31 KRAMEEJA IXINA 



Berg (1. c.) makes 24 species of Erameria, but some must be 

 reduced to varieties. Ehatany roots are afforded by several 

 others besides the two official ones ; e. g. the Brazilian K. argentea, 

 Mart, (figured in Fl. Bras., 1. c., t. 28), the Texan K. secundi- 

 flora, DC., & the Chilian K. cistoidea } Hook. 



DC. Prod., i, p. 341; Hanbnry, in Pharm. Journ., 1865, p. 460; 

 Berg, 1. c., pp. 763-4 ; Grisebach, Fl. W. Ind. Islands, p. 31 ; 

 A. W. Bennett, in Fl. Brasil. fasc. 63, p. 70. 



Part Used and Names. RATANHIA GKANATENSIS ; the dried root. 

 It is not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, the Pharmacopoeia 

 of India, or the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. But it 

 appears to be fully equal in medicinal value, if not superior to the 

 official or Peruvian Rhatany. 



This kind of rhatany is commonly known under the name of 

 Savanilla or New Granada Rhatany ; but also as Antilles Rhatany ; 

 and from its colour, as Violet Rhatany. It is imported from New 

 Granada. 



General Characters and Composition. Savanilla rhatany bears 

 a considerable resemblance to Peruvian rhatany, but the pieces 

 are not so long or so thick, being commonly only from about four 

 to eight inches in length, and from one fifth to nearly half an 

 inch in thickness. It is also well characterised by its dark pur- 

 plish or violet colour, and its smooth and thick bark, which firmly 

 adheres to the wood beneath, and which is marked with slight 

 longitudinal furrows, and at varying intervals, by deep, narrow, 

 transverse cracks. The bark is also less fibrous than that of 

 Peruvian rhatany, and has therefore a more even fracture, and 

 may be more readily reduced to powder. As a general rule the 

 thickness of the bark of Savanilla rhatany varies from about i to 

 the diameter of the wood, while that of Peruvian rhatany rarely 

 exceeds g the diameter of the woody axis, and is frequently less. 

 Hence, on an average, the proportionate thickness of the bark in 

 Savanilla rhatany is twice that of Peruvian rhatany. This is an 

 important and striking difference between the two roots, and as 

 the active properties of rhatany essentially reside in the bark, 



