Drugs 



337 



well known on account of their valuable purgative properties. The drug is obtained from 

 Mexico, where the plant is indigenous, the natives collecting the tubers and drying them in 

 nets over their hut fires ; the smaller roots are dried whole, but the larger ones are gashed 

 with a knife in order to facilitate the process. The plant is found on the eastern slopes of the 

 Mexican Andes, but it has been introduced into India and Jamaica where it thrives exceedingly 

 well, yielding tubers which ,are particularly rich in the resin to which the activity of the drug 

 is due. Tampico Jalap, distinguished from true Jalap by its irregular shape and shrunken 

 appearance, is obtained from I. simulans, a plant also a native of the Mexican Andes. 



Belladonna Leaves. . The fresh leaves and branches, of Atropa Belladonna (Deadly 

 Nightshade) are used in the preparation of extract of belladonna, a drug largely employed 

 as an external application to relieve pain, and internally for checking excessive perspiration 

 in consumption, for the relief of coughs, and for rnany other purposes. The extract prepared 

 from the leaves causes the pupil of the eye to dilate, and is used in ophthalmic surgery. 

 The principal constituents of the leaves are two alkaloids, atropine and hyoscy 'amine, but in 

 the manufacture of these alkaloids the root of the plant is employed. 



Belladonna is largely cultivated in Germany for medicinal purposes, and, to a; smaller 

 extent in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. The leaves are collected during the flowering 

 period, as at this time the percentage of alkaloid is highest. •• 



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YOUNG PLANTATION OF CINCHONA SUCCIRUBRA 



23-C.P. 



