Chapter XXIII: Part 23

1. _Quinine._—It is obtained from alcoholic solutions, in prisms of the composition C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ + 3 OH₂, fusing at 57° C. The crystals may be deprived of water by warming or exposure over oil of vitriol, and they fuse at 177° C. The anhydrous alkaloid is likewise crystallizable; it requires about 21 parts of ether for solution, but dissolves more readily in chloroform or absolute alcohol. These solutions deviate the ray of polarized light to the left, and so do likewise solutions of the salts of quinine. Yet one and the same quantity of alkaloid exhibits a very different rotatory power according to the solvent used, though the volume of the solution remain the same. Even the common sulphate differs in this respect from the two other sulphates of quinine. The same remark applies to the optical power of the other alkaloids.

If ten volumes of a solution of quinine, or of one of its salts, are mixed in a test tube with one volume of chlorine water, and a drop of ammonia is added, a brilliant green colour makes its appearance. In solutions rich in quinine, a green precipitate, _Thalleioquin_ or _Dalleiochine_ is produced; in solutions containing less than ¹/₁₀₀₀ of quinine, no precipitate is formed, but the fluid assumes a green even more beautiful than in a stronger solution. The test succeeds with a solution containing only one part of quinine in 5,000, and in a solution containing not more than ¹/₂₀₀₀ of quinine, if bromine is used instead of chlorine.[1358]

The bitter taste of quinine is not appreciable in solutions containing less than one part in 100,000. The blue fluorescence displayed by a solution of quinine in dilute sulphuric acid is observable in solutions containing much less than one part in 200,000 of water; yet it is not apparent in very strong solutions.

Besides the _common medicinal_ sulphate, 2 C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ + SO₄H₂ + 8 OH₂, quinine forms two other crystallizable sulphates, namely the sulphate, C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ + SO₄H₂ + 7 OH₂, and a third having the composition C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ + 2 SO₄H₂ + 7 OH₂.

Herapath, at Bristol, showed in 1852 that quinine forms with sulphuric acid and iodine a peculiar compound, _Iodo-sulphate of Quinine_, having the composition (C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂)₄ + 3 (SO₄H₂) + 2 HI + 4 I + 3 OH₂. As this substance possesses optical properties analogous to those of tourmaline, it was called by Haidinger, _Herapathite_. It may be easily obtained by dissolving sulphate of quinine in 10 parts of weak spirit of wine containing 5 per cent. of sulphuric acid, and adding an alcoholic solution of iodine until a black precipitate is no longer formed. This precipitate is collected on a filter and washed with alcohol; then dissolved in boiling spirit of wine and allowed to crystallize. The tabular crystals thus obtained are extremely remarkable on account of their dichroism and polarizing power, as well as for the sparing solubility, since they require 1000 parts of boiling water for solution; their sparing solubility in cold alcohol may be utilized for separating quinine from the other cinchona alkaloids and estimating its quantity.

2. _Quinidine_ or _Conquinine_—forms crystals having the composition, C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ + 2 OH₂; the anhydrous alkaloid melts at 168° C., and requires about 30 parts of ether for solution. Its solutions are strongly dextrogyre; it agrees with quinine as regards bitterness, fluorescence and the thalleioquin test, and forms a neutral and an acid sulphate. The most striking character of quinidine is afforded by its hydriodate, the crystals of which require for solution at 15° C., 1250 parts of water or 110 parts of alcohol sp. gr. ·834. Quinidine may therefore be separated from the other alkaloids of bark by a solution of iodide of potassium which will precipitate the hydriodate. According to Hesse (1873), quinidine is further characterized by the fact that its sulphate is soluble in 20 parts of chloroform at 15° C., the sulphates of the other cinchona alkaloids being far less soluble in that liquid. The common medicinal sulphate of quinine, _e.g._, requires for solution 1000 parts of chloroform.

[1358] _Pharm. Journ._, May 11, 1872. 901.

3. _Cinchonine._—This alkaloid forms crystals which are always anhydrous; they fuse at 257° C., and require about 400 parts of ether and 120 of spirit of wine for solution. Cinchonine further differs from quinine by its dextrogyre power, its want of fluorescence, and its non-susceptibility to the thalleioquin test. Its hydriodate is readily soluble in water, and still more so in alcohol whether dilute or strong.

4. _Cinchonidine._—forms anhydrous crystals melting at 206° C., soluble in 76 parts of ether, or 20 of spirit of wine, then affording levogyre liquids, devoid of fluorescence, and not acquiring a green colour (thalleioquin) by means of chlorine water and ammonia. Hydrochlorate of cinchonidine forms pyramidal crystals of the monoclinic system, very different from the hydrochlorates of the allied alkaloids.

5. _Quinamine._—The crystals are anhydrous, fuse at 172° C., and form at a temp. of 20°, with 32 parts of ether or 100 parts of spirit of wine, a dextrogyre solution. Quinamine is even to some extent soluble in boiling water, and abundantly in boiling ether, benzol, or petroleum ether. The solutions of quinamine do not stand the thalleioquin test, nor do they display fluorescence; in acid solution, the alkaloid is liable to be transformed into an amorphous state. Quinamine moistened with concentrated nitric acid, assumes like paytine a yellow coloration. Its hydriodate is readily soluble in boiling water, but very sparingly in cold water, especially in presence of iodide of potassium, in which respect it is allied to quinidine as well as to paytine.

The more important properties of the Cinchona alkaloids may be summarized as follows:—

a. _Hydrated_ crystals are formed by
Quinine, Quinidine, (or Conquinine).
_No hydrated_ crystals by
Cinchonine, Cinchonidine, Quinamine.

b. _Abundantly_ soluble in ether
Quinine, Quinidine, Quinamine,
and the amorphous alkaloids.
_Sparingly_ soluble in ether Cinchonidine.
_Almost insoluble_ in ether Cinchonine.

c. _Levogyre_ solutions afforded by
Quinine, Cinchonidine.
_Dextrogyre_ solutions by
Cinchonine, Quinidine, Quinamine,
Conquinamine, and the amorphous alkaloids.

d. Thalleioquin is formed by
Quinine, Quinidine, and also by Quinicine.
Thalleioquin cannot be obtained from
Cinchonine, Cinchonidine, Quinamine,
nor from Cinchonicine.

e. Fluorescence is displayed by solutions of Quinine, Quinidine.
No fluorescence in solutions of pure Cinchonine, Cinchonidine,
Quinamine.

