Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Aug.,  1878.  J 
Berber  is  Nervosa, 
373 
sessed  of  valuable  mild  cathartic  and  diuretic  properties.  Only'one  of 
the  commercial  resins  contained  matter  soluble  in  water,  and  this  was 
found  to  be  principally  sugar. 
Although  neither  of  the  preparations  examined  may  be  considered 
poor,  and  fair  results  might  be  attained  from  the  employment  of 
any  one  of  them  medicinally,  the  use  of  inferior  drugs  or  improper 
manipulation  by  the  manufacturer  to  any  extent  should  not  be  encour- 
aged, nor  should  the  pharmacist  be  satisfied  with  even  a  good  prepara- 
tion when  there  is  a  better  or  a  best. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  what  is  true  of  so  many  of  the  preparations 
usually  purchased  from  the  manufacturer  is  also  true  of  the  extract  and 
resin  in  jalap :  this  is,  that  the  pharmacist,  by  the  use  of  proper  care  in 
selecting  the  drug,  can  himself  produce  a  preparation  fully  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  the  best  from  the  manufacturer. 
BERBERIS  NERVOSA,  Pursh. 
By  Peter  F.  Neppach,  Ph.G. 
[Abstract  from  an  Inaugural  Essay.) 
This  is  the  Mahonia  glumacea  of  De  Candolle,  known  in  Oregon  as 
Oregon  Grape^  and  is  indigenous  to  California,  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territory,  principally  in  the  Coast  Range  and  Cascade  Mountains, 
from  Vancouver  Island  to  the  Bay  of  Monterey.  The  part  used  in 
medicine  is  the  rhizome,  which  is  horizontal  in  the  ground,  very  knotty 
and  crooked,  from  the  size  of  a  quill  to  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  has  a 
very  thin  bark  of  a  dingy  yellowish-brown  color  externally,  somewhat 
lighter  internally,  and  covering  a  white  tough  wood.  It  is  regarded  as 
possessing  tonic  and  febrifuge  properties  and  has  been  used  in  syphilitic 
complaints  with  asserted  success. 
The  whole  rhizome  was  crushed  to  a  coarse  powder,  macerated  with 
alcohol,  the  tincture  concentrated,  thrown  into  water  and  filtered  from 
the  yellow  resinous  precipitate  ;  the  filtrate  was  somewhat  concen- 
trated and  well  acidulated  with  hydrochloric  acid,  when  a  bright-yellow 
powder  was  obtained,  the  warm  alcoholic  solution  of  which,  treated 
with  a  dilute  solution  of  iodine  in  iodide  of  potassium — being  careful 
to  avoid  excess  of  iodine — gave  a  bronze-green  precipitate.  The 
yellow  powder  was  compared  with  hydrochlorate  of  berberina,  pre- 
