piperin ; 2nd, green concrete very acrid oil ; 3rd, thick volatile oil ; 4th, coloured gummy matter ; 5th, ex- 
tractive, analogous to that yielded by some leguminosse ; 6th, malic and uric acids ; 7th, bassorine ; 8th, 
various earthy and alkaline salts ; 9th, woody fibre. a 
Piperin, a new principle, was discovered some years since, in black pepper by M. CErstaedt, who believed 
it to be a vegetable alkali. This does not, however, appear to be the case ; but it bears considerable analogy 
to the resins, especially to that of cubebs, which M. Vauquelin compares with the balsam of copaiba. The 
following is M. Pelletier’s method of obtaining it. After having digested the pepper repeatedly in alcohol, 
and evaporated the solutions, a fatty or resinous matter is obtained ; this must be subjected to the action of 
boiling water, which must be repeated until it passes off colourless. Then by dissolving this fatty matter 
(purified by washing in alcohol) by the aid of heat, and leaving the solution to itself for some days, a multi- 
tude of crystals is obtained, which may be purified by solution in alcohol and ether, and by repeated crys- 
tallizations. The alcoholic mother-waters, left to themselves, will afford fresh crystals, which are piperin, 
under the form of prisms, with four faces ; two of which, parallel to each other, are evidently broader. 
These crystals are colourless and transparent, inodorous, and almost insipid. They are totally insoluble in 
cold water ; boiling water dissolves a small portion of them, which is precipitated on cooling. They are 
very soluble in alcohol, less so in ether. The peculiar properties of pepper appear to depend on an acrid 
volatile oil, which is associated with the piperin. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — The principal use of pepper is condimentary: it is employed 
partly for its pungent flavour, partly to stimulate the stomach and promote the digestive process, especially 
when substances not readily assimilable have been taken as a medicine. Pepper is employed both for its local 
and constitutional effects ; thus, mixed with lard, we employ it in the form of ointment against tinea 
capitis. In relaxed uvula, paralysis of the tongue, and in other effects of the mouth and throat requiring a 
powerful acrid pepper may be employed as a masticatory. It may be mixed with mustard to increase the 
irritant effects of a mustard poultice. 
Internally it has been employed in various diseases : thus in dyspepsia, as a gastric stimulant ; given in 
spirit and water it is a popular remedy for preventing the return of a paroxysm of an intermitting fever. 
Barbier says, in some cases where large doses have been taken, death has occurred, in consequence, as he 
asserts, of some pre-existent gastritis, which was increased by the spice. 
Hippocrates employed pepper in several diseases. Pliny alludes to its uses as a condiment, and ex- 
presses his astonishment that it should have come into such general use, since it has neither flavour nor 
appearance to recommend it. “ Quis ilia primus experiri cibis voluit,” says he, “ aut cui in appetenda avi- 
ditate esurire non fuit satis ?” 
When taken, in excess, it is injurious to persons of full habit. As a medicine it is given to relieve 
nausea, or check vomiting, to remove singultus, and as a stimulant in retrocedent gout. Its dose is from 
10 to 15 grains. Its infusion has been used as a gargle in relaxation of the uvula. 
The local effects of pepper are those of a powerfnl acrid. These are well perceived when we apply it 
to the tongue. If kept in contact for some time with the skin it causes active inflammation, and brings out 
a crop of phlyctenae. The remote effects of pepper are those of a stimulant. “ I have seen,” says Van 
Swieten, “ a most ardent and dangerous fever raised in a person who had swallowed a great quantity of beaten 
pepper.” 
According to Dr. Meli, piperin has the same febrifuge properties as the alkalies of the cinchonas. At 
the hospital of Ravenna he has cured a great number of cases of intermittent fever by it, and he goes so far 
as to affirm that its action is more certain, and more prompt than that of the sulphate of quinine. Dr. 
Elliotson, however, says, “ Dr. Roots employed it at this hospital (St. Thomas’s) in five or six cases of 
ague, and ascertained that it cured the disease very well, but not better than quinine. There was no reason, 
therefore, to prefer it ; and as it is far more expensive, none of us have employed it since.” b The dose is 
much smaller than that of the sulphate of quinine. The dose of pepper itself is from five or six grains to a 
scruple. The confection of black pepper is intended to be a substitute for Ward’s paste; its dose is one or 
two drachms. Black pepper is a constituent of the confection of rue. The ointment of black pepper, of the 
Dublin Pharmacopoeia, is composed of four ounces of black pepper to a pound of lard. 
a Jour. Pharm. vii. 273. 
b See Clinical Lecture, reported in the “ Lancet," page 409, No. 354. 
