AZEDARACH 385 



China and Pride-of-India, on account of its rare beauty; Indian 

 lilac, by reason of the resemblance of its flowers to the common 

 syringa; and Bead tree or Pater-noster tree in allusion to the use of 

 the seeds of the fruits in making of rosaries. The drupaceous green 

 fruit is very astringent. When ripe it is yellow, sweet, and on drying 

 it becomes purplish-black,- retaining its fleshy character for many 

 years. It is said to produce an intoxicating effect upon robins and 

 is sometimes sprinkled with clothing in order to prevent the devel- 

 opment of moths. The dried berries are also used much as those of 

 Cocculus. The bark, preferably deprived of the periderm, is used 

 to some extent in medicine. 



Description. In quills or irregularly flattened, somewhat trans- 

 versely curved pieces, from 3 to 15 cm. in length, 0.5 to 3 cm. in width, 

 and 2 to 7 mm. in thickness; outer surface yellowish- or reddish- 

 brown; nearly smooth with irregular lighter and darker patches; 

 inner surface light brown, longitudinally striate and frequently 

 with detached bast fibers; fracture short-fibrous; transverse surface 

 showing a porous, reddish-brown cork or periderm, inner bark 

 yellowish and tangentially striate, frequently lamellated; odor 

 slight; taste sweetish, bitter and somewhat acrid. 



Inner Structure. Periderm of two or more layers of colorless, 

 thin-walled, compressed cork cells, between which occur broad 

 strands composed of large parenchyma cells and in among which are 

 distributed the brownish tannin secretion cells forming long and 

 frequently branching rows; inner bark consisting chiefly of starch- 

 bearing parenchyma, leptome and 3 or 4 interrupted circles of bast 

 fibers separated by broad medullary rays ; bast fibers very long, with 

 irregular walls and oblique terminations, strongly lignified and 

 having numerous long slit-like pores: calcium oxalate in rhombo- 

 hedral crystals about 0.025 mm. in diameter and arranged to form 

 crystal fibers ; the latter surround the groups of bast fibers, the walls 

 being thickened and strongly lignified, excepting where they adjoin 

 the parenchyma cells; medullary rays from 1 to 8 cells wide, and in 

 rows from 5 to 15 cells in depth; starch grains single and 2- or more 

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

 eter, spheroidal, ellipsoidal irregularly polygonal and often with a 

 long central cleft; secretion cells with a yellowish-brown oily content, 

 single or united to form chains and distributed throughout: the paren- 

 chyma tissues of the outer and inner bark. 



Constituents. A yellowish-white resin which appears to possess 

 the anthelmintic properties ascribed to the drug. It has a very 

 bitter taste, is insoluble in water but soluble in alcohol, ether, chloro- 



