1325

THE COCCULUS INDICES I* LA NT.

^in° S ?’ dee P 1 >' ex cavated at the hilum; albumen fleshy ; cotyledons veryle Ss ’ diverging,—Twining plants, with a corky bark. Leaves more orcoruatoovELte. Flowers in lateral compound racemes ( Wight and

Sp ‘

\ 'P IiA:R -—The only species.

st a li. stron g climbing shrub. Bark deeply cracked, ash-coloured. Leaveslarge (from eight to twelve inches long ); petiole a little shorter

& ltle leaves.

—Malabar, and Eastern islands, &c. of India .

Coc e ^ Cr iption.—A s met with in commerce, Cocculus indicus (also called

L'r® levanticus seu piscatorius ) has considerable resemblance to theIt co • ‘ V ^acca lauri, see p. 799), but is scarcely so large as the latter,bitte ? Sts externally of a dried, thin, blackish-brown, rugous, acrid and{euff 1 -Ver, which envelopes a thin, bivalved, white, ligneous shelli$ ° Car P). In the middle of this shell arises a central placenta, whichri 0r ) ,ntraet °d at its base, but enlarged and divided into two cells supe-v e r v ' V ",. Hetween this placenta and the shell is an oleaginous, yellowish,''hell tter nucleus {seed) of a semilunar form. This nucleus neverCojj. y d hs the cavity of the shell,—at least in the Cocculus indicus ofg^ tQ n ? erce > for by keeping it gradually becomes atrophied, and in old

is Q i‘ J es it is not uncommon to find the shell almost empty. This changeCuI Serve d also in other oleaginous seeds. By this character alone, Coc-may be instantly distinguished from the bay berry. The

College requires that,-ffe kernels should fill at least Iwo-tbirds of the fruit.”

iiIacl 0itMEECE .—Cocculus indicus is imported in bags from Bombay,the ,, ras ’ ^ nd Ceylon. I am not acquainted with any official returns offin(l 1UaiUit y annually brought over. From a druggist’s private books I1° H .’1834, about 2500 bags entered ; and this probably is much be-pu riJ e Quantity imported. The greater part is consumed for illegaltic e ^ Sos > principally for adulterating beer and ale; though this prac-br ew . s P r °hibited by the legislature, under a penalty of 200/. upon the

CnT’ and upon the seller of the drug.

[An?, ?' 0s, tion.—C occulus indicus was examined in 1811, by Boullay

Chin, de Chim. lxxx. 209), and in 1834 by Pelletier and Couerbe (Ann.chow et de Ph V s - he. 181). The results obtained by the last-mentioned

0lR ists were as follows

i were as follows

Analysis of the Nucleus .

h Picrotoxin.

I- Resin.

Rum.

A. fatty acid substance.

■ An odorous matter.

I- Malic acid.

'• Mucus.

R Starch.

to w g,,iu -

paxy matter. . ,

Inorganic substances (nitrate ansiufe e of potassa, and chloride of potas-incineration carbonates of potash,01 lime, mnmranpse and iron.

1. Menispermin.

2. Paramenispermin.

3. Yellow alkaline matter.

4. Hypopicrotoxic acid.

5. Wax.

6. Starch.

7. Chlorophylle.

8. Resinous matter.

9. Gum.

10. Fatty matter.

11. Inorganic substances (as those ofthe nucleus with the addition of copper.)