NEW  KIND  OF  MATICO. 
119 
Artanthe  elongata,  Miq.,  is  the  only  one  that  has  received  any 
special  attention,  or  the  action  of  which  has  been  tested,  be- 
yond its  native  country.  This  kind  of  matico  is  a  native  of 
Peru,  where  it  is  very  highly  extolled  as  a  vulnerary,  and  for 
its  aphrodisiac  and  other  properties .*  It  was  introduced  to 
the  notice  of  the  medical  profession  in  England,  as  far  back  as 
1839,  by  Dr.  Thomas  Jeffreys,  of  Liverpool, f  and  it  is  noticed 
in  a  paper  by  Mr.  Morson,  entitled  "  Observations  on  certain 
Plants  of  the  genus  Piper,"  which  was  published,  and  the 
plant  well  figured,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  '  Pharmaceutical 
Journal.'.!  It  was  subsequently  introduced  into  the  Dublin 
Pharmacopoeia  in  1850,  and  formulae  therein  given  for  the  pre- 
paration of  "  Tincture  "  and  "  infusion  of  matico."  In  Eng- 
land it  has  not  been  generally  much  esteemed  as  a  medicinal 
agent  for  internal  administration,  and  its  action  even  when  lo- 
cally employed  to  arrest  bleeding,  has  been  regarded  by  some 
writers  of  eminence,  as  simply  mechanical, — the  peculiar  struc- 
ture of  the  leaves  of  which  it  is  composed,  being  supposed  to 
divide  the  blood,  and  thus  promote  its  coagulation^  The 
committee  appointed  by  the  Medical  Council  to  frame  the  forth- 
coming "  British  Pharmacopoeia"  have,  however,  and  as  I  think 
properly  so,  thought  matico  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  in- 
troduced into  the  list  of  Materia  Medica  to  be  published  in 
that  volume,  and  have  also  given  a  formula  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  "  Tincture  of  Matico."  In  the  States  of  North  Ameri- 
ca, matico  has  been  much  employed  of  late  years,  and  highly 
extolled  for  its  power  of  arresting  internal  haemorrhage  ;||  and 
has  been  introduced  into  the  Primary  List  of  the  Materia  Med- 
ica of  the  new  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  which  has  been 
just  issued.  The  fact  of  matico  having  thus  been,  or  about  to 
be,  introduced  into  the  new  United  States  and  British  Pharma- 
copoeias, makes  everything  relating  to  it  of  especial  importance 
*  '  Pharmaceutical  Journal/  vol.  ii.  p.  660. 
t  'Lancet,'  Jan.  5,  1839,  p.  567. 
%  1  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  vol.  ii i-  pp.  472  and  525. 
I  Pereira's  'Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics/  4th edit.  vol.  ii.  parti 
p.  397,  and  Wood  &  Bache's  '  United  States  Dispensatory/  11th  ed.  p.  494 
||  Carson's  American  Edition  of  Pereira's  '  Materia  Medica.' 
