6 RANUNCULACE^. 



the greater part of the Mediterranean regions and in the Canary 

 Islands, but whether in all instances truly indigenous is question- 

 able. It is cultivated to some extent in Puglia, very little now near 

 Montpellier. 



History— Stavesacre was well known to the ancients. It is the 

 aypoTepr] arac/yh of Nicander/ the a-ra^lg ayp'ia of Dioscorides,^ and 

 Alexander Trallianus,^ tire Staphisagria. or Herha j)ecliculari(i of 

 Scribonius Largus/ the Astaphis dgria or Staphis of Pliny.® The 

 last-named author mentions the use of the powdered seeds for destroying 

 vermin on the head and other parts of the body. 



The drug continued in use during the middle ages. Pietro Cres- 

 cenzio,^ who lived in the 13th century, mentions the collection of the 

 seeds in Italy ; and Simon Januensis,' physician to Pope Nicolas IV. 

 (a.d. 1288 — 1292), describes them — '^propter excelUntem operationem 

 in caputpurgio!' 



Description — The fruit consists of three downy follicles, in each of 

 which about 12 seeds are closely packed in two rows. The seeds 

 (which alone are found in commerce) are about 3 lines in length and 

 rather less in width ; they have the form of a very irregular 4-sided 

 pyramid, of which one side, much broader than the others, is distinctly 

 vaulted. They are sharp-angled, a little flattened, and very rough, the 

 testa being both wrinkled and deeply pitted. The latter is blackish- 

 brown, dull and earthy-looking, rather brittle, yet not hard. It 

 encloses a soft, whitish, oily albumen with a minute embryo at its 

 sharper end. , 



The seeds have a bitter taste and occasion a tingling sensation when 

 chewed. Ten of them weigh about 6 grains. 



Microscopic Structure — The epidermis of the seed consists of 

 one layer of large cells, either nearly cubical or longitudinally extended: 

 hence the wrinkles of the surface. The brown walls of these cells are 

 moderately thickened by secondary deposits, which may be made very 

 obvious by macerating thin sections in a solution of chromic acid, 1 p. 

 in 100 p. of water. By this treatment numerous crystals after a short 

 time make their appearance, — without doubt the chroraate of one of 

 the alkaloids of staphisagria. 



The outer layer of the testa is made up of thin-walled narrow cells, 

 which become larger near the edges of the seed and in the superficial 

 wrinkles. They contain a small number of minute starch granules and 

 are not altered on addition of a salt of ii'on. The interior layer 

 exhibits a single row of small, densely-packed cells. Tlie albumen is 

 composed of the usual tissue loaded with granules of albuminoid matter 

 and drops of fatty oil. 



Chemical Composition — Brandes (1819) and Lassaigne and 

 Feneulle (1819) have shown this drug to contain a basic principle. 

 Erdmann in 1864 assigned it the formula C^^H^NO^ ; he obtained 

 it to the extent of 1 per mille in crystals, soluble in ether, alcohol, 



' O. Schneider, Nicandrea, Lips. 1856. ^ DeCompositioneMedicamentorum,c.Wo. 



271. 6 Lib. xxiii. c. 13. 



-De Mat. Med. lib. iv. c. 153. ^ Libro della Agricultura, Venet. (1511) 



3 Puschmann's edition (quoted in the lib. vi. c. 108. 

 Appendix) i. 450. 7 ciavis Sanationis, Venet. 1510. 



