414 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Constituents. Acer spicatum contains a substance which gives a 

 crimson color with ammonia and which may be similar to the emo- 

 din of the common cathartic drugs. It also contains a principle 

 which gives a blue color with ferrous sulphate solution similar to 

 that obtained with rhubarb. (St. John, Am. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 

 89, p. 10.) 



Literature. Farwell, Bull, of Pharm., 1913, p. 65. 



SAPINDACE.E, OR SOAPBERRY FAMILY 



A large family of over 1000 species, chiefly tropical woody 

 climbers. They are especially characterized by the presence of 

 the glucoside saponin, which has the property of frothing with 

 water so that some of them have been employed as substitutes 

 for soap, as the fruits of Sapindus, a tree which is widely distributed 

 from Arizona to northern Mexico. Several forms of secretory cells 

 are also found in this family, the one being more or less spheroidal or 

 irregular in shape and the other in the form of elongated tubular 

 cells, frequently arranged in uniseriate rows. The contents vary 

 from yellowish-brown to brownish-black and apparently contain 

 saponin. Some of the secretion cells give a reaction with ferric salts 

 for tannin. The pericycle is usually a composite and continuous 

 ring of sclerenchyma. The trachesB and wood fibers always possess 

 simple pores, even where the walls are in contact with the paren- 

 chyma. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted in the form of solitary 

 crystals or rosette aggregates occasionally as styloids or in micro- 

 crystals, when occurring in the latter form, they are usually confined 

 to the epidermal cells. The walls of the epidermal cells are fre- 

 quently modified to mucilage and the cells on the dorsal surface may 

 be papillose. Glandular and non-glandular hairs occur in a number 

 of specific forms. 



Guarana. A dried paste consisting of the crushed seeds of 

 Paullinia Cupana (Fam. Sapindacese), a climbing shrub native of 

 Brazil and Uruguay. The commerical product is obtained from 

 cultivated plants. The ripe seeds are deprived of the appendage 

 or aril, crushed, made into a doughy mass with water, tapioca some- 

 times being added to increase the adhesiveness, molded into forms and 

 dried at a gentle heat. During the drying, the mass undergoes a 

 kind of curing. Considerable skill is required in supervising the 

 operation, which is performed by special workmen. In addition 

 to its use in medicine, Guarana is used in the preparation of a bever- 

 age which is used like tea and coffee by the people of Brazil. 



