The museum report : a descriptive list of the donations for the years 1895-1902.

  • Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The museum report : a descriptive list of the donations for the years 1895-1902. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    57/80 (page 47)
    Asclepias Curassavica. This plant was forwarded by Dr. Datban de St. Cyr, of Hayti, as a vabiable remedy in the treatment of phthisis. He states that he has used it since 1875, and that NV's virtiieH nmtre la tiibi'iTiilDsis; piibnoiiaire sont hmmtcstaldes, ct Irs iioiithreiiscs <ineru<tm deja ohteniu'H viennent Vafjirmer.'' Lex iiialadcs iimriH par h's I'.ft raits i:rist.t'))t. cnatr,' ct jn'urent !■' ccrtifwr. ^Nfr. J. R. Johnson, formerly resident m Jamaica, states that the plant is used in that island for various medicinal purposes. The leaves bruised are applied as a styptic to wounds, and the expressed juice is used as a clyster for bleeding piles, or poured into a wound as a styptic. Internally the juice is given as an emetic, in doses of one drachm to one ounce, for the same purpose, but the latter is regarded as not safe. The leaves are also given as a vermifuge and in female complaints. Belladonna. A new and dangerous adulterant of belladonna root was met Avith in this country in 1901, and proved to be the root of P/ii/tiilarca decandra. It was present to the extent of 60 per cent, in belladonna root imported from Trieste. The concentric rings present in the root readily distinguish it from belladonna {Pharm. Jonrn. [4], XII., pp.\591-2, Figs. A, B, C, D). The same root had previously been noticed by C. B. Lowe in America (see Ainer. Jonni. Pliariii., LiXNI., p. Bo3, and I'liarm. Jonrn. ^'6}, XXV., p. 73). More recently the dried leaves of the same plant have been offered as belladonna, but may be recognised by their thinness, darker colour, and the absence of sandy raphides {Phanii. Jonrn. [4], XIII,, p. 296). The epidermal cells also differ in the leaves of the two plants, being sinuate in belladonna, and polygonal in P/ii/tolarca (Phariii. Jonrn. [4], XIV., p. 41). An interesting note on the oxydases in belladonna will be found in Phann. Jonrn. [4], VIII., p. 96. Cannabis Indica. Recent publications have shown that the finest qualities of this drug are not exported to Great Britain, and that there is difficulty in obtaining it even in Calcutta, since the natives know that it loses its activity by age and exposure to the air, and prefer to dispose of the previous year's crop to Europeans. See Dr. PrahiK Report on the Cnltiration and Use of (ianjah, Calcutta, 1893, and P/iam. Jo»?-w. [4], XV., p. 129 ; XIV., p. 842. The new crop is harvested in February and March, and the spring is therefore the time to purchase the drug in the best condition. The resin charas, or churrus, appears to contain the active principle, and in this preparation the oxidation takes place more slowly than in the plant. Dr. C. R. Marshall considers i\\v E