62 IPECACUANHA. 
berries has great resemblance to Champaigne. In the 
making of wine, after the juice has been expressed, it 
is customary to throw away the skins of ; the fruit. 
These, however, may with advantage be employed in 
distillation, as they afford an agreeable spirit some- 
what resembling brandy. When kept a few months, 
this spirit is said to be little inferior, either in strength 
or flavour, to the best Cogniac brandy. Vinegar may 
be made from gooseberries. Some of the kinds are 
bottled while green, and kept for winter use ; and 
others are, for the same purpose, preserved with sugar. 
Gooseberries vary much in colour, size, and quality. 
Some are smooth, and others hairy. Some are red, 
others green, and others yellow or amber coloured. 
Wild gooseberries are greatly inferior, in size, to those 
which are cultivated in gardens. 
77. IPECACUANHA (Viola ipecacuanha) is a medicinal 
rooty small, wrinkled, bent, and contorted into a great variety 
of shapes ; which is imported from the West Indies and South 
America, and is given as an emetic. 
There are three kinds of ipecacuanha : ash-coloured 
or grey, brown, and white. Of these, the ash-coloured 
is usually preferred for medicinal use, from its being 
more efficacious than the white, and less violent than 
the brown. Ipecacuanha was first brought into Europe 
towards the middle of the seventeenth century; but 
it was not admitted into general use until about the 
year 1686, when it was introduced into practice under 
the patronage of Louis the Fourteenth of France. Its 
taste is bitterish and somewhat acrid ; and it seems to 
cover the tongue with a kind of mucilage. It is one 
of the mildest and safest emetics with which we are 
acquainted; and is administered in powder, as a wine, 
and as a tincture. It has this peculiar advantage, that, 
if it do not operate as an emetic, it passes off without 
injury by the skin or bowels. In very small doses it is 
efficacious in obstinate coughs, and in several other 
complaints. 
