CALUMBA. 179 



Actaea Racemosa. Cimicifiiga. (Not Offi- 

 cinal.} The rhizome and rootlets of Cimicifuga 

 racemosa f Actaea racemosa) Black Snake-root or Black 

 Cohosh. From the United States. 



Characters. Knotted heads, with numerous fine brittle 

 rootlets ; odour faint ; taste somewhat bitter, astringent, and 

 acrid, not unlike opium. 



Composition. Cimicifuga contains a volatile oil, two resins y 

 tannin. The active principle is still uncertain. 



Dose. 20 to 30 gr.. 



ACTION AND USES. 



In moderate doses black snake-root is bitter; in larger 

 doses it slows the heart and raises the blood pressure like 

 digitalis ; finally it is excreted in the urine, and increases the 

 activity of the skin, kidneys, and generative organs. 



Cimicifuga is used as a stomachic ; in diseases of the heart ; 

 and in rheumatism, bronchitis, uterine disorders and sperma- 

 torrhoea, in which its remote stimulant action is occasionally 

 valuable. It has been much lauded in chorea. 



MENISPERMACE^E. 



CalumbsB Radix CALUMBA ROOT. The root, 

 cut transversely and dried, of Jateorrhiza Calumba 

 and Miersii. From the forests of eastern Africa, 

 between Ibo and the Zambesi. 



Characters. Slices, flat, circular, or oval, about two inches 

 in diameter, and from two to four lines thick, softer and 

 thinner towards the centre, greyish-yellow, bitter. A decoc- 

 tion, when cold, is blackened by the solution of iodine. 



Composition. Calumba contains a non- nitrogenous, bitter 

 principle, calumbin, t C 21 R K 7 , crystallising in white needles ; 

 an alkaloid, berberin, C 20 H 17 N0 4 ; calumbic acid, C 21 H2i0 7 ; 33 

 per cent, of starch ; but no tannin. 



j) ose . 5 to 20 gr. 



Preparations. 



1. Extractum Caluinbse. Aqueous. 8 in 1. Lose, 2 .to 10 gr. 



2. Infusum Calumbae. 1 in 20 of cold water. Dose, 1 to 2 fl.oz. 



3. Tinctura Calumbae. 1 in 8. Dose, $ to 2 fl.dr. 



Calumba is also an ingredient of Mistura Ferri Aromatica. 