=Proportion of Alkaloids in Cinchona Barks=—This is liable to very great variation. We know from the experiments of Hesse (1871), that the bark of _C. pubescens_ Vahl is sometimes devoid of alkaloid.[1359] Similar observations made near Bogota upon _C. pitayensis_ Wedd., _C. corymbosa_ Karst., and _C. lancifolia_ Mutis, are due to Karsten. He ascertained[1360] that barks of one district were sometimes devoid of quinine, while those of the same species from a neighbouring locality yielded 3½ to 4½ per cent. of sulphate of quinine.

[1359] _Berichte der Deutschen Chem. Gesellschaft zu Berlin_, 1871. 818.

[1360] _Die medicinischen Chinarinden Neu-Granada’s_, 17. 20. 39.

Another striking example is furnished by De Vry[1361] in his examination of quills of _C. officinalis_ grown at Ootacamund, which he found to vary in percentage of alkaloids, from 11·96 (of which 9·1 per cent. was quinine) down to less than 1 per cent. An extremely remarkable variation has also been displayed, as already alluded to at p. 351, by Ledger’s Calisaya.

Among the innumerable published analyses of cinchona bark, there are a great number showing but a very small percentage of the useful principles, of which quinine, the most valuable of all, is not seldom altogether wanting. The highest yield on the other hand hitherto observed, was obtained by Broughton[1362] from a bark grown at Ootacamund. This bark afforded not less than 13½ per cent. of alkaloids, among which quinine was predominant. In Java too, Cinchona Ledgeriana (see pp. 341, 351) has proved since to afford much more alkaloid than any American barks; as much as 13·25 per cent. of quinine have been observed in its bark.

The few facts just mentioned show that it is impossible to state even approximately any constant percentage of alkaloids in any given bark. We may however say that good _Flat Calisaya Bark_, as offered in the drug trade for pharmaceutical preparations, contains at least 5 to 6 per cent. of quinine.

As to _Crown_ or _Loxa Bark_, the _Cortex Cinchonæ pallidæ_ of pharmacy, its merits are, to say the least, very uncertain. On its first introduction in the 17th century, when it was taken from the trunks and large branches of full-grown trees, it was doubtless an excellent medicinal bark; but the same cannot be said of much of that now found in commerce, which is to a large extent collected from very young wood.[1363] Some of the Crown Bark produced in India is however of extraordinary excellence, as shown by the recent experiments of De Vry.[1364]

As to _Red Bark_, the thick flat sort contains only 3 to 4 per cent. of alkaloids, but a large amount of coloring matter. The quill Red Bark of the Indian plantations is a much better drug, some of it yielding 5 to 10 per cent. of alkaloids, less than a third of which is quinine and a fourth cinchonidine, the remainder being cinchonine and sometimes also traces of quinidine (conquinine).

The variations in the amount of alkaloids relates not merely to their total percentage, but also to the proportion which one bears to another. Quinine and cinchonine are of the most frequent occurrence; cinchonidine is less usual, while quinidine is still less frequently met with and never in large amount. The experiments performed in India[1365] have already shown that external influences contribute in an important manner to the formation of this or that alkaloid; and it may even be hoped that the cultivators of cinchona will discover methods of promoting the formation of quinine and of reducing, if not of excluding, that of the less valuable alkaloids.

[1361] _Pharm. Journ._ Sept. 6, 1873. 181.

[1362] Blue Book—“_East India Chinchona Plant_,” 1870. 282; _Yearbook of Pharmacy_, 1871. 85.

[1363] See Howard’s analyses and observations, _Pharm. Journ._ xiv. (1855) 61-63.

[1364] _Pharm. Journ._ Sept. 6, 1873. 184.

[1365] Blue Book, 1870. 116. 188. 205.

Most salts of the alkaloids of cinchona afford a beautiful purple tar when they are heated in a test tube, and the same is also produced with the powdered bark, provided alkaloids be present. No other bark, as far as we know, yields a similar product of the dry distillation. It is not observed even in using true Cinchona barks, which are devoid of alkaloids. This method for ascertaining the presence of alkaloids in Cinchona barks has been proposed in 1858 by Grahe of Kasan. Hesse has improved Grahe’s test in the following way: he extracts the powdered bark with slightly acidulated water and dries up the liquid with a little of the powder. _Grahe’s test_ at once shows whether a given bark contains Cinchona alkaloids or not.

=Acid principles of Cinchona Barks=—Count Claude de la Garaye[1366] observed (1746) a crystalline salt deposited in extract of cinchona bark, which salt was known for some time in France as _Sel essential de la Garaye_. Hermbstädt at Berlin (1785) showed it to be a salt of calcium, the peculiarity of whose acid was pointed out in 1790 by C. A. Hoffmann,[1367] an apothecary of Leer in Hanover, who termed it _Chinasäure_. The composition of this substance, which is the _Kinic Acid_ of English chemists, was ascertained by Liebig in 1830 to be C₇H₁₂O₆, or now C₆H₇(OH)₄COOH. The acid forms large monoclinic prisms, fusible at 162° C., of a strong and pure acid taste, soluble in two parts of water, also in spirit of wine, but hardly in ether. The solutions are levogyre. Kinic acid appears to be present in every species, and also to occur in barks of allied genera; and in fact to be of somewhat wide distribution in the vegetable kingdom. By heating it or a kinate, interesting derivatives are obtained; thus, by means of peroxide of manganese and sulphuric acid, we get yellow crystals of _Kinone_ or _Quinone_, C₆H₄O₂,—a reaction which may be used for ascertaining the presence of kinic acid. Kinic acid is devoid of any noteworthy physiological action.

_Cincho-tannic Acid_—is precipitated from a decoction of bark by acetate of lead, after the decoction has been freed from cinchona-red by means of magnesia. Dr. de Vry informed us that the Indian barks are usually richer in cincho-tannic acid; their cold infusion becomes turbid on addition of hydrochloric acid, which forms an insoluble compound with the former.

The cincho-tannate of lead decomposed by sulphuretted hydrogen, and the solution cautiously evaporated _in vacuo_, yields the acid as an amorphous, hygroscopic substance, readily soluble in water, alcohol, or ether. The solutions, especially in presence of an alkali, are quickly decomposed, a red flocculent matter, _Cinchona-red_, being produced. Solutions of cincho-tannic acid assume a greenish colour on addition of a ferric salt. By destructive distillation, cincho-tannic acid affords pyrocatechin.

_Quinovic_ (or _Chinovic_) _Acid_, C₂₄H₃₈O₄, crystallizes in hexagonal scales which are sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, more readily in boiling alcohol, but not dissolved by water, ether, or chloroform. It occurs in cinchona barks, and has been met with by Rembold (1868) in the rhizome of _Potentilla Tormentilla_ Sibth.

