304 
New  Variety  of  Rhatany. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1886. 
I  do  not  think  it  probable  that  this  root  is  derived  from  the  species 
used  in  New  Granada,  viz.,  Krameria  spartioides,  since  all  the  known 
species  of  Krameria,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  are  either 
herbaceous  plants  or  under-shrubs,  whilst  the  root  under  considera- 
tion resembles  more  nearly  that  of  a  large  shrub  or  small  tree. 
From  a  preliminary  examination  of  the  microscopic  structure  of 
the  root,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  plant  yielding  it,  although 
probably  not  a  Krameria,  may  belong  to  a  genus  nearly  allied.  A 
more  careful  and  detailed  examination  of  the  microscopic  structure 
may  perhaps  throw  more  light  upon  this  point.  Meanwhile  the 
introduction  of  the  drug  into  the  London  market,  under  the  name 
of  rhatany,  renders  a  chemical  examination  of  its  properties  desir- 
able. The  taste  of  the  root  being  remarkably  astringent,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  some  indication  of  its  value  as  an  astringent  might  be 
obtained  by  a  comparison  with  the  other  commercial  species  of 
rhatany  in  respect  to  the  amounts  of  tannin  afforded  by  them.  Dr. 
B.  H.  Paul  kindly  undertook  to  make  the  comparison,  and  has  com- 
municated to  me  the  following  results,  obtained  in  his  laboratory  by 
Mr.  F.  W.  Passmore :  Taking  a  quantity  of  the  bark  only,  of  the 
root  of  the  Guayaquil  rhatany,  sufficient  to  yield  100  parts  of  tannin, 
a  similar  quantity  of  the  root,  including  both  bark  and  wood,  of 
Peruvian  rhatany,  yielded  only  37*6  parts  of  tannin ;  Guayaquil 
rhatany,  41*3  parts;  Para  rhatany,  45*7  parts;  Savanilla  rhatany, 
49*3  parts.  The  proportion  of  tannin  contained  in  the  bark  alone  of 
the  Guayaquil  rhatany  is  therefore  relatively  more  than  twice  as  much 
as  that  contained  in  Savanilla  rhatany  root.  Although  the  amount 
of  tannin  is  apparently  greater  both  in  the  Savanilla  and  Para 
rhatany  than  in  the  Guayaquil  variety,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  proportion  of  the  wood  to  the  bark  is  much  greater  in  the  latter, 
being  62  per  cent,  of  wood  to  38  per  cent,  of  bark  in  the  specimen  of 
Guayaquil  rhatany  examined  by  Dr.  Paul. 
It  is  thus  evident  that  the  Guayaquil  rhatany  contains  a  larger 
quantity  of  tannin  than  the  Peruvian  drug,  but  less  than  either  the 
Savanilla  or  Para  varieties,  the  separated  bark  of  the  Guayaquil  root 
being,  however,  more  than  twice  as  rich  in  tannin  as  either  of  those 
roots. 
It  may  here  be  worth  while  to  mention  the  fact  that  the  Savanilla 
rhatany  root  which  is  at  present  in  the  London  market  is  identical 
with  that  described  in  "  Pharmacographia  "  as  Para  rhatany,  this  fact 
