SQUILL 95 



beneath which is the light brown and pinkish, thin and coriaceous 

 layer of epidermis, cohering but easily separable from the solid por- 

 tion of the bulbel; odor of broken or bruised bulbel aromatic, dis- 

 agreeable; taste intensely pungent and persistent. 



Inner Structure. Transverse sections show: (a) an outer fleshy 

 scale, (6) a middle scale, and (c). in the center a bright green leaf 

 folded lengthwise along the midrib so that the ventral surfaces lie 

 close together. The outer and middle scales consist chiefly of 

 parenchyma enclosing scattered vascular bundles. The paren- 

 chyma cells of the middle scale contain numerous yellowish-brown 

 plastids. 



Constituents. From 0.005 to 0.009 per cent of a yellowish, 

 volatile oil having a strong unpleasant odor. It contains sulphur 

 and was formerly supposed to consist principally of allyl sulphide, 

 but this was shown by Semmler not to be the case. Garlic also 

 contains considerable mucilage and sugar, and a small quantity of a 

 fixed oil. 



SCILLA. Squill. The fleshy scales of the bulb of Urginea 

 maritima (Fam. Liliacese), a perennial herb indigenous to the Med- 

 iterranean region. The bulbs are collected late in August, and 

 after the removal of the membranous outer scales and the central 

 portion, the fleshy scales are cut into transverse pieces and dried in 

 sunlight or by artificial heat. The article used in France is collected 

 from bulbs having reddish scales and is obtained from Algeria and 

 Malta. 



Description. In irregular, curved, flat, narrow, somewhat 

 translucent pieces 3 to 5 cm. long, 5 to 8 mm. wide, 2 to 7 mm. thick, 

 whitish, lemon-yellow or light brown, epidermis forming a thin layer, 

 mesophyll more or less shrunken, slightly crystalline and with numer- 

 ous circular projections of fibrovascular bundles; fracture brittle 

 when dry, tough when damp; odor slight; taste bitter and acrid. 



Inner Structure. Epidermal layer of thin-walled cells and 

 stomata; mesophyll of numerous slightly elongated, thin- walled 

 parenchymatous cells, usually containing a crystalline sugar which 

 readily separates in material placed in alcohol or glycerin. Inter- 

 spersed among the parenchyma are a few concentric fibrovascular 

 bundles (having spiral or reticulate tracheae) and numerous cells 

 containing mucilage and raphides of calcium oxalate. The latter 

 vary in length from 0.075 to 1.0 mm., or even longer. These crystals 

 are probably the longest in any drug and alone serve to identify it. 



Powder. Light yellow, and unless kept in a dry atmosphere 

 shows a tendency to cake, and in this form it is very likely to be mis- 



