388 VEGETABLE DRUGS 



subcutaneouslj in these conditions, and frequently in com- 

 bination with pilocarpine and eserine. 



Constipation, and, on the other hand, diarrhoea, are 

 benefited by strychnine when they are due to atony of 

 the intestinal muscular coat. It is more commonly in 

 the former disorder that the drug finds its usefulness. 

 The aloiii, strychnine and belladonna pills, with cascara 

 sagrada, are useful in habitual constipation in dogs, but the 

 weaker formula, containing gr.y^ of strychnine, should be 

 employed. The value and application of strychnine in ano- 

 rexia and atonic digestive disorders has been sufficiently 

 treated above. 



Class 2. — Depressing the Inferior Cornua. 



' Physostigma. Physostigma. (U. S. P.) 



Synonym. — Physostigmatis semen, B. P. ; Calabar or 

 ordeal bean, faba physostigmatis, S. faba Calabarica, E. 

 The seed of Physostigma venenosum. Balfour (nat. ord. 

 leguminosae). 



Habitat. — Calabar and the region of the mouth of the 

 Niger, in Western Africa. 



Description, — About 25 to 30 mm. long, 15 to 20 mm. 

 broad, and 10 to 15 mm. thick; oblong and somewhat reni- 

 form; testa granular, chocolate-brown, with a broad, black 

 groove extending over the entire length of the convex edge. 

 Embryo with a short, curved radicle and two large, white^ 

 concavo-convex cotyledons; inodorous; taste bean-like. 



Constituents. — The principal constituent is the alkaloid 

 physostigmine, or eserine. There are also the alkaloida 

 calabarine, a product resulting from the decomposition of 

 eserine, and eseridine, similar in action to eserine, but 

 weaker ; and a neutral principle, physoterin, resembling 

 cholesterine. 



Calabar Bean Dose. — H., gr.xv.-xxx. (1.-2.) ; D., gr.^-i. 

 (.015-.06). 



