114 
Striated  Ipecacuanhas. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
t     Mar.  1, 1873. 
It  has  a  horny  appearance,  and  is  rather  variable  in  color,  being  some- 
times whitish,  and  passing  by  shades  of  rose  and  violet  to  a  violet 
black.  Its  thickness  is  relatively  considerable,  at  least  two  thirds  of 
the  radius,  and  it  becomes  still  more  so  when  the  root  is  placed  in 
water,  which  causes  it  to  swell  freely.  The  meditullium  is  of  a  yel- 
lowish-white color.  The  odor  of  the  root  is  not  very  marked.  The 
taste  is  scarcely  nauseous,  being  sometimes  insipid  and  frequently 
sweetish. 
A  microscopical  examination  of  the  cortical  portion  shows  beneath 
five  or  six  layers  of  tubular  cells,  with  brownish  walls,  a  parenchyma 
formed  of  large  polygonal  cells.  These  cells  become  smaller  as  they 
approach  the  ligneous  meditullium  ;  they  become  pretty  regularly 
hexagonal,  and  form  series  radiating  almost  rectilinearly.  They  are 
entirely  free  from  starch  ;  a  certain  number  of  them  contain  bundles 
of  raphides,  and  all  are  filled  with  an  amorphous  substance  soluble  in 
water,  and  capable  of  reducing  cupro-potassic  solution.  The  ligneous 
meditullium  consists  of  fibres  with  incrusted  sides  arranged  in  radiat- 
ing series,  between  which  are  interposed  vessels  with  very  narrow  open- 
ings, not  exceeding  the  diameter  of  the  ligneous  fibres.  It  contains 
no  trace  of  starch. 
The  salient  characters  resulting  from  this  examination,  and  which 
may  be  regarded  as  distinctive  from  those  of  the  second  species  of  stri- 
ated ipecacuanha,  are  (1)  the  complete  absence  of  starch,  (2)  the  rela- 
tively small  diameter  of  the  vessels  of  the  meditullium,  (8)  the  pres- 
ence of  a  principle  capable  of  reducing  the  cupro-potassic  reagent. 
This  matter  exists  in  very  great  quantity  in  the  cortical  portion  ;  a 
simple  digestion  in  water  giving  a  liquid  with  strong  reducing  power, 
but  which  does  not  exercise  a  deviating  influence  on  a  ray  of  polar- 
ized light.    This  substance  merits  a  closer  study.* 
The  major  striated  ipecacuanha  comes  from  New  Granada.  It  con- 
tains but  very  little  emetina ;  at  least  so  it  would  appear  from  the 
analyses  made  by  M.  Dorvault,  which  confirmed  those  made  by  Prof. 
Attfield,t  who  attributed  to  it  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  active 
principle. 
*  Professor  Attfield  has  noticed  the  presence  in  this  root  of  5'39  per  cent, 
of  grape  sugar,  and  34  per  cent,  cane  sugar,  or  of  substances  soluble  in  water 
and  capable  of  being  converted  into  sugar  by  boiling  with  an  acid  (Pharm. 
Journ.,  second  series,  vol.  xi,  p.  141). 
t  Loc.  cit. 
