April 20,1872.] 
8 49 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS, 
tributed in two distinct zones, the one situated in the 
•cortical layer (cpiphloeum) the other in the green layer 
near to and outside the liber (mesophloeum). In the 
•cortical layer, also, the laticiferous vessels appear, in a 
horizontal section, to be nearly circular, they are 
•closer together than those in the green layer, and 
more numerous, so that sometimes they form a group 
of five or six touching at their lateral walls. Their 
diameter varied in a branch of a year and a half’s 
growth, examined by the author, from 0-03 to O'05 
millimetre. Outside the liber the vessels in the green 
layer form a zone; they are larger, less numerous, 
and more widely separated from each other. They 
are always flattened, and the greatest diameter 
varying from 0T0 to O'12 millimetre, and the smallest 
from 0 05 to O’OO millimetre. Those in the medulla are 
the largest of all, and relatively the fewest in number: 
their diameter is from 0-13 to O'15 millimetre. Those 
in the medullary rays arc less numerous and much 
smaller than those in the medulla. The latex contained 
in the last three kinds of vessels is of a considerably 
paler yellow colour. 
In the petioles of the leaves the laticiferous vessels 
furnish an interesting study. At the centre of the 
petiole there is a slender arch composed of vessels and 
surrounded by medullary cells ; around these is a larger 
fibrous arch. Within the first of these arches there is 
.a large rounded isolated vessel; the others are arranged 
in two zones. The first situated in the epiderm, com¬ 
posed of twenty to twenty-five rounded vessels 0 - 05 to 
•C-06 millimetre in diameter, is interrupted at the level 
•of the concave face of the petiole ; the second, situated 
at the circumference of the larger fibrous arch, and com¬ 
posed of ten or twelve vessels, is not interrupted as the 
.first. In the leaf the laticifei’ous vessels follow the 
ramifications of the nerves, one or two being present in 
each vascular vessel. 
In G. Morelia these vessels are rendered very distinct 
*by the beautiful orange yellow gamboge with which they 
.are filled. If fragments of branchy are left for some 
rtime in water or alcohol, the liquid assumes a splendid 
yellow colour from the solution of the latex contained 
in the extremities of the broken vessels. 
P reparation of Gamboge. -y-In the month of June or 
•July, when the sap is in active circulation, the leaves 
•and young branches are broken off and the yellow j uico 
that flows from the wounds is collected in cocoa-nut 
.-shells or twisted leaves of the plant itself; it is after¬ 
wards poured into larger vessels made of clay and dried 
in the sun until it is of proper consistence to "be wrapped 
.in leaves. From this mode of obtaining it, it received 
ilie name by which it is sometimes known of gummi 
guttce. The method employed by the Malays and 
Chinese to give it the qualities sought for in commerce 
•is unknown. After its purification it is agglomerated 
•into irregular masses or cakes, and wrapped in leaves, or 
poured into bamboos, of which it retains the shape. It 
is sometimes met with in the English market still 
^enclosed in the bamboos. In Ceylon it is obtained by 
•cutting the bark of the tree in several places with a 
sharp stone just as the flowers commence to appear, the 
juice which flows solidifies in the sun. Sometimes a slip 
of bark the size of the hand is removed ; this is done in 
rthe morning. The gamboge oozes through the pores 
in nearly a liquid state, but soon thickens, and is collected 
the following morning. The tree is not injured by the 
wound, which heals rapidly. 
The resin or gambogic acid (C 40 H 2:j 0 8 or C 20 H 23 0 4 ) 
is obtained by evaporating to dryness the ethereal tinc¬ 
ture of gamboge. It is friable, of an orange-yellow 
^colour, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, and especi¬ 
ally in ether, and forms salts with alkalies. It purges 
well in doses of twenty-five centigrams, and is some- 
dimes employed in the preparation of the “ elixir de 
Giacommi,” as it acts more energetically than gamboge, 
without pain or uneasiness. 
Elixir of Giacommi. —Digest, with a slight heat 15 
grams of gamboge in 210 grams of 75 per cent, alcohol; 
filter and add 120 grams of simple syrup and as much 
boiling water, stirring for several minutes. The product 
is a golden-coloured liquid, agreeable to the taste, the 
dose of which is from one to four spoonfuls. 
VANDELLIA DIFFUSA. *—AN EMETIC. 
BY DU. A. rOSADA-ARANDO. 
Vandellia diffusa , or Paraguay herb, is a small herb, 
similar in appearance to mint, but straggling over the 
ground. The stem is square, and slightly pubescent. 
The leaves are opposite, nearly sessile, oval, obtuse, ser- 
rato-crenulate, glabrous and dark green above, slightly 
pubescent and purplish underneath, twenty millimetres 
long. The flowers are axillary, solitary, smaller than 
the leaves, and of a rosy white colour ; calyx acutely 
5-parti.te; corolla bilobed, the upper lip bilobed, the 
lower trifid; stamens didynamous; stigma bilobed. The 
fruit is an oblong capsule, acuminate, ten millimetres 
long, consisting of two many-seeded cells, opening by 
two valves parallel to the diaphragm ; the seeds small 
and yellowish. 
This plant grows spontaneously in the warm and tem¬ 
perate parts of Columbia, from the sea-level to an eleva¬ 
tion of 1800 metres. It is found on the seashore, in the 
Magdalena valley, in the interior of Antioquia, and in 
the Choco, preferring sandy and humid soils, such as the 
banks of rivers and the borders of springs. It flowers 
from January to May. 
This plant is used by the people of the country as an 
emetic. For this purpose, a good handful of it is boiled 
in half a litre of water, and a small cupful taken every 
ten minutes until vomiting ensues. Employed in this 
manner, the vandellia is as certain in its action as ipeca¬ 
cuanha, without occasioning violent purgations or un¬ 
controllable vomiting; the only drawback to its use 
being its very bitter taste. 
In order to determine its composition, and to become 
better acquainted with its properties, the author made an 
investigation of the plant with the following results :— 
The extract obtained by evaporating the juice in a 
water-bath is dry, and, when powdered, of a greenish- 
grey colour. It contains a fatty matter, coloured green 
by chlorophyll, viscous, with a nauseous odour and taste, 
very soluble in ether, insoluble in alcohol; an extractive 
matter, not very plentiful, bitter, soluble in water at all 
temperatures, and in warm alcohol, insoluble in cold 
alcohol; and a residue in much greater proportion than 
the other principles, gummy in appearance, exclusively 
soluble in water. This latter part is quite insipid and 
inert; and the bitter extractive matter exercises no 
marked action on the organism. It follows, therefore, 
that the fatty matter is the only active principle of the 
plant. 
The extract appeared comparatively less active than 
the plant. Taken internally, in the form of pills, in 
doses of from 75 centigrams to 1 gram it purges with 
slight griping pains. To cause vomiting, it is necessary 
to give ll gram in solution. The fatty matter, formed 
into pills with crumbs of bread, purges sufficiently with 
a dose of 15 centigrams, but it provokes very disagree¬ 
able eructations and great nausea; by administering 20 
or 25 centigrams, and ordering the’patient to drink after¬ 
wards, the emetic action is certain. 
The author hopes to obtain a further supply of the plant 
and to try it under other forms. At present he thinks 
that a syrup made with the juice, moderately concen¬ 
trated, an ethereal tincture, or the plant dried and re¬ 
duced to powder, would be the best preparations. 
* Journal de Pharmacic et de Cliimie. [4] vol. xv. p. lbt>. 