[1366] _Chimie hydraulique_, Paris, 1746. 114.

[1367] Crell’s _Chem. Annalen_, 1790, ii. 314-317.

=Other Constituents of Cinchona Barks=—Quinovic acid is accompanied by _Quinovin_ (or _Chinovin_), C₃₀H₄₈O₈, an amorphous bitter substance, first obtained (1821) by Pelletier and Caventou under the name of _Kinovic Acid_, from _China nova_,[1368] in which it occurs combined with lime. Quinovin in alcoholic solution was shown in 1859 by Hlasiwetz to be resolved by means of hydrochloric gas into quinovic acid, C₂₄H₃₈O₄, and an uncrystallizable sugar, _Mannitan_, C₆H₁₂O₅, with subtraction of H₂O. The formation of quinovic acid takes place more easily, if quinovin is placed in contact with sodium amalgam and spirit of wine, when, after 12 hours, mannitan and quinovate of sodium are formed (Rochleder, 1867).

Quinovin, although an indifferent substance, may be removed from cinchona barks by weak caustic soda, from which it is precipitable by hydrochloric acid, together with quinovic acid and cinchona-red. Milk of lime then dissolves quinovin and quinovic acid, but not the red substance. Quinovic acid and quinovin again precipitated by an acid, may be separated by chloroform in which the latter only is soluble, or also by cold dilute alcohol sp. gr. about 0·926, quinovin being readily removed by this liquid.

Quinovin dissolves in boiling water; its solutions, as well as those of quinovic acid, are dextrogyre. Quinovin seems to be a constituent of almost every part of the cinchonas and the allied _Cinchoneæ_, although the amount of it in barks does not apparently exceed 2 per cent. It is accompanied by quinovic acid: both substances are stated to have tonic properties.

_Cinchona-red_, an amorphous substance to which the red hue of cinchona barks is due, is produced as shown by Rembold (1867), when cincho-tannic acid is boiled with dilute sulphuric acid, sugar being formed at the same time. By fusing cinchona-red with potash, protocatechuic acid, C₇H₆O₄, is produced. Cinchona-red is sparingly soluble in alcohol, abundantly in alkaline solutions, but neither in water nor in ether. Thick Red Bark in which it is abundant, affords it to the extent of over 10 per cent.

The Cinchona barks yield but a scanty percentage of ash, not exceeding 3 per cent., a fact well according with the small amount they contain of oxalate and kinate of calcium.

=Estimation of the Alkaloids in Cinchona Bark=—The microscope will enable us, as already shown, to ascertain whether a given bark is derived from _Cinchona_, but it can furnish no exact information as to the actual value of such bark as a drug.

Yet there is a very simple test by which the presence of a cinchona-alkaloid may be demonstrated. These alkaloids heated in a glass tube in the presence of a volatile acid or of substances capable of producing a volatile acid, evolve heavy vapours of a beautiful crimson colour, as mentioned p. 363.

[1368] The bark of _Buena magnifolia_ Wedd., a tree with fragrant flowers and magnificent foliage, figured in Howard’s “_Nueva Quinologia of Pavon_” as Cinchona magnifolia. Its bark is destitute of alkaloids; it also used to appear occasionally in the London market since about the year 1820.—See also our article on _Cortex Cascarillæ_.

But to ascertain the real value of a cinchona bark, a quantitative estimation of the alkaloids is necessary. A good process for this operation has been given by De Vry.[1369] It is as follows:—Mix 20 grammes of powdered bark, dried at 100° C., with milk of lime (5 grm. slaked lime to 50 grm. water), dry the mixture slowly; by stirring it frequently, the cincho-tannic acid loses its solubility, being gradually transformed into cinchona-red. Then boil the dry powder with 200 cubic centimetres of alcohol 0·830 sp. gr. Pour the liquid on to a small filter, and afterwards the residual bark and lime mixed with 100 cub. cent. more alcohol. Wash the powder on the filter with 100 cub. cent. of spirit From the mixed liquids, about 370 cub. cent., separate the calcium by a few drops of weak sulphuric acid. Filter, distill off the spirit and pour into a capsule the residual liquid,—to which add a small quantity of spirit and water with which the distilling apparatus has been rinsed out. Let the capsule be now heated on a water-bath until all the spirit shall have been expelled; and let the remaining liquor which contains all the alkaloids in the form of acid sulphates be filtered. There will remain on the filter quinovic acid and fatty substances, which must be washed with slightly acidulated water. The filtrate and washings reduced to about 50 cub. cent., should be treated while still warm with caustic soda in excess. After cooling, this is decanted off from the precipitate, and then water added to it before throwing it on to a filter. It is then to be washed with the smallest quantity of water pressed between folds of blotting paper, removed therefrom and dried. The weight multiplied by 5 will indicate the percentage of _mixed_ alkaloids in the bark.

[1369] _Pharm. Journ._ iv. (1873) 241, and Dr. de Vry’s papers mentioned at the end of the present article, p. 369; also private communications.

To separate the alkaloids from each other, treat the powdered mass with ten times its weight of ether. This will resolve it into two portions—(a) _insoluble in ether_, (b) _soluble in ether_.

(a.) This should be converted into neutral acetates, and to the solution there should be added iodide of potassium, which will possibly separate a little _quinidine_. After removal of the latter (if present), add solution of tartrate of potassium and sodium, which will throw down in a crystalline form tartrate of _cinchonidine_; from the mother-liquor, _cinchonine_ may be precipitated by caustic soda.

(b.) The ether having been evaporated, the residue is to be dried at 100° C. and weighed. It may in many cases practically be considered as consisting of quinine only. If however the estimation of quinidine (conquinine) and quinamine is required, the residue, or a determined portion of it, should be dissolved in acetic acid just as much as will be necessary for affording a neutral solution. From this the hydroiodate of quinidine is precipitated by means of an alcoholic solution of iodide of potassium. In the filtrate quinine may be precipitated by adding a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid and an alcoholic tincture of iodine. The herapathite thus formed (see p. 360) is collected after a day, dried at 100° and weighed; it then contains 55 per cent. of quinine.

After adding a few drops of sulphurous acid, the alcohol should now be evaporated from the fluid from which the crystals of herapathite have been removed, and caustic lye added, by which the amorphous alkaloids will be precipitated, including _quinamine_ if present.

=Uses=—Cinchona bark enjoys the reputation of being a most valuable remedy in fevers. But the uncertainty of its composition and its inconvenient bulk render it a far less eligible form of medicine than the alkaloids themselves. It is nevertheless much used as a general tonic in various pharmaceutical preparations.

