THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 279 



gent, and yields a principle {Conuine)^ whieli is administered in North 

 America instead of quinine." Note that the recent researches of 

 Sohn term this active principle Cornin* It is neutral and bitter, 

 and consists of crystalline silky needles, soluble in water, alcohol, or 

 ether. (Ann. Chem,, Ph. 14, 206, &c.) It does not appear to possess 

 any poisonous properties. 



The next question I would suggest to future workers in pharmaco- 

 logy is as to whether alangine can be classed under the group of 

 Saponins^] which in small doses cause symptoms in man " closely 

 resembling the nauseant stage of emesis, that is, a raw feeling in the 

 throat, tendency to cough, and increased secretion of mucus." 



To sum up, the result of my experience is that, even although the 

 root-bark of Alangium is a safe substitute for ipecacuanha as a mere 

 emetic, as stated by Mooideen Sheriff, it is a more powerful cardiac 

 sedative than ipecacuanha is reputed to be. As compared with ipeca- 

 cuanha, I think Alangium is a tardy and not a prompt emetic. From 

 the very fact that ipecacuanha is a prompt emetic, one may consider 

 it safe, as it does not remain in the stomach, but is discharged from it 

 before a large quantity of it has time to be absorbed by the blood. 

 Emesis being slow in Alangium^ the root-bark of it has niore time to 

 be absorbed by the blood. Hence, probably, its pronounced action on 

 the cardiac inhibitory nerves. 



* Dictionary of the Active Principles of Plants : London, 1894, page 45. § 79. 

 t Schmiedeberg's Pharmacology (translated by Dixon, 1887), page 68, 



