68 
Fabiana  Imbricata;  or  Pichi. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1886. 
crowded  and  terminated  in  the  second  year  by  the  solitary  flower. 
The  white,  nerved,  withering,  persistent  corolla  is  J  inch  long,  four 
times  the  length  of  the  bell-shaped  calyx,  funnel  form,  with  fine 
lobes.  Fruit  an  oblong,  ovoid,  light-brown,  crustaceous  capsule, 
2  J  lines  long;  seeds  about  four,  \  line  long." 
From  Dr.  Manuel  S.  Ramires,  of  Valparaiso,  Dr.  Rusby  learned 
that  the  remedy  had  proved  curative  in  a  case  of  calculous  disease 
which  had  baffled  the  skill  of  physicians,  and,  the  patient  being  a 
man  of  influence,  a  wide-spread  interest  had  been  awakened  in  the 
drug.  Dr.  Ramires  had  himself  made  a  pretty  careful  study  of  the 
drug,  finding  it  a  diuretic  of  considerable  importance,  but  inapplica- 
ble to  cases  of  kidney  disease  in  which  there  was  degeneration  of  the 
excreting  organ.  He  considered  it  a  valuable  remedy  in  catarrhal 
inflammations  of  the  urinary  tract,  but  believed  that  its  action  in  re- 
storing impaired  digestive  power  was  even  more  important  than  its 
diuretic  property.  He  had  found  it  also  a  hepatic  stimulant,  although 
this  action  might  be  secondary,  and  dependent  upon  improved 
digestion. 
Dr.  Rushy  made  a  chemical  examination  of  the  drug,  ascertaining 
that  its  abundant  resin  was  soluble  in  ether,  to  a  certain  extent  in 
ammonia,  being  reprecipitated  by  sulphuric  acid,  and  that  its  alkaline 
solutions  had  a  most  intense  blue  fluorescence.  Aqueous  solutions 
gave  no  reactions  with  the  ordinary  reagents  for  alkaloids,  except 
solution  of  iodine  in  potassium  iodide.  On  the  strength  of  this 
latter  reaction,  however,  the  Doctor  was  inclined  to  regard  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  drug  as  due  to  an  unknown  alkaloid.  The  Doctor  was 
unable  to  make  any  complete  examination  of  the  drug,  owing  to  lack 
of  reagents  and  laboratory  facilities;  indeed,  with  the  means  at  his 
disposal,  he  is  entitled  to  much  credit  for  having  so  clearly  indicated 
the  direction  of  further  research. 
A  preliminary  examination  of  the  drug  by  the  writer  has  yielded 
the  following  results  of  interest : 
Ten  grams  of  the  drug  in  fine  powder  was  treated  with  100  c.  c.  of 
petroleum  ether.  After  macerating  twenty-four  hoiars,  with  occa- 
sional shaking,  crystals  were  observed  to  be  forming  on  the  sides  of 
the  bottle.  After  several  day's  maceration,  25  c.  c.  of  the  petroleum 
ether  was  evaporated  and  found  to  contain  280  milligrams  of  extract- 
ive matter,  reduced  by  heating  for  some  time  at  105°  C.  to  260  rug., 
the  loss  in  weight  due  to  volatilization  of  essential  oil,  and  traces  of 
