225 DAPHNE MEZEREUM 



1864, was the root-bark of Daphne Mezereum. The stem-bark 

 is usually regarded as somewhat less active than the root-bark, 

 but in the Dublin Pharmacopeia, formerly, and in the United 

 States and most of the Continental pharmacopoeias, the bark of 

 both root and stem was included under the common name of 

 Mezereon ; and now, in consequence of the impossibility of 

 obtaining a sufficient supply of the root-bark, the bark of both root 

 and stem is also made official in the British Pharmacopoeia, and in 

 the Pharmacopoeia of India. The British Pharmacopoeia now 

 also allows the bark of Daphne Laureola to be used as well as that 

 derived from D. Mezereum ; and the Pharmacopoeia of the United 

 States likewise permits the bark of Daphne Gnidium to be 

 employed indiscriminately with that of D. Mezereum. We shall 

 subsequently figure and describe both Daphne Laureola and D. 

 Gnidium. 



Collection and Commerce. Mezereon bark, or Mezereon as it is 

 simply termed in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, is col- 

 lected in the winter months, and after being dried, it is made up 

 into rolls or bundles. Formerly it was collected for medicinal 

 purposes in Kent and Hampshire; but at present it is mostly 

 imported from Germany. 



General Characters and Composition. Mezereon bark occurs in 

 more or less flattened strips and quilled pieces of various lengths ; 

 but rarely more than about T L. of an inch thick. It is covered 

 externally by an olive- or somewhat reddish-brown, corky, 

 and readily separable layer ; and is white, very tough, fibrous, 

 and cottony, internally. The stem-bark is readily recognised 

 from the root-bark, more especially when fresh, by the green colour 

 of its cellular envelope or part beneath the outer corky layer. The 

 bark of the younger branches is also marked by evident leaf-scars. 

 When chewed, the taste of the root-bark is at first sweetish, but 

 afterwards persistently burning and acrid ; that of the stem-bark 

 is somewhat less acrid. When fresh mezereon bark has an 

 unpleasant odour, but this is nearly lost in the dried state. 



Mezereon bark is said to owe its acridity to a resin, but this 

 substance has never been thoroughly examined. According to 



