1082

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

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and the contents of the cells are expelled with great violence, from the sadden Ction of the distended tissues. y() j. %ii-)

Seat of elaterium. —Some years since Dr. Clutterbuck ( land . Med. ^ e P' ]es ,e Hascertained that the active substance, elaterium, “ is neither lodged in the r "V „’po<|vflowers, nor stalks, in any considerable quantity ; nor is it to be found m 1 otl0 iJ thethe fruit itself, or in the seeds contained within it; it was only in the juice aseeds therefore, that it could be looked for,” and here it was found. trans ,erS f

The precise situation of it will be readily comprehended by inspecting a j |)n ofsection of the elaterium pepo (see fig. 197, c ) We observe that the external r0 j s r

the pericarp (namely, the epicarp) is furnished with rigid hairs; within the epicwhitish sarcocarp, forming what Dr. Clutterbuck terms the body of the * r

icatp,,1

r fbe

centre of the fruit is divided into three cells, by projections of the three pari^^jugcentee to which the seeds are attached. Between these projections, and s ,^ a ttet-the seeds, is the pulp, the placentary matter, or the juice around the seeds ^ich,® 4buck). It is paler than the sarcocarp, and is composed of a very lax tissue,the fruit maturates, takes on, says Aug. St.-Hilaire, a gelatinous consistence,disorganized, and melts into water. •, 69)

“ The centre of the fruit of Memordica Elaterium,” says Dutrocbet (op-“ contains a very singular organic substance, and which has no resei

mblancewed b.V

cit- P' ,

to »"/

: almost ilT1 ! ,er i.

• this

globules.

,vhic b

the o' 1 *

other vegetable tissue. It seems to be a green very thick mucus. Viewed j’.’ ^ a g-croscope, it appears to consist of an immense quantity of very small g' 1 ’. 'flu*glomerated sometimes confusedly, sometimes so as to form irregular str ^ t hesubstance is penetrated by a whitish liquid, by a sort of emulsion, which is s0 .j esC ape*more dense as we observe it at an epoch nearer maturity. This aqueous I up 11 ,immediately we open the green fruit. By the microscope we see some -ceptible globules which swim in this liquid. At the epoch of maturity Iliquid is much more abundant, and at the same time much denser; the g*'it holds in suspension, have become much larger.” ^

I1ab .—South of Europe . Common on rubbish in the a t

Greece and the Archipelago . A few acres are annually culti' aMitcham. . n by

Extraction of Elaterium. —The following directions are g 1 ' peDr. Clutterbuck for obtaining elaterium :—“ The cucumbers s _ t hatgathered when nearly as ripe as possible, and without violen ^

might endanger their bursting. They should then be netted . a( j.affusion of cold water, that less of the juice when they are cut ® ^ fl ghhere to the external surface. In this state they should be cut , ace dlongitudinally, and the juice allowed to strain through a fine siev o’shouldin a large earthenware vessel. The seeds and surrounding P u *l . nS otbe scooped out upon the sieve, and washed with repeated artu- g oIffe ,cold water, by which they will be freed from all adhering juice-thing will be saved also by afterwards rinsing the split cucumbers^ cQ pselves in cold water, from which a portion of elaterium maylected. , hic h th«

“ After standing a few hours a sediment is formed, from '' ^ fine

clear licpior is to be poured off; it is then to be thinly spi' ea j 0 yedlinen, and exposed to the air to dry; a gentle warmth may be ei l^ o j oll rwithout injury ; but the access of sunshine destroys the fine S I ’ ee ^,j lJ tter'which the substance otherwise acquires.” From forty fruits, Dr^ 0 ,

~~ ' ‘ to

thus

Hence?

buck obtained only six grains of elaterium. The elateriumcured is of the finest quality ; but the product is very small,increase the quantity, slight pressure is employed. the ge '

The directions of the British colleges are less explicit thaThe London and Dublin Colleges direct the fruit to be S at ^ e 5?, Jirec 1ripe. The Edinburgh College, “ before it is quite ripe.’ ■* j u stb'gentle pressure to be employed. But, as Dr. Clutterbuck > a L ,' c latC'observed, “ pressure is not at all necessary in order to obtain