504  Sweet  Pellitory.  {Am' otZiSo^' 
SWEET  PELLITORY.1 
By  David  Hooper. 
A  Persian  drug  is  annually  imported  into  Bombay  in  the  Spring 
under  the  names  of  Bozidan  (Persian)  and  Mithaakkalkara  {Bom- 
bay). Bozidan  is  also  applied  to  Caucalis  orientalis,  the  fiooaatdai, 
of  the  later  Greek  physicians,  and  Mitlia-akkalkara  signifies  "  sweet 
pellitory,"  akkalkara  being  the  Indian  term  for  the  root  of  pellitory 
of  Spain  as  sold  in  the  bazaars.  Dr.  Dymock  has  a  notice  of  this 
drug  in  the  appendix  to  his  "  Materia  Medica  of  Western  India," 
and  it  is  doubtfully  referred  to  a  species  of  pyrethrum  in  Sakharam 
Arjun's  "  Catalogue  of  Bombay  Drugs."  Dr.  Dymock  has  been 
able  to  examine  some  freshly  imported  parcels  of  the  root,  and 
from  some  specimens  of  the  flowers  and  fruit,  he  has  identified  the 
plant  to  be  Tanacetum  umbelliferum,  Boissier.  The  native  doctors 
consider  it  to  be  aphrodisiac,  tonic,  deobstruent,  useful  in  rheuma- 
tism and  gout,  and  in  enlargement  of  the  liver  and  spleen.  They 
also  regard  it  as  having  abortifacient  and  anthelmintic  properties. 
The  root  has  some  resemblance  to  pellitory,  but  it  is  larger  and 
lighter  in  color.  It  is  rough  and  furrowed  longitudinally;  internally 
it  is  hard  and  whitish,  and  breaks  with  a  tough,  close  fracture. 
The  microscopic  structure  also  resembles  that  of  pellitory  root. 
The  corky  layer  is  made  up  of  thick-walled  cells  and  oil  cells  occur 
in  the  middle  layer  of  the  bark  and  in  the  medullary  rays.  Some 
of  the  parenchymatous  cells  were  loaded  with  granular  matter 
which,  however,  did  not  show  the  sphaeroidal  character  of  inulin 
when  the  root  had  been  immersed  for  four  months  in  alcohol.  The 
root  was  sweetish  and  mawkish  to  the  taste,  with  a  very  slight 
degree  of  acridity,  and  the  odor  was  like  chaulmoogra  oil,  especially 
when  powdered  or  boiled  with  water.  A  proximate  analysis  of  the 
powdered  root  separated  ether  extract  ro,  alcoholic  extract  8-6, 
water  extract  25-1,  crude  fibre  56-9,  and  6-8  of  ash  in  100  parts. 
The  ether  extract,  having  the  peculiar  odor  of  the  drug,  was 
evaporated  to  dryness  and  digested  in  rectified  spirits  for  several 
months;  this  separated  a  whitish  insoluble  granular  fatty  substance, 
and  a  light  reddish  brown  liquid.  The  insoluble  portion  examined 
under  a  microscope  was  seen  to  consist  of  radiating  crystalline  tufts 
of  wax,  tasteless,  and  neutral  in  reaction.    It  dissolved  in  petroleum 
1  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans. ,  Aug.  23,  1890,  p.  143. 
