Chapter XXVIII: Part 28

According to Schiede, whose account was written in 1829,[1639] the Indians of Chiconquiaco were at that period commencing the cultivation of jalap in their gardens.

=Description=—The jalap of commerce consists of irregular, ovoid roots, varying from the size of an egg to that of a hazel-nut, but occasionally as large as a man’s fist. They are usually pointed at the lower end, deeply wrinkled, contorted and furrowed, and of a dark brown hue, dotted over with numerous little, elongated, lighter coloured scars, running transversely. The large roots are incised lengthwise, or cut into halves or quarters, but the smaller are usually entire. Some of the small roots are spindle-shaped or cylindrical; others can be found which are nearly globular, smooth and pitchy-looking, but these latter are seldom solid. Good jalap is ponderous, tough, hard and often horny, becoming brittle when long kept, and breaking with a resinous non-fibrous fracture; internally it is of a pale dingy brown or dirty white. It has a faint smoky, rather coffee-like odour, and a mawkish taste, followed by acridity.

[1637] _American Journal of Med. Sciences_, v. (1829) 300. pl. 1-2.

[1638] It is plain that such a proceeding is irrational. The roots should be dug up when the aerial stems have died down.

[1639] _Linnæa_, iii. (1830) 473; _Pharm. Journ._ viii. (1867) 652.—We are not aware of any more recent account.

=Microscopic Structure=—Seen in transverse section, jalap exhibits no radiate structure, but numerous small concentric rings, which in many pieces are very regularly arranged. They are due to the laticiferous cells, differing from the surrounding parenchyme only by their contents and rather large size. These laticiferous cells traverse the tissue in a vertical direction, constituting vertical bands, as may be observed on a longitudinal section; the single cells are simply placed one on the other, and do not form elongated ducts as in _Lactuca_ or _Taraxacum_.

The fibro-vascular bundles of jalap are neither numerous nor large; they are accompanied by thin-walled cells, so that firm woody rays do not occur. Parenchymatous cells are abundant, and, on a longitudinal fracture especially, if subsequently moistened, are seen to constitute concentric layers. The laticiferous cells are always found in the outer part of each layer. The suberous coat with which the drug is covered is made up of the usual tabular cells.

The parenchyme of jalap is loaded with starch grains; in the pieces which have been submitted to heat in order to dry them, the starch appears as an amorphous mass, and the drug then exhibits a horny consistence and greyish fracture, instead of being mealy. Crystals of calcium oxalate are frequently met with. The laticiferous cells contain the resin of jalap in a semi-fluid state, even in the dry drug; drops of the resinous emulsion flow out of the cells, if thin slices are moistened by any watery liquid.

=Chemical Composition=—Jalap owes its medicinal efficacy to a resin, which is extractable by exhausting the drug with spirit of wine, concentrating the alcoholic solution to a small bulk, and pouring it into water. The resin precipitated in this manner is then washed and dried; it is contained in jalap to the extent of 12 to 18 per cent.[1640]

From this crude resin, which is the _Resina jalapæ_ of the pharmacopœias, ether or chloroform extracts 5 to 7 (12, Umney) per cent. of a resin which, according to Kayser,[1641] partially solidifies when in contact with water in crystalline needles. We can by no means confirm Kayser’s statement. The residue (insoluble in ether) is one of the substances to which the name _Jalapin_ has been applied.[1642] W. Mayer, 1852-1855, who designated it _Convolvulin_,[1643] found it to have the composition C₃₁H₅₀O₁₆. When purified, it is colourless; it dissolves easily in ammonia as well as in the fixed alkalis, and is not re-precipitated by acids, having been converted by assumption of water into amorphous Convolvulic Acid, which is readily soluble in water. Both convolvulin and _convolvulic acid_ are resolved by moderate heating with dilute acids, or with emulsin, into crystallizable _Convolvulinol_, C₂₆H₅₀O₇, and sugar. Convolvulinol in contact with aqueous alkalis is converted into _Convolvulinolic Acid_, C₂₆H₄₈O₆, which is slightly soluble in water and crystallizable.

[1640] Guibourt obtained of it 17 per cent., Umney 21·5, Squibb 11 to 16, T. and H. Smith “not more than 15,” D. Hanbury 11 to 15·8. Jalap grown in Bonn afforded to Marquart 12 per cent.; a root cultivated at Münich gave Widnmann 22 per cent.; from plants produced in Dublin W. G. Smith got 9 to 12 per cent.; and fine tubers from Ootacamund in India yielded to one of us 18 per cent. of resin. Broughton is of opinion that exposure of the sliced tuber to the air in the process of drying, favours the formation of resin, by the oxidation of a hydrocarbon.

[1641] Gmelin, _Chemistry_, xvi. (1864) 159.

[1642] As by Pereira, _Elem. of Mat. Med._ ii. (1850) 1463.

[1643] Gmelin, _op. cit._ xvi. 154.

When convolvulin or its derivatives is treated with nitric acid, it yields several acids, one of which is the _Sebacic Acid_,

C₈H₁₆ {COOH
{COOH

which is to be obtained by treating castor oil or other fatty substances in the same manner. Sebacic acid forms crystalline scales, soluble in boiling water, melting at 128°. That from jalap was first thought to be a peculiar acid, and therefore termed _ipomic_ or _ipomœic acid_. Its identification is due to Neison and Bayne (1874).

Convolvulin (dry) melts at 150° C., but a small amount of water renders it fusible below 100° C. It is insoluble in oil of turpentine and in ammonia. It dissolves in dilute nitric acid without becoming coloured or evolving gas. Convolvulin possesses in a high degree the purgative property of jalap, but this is not the case with convolvulinol.

The other constituents of jalap include starch, uncrystallizable sugar, gum, and colouring matter. The sugar, according to Guibourt, exists to the extent of 19 per cent.

=Commerce=—We have no means of knowing to what extent jalap is produced in Mexico. The imports of the drug into the United Kingdom amounted in 1870 to 169,951 lb. Very considerable quantities have of late (1873) appeared in the London drug-sales.

=Uses=—Jalap is employed as a brisk cathartic.

Other kinds of Jalap.

Besides true jalap, the roots of certain other _Convolvulaceæ_ of Mexico have been employed in Europe, either in the form of jalapin, or as adulterants of the more costly, legitimate drug. The two following have been extensively imported and have been traced to their botanical source; but there are others, of more occasional occurrence, the origin of which has not been ascertained.[1644]

1. _Light_, _Fusiform_, or _Woody Jalap_, _Male Jalap_, _Orizaba Root_, _Jalap Tops_ or _Stalks_, _Purgo macho_ of the Mexicans.

