-Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
Mar.  1,  1873.  j 
Striated  Ipecacuanhas, 
115 
2.  Minor  Striated  Ipecacuanha. — This  sort  is  distinguished  from 
the  former  by  its  much  smaller  dimensions.  It  is  in  very  short  frag- 
ments, two  or  three  centimetres  or  more.  Some  nearly  cylindrical, 
scarcely  constricted,  are  only  two  or  three  millimetres  in  diameter ; 
others  are  narrowly  fusiform ;  others  again  are  formed  of  cylindrical 
or  pyriform  segments  placed  end  to  end  ;  these  are  generally  thicker 
and  attain  a  diameter  of  five  or  six  millimetres.  The  general  color 
is  a  grey-brown,  darker  than  that  of  the  first  sort.  The  longitudinal 
striae  are  fine  and  regular.  In  a  transverse  section  the  cortical  por- 
tion is  as  horny  and  the  consistence  closer  than  in  the  major  kind, 
The  meditullium  is  yellowish,  marked  with  a  great  number  of  pores, 
visible  with  a  glass. 
The  microscope  shows  in  the  cortical  portion — (1)  a  first  zone, 
formed  of  from  seven  to  nine  layers  of  very  narrow  tubular  cells ;  (2) 
a  thick  parenchyma  formed  of  cells  with  irregularly  sinuous  walls, 
filled  with  starch,  and  containing  here  and  there  bundles  of  raphides ; 
(3)  a  liber  zone,  in  a  transverse  section  of  which  are  seen  narrow 
polygonal  fibres  and  cells  ranged  in  radiating  series.  The  ligneous 
meditullium  is  distinguished  immediately  by  the  dimensions  of  the 
vessels,  which  give  a  porous  appearance  to  this  part,  and  which  stand 
out  distinctly  by  their  size  from  the  woody  cells  surrounding  them. 
The  salient  microscopic  characters  of  this  species  are  (1)  the  pres- 
ence of  starch,  (2)  the  relative  development  of  the  liber  zone,  (3)  the 
size  of  the  vessels  in  the  middle  of  the  woody  layer. 
This  sort  of  striated  ipecacuanha  contains  a  much  larger  propor- 
tion of  emetina  than  the  preceding :  nine  per  cent.,  according  to  the 
analysis  of  Pelletier;*  six  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  pure  emetina,  ac- 
cording to  Attfield.t 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  two  preceding  species  are  perfectly  distinct 
m  some  of  their  anatomical  characters.  Let  us  try  and  complete 
their  history,  profiting  by  the  data  above  given. 
First,  what  is  their  botanical  origin  ?  It  is  known  that  writers  on 
materia  medica  have  referred  the  striated  ipecacuanha  to  a  New  Gra- 
nada plant,  sent  by  Mutis  to  Linnaeus,  and  described  by  him  under  the 
name  of  Psychotria  emetica.  Which  of  the  two  commercial  kinds  of 
striated  ipecacuanha  are  obtained  from  this  species  ?  An  examina- 
tion of  the  roots  ought  to  clear  up  this  question.  M.  Triana,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  M.  Posada,  on  the  other,  have  kindly  furnished  me 
*  Journ.  de  Pharm.,  vol.  vi,  p.  261. 
f  Pharm,  Journ.  [2],  vol.  xi,  p.  141. 
