But it has been substitute for the dried leaf in making the tincture. shown that a tincture, whether of leaf or fruit, is a preparation of very small value, and that it is far inferior to the preserved juice of the herb. It has however been pointed out by W. Manlius Smith,' and his observations have been confirmed by Harley, that the green unripe fruits possess more than any other part the peculiar energies of the plant, and that they may even be dried without loss of activity. A medicinal fluid extract of considerable power has been made from them by Squibb of New York. FOLIA CONII. Hemlock Leaves; F. Feuilles de Ciguë; G. Schierlingsblätter. Botanical Origin—Conium maculatum L., see p. 299. Description-Hemlock in its first year produces only a tuft of leaves; but in its second a stout erect stem which often grows to the height of 5 or 9 feet, is much branched in its upper part, and terminates in small umbels, each having about 12 rays. The lower leaves, often a foot in length, have a triangular outline, and a hollow stalk as long as the lamina, clasping the stem at its base with a membranous sheath. Towards the upper portion of the plant, the leaves have shorter stalks, are less divided, and are opposite or in cohorts of 3 to 5. The involucral bracts are lanceolate, reflexed, and about a of an inch long. Those of the partial umbel are turned towards the outside, and are always 3 in number. The larger leaves are twice or thrice pinnate, the ultimate segments being ovate-oblong, acute, and deeply incised. The stem is cylindrical and hollow, of a glaucous green, generally marked on its lower part with reddish-brown spots. The leaves are of a dull dark green, and like the rest of the plant quite glabrous. They have when bruised a disagreeable fœtid smell. For medicinal purposes the plant should be taken when in full blossom. 3 Chemical Composition-The leaves of hemlock contain, though in exceedingly small proportion, the same alkaloids as the fruits. Geiger obtained from the fresh herb not so much as one ten-thousandth part of conine. It is probable however that the active constituents vary in proportion considerably, and that a dry and sunny climate promotes their development. The same observer, as well as Pereira, has pointed out that hemlock leaves when dried are very frequently almost devoid of conine, and the observation is supported by the more recent experiments of Harley (1867). It has also been shown by the last-named physician, that the inspissated juice known in pharmacy as Extractum Conii usually contains but a mere trace of alkaloid, the latter having in fact been dissipated by the heat 1 Trans. of the New York State Medical Society for 1867. 2 The old Vegetable Neurotics, Lond. 1869. 3 The London herbalists often collect it while much of the inflorescence is still in bud, in which state it affords far more of leaf than when well matured; but it is in the latter condition that the plant is to be preferred. employed in reducing the juice to the required consistence. On the other hand, Harley has proved that the juice of fresh hemlock preserved by the addition of spirit of wine, as in the Succus Conii of the Pharmacopoeia, possesses in an eminent degree the poisonous properties of the plant. The The entire amount of nitrogen in dried hemlock leaves was estimated by Wrightson (1845) at 68 per cent.; the ash at 12.8 per cent. latter consists mainly of salts of potassium, sodium, and calcium, especially of sodium chloride and calcium phosphate. A ferment-oil may be obtained from Conium; it is stated to have an odour unlike that of the plant and a burning taste, and not to be poisonous.1 Uses-Hemlock administered in the form of Succus Conii, has a peculiar sedative action on the motor nerves, on account of which it is occasionally prescribed. It was formerly much more employed than at present, although the preparations used were so defective that they could rarely have produced the specific action of the medicine. Plants liable to be confounded with Hemlock-Several common plants of the order Umbellifera have a superficial resemblance to Conium, but can be discriminated by characters easy of observation. One of these is Ethusa Cynapium L.or Fool's Parsley, a common annual garden weed, of much smaller stature than hemlock. It may be known by its primary umbel having no involucre, and by its partial umbel having an involucel of 2 or 3 linear pendulous bracts. The ridges of its fruit moreover are not wavy or crenate as in hemlock, nor is its stem spotted. Charophyllum Anthriscus L. (Anthriscus vulgaris Pers.) and two or three other species of Charophyllum have the lower leaves not unlike those of hemlock, but they are pubescent or ciliated. The fruits too are linear-oblong, and thus very dissimilar from those of Conium. The latter plant is in fact clearly distinguished by its smooth spotted stem, the character of its involucral bracts and fruit, and finally by the circumstance that when triturated with a few drops of solution of caustic alkali, it evolves conine (and ammonia), easily observable as a white fume when a rod moistened with strong acetic acid is held over the mortar. FRUCTUS AJOWAN. Semen Ajava vel Ajouain; Ajowan, True Bishop's weed. Botanical Origin-Carum Ajowan Bentham et Hooker (Ammi copticum L. Ptychotis coptica et Pt. Ajowan DC.)—an erect annual herb, cultivated in Egypt and Persia, and especially in India where it is well known as Ajvan or Omam. History The minute spicy fruits of the above-named plant have been used in India from a remote period, as we may infer from their being mentioned in Sanskrit writings, as, for instance, by the grammarian Pānini, in the third century B.C. (or later? ), and in Susruta. Owing to their having been confounded with some other very small umbelliferous fruits, it is difficult to trace them precisely in many of the 1 Gmelin, Chemistry, xiv. 405. older writers on materia medica. It is however probable that they are the Ammi which Anguillara' met with in 1549 at Venice, where it had then, exceptionally, been imported in small quantity from Alexandria. It is also, we suppose, the Ammi perpusillum of Lobel (1571), in whose time the drug was likewise imported from Egypt, as well as the Ammi alterum parvum, the seed of which Dodonæus (1583) mentions as being "minutissimum, acre et fervidum." Dale, who says it is brought from Alexandria, reports it as very scarce in the London shops. Under the name of Ajave Seeds, the drug was again brought into notice in 1773 by Percival, who received a small quantity of it from Malabar as a remedy for cholic; and still more recently, it has been favourably spoken of by Fleming, Ainslie, Roxburgh, O'Shaughnessy, Waring and other writers who have treated of Indian materia medica. 3 Description-Ajowan fruits, like those of other cultivated Umbellifera, vary somewhat in size and form. The largest kind much resemble those of parsley, being of about the same shape and weight. The length of the large fruits is about, of the smaller form scarcely of an inch. The fruits are greyish brown, plump, very rough on the surface, owing to numerous minute tubercles (fructus muriculatus). Each mericarp has five prominent ridges, the intervening channels being dark brown, with a single vitta in each. The commissural side bears two vittæ. The fruits when rubbed exhale a strong odour of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), and have a biting aromatic taste. Microscopic Structure-The oil-ducts of ajowan are very large, often attaining a diameter of 200 mkm. The ridges contain numerous spiral vessels; the blunt tubercles of the epidermis are of the same structure as those in anise, but comparatively larger and not pointed. The tissue of the albumen exhibits numerous crystalloid granules of albuminous matter (aleuron), distinctly observable in polarized light. Chemical Composition-The fruits on an average afford from 4 to 45 per cent. of an agreeable aromatic, volatile oil; at the same time there often collects on the surface of the distilled water a crystalline substance, which is prepared at Oojein and elsewhere in Central India, by exposing the oil to