This drug is derived from _Ipomœa orizabensis_ Ledanois,[1645] a plant of Orizaba, which is but imperfectly known. It is described as a pubescent climber, having a spindle-shaped root about two feet long of woody and fibrous texture. The drug occurs in irregular rectangular or block-like pieces, evidently portions of a very large root, divided transversely and longitudinally. Sometimes it is more like true jalap, being in entire roots, of smaller size, spindle-shaped, not spherical. It has a somewhat lighter colour than jalap, and much deeper longitudinal wrinkles. The larger pieces often exhibit deep cuts from an axe or knife; transverse slices are of rare occurrence. Although generally less ponderous than jalap, the Orizaba drug is nevertheless of a compact and often horny texture. From jalap it is easily distinguished by its radiated transverse section, and the numerous thick bundles of vessels which project as woody fibres from the fractured surface.

[1644] For information about some of these, consult Guibourt, _Histoire des Drogues_, ii. (1869) 523.

[1645] _Journ. de Chimie méd._ x. (1834) 1-22. pl. 1. 2. (with unsatisfactory figures).

In chemical constitution Orizaba root is closely parallel to jalap. The resin was named by Mayer _Jalapin_; it is the _Jalapin_ of Gmelin’s _Chemistry_ (xvi. 405), and perhaps the jalapin of English pharmacy.[1646]

In the pure state it is a colourless amorphous translucent resin, _dissolving perfectly in ether_,[1647] thus differing from convolvulin the corresponding resin of jalap. We find that it is readily soluble also in acetone, amylic alcohol, benzol and phenol, not in bisulphide of carbon. It has the composition of C₃₄H₅₆O₁₆, so that it is homologous with convolvulin; the decomposition-products of jalapin obtained by similar treatment, namely jalapic acid, jalapinol, and jalapinolic acid, are likewise homologous with the corresponding substances obtained from convolvulin. All these bodies when treated with nitric acid yield ipomœic acid. Jalapin has the same fusing point as convolvulin, and behaves in the same manner with alkalis.

The root afforded us 11·8 per cent. of resin dried at 100° C. When perfectly washed, decolorized and dissolved in two parts of alcohol, this resin turned the plane of polarization of a ray of light 9·8° to the left, in a column of 50 mm. long. Convolvulin under the same conditions turned it only 5·8°. The resin of Orizaba root is held by chemists to be identical with that of scammony, of which it has the drastic action.

2. _Tampico Jalap_,—_Purga de Sierra Gorda_ of the Mexicans. The plant which affords this drug has been described by one of us (1869) under the name of _Ipomœa simulans_.[1648] It is closely related to _I. Purga_ Hayne, from which by its foliage it cannot be distinguished, but it has a _bell-shaped corolla_ and _pendulous flower-buds_, which are very different. _I. simulans_ Hanbury grows in Mexico along the mountain range of the Sierra Gorda in the neighbourhood of San Luis de la Paz, from which town and the adjacent villages its roots are carried down to Tampico. It has also been found on the lofty Cordillera near Oaxaca, but whether there collected we know not.

The drug, to which in trade the name _Tampico Jalap_ is commonly applied, has been imported during the last few years in considerable quantities. In appearance it closely approaches true jalap, but the roots are generally smaller, more elongated or finger-like, more shrivelled and corky-looking, wanting in the little transverse scars that are plentifully scattered over the roots of true jalap. Many pieces occur however which it is impossible to distinguish by the eye from true jalap, with which it agrees also in odour and taste.

Tampico jalap yielded to one of us 10 per cent. of _purified_ resin, entirely soluble in ether. Umney[1649] obtained 12 to 15 per cent. of resin almost wholly soluble in ether; Evans got 13 per cent., but found only about half of this to be soluble in ether.[1650] According to Andouard[1651] the resin of Tampico jalap is not deficient in purgative powers.

[1646] The name is ill-chosen and misleading, but having been adopted in standard works, it might occasion greater confusion to attempt to supersede it, and its several derivatives.

[1647] It is at least a fact, that of numerous samples of jalapin that we have examined (1871), every one is _completely soluble in ether_.

[1648] Hanbury, On a species of _Ipomœa_, affording Tampico Jalap, _Journ. of Linn. Soc._, Bot. xi. (1871) 279, tab. 2; _Pharm. Journ._ xi. (1870) 848; _American Journ. of Pharm_., xviii. (1870) 330; _Science Papers_, 1876. 349.

[1649] _Pharm. Journ._ ix. (1868) 282.

[1650] _Ibid._ ix. (1868) 330.

[1651] _Etude sur les Convolvulacées purgatives_ (thèse) Paris, 1864. 31.

SEMEN KALADANÆ.

_Semen Pharbitidis_; _Kaladana_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Ipomœa Nil_[1652] Roth (_Pharbitis Nil_ Choisy, _Convolvulus Nil_ L.), a twining annual plant, with a large blue corolla, much resembling the Major Convolvulus (_Pharbitis hispida_ Choisy) of English gardens, but having three-lobed leaves.[1653] It is found throughout the tropical regions of both hemispheres, and is common in India, ascending the mountains to a height of 5000 feet.

=History=—The seeds of this plant were employed in medicine by the Arabian physicians under the name _Habbun-nil_; and they have probably been long in use among the natives of Hindustan. In recent times they have been recommended by O’Shaughnessy, Kirkpatrick, Bidie, Waring[1654] and many other European practitioners in India as a safe and efficient cathartic.

=Description=—The shape of the seeds is that which would result if a nearly spherical body were divided perpendicularly around its axis into 6 or 8 almost equal segments, only that the back is less regularly vaulted. The seeds are ¼ of an inch high and nearly as much broad; 100 of them weigh on an average about 6 grammes. There is a smaller variety imported from Calcutta, of which 100 seeds weigh but little over 3 grammes; in every other respect the two sorts are identical. Both are of a dull black, excepting at the umbilicus, which is brown and somewhat hairy. The adjacent parts of the thin shell (testa) crack in various directions, if the seed is kept for a short time in cold water. If it is removed from the upper part of the vaulted back, the radicle becomes visible, surrounded by the undulated folds of the cotyledons, which join perpendicularly, but cannot be easily unfolded by reason of the thin seminal integument. Cut transversely, the cotyledons show the same curled structure. Throughout their tissue, small bright glands in considerable number are observable, even without a lens. The kernel, which is devoid of albumen, has at first a nutty taste, with subsequently a disagreeable persistent acridity. When bruised in a mortar, the seeds evolve a heavy earthy smell.

