308 SUBTERRANEAN ORGANS 



the roots are mostly detached. The rhizome bears also more or 

 less distinct encircling leaf-scars, and sometimes short knob-like 

 branches at right angles to it. 



The rhizome breaks with a short fracture ; the fractured surface 

 is sometimes whitish and starchy, with numerous minute deep red 

 dots (cells containing secretion), sometimes of a more or less uniform 

 deep blood-red or nearly black colour, and then hard and resinous 

 instead of starchy, a difference due to the escape of the deep red 

 secretion from the cells in which it was originally contained into 

 the surrounding tissue. The appearance of the section varies not 

 only in different rhizomes, but even in different parts of the same 

 rhizome. The fibre-vascular bundles are distributed in a circle 

 near the bark, but they are so inconspicuous as to be with difficulty 

 discernible even under a lens. The drug has little odour, but an 

 unpleasant bitter and acrid taste. 



The student should observe 



(a) The cylindrical shape and comparative absence of roots, 



(b) The colour of the transverse section ; 



and should compare the drug with 

 Hydrastis rhizome (see above). 



Constituents. Bloodroot contains several remarkable and interest- 

 ing alkaloids, the chief of which are sanguinarine, chelerythrine, and 

 protopine. It also contains ft- and y-homochelidonine, a red resin 

 and abundance of starch. It is richest in alkaloid in the early 

 summer. 



Sanguinarine, C 20 H 15 N0 4 ,|H 2 (m.pt. 213), forms colourless crystals, but 

 yields with acids deep red crystalline salts. It is also found in small quantity 

 in the root of the greater celandine (Chelidonium majus, Linne), of Glaucium 

 luteum, Scopoli, &c. ; it causes tetanus and excitement. This alkaloid should 

 not be confused with the mixture of resinous substances known as sanguinarin, 

 which is obtained in the same way as cimicifugin, podophyllin, and other so- 

 called ' eclectic ' remedies. 



Chelerythrine, C 21 H 17 NO 4 (m.pt. 203), a colourless bitter alkaloid yielding 

 bright yellow salts ; it is a toxic alkaloid and is also found in Chelidonium majus, 

 Glaucium luteum, &c. 



Protopine, C 20 H 19 NO 6 (m.pt. 207), also found in opium, celandine, &c. 



/3- and y-homochelidonine, two colourless closely related alkaloids. 



Uses. Bloodroot in full doses depresses the action of the heart, 

 and produces nausea and vomiting ; in smaller doses it increases 

 the appetite and improves digestion. It has been used in atonic 

 dyspepsia, croup, bronchitis, and asthma. The powdered rhizome 

 is a powerful irritant to the respiratory passages. 



