Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
March,  1920.) 
Notes  on  Ginger-Beer  Plant. 
185 
Pareira  Brava  Root  {Cissampellos  pareira). — A  powerful  tonic, 
remedy  for  stomach  trouble,  bladder  trouble,  beri-beri,  brain  fever 
and  meningitis. 
Pao  ferro. — A  bark  used  against  diabetes;  the  seeds  furnish  a 
strong  tonic  and  diuretic. 
Purga  de  cam^c— Remedy  for  fevers,  pleurisy,  tumors  and 
cancerous  wounds. 
Pindakiha. — Remedy  for  stomach  trouble  and  for  intestinal 
flatulence. 
Qmna-quina. — A  bark  used  against  fevers. 
Quitoco. — Carminative,  antihysteric  and  digestive;  used  in  baths 
for  muscular  pains  in  the  body. 
Samambaia. — Used  for  rheumatism. 
Velame  de  campo. — Blood  cleanser,  antisyphilitic  and  anti- 
rheumatic, for  skin  diseases  and  swelling  of  the  glands. 
NOTES  ON  THK  GINGER-BEER  PLANT.* 
By  E.  M.  H01.MES.  F.Iv.S. 
Although  this  curious  substance  has  been  used  for  many  years, 
both  in  this  country  and  the  United  States,  its  original  source  ap- 
pears to  be  unknown,  and  the  names  which  are  popularly  given  to  it 
indicate  a  desire  to  keep  its  origin  and  nature  a  secret.  Among 
the  most  far-fetched  of  the  names  under  which  specimens  have  been 
sent  to  me  with  inquiries  as  to  its  nature  is  "Balm"  of  Gilead!" 
Evidently  the  scientific  examination  of  this  substance  by  the 
late  Dr.  H.  Marshall  Ward,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Royal  Society  as  long  ago  as  1891  (Vol.  50,  pp.  261-265),  and 
Fig.  I.— The  Ginger-Beer  Plant. 
further  elaborated  in  a  second  paper,  published  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  of  the  same  society  in  1892  (p.  125),  have' beenjover- 
*  The  Pharmaceutical  Jour,  and  Pharmacist,  Jan.  3,  1920. 
