it is found up to an elevation of 11,000 feet. Mr. Tolbort has sent us specimens under the name of Kháví, gathered by himself in 1869 between Multán and Kot Sultán, and quite agreeing with the drug of pharmacy. The grass has an aromatic pungent taste, which is retained in very old specimens. We are not aware that it is distilled for essential oil. Cuscus or Vetti-ver-This is the long fibrous root of Andropogon muricatus Retz, a large grass found abundantly in rich moist ground in Southern India and Bengal. Inscriptions on copper-plates lately discovered in the district of Etawah, south-east of Agra, and dating from A.D. 1103 and 1174, record grants of villages to Brahmins by the kings of Kanauj, and enumerate the imposts that were to be levied. These include taxes on mines, salt pits and the trade in precious metals, also on mahwah (Bassia) and mango trees, and on Cuscus Grass.2 Cuscus, which appears occasionally in the London drug sales, is used in England for laying in drawers as a perfume. In India, it serves for making tatties or screens, which are placed in windows and doorways, and when wetted, diffuse an agreeable odour and coolness. It is also used for making ornamental baskets and many small articles, and has some reputation as a medicine. RHIZOMA GRAMINIS. Radix Graminis; Couch Grass, Quitch Grass, Dog's Grass; F. Chiendent commun ou Petit Chiendent; G. Queckenwurzel, Graswurzel. Botanical Origin—Agropyrum repens P. Beauv. (Triticum repens L.), a widely diffused weed, growing in fields and waste places in all parts of Europe, in Northern Asia down to the region south of the Caspian, also in North America; and in South America to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. History The ancients were familiar with a grass termed "AypwσTIS and Gramen, having a creeping rootstock like that under notice. It is impossible to determine to what species the plant is referable, though it is probable that the grass Cynodon Dactylon Pers., as well as Agropyrum repens, was included under these names. Dioscorides asserts that its root taken in the form of decoction, is a useful remedy in suppression of urine and vesical calculus. The same statements are made by Pliny; and again occur in the writings of Oribasius 3 and Marcellus Empiricus in the 4th, and of Aëtius 5 in the 6th century, and are repeated in the medieval herbals. Turner and Gerarde both ascribe to a decoction of grass root, diuretic and lithontriptic virtues. The drug is still a domestic remedy in great repute in France, being taken as a demulcent and sudorific in the form of tisane. Description-Couch-grass has a long, stiff, pale yellow, smooth 1 Cuscus, otherwise written Khus-khus, a name adopted by the English in India, is probably from the Persian Khas. Vetti-ver is the Malyalim name of the plant. 2 Proc. of Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, Aug. 1873. 161. 3 De virtute simplicium, cap. i. (Agrostis). 4 De medicamentis, cap. xxvi. 5 Tetrabibli primæ, sermo i. 6 As in the Herbarius Patavia printed in 1485, in which it is said of Gramen“ aqua decoctionis ejus. . . valet contra dissuriam et frangit lapidem et curat vulnera vesicæ et provocat urinam 7 Herball, part 2, 1568. 13. rhizome, of an inch in diameter, creeping close under the surface of the ground, occasionally branching, marked at intervals of about an inch by nodes, which bear slender branching roots and the remains of sheathing rudimentary leaves. As found in the shops, the rhizome is always free from rootlets, cut into short lengths of to of an inch, and dried. It is thus in the form of little, shining, straw-coloured, many-edged, tubular pieces, which are without odour, but have a slightly sweet taste. Microscopic Structure-A transverse section of this rhizome shows two different portions of tissue, separated by the so-called nucleus-sheath. The latter consists of an unbroken ring of prismatic cells, analogous to those occurring in sarsaparilla. In Rhizoma Graminis, the outer part of the tissue exhibits a diffuse circle of about 20 liber bundles, and the interior part about the same number of fibro-vascular bundles more densely packed. The pith is reduced to a few rows of cells, the rhizome being always hollow, except at the nodes. No solid contents are to be met with in the tissue. Chemical Composition-The constituents of couch-grass include no substance to which medicinal powers can be ascribed. The juice of the rhizome afforded to H. Müller1 about 3 per cent. of sugar, and 7 to 8 per cent. of Triticin, C12H22O11, a tasteless, amorphous, gummy substance, easily transformed into sugar if its concentrated solution is kept for a short time at 110° C. When treated with nitric acid, it yields oxalic acid. The rhizome affords also another gummy matter