1028
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MF.DICA.
7 obt^^
impure Catechuic Acid, and was termed by Nees, Resinous Tannin. When vf rvquite pure, it is a white, light powder, having a peculiar sweet taste. t .jally
slightly soluble only in cold water, more so in boiling water. Ether, and r j r( in,alcohol, are better solvents for it. It produces a green colour with the sal jf cate-hut does not precipitate gelatinous solution. Its composition is C 15 H 5 y oX yge nchuic acid be digested in caustic potash, and the solution exposed to the air, C**absorbed, and the catechuic acid is converted into Japonic Acid, c ° m P ose e j to tl>*H 4 O 4 . But if catechuic acid be dissolved in carbonate of potash, and exp osvithout heat, it is converted into Rubinic Acid, composed of C 18 H 6 O 9 -_ x,_ ~ ,_verfulo ft “
Physiological Effects. —Gambir is one of the most pow<
79
-soy
pure astringents, whose effects have been before described (see p-Its sweet taste depends, in part at least, on catechuic acid. _ fecha)Uses. —It is employed by druggists as catechu (see Acacia L> a
Ru'bia tincto'rum, Linn. D.— Dyer's Madder.
Sex. Syst . Tetrandria, Monogynia.
(Radix, D.) jjjp-
History. —Madder (epvSpodavov) was employed in medicine Jpocrates (ed. Fa;s. 407 and 634). Theophrastus [Hist. Plant. ca p.
Dioscorides (lib. iii. cap. 160), and Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib- ' a ges66 and 68, ed. Valp.) also mention this substance. In the midit was called varantia (Beckmann, Hist, of Invent, and Discoy. m- " e jyBotany. Gen. Char. —Tube of the calyx ovate-globose; limb sany. Corolla five-partite, rotate. Stamens short. Styles two?
Fruit didymous, somewhat globose, baccate, juicy (D. C.) e vvb ;lt
Sp. Char. — Herbaceous . Leaves four to six in a whorl, s01 ^ p ]j a spetiolate, lanceolate, smooth above ; their margin and keel, a> - i( ./^p IG | 92 the angles of the stem aculeate, rough- * an-
cillary, trichotomous. Lobes of the core
UA1X1U1 J 9 tU IXXUUkJ* JUV V"- /"I") \J )
dually callous-acuminate, not cuspidate (D- ^ re d-Root perennial, horizontal, long, cr0U ^>>’dish brown. Stems several, herbaceous, t° ° ta eia‘with hooked prickles. Leaves somewhabranous. Flowers small, yellow.
Hab. —Levant and south of Europe .Description and Varieties. — Mad de a ^ ol it(radix rubice tinctorum) are long, cylmdrica •
the thickness
hed, e* ter '
of a writing quill, brancti eu ’ ^ a iinally deep reddish brown. They cC,nS1S j s tbi* 1 ’easily separable cortex, whose epiderffl lS p r esband of a ligneous meditullium, which mstate is yellow, but by drying becomesThe odour of the root is feeble; the tasteRubia tinctorum. and astringent. nS tiW teS
Levant, Turkey, or Smyrna Madder is imported whole, an ~,^° jui'
the roots usually found in the shops. Dutch or Zealand Mad (tli®
ported ground. Four kinds of the powder are distinguished - . portedbest), ombro, gamene, and mull (the worst). French Madder is ^ a iidboth ground and whole ; it is produced in the environs suh'
Alsace . Small quantities of Spanish Madder are imported. Ru^ astance termed East India Madder, or Munjeet, is the rooMunjista, Roxb. , v [z- h 1
Composition.— Several analyses of madder have been ma >