1076
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MF.DICA.
Meissner’s Analysis.
Bitter matter {Colocynthin) .14'4
Extractive.. 10'0
Braconnofs Analysis-Bitter matter (Colocynthin), vvlt ^.4
Bitter fixed oil. 4-2
Itesin insoluble in ether. 13 2
Gum. 9o
Vegetable jelly (pectin) . 21*4
Bassorin. 30
Gummy extract (obtained from the
ligneous fibre by potash) .. 17 0
Vegetable jelly. 0 6
Phosphate of lime and magnesia ... 5'7
Ligneous fibre. 19 2
Water. 5-0
Deliquescent salt of potash n y]
—-r—
Colocynth Pulp.1018
mixing
TW di£ e5 *
Colocynthin; Colocynthite; Bitter or Purgative Principle of Colocynth iire thu s p r jmg' the watery extract of colocynth in alcohol, and evaporating the tinctur . a ,|dcured, we obtain a mass, composed, according to Vauquelin, of a bitter lj rin r esi» oi “acetate of potash. A little water readily dissolves the latter, leaving the bitmatter, to which the name of Colocynthin has been applied. It is a yello' vl ? a j c ob"*'translucent, brittle substance, dissolving in water, but much more readily 1 ^^lliCThe aqueous solution is precipitated by the tincture of galls, and by s ° niesolutions (protosulphate of iron, sulphate of copper, and nitrate of mercury)-
Chemical Characteristics. —The cold infusion is pale yello*very bitter; nitrate of mercury, sulphate of copper, and acetatecause in it gelatinous-flocculent precipitates, ( pectates?) ; sesquic c°'of iron and tincture of nutgalls do not render it turbid. Po' vtle .locynth gives scarcely any evidence of the presence of starch, onit with tincture of iodine and water.
Physiological Effects. —(a.) On animals generally■ —Th e £og s >
on whom the action of colocynth lias been examined, are hors eS > t ] )a tsheep, and pigs. On dogs its operation appears to be analogous.on man. Thus Viborg (Wibmer, Wirk. d. Arzneim. u. Gift?-states that two drachms caused in a dog violent vomiting and P Fj n t ofind Orfila ( Toxicol. Gen.) has shown that three drachms introducthe stomach (the oesophagus being tied) are capable of causingIt is remarkable, however, that its operation on horses is comp a ’ all dslight, at least according to the testimony of Viborg, Bourg e ’ j ia sMoiroud ( Pharm. Vet■ 274). The last-mentioned writer says ^j er ;given four drachms to a small horse without exciting the least - ve r.V and he adds that another cucurbitaceous plant (briony) has likewlittle effect on the horse. pe of
(6.) On Man .—Thunberg ( Travels , ii. 171) tells us that, at the j bothGood Hope, the colocynth fruit is said to be eaten when P ica ‘ e . ’ e pt.by the natives and colonists, although it is very bitter. This si g0ia ehowever, is, a priori , so improbable, that we may fairly suspecerror, especially as Thunberg does not assert it on his own authow ^
Colocynth taken in small or moderate doses acts as a very s ^ picuseful purgative. Its operation is not limited to the accelerationvermicular movements, but is extended to the secreting aa ®Jr % Te o* e *’vessels of the alimentary canal, whose functions it promotes. it*
it stimulates the other abdominal organs ; and after the absorptionbitter acrid principle, it not unfrequently proves diuretic. I >1 J u ^ u t fit operates as a very active or drastic cathartic and hydragogu® > ^have never seen any ill effect from its use. These remarks app 1 .