BERBERIS 233 



6-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diam- 

 eter, calcium oxalate crystals few, in rosette aggregates from 0.050 

 to 0.080 mm. in diameter, and occasionally in raphides 0.030 to 0.090 

 mm. in length; tracheae with simple pores or close annular and 

 reticulate thickenings; fragments of starch-bearing parenchyma 

 and reddish-brown cork cells. 



Constituents. Resin (official as Resin of Podophyllum) 3.5 to 5 

 per cent, consisting of two poisonous principles: (a) podophyllo- 

 toxin, 20 per cent, occurring in white crystals that are sparingly 

 soluble in water and yield on treatment with water podophyllic 

 acid and picropodophyllin; and (t>) picropodophyllin (an isomer of 

 podophyllotoxin), which crystallizes in needles and is insoluble in 

 water but soluble in 90 to 95 per cent alcohol. The resin also con- 

 tains a yellow crystalline coloring principle resembling quercetin, a 

 green fixed oil and podophyllic acid. The rhizome also contains a 

 purgative resin, podophylloresin; considerable starch, and some 

 gallic acid. 



Allied Plants. The rhizome of Podophyllum Emodi (Fip 

 100), a plant growing on the lower slopes of the Himalayas, is large" 

 and yields 11.4 to 12 per cent of resin, which consists of but haH as 

 much podophyllotoxin as the resin obtained from P. peltatum. 



Literature. Russell, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 8; Scott 

 and Petry, Mich. Acad. Sci., 1919, xxi. 



BERBERIS. Oregon Grape-root. The rhizome and roots of 

 Berberis Aquifolium (Fam. Berberidacese), a low trailing shrub, 

 which is indigenous to the Rocky Mountain region of the United 

 States, extending into British Columbia and as far east as Nebraska. 

 Berberis should be kept in closed tin or glass containers, to which a 

 few drops of chloroform should be added from time to time to pre- 

 vent the development of larvae, 



Description. In cylindrical pieces which vary from 8 to 12 cm. 

 in length and 1.5 to 4.5 cm. in diameter; externally pale yellowish- 

 brown to dark yellowish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, with few 

 root branches and occasionally rootlets; hard and tough. Internally, 

 bark dark brown, less than 1 mm. in thickness and rather soft; 

 wood lemon-yellow, distinctly radiate, with narrow medullary rays; 

 pith bright yellow, 2 or 3 mm. in diameter; slightly odorous; taste 

 bitter. 



Inner Structure. See Fig. 104. 



Powder. (Fig. 105). Yellowish-brown, composed chiefly of 

 fragments of wood-fibers associated with a few trachese and med- 

 ullary rays; wood fibers yellowish, scarcely giving any reaction 