=Microscopic Structure=—The seed is covered with a dark blackish cuticle, formed of a densely packed tissue, the cells of which show zigzag outlines. The dark brown epidermis is composed of very close cylindrical cells, about 70 mkm. in length and 5 to 7 mkm. in diameter; they require to be treated with chromic acid in order that their structure may be distinctly seen.

The tissue of the kernels is made up of thick-walled cells. Between this tissue and the shell there is a colourless layer, about 70 mkm. thick, of thin-walled corky parenchyme. The cotyledons contain in their narrow tissue numerous granules of albuminous matter, mucilage, a little tannic acid, crystals of oxalate of calcium, and a few starch granules. The glands or hollows, before alluded to as occurring throughout the tissue of the cotyledons, are about 70 mkm. in diameter, and contain an oily liquid.

[1652] In Hindustani _Nil_ signifies _blue_, and _Kaladana_, black seed.

[1653] Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, _Med. Plants_, part 22 (1877).

[1654] _Pharm. Journ._ vii. (1866) 496.

=Chemical Composition=—By exhausting the seeds dried at 100° C. with boiling ether, we obtained a thick light brownish oil having an acrid taste and concreting below 18° C. The powdered seeds yielded of this oil 14·4 per cent. Water removes from the seeds a considerable amount of mucilage, some albuminous matter and a little tannic acid. The first is soluble to some extent in dilute spirit of wine, and may be precipitated therefrom by an alcoholic solution of acetate of lead.

The active principle of kaladana is a _resin_, soluble in alcohol, but neither in benzol nor in ether. From the residue of the seeds after exhaustion by ether, treatment with absolute alcohol removed a pale yellowish resin in quantity equivalent to 8·2 per cent. of the seed.

Kaladana resin, which has been introduced into medical practice in India under the name of _Pharbitisin_,[1655] has a nauseous acrid taste and an unpleasant odour, especially when heated. It melts about 160° C. The following liquids dissolve it more or less freely, namely, spirit of wine, absolute alcohol, acetic acid, glacial acetic acid, acetone, acetic ether, methylic and amylic alcohol, and alkaline solutions. It is on the other hand insoluble in ether, benzol, chloroform, and sulphide of carbon. With concentrated sulphuric acid, it forms a brownish yellow solution, quickly assuming a violet hue. This reaction however requires a very small quantity of the powdered resin. If a solution of the resin in ammonia, after having been kept a short time, is acidulated, no precipitate is formed; but the solution is now capable of separating protoxide of copper from an alkaline solution of the tartrate, which originally it did not alter. Heated with nitric acid, the resin affords _sebacic acid_ (see p. 446).

From these reactions of kaladana resin, we are entitled to infer that it agrees with the resin of jalap or _Convolvulin_. To prepare it in quantity, it would probably be best to treat the seeds with common acetic acid, and to precipitate it by neutralizing the solution. We have ascertained that the resin is not decomposed when digested with glacial acetic acid at 100° C., even for a week.

We have had the opportunity of examining a sample of kaladana resin manufactured by Messrs. Rogers and Co., chemists of Bombay and Poona, which we found to agree with that prepared by ourselves. It is a light yellowish friable mass, resembling purified jalap resin, and like it, capable of being perfectly decolorized by treatment with animal charcoal.

=Uses=—Kaladana seeds have cathartic powers like jalap. Besides the resin, an extract, tincture and compound powder have been introduced into the _Pharmacopœia of India_. In many parts of India the natives take the roasted seeds as a purgative.

[1655] _Pharmacopœia of India_, 1868, 156.

SOLANACEÆ.

STIPES DULCAMARÆ.

_Caules Dulcamaræ_; _Bitter-sweet_, _Dulcamara_, _Woody Nightshade_; F. _Douce-amère_, _Morelle grimpante_; G. _Bittersüss_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Solanum Dulcamara_ L., a perennial shrubby plant, having small purple flowers and red berries, occurring throughout Europe, except in the extreme north. It is also found in Northern Africa, and in Asia Minor, and has become naturalized in North America. It is common in moist, shady hedges and thickets.[1656]

=History=—Bitter nightshade, “manyglog,” was an ingredient, together with wild sage and betony, of a drink which the Welsh “Physicians of Myddfai” in the 13th century prepared for the bite of a mad dog.[1657] The stalks of bitter-sweet were also used in the medical practice by the German physicians and botanists of the 16th century, one of whom, Tragus (1552), has figured and described it, under the name of _Dulcis amara_ or _Dulcamarum_.

[1656] _Solanum nigrum_ L. which slightly resembles dulcamara, is a low-growing annual or biennial, with _herbaceous_ stems, and berries usually _black_.

[1657] _Meddygon Myddvai_ (see Appendix) 185. 293. 375.

=Description=—The older stems are woody; the upper and younger are soft and green, long and straggling, attaining by the support of other plants a height of 6 feet or more, and dying back in the winter. For medicinal use, the shoots of a year or two old should be gathered, either late in the year, or early in the spring before the leaves come out. These shoots are several feet long, by about ⅕ of an inch thick, of a light greenish-brown, sometimes cylindrical, at others indistinctly 4-or 5-sided, slightly furrowed longitudinally, or somewhat warty.

The thin, shining cork-bark easily exfoliates, showing beneath it the mesophlœum which is rich in chlorophyll. The stalks are mostly hollow, and partially filled with a whitish pith. The wood when dried is about half or one-third as broad as the hollow centre, and the green bark considerably narrower than the wood; the latter has a radiate structure, and in older stems exhibits two or three sharply-defined annual rings. The stems are usually cut into short lengths before being dried for use.

The odour, which is rather fœtid and unpleasant, is to a great extent dissipated by drying. The taste, at first slightly bitter, is afterwards sweetish. The bitter appears to be more predominant in the spring than in the autumn.

=Microscopic Structure=—The epidermis of younger shoots consists of tabular thick-walled cells, many of them being elevated from the surface as short blunt hairs. The older stems are covered with the usual suberous envelope. The boundary between the mesophlœum and the endophlœum is marked by a ring of strong liber-fibres, some of which also occur in the pith. The woody part is rich in large vessels. In the parenchymatous tissue of bitter-sweet, small crystals of oxalate of calcium, not of a well-defined outline, and minute starch granules are deposited.

