A  False  Pareira  Brava. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharnu 
t      Sept.,  1878. 
box  or  hogshead  and,  the  tobacco  being  handed  to  him,  he  places  it 
carefully  in  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  and  then  another  layer  upon  this 
until  it  reaches  a  height  of  twelve  or  eighteen  inches  ;  he  then  gets  out, 
and  powerful  pressure  is  applied  by  means  of  large  screws  and  blocks 
to  force  the  leaves  into  a  small  space  ;  another  layer  is  then  put  in,  this 
is  also  compressed,  and  so  on  until  the  box  or  hogshead  is  filled  and 
ready  for  shipment. 
So  far  the  tobacco  is  simply  the  dried  leaves  of  the  plant,  and  pos- 
sesses none  of  the  aroma  for  which  it  is  so  highly  prized  by  those 
addicted  to  the  use  of  it.  This  is  acquired  only  after  the  tobacco  has 
undergone  a  process  called  u  bulking."  This  operation  is  conducted 
sometimes  by  the  planters,  bur  generally  by  the  merchants  who  pur- 
chase it.  It  is  done  in  the  following  manner  :  The  tobacco  is  collected 
together  into  a  compact  circular  heap,  the  butts  of  the  hands  being  placed 
together  in  the  centre,  and  the  whole  then  covered  with  heavy  blan- 
kets or  other  woolen  cloths  ;  it  is  allowed  to  remain  in  this  condition 
until  it  undergoes  a  sweating  process,  during  which  the  peculiar  odor 
or  aroma  is  developed. 
This  may  be  due  to  the  liberation  of  some  principle  which  was 
present  before,  or  to  some  chemical  change  taking  place  between 
pre-existing  principles  ;  however,  this  is  not  known  to  be  a  fact,  but  is 
only  a  conjecture.  The  matter  has  never  been  fully  made  out ;  certain 
it  is,  though,  that  after  the  "curing"  the  leaves  possess  an  entirely 
different  odor  from  that  which  they  had  in  the  fresh  state.  After  the 
operation  of  "  bulking"  is  finished  the  tobacco  is  ready  for  the  manu- 
facturer's hands,  to  be  made  into  smoking  or  chewing  tobacco  or  snuff. 
A  FALSE  PAREIRA  BRAVA. 
By  Charles  Morrison,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
The  drug  examined  was  of  Brazilian  origin,  and  sent  to  this  country 
as  true  "  pareira  brava,  obtained  from  Cissampelos  pareira  but  it 
corresponded  neither  to  the  description  of  Cissampelos  nor  of  Chondo- 
dendron.  It  consisted  of  the  woody  stems  of  a  menispermaceous 
plant,  was  covered  with  a  gray  bark,  and  the  bright-yellow  wood  was 
formed  of  more  or  less  eccentric  layers  of  fibro  vascular  tissue. 
The  drug  was  reduced  to  fine  powder,  12*0  grams  of  it,  exposed  to 
