CRUDE DRUGS. 467 



posed of 10 loculi, each of which contains a single, lenticular, black 

 seed. The sarcocarp is fleshy, sweet and slightly acrid and con- 

 tains a purplish-red coloring principle which is soluble in water 

 but not in alcohol, and which is decomposed on heating the aque- 

 ous solution. The fruit also contains phytolaccic acid, several 

 fruit-acids and phytolaccin, a substance resembling tannin. 



APOCYNUM.— CANADIAN HEMP.— The dried root of 

 Apocynum cannabinuni (Fam. Apocynacese), a perennial herb 

 (p. 363) growing in fields and thickets in the United States and 

 Southern Canada (Fig. 201). 



Description. — Cylindrical, somewhat branched, usually 

 broken into pieces 4 to 10 cm. long, 5 to 10 mm. in diameter; 

 externally light brown, longitudinally wrinkled and transversely 

 fissured, with few rootlets or rootlet-scars ; fracture short ; inter- 

 nally, bark light brown, i mm. thick, easily separable from the 

 lemon-yellow, porous, slightly radiate wood; odor slight; taste 

 of bark bitter and acrid, of wood slightly bitter. 



Stem fragments are distinguished by having a comparatively 

 thin, finely fibrous bark and a hollow center. 



Inner Structure. — See Fig. 202. 



Constituents. — Two glucosides : apocynin, which is amor- 

 phous, resinous and soluble in ether, and apocynein, a yellowish 

 principle which is insoluble in ether but soluble in alcohol and 

 water and has the physiological properties of digitalin ; resin, tan- 

 nin, starch and about 10 per cent, of ash. 



Allied Plants. — The commercial article frequently contains 

 the root of a closely related plant, Apocynum androsceniifoliuin 

 (p. 363), growing in the same regions but having a thinner 

 bark, which is characterized by one or more groups of stone cells. 



IPECACUANHA.— IPECAC— The dried root of Cephdclis 

 Ipecacuanha {Uragoga Ipecacuanha) (Fam. Rubiacese), a shrub 

 indigenous to Brazil, and sparingly cultivated near Singapore 

 (Fig. 178). The commercial supply is obtained from Matta 

 Grosso, Brazil, and is known as Rio, Brazilian or Para Ipecac. 

 The roots of Cephaelis acuminata, a plant closely related to 

 Cephaelis Ipecacuanha and indigenous to the northern and central 

 portion of the United States of Colombia, are exported from 

 Carthagena and Savanilla, and are known commercially as Car- 



