On the organic materia medica of the British Pharmacopoeia : two lectures delivered before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, on February 24th and March 23rd, 1864 / by Robert Bentley.

Robert Bentley

Date:: [1865?]

Credit: On the organic materia medica of the British Pharmacopoeia : two lectures delivered before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, on February 24th and March 23rd, 1864 / by Robert Bentley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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$and woolly fibre. The extractive matter of Arnica flowers, which is doubtle^ similar to that of the root, is said to be identical with ci/tisin, a poisonous prin- ciple obtained from the seeds of the common laburnum-tree.* Mr. Bastick has also obtained from Arnica flowers a peculiar alkaloid, which he named Arnicina.'^ The properties of Arnica appear to depend essentially upon the acrid resin, although these are doubtless modified to some extent by the volatile oil and extractive. Arnica is very highly valued as a remedial agent in certain parts of the Con- tinent. It is regarded as a most useful stimulant in typhoid fevers, and in various debilitated conditions of the system ; in paralysis, amaurosis, and other nervous affections, etc. The trials which have been made in this country of its remedial virtues do not in any material degree confirm the extravagant encomiums which have been passed upon it on the Continent. The dose of our officinal tincture is, from iivo fluid drachms to a fluid ounce, every three or four hours. The tincture of Arnica flowers, and also that of the root, have been much em- ployed as a domestic remedy in this country and elsewhere, as an external ap- plication in sprains, bruises, etc. The experiments of Dr. Garrod, however, lead to the conclusion that its efficacy is entirely due to the rectified spirit employed in its preparation, as he found that about the same remedial effects were produced upon certain bruised surfaces by the application of either simple rectified spirit or tincture of arnica. Altogether, so far as present experience leads us in this country, we have reason to believe that the virtues of Arnica, both as an external remedy and for internal administration, have been vastly overrated ; and hence we do not regard this substance as by any means a valuable addition to the Materia Medica of the British Pharmacopoeia. Beberi^ Sulphas.—Nectandka.—These articles are entirely new to a British Fharmacopoeia. Nectaudra has also been introduced into the recently- issued United States Pharmacopoeia. Sulphate of Beberia is the sulphate of the alkaloid hiberine, or bcbeerine, obtained from Bebeeru bark, which is im- ported from British Guiana. The plant from which this bark is derived is the Nectaudra Rodicei of Schomburgk, and commonly termed the Greenheart tree. It belongs to the Natural Order Lauracese. The bark is in large, flat, heavy pieces, from one to two feet long, from two to six inches broad, and about a quarter of an inch thick. It is nearly smooth externally, and of a greyish-brown colour. Internally its colour is dark cinna- mon-brown. It has no odour ; but its taste is strongly and persistently bitter, combined with great astringency. As far back as 1834 it was recommended as a substitute for cinchona by Dr. Ilodie, who discovered an alkaloid both in it and the fruit. It attracted very little attention however till 1843, when Dr. Doughus IMaclagan, of Edinburgh, published a nuniber of observations confinniug Dr. Rodie's discoveries, an 1 highly recommending it for its antiperiodic properties. Other medical practi- tioners subsequently testified to its antiperiodic virtues, and it was thought by some that it would form a valuable substitute for cinchona bark. The niore recent experiments of INI. Becquerel in France with the sulphate of beberia, as well as those of Drs. Pepper and Dailcy in North America, and recently of Dr. Garrod in this country, do'not confirm the favourable results first obtained, but show that although occasionally successful, it cannot be relied on as a substitute for suljjhate of quiiiia. With such testimony before us, we do not regard the introduction of sulphate of beberia into the British Phariuacopceia iw a valuable one. Tiie dose of the sulphate of beberia is from aiic to three grains as a tonic, and horn flrc to twcntij rjraius as a febrifuge.{ • * Medical Tiiiips and Gazette, Nov. 1856, p. f Pliarm. Journ., vol. x. p. 389. I I'lianu. Jouni., vol. iii. ]>. 177 t vol. iv. p. 281; vol. v. p. 228.$