As to the alkaloids, the only one which is in general use is _quinine_. The neglect of the others is a regrettable waste, which the result of recent investigations ought to obviate. In the year 1866 the Madras Government appointed a Medical Commission to test the respective efficacy in the treatment of fever, of Quinine, Quinidine, Cinchonine and Cinchonidine. Of the sulphates of these alkaloids, a due supply, specially prepared under Mr. Howard’s superintendence, was placed at the disposal of the Commission. From the report[1370] it appears that the number of cases of paroxysmal malarious fevers treated was 2472,—namely 846 with Quinine, 664 with Quinidine, 569 with Cinchonine, and 403 with Cinchonidine. Of these 2472 cases, 2445 were cured, and 27 failed. The difference in remedial value of the four alkaloids, as deduced from these experiments, may be thus stated:—

Quinidine—ratio of failure per 1000 cases treated 6
Quinine ” ” 7
Cinchonidine ” ” 10
Cinchonine ” ” 23

The Indian Government, acting on the recommendation of Mr. Howard, has officially advised (Dec. 16, 1873) the more free use India of cinchona alkaloids other than quinine, and especially of _sulphate of cinchonidine_, which is procurable in abundance from Red Bark.[1371] Quinidine on the other hand, which has proved the most valuable of all, is only obtainable from a few barks and in very limited amount.

Dr. de Vry since 1876 advocates the use of what he calls _Quinetum_. This preparation is obtained by exhausting the barks with slightly acidulated water, and precipitating the whole amount of alkaloids by caustic soda. In India the remedy is known as “the Febrifuge.”[1372]

=Adulteration=—There is not now any frequent importation of _spurious_ cinchona barks, but the substitution of bad varieties for good is sufficiently common. To discriminate these in a positive manner by ascertaining the percentage of quinine, which is the chief criterion of value, recourse must be had to chemical analysis, a method of performing which has been described. Entirely worthless barks may be easily recognized by means of Grahe’s test (p. 363).

[1370] Blue Book—_East India Cinchona Cultivation_, 1870. pp. 156-172.—The report contains very interesting and important medical details. See also Dougal in _Edin. Med. Journ._ Sept. 1873.

[1371] We heard that the Government has purchased (April 1874) by tender between 300 and 400 lb. of cinchonidine.

[1372] _Pharm. Journ._ viii. (1878) 1060.

Modern Works relating to Cinchona.

The following enumeration has been drawn up for the sake of those desiring more ample information than is contained in the foregoing pages, but it has no pretension to be a complete list of all publications that have lately appeared on the subject.

Berg (Otto), _Chinarinden der pharmakognostischen Sammlung
zu Berlin_. Berlin, 1865, 4°. 48 pages and 10 plates
showing the microscopic structure of barks.

Bergen (Heinrich von), _Monographie der China_.
Hamburg, 1826, 4°. 348 pages and 7 coloured plates
representing the following barks:—China rubra, Huanuco,
Calisaya, flava, Huamalies, Loxa, Jaen. An exhaustive
work for its period in every direction.

Blue books—_East India_ (_Chinchona Plant_). Folio.

=a.= _Copy of Correspondence relating to the
introduction of the Chinchona Plant into India, and
to proceedings connected with its cultivation from
March 1852 to March 1863._ Ordered by the House of
Commons to be printed, 20 March 1863. 272 pages.

Contains Correspondence of Royle, Markham, Spruce,
Pritchett, Cross, McIvor, Andersen and others,
illustrated by 5 maps.

=b.= _Copy of further Correspondence relating to
the introduction of the Chinchona Plant into India,
and to proceedings connected with its cultivation,
from April 1863 to April 1866._ Ordered by the
House of Commons to be printed, 18 June 1866. 379
pages.

Contains Monthly Reports of the plantations on the
Neilgherry Hills; Annual Reports for 1863-64, 1864-65,
with details of method of propagation and cultivation,
barking, mossing, attacks of insects, illustrated by
woodcuts and 4 plates; report of Cross’s journey to
Pitayo, with map; Cinchona cultivation in Wynaad,
Coorg, the Pulney Hills and Travancore, with map;
in British Sikkim, the Kangra, Valley (Punjab), the
Bombay Presidency, and Ceylon.

=c.= _Copy of all Correspondence between the
Secretary of State for India and the Governor-General,
and the Governors of Madras and Bombay, relating to
the cultivation of Chinchona Plants, from April 1866
to April 1870._ Ordered by the House of Commons to
be printed, 9 August 1870. 285 pages.

Contains reports on the Neilgherry and other plantations,
with map; appointment of Mr. Broughton as analytical
chemist, his reports and analyses; reports on the
relative efficacy of the several cinchona alkaloids,
on cinchona cultivation at Darjiling and in British Burma.

=d.= _Copies of the Chinchona Correspondence (in
continuation of return of 1870), from August 1870 to
July 1875._ Ordered by the House of Commons to be
printed, 21 June 1877. 190 pages.

Contain also reports on the alkaloid manufactory in India,
collection and shipment of barks, and analyses of barks.

Delondre (Augustin Pierre) et Bouchardat (Apollinaire),
_Quinologie_, Paris, 1854, 4°. 48 pages, and 23
good coloured plates exhibiting all the barks then met
with in commerce.

Delondre (Augustin), see Soubeiran.

Gorkom (K. W. van), _Die Chinacultur auf Java_,
Leipzig, 1869, 61 pages. An account of the management of
the Dutch plantation.

Hesse (Oswald). This chemist has summarized his elaborate
researches on Cinchona in the German Dictionary of
Chemistry, articles Chinin, Cinchonin, etc. 1876-1877.

Howard (John Eliot), _Illustrations of the Nueva
Quinologia of Pavon_. London, 1862, folio, 163 pages
and 30 beautiful coloured plates.—Figures of Cinchona
mostly taken from Pavon’s specimens in the herbarium of
Madrid, and three plates representing the structure of
several barks.

Howard (J. E.), _Quinology of the East India
Plantations_. London, 1869, folio x. and 43
pages, with 3 coloured plates exhibiting structural
peculiarities of the barks of cultivated _Cinchonæ_.

Howard (J. E.) The same, parts ii. and iii., Lond. 1876,
folio xiv. and 74 p., with 2 views, 2 black plates
and 13 coloured figures of _Cinchona Calisaya_
(_Ledgeriana_), _C. officinalis_, _C.
pitayensis_, and others.

Karsten (Hermann), _Die medicinischen Chinarinden
Neu-Granada’s_. Berlin, 1858, 8°. 71 pages, and 2
plates showing microscopic structure of a few barks. An
English translation prepared under the supervision of
Mr. Markham, has been printed by the India Office under
the title of _Notes on the Medicinal Cinchona Barks of
New Granada by H. Karsten_, 1861. The plates have not
been reproduced.