=Chemical Composition=—The taste of bitter-sweet appears due, according to Schoonbroodt (1867), to a bitter principle yielding by decomposition, sugar and _Solanine_,—the latter in very small amount. Solanine is an alkaloid; it was first prepared in 1820 by Desfosses, a pharmacien at Besançon, from the berries of _Solanum nigrum_ L., and was subsequently detected by the same chemist in the leaves and stalks of _S. Dulcamara_, and by Peschier in the berries. Winckler (1841) observed that the alkaloid of dulcamara stems can be obtained only in an amorphous state, and that it behaves to platinic and mercuric chlorides differently from the solanine of potatoes. Moitessier (1856) confirmed this observation, and obtained only amorphous salts of the solanine of bitter-sweet.

Zwenger and Kind on the one hand, and O. Gmelin on the other (1859 and 1858), found that solanine, C₄₃H₆₉NO₁₆ (or C₄₂H₈₇NO₁₅, according to Hilger, 1879), is a conjugated compound of sugar and a peculiar crystallizable alkaloid, _Solanidine_, C₂₆H₃₉NO (or C₂₆H₄₁NO₂?). The latter, under the influence of strong hydrochloric acid, gives up water, and is converted into the amorphous and likewise basic compound, _Solanicine_.

Wittstein (1852) stated another alkaloid, dulcamarine, to be present in the stems of bitter-sweet. But Geissler (1875) proved that this substance, when perfectly pure, contains no nitrogen, and is not an alkaloid. Geissler obtained his _Dulcamarin_ by warming an aqueous decoction of the drug with charcoal, which he dried and exhausted with boiling alcohol. This on evaporation afforded a yellowish amorphous matter, which was dissolved in water and mixed with a very little ammonia; a substance containing nitrogen then separated. The liquid was evaporated, the residue again dissolved in alcohol, and the alcohol distilled. Dulcamarin thus obtained is a yellowish powder of at first bitter and subsequently permanently sweet taste. It dissolves in water or alcohol, not in ether, chloroform, bisulphide of carbon. By boiling dulcamarin with dilute acids it splits up according to the following equation:—

C₂₂H₃₄O₁₀ + 2 OH₂ = C₆H₁₂O₆ · C₁₆H₂₆O₆.
Dulcamarin. Sugar. Dulcamaretin.

Dulcamaretin, a dark brown, tasteless mass, is soluble in alcohol, not in water or ether.

=Uses=—Dulcamara is occasionally given in the form of decoction, in rheumatic or cutaneous affections; but its real action, according to Garrod, is unknown. This physician remarks[1658] that it does not dilate the pupil or produce dryness of the throat like belladonna, henbane or stramonium. He has given to a patient 3 pints of the decoction _per diem_ without any marked action, and has also administered as much as half a pound of the fresh berries with no ill effect.

[1658] _Essentials of Materia Medica_, 1855. 196.

FRUCTUS CAPSICI.

_Pod Pepper_, _Red Pepper_, _Guinea
Pepper_, _Chillies_, _Capsicum_; F.
_Piment ou Corail des Jardins_, _Poivre
d’Inde ou de Guinée_; G. _Spanischer
Pfeffer_.

=Botanical Origin=—The plants, the fruits of which are known as _Pod Pepper_, have for a long period been cultivated in tropical countries, and are now found in such numerous varieties that an exact determination of the original species is a point of great difficulty. Of several species having pungent fruits, the two following are those which supply the spice found in British commerce:—

1. _Capsicum fastigiatum_ Blume,[1659] a small ramous shrub, with 4-sided, fastigiate, diverging branches; fruit-bearing peduncles sub-geminate, slender, erect; fruit very small, subcylindrical, oblong, straight, with calyx obconical and truncate. It occurs apparently wild in Southern India, and is extensively cultivated in Tropical Africa and America.

Roxburgh, who describes this plant under the name _C. minimum_, terms it _East Indian Bird Chilly_ or _Cayenne Pepper Capsicum_. Wight says that it is consumed by the natives of India, but that it is not the sort preferred. It is this species that the authors of the British Pharmacopœia have cited as the source of the _Fructus Capsici_ to be used in medicine, and it certainly furnishes the greater part of the Pod Pepper now found in the London market.

2. _C. annuum_ L., an herbaceous (sometimes shrubby?) plant, with fruit extremely variable in size, form, and colour, in some varieties erect, in others pendulous. According to Naudin, in whose opinion we concur, _C. longum_ DC.[1660] and _C. grossum_ Willd. are not specifically distinct from this plant. It furnishes the larger kinds of Pod Pepper and, as we believe, much of the Cayenne Pepper which is imported in the state of powder.

=History=—All species of _Capsicum_ appear to be of American origin; no ancient Sanskrit or Chinese name for the genus is known, and the Latin and Greek names that have been referred to it are extremely doubtful.[1661]

The earliest reference to the fruit as a condiment that we have met with, occurs in a letter written in 1494 to the Chapter of Seville by Chanca, physician to the fleet of Columbus in his second voyage to the West Indies. The writer in noticing the productions of Hispaniola, remarks that the natives live on a root called _Age_, which they season with a spice they term _Agi_, also eaten with fish and meat.[1662] The first of these words signifies _yam_, the second is the designation of Red Pepper, and still the common name for it in Spanish. Capsicum and its uses are more particularly described by Fernandez, who reached Tropical America from Spain in A.D. 1514.[1663]

[1659] Wight, _Icones Plant. Indiæ Orient._ iv. (1850) tab. 1617; _Capsicum minimum_ Roxb. _Flor. Ind._ i. (1832) 574. Faire has ascertained that this is the _Capsicum frutescens_ of the _Species Plantarum_ of Linnæus, but not that of the _Hortus Cliffortianus_ of the same botanist, to which latter the name _C. frutescens_ is usually applied.

[1660] The chief distinction between _C. annuum_ and _C. longum_ is that the former has an _erect_, the latter a _pendulous_ fruit.

[1661] Dunal in De Cand. _Prodromus_, xiii. i. 412.

[1662] _Letters of Christopher Columbus_, translated by Major (Hakluyt Society), 1870. 68.

[1663] _Historia de las Indias_, Madrid, i. (1851) 275.

In the _Historia Stirpium_ of Leonhard Fuchs, published at Basle in 1542, fol. 733, may be found the first and excellent figures of _Capsicum longum_ DC. under the name of _Siliquastrum_ or _Calicut Pepper_; the author states that the plant has been introduced into Germany from India a few years previously. From this might be inferred an Indian origin; but on the other hand, Clusius asserts that the plant was brought from Pernambuco by the Portuguese, whose commercial intercourse with India would easily explain it being carried thither at an early period. He further states, that the American capsicum had been generally introduced into the gardens at Castille, and that it was used all the year round, green or dried, as a condiment and as pepper. He also saw it cultivated in abundance at Brünn in Moravia in 1585.[1664]

[1664] Caroli Clusii _Curæ posteriores_, Antverp., 1611. 95.

