1016

elements of materia medica.

Cephae'lis Ipecacuanha, Richard, L. E. D .—The Ipecacuanha Ceph

Callicocca Ipecacuanha, Brotero.

Sex. Syst. Pentandria, Monogynia.

(Radix, L. U.—Root, E.) Tr i S traI«

History. — Ipecacuanha is first mentioned by Michael p: ga ya.(Purchas , Pilgrimes, vol. iv. fol. 1811), who calls it Igpecaya ; orIn 1648 it was described and figured by Piso {Hist- Nat. Beast ^In 1686 it was celebrated in Paris as a remedy for dysentery- ^pears that Jean-Adrian Helvetius (then a young man) atten ^, arn j er>Afforty, a member of the faculty, a merchant, named Grenier, or a

who, when he recovered from his illness, gave to his physicmfo^ ^testimony of gratitude, some of this root, as a valuable remedy ^ ^ ^j ssentery. Afiorty attached very little importance to it, but g a ' c 1 jg c

pupil, Helvetius, who tried it, and thought he had found in it a S P ^ 0 fagainst dysentery. Numerous placards were placed about the s r ^jeliParis, announcing to the public the virtues of the new medicine, ^Helvetius sold without discovering its nature. Luckily f° r ° 11 ?’ j.jngof the gentlemen of the court, and even the Dauphin, the son ol t 1 e( j(Louis XIV .) were at this time afflicted with dysentery. Being in 0 ^ n gbv his minister Colbert of the secret possessed by Helvetius, thedeputed his physician Aquin and his confessor le P. de Chaise to a gwith Helvetius for the publication of the remedy. 1000 Louis-t or^ ^the price which was paid, after some trials had been made with * ceSS .Hotel-Dieu, and which were crowned with the most brilliant si ^Gamier now put in his claim for a part of the reward, sayingproperly speaking, was the discoverer of the medicine; but thewas not allowed. Subsequently Helvetius obtained the first m

liononre nf TT

-- -- w LAdauise, ue

-^ c W ,J dysentery (K. Sprengel, mst. tie la Med. t- v. p- ■*f' <

Great contusion existed for a long time respecting the plant yieldmrpecacuanha. In 1800 Dr. Gomes returned from the Brazils, and broug awrth him the plant, on which he published a dissertation. In l 8 ";Brotero {Trans, of the Linn. Soc. vol. vi. p. 187) described it under tinname oS Lathcocca Ipecacuanha, which Richard (Bull, de la Soc. de ‘ ade Med - 1818 ) afterwards changed to Cephaelis Ipecacuanha.otany. Gen. Char. —Tube of the calyx obovate; limb very shor >Fig 191 five-toothed. Corolla somewhat funnel-shap e ’

its lobes five, small, rather obtuse. Antherinclosed. Stigma bifid, usually exserteu-Berry obovate-oblong, crowned with the remains of the calyx, two-celled, tw r o-seede

(D. C.)

Sp. Char. — Stem ascending, at length erect,somewhat pubescent at the apex. Leaves ob-long-ovate, rough above, finely pubescent be-neath. Stipules cleft into setaceous segments-V Neads terminal, erect, at length pendulous-Cephaelis Ipecacuanha. Bracts four, somewhat cordate (D. 0.) .,

. Root perennial, annulated, simple, or divm'

mg into a few diverging branches, flexuous, from four to six incheslong; when fresh, pale brown externally. Stem somewhat shrubby,