72  Vegetable  Drugs  Used  in  Mexico.      {Am ■#^1^frm- 
enclosing  four  seeds,  of  which  two  are  frequently  abortive ;  the 
testa  is  membraneous  and  beset  with  glandular  tubercles  filled  with 
a  yellow  substance;-  kernel  yellowish  and  oily;  inodorous  ;  taste  of 
the  mesocarp,  very  sweet.  According  to  Altamirano,  the  pulp  of 
the  fruit  contains  crystallizable  sugar,  much  glucose,  pectin  com- 
pounds, tannin,  etc.  The  seeds  yield  25  per  cent,  of  yellow  oil,  and 
contain,  probably,  a  glucoside,  to  which  the  extract  owes  the  property 
of  paralyzing  the  voluntary  motions  of  a  frog  when  injected  sub- 
cutaneously  in  the  dose  of  0  20  gm.  ;  dogs  are  not  thus  affected. 
The  seeds  have  anti-convulsive  properties  resembling  those  of  curare 
and  of  erythrina  (see  above).  The  tincture  and  aqueous  extract  are 
used,  the  former  being  given  in  hourly  doses  of  20  drops,  and  of  the 
latter  o-io  gm.  every  four  hours.    The  extract  of  the  pulp  is  inert. 
Rhamnus  Purshiana,  DeCandolle,  is  stated  to  have  laxative,  tonic 
and  febrifuge  properties. 
Ceanothus  azureus,  Desfontaines,  and  C.  caeruleus,  Kunth,  are 
known  in  different  parts  of  the  country  as  chaquira  or  chaquirilla. 
The  bark  is  employed  as  a  tonic  and  febrifuge  ;  the  root  in  gonorrhoea 
and  syphilitic  complaints,  and  the  decoction  of  the  leaves  in  aphthae 
and  ulcerated  throat. 
Rosaccce. — Licania  arborea,  Aublet,  is  the  cacahnanariche  of  the 
states  of  Guerrero,  Morelos  and  Michoacan.  The  drupe,  which  is 
the  part  employed,  has  the  shape  of  an  olive;  testa  membraneous 
cotyledons  large,  fleshy,  plano-convex,  rose  colored,  oily,  of  a  disa- 
greeable rancid  odor  and  a  nauseous  taste.  The  seed  yields  36  per 
cent,  of  fat,  melting  between  340  and  390,  and  easily  saponified, 
furnishing  a  hard  soap.  A  fat  acid  may  be  extracted  from  it,  melt- 
ing at  88°,  and  useful  for  the  manufacture  of  candles.  The  wood  is 
useful  for  various  purposes. 
Cerasus  Capollin,  De  Cand.  (see  Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1885,  p.  388). 
The  leaves  are  short  petiolate,  oval  oblong,  very  acuminate,  finely 
dentate,  glabrous,  coriaceous,  of  a  bitter  almond  odor  and  bitter 
taste. 
Agrimonia  parviflora,  Aiton,  is  used  in  place  of  A.  Eupatoria, 
Linrie. 
Potentilla  candicans,  Kunth,  s.  P.  lineariloba,  Seringe,  is  the  sinfito 
of  Central  Mexico.  The  rhizome  and  roots,  as  seen  in  commerce, 
consist  of  fragments  2  to  4  cm.  long,- of  the  thickness  of  a  quill  to 
that  of  a  finger,  cylindrical,  with  a  thin  brown  bark,  and  with  scars 