_Capsicum longum_ DC. was grown in England by Gerarde (1597 _et antea_), who speaks of the pods as well known, and sold “in the shops at Billingsgate by the name of Ginnie Pepper.”

=Description=—As already indicated, the Pod Pepper of commerce is of two kinds, namely:—

1. Fruits of _Capsicum fastigiatum_—These are ½ to ¾ of an inch in length, by about ²/₁₀ of an inch in diameter, of an elongated, subconical form, tapering to a blunt point, and slightly contracted towards the base. The calyx, which is not always present, is cup-shaped, 5-toothed, 5-sided, supported on a slender, straight pedicel, ¾ to 1 inch long. The fruits, which are somewhat compressed and shrivelled by drying, and also brittle when old, have a leathery, smooth, shining translucent, thin, dry pericarp, of a dull orange-red, enclosing about 18 seeds, attached in two cells to a thin central partition. The seeds have the form of roundish or ovate discs, about ⅛ of an inch in diameter, somewhat thickened at the edges; the embryo is curved, almost into a ring. The taste of the pericarp, and likewise of the seeds, is extremely pungent and fiery. The dried fruit has an odour by no means feeble, which we cannot compare to that of any other substance.

2. Fruits of _Capsicum annuum_ of the commonest variety resemble those of _C. fastigiatum_, except that they are of longer size, being from 2 to 3 or more inches in length, often rather more tapering towards the extremity. The seeds scarcely surpass in size those of _C. fastigiatum_.

=Microscopic Structure=—The pericarp consists of two layers, the outer being composed of yellow thick-walled cells. The inner layer is twice as broad and exhibits a soft shrunken parenchyme, traversed by thin fibro-vascular bundles. The cells of the outer layer especially are the seat of the fine granular colouring matter. If it is removed by an alcoholic solution of potash, a cell-nucleus and drops of fat oil make their appearance. The structural details of this fruit afford interesting subjects for microscopical investigation.

=Chemical Composition=—Bucholz in 1816, and about the same time Braconnot, traced the acridity of capsicum to a substance called _Capsicin_. It is obtained by treating the alcoholic extract of ether, and is a thick yellowish-red liquid, but slightly soluble in water. When gently heated, it becomes very fluid, and at a higher temperature is dissipated in fumes which are extremely irritating to respiration. It is evidently a mixed substance, consisting of resinous and fatty matters.

Felletár in 1869 exhausted capsicum fruits with dilute sulphuric acid, and distilled the decoction with potash. The distillate, which was strongly alkaline and smelt like conine, was saturated with sulphuric acid, evaporated to dryness, and exhausted with absolute alcohol. The solution, after evaporation of the alcohol, was treated with potash, and yielded by distillation a volatile alkaloid having the odour of conine.

From experiments made by one of us (F.) we can fully confirm the observations of Felletár. We have obtained the volatile base in question, and find it to have the smell of conine. It occurs both in the pericarp and in the seeds, but in so small proportion that we were unsuccessful in isolating it in sufficient quantity to allow of accurate examination.

Dragendorff states (1871) that petroleum ether is the best solvent for the alkaloid of capsicum; he obtained crystals of its hydrochlorate, the aqueous solution of which was precipitated by most of the usual tests, but not by tannic acid.

The colouring matter of capsicum fruits is sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily in chloroform. After evaporation, an intensely red soft mass is obtained, which is not much altered by potash; it turns first blue, then black with concentrated sulphuric acid, like many other yellow colouring substances. By alcohol chiefly _palmitic_ acid is extracted from the fruit, as shown by Thresh in 1877.

The fruits of _Capsicum fastigiatum_ have a somewhat strong odour; on distilling consecutively two quantities, each of 50 lb., we obtained a scanty amount of flocculent fatty matter, which possesses an odour suggestive of parsley. Both this matter, as well as the distilled water, were neutral to litmus paper, and the water tasteless. We separated the latter, and exposed the remaining greasy mass to a temperature of about 50° C., when it for the most part melted. The clear liquid on cooling solidified, and now consisted of tufted crystals, which we further purified by recrystallization from alcohol. Thus about 2 centigrammes were obtained of a neutral white stearoptene, having a decidedly aromatic, not very persistent taste, by _no means acrid_, but rather like that of the essential oil of parsley. The crystals melted at 38° C. On keeping them for some days at the temperature of the water-bath, covered with a watch-glass, some drops of essential oil were volatilized, which had the same taste and did not solidify; the crystals were consequently accompanied by a liquid oil. When kept for some days more in that condition, the crystals themselves began to be volatilized, and the part remaining behind acquired a brownish hue. This no doubt points out another impurity, as we ascertained by the following experiment. With boiling solution of potash, the stearoptene produces a kind of soap, which on cooling yields a transparent jelly. If this is dissolved and diluted, it becomes turbid by addition of an acid. This probably depends upon the presence of a little fatty matter, a suggestion which is confirmed by the somewhat offensive smell given off by our stearoptene if it is heated in a glass tube.

Buchheim’s “Capsicol”[1665] is in our opinion a doubtful substance.

Thresh (1876-1877) succeeded in isolating a well defined, highly active principle, the _Capsaicin_, from the extract which he obtained by exhausting Cayenne pepper with petroleum. From the red liquor dilute caustic lye removes capsaicin, which is to be precipitated in minute crystals by passing carbonic acid through the alkaline solution. They may be purified by recrystallizing them from either alcohol, ether, benzine, glacial acetic acid, or hot bisulphide of carbon; in petroleum capsaicin is but very sparingly soluble, yet dissolves abundantly on addition of fatty oil. The latter being present in the pericarp is the cause why capsaicin can be extracted by the above process.

The crystals of capsaicin are colourless and answer to the formula C₉H₁₄O₂; they melt at 59° C. and begin to volatilize at 115° C., but decomposition can only be avoided by great care. The vapours of capsaicin are of the most _dreadful acridity_, and even the ordinary manipulation of that substance requires much precaution. Capsaicin is not a glucoside; it is a powerful rubefacient, and taken internally produces very violent burning in the stomach.

=Commerce=—Chillies or Pod Pepper are shipped from Zanzibar, Western Africa and Natal, but no general statistics of the quantity imported into Great Britain are accessible.

