Volume 1

Pharmacographia indica : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin met with in British India / by William Dymock , C.J.H. Warden, and David Hooper.

  • William Dymock
Date:
1890-1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pharmacographia indica : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin met with in British India / by William Dymock , C.J.H. Warden, and David Hooper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    that false Jadwar is prepared by boiling the roots of some of the milder kinds of Bish in milk, and colouring them; it is to be distinguished from genuine by its parting with its colour when dipped in warm water and wiped with a cloth; it has also a shrivelled appearance, and the central portion to which the colour has not penetrated is pale; instead of being intensely bitter, it is slightly acrid. Native medical works abound in absurd stories concerning this article, and its wonderful power as a tonic and alexi- pharmic; it fetches a ihigh price, and is generally kept in metallic mercury to prevent its being injured by insects; sometimes it is preserved in oil. Jadwar appears to resemble much the Tienhiung of the Chinese, which is said by Dr. Porter Smith to be derived from Aconitum variegatum. Like Jadwar, this drug is blackish- brown internally, and more or less moist, having evidently undergone some kind of preparation. Dr. Morrison, Medical Officer to H. M.'s Consul at Newchwangin Manchuria, mentions in a recent Consular report that Manchuria exported in 1884, 13,866 lbs. of the roots of Aconitum Anthora, harbatum, and Fischeri (?) for use in medicine on account of their stimulant, diuretic and alterative properties. Description.—What is considered now to be genuine Jadwar in India consists of small blackish-brown tubers, some irregularly ovoid, some conical, seldom more than one inch long and half an inch in diameter; they are somewhat wrinkled, and bear a few horn-like projections, which are the remains of rootlets; at the crown there is a scaly leaf bud. When in good condition the tubers are softish, and cut like a piece of dry liquorice extract, the colour being a uniform dark brown throughout; to the naked eye the cut surface appears structureless, and might be mistaken for an extract; it has a somewhat fruity smell and bitter taste. Microscopic structure.—A transverse section shows a dark brown epidermis, composed of compressed cells, an outer ring of parenchyme, the cells of which contain starch granules and
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