76 BERBERIDACE.E. 



a white alkaloid, soluble in ether and alcohol, and sparingly in water. Its 

 other constituents were not determined, but are probably unimportant. 



Preparations. — There are no official preparations of moonseed. It 

 yields its virtues to water and alcohol, and may be administered in decoc- 

 tion or tincture. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Moonseed is said to be tonic, alterative, 

 and diuretic. If these reputed properties depend to any considerable ex- 

 tent upon the berberina present in the drug, they must, of necessity, be 

 of a feeble character, since the proportion of this alkaloid is small The 

 therapeutic activity of the white alkaloid has not been demonstrated. As 

 stated above, moonseed was at one time employed as a substitute for sarsa- 

 parilla, to which it was, by some observers, pronounced superior as an al- 

 terative. Inasmuch, however, as the medicinal virtues of sarsaparilla itself 

 are of a rather doubtful character, this recommendation of moonseed is not 

 particularly convincing. It is probable that the plant, by virtue of its bit- 

 terness, which it shares with calumba and other species of the menisper- 

 macese, and which is due, at least in part, to berberina, possesses feeble 

 tonic powers, and that whatever effects it may cause, or seem to cause, 

 are due merely to its tonic action. Taking this view of the subject, one 

 can readily see how it might occasionally be beneficial in scrofulous, cuta- 

 neous, arthritic, rheumatic, syphilitic, and mercurial diseases, for all of 

 which it has been recommended. 



BERBERBDACE/E. 



Character of the Order. — Shrubs or herbaceous perennials with alter- 

 nate or radical, compound, often spiny leaves ; sepals and petals in two 

 or more rows of 2 to 4 each, imbricated in the bud, deciduous ; stamens 

 as many as the petals, and opposite them, hypogynous ; anthers 2-celled, 

 opening upward by valves hinged at the top ; ovary solitary, 1-celled ; 

 fruit a berry or capsule, 1- or many-seeded. 



Podophyllum and Jeffersonia differ in some respects from the general 

 structure of the order, both being many-seeded, the former having more 

 stamens than petals and the latter having the sepals in one row. 



The order comprises about a dozen genera and more than one hundred 

 species. Seven genera are represented in the United States, and four of 

 these comprise species of medicinal value. In general they possess acrid 

 and bitter properties. 



BERBERIS, — Barberry. 



Character of the Genus. — Sepals 6, orbicular, with 2 to 6 bractlets out- 

 side. Petals 6, obovate, concave, shorter than the sepals, with two glan- 

 dular spots " inside above the short claws. Stamens 6, irritable. Style 



