MATERIA MED 1C A. 117 



PIPERACE^. 



Piper angustifolium, Ruiz and Pavon ( Artanthe 

 elongata, Miquel), MATICO, of northern South 

 America, was introduced to notice as a styptic in 

 Europe in 1839.* In 1863. Professor Bentley recog- 

 nised that P. aduncum, L., was equally efficacious.f 



P. Cubeba, L. fil., Cubeba officinalis, Miquel, CUBEBS, 

 a native of Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, once used as 

 a spice, has, since 1815, been successfully employed 

 in gonorrhoea.^ The small, dried, unripe fruits con- 

 tain a resin, which is the active part of the drug. We 

 import nearly 60 tons of Cubebs annually, vid 

 Singapore. 



P. methysticum, Forst, the KAVA ROOT, has been 

 recommended by Prof. Gubler as a sudorific, and as 

 a substitute for Cubebs. 



ARTOCARPACE.E. 



Dorstenia Contrajerva, L., CONTRAYERVA ROOT, of 

 Brazil, is a rhizome imported to this country, and 

 having a reputation as a cure for snake-bite. || 



* Jeffreys, 'Remarks on the Efficacy of Matico,' London, 

 1845. 



t ' Pharm. Journ.,' v (1864), p. 290. See also Von Martius, 

 ibid., ii (1843), p. 660; ibid., v (1874), p. 523; J. Marcotte, 

 'Etude gdndrale de Matico/ Paris, 1863; and Bentley and 

 Trimen, iv, pi. 242. 



\ Crawfurd, ' Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,' xiv 

 (1818), p. 32; ' Pharmacographia,' pp. 526-30. Bentley and 

 Trimen, iv, pi. 243. 



'Pharm. Journ.,' August, 1876, p. 149; Christy, No. 10, 



P- 93- 



11 Smith, ' Domestic Botany,' p. 230. 



