U.    SEP  7  1898  8.1] 
THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
SEPTEMBER,  i8g8. 
PROXIMATE  ANALYSIS   OF  THE  BARK  OF  PISCIDIA 
ERYTHRINA. 
By  Herman  Berberich,  P.D. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy.    No.  178. 
Piscidia  erythrina,  or  Jamaica  dogwood,  belongs  to  the  natural 
order  Leguminosae,  and  is  a  native  of  the  West  India  Islands. 
A  fluid  extract  of  the  bark  was  several  years  ago  introduced  to 
the  notice  of  the  medical  profession,  and  it  is  stated  by  physicians 
to  be  a  direct  sedative,  producing  narcotic  effects,  which  are  refresh- 
ing, and  not  followed,  as  in  the  case  of  opium,  by  hyperemia  of  the 
brain,  nausea  and  general  nervous  disturbance.  It  is  said  to  be  also 
of  value  in  bronchitis,  asthma,  spasms  of  the  muscles,  due  to  func- 
tional causes,  chorea,  tetanus,  and  especially  in  toothache,  to  relieve 
pain.  .  . 
By  treating  the  fluid  extract  of  the  bark  with  slaked  lime,  Edward 
Hart1  obtained  a  crystalline  substance  which  he  considered  to  be 
the  active  principle  of  the  bark.  The  crystals  separated  on  the 
sides  and  bottom  of  the  flask  after  the  mixture  had  stood  for  two 
or  three  days.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  resinous  substance. 
The  crystals  were  purified  by  recrystallization  from  alcohol,  and 
were  finally  obtained  in  a  nearly  colorless  condition.  After  repeated 
recrystallization  from  alcohol,  the  substance  was  obtained  in  the 
form  of  small,  yellowish  crystals,  which,  under  the  microscope, 
appeared  to  consist  of  four-  or  six-sided  prisms.    The  same  investi- 
1  Amer.  Chem.  Jour.,  1883,  p.  39  ;  Therapeutic  Gazette,  1883,  pp.  97,  98. 
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