143 
PHARMA COO NOSY. 
bark 05 to 2 mm. thick, porous, cambium zone dis- 
tinct; odor heavy ; taste bitter. 
Constituents. — A bitter glucoside, gentiopicrin, 
about 01 per cent. ; a crystalline, bitter glucoside ; a 
coloring principle gentisin (gentianin or gentisic acid) 
becoming greenish brown with ferric salts ; quercitrin, 
gentianose (a carbohydrate which occurs in the fresh 
root) and pectin. 
Allied Plants. — The rhizome and roots of various 
other European species of Gentiana are sometimes col- 
lected and employed medicinally, as of Gentiana pur- 
purea, collected in Switzerland, and G. Pannonica and 
G. Punctata, collected in Austria. The rhizome and 
roots of Elliott’s gentian, Gentiana Elliottii, indigenous 
to the southeastern part of the United States, was at 
one time official in this country. 
ZINGIBER (Ginger). 
The rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Earn. Zingiber- 
aceie), a perennial herb indigenous to Asia, and culti- 
vated in most tropical countries, notably in the West 
Indies and Africa. The rhizomes are collected between 
December and March ; they are cleaned by washing, 
peeled, again washed in water, sometimes containing 
lime-juice, and dried in the sun. There are several 
kinds of the drug, depending upon the manner of 
treatment — that from Africa has the periderm 
removed from the vertical sides only, and is known 
as “coated” or “uncoated” ginger; in the Jamaica 
variety the periderm is completely removed and the 
product is known as “ peeled ” or “ scraped ” ginger. 
The latter is sometimes steeped in milk of lime to pro- 
tect it against the attacks of insects. Cochin, Japanese 
and East Indian gingers closely resemble the African, 
and while they contain more oil and resin than the 
