376 RUBIACEiE. 



Some of these roots, which are occasionally brought to Europe under 

 the notion that they may find a market, have been described and figured 

 by pharmacologists. We shall notice only the following : — 



1. Large Striated Ipecacuanha — This is the root of Psychotria 

 emetica Mutis (Rubiacece), a native of New Granada. It is considerably 

 stouter than true ipecacuanha, but consists like the latter of a woody 

 column covered with a thick brownish bark. The latter, though marked 

 here and there with constrictions and fissures, is not annulated like 

 ipecacuanha, but has very evident longitudinal furrows. But its most 

 remarkable character is that it remains soft and Tnoist, toi(,gh to the knife, 

 even after many years ; and the cut surface has a dull violet hue. 

 The root has a sweetish taste and abounds in sugar ; ^ its decoction 

 is not rendered blue by iodine, nor is any starch to be detected by 

 means of the microscope. The drug occasionally appears in the 

 London market. 



2. Small Striated Ipecacuanha — This drug in outward appearance 

 closely resembles the preceding, but is usually of smaller size, — some- 

 times much smaller and in short pieces tapering towards either end. It 

 also differs in being brittle, abounding in starch, and having its woody 

 column provided with numerous pores, easily visible under a lens. 

 Prof. Planchon ^ of Paris, who has particularly examined both varieties 

 of Striated Ipecacuanha, is of opinion that the drug under notice may 

 be derived from some species of Richardsonia. 



3. Undulated Ipecacuanha — The root thus called is that of 

 Richardia scabra L. (Richardsonia scahra St. Hilaire), a plant of the 

 same order as Cephaelis, very common in Brazil, where it grows in 

 cultivated ground and sandy places, or by roadsides, and even in the less 

 frequented streets of Rio de Janeiro. Authentic specimens have been 

 forwarded to us by Mr. Glaziou of Rio de Janeiro, and Mr. J. Correa de 

 M^llo of Campinas ; and we have also had ample supplies of the plant 

 cultivated by us near London and at Strassburg, where Richardsonia 

 succeeds in the open air. 



The root in the fresh state is pure white, but by drying becomes of a 

 deep iron-grey. In the Brazilian specimens, there is a short crown 

 emitting as many as a dozen prostrate stems ; below this there is 

 generally, as in true ipecacuanha, a naked woody portion, which 

 extends downwards into a thicker root, y-^ of an inch in diameter, and 

 six or more inches long. This part of the root is marked by deep 

 fissures on alternate sides, which give it a knotty, sinuous, or undulating 

 outline. It has a brittle, very thick bark, white and farinaceous within, 

 surrounding a strong flexible slender woody column. The root has an 

 earthy odour not altogether unlike that of ipecacuanha, and a slightly 

 sweet taste. It affords no evidence of emetine when tested in the 

 manners described at p. 374, and can therefore easily be distinguished 

 from the true drug. 



White IpecactianJia oi the BrsLziliana. — See ^ Attfield in Pharm. Journ. xi. (1870) 



C. F. P. von Martins, Sjyecimen Mat. Med. 140. 



Bras. 1824; A. de St. Hilaire, Plantes ^ Journ. de Pharm. xvi. (1872) 405: xvii. 



usuelles des BrMliens, 1827-28. 19. 