Karsten (Hermann), _Floræ Columbiæ terrarumque adjacentium
specimina selecta_. Berolini, 1858, folio. Beautiful
coloured figures of various plants including Cinchona,
under which name are several species usually referred to
other genera. Only three parts have been published.

King (George), _A Manual of Cinchona cultivation in
India_. Calcutta, 1876, 80 pages, small folio.

Kuntze (Otto), _Cinchona. Arten, Hybriden and Cultur der
Chininbäume._ Leipzig, 1878. 124 pages and 3 plates.
A review of this book will be found in the _Archiv der
Pharmacie, 213_, (1878) 473-480.

McIvor (W. G.) _Notes on the propagation and cultivation
of the medicinal Cinchonas or Peruvian bark trees._
Madras, 1867, 33 pages, 9 plates. The author explains
the “motsing system” alluded to p. 362.

McIvor (William Graham), _A letter on the cultivation of
Chinchona on the Nilgiris_. Ootacamund, 1876, 27
pages.

Markham (Clements Robert), _The Chinchona Species of
New Granada, containing the botanical descriptions of
the species examined by Drs. Mutis and Karsten; with
some account of those botanists, and of the results
of their labours_. London, 1867, 8°. 139 pages and
5 plates. The plates are not coloured, yet are good
reduced copies of those contained in Karsten’s _Floræ
Columbiæ_; they represent the following:—_Cinchona
corymbosa_, _C. Trianæ_, _C. lancifolia_,
_C. cordifolia_, _C. tucujensis_.

Markham. _A Memoir of the Lady Ana de Osorio, Countess
of Chinchon, vice-queen of Peru_ (A.D.
1629-1639), _with a plea for the correct spelling of
the Chinchona genus_. London, 1874, 4°. 99 pages,
with a map, heraldic figures and views.

See also Hanbury, _Science Papers_, 1876, p. 475.

Miquel (Friedrich Anton Wilhelm), _De Cinchonæ speciebus
quibusdam, adjectis iis quæ in Java coluntur.
Commentatio ex Annalibus Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi
exscripta._ Amstelodami, 1869,4°. 20 pages.

Oudemans (Anthony Cornelis), _Sur le pouvoir rotatoire
spécifique des principaux alcaloïdes du quinquina_.
_Archives néerlandaises_, x. (1875), 193-268, and
xii. (1877).

Phoebus (Philipp), _Die Delondre-Bouchardat’schen
China-Rinden_. Giessien, 1864, 8°. 75 pages and a
table. The author gives a description without figures,
of the microscopic structure of the type-specimens
figured in Delondre and Bouchardat’s _Quinologie_.

Planchon (Gustave), _Des Quinquinas_. Paris et
Montpellier, 1864, 8°. 150 pages. A description of the
cinchonas and their barks. An English translation has
been issued under the superintendence of Mr. Markham by
the India Office, under the title of _Peruvian Barks
by Gustave Planchon_. London, printed by Eyre and
Spottiswoode, 1866.

Soubeiran (J. Léon) et Delondre (Augustin), _De
l’introduction et de l’acclimation des Cinchonas
dans les Indes néerlandaises et dans les Indes
britanniques_. Paris, 1868, 8°. 165 pages.

Triana (Josè), _Nouvelles études sur les Quinquinas_.
Paris, 1870, folio, 80 pages, and 33 plates. An
interesting account of the labours of Mutis, illustrated
by uncoloured copies of some of the drawings prepared
by him in illustration of his unpublished _Quinologia
de Bogotá_, especially of the several varieties
of _Cinchona lancifolia_; also an enumeration
and short descriptions of all the species of
_Cinchona_, and of New Granadian plants (chiefly
_Cascarilla_) formerly placed in that genus.

An abstract of the book will be found in Just’s
_Botanischer Jahresbericht_ für 1873, 484-494.

Vogl (August), _Chinarinden des Wiener Grosshandels und
der Wiener Sammlungen_. Wien, 1867, 8°. 134 pages,
no figures. A very exhaustive description of the
microscopic structure of the barks occurring in the
Vienna market, or preserved in the museums of that city.

Vogl (A.), _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der sogenannten
falschen Chinarinden_. Wien, 1876, 4°. 26 pages, 7
microscopic sections.

Vrij (John Eliza de), _Kinologische studiën_. More
than 30 papers published since 1868 in the _Nieuw
Tijdschrift voor de Pharmacie in Nederland_. They are
chiefly devoted to the chemistry of the barks from Java
and British India.

Weddell (Hugh Algernon), _Histoire naturelle des
Quinquinas, ou monographie du genre Cinchona, suivie
d’une description du genre Cascarilla et de quelques
autres plantes de la même tribu_. Paris, 1849, folio,
108 pages, 33 plates, and map. Excellent uncoloured
figures of Cinchona and some allied genera, and
beautiful coloured drawings of the officinal barks.
Plate I. exhibits the anatomical structure of the plant;
Plate II. that of the bark.

Weddell (H. A.), _Notes sur les Quinquinas, Extrait des
Annales des Sciences naturelles_, 5ᵉ série, tomes
xi. et xii. Paris, 1870, 8°. 75 pages. A systematic
arrangement of the genus _Cinchona_, and
description of its (33) species, accompanied by useful
remarks on their barks. An English translation has been
printed by the India Office with the title—_Notes
on the Quinquinas by H. A. Weddell_, London, 1871,
8°. 64 pages. A German edition by Dr. F. A Flückiger
has also appeared under the title _Uebersicht der
Cinchonen von H. A. Weddell_. Schaffhausen and
Berlin, 1871, 8°. 43 pages, with additions and indexes.

RADIX IPECACUANHÆ.

_Ipecacuanha Root_, _Ipecacuan_; F. _Racine d’Ipécacuanha annelee_; G. _Brechwurzel_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Cephaëlis[1373] Ipecacuanha_ A. Richard—This is a small shrub, 8 to 16 inches high, with an ascending, afterwards erect, simple stem, and somewhat creeping root, growing socially in moist and shady forests of South America, lying between 8° and 22° S. lat., especially in the Brazilian provinces of Pará, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Bahia, Espiritu Santo, Minas, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. Within the last half century, it has been discovered in the vast interior province of Matto Grosso, chiefly in that part of it which forms the valley of the Rio Paraguay. From information given to Weddell,[1374] it would seem probable that the plant extends beyond the frontiers of Brazil to the Bolivian province of Chiquitos.

