698
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
Other Medicinal Zingiberacete.
Golan'gal root (radix galangce, offic.) of English druggists, occurs in pieces whichas thick as the finger, seldom exceeding three inches in length, cylindrical or soine"*!®^tuberous, often forked, sometimes slightly striated longitudinally, and marked _whitish circular rings. Externally its colour is reddish-brown ; internally pale, redd> s ‘white. Its odour is agreeable aromatic; its taste peppery and aromatic. It i s t l f .rhizome of Alpinia Galanga, Rox. It has been analyzed by Bucholz (Tromm=d<> r jJournal, xxv. 2, p. 3,) and by Morin ( Journ. de Pharm.) ix. p. 257.) The former obt* 111 ^.Volatile Oil 0-5, Acrid soft Resin 4-9, Extractive 9-7, Gum 8-2, Bassorin 41-5, 6 00 “fibre 2Hi, Water 12'3, Loss 13. Its effects, uses, and doses, are analogous.to ging er ' (()The Zed'oary root (radix zedoaria, offic.) of English druggists, appears to W® j sagree with Professor Guibourt’s description of round zedoary (zedoria rotunda ). ^the sliced tuber of Curcuma Zedoaria, Roxburgh. It occurs in segments (halves, fl’ 1 ®^ters, or flat sections) of a roundish or ovate tuber. The external portion of the tulH'^marked by the remains, membranes, and fibres, and is of a pale brownish gray orappearance. When cut it presents a yellowish marble appearance, not very dissm’ 1 -to the cut surface of rhubarb. It has a warm, aromatic, bitter taste, and an arotn 3odour. It has been analyzed by Bucholz ( Trommsdorfs Journal, xxv. 2, p. 3) an -.fMorin {Journ. de Pharm. t. ix. p. 257). Its constituents, according to the latter cbei ,,lf ’are— Volatile oil, Resin, Gum, Starch, Woody-fibre, Vegeto-animal Matter (?■),zome (?), free Acetic Acid, Acetate of potash. Sulphur, and in the ashes, Carbonate » ^Sulphate of potash, Chloride of potassium,Phosphate of Lime, Alumina, Silica , Om deS . ,Iron and Manganese. It possesses aromatic and tonic properties. It is less heating 01ginger and galangal, and is more analogous to turmeric. i e t
Cassamuna'r root is considered by English druggists to be identical with Zer^°root {Private Information: also Gray, Pharmacology). It appears to me to be the l“cmeric-coloured Zedoary of Ainslie {Mat. Indica , vol. i. p. 490). Is it the produceZingiber Cassamunar, Roxburgh ? It occurs in segments (halves or quarters) ,ovate tuber (which in the dried state must have been about the size of a pigeon’s e #£the external surface of which is marked with circular rings and the bases of the
fibres, and is of a dirty turmeric-yellow colour. Internally it is reddisb-browm glhas some resemblance, in its colour and pellucidity, to a fresh fractured surfo c£ ; ,Socotrinc aloes. Its flavour is warm and aromatic; its odour is aromatic. It ha s .been analyzed. Its effects must be similar to those of ginger. It was at one .used in convulsive and other cerebral diseases (Sir Hans Sloane , Phil. Trans, vol- *-
ni®
- sin' 11
lat
No. 264, p. 580).
The Zerum'bet root, which I have received from my friend Dr. Royle, is vety^in shape to a curved or arched piece of long turmeric. Its colour is yellowish-,,Besides the cardamoms already mentioned, there are several others which _met with, and which, therefore, I notice to make the account of these fruits comp re ir0-I. Ovoid China cardamom, Guibourt. Tsao quo, .
Fig. 132.—This is the fruit of Alpinia alba, Roscoe {H e ^. l ie0 s 0Willd. Amomum medium, Loureiro). Loureiro gave speciu ^ ^ythe fruit to the Museum d’Histoire naturelle of Paris . ^specimens I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Gm e g:
The dried fruit is about the size and shape of a large nit is ovoid, from ten to fourteen lines long, and from sixlines broad, rather rigid, striated longitudinally, yellovyisn- g et ,Jswith a reddish tint [it is scarlet when recent; K'bmgy a iionumerous, very large, pyramidal, brown externally, fl av0odour terebinthinate ; albumen white, embryo yellow,
2. Round China cardamom, Guibourt.—“ The Museum d q-w
naturelle possesses two varieties of this fruit mixed to €r.> eseeds, merely united in globular and coherent masses, ar ,Cao-Keu j and the entire fruits Tsao-Keou ” (GuibGrog. ii. 287, 3 me ed.
Ovoid China Car-damom.
Hist-
upper part of the rhizome, flexuose, jointed, nine inches long, branched ; t ^ rt ;ngalternate, one from each joint of the scape, suberect, half an inch long, siipP”' c j, jo 1 'or three pedicels of about 3-10ths of an inch. Bracts solitary, sheathing, a CM
of the scape, withered; partial ones, solitary, ovate, acute. Flowers not l ,rt ' atta eb L ' t ‘ 1sales one or two on each branch of the scape, with the permanent calyxthem: their characters as described in the text.