288 
Materia  Medica  Notes. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X    June  1,  1874. 
Islands,  one  species  described  under  the  name  of  Oroton  lucidum,  L., 
is  said  to  have  in  the  fresh  state  a  slightly  bitter  and  somewhat  as- 
tringent bark.  It  further  resembles  the  spurious  bark  in  the  "  dull 
red  color  of  the  cortical  layers."  It  is  said  to  be  used  by  the  negroes 
of  New  Providence  to  mix  with  the  bark  of  the  true  cascarilla,  under 
the  idea  that  it  improves  the  curative  powers  of  the  latter,  and  it  is 
known  by  the  name  of  the  false  sweetwood  bark,  sweetwood  being 
the  name  applied  by  them  to  the  true  cascarilla.  Hence  this  bark 
may  have  been  mixed  with  the  cascarilla  by  those  who  collected  it, 
for  the  above-mentioned  purpose.  From  the  fact  of  its  occurring 
only  in  one  seron,  however,  it  appears  more  probable  that  it  was  an 
intentional  adulteration.  Unfortunately,  there  are  no  specimens  of 
the  bark  of  Croton  lucidum  either  at  Kew  or  the  British  Museum,  so 
that  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  with  certainty  (as  might  be 
done  by  the  use  of  the  microscope)  the  identity  of  this  bark  with  that 
of  the  Croton  lucidum,  L.  I  trust,  however,  in  the  course  of  the 
year  to  receive  further  information  concerning  it  from  Jamaica. 
With  regard  to  its  medicinal  properties,  the  bark  appears  to  cause 
sickness  without  producing  either  disagreeable  effects. 
Mr.  A.  H.  Squire,  who  first  brought  this  bark  under  my  notice, 
has  examined  its  behaviour  with  various  reagents,  and  finds  that  the 
infusion  and  tincture  are  darker  in  color  than  those  of  cascarilla  ; 
that  tincture  of  galls  gives  a  scarcely  perceptible  cloudiness,  and  that 
tincture  of  perchloride  of  iron  turns  the  tincture  almost  black,  while 
the  infusion  is  only  slightly  deepened  in  color  by  it,  and  that  acetate 
of  lead  gives  an  abundant  precipitate  with  both  tinctures.  The  tinc- 
ture of  cascarilla  is  not  altered  in  appearance  either  by  tincture  of 
perchloride  of  iron  or  tincture  of  galls. 
Arnica  root. — In  a  specimen  of  arnica  root  which  was  recently 
sent  to  me  for  examination  (by  Messrs.  Wright,  Sellers  &  Layman), 
I  found  only  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  genuine  root,  and  in  a  second  sam- 
ple only  one  per  cent,  of  arnica.  In  both  samples  there  were  two  or 
three  different  kinds  of  roots,  but  the  chief  adulterant  in  both  cases 
were  the  same. 
The  physical  characters  of  this  spurious  arnica  are  so  strongly 
marked  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  recognize  it.  For  the  sake  of  com- 
parison, before  giving  the  distinctive  characters  of  the  spurious  drug, 
it  may  be  well  to  recall  the  description  of  arnica. 
What  is  commonly  known  as  arnica  root  consists  of  a  slender  rhi- 
