Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1887. 
Naregamia  Alata. 
575 
1STAKEGAMIA  ALATA,  THE  GOANESE  IPECACUANHA. 
By  David  Hooper,  F.  C.  S. 
Dr.  Dyniock,  in  his  "  Vegetable  Materia  Medica  of  Western  India," 
describes  Naregamia  alata,  W.  and  A.,  of  the  natural  order  of  Meli- 
acese,  as  the  country  ipecacuanha  of  the  Portuguese  at  Goa,  and  states 
that  it  is  the  best  indigenous  emetic  he  has  met  with  in  that  part  of 
India.  As  the  drug  seems  to  be  devoid  of  history  it  was  probably  un- 
known in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  intelligent  and  observant 
Dr.  Garcia  d'Orta  was  for  thirty  years  physician  to  the  Viceroy's 
Court  and  the  hospital  at  Goa.  In  confirmation  of  the  recent  intro- 
duction of  naregamia,  its  use  does  not  appear  to  have  extended  far  be- 
yond its  habitat.  The  plant  grows  from  the  Concan  southwards  by 
the  Malabar  coast  to  Travancore,  preferring  the  slopes  of  the  Western 
Ghauts.  By  the  natives  in  these  regions  it  is  used  as  an  emetic,  and 
as  a  remedy  for  bile,  rheumatism  and  indigestion,  usually  in  the  form 
of  a  decoction  or  infusion.  The  sample  that  I  have  examined  was 
kindly  procured  for  me  by  Mr.  Ferguson,  of  Calicut ;  it  was  collected 
some  nine  or  ten  miles  from  the  town,  where  it  has  a  reputation  in 
cases  of  fever,  and  grows  in  some  abundance. 
Vernacular.— Kapur  bhendi,  pit-wel,  tinpana  (Marathi),  trifolio 
(Goa),  nelanaringu,  nelakanu-gida  (Canarese). 
Botanical  Characters. — The  naregamia  plant  (of  which  there  is 
only  one  known  species  in  India)  is  a  small  glabrous  or  shining  un- 
dershrub,  not  more  than  a  foot  in  height,  with  several  slender,  woody, 
erect  or  decumbent  stems,  with  few  branches.  The  leaves  are  from 
one  to  four  inches  long,  and  trifoliolate.  Leaflets,  sessile,  cuneate- 
obovate,  entire  or  obtusely  lobed,  terminal  leaflet  rather  larger  than 
the  lateral  ones  and  about  the  length  of  the  common  winged  petiole. 
Peduncles  axillary,  solitary,  one-flowered.  The  flowers  are  about  one 
inch  long  and  quite  white.  Styles  yellow.  Capsules  triangular  and 
three-valved.  It  is  a  very  attractive  plant  in  the  flowering  season, 
which  extends  from  the  middle  of  April  to  the  middle  of  June. 
Description.- — The  drug  consists  of  the  root  with  the  slender  stems 
attached  to  it,  the  leaves  having  been  stripped  off.  The  root  stock  is 
contorted  and  warty  and  with  the  roots  is  pale  brown  in  color;  the 
mealy  suberous  layer  may  essily  be  removed  by  rubbing.  The  stems 
are  of  a  dirty  green,  with  the  bark  more  firmly  adherent.  A  trans- 
verse section  of  the  root  exhibits  a  brown  outer  layer  of  bark  with  a 
light-colored  interior,  and  a  yellowish  wood.  If  the  section  be  touched 
