Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
May,  1877.  J 
Ava,  or  Kava-Kava. 
ache.  Its  leaves  are  usually  about  half  the  size  of  the  former,  and 
are  5  to  7  ribbed. 
The  fresh  root  weighs  2  to  4  lbs.,  occasionally  even  20  lbs.,  and 
loses  more  than  half  its  weight  on  drying.  It  is  large  and  fibrous, 
but  rather  light  and  spongy.  Underneath  the  very  thin  greyish- 
brown  bark  a  net-work  of  the  woody  tissue  becomes  apparent, 
the  meshes  being  filled  with  a  yellowish-white  cellular  tissue,  while 
some  are  quite  empty.  A  variety  known  as  marea  is  lemon-yellow,, 
and  another,  called  avini-ute,  flesh-colored  internally. 
The  transverse  section  shows  numerous  linear  wood  bundles  radiat- 
ing from  near  the  centre  and  separated  from  each  other  by  broader  soft 
medullary  rays  ;  the  soft  central  portion  oontains  but  few  anastomizing 
wood  bundles,  which  form  a  net-work  and  are  placed  at  right  angles 
to  the  radiating  bundles.  The  agreeable  odor  of  the  root  reminds  of  lilac 
(Syringa  vulgaris^  L.)  and  meadow-sweet  (Spircea  ulmaria,  L.).  It  has  a 
faintly  pungent  and  scarcely  perceptible  bitter  taste,  increases  the  flow  of 
saliva,  and  produces  a  slight  astrin- 
gent sensation. 
The  root  and  extreme  base  of 
the  stem  are  usually  employed  in 
the  form  of  infusion  made  by 
macerating  a  drachm  of  the  scraped 
drug  in  a  quart  of  water  for  five 
minutes.  Unlike  other  remedies 
for  gonorrhoea,  this  infusion  has 
an  agreeable  taste  ;  its  slight  bit- 
terness increases  the  appetite  and 
does  not  produce  nausea. 
According  to  Cuzent,  the  root 
contains  a  light  yellow  volatile  oil, 
2  per  cent,  of  an  acrid  resin,  and 
about  1  per  cent,  of  an  indifferent 
crystalline  principle,  called  kavahin 
or  methysticin,  which  is  obtained  in  needles  from  a  concentrated  tinc- 
ture, is  colored  red  by  hydrochloric  acid,  the  color  changing  to  bright 
yellow  on  exposure  to  the  air,  and  acquires  a  purplish-violet  color 
changing  to  green,  by  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  (see,  also,  "Amer. 
Jour.  Phar.,"  i860,  p.  133). 