The exports from Sierra Leone in 1871 reached 7258 lb.[1666] The colony of Natal, which produces Cayenne Pepper in the county of Victoria, where sugar cane and coffee are also grown, shipped in the same year 9072 lb.[1667]

Official returns[1668] show that in 1871 Singapore imported 1071 cwt. (119,952 lb.) of chillies, chiefly from Penang and Pegu. The spice is largely consumed by the Chinese.

Bombay imported of dried chillies in the year 1872-3, 5567 cwt. (623,504 lb.) principally from the Madras Presidency, and exported 3323 cwt.[1669]

=Uses=—Capsicum on account of its pungent properties is often administered as a local stimulant in the form of gargle, and occasionally as a liniment; and internally to promote digestion. In all warm countries it is much employed as a condiment.

RADIX BELLADONNÆ.

_Belladonna Root_; F. _Racine de Belladone_; G. _Belladonnawurzel_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Atropa Belladonna_ L., a tall, glabrous or slightly downy herb, with a perennial stock, native of central and Southern Europe, where it grows in the clearings of woods. The plant extends eastward to the Crimea, Caucasia and Northern Asia Minor. In Britain it is chiefly found in the southern counties, but even of these it is a doubtful native.

[1665] _Jahresbericht_ of Wiggers and Husemann, 1873. 567; also _Yearbook of Pharm._ 1876. 251.

[1666] _Blue Book_ of the Colony of Sierra Leone for 1871.

[1667] Do. of Natal for 1871.

[1668] Do. of the Straits Settlements for 1871.

[1669] _Statement of the Trade and Navigation of Bombay for 1872-73_, pt. ii. 58. 91.

In a few localities in England and France, as well as in North America, the plant is cultivated for medicinal use.

=History=—Although a plant so striking as belladonna can hardly have been unknown to the classical authors, it cannot with certainty be identified in their writings.

Saladinus of Ascoli,[1670] who wrote an enumeration of medicinal plants about A.D. 1450, names the leaves of both _Solatrum furiale_ and _Solatrum minus_, the former of which is probably _Belladonna_. However this may be, the first indubitable notice of it that we have met with, is in the _Grand Herbier_ printed at Paris, probably about 1504.[1671] The plant is also mentioned about this period as _Solatrum mortale_ or _Dolwurtz_, in the writings of Hieronymus Brunschwyg.[1672]

In 1542 belladonna was well figured as _Solanum somniferum_ or _Dollkraut_ by the German botanist Leonhard Fuchs, who fully recognized its poisonous properties.[1673] Yet it was confounded by other writers of this period as Tragus,[1674] who reproduced Fuchs’ figure as “_Solanum hortense_!” _Strygium_ and _Strychnon_ were other names not unfrequently applied to Atropa during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Matthiolus, who terms the plant _Solatrum majus_, states[1675] that it is commonly called by the Venetians _Herba Bella donna_, from the circumstance of the Italian ladies using a distilled water of the plant as a cosmetic. Gesner[1676] was also familiar with the name Belladonna. The introduction of the root of belladonna into British medicine is of recent date, and is due to Mr. Peter Squire of London, who recommended it as the basis of a useful anodyne liniment, about the year 1860.

=Description=—Belladonna has a large, fleshy, tapering root, 1 to 2 inches thick, and a foot or more in length, from which diverge stout branches. Externally the fresh roots are of an earthy brown, rough with cracks and transverse ridges. The bark is thick and juicy, and as well as the more fibrous central portion, is internally of a dull creamy white. A transverse section of the main root shows a distinct radiate structure. The root has an earthy smell with but very little taste at first, but a powerfully acrid after-taste is soon developed.

_Dried root of Belladonna_ is sold in rough irregular pieces of a dirty greyish colour, whitish internally, breaking easily with a short fracture, and having an earthy smell not unlike that of liquorice root. The bark being probably the chief seat of the alkaloid, roots not exceeding the thickness of the finger should be preferred. The drug is for the most part imported from Germany, and is often of doubtful quality. English-grown root purchased in a fresh state (the large and old being rejected), then washed, cut into transverse segments and dried by a gentle heat, furnishes a more reliable and satisfactory article.

[1670] _Compendium Aromatariorum_, 1488.

[1671] _Le Grant Herbier en francoys, contenāt les qualitez, vertus et proprietez des herbes_ etc., Paris (no date) 4°. cap. _De Solastro rustico._

[1672] _Das destillier Buch_ (sub voce _Nachtschet Wasser_). Strassburg, 1521, fol. 93 _b_. The figure probably refers to Atropa, but that given in the edition of the same work of the year 1500 shows _Solanum nigrum_.

[1673] _Historia Stirpium_, Basil. 1542. 689.

[1674] _De Stirpium ... historia_, Argentorati, 1552. 301.

[1675] _Comment. in lib. vi. Dioscoridis_, Venetiis, 1558. 533.

[1676] _De hortis Germaniæ_, Argentorat. 1561, fol. 282.

=Microscopic Structure=—There is a considerable structural difference between the main root and its branches, the former alone containing a distinct pith. This pith is included in a woody circle, traversed by narrow medullary rays. In the outer part of the woody circle, parenchymatous tissue is more prevalent than vascular bundles. The transverse section of the branches of the root exhibits a central vascular bundle instead of a medullary column. The outer vascular bundles show no regular arrangement; and medullary rays are not clearly obvious in the transverse section.

The woody parts, both of the main root and its branches, contain very large dotted vessels accompanied by a prosenchymatous tissue. The cells of the latter, however, are always thin-walled; the absence of proper so-called ligneous tissue explains the easy fracture of the root. Sometimes the prosenchyme in which the vessels are imbedded assumes a brownish hue and a waxy appearance, and such parts exhibit a very irregular structure.

In the cortical portion of belladonna root, many of the cells of the middle layer, and likewise some of the central parts of the root, are loaded with extremely small octahedric crystals of calcium oxalate. But most of the parenchymatous cells are filled up with small starch granules.

=Chemical Composition=—In 1833 Mein prepared from the root, and Geiger and Hesse from the herb, the crystallizable alkaloid _Atropine_. The researches of Lefort (1872) have proved that the roots contain it in very variable proportions, the young being much richer in alkaloid than the old.[1677] The maximum proportion obtained was 0·6 per cent.; this was from root of the thickness of the finger. Large old roots, 7 or 8 years of age, afford from 0·25 to 0·31 per cent. They have besides a smaller proportion of bark than young roots, and it is chiefly in the bark that the alkaloid appears to reside. Manufacturers of atropine employ exclusively the root.

