SIMARUBA 241 



cortex from the bast ; this line of sclerenchymatous cells is never 

 found in cusparia bark. 



Brazilian Angostura bark', Esenbeckia febrifuga, A. Jussieu (N.O. 

 Rutacece) ; greyish brown with reddish brown patches ; internally 

 brown ; taste bitter. 



SIMARUBA BARK 



(Cortex Simarubse) 



Source, &C. Simamba bark is obtained from various species of 

 Simaruba (S. officinalis, de Candolle, S. amara, Aublet, S. glauca, 

 de Candolle), (N.O. Simarubece), tall trees with long horizontal 

 roots, natives of Guiana, northern Brazil, the West Indian Islands, 

 and Florida. It was brought from Guiana to Paris in 1713 as the 

 bark of a tree called by the natives 

 simaruba and used by them with great 

 success in dysentery. In Europe it soon 

 gained renown, and was imported in 

 considerable quantity. The bark is 

 stripped from the root, probably after a 

 preliminary beating to loosen it, freed 

 from the outer layer (cork), and dried. 



There appear to be three varieties of FIG. 121. Simaruba bark, 

 simaruba bark in commerce, viz. Orinoco, Transverse section, Mag- 



Surinam and Maracaibo. The first two 

 are derived from Simaruba officinalis, de 



Candolle ; the last named from a species of Simaba closely allied to 

 S. suffruticosa, Engler. 



Description. True simaruba bark occurs in long, very fibrous strips, 

 sometimes as much as a metre in length, a decimetre wide, and between 

 3 and 6 mm. thick. These pieces are more or less fissured and rent 

 longitudinally, probably the result of beating. Externally they are 

 of a buff or yellowish brown colour, and rough as though they had 

 been deprived of the outer cork layer by rasping. They are frequently 

 marked with brownish raised corky warts or the depressions left after 

 their removal. The inner surface is yellowish, longitudinally striated, 

 and fibrous. 



The transverse section exhibits numerous, narrow medullary rays 

 traversing the bark from the inner almost or quite to the outer margin, 

 and showing therefore that the drug consists almost entirely of bast 

 tissue, the cork and part or all of the cortex having been removed. 



The drug has no odour, but a very bitter taste. 



The student should observe 



(a) The extremely fibrous nature of the bark, 



(b) Its yellowish colour and bitter taste, 



(c) The characters of the transverse section. 



16 