The root which is brought into commerce is furnished chiefly by the region lying between the towns of Cuyabá, Villa Bella, Villa Maria, and Diamantina in the province of Matto Grosso; but to some extent also by the woods in the neighbourhood of the German colony of Philadelphia on the Rio Todos os Santos, a tributary of the Mucury, north of Rio de Janeiro.

Prof. Balfour of Edinburgh, who has paid much attention to the propagation of ipecacuanha, finds that the plant exists under two varieties, of which he has published figures;[1375] they may be thus distinguished:

_a._ Stem woody, leaves of firm texture, elliptic
or oval, wavy at the edges, with but few hairs on
surface and margin. Long in cultivation: origin unknown.

_b._ Stem herbaceous, leaves less firm in texture,
more hairy on margin, not wavy. Grows in the neighbourhood
of Rio de Janeiro.

The plant cultivated in India seems disposed to run into several varieties, but according to the experience gained in Edinburgh, the diversity of form apparent in young plants tends to disappear with age.

=History=—In an account of Brazil, written by a Portuguese friar, who, it would seem, had resided in that country from about 1570 to 1600, and published by Purchas,[1376] mention is made of three remedies for the bloody flux, one of which is called _Igpecaya_ or _Pigaya_; the drug here spoken of is probably that under notice.

[1373] I am informed by my friend Professor Müller of Geneva that in describing the Rubiaceæ for the _Flora Brasiliensis_ he will include Cephaëlis Ipecacuanha in the genus _Mapouria_.—F. A. F.. March 1879.

[1374] _Ann. des Sciences nat._ Bot. xi. (1849) 193-202.

[1375] _Trans. of Roy. Soc. of Edinb._ xxvi. (1872) 781. plates 31-32.—Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, _Med. Plants._ part 15 (1876).

[1376] Purchas, _His Pilgrimes_, Lond. iv. (1625),—a treatise of Brasill, written by a Portugall which had long lived there, p. 1311.

Piso and Marcgraf[1377] in their scientific exploration of Brazil met with two kinds of ipecacuanha; the one provided with a brown root is Cephaëlis Ipecacuanha, which they figured. The root of the other variety, which they called _Ipecacuanha blanca_, is that of Richardsonia scabra (see page 376 below). Piso and Marcgraf described the virtues of these roots, apparently supposing them to be much the same as to their action. Although in common use in Brazil, ipecacuanha was not employed in Europe prior to the year 1672. At that date, a traveller named Legras brought from South America a quantity of the root to Paris, some of which came into the possession of the “maître appoticaire” Claquenelle.[1378] It would appear that the root was prescribed from the latter by Legras (said to have been himself acquainted with the practice of medicine[1379]), and also by Jean Adrien Helvetius, a young Dutch physician, then living in Paris. Yet no success at first was obtained, the drug being administered in too large doses. In 1680, a merchant of Paris named Garnier became possessed of 150 lb. of ipecacuanha, the valuable properties of which in dysentery he vaunted to his medical attendant Afforty, and to Helvetius. Garnier on his convalescence[1380] made a present of some of the new drug to Afforty, who attached to it but little importance. Helvetius, on the other hand, was induced to prescribe the root in cases of dysentery, which he did with the utmost success. It is stated by Eloy that Helvetius even caused placards to be affixed to the corners of the streets (about the year 1686), announcing his successful treatment with the new drug, supplies of which he obtained through Garnier from Spain, and sold as a secret medicine. The fame of the cures effected by Helvetius reached the French Court, and caused some trials of the drug to be made at the Hôtel Dieu. These having been fully successful, Louis XIV. accorded to Helvetius the sole right of vending his remedy.[1381] Subsequently several great personages, including the Dauphin of France, having experienced its benefit, the king consulted his physician, Antoine d’Aquin, and the well-known Jesuit Père François de Lachaise, who had become the King’s confessor in 1675. Through them was chiefly negotiated the purchase from Helvetius of his secret, for 1000 louis d’or, and made public in 1688. The right of Helvetius to this payment was disputed in law by Garnier, but maintained by a decision of the Châtelet of Paris.[1382]

The botanical source of ipecacuanha was the subject of much dispute until finally settled by Antonio Bernardino Gomez, a physician of the Portuguese navy, who brought authentic specimens from Brazil to Lisbon in the year 1800.[1383]

[1377] _Hist. nat. Brasil._ 1648. Piso, p. 101, Marcgraf, p. 17.

[1378] Pomet, _Histoire générale des Drogues_, i. (1694) 47.

[1379] Mérat and De Lens, _Dict. de Mat. Méd._ iii. (1831) 644, call Legras a physician, and say that Garnier brought himself the 150 lb. from abroad.

[1380] Eloy, _Histoire générale de la Médecine_. Mons. ii. (1778) 485, mentions a _sick druggist_, who presented Helvetius with the ipecacuanha. Garnier, according to Eloy, was a “Marchand chapelier.”—Leibnitz, in _Ephemerid. Academ. Cæsareo-Leopold_, 1696, Appendix, p. 6, miscalled the merchant Grenier.

[1381] An abstract of the royal patent is given by Leibnitz, _l. c._ 20 (date not added).

[1382] On the history of ipecacuanha, consult also Sprengel, _Geschichte der Arzneykunde_, iv. (1827) 542.—We have not seen the pamphlet quoted by Haller, _Bibl. bot._ ii. 17: Helvetius, _Usage de l’Hipecacoanha_. 4° (no date).

[1383] _Trans. of Linn. Soc._ vi. (1801) 137.

=Collection=[1384]—The ipecacuanha plant, _Poaya_ of the Brazilians, grows in valleys, yet prefers spots which are rather too much raised to be inundated or swampy. Here it is found under the thick shade of ancient trees growing mostly in clumps. In collecting the root, the _poayero_, for so the collector of _poaya_ is called, grasps in one handful if he can, all the stems of a clump, pushing under it obliquely into the soil a pointed stick to which he gives a see-saw motion. A lump of earth enclosing the roots is thus raised; and, if the operation has been well performed, those of the whole clump are got up almost unbroken. The _poayero_ shakes off adhering soil, places the roots in a large bag which he carries with him, and goes on to seek other clumps. A good collector may thus get as much as 30 lb. of roots in the day; but generally a daily gathering does not exceed 10 or 12 lb., and there are many who scarcely get 6 or 8 lb. In the rainy season, the ground being lighter, the roots are removed more easily than in dry weather. The _poayeros_, who work in a sort of partnership, assemble in the evening, unite their gatherings, which having been weighed, are spread out to dig. Rapid drying is advantageous; the root is therefore exposed to sunshine as much as possible, and if the weather is favourable, it becomes dry in two or three days. But it has always to be placed under cover at night on account of the dew. When quite dry, it is broken into fragments, and shaken in a sieve in order to separate adherent sand and earth, and finally it is packed in bales for transport.

