January 6 , 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
541 
TWO MEDICINAL BARKS FROM CEYLON. 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A. 
Samadera Babk, Samaclera indica , Gaertn. Having 
received specimens of this drug through the kind¬ 
ness of M. P. J. Ondaatje, Esq., of Ceylon, now re¬ 
sident in London, we proceed to give a few parti¬ 
culars of what will doubtless prove to be a very 
valuable addition to the list of Oriental materia 
medica. The drug consists of a thin fibrous in¬ 
ner bark, almost of a primrose yellow, and not 
thicker than stout cartridge paper. It is in irre¬ 
gular fragments, from two or three to seven or eight 
inches in length, and from half an inch to upwards 
of an inch in breadth, fibrous when broken, and 
though readily splitting in a longitudinal direction, 
is tough transversely. When masticated it has an in¬ 
tense, though by no means unpleasant, bitter taste,— 
not unlike that of quassia, but more intensified; in 
fact, its intensity seemed to us greater than that of 
any drug of its kind with which we are acquainted. 
One is led to inquire, how it is that a substance 
which appeals so immediately to the senses should 
for so long have been comparatively unknown. Of 
course, we have had no opportunity of practically 
testing its merits, but its own recommendation is so 
strong, combined with the fact that the tree which 
yields it belongs to the Natural Order Simarubaceee , 
in common with Shnaruba and Quassia , that we 
are disposed to regard it as fully equal to the best of 
either, and it may be superior when subjected to a 
fair trial. 
The following is a brief description- of the tree 
which yields the Samadera bark:— 
A tree of from thirty to thirty-five feet in height. 
Leaves alternate, oblong elliptical, very long; caly- 
cine segments 4-5 each, marked with an external 
gland; petals 5, longer than the calyx; flower¬ 
bearing peduncles longer than the leaves, pendulous, 
compressed axillary or terminal, divided at the apex 
into a small umbel; drupe with a thick pericarp, 
somewhat angled; flowers white (Wight’s Illustra¬ 
tions, plate 68). Ceylon, Cochin and Malabar; flower¬ 
ing in the hot season. It grows abundantly in 
Travancore, and is easily propagated from seeds. 
Drury says of it, that the bark has febrifugal pro¬ 
perties, and is used by the natives of Indig, for this 
purpose. An oil is extracted from the kernels of 
the fruit, which is extensively used in rheumatism 
on the West Coast, and is procurable in the bazaars. 
In erysipelas the leaves bruised are applied exter¬ 
nally. Their juice boiled up with oil is given as a 
liniment in psydracia. 
The tree is known in South-western India by the 
name of “ Karinghota,” and in Ceylon as “ Samadera- 
gass.”^ In Thwaites’ ‘ Ceylon Plants ’ it is stated 
that “ the root of this plant is used as a medicine by 
the Cinghalese, and so also is the fruit;” but nothing 
is mentioned about the intense bitterness of the inner 
bark, or its medicinal uses. If it is really plentiful 
in Southern India and Ceylon, trials should be made 
of the bark, both in those places and here, since a 
substance of so much promise should not be neglected 
for want of the necessary experiments. Because so 
many Eastern drugs have proved to be compara¬ 
tively worthless, there is no reason why others may 
not prove exceedingly valuable. 
Kokoon Bark, Kolcoona zyelanica, Thw. Mr.. 
* Gass, in the Cinghalese language, signifies tree. 
Third Series, No. 80. 
Ondaatje has also favoured us with this product, and 
informs us that the inner yellow bark of the kokoon- 
tree of Ceylon is employed as a febrifuge and sternu¬ 
tatory, and as a dye. In Thwaites’ ‘ Ceylon Plants’ 
it is stated that “ the inner yellow bark of this tree 
is employed by the natives medicinally as a sternu¬ 
tatory, and an oil is expressed from the seeds, which 
is used for burning in lamps ” (p. 52). 
The tree belongs to the Natural Order IJippo- 
crateaccce , and the species is described by Thwaites 
in Hooker’S ‘Journal of Botany,’ vol. v. (1853) p. 
379, accompanied by a plate. 
It is a large forest tree, sixty feet or upwards in 
height, much branched, especially towards the top. 
Bark rough, when cut of a yellow colour, somewhat 
corky. Leaves dark green, smooth, underneath 
paler, with veiy numerous minute, dark red, glandu¬ 
lar dots. Stipules very minute, deep red, subper- 
sistent. Panicles axillary, raceme-like. Bracts very 
minute, acute. Flowers dull yellowish-brown. Calyx 
minute, with five shallow lobes, persistent. Petals 
five, concave, firm in texture with minute pale glan¬ 
dular dots on the inner surface, twisted in aestiva¬ 
tion. Stamens five, alternate with the petals, in¬ 
serted into depressions of the dark green angular 
disc. Ovary three-celled, each cell with four ascend¬ 
ing anatropal ovules. Style short. Stigma capi¬ 
tate, somewhat three-lobed. Capsule 1-4 inches 
long, oblong bluntly triangular, tliree-valved, three- 
celled. Seeds imbricated, winged, erect, exalbu- 
minous. Wing very broad, oblong, truncate or 
blunt. Embryo orthotropal; cotyledons flat.—Hook. 
Journ. 1853, p. 380, pi. 6. 
Not uncommon on the banks of streams in the 
Suftragam and Ambagamowa districts, at an eleva¬ 
tion of 2000 to 4000 feet. Native name “lcokoon- 
gass.” 
The yellow bark is sold in the bazaars, and when 
pounded is used by the Cinghalese as a kind of ce¬ 
phalic snuff, being mixed with ghee and introduced 
into the nostrils, in order to relieve severe headache, 
by encouraging a copious secretion from the nose. 
(Thwaites.) 
The bazaar drug consists of small fragments of 
the bark, the largest not exceeding an inch in length, 
but the majority not more than a quarter of an 
inch; of a bright ochraceous or dull orange colour 
when broken, very friable, and easily reduced to 
powder, which plentifully accompanies the bark, as 
also do portions of the capsules. There is scarcely 
any perceptible odour or taste. In the fragments of 
bark from young branches there is at length a slight 
bitterness after mastication. The value of the drug 
as a febrifuge appears to be very doubtful, and we 
have no information as to the success attending its 
employment by Mr. Ondaatje himself. 
PURE BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM * 
BY M. FALIERES. 
The employment of bromide of potassium in affec¬ 
tions of the nervous system has become so general 
during the last few ^ears as to create for it a consider¬ 
able demand. This has resulted in much competi¬ 
tion among those engaged in the manufacture and 
* From a Report made by MM. Poggiale and Grobley to 
the Academy of Medicine upon a Memoir by M. Falieres, 
entitled “ Monographic Chimique et Pharmaceutique du 
Bromure de Potassium” (Journ. Pharm. [4] xiv. 247). 
