115 ECBALLIUM ELATERIUM 



outer part of the pericarp through its contractile inner portion ; 

 the resulting tension at length becomes so great that the wall 

 gives way at the point of least resistance, which is where the fruit 

 is united to its stalk. The seeds are thrown out with great force 

 and to a considerable distance. 



If placed in water the outer covering of the seeds swells up 

 into a large mass of semi-transparent jelly ; the structure of the 

 superficial cells which undergo this change is described and 

 figured by Du Tailly in the paper quoted below. 



Gren. & Godr., i, p. 604; Boiss., Fl. Orient., ii, p. 760; Lindl., Fl. 

 Med., p. 86 ; Du Tailly, in Adansonia, x, p. 208, t. 8, 9. 



Official Parts and Names. 1. ECBALII FRUCTUS ; the fruit, 

 very nearly ripe, of the Squirting Cucumber, Ecbalium officinarum, 

 Richard: 2. ELATERIUM a sediment from the juice of the 

 Squirting Cucumber (B. P.). The sediment from the expressed 

 juice of the fruit (Elaterium) (I. P.). ELATERIUM; a substance 

 deposited by the juice of the fruit of Momordica Elaterium 

 (U. S. P.). ' 



1. ECBALII FRUCTUS. The fruit is directed in the British Phar- 

 macopoeia to be obtained when very nearly ripe, because if left till 

 it is quite ripe, it separates spontaneously from its peduncle, and at 

 the same time the seeds and juice are expelled with violence from 

 the aperture left by the detached stalk ; it is from this circumstance 

 that its common name of Squirting Cucumber is derived. It is 

 advisable, therefore, that the stalk should be attached to the fruit 

 when it is used ; otherwise the pericarp may have burst and 

 expelled the contained juice. 



2. ELATERIUM. Preparation. Dr Clutterbuck proved many 

 years since, that the active substance elaterium is principally 

 contained in the juice around the seeds, the remainder of the 

 fruit being comparatively inert. As this juice is more liquid than 

 any other part of the fruit it alone runs out to any extent, when 

 the fruits are simply sliced, and therefore Dr. Clutterbuck's 

 experiments have shown that the finest elaterium is obtained 

 without pressure from the fruits when as nearly ripe as possible. 



