428 



LOGANIACE^. 



amount of crystals, — insufficient for analysis. Dissolved and injected 

 into a small dog, they occasioned purging and vomiting. 



Uses — Employed in India, as already mentioned, as a substitute for 

 ipecacuanha, chiefly in the treatment of dysentery. The dose of the 

 powdered leaves as an emetic is 25 to 30 grains, as a diaphoretic and 

 expectorant 3 to 5 grains. 



Radix Ti/lo2)horce — This root is met with in the Indian bazaars, 

 and has been employed, as before stated, as much or more than the leaf. 

 It consists of a short, knotty, descending rootstock, about ^ of an inch in 

 thickness, emitting 2 to 3 aerial stems, and a considerable number of 

 wiry roots. These roots are often C inches or more in length by ^ a line 

 in diameter, and are very brittle. The whole drug is of a pale yellowish 

 brown ; it has no considerable odour, but a sweetish and subsequently 

 acrid taste. In general appearance it is suggestive of valerian, but is 

 somewhat stouter and larger. 



Examined microscopically, the parenchymatous envelope of the 

 rootlets is seen to consist of two layers, the inner forming a small 

 nucleus sheath. The outer portion is built up of large cells, loaded with 

 starch granules and tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium. Salts of iron 

 do not alter the tissue. 



LOGANIACE^. 



NUX VOMICA. 



Semen Nucis Vomicae; Nux Vomica; F. Noix vomique; G. Brechnuss. 



Botanical Origin — Strychnos Nux-vomica L., a moderate sized tree 

 with short, thick, often crooked stem, and small, greenish-white, tubular 

 flowers ranged in terminal corymbs. It is indigenous to most parts of 

 India, especially the coast districts, and is found in Burmah, Siam, 

 Cochin China and Northern Australia. 



The ovary of S. Nux-voinica is bi-locular, but as it advances in 

 growth the dissepiment becomes fleshy and disappears. The fruit, which 

 is an indehiscent berry of the size and shape of a small orange, is 

 filled with a bitter, gelatinous white pulp, in which the seeds, 1 to 5 in 

 number, are placed vertically in an irregular manner. The epicarp forms 

 a thin, smooth, somewhat hard shell, which at first is greenish, but when 

 mature, of a rich orange-yellow. The pulp of the fruit contains 

 strychnine,^ yet it is said to be eaten in India by birds.^ The wood, 

 which is hard and durable, is very bitter. 



^ Koxburgh's assertion that the pulp 

 "seems perfectly innocent," induced us, to 

 examine it chemically, which we were 

 enabled to do through the kindness of Dr. 

 Thwaites, of the Royal Botanical Gardens, 

 Ceylon. The insjnssatedpulp received from 

 Dr. T. , diluted with water, formed a very 

 consistent jelly having a slightly acid re- 

 action and very bitter taste. Some of it 

 was mixed with slaked lime, dried, and 

 then exhausted by boiling chloroform. The 

 liquid left on evaporation a yellowish 

 resinoid mass, which was warmed with 

 acetic acid. The colourless solution yielded 



a perfectly white, crystalline residue, which 

 was dissolved inwater,and precipitated with 

 bichromate of potassium. The crystallized 

 precipitate dried, and moistened with 

 strong sulphuric acid, exhibited the violet 

 hue characteristic of strychnine. 



To confirm this experiment, we obtained 

 through the obliging assistance of Dr. Bidie 

 of Madras, some of the white pulp taken 

 with a spoon from the interior of the ripe 

 fruit, and at once immersed per se in spirit 

 of wine. The alcoholic fluid gave abundant 

 evidence of the presence of strychnine. 



2 According to Cleghorn by the hornbill 