containing nitrogen, and quickly undergoing decomposition; the drug moreover is somewhat rich in acid malates. Mannite is probably occasionally present as in taraxacum (p. 353), for such is the inference we draw from the opposite results obtained by Stenhouse and by Völcker. Starch, pectin and resin are wanting. The rhizome leaves 4 per cent. of ash. Uses A decoction of the rhizome has of late been recommended in mucous discharge from the bladder. Substitutes Agropyrum acutum R. et S., A. pungens R. et S., and A. junceum P. Beauv., by some botanists regarded as mere maritime varieties of A. repens, have rootstocks perfectly similar to this latter. Cynodon Dactylon Pers., a grass very common in the South of Europe and Northern Africa, affords the Gros Chiendent or Chiendent pied-de-poule of the French. It is a rhizome differing from that of couch-grass in being a little stouter. Under the microscope, it displays an entirely different structure, inasmuch as it contains a large number of much stronger fibro-vascular bundles, and a cellular tissue loaded with starch, and is therefore in appearance much more woody. It thus approximates to the rhizome of Carex arenaria L., which is as much used in Germany as that of Cynodon in Southern Europe. The latter appears to contain Asparagin (the Cynodin of Semmola 2), or a substance similar to it. 1 Archiv der Pharm. 203. (1873) 17. 2 Della Cinodina, nuovo prodotto organico, trovato nella gramigna officinale, Cynodon Dactylon.-Opere minori di Giovanni Sem mola, Napoli, 1841. - - Abstracted in the Jahresbericht of Berzelius, Tübingen, 1845. 535. II.—CRYPTOGAMOUS OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS. Acrogens. LYCOPODIACEÆ. LYCOPODIUM. Semen vel Sporula Lycopodii; Lycopodium; F. Lycopode; Botanical Origin-Lycopodium clavatum L-This plant, the Common Clubmoss, is almost cosmopolitan. It is found on hilly pastures and heaths throughout Central and Northern Europe from the Alps and Pyrenees to the Arctic regions, in the mountains of the east and centre of Spain, throughout Russian Asia to Amurland and Japan, in North and South America, the Falkland Isles, Australia and the Cape of Good Hope. It occurs throughout Great Britain, but is most plentiful on the moors of the northern counties. The part of the plant employed in pharmacy, is the minute spores, which, as a yellow powder, are shaken out of the kidney-shaped capsules or sporangia, growing on the inner side of the bracts covering the fruit-spike. History The Common Clubmoss was well known as Muscus terrestris or Muscus clavatus, to the older botanists, as Tragus, Dodonæus, Tabernæmontanus, Bauhin, Parkinson and Ray, by most of whom its supposed virtues as a herb have been commemorated. Though the powder (spores) was officinal in Germany, and used as an application to wounds in the middle of the 17th century,1 it does not appear to have been known in the English shops until a comparatively recent period. It is not included by Dale 2 in the list of drugs sold by London druggists in 1692, nor enumerated in English drug lists of the last century; and it never had a place in the London Pharmacopoeia. Description-Lycopodium is a fine, mobile, inodorous, tasteless powder of pale yellow hue, having at 16° C., a sp. gr. of 1062. It floats on water and is wetted with difficulty, yet sinks in that fluid after 1 Schröder, Pharmacopeia Medico-chymica, ed. 4, Lugd. 1656. 538. 2 Pharmacologia, Lond. 1693. boiling. By strong trituration it coheres, assumes a grey tint, and leaves an oily stain on paper; it may then be mixed with water. It is immediately moistened by oily and alcoholic liquids, chloroform, or ether. It loses only 4 per cent. of moisture when dried at 100° C. When slowly heated, it burns away quietly, but when projected into flame, it ignites instantly and explosively, burning with much light, an effect exhibited by some other pulverulent bodies having a peculiar structure, as fern spores and kamala. Microscopic Structure-Under the microscope, lycopodium is seen to be composed of uniform cells or granules, 25 mkm. in diameter, each bounded by four faces, one of which (the base) is convex, while the others terminate in a triangular pyramid, the three furrowed edges of which do not reach quite to the base. These tetrahedral granules are marked by minute ridges, forming by their intersections, regular five- or six-sided meshes. At the points of intersection, small elevations are produced, which under a low magnifying power, give the granules a speckled appearance. Below this network, lies a yellow, coherent, thin, but compact membrane, which exhibits considerable power of resistance, not being ruptured either by boiling water or by potash lye. Oil of vitriol does not act upon it in the cold, even after