AmMayj8P9!arm-}    Alkaloid  of  Tylophora  Asthmatica.  229 
in  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  India,  and  because  a  chapter  is  devoted 
to  it  in  the  "  Pharmacographia  "  of  Fliickiger  and  Hanbury.  The 
specific  name  of  the  plant  points  to  its  medicinal  activity  as  being 
an  important  character,  although  other  plants  in  the  same  natural 
order  have  somewhat  similar  properties.  The  older  botanical 
names  of  the  plant,  Asclepias  vomitoria,  Cynanchum  vomitoriutn 
and  C.  Ipecacuanha,  refer  more  exactly  to  the  physiological  action 
of  the  drug,  and  as  the  action  resembles  so  closely  that  of  the 
true  ipecacuanha  of  Brazil,  it  has  been  recommended  in  medical 
practice  as  a  substitute  in  India,  Mauritius,  and  other  countries 
where  it  grows. 
The  leaves  have  been  stated  to  be  more  certain  and  uniform 
in  their  action  than  the  root,  and  a  report  on  an  examination  of 
them  occurs  in  "  Pharmacographia  "  (2d  ed.,  p.  427).  "  A  concen- 
trated infusion  of  the  leaves  has  a  slight  acrid  taste.  It  is  abund- 
antly precipitated  by  tannic  acid,  by  neutral  acetate  of  lead  or 
caustic  potash,  and  is  turned  greenish-black  by  perchloride  of 
iron.  Broughton,  of  Ootacamund,  obtained  from  a  large  quantity 
of  leaves  a  small  amount  of  crystals,  insufficient  for  analysis. 
Dissolved  and  injected  into  a  small  dog  they  occasioned  purging 
and  vomiting."  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  any  further  par- 
ticulars of  Mr.  Broughton's  analysis  among  his  note-books  and 
reports,  but  an  alkaloid  I  have  recently  found  in  the  roots  prob- 
ably constituted  the  crystals  obtained  by  him  from  the  leaves. 
The  roots  are  pale  brown,  very  brittle  and  about  6  inches  01 
more  in  length  by  half  a  line  in  diameter.  They  have  a  sweetish 
taste,  followed  by  acridity.  The  odor  of  the  freshly-dried  root  is 
suggestive  of  old  brown  Windsor  soap. 
The  alkaloid  is  dissolved  out  of  the  inspissated  alcoholic  extract 
with  water,  and  the  filtered  solution,  rendered  alkaline  with  ammo- 
nia (which  causes  a  precipitate  of  the  base),  yields  it  up  to  ether  on 
agitation  with  that  liquid.  Its  solution  in  ether  and  alcohol  are 
alkaline  in  reaction,  and  it  is  only  sparingly  soluble  in  water  in  a 
free  state.  It  forms  neutral  solutions  with  acids,  and  is  precipitated 
by  all  the  usual  alkaloidal  reagents.  It  is  crystalline  when  evapo- 
rated from  its  more  volatile  solvents,  and  forms  prismatic  crystal- 
line salts  with  hydrochloric  and  nitric  acids.  The  pure  alkaloid 
added  to  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid  is  dissolved  with  a  reddish- 
brown  color,  which  changes  into  a  red,  turning  to   green  and 
