14 ANAMIRTA PANICULATA 



which covers a whitish, thin, woody shell or endocarp. On one 

 side of the fruit this shell doubles inwards, and forms a projection, 

 which is contracted at the base, but enlarged and divided above 

 into two branches; and upon this projection there is placed a 

 solitary, oily, yellowish- white seed, of a reniform or somewhat 

 seruilunar shape. In a vertical section of the fruit this seed 

 is seen not to fill the shell, as it contracts in drying, and by 

 keeping it becomes more and more shrivelled and wasted, so that 

 in old samples of cocculus indicus the shell is frequently found 

 almost empty. The test of the goodness of cocculus indicus 

 formerly given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, was, that " the 

 kernels should fill at least two thirds of the fruit." Cocculus 

 indicus has no odour, and the shell is almost tasteless, but the 

 seed is very bitter. 



Cocculus indicus has been sometimes confounded with the fruit 

 of Laurus nobilis, which is commonly known as the Bay berry. 

 The latter is, however, generally larger, distinctly oval in form, 

 and its contained seed lies loose in, and fills the cavity of, the fruit. 

 The seed of the bay berry has also an agreeable aromatic 

 odour, a firm consistence, and is readily separated into two equal 

 portions. 



The pericarp of cocculus indicus contains two isomeric, taste- 

 less, crystallisable alkaloids, termed menispermia and parameni- 

 spermia, combined with an acid called hypopicrotoxic acid. Of 

 these substances but little is known. The properties of cocculus 

 indicus are entirely due to the presence of a white, crystalline, non- 

 nitrogenised, intensely bitter, very poisonous, neutral principle, 

 termed picrotoxin, which is only contained in the seed. Picrotoxin 

 is soluble in water and in alkaline solutions. An aqueous solu- 

 tion is not affected by tannic acid, or by any metallic salt, hence 

 picrotoxin may be readily distinguished from the bitter poisonous 

 alkaloids. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Both cocculus indicus and picro- 

 toxin are poisonous. They are never administered internally, but 

 are occasionally employed externally in the form of an ointment 

 (made by incorporating about eighty grains of the seeds, or ten 



