R U B I A C E M. 



A genus of suffruticose or herbaceous plants, with much-branched, square 

 stems, verticillate leaves, and small, white or ochroleucous flowers. It con- 

 tains about forty species, some of which are of much interest, but rather for 

 their use in the arts than as medicinal agents. 



R. tinctorum, Linn. — Herbaceous. Leaves 4 — 6, in a whorl, subpetiolate, lanceolate, 

 smooth above. Margin, midrib, and angles of the stems aculeate, scabrous. Peduncles 

 axillary, trichotomous. Lobes of the corolla gradually callous, acuminate, not cuspidate. 



Linn., Sp. PI. 158; Woodville, i. 173; Pereira, Elem. Mat. Med., ii. 

 469 ; Lindley, Fl. Med. 446. 



Common Names. — Madder ; Dyer's Madder, &c. 



Foreign Names. — Garance, Fr. ; Robbia, It. ; Krappwurzel, Ger. 



Description. — Root perennial, composed of numerous long fibres, of various sizes, and 

 united to a common head. Stems many, slender, quadrangular, jointed, decumbent, and 

 furnished at the angles with, short prickles, by means of which they can climb on a sup- 

 port. The leaves are from four to six in a whorl, elliptical, acuminate, rough on edges 

 and midrib. The flowers are small, yellow, and terminal, forming a ramose panicle. 

 The corolla is rotate, 4-cleft, with the lobes somewhat callous. The stamens are short, 

 as are also the styles. The fruit is a round, shining berry, or rather double berry, one of 

 which is abortive. 



Madder is a native of the South of Europe, and is extensively cultivated in 

 France and Holland, and has succeeded very well in this country ; but the 

 principal supply comes from Holland. The root, which is the only part used, 

 is not dug up till the plant is three years old. As found in commerce, it 

 is in long, cylindrical pieces, about as thick as a quill, and of a deep-red or 

 brown colour. They consist of a thin epidermis, covering an easily separa- 

 ble cortex, and a ligneous meditullium, which is at first yellow, but on dry- 

 ing becomes reddish. It is generally, however, imported in the form of a 

 coarse powder, which is brownish-red, of a peculiar but feeble nauseous 

 odour, and a bitterish, astringent taste. It imparts these properties, as well 

 as a red colour, to water and alcohol. Many analyses have been made of it, 

 the most interesting of which are those by Robiquet and Colin (Ann. Chim. 

 xxxiv.), and more recently by Runge (Thomson, Records of Sci., ii. iii.) 

 The last chemist states that there are no less than five colouring matters in 

 Madder, two of which, Alizarin and Purpurin, had been noticed by Robi- 

 quet and Colin, and another, Xanthin, by Kuhlmann. Runge also mentions 

 that two acids exist in it, which he has called Madderic and Rubiacic. The 

 colouring matters are probably all modifications of a single substance, which 

 appears to be the Xanthin, as at first the juice of the root is yellow, and does 

 not change to a red until it has been acted upon by the oxygen of the atmo- 

 sphere. Madder also contains a* saccharine matter, and some resin. Its 

 great employment is in the arts, as the basis of red dyes, as it affords a tint 

 that* is not affected by the action of light or moisture, when properly fixed by 

 appropriate mordants. 



When taken into the stomach, the colouring matter is absorbed, and tinges 

 the urine and other secretions, and, from experiments on animals, also the 

 bones, of a red colour, though none of the other tissues are affected by it. 

 Many theories have been proposed to account for this curious fact ; but none 

 of them are satisfactory. 



Medical Properties. — Madder was employed by the ancients, and is no- 

 ticed by Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, and others, as a potential remedy in 

 diseases requiring the production of diuresis ; and also as of much use in 

 jaundice and visceral affections ; but the experience of modern practitioners 

 is, that it is wholly inefficient in these cases, and that its only striking action 



