MENISPERMACEiE. 



107 



It is known in Jamaica, where 

 it grows in abundance in the 

 mountainous districts, by the 

 name of Velvet-leaf. It also 

 occurs in several other of the 

 West India islands, and in 

 South America. It is also 

 spoken of by Ainslie as a 

 native of the East Indies, but 

 it appears that the plant to 

 which he refers is C. mauri- 

 tiana, which is closely allied 

 both in botanical characters 

 and in medicinal qualities. 



The part used in medicine is 



C. pareira. 



the root, which, as found in i. Raceme of flowers. 2. Separate raceme. 3. Section of ovary. 



commerce, is generally in large 



billets, very tortuous, of a dark colour externally, and of a yellowish hue within. 

 The axis is not central, and a section displays a number of concentric layers, 

 traversed by many radiating lines, between which are triangular bundles of 

 woody fibres and ducts. The taste is sweetish, somewhat aromatic, but leaving 

 a bitter and unpleasant impression in the mouth. The smell is very faint. 



The first notice given of this root was by Piso, who mentions that a root 

 was employed by the natives of Brazil, under the name of Caapeba, in cer- 

 tain diseases of the bowels and urinary organs ; this plant was erected into 

 a species by Linnaeus with the appellation of Cissampelos Caapeba, and may be 

 distinct from the C. pareira, though it appears probable that it is at most a 

 mere variety of it. In fact, Merat and De Lens state that there is every rea- 

 son to believe that the C. guayaquilensis and C.argentea, Humboldt, as well 

 as the C. microcarpa, De Candolle, are identical with it ; as before mentioned, 

 the Pareira of Ainslie is the product of another species, and that of Aublet, 

 is said to belong to another genus, Abuta, but nothing is known with certainty 

 with regard to it. The genuine article is the product of the C. pareira, as 

 this is certainly the root spoken of by Sloane and others. 



Pareira has been analyzed by Fenuelle, and more recently by Wiggers. 

 The first found a soft resin, a yellow bitter principle, which is the active in- 

 gredient, a brown colouring principle, vegeto-animal matter, fecula,'some 

 salts, &c. Wiggers states that he has detected a new vegetable alkaloid in 

 it, which he calls Cissampelin, but its properties have not been described. 



Medical Properties, SfC. — Pareira was introduced into medical practice by 

 the Portuguese, and at one time was much employed in diseases of the blad- 

 der and kidneys, and even considered as a powerful lithontriptic ; its virtues 

 were at one time so highly thought of, that Helvetius declares that calculi of 

 a large size had completely disappeared under its use, and that the operation 

 of lithotomy was no .longer required ; but from one of those unaccountable 

 changes in the opinions of the medical world, which have so often occurred 

 without any adequate reason for them, it rapidly sunk into almost perfect ob- 

 livion, till within a few years since it again began to attract the attention of 

 the profession, and it has been shown to possess most unequivocal powers in 

 certain affections of the bladder. Sir B. Brodie, who was one of the first to 

 resume its use, states that he has seen more good effected by this root in dis- 

 charges from the urino-genital organs, than by uva ursi. In chronic inflamma- 

 tions of the bladder, he says, " I am satisfied that it has great influence, lessen- 

 ing very materially the secretion of the ropy mucus, which is itself a very great 



