102 HAGENIA \BYSSINICA 



in tlie case of tlie panicles of female flowers. Both kinds of 

 flowers may be distinguishad in commercial kousso, although, as 

 already noticed, the female flowers are more frequently collected. 

 Panicles of the latter, from their red colour, are known as Red 

 Kousso ; while the male flowers are termed Kosso-esels. Kousso 

 has a pleasant herby odour, especially when freshly imported, 

 which has been compared by Pereira to the combined odours of 

 tea, hops, and senna leaves. The taste is not very evident at first, 

 but subsequently bitterish, acrid, and disagreeable. * 



Kousso has been repeatedly examined by chemists, and among 

 its constituents a volatile oil, bitter acrid resin, tannic acid, and a 

 bitter principle called kwoseine, koussin, or Jcosin, have been 

 found. The nature and characters of koussin have been variously 

 given by chemists. As obtained by Dr. Bedall, of Munich, in 

 1862, it occurred in a more or less crystalline whitish powder, 

 which was subsequently found to possess the anthelmintic pro- 

 perties of the drug. As afterwards prepared by Dr. E. Merck, of 

 Darmstadt, and described by Fliickiger and E. Buri, koussin 

 or Jcosin as termed by these chemists, was either in the form of 

 needles, or of short thick prismatic crystals. These crystals were 

 found to vary somewhat in colour, that of the needles being similar 

 to sulphur, of the larger prisms darker yellow, while some fine por- 

 tions appeared to be white. The specific gravity of kosin was so 

 considerable that it sank in sulphuric acid; it possessed neither 

 smell nor taste ; it was almost insoluble in water, and but very 

 slightly so in alcohol, but readily soluble in benzol, bisulphide of 

 carbon, chloroform, and ether. The investigation of Fliickiger 

 and Buri lead to the conclusion, at present, that kosin is an ether 

 of isobutyric acid. This kosin, when chemically pure, which is 

 not the case with Bedall's koussin, has been proved by Professor 

 Buchheim, of Griessen, to be very inferior in its anthelmintic 

 action to it; hence it would appear that pure kosin is in itself 

 almost, if not entirely, devoid of action on the animal economy, 

 but becoming medicinally active when combined with some other 

 constituent of the drug. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Kousso is anthelmintic in its 



