Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Oct.,  1888. 
Catechu  and  Gambier. 
497 
variation  is  noticeable,  and  even  up  to  1  in  600  no  correction  seems 
called  for.  In  a  dilution  beween  1  in  200  and  1  in  400  the  equiva- 
lent may  be  regarded  as  being  '0088  to  "OOOO.  The  average  weight 
of  precipitate  is  0*265  from  0*100  of  alkaloid,  equal  to  37*7  per  cent, 
alkaloid  in  the  precipitate. 
Strychnine  and  Brucine  in  mixture.    See  Brucine. 
CATECHU  AND  GAMBIER.^ 
By  Henry  Trimble. 
Query  No.  27. — "  The  U.  S.  P.  denotes  as  catechu  the  extract  of  Acacia  Ca- 
techu ;  the  Br.  P.  uses  the  extract  of  Uncaria  Gambier.  Which  of  these  two 
is  to  be  preferred  ?" 
The  extract  of  Acacia  Catechu  is  known  in  commerce  as  cutch,  and 
that  from  Uncaria  Gambier  as  gambier^;  the  former  of  these  terms, 
therefore,  will  be  used  to  indicate  that  officinal  in  the  U.  S.  P.,  and 
the  latter  that  of  the  Br.  P.  Catechu  is  a  term  applicable  to  either  or 
both. 
Considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding  gambier  among 
the  wholesale  druggists,  and  such  synonyms  as  "  pale  cutch and 
^'  terra  japonica were  tried,  but  either  ordinary  cutch  was  sent,  or  I 
was  told  they  did  not  keep  it. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  cutch  is  not  imported  primarily 
for  use  in  medicine,  but  is  brought  in  by  hundreds  of  tons  for 
the  use  of  dyers.  Gambier  comes  in  cubes  or  masses  of  indis- 
tinct cubes,  in  equal  if  not  larger  amounts  than  cutch,  for  the 
use  of  both  dyers  and  tanners.  Their  prices  are  about  the  same, 
ranging  from  five  to  eight  cents  per  pound.  All  authorities 
agree  that  the  medicinal  use  of  these  two  remedies  is  for  their 
astringent  and  very  slight  tonic  properties;  therefore,  preference 
should  be  given  to  the  one  which  possesses  the  greatest  astrin- 
gency. 
A  chemical  examination  of  representative  samples  as  found  in 
our  market,  was  apparently  the  only  method  of  solving  the  prob- 
lem, therefore  the  results  of  the   examination   of  three  samples 
^Read  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  Detroit,  and 
communicated  by  the  author. 