Ludwig and Pfeiffer (1861), by decomposing atropine with potassium chromate and sulphuric acid, obtained benzoic acid and propylamine. Other products are formed when atropine is treated with strong hydrochloric acid, baryta water or caustic soda, thus—_Atropine_, C₁₇H₂₃NO₂ + H₂O = _Tropic Acid_, C₉H₁₀O₃ + _Tropine_, C₈H₁₅NO.

Tropic acid, C₆H₅C(OH) {CH₃
{COOH,

being further boiled with the same agents is converted into

atropic acid, C₆H₅C {CH₂
{COOH,

which, especially by using hydrochloric acid, is gradually transformed into isotropic acid. Both these acids are isomeric to cinnamic acid, C₉H₈O₂, but otherwise remarkably dissimilar.

Tropine is a strongly alkaline body, readily soluble both in water and alcohol, and furnishing tabular crystals by the evaporation of its solution in ether. Neither tropine nor tropic acid, it is stated by Kraut (1863), is present in the leaves and root of belladonna.

Hübschmann (1858) detected in belladonna root a second but uncrystallizable alkaloid, called _Belladonnine_; it has a resinous aspect, is distinctly alkaline, and when heated emits, like atropine, a peculiar odour.

[1677] For Lefort’s process for estimating atropine, see p. 458.

The root further contains, according to Richter (1837) and Hübschmann, a fluorescent substance, as well as a red colouring matter called _Atrosin_.[1678] The latter occurs in greatest abundance in the fruit, and would probably repay further investigation.

=Uses=—Belladonna root is chiefly used for the preparation of atropine, which is employed for dilating the pupil of the eye. A liniment made with belladonna root is used for the relief of neuralgic pains.

=Adulteration=—We may point out that the roots of _Mandragora microcarpa_, _M. officinarum_, and _M. vernalis_ Bertoloni are very nearly allied to the root under notice, both in external appearance and in their structure. They are not likely to be confounded with Belladonna root, their mother plants being indigenous in the South of Europe.

FOLIA BELLADONNÆ.

_Belladonna Leaves_; F. _Feuilles de Belladone_; G. _Tollkraut_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Atropa Belladonna_ L. (p. 455).

=History=—Belladonna Leaves and the extract prepared from them were introduced into the London Pharmacopœia of 1809. For further particulars regarding the history of belladonna, see the preceding article.

=Description=—Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade produces thick, smooth herbaceous stems, which attain a height of 4 to 5 feet. They are simple in their lower parts, then usually 3-forked, and afterwards 2-forked, producing in their upper branches an abundance of bright green leaves, arranged in unequal pairs, from the bases of which spring the solitary, pendulous, purplish, bell-shaped flowers, and large shining black berries.

The leaves are 3 to 6 inches long, stalked, broadly ovate, acuminate, attenuated at the base, soft and juicy; those of barren roots are alternate and solitary. The young shoots are clothed with a soft, short pubescence, which on the calyx is somewhat more persistent, assuming the character of viscid, glandular hairs. If bruised, the leaves emit a somewhat offensive, herbaceous odour which is destroyed by drying. When dried, they are thin and friable, of a brownish-green on the upper surface and greyish beneath, with a disagreeable, faintly bitter taste. Of fresh leaves 100 lb. yield 16 lb. of dried (Squire).

=Chemical Composition=—The important constituent of belladonna leaves is _Atropine_. Lefort (1872)[1679] estimated its amount by exhausting the leaves previously dried at 100° C. by means of dilute alcohol, concentrating the tincture, and throwing down the alkaloid with a solution of iodohydrargyrate of potassium. The precipitate thus obtained was calculated to contain 33·25 per cent. of atropine. Lefort examined leaves from plants both cultivated and growing wild in the environs of Paris, and gathered either before or after flowering. He found cultivation not to affect the percentage of alkaloid,—that the leaves of the young plant were rather less rich than those taken at the period of full inflorescence,—and that the latter (dried) yielded 0·44 to 0·48 per cent. of atropine.

[1678] Gmelin, _Chemistry_, xvii. (1866) 1.

[1679] _Journ. de Pharm._ xv. (1872) 269. 341.

Larger percentages are recorded by Dragendorff;[1680] as much as 0·95 per cent. of atropine as obtained from the dried unripe fruits, 0·83 from the dried leaves, 0·21 from the root. The estimation was performed in nearly the same way as that followed by Lefort.

Belladonna herb yields _Asparagin_, which according to Biltz (1839) crystallizes out of the extract after long keeping. The crystals found in the extract by Attfield (1862) were however chloride and nitrate of potassium. The same chemist obtained by dialysis of the juice of belladonna, nitrate of potassium, and square prisms of a salt of magnesium containing some organic acid; the juice likewise affords ammonia.[1681] The dried leaves yielded us 14·5 per cent. of ash consisting mainly of calcareous and alkaline carbonates.

=Uses=—The fresh leaves are used for making _Extractum Belladonnæ_, and the dried for preparing a tincture. They should be gathered while the plant is well in flower.

HERBA STRAMONII.

_Stramonium_, _Thornapple_; F. _Herbe de Stramoine_; G. _Stechapfelblätter_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Datura[1682] Stramonium_ L., a large, quick-growing, upright annual, with white flowers like a convolvulus, and ovoid spiny fruits. It is now found as a weed of cultivation in almost all the temperate and warmer regions of the globe. In the south of England it is often met with in rich waste ground, chiefly near gardens or habitations.

=History=—The question of the native country and early distribution of _D. Stramonium_ has been much discussed by botanical writers. Alphonse De Candolle,[1683] who has ably reviewed the arguments advanced in favour of the plant being a native respectively of Europe and America or Asia, enounces his opinion thus:—that _D. Stramonium_ L. appears to be indigenous to the Old World, probably the borders of the Caspian Sea or adjacent regions, but certainly not of India; that it is very doubtful if it existed in Europe in the time of the ancient Roman Empire, but that it appears to have spread itself between that period and the discovery of America.

Stramonium was cultivated in London towards the close of the 16th century by Gerarde, who received the seed from Constantinople and freely propagated the plant, of the medicinal value of which he had a high opinion. The use of the herb in more recent times is due to the experiments of Störck.[1684]

[1680] _Werthbestimmung stark wirkender Droguen_, Petersburg, 1876. 28.

[1681] The fresh juice kept for a few days has been known to evolve _red vapours_ (nitrous acid?) when the vessel containing it was opened.—H. S. Evans in _Pharm. Journ._ ix. (1850) 260.

[1682] _Datura_ from the Sanskrit name _D’hustùra_, applied to _D. fastuosa_ L. The origin of the word _Stramonium_ is not known to us.

