1 62  Unofficial  Parts  of  Ipecacuanha.  {AmMJa0rch,Srm' 
THE  VALUE  OF  THE  UNOFFICIAL  PARTS  OF 
IPECACUANHA. 
By  David  Hooper,  Government  Quinologist. 
About  two  years  ago  Prof.  Fliickiger,  of  Strassburg,  informed  me 
in  a  letter  that  he  had  ascertained  that  the  seeds  of  Ipecacuanha 
were  devoid  of  alkaloid.  He  also  suggested  that  the  leaves,  if  pro- 
curable, should  be  examined  for  alkaloid.  At  that  time  the  only 
materials  available  for  such  an  investigation  were  some  very  young 
plants  growing  in  the  Teak  plantation  at  Nilambur  in  the  Malabar 
district,  and  the  leaves  were  being  used  for  propagating  purposes, 
as  it  was  shown  by  Lindsay  some  years  ago  that  a  leaf  in  suitable 
soil  is  capable  of  producing  roots  and  buds.  The  Ipecacuanha 
plants  at  Nilambur  are  making  satisfactory  progress  considering 
the  slowness  of  their  growth.  They  have  a  good  soil  of  sandy  loam 
with  organic  matter,  and  they  have  sufficient  moisture  and  shade  ; 
the  root  growth  is  more  vigorous  than  that  of  the  stem,  and  thou- 
sands of  plants  will  soon  be  ready  for  supplying  the  root  to  the 
local  Medical  Store  department. 
Last  month  I  was  able  to  obtain  six  plants  of  two  and  a  half 
years  of  age  for  examination.  The  roots  were  plump  and  dark  col- 
ored, the  annulations  were  well-formed,  and  the  length  of  the 
longer  roots  was  eight  inches.  The  stems  were  woody  and  wiry, 
decumbent,  as  long  as  the  roots,  grayish  in  color,  knotted  and 
marked  with  leaf  scars  on  the  upper  part,  very  slightly  branched, 
quadrangular  and  smooth.  The  leaves  were  few  and  rather  crowded 
at  the  upper  part  of  the  stem,  opposite,  shortly  stalked,  stipules 
large,  united  at  the  base,  where  are  several  ovoid  glands,  persistent, 
adpressed  to  the  stem,  whitish  (pink  on  young  plants),  about  as 
long  as  the  petiole,  deeply  cut  into  four  subulate  laciniae,  blade  2-4 
inches  long  or  more,  oval,  pointed  at  the  apex,  entire,  wavy  on  the 
margin,  thick,  with  a  few  hairs  on  the  edge,  dark  green,  glossy, and 
nearly  smooth  above ;  paler,  somewhat  "pubescent  and  with  promi- 
nent veins  beneath.1 
The  description  of  the  plants  from  Nilambur  agrees  with  the 
description   of  the  cultivated  variety  of  Cephdelis  Ipecacuanha, 
1  The  description  of  the  leaves  is  after  that  in  "Medicinal  Plants."  The 
figures  of  the  leaves  and  root  in  that  work  are  rather  imperfect. 