several days; but it instantly penetrates the grains and renders them transparent, while at the same time numerous drops of oil make their appearance and quickly exude. Chemical Composition-One of the most remarkable constituents of lycopodium spores is a fixed oil, which they contain to the astonishing amount of 47 per cent. Bucholz pointed out its existence in 1807, but obtained it only to the extent of 6 per cent. Yet if the spores are thoroughly comminuted by prolonged trituration with sand, and are then exhausted with chloroform or ether, we find that the large proportion above mentioned can be obtained. The oil is a bland liquid, which does not solidify even at - 15° C. By subjecting lycopodium or its extract to distillation with or without an alkali, Stenhouse obtained volatile bases, the presence of which we can fully confirm; but they occur in exceedingly small proportion. The ash of lycopodium amounts to 4 per cent.; it is not alkaline ; it contains alumina, and one per cent. of phosphoric acid, constituents likewise found in the green parts of the plant. Production and Commerce-To obtain lycopodium, the tops of the plant are cut as the spikes approach maturity, taken home, and the powder shaken out and separated by a sieve. It is collected chiefly in July and August, in Russia, Germany and Switzerland. The quantity obtained varies greatly by reason of frequent failures in the growth of the plant. France imported in 1870, 7262 kilo. (16,017 Hb.) of lycopodium, chiefly from Germany. The consumption in England is probably very much smaller, but there are no data to consult. Uses-Lycopodium is not now regarded as possessing any medicinal virtues, and is only used externally for dusting excoriated surfaces and for placing in pill boxes to prevent the mutual adhesion of pills. It is also employed by the pyrotechnist. 667 Adulteration-The spores are so peculiar in structure, that they can be distinguished with certainty by the microscope from all other substances. It is only the species of clubmoss that are nearly related to L. clavatum,' that yield an analogous product, and this may be used with equal advantage. Starch and dextrin, which are sometimes fraudulently mixed with the spores, are easily recognized by the well-known tests. Inorganic admixtures, as gypsum or magnesia, may be detected by their sinking in bisulphide of carbon, whereas lycopodium rises to the surface; or by incineration, a good commercial drug leaving about 4 per cent. of ash. The pollen of phænogamous plants, as of Pinus silvestris, looks at first sight much like lycopodium, but its structure is totally different. FILICES. RHIZOMA FILICIS. Radix Filicis maris; Male Fern Rhizome, Male Fern Root; F. Racine de Fougère male; G. Farnwurzel. Botanical Origin-Aspidium Filix-mas Swartz (Polypodium L.) The male fern is one of the most widely distributed species. It occurs all over Europe from Sicily to Iceland, in Greenland, throughout Central and Russian Asia to the Himalaya and Japan; is found throughout China, and again in Java and the Sandwich Islands. In North America it is wanting in the Eastern United States, being principally replaced by the nearly allied Aspidium marginale Sw. and A. Goldicanum Hook.; but it is met with in Canada, California and Mexico, as well as in New Granada, Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru; and throughout Africa from Algeria to the Cape Colony and Mauritius. History-The use of the rhizome of ferns as a vermifuge, was known to the ancients,2 but was subsequently nearly forgotten until revived by the introduction of certain secret remedies for tapeworm, of which powdered male fern rhizome, combined with drastic purgatives, was a chief constituent. A medicine of this kind was prepared by Daniel Mathieu, a native of Neuchâtel, born in 1741, who established himself as an apothecary in Berlin. His treatment for the parasite was so successful that it attracted the notice of Frederick the Great, who purchased his nostrum for an annuity of 200 thalers (£30), besides conferring upon him the dignity of Aulic Councillor.3 Great celebrity was also gained for the method of treating tapeworm practised by Madame Nuffler or Nuffer, the widow of a surgeon at Murten (Morat) in Switzerland, who in 1775 obtained for the secret from Louis XIV., after an inquiry by savans of the period, the sum of 18,000 livres. Her method of treatment consisted in the administration of-1. Panada made of bread with a little butter. 2. A clyster of salt water and olive oil. 3. The "spécifique "-simply powdered fern-root. 4. A purgative 1 Especially L. annotinum, L. complanatum, and L. inundatum. 2 Murray, Apparatus Medicaminum, v. (1790) 453-471. 3 Cornaz, Les familles médicales de la ville de Neuchâtel, 1864. 20. |