298 SUBTERRANEAN ORGANS 



istered internally, aconite produces a steady fall of temperature, 

 moistening of the skin, increase in the amount of urine, and lowering 

 of the sensibility ; it is given in cases of fever and pain, usually in 

 the form of small doses of the tincture frequently repeated . 



Varieties and Substitutes. English Aconite Root, as described above, 

 may generally be recognised by the bud which crowns most of the roots, 

 indicating that the root is a daughter root and not a parent root. 



Foreign Aconite Root. Much aconite root is imported from Germany. 

 It is collected from wild plants when in flower, and consists largely of 

 the parent roots, as shown by their being crowned with the lower 

 portions of the stems. Comparative assays of German and English 

 aconite root tend to show that the German is scarcely inferior to 

 the English in the proportion of ether-soluble alkaloid it contains. 



Japanese Aconite Root (A. uncinatum, Linne, var. japonicum, Regel), 

 is regularly imported in considerable quantities. It tapers gradually, 

 and is either dark grey and nearly smooth (daughter root) or brownish, 

 and marked with not very prominent, paler, longitudinal ridges 

 (parent root) . Both kinds of root are smaller than the English ; they 

 are, however, very starchy, less wrinkled than the English root, and 

 exhibit, in transverse section, the groups of vessels arranged in a more 

 regular circle. It contains japaconitine, which closely resembles, but 

 is not identical with, aconitine, being acetylbenzoyl-japaconine. 



Indian Aconite Root (A. laciniatum, Stapf) is much larger than the 

 English, measuring frequently 15 cm. in length and 4 cm. in thickness 

 near the crown ; it is crowned with the remains of a bud and is coarsely 

 wrinkled ; internally it may be either starchy or yellowish and horny ; 

 the horny character is due to the starch having been completely 

 gelatinised by the prolonged application of heat, the roots being, 

 according to some accounts, boiled hi cow's urine to preserve them. 

 The drug contains pseudaconitine (acetylveratroyl-pseudaconine), 

 which is about twice as toxic as aconitine. 



Atis Root (A. heterophyllum, Wallich), small, ovoid, greyish roots 

 with a bitter but not numbing taste, contain the alkaloid atisine. 



The root of A. chasmantlmm, Stapf, contains indaconitine which 

 resembles aconitine in action ; that of A. paniculatum, Lamark, is 

 much less toxic than that of A. Napellus and is believed to contain 

 benzoylaconine only. The rhizome of A. lycoctonum, Linne, contains 

 lycaconitine and myoctonine : its action resembles that of atis root. 



CIMICIFUGA 



(Rhizoma Cimicifugae, Radix Actaeae Racemosae, 

 Black Snakeroot) 



Source, &c. Cimicifuga racemosa, Elliot (Actcea racemosa, Linne), 

 is a tall herbaceous plant belonging to the natural order Ranunculacece. 



