157 ARTEMISIA PAUCIFLORA 



it is distributed to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Western Europe. 

 The average imports into St. Petersburg, according to Ludwig, 

 in 1862, 1868, and 1864 were about 10,000 cwt. No other later 

 or reliable statements are available. 



General Characters and Composition. This drug, which 

 consists of the minute unexpanded flower-heads resembling seeds 

 in appearance, is known under various names, as Santonica, Semen 

 Santonicce, Semen Cinte, Semen Contra, Semen Sanctum, Wormseed, 

 and others. The best specimens of santonica are composed almost 

 entirely of the minute unexpanded and unbroken flower-heads ; 

 but in commercial specimens we frequently find a variable propor- 

 tion of stalks and small portions of leaves intermixed with the 

 flower-heads (capitula). Fliickiger and Hanbury say that, the 

 flower-heads " are so minute that it requires about 90 to make up 

 the weight of one grain." The characters of the capitula are fully 

 given in our botanical description, and those of commercial 

 santonica are thus summed up in the British Pharmacopoeia : 

 " Flower-heads rather more than a line in length and nearly 

 half a line in breadth, fusiform, blunt at each end, pale greenish- 

 brown, smooth; resembling seeds in appearance, but consisting 

 of imbricated involucral scales with a green midrib, enclosing 

 four or five tubular flowers. Flower-heads not round or hairy." 

 Santonica has a bitter, somewhat camphoraceous taste ; and when 

 rubbed, it has a strong and agreeable odour, suggestive of 

 camphor and cajuput oil. 



The principal constituents of santonica are a volatile oil, resin, 

 and a crystalline principle, which is described below under the 

 name of santonin. The volatile oil has the peculiar odour and 

 taste of the drug, and is contained in it, in the proportion of 

 about 1 per cent. It boils at about 347, and is chiefly com- 

 posed of a substance which has been termed Cintebene-camphor. 

 The anthelmintic properties of santonica appear to be entirely due 

 to santonin. 



2. SANTONINUM. Santonin or Santonine exists in the drug 

 in proportions varying from 1J to 2 per cent., and the amount, 

 it is said, rapidly decreases as the flowers expand. Santonin, 



