Chemical examination of the fruit of Brucea antidysenterica / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Frederick Belding Power
Date:
[1907]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Chemical examination of the fruit of Brucea antidysenterica / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. 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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    [A Communication to the British Pharmaceutical Conference, Man- chester, July, 1907, and repruited from the Year-Book of Pharmacy, 1907.] CHEMICAL EXA^^NATION OF THE FRUIT OF BRUCEA ANTIDYSENTERICA, Lam. By Frederick B. Power, Ph.D., and Arthur H. Salway, Ph.D. In a paper communicated to the British Pharmaceutical Con- ference in 1903, entitled “Chemical Examination of K6-sam Seeds ” (the fruit of Brucm sumatrana, Roxb.), it was noted in conclusion that “ it would also be of interest to determine, by a comparative examination, the constituents of the closely aUied Abyssinian plant, Brucm antidysenterim, which, on account of the properties indicated by its name, is highly esteemed in its native country (compare Power and Lees, “ Year-Book of Pharmacy,” 1903, pp. 503-522 ; Pharm. Joum., 1903, 71, pp. 183- 189). In the previous communication reference was likewise made to a notice concerning this plant by Engler in “ Die natiirhchen Pflanzenfamihen.” Theil III., Abtheil, 4, p. 220, Leipzig, 1896, where it is stated that “ the bark and the fruits of Brucea antidysenterim are used with success in Abyssinia for diarrhoea and fever.” ^ It is now possible to record the results of a chemical examina- tion of the Abyssinian species of Brucea, since a quantity of both the fruit and bark of the latter plant was placed at our disposal by Messrs. Burroughs, Wellcome and Co., of London. The material was obtained by them through the kind services of H.B.M. Minister, Lieut.-Colonel Sir J. L. Harrington, K.C.V.O., C.B., at Adis Ababa, Abyssinia, who refers to the plant, Brucea antidysenterica, under the name of “waginus,” and states that it is chiefly found in the province of Gojam, although he had con- siderable difficulty in getting it brought to Adis Ababa. Dr. W. A. M.^Wakeman, also of the British Legation at Adis Ababa, in sending a quantity of material, likewise noted that it was very difficult to obtain. He reported, furthermore, the following information: “ The kernels of the dried seeds (crushed) are ^ Since the publication of the above-mentioned paper the anatomical characters of Brucea sumatrana and B. antidysenterica have been studied, by R. Muller {Pharm. Joum. 1905, 74, p. 76, from Zeitschr. d. (Esterr. Apoth. Vereins, 1904, Nos. 29-36).