876

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

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A. I). 1180. But tlie derivation of the word Citocatia (cito andnegatives, in my opinion, this supposition. The first undoubted nof Dulcamara occurs in the work of Tragus (Sprengel, op. cit. p- 'q 0 .

Botany. Gen. Char. — Calyx pennanent, five- to ten-parted- ^rolla rotate; the tube very short; the limb four- to six-divided, s P r siug. Anthers four to six, oblong, dehiscing at the apex by two pBerry roundish, two- to six-celled. Embryo spiral [Bot. Gall.) eSSp. Char. — Stem shrubby, zigzag, without thorns. Upp er ehastate. Clusters cymose (Smith). t j, e

Root woody. Stem twining, branched, rising (when supported) s

height of many feet. Leaves acute, generally smooth; the lower .

ovate, or heart-shaped; upper more or less perfectly halbert-sb a Pall entire at the margin. Clusters either opposite to the leaves orminal, drooping, spreading, smooth, alternately subdivided. Bractnute. Flowers elegant, purple, with two round green spots at theof each segment. Berries oval, scarlet, juicy. ^

Hab. —Indigenous. In hedges and thickets, especially in " a

situations. Flowers in June and July. , ire

Description. —The annual stems ( caules seu stipites dulcamara) '

collected in the autumn, after the leaves have fallen. When fresh ; j

the

have an unpleasant odour, which they lose by drying. Their taste j sfirst bitter, afterwards slightly acrid and sweet. The epiden» lSgreenish-gray, the wood light, and the pith very light and spongy-

Composition. —The stems have been analyzed by Pfaff ( Syst■ <*• A ^Med. Bd. vi. S. 506). 100 parts of air-dried stems lost 17 -1 P altS ii|S)

water when completely dried. From 100 parts of perfectly driedPfaff obtained— bitter, sweet extractive {pier ogly cion) 2P817, ve ^ llja jcanimal matter 3125, gummy extractive 12 - 029, gluten ivith green ^1'4, resin containing benzoic acid 2 - 74, gummy extractive, starch,phate and vegetable salts of lime 2'0, oxalate and phosphate of limeextractive 4'0, and woody fibre 62'0 (excess 9T11). Desfosses V°de Pharm. t. vii. p. 414) discovered solanina in the stems.

1. Picroglycion, Pfaff (Dulcarin, Desfosse).—Crystalline, has both a bitter a ®.^j„

sweet taste, is fusible, soluble in water, alcohol, and acetic ether, and is n ot P T ny a tfltated from its solution by either infusion of nutgalls or metallic salts (Soubeiran, ^de Pharm. t. ii. p.52). Pelletier ( Joum. de Pharm. vii. 4L6) thinks it is sug arbilled with solanina. a „d

2. Solanina. —Resembles sulphate of quina, hut its needle-like crystals are fij ie '\ vC sshorter. It restores the blue colour of litmus paper reddened by an acid. It “! SS sa )tsin acids, and is precipitated from its solution by the caustic alkalies. Some of t' ie j r y.(as the acetate and hydrochlorate) have a gummy appearance when evaporated to ^ness : others (as thephosphate and sulphate) are crystallizable. According to h .

it consists of Carbon 6211, Hydrogen 8-92, Nitrogen 164. Oxygen 27-33. If 1 * IS * t jtylysis be correct, solanina differs from the other vegetable alkalies in the small 1“ a c jJ,of nitrogen which it contains. A grain of solanina, dissolved in dilute sulpburic^.^ () pkilled a rabbit in six hours : four grains of the sulphate caused, in an hour, j ,ara P j^5).the hind legs, and, in eight hours, death (Otto, Pharm. Central-Blattfir 1834, o-Soubeiran says it does not dilate the pupils like the other alkalies of Solanaceie.

Physiological Effects. —Not very obvious. Its decoction _°P e ! a ^„as a diaphoretic and diuretic. It is said also to promote secretionthe mucous surfaces, and to diminish sensibility. In excessive dP: ,dulcamara is stated to have acted as an acro-narcotic (Murray ,App-t. i. p. 60 ; and Schlegel, Hufeland 's Journ. Bd. liv. St. 2, S. 27)- Lvallier {Diet, des Drog. t ii. p. 229) says, a young man experienced 11