The harvest goes on all the year round, but is relaxed a little during the rains, on account of the difficulty of drying the produce. As fragments of the root grow most readily, complete extirpation of the plant in any one locality does not seem probable. The more intelligent _poayeros_ of Matto Grosso are indeed wise enough intentionally to leave small bits of root in the place whence a clump has been dug, and even to close over the opening in the soil.

=Cultivation=—The importance in India of ipecacuanha as a remedy for dysentery, and the increasing costliness of the drug,[1385] have occasioned active measures to be taken for attempting its cultivation in that country. Though known for several years as a denizen of botanical gardens, the ipecacuanha plant has always been rare, owing to its slow growth and the difficulty attending its propagation.

It was discovered in 1869 by McNab, curator of the Botanical Garden of Edinburgh, that if the annulated part of the root of a growing ipecacuanha plant be cut into short pieces even only ¹/₁₆ of an inch thick, and placed in suitable soil, each piece will throw out a leaf-bud and become a separate plant. Lindsay, a gardener of the same establishment, further proved that the petiole of the leaf is capable of producing roots and buds, a discovery which has been utilized in the propagation of the plant at the Rungbi Cinchona plantation in Sikkim.

[1384] Abstracted from the interesting eye-witness account of Weddell, _l. c._

[1385] The following are the average prices at which the drug was purchased wholesale, in London during three periods of ten years each:—

10 years ending 1850, average price 2_s._ 9½_d._ per lb. 10 ” 1860, ” 6_s._ 11½_d._ ” 10 ” 1870, ” 8_s._ 8¼_ d._ ”

In 1871, well-formed fruits were obtained from the ipecacuanha plants growing in the Edinburgh Botanical Garden: this was promoted by artificial fertilization, especially when the flowers of a plant producing _long styles_ were fertilized with the pollen of one having _short_ styles,—for _Cephaëlis_ like _Cinchona_ has dimorphic flowers.

With regard to the acclimatization of the plant in India, much difficulty has been encountered, and successful results are still problematical. The first plant was taken to Calcutta by Dr. King in 1866, and by 1868 had been increased to nine; but in 1870-71, it was reported that, notwithstanding every care, the plants could not be made to thrive. Three plants which had been sent to the Rungbi plantation in 1868, grew rather better; and by adopting the method of root propagation, they were increased by August 1871, to 300. Three consignments of plants, numbering in all 370, were received from Scotland in 1871-72, besides a smaller number from the Royal Gardens, Kew. From these various collections, the propagation has been so extensive, that on 31 March 1873, there were 6,719 young plants in Sikkim, in addition to about 500 in Calcutta, and much more in 1874.

The ipecacuanha plant in India has been tried under a variety of conditions as regards sun and shade, but thus far with only a moderate amount of success. The best results are those that have been obtained at Rungbi, 3000 feet above the sea, where the plants, placed in glazed frames, were reported in May 1873 as in the most healthy condition.[1386]

=Description=—The stem creeps a little below the surface of the soil, emitting a small number of slightly branching contorted roots, a few inches long. These roots when young are very slender and thread-like, but grow gradually knotty and become by degrees invested with a very thick bark, transversely corrugated or ringed. Close examination of the dry root shows that the bark is raised in narrow warty ridges, which sometimes run entirely round the root, sometimes encircle only half its circumference. The whole surface is moreover minutely wrinkled longitudinally. The rings or corrugations of a full sized root number about 20 in an inch; not unfrequently they are deep enough to penetrate to the wood.

The root attains a maximum diameter of about ²/₁₀ of an inch; but as imported, a large proportion of it is much smaller. The woody central part is scarcely ¹/₂₀ of an inch in diameter, subcylindrical, sometimes striated, and devoid of pith.

Ipecacuanha is of a dusky grey hue, occasionally of a dull ferruginous brown. The root is hard, breaks short and granular (not fibrous), exhibiting a resinous, waxy, or farinaceous interior, white or greyish. The bark, which constitutes 75 to 80 per cent. of the entire root, may be easily separated from the less brittle wood. It has a bitterish taste and faint, musty smell; when freshly dried it is probably much more odorous. The wood is almost tasteless. In the drug of commerce the roots are always much broken, and there is often a considerable separation of bark from wood; portions of the non-annulated, woody, subterraneous stem are always present.

[1386] _Annual Report of the Royal Botanical Gardens_, Calcutta, 31 May 1873—from which we have abstracted many of the foregoing particulars. The report for 1876-1877 is by no means favourable to the prospects of Cephaëlis in India.

During the last few years there has been imported into London a variety of ipecacuanha, distinguished as _Carthagena_ or _New Granada Ipecacuanha_, and differing from the Brazilian drug chiefly in being of larger size. Thus, while the maximum diameter of the annulated roots of Brazilian ipecacuanha is about ²/₁₀ of an inch, corresponding roots of the New Granada variety attain nearly ³/₁₀. The latter, moreover, has a distinct radiate arrangement of the wood, due to a greater developement of the medullary rays, and is rather less conspicuously annulated. Lefort (1869) has shown that the New Granada drug is a little less rich in emetine than the ipecacuanha of Brazil.

Mr. R. B. White, of Medellin in the valley of the Cauca, New Granada, near which place the drug has been collected, has been good enough to send us herbarium specimens of the plant with roots attached; they agree entirely with _Cephaëlis Ipecacuanha_.

=Microscopic Structure=—The root is coated with a thin layer of brown cork-cells; the interior cortical tissue is made up of a uniform parenchyme, in which medullary rays cannot be distinguished. In the woody column they are obvious; the prevailing tissue consists of short pitted vessels. The cortical parenchyme and the medullary rays are loaded with small starch granules. Some cells of the interior part of the bark contain however only bundles of acicular crystals of oxalate of calcium.

=Chemical Composition=—The peculiar principles of ipecacuanha are _Emetine_ and _Ipecacuanhic Acid_, together with a minute proportion of a fœtid volatile oil. The activity of the drug appears to be due solely to the alkaloid, which taken internally is a potent emetic.

Emetine, discovered in 1817 by Pelletier and Magendie, is a bitter substance with distinct alkaline reaction, amorphous in the free state as well as in most of its salts; we have succeeded in preparing a crystallized hydrochlorate.