[1683] _Géographie Botanique_, ii (1855) 731.

[1684] Libellus quo demonstratur _Stramonium_, Hyoscyamum, Aconitum ... esse remedia, Vindob. 1762.

=Description=—Stramonium produces a stout, upright, herbaceous green stem, which at a short distance from the ground, throws out spreading forked branches, in the axil of each fork of which arises a solitary white flower, succeeded by an erect, spiny, ovoid capsule. At each furcation and directed outwards is a large leaf. This arrangement of parts is repeated, and as the plant grows vigorously, it often becomes much branched and acquires in the course of the summer a considerable size.

The leaves of stramonium have long petioles, are unequal at the base, oval, acuminate, sinuate-dentate with large irregular pointed teeth or lobes, downy when young, glabrous at maturity. When fresh they are somewhat firm and juicy, emitting when handled a disagreeable fœtid smell. The larger leaves of plants of moderate growth attain a length of 6 to 8 or more inches.

For medicinal purposes, the entire plants are pulled up, the leaves and younger shoots are stripped off, quickly dried, and then broken and cut into short lengths, so as to be conveniently smoked in a pipe, that being the method in which the drug is chiefly consumed in England. The offensive smell of the fresh plant is lost by drying, being replaced by a rather agreeable tea-like odour. The dried herb has a bitterish saline taste.

=Chemical Composition=—The leaves of stramonium contain, in common with the seeds, the alkaloid _Daturine_ (see p. 461), but in extremely small proportion, not exceeding in fact ²/₁₀ to ³/₁₀ per mille. They are rich in saline and earthy constituents; selected leaves dried at 100° C. yielded us 17·4 per cent. of ash.

=Uses=—Scarcely employed in any other way than in smoking like tobacco for the relief of asthma.—Col. Grant (1871) found the herb to be smoked in pipes by the Nubians for chest-complaint.

=Substitute=—_Datura Tatula_ L.—This plant is closely allied to _D. Stramonium_ L., propagating itself on rich cultivated ground with nearly the same facility; but it is not so generally diffused.

De Candolle is of opinion that it is indigenous to the warmer parts of America, whence it was imported into Europe in the 16th century, and naturalized first in Italy, and then in South-Western Europe. By many botanists it has been united to _D. Stramonium_, but Naudin,[1685] who has studied both plants with the greatest attention, especially with reference to their hybrids, is decidedly in favour of considering them distinct. _D. Tatula_ differs from _D. Stramonium_ in having stem, petiole, and nerves of leaves _purplish_ instead of _green_; and corolla and anthers of a _violet_ colour instead of _white_,—characters which, it must be admitted, are of very small botanical value.

_D. Tatula_ has been recommended for smoking in cases of asthma, on the ground of its being _stronger_ than _D. Stramonium_; but we are not aware of any authority as to the comparative strength of the two species.

[1685] _Comptes Rendus_, lv. (1862) 321.

SEMEN STRAMONII.

_Stramonium Seeds_; F. _Semences de Stramoine_; G. _Stechapfelsamen_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Datura Stramonium_ L., see preceding article.

=Description=—The spiny, ovoid capsule of stramonium opens at the summit in four regular valves. It is bilocular, with each cell incompletely divided into two, and contains a large number (about 400) of flattened, kidney-shaped seeds. The seeds are blackish or dark brown, about 2 lines long and ½ a line thick, thinning off towards the hilum which is on the straighter side. The surface of the seed is finely pitted and also marked with a much coarser series of shallow reticulations or rugosities. A section parallel to the faces of the seed exhibits the long, contorted embryo, following the outline of the testa, and bedded in the oily white albumen. The cylindrical form of the embryo is seen in a transverse section of the seed.

The seeds have a bitterish taste, and when bruised a disagreeable odour. When the entire seeds are immersed in dilute alcohol, they afford a tincture displaying a beautiful green fluorescence, turning yellow on addition of ammonia.

=Microscopic Structure=—The testa is formed of a row of radially extended, thick-walled cells. They are not of a simply cylindrical form, but their walls are sinuously bent in and out in the direction of their length. Viewed in a direction tangential to the surface, the cells appear as if indented one into the other. Towards the surface of the seed the cell-walls are elevated as dark brown tubercles and folds, giving to the seed its reticulated and pitted surface. The albumen and embryo exhibit the usual contents, namely fatty oil and albuminoid substances.[1686]

=Chemical Composition=—The active constituent of stramonium seeds is the highly poisonous alkaloid _Daturine_, of which they afford only about ⅒ per cent., while the leaves and roots contain it in still smaller proportion.[1687] Daturine was discovered in 1833 by Geiger and Hesse, and regarded as identical with atropine by A. von Planta (1850), who found it to have the same composition as that alkaloid. The two bodies exhibit the same relations as to solubility and fusing point (88-90° C.); and they also agree in crystallizing easily. The experiments of Schroff (1852), tending to show that although daturine and atropine act in the same manner, the latter has twice the poisonous energy of the former, raised a further question as to the identity of the two alkaloids. Poehl (1876) also stated solutions of daturine to be levogyrate, those of atropine being devoid of rotatory power. From the observations of Erhard (1866), it would appear that the crystalline form of some of the salts of atropine and daturine is different. In stramonium seeds daturine appears to be combined with malic acid. The seeds yielded to Cloëz (1865) 2·9 per cent. of ash and 25 per cent. of fixed oil.

=Uses=—Stramonium seeds are prescribed in the form of extract or tincture as a sedative or narcotic.

[1686] We have not seen W. G. Mann, _Onderzoek van het zaad van Datura Stramonium_, Enschede, 1875.

[1687] Günther in Wiggers and Husemann’s _Jahresbericht_ for 1869. 54.

SEMEN ET FOLIA DATURÆ ALBÆ.

_Seeds and Leaves of the Indian or White-flowered Datura._

=Botanical Origin=—_Datura alba_ Nees, a large, spreading annual plant, 2 to 6 feet high, bearing handsome, tubular, white flowers 5 to 6 inches long. The capsules are pendulous, of depressed globular form, rather broader than high, covered with sharp tubercles or thick short spines. They do not open by regular valves as in _D. Stramonium_, but split in different directions and break up into irregular fragments.

_D. alba_ appears to be scarcely distinct from _D. fastuosa_ L. Both are common in India, and are grown in gardens in the south of Europe.[1688]

=History=—The mediæval Arabian physicians were familiar with _Datura alba_, which is well described by Ibn Baytar[1689] under precisely the same Arabic name (_Jouz-masal_) that it bears at the present day; they were also fully aware of its poisonous properties.