190 SEEDS 



veratrine) accompanies cevadine in the seeds ; it is amorphous and 

 yields veratric acid and verine when hydrolysed. Both cevadine 

 and veratridine are toxic and sternutatory. Other alkaloids of less 

 importance are sabadilline (cevadilline) , sabadine, sabadinine, and 

 sabatrine, the latter being said to be only a mixture. 



Commercial veratrine is a mixture of these alkaloids and consists 

 chiefly of cevadine and veratridine ; the former may readily be obtained 

 from it by dissolving in alcohol, adding water until the solution becomes 

 faintly opalescent and setting aside to crystallise. 



Keller (1895) found 4-25 per cent, of alkaloid in the seeds. 



Uses. Cevadilla seeds (and veratrine) act both internally and 

 externally as a powerful irritant. This primary effect is followed 

 by depression, and, when used externally, loss of sensibility ; hence 

 ointment of veratrine is used to relieve neuralgic pains, &c. Veratrine 

 is employed also as a parasiticide, but is seldom administered 

 internally. 



ARECA NUTS 

 (Betel Nuts, Semina Arecae) 



Source, &c. Areca nuts are the seeds of Areca Catechu. Linne 

 (N.O. Palmce), a handsome palm with a tall slender stem crowned 

 by a number of large elegant leaves. The tree is widely cultivated 

 throughout India and the whole of the islands of the Eastern 

 Archipelago for its seeds, which are universally employed by the 

 natives as a masticatory. 



The fruits, which are orange yellow in colour when ripe, and of the 

 size and shape of an egg, are borne in large numbers on a branching 

 axis. The pericarp is fibrous and surrounds a single seed, from which 

 it is easily separated. The seeds are usually boiled in water with the 

 addition of a little lime and dried. 



Description. The areca nut has the shape of a short, bluntly 

 rounded cone about 2-5 cm. long. It has a brownish colour, and 

 the surface is marked with a network of paler depressed lines. Fre- 

 quently portions of a hard, brittle, grey, silvery coat are attached 

 more or less firmly to the seed ; these are portions of the inner layer 

 of the pericarp, and do not belong to the seed proper. The latter 

 is hard, but can be cut with a knife, and then exhibits a marbled 

 interior (ruminate endosperm), dark brown lines alternating with 

 opal- white portions. Examination with the lens shows these lines 

 to be slightly fissured. They are folds of the seed-coats, corre- 

 sponding in position to the fibrovascular bundles that pass into them 

 from the funiculus ; they follow the branching of the bundles and 

 produce the reticulate markings on the seed. The outer cells of 



