15 CISSAMPELOS PAREIBA 



upon which its reputation as a medicine was founded. We also 

 stated in the same place that the official Cissampelos Pareira was 

 not even the source of the spurious root which had been the 

 ordinary Pareira Brava of commerce for many years past, as 

 the characters of its root were very different, as proved by 

 Hanbury, both from it and from the true Pareira Brava. The 

 characters of the drug derived from the official plant are now 

 given. 



General Characters and Composition. A sample of this spu- 

 rious Pareira Brava, as obtained from Jamaica by Hanbury, is in 

 the form of long cylindrical stems, some of them terminating in 

 roots, and others emitting roots here and there. These stems 

 closely resemble the climbing stems of the common Clematis 

 Vitalba of this country. They vary in diameter from about a 

 quarter of an inch to an inch, averaging about half an inch. 

 Externally they are covered by a light brown bark, which presents 

 shallow longitudinal furrows more or less spirally arranged, and 

 transverse knots placed at intervals of from one to three feet. 

 The roots are somewhat darker in colour. A transverse section 

 of the stem or root exhibits a pale greyish-brown wood, which is 

 traversed by narrow medullary rays, which separate it into from 

 10 to 20 very porous converging wedges ; but the large concentric 

 zones as seen in the true pareira brava and the ordinary spurious 

 drug are here absent. The wood is surrounded by a dark 

 greyish-brown corky bark. Both root and stem are without 

 odour ; but they have a pure bitter taste, without any aromatic, 

 sweetish, or astringent character. 



We have already noticed under Chondrodendron tomentosum 

 that the drug now under consideration contains the same bitter 

 principle as that of the true Pareira Brava and of the common 

 False Pareira Brava, namely, Cissampeline or Pelosine, and which 

 Dr. Fliickiger believes to be identical with Beberia or Bebeerine 

 and also with Buwine. 



Medical Properties and Uses* The medical properties and uses 

 of Pareira Brava are given under Chondrodendron tomentosum ; 

 but the drug now under notice, although used as a medicine in 



