THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
OCTOBER,  1907. 
CHEMICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  LIPPIA  SCABERRIMA, 
SONDER  («  BEUKESS  BOSS").1 
By  Frederick  B.  Power  and  Frank  Tutin. 
A  South  African  plant,  which  is  known  in  its  native  country  as 
"  Beukess  Boss,"  was  brought  to  our  notice  as  being  worthy  of 
investigation  on  account  of  its  reputed  medicinal  value.  It  is  found 
in  the  Orange  River  Colony,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kroonstad, 
where  it  is  regarded  as  possessing  remarkable  haemostatic  properties, 
together  with  a  slightly  tonic  and  aperient  action,  and  is  therefore 
used  in  the  treatment  of  haemorrhoids.  Through  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes,  F.L  S.,  Curator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Pharma- 
ceutical Society  of  Great  Britain,  the  plant  was  identified  as  Lippia 
scaberrima,  Sonder,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Verbenacece.  A 
botanical  description  of  this  species  of  Lippia  is  contained  in  Linnaea, 
xxiii  (1850),  87.    Afr.  austr. 
With  regard  to  the  origin  or  meaning  of  the  vernacular  name 
"  Beukess  Boss,"  we  have  been  informed  that  "  Beukess  "  is  the 
name  of  an  old  Dutch  family  who  formerly  prepared  a  decoction  of 
the  plant  for  medicinal  use,  whereas  "  Boss  "  is  a  corruption  of  the 
Boer  name  of  "  Bosch,"  meaning  a  bush.  Hence  in  time  the  plant 
became  known  as  "  Beukess  Boss  "  or  "  Beukess  Bush." 
A  number  of  species  of  the  genus  Lippia  have  heretofore  attracted 
attention  on  account  of  their  aromatic  properties,  which  are  due  to 
the  presence  of  essential  oils.  One  of  the  best  known  of  these  is  the 
Lippia  citriodora,  Kunth  {Verbena  triphylla,  L'Heritier),  the  so-called 
1  Translated  from  a  communication  to  the  Archiv  der  Pharmacie,  1907, 
345,  pp-  337-350,  from  the  Wellcome  Chemical  Research  laboratories,  London. 
(449) 
