13 JATEORHIZA CALUMBA 



quantities, as the produce of the stems of the true calumba plant, 

 but, as just noticed, their botanical and geographical sources 

 are different. The sliced roots of White Bryony (Bnjonia 

 dioica), and of American or False Calumba (Frasera Walteri), 

 have been also said to have been used as adulterants of, or substi- 

 tutions for, true calumba root, but the structure of these two roots 

 is so strikingly different from that of the genuine drug, that no 

 one acquainted with its characters could be deceived. American 

 Columbo is official in the Secondary List of the United States 

 Pharmacopoeia. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Calumba root is a bitter 

 stomachic and mild tonic. Its especial value as a tonic resides 

 in the fact of its not producing nausea, sickness, febrile disorder, 

 or headache, like other remedies of the class to which it belongs. 

 It has been found of great value in general debility, gastric irri- 

 tability, to allay the vomiting frequently attendant on pregnancy, 

 in atonic dyspepsia, and in the advanced stage of diarrhoea and 

 dysentery when the inflammatory symptoms have subsided. As 

 it contains neither tannic nor gallic acid, it undergoes no change 

 when combined with salts of iron and alkalies, and it may there- 

 fore be frequently advantageously prescribed in conjunction with 

 them. 



Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E,, p. 983; Pharmacographia, p. 23; 

 U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 199; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 186; 

 Pharm. Centr. Blatt. fur 1830, S. 517, and 1831, S. 429; Amer. 

 Journ. Pharm., vol. xx, p. 322; Chem. Gaz., vol. vii, p. 150; 

 Pharm. Journ., 1st ser., vol. x, p. 321, and vol. xii, p. 185. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE. 



Drawn from a specimen in the British Museum cultivated in the Botanic 

 Garden, Calcutta (Wallich, no. 4953A) ; the root added from a plant cultivated 

 in Kew Gardens ; the fruit copied from Miers. 1. Portion of stem of a male 

 plant with leaves and flowers. 2. A male flower. 3. Vertical section of the 

 same. 4. A petal with included stamen. 5 and 6. Stamens. 7. A ripe drupe. 

 8. The same with half the pulp removed. 9. The putamen with the woolly 

 coat half removed. 10. A seed. 11. Vertical, and 12. Transverse section of 

 the same. 13. Rhizome and roots. 14. Transverse section of a root. (2-6 

 enlarged.) 



