§20 



[December, 1908. 



DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



TREATMENT OP UNKNOWN 

 VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 



The recent appearance in the London 

 drug market of some fourteen bags, 

 each weighing, it was said, three- 

 quarters of a hundredweight, contain- 

 ing unknown roots from Colombo, has 

 drawn fresh attention to the fact that 

 such unknown articles of commerce are 

 frequently introduced in this way, and, 

 finding no buyers, as in this case, are 

 lost to commerce. The ''roots" which 

 were so classified in the broker's Cata- 

 logue, proved to be those of Coscinium 

 feyiestratum, a Menispermaceous climb- 

 ing plant of Ceylon and Southern 

 India. It is noted for its bright 

 greenish-yellow colour when freshly 

 cut, as well as for its very broad 

 medullary rays. It is sometimes known 

 as False Calumba, and has been used 

 as a substitute for true Calumba, which 

 is the root of Jaleorhiza Columba, a 

 climber of the forests of Mozambique. 

 Both in India and Ceylon the root of the 

 Coscinum fenestratum has been spoken 

 favourably of by many writers on 

 medicinal products, and it is said to 

 be now official in the Indian Adden- 

 dum of the Pharmacopoeia, besides 

 whicti, the yellow colouring matter is 

 used as a dye. A letter in a recent 

 issue of our contemporary, The 

 Chemist and Druggist, written by an 

 authority on drugs, comments on the 

 practice that prevails at the English 

 drug auctions of consigning new, or 

 unknown products, which fail to find 

 buyers, to the rummage sales, or the 

 dust destructor. "While the Hamburg 

 shippers and German drug houses," he 

 says, " are careful to get supplies of 

 out-ot-the-way drugs, in this country it 

 is quite a matter of chance for a new, 

 rare or unrecognised product to even 

 get catalogued correctly, so that new 

 products, whether drugs or other arti- 

 cles, get but little chance of being 

 known or tried." New uses are con- 

 stantly being found for products that a 

 few years ago were considered of no 

 value, and it is, therefore, important 

 that an expert opinion as to the sources 



and properties of unknown articles 

 should be obtaiued before these are 

 offered for sale. It could then be deter- 

 mined whether the article could be 

 turned to any good purpose, or whether 

 its use was only as a substitute for 

 any other well-tried substance. 



Bearing upon this subject is the 

 increase that has recently taken place 

 in the importation of Cashew nuts, the 

 fruit of Anacardium occidentale. As 

 edible nuts they have hitherto been but 

 very little in demand in this country, 

 their unpopularity being probably due 

 to a great extent, to the presence of an 

 acrid juice between the shell and the 

 kernel itself. This, however, is dissi- 

 pated by heat, so that when roasted, 

 as they usually are before being sold, 

 they are perfectly wholesome. The tree 

 belongs to South America and the West 

 Indies, but it has long been established 

 in India, the bulk of the shipments 

 received in England having been ob- 

 tained from Bombay. Large quantities 

 of these so-called nuts are now annually 

 exported from the East Coast of Africa, 

 namely, Zanzibar, Inhambance, Beira, 

 Quillimane and Delagoa Bay to Euro- 

 pean ports. The Bombay shipments to 

 England mostly come in the shelled 

 form, that is, the kernels are removed 

 from the outer shell, which is hard and 

 woody. It is further stated that Madras 

 is now sending to England large quan- 

 tities of these shelled and blanched ker- 

 nels. Considering that these Cashew 

 nuts realise in the Mincing Lane market 

 from 19s. to 24s. per cwt., there is 

 apparently a new development of their 

 use springing up. 



A reference to the Cashew nut would 

 not be complete without noticing the 

 peculiar habit of the plant in the pro- 

 duction of its fruit. The so-called nut, 

 which is kidney-shaped and covered 

 with a hard shell, is borne at the top of 

 a pear-shaped, fleshy receptacle or 

 swollen stalk, which, when fully grown, 

 has a reddish tint and is edible, having 

 an agreeable, acid taste, the acrid 

 juice only surrounding the kernel. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, No. 3,529, Vol. 

 XLIV., August, 1908. 



