been sent to me by 

 Mr. Correa de Mello ; they exhibit numerous concentric layers 

 traversed by very distinct, dark medullary rays, the inter-radial 

 spaces being white, and rich in starch. It is apparently a well- 

 marked sort, and one I have not seen in commerce. 1 



In conclusion, I strongly advocate returning to the use of the 

 Choiidoden- roo t of Chondodendron, which is the drug on which the reputation 

 of Pareira Brava was originally founded. 



In Brazil this root is regarded as the legitimate sort, and is 

 still held in the highest esteem. 



Though it has not been clearly recognised by European writers, 

 it is not altogether unknown. Guibourt 2 seems to have been 

 acquainted with it and even correctly surmised its botanical 

 origin. It is the root figured by Gobel and Kunze, 3 and there 

 is an old specimen of it in the Pharmaceutical Society's Museum 

 marked Pareira Brava. I myself met with it in the market in 

 1862. Lastly, Dr. Squibb has pointed out 4 that some small lots 



1 When Aublet was in Guiana, 1762-64, the stems of Abuta rufescens 

 were shipped to France as Pareira Brava blanc. He says there is a variety 

 of the same with the woody parts reddish, which is known in Cayenne as 

 Pareira Brava rouge. He also describes and figures a plant he calls Abuta 

 amara or Pareira Brava jaune, which has the wood yellowish and very 

 bitter. This last is, I think, identical with the yellow wood of which, as I have 

 said, there is a quantity now on sale as " Pareira Brava" See Hist, des 

 Plantes de la Guiane Francoise, [. (1775), 618-21, tab. 250-51. 



2 Hist, des Drog., ed. 4, iii, (1850) 671. 



3 Pharm. Waarerikunde, ii. (1830-34), tab. 13, fig. 1, b-c. 



4 American Journal of Pharmacy, March 1, 1872, 107. 



dron. 



