IPECACUANHA 327 



tolerance of the drug is often readily established, or the drug deprived 

 of its alkaloids (de-emetinised ipecacuanha) is administered. 



Substitutes. 1. Ipecacuanha Stem. Much of the Brazilian drug 

 is imported mixed with the stems of the plant. These are slender 

 and longitudinally-striated, exhibiting no annulations. The transverse 

 section shows a thin bark surrounding a ring of wood within which is 

 a distinct pith. They contain less alkaloid than the root, various 



FIG. 167. Undulated Ipecacuanha (Richardsonia sp.). A, root, natural 

 size. B, transverse section, magnified, showing porous wood. (Planchon 

 and Collin.) 



assays yielding from 0-97 to 1-8 per cent., and should therefore be 

 excluded from the drug. 



2. East Indian Root. Under this name the rhizome of a small 

 monocotyledonous plant, probably Cryptocoryne spirdlis, Fischer 

 (N.O. Aroidece), has been imported from the south of India. It occurs 

 in short, nearly cylindrical pieces, 1-5 to 5 cm. long, often tapering at 

 one end and there bearing the remains of leaves ; they are slightly 

 enlarged and constricted at regular intervals, which gives them an 

 annulated appearance somewhat resembling ipecacuanha, and are 

 marked with encircling leaf scars. The transverse section exhibits 

 a typically monocotyledonous structure, and distinguishes this drug 

 at once from genuine ipecacuanha ; for instead of the central column 



