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ON  THE  SEEDS  OF  STRYCHNOS  IGNATIA. 
ON  THE  SEEDS  OF  STRYCHNOS  IGNATIA. 
By  James  M.  Caldwell. 
(An  Inaugural  Essay.') 
Our  knowledge  of  this  plant  is  derived  almost  entirely  from  the 
Jesuits,  who  conferred  upon  it  the  name  of  the  founder  of  their 
order,  as  an  evidence  of  the  high  esteem  with  which  they  re- 
garded it.  But  little  attention  however  had  been  bestowed  upon 
it  by  the  medical  world,  till  a  printed  notice,  published  by  a 
clergyman  of  a  sister  State,  detailing  the  beneficial  results  he 
derived  from  the  use  of  an  alcoholic  extract  of  the  beans,  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  medical  men,  who  having  witnessed  the 
results  of  numerous  and  carefully  conducted  experiments,  have 
settled  the  fact  of  its  being,  as  might  be  expected,  a  remedy  of 
great  power,  and,  under  judicious  advice,  a  valuable  addition  to 
our  list  of  Materia  Medica. 
Description  of  the  Plant. — "  This  tree  is  indigenous  to  the 
Phillipine  Islands,  and  is  described  as  the  product  of  the  Ignatia 
amara  by  the  younger  Linnseus ;  as  it  is  now  considered  by 
botanists  as  a  species  of  Strychnos,  it  is  therefore  called  the 
Strychnos  Ignatia.  It  is  a  tree  of  middling  size,  with  long  cylin- 
drical vine-like  branches,  which  bear  opposite,  nearly  sessile, 
oval,  pointed,  entire  and  very  smooth  leaves.  The  flowers  are 
white,  tubular,  fragrant,  and  arranged  in  short  axillary  racemes. 
The  fruit  is  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  pear,  with  a  smooth, 
whitish,  ligneous  rind,  enclosing  about  twenty  seeds,  embedded 
in  a  dry  pulpy  matter,  and  lying  one  upon  the  other."  (Wood  k 
Bache.) 
Appearance  of  the  Beans. — We  very  rarely,  if  ever,  obtain 
the  beans  in  the  attached  state,  or  in  the  form  of  the  fruit.  As 
found  in  commerce  they  vary  from  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  in 
length,  from  a  quarter  to  half  an  inch  in  breadth,  and  somewhat 
less  in  thickness.  They  are  somewhat  convex  on  one  side,  hav- 
ing three  or  four  faces  on  the  other.  Others  again  are  very  irre- 
gular, and  much  compressed.  They  vary  in  color  from  a  grayish 
brown  to  a  black,  and  when  contused  present  a  reddish  brown 
appearance,  and  the  particles  are  slightly  translucent.  They  are 
very  hard  and  horny,  and  difficult  of  pulverization,  inodorous  in 
the  dried  state,  and  intensely  bitter. 
