420 
Note  on  Kamala. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     August,  1884. 
brought  by  the  Somalis  of  the  opposite  coast,  comes  from  Hurrer. 
The  second  quality  is  not  so  much  valued,  and  does  not  realize  the 
price  of  the  kind  which  comes  from  the  interior.  A  considerable 
quantity  of  the  dye  is  exported  to  Bombay,  being  used  at  Surat  by 
ladies  for  dyeing  silk  a  light  brown-yellow.  The  Arabs  use  it  as  a 
dye  and  as  a  medicine,  internally,  for  leprosy,  and  externally,  in  solu- 
tion, for  freckles  and  pustules.  Much  of  it  finds  its  way  to  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  being  known  as  asbergP  Dr.  Vaughan  goes  on  to  say  that 
the  best  quality  sells  for  24  rupees  the  maund,  while  the  African  vari- 
ety sells  for  only  17  or  18  rupees  the  maund. 
Mr.  Hanbury2  states  that  he  showed  the  specimens  he  had  received 
to  Mr.  Alexander  Gibson,  of  Bombay,  who  was  at  that  time  in  Lon- 
don. Mr.  Gibson  suggested  to  him  that  it  was  obtained  from  Rottlera 
tinctoria.  He  then  proceeded  to  compare  the  drug  with  specimens  in 
the  museum  of  the  Linnaean  Society,  and  found  that  Mr.  Gibson  was 
correct  in  his  surmise. 
Kamala,  as  found  in  commerce,  is  a  fine,  mobile  powder,  of  a  dull 
red  color.  Under  the  microscope  it  is  seen  to  consist  chiefly  of  trans- 
lucent, bright  red  granules  mixed  with  colorless  stellate  hairs.  These 
hairs  give  the  drug  its  dull  appearance.    The  glands,  Fig.  1,  B,  are 
Fig.  1. 
B.  Gland  of  genuine  kamala.  A.  Stellate  hair  of  the  same. 
spherical,  rather  irregularly  so.  Their  diameter  is  from  70  to  120 
mkm.  (micromillimetres).  They  are  flattened  on  one  side,  and  are 
composed  of  a  number  of  clavate  cells  enclosed  in  a  pale  yellow  mem- 
brane. The  cells  are  arranged  in  a  radiate  manner  round  a  short 
stalk  cell,  which  is  not  always  visible,  occupying  the  basal  side  of  the 
gland.  From  ten  to  thirty  of  these  cells  may  be  seen  on  one- side ; 
the  whole  cell,  however,  contains  from  twenty  to  sixty  of  them.  The 
cells  are  filled  with  a  red  resin,  which  is  soluble  in  solution  of  caustic 
potash,  alcohol  and  ether.  On  treatment  with  solution  of  caustic 
potash  the  structure  of  the  gland  becomes  plainly  visible.    On  appro- 
1  "  Pharm.  Journ."  [1],  xii,  385.      2  "  Pharm.  Journ."  [1],  xii,  589. 
