224 WOODS 



BERBERIS 



(Berberis) 



Source, &C. Berberis is the dried stem of Berberis aristata, de 

 Candolle (N.O. Berberidece) a shrub indigenous to India and Ceylon. 



Description. The drug occurs in slightly undulating pieces, from 

 2-5 to 5 cm. in diameter, yellowish brown and striated externally, 

 bright yellow internally. The transverse section exhibits a narrow 

 brown cork, a broader yellowish-brown bast, a large yellow wood and 

 small pith. The bast is traversed by conspicuous, yellow medullary 

 rays, and is laminated. The wood exhibits numerous distinct medullary 

 rays and small vessels. It has a bitter taste. 



Constituents. The chief constituents of berberis are the alkaloid 

 berberine (see p. 235) and other substances of alkaloidal nature not 

 yet fully investigated, tannin, and resin. 



Uses. It is used in India as a bitter tonic in intermittent fevers. 



GUAIACUM WOOD 



(Lignum Guaiaci, Lignum Vitae) 



Source, &c. The lignum vitse or guaiacum wood of commerce is 

 derived from Guaiacum officinale, Linne, and G. sanctum, Linne (N.O. 

 Zygophyttece), both evergreen trees, the former a native of the West 

 Indian Islands and the north coast of South America, the latter 

 of southern Florida and the Bahamas. Both occur in Cuba and 

 Hayti, whence the wood is largely exported. The Spaniards became 

 acquainted with the drug when they conquered San Domingo ; it 

 was soon brought to Europe, where it acquired an immense repu- 

 tation in the sixteenth century as a cure for syphilis and certain 

 other diseases, the resin extracted from the trunk being introduced 

 subsequently. 



The trees are felled, the bark stripped off, and the wood exported 

 in logs varying commonly from 1 to 2 metres in length and from 

 10 to 50 cm. in thickness. 



Description. The logs are exceedingly hard, heavy, and compact, 

 and consist of a dark greenish brown heartwood surrounded by a 

 yellowish sapwood. The exterior is yellowish brown in colour and 

 either smooth or furrowed, the furrows being oblique and varying 

 in direction (corresponding to the arrangement of the wood fibres 

 in the wood). 



The medullary rays, which can be seen under a lens, are narrow, 