The root yields of the alkaloid less than 1 per cent.; the numerous higher estimates that have been given relate to impure emetine, or have been arrived at by some defective methods of analysis.[1387]

[1387] See the results obtained by Richard and Barruel, by Magendie and Pelletier, and by Attfield, as recorded by the last named chemist in _Proceedings of the British Pharmaceutical Conference_ for 1869. 37-39.

The formula assigned to emetine by Reich (1863) was C₂₀H₃₀N₂O, that given by Glénard (1875) C₁₅H₂₂NO₂, and lastly that found in 1877 by Lefort and F. Würtz, C₂₈H₄₀N₂O₅.

The alkaloid may be obtained by drying the powdered bark of the root with a little milk of lime, and exhausting the mixture with boiling chloroform, petroleum-benzin or ether. It is a white powder turning brown on exposure to light and softening at 70° C. Emetine assumes an intense and permanent yellow colour with solution of chlorinated lime and a little acetic acid, as shown by Power (1877). A solution containing but ¹/₆₀₀₀ of emetine still displays that reaction. We found the alkaloid to be destitute of rotatory power, at least in the chloroform solution.

The above reactions may be easily shown thus:—Take 10 grains of powdered ipecacuanha, and mix them with 3 grains of quicklime and a few drops of water. Dry the mixture in the water bath and transfer it to a vial containing 2 fluid drachms of chloroform: agitate frequently, then filter into a capsule containing a minute quantity of acetic acid, and allow the chloroform to evaporate. Two drops of water now added will afford a nearly colourless solution of emetine, which, placed in a watch-glass, will readily give amorphous precipitates upon addition of a saturated solution of nitrate of potassium, or of tannic acid, or of a solution of mercuric iodide in iodide of potassium. To the nitrate Power’s test may be further applied.

If the _wood_ separated as exactly as possible from the bark is used, and the experiment performed in the same way, the solution will reveal only traces of emetine. By addition of nitrate of potassium, no precipitate is then produced, but tannic acid or the potassico-mercuric iodate afford a slight turbidity. This experiment confirms the observation that the bark is the seat of the alkaloid, as might indeed be inferred from the fact that the wood is nearly tasteless.

_Ipecacuanhic Acid_, regarded by Pelletier as gallic acid, but recognised in 1850 as a peculiar substance by Willigk,[1388] is reddish-brown, amorphous, bitter, and very hygroscopic. It is related to caffetannic and kinic acids; Reich has shown it to be a glucoside.

Ipecacuanha contains also, according to Reich, small proportions of resin, fat, albumin, and fermentable and crystallizable sugar; also gum and a large quantity of pectin. The bark yielded about 30 per cent., and the wood more than 7 per cent. of starch.

=Commerce=—The imports of ipecacuanha into the United Kingdom in 1870 amounted to 62,952 lb., valued at £16,639.[1389]

=Uses=—Ipecacuanha is given as an emetic, but much more often in small doses as an expectorant and diaphoretic. In India it has proved of late a most important remedy for dysentery. Since the year 1858 when the administration of ipecacuanha in large (30 grains) doses began to be adopted, the mortality in the cases treated for this complaint has greatly diminished.[1390]

=Adulteration and Substitutes=—It can hardly be said that ipecacuanha as at present imported is ever adulterated. Although it may contain an undue proportion of the woody stems of the plant, it is not fraudulently admixed with other roots. But it very often arrives much deteriorated by damp: we have the authority of an experienced druggist for saying that at least three packages out of every four offered in the London drug sales, have either been damaged by sea-water or by damp during their transit to the coast.

Several roots have been described as _False Ipecacuanha_, but we know not one that would not be readily distinguished at first sight by any druggist of average knowledge and experience.

In Brazil the word _Poaya_ is applied to emetic roots of plants of at least six genera, belonging to the orders _Rubiaceæ_, _Violarieæ_, and _Polygaleæ_; while in the same country, the name _Ipecacuanha_ is used for various species of _Ionidium_[1391] as well as for _Cephaëlis_.

[1388] Gmelin, _Chemistry_, xv. (1862) 523.

[1389] _Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the U.K. for 1870._—The more recent issues of this return have been simplified to such an extent that drugs are for the greater part included under one head.

[1390] In the Madras Presidency, the death-rate from dysentery was 71 per 1000 cases treated: under the new method of treatment, it has been reduced to 13·5. In Bengal it has fallen from 88·2 to 28·8 per 1000.—_Supplement to the Gazette of India_, January 23, 1869.

[1391] As _Ionidium Ipecacuanha_ Vent., _I. Poaya_ St. Hil., _I. parviflorum_ Vent., the first of which affords the _Poaya branca_ or _White Ipecacuanha_ of the Brazilians.—See C.F.P. von Martius, _Specimen Mat. Med. Bras._ 1824; A. de St. Hilaire, _Plantes usuelles des Brésiliens_, 1827-28.

Some of these roots, which are occasionally brought to Europe under the notion that they may find a market, have been described and figured by pharmacologists. We shall notice only the following:—

1. _Large Striated Ipecacuanha_—This is the root of _Psychotria emetica_ Mutis (_Rubiaceæ_), a native of New Granada. It is considerably stouter than true ipecacuanha, but consists like the latter of a woody column covered with a thick brownish bark. The latter, though marked here and there with constrictions and fissures, is not annulated like ipecacuanha, but has very evident longitudinal furrows. But its most remarkable character is that it remains _soft and moist, tough to the knife_, even after many years; and the cut surface has a dull violet hue. The root has a sweetish taste and abounds in sugar;[1392] its decoction is not rendered blue by iodine, nor is any starch to be detected by means of the microscope. The drug occasionally appears in the London market.

2. _Small Striated Ipecacuanha_—This drug in outward appearance closely resembles the preceding, but is usually of smaller size, sometimes much smaller and in short pieces tapering towards either end. It also differs in being brittle, abounding in starch, and having its woody column provided with numerous pores, easily visible under a lens. Prof. Planchon[1393] of Paris, who has particularly examined both varieties of Striated Ipecacuanha, is of opinion that the drug under notice may be derived from some species of _Richardsonia_.

3. _Undulated Ipecacuanha_—The root thus called is that of _Richardia scabra_ L. (_Richardsonia scabra_ St. Hilaire), a plant of the same order as _Cephaëlis_, very common in Brazil, where it grows in cultivated ground and sandy places, or by roadsides, and even in the less frequented streets of Rio de Janeiro. Authentic specimens have been forwarded to us by Mr. Glaziou of Rio de Janeiro, and Mr. J. Correa de Méllo of Campinas; and we have also had ample supplies of the plant cultivated by us near London and at Strassburg, where Richardsonia succeeds in the open air.