FRUCTUS RHAMNL 157 



hanibcist (p. 74) ; it chiefly contains the tannic matter, besiaes stellate 

 crystals of oxalate of calcium which are distributed through the whole 

 tissue of the bark. The medullary rays are of the usual form, and con- 

 tain starch granules. The corky coat is built up of a smaller number 

 of vaulted cells. 



Chemical Composition ^ — The bitter principle of the bark has 

 been ascertained by Broughton' to be a nearly colourless resinous 

 substance, sparingly soluble in water but more so in alcohol, ether, or 

 benzol. It does not appear to unite with acids or bases, and is less 

 soluble in water containing them than in pure water. It has a very 

 bitter taste, and refuses to crystallize either from benzol or ether. It 

 contains no nitrogen. To this we may add that the bark is rich in 

 tannic acid. 



Uses — Rohun bark is administered in India as an astringent tonic 

 and antiperiodic, and is reported useful in intermittent fevers and 

 creneral debility, as well as in the advanced stages of dysentery and in 

 diarrhcea. 



RHAMNACE^. 



FRUCTUS RHAMNI. 



Baccce Rhamni, Bciccce Spince cervince ; Buckthoim Bernes ; F. Bales 

 de Nepi'un ; G. Kreuzdomheeren. 



Botanical Origin — Rhamnus caf^r^ica L., a robust dioecious shrub 

 with spreading branches, the smaller of which often terminate in a stout 

 thorn. It is indigenous to Northern Africa, the greater part of Europe, 

 and stret<ihes eastward to the Caucasus and into Siberia. We have 

 seen stems 50 years old, having a diameter of 8 inches, sent from the 

 government of Cherson, Southern Russia. In England the buckthorn 

 though generally distributed is abundant only in certain districts ; in 

 Scotland it occurs wild in but a single locality. Yet in Norway, 

 Sweden, and Finland it grows much further north. 



The fruit which ripens in the autumn is collected for use chiefly in 

 the counties of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and also 

 from Wiltshire. The collectors usually prefer to supply the juice as 

 expressed by themselves. 



History — The Buckthorn was well known to the Anglo-Saxons, and 

 is mentioned as HartstJwrn or Waythorn in their medical writings and 

 glossaries dating before the Norman conquest. The Welsh physicians of 

 Myddfai ("Meddygon Myddvai") in the 13th century prescribed the 

 juice of the fruit of buckthorn boiled with honey as an aperient drink. 



As Spina Cervina the shrub is referred to by Piero de' Crescenzi of 

 Bologna^ about a.d. 1305. 



The medicinal use of the berries was familiar to aU the writers on 



* The analysis alluded to in the Pharm. 2 Beddome, Flora Sylvatica, Madras, part 



of India (p. 444) concerns Khaya i. (1869)8, — Edso information communicated 



(Swietenia) senegaUnsis, and not the present direct. 



species, as my friend Dr. Overbeck has in- ^ Tratlato daW Agricoltura, Milano 1805 



fm-ni-d me.— F. A. F. 10. iii. c. '1'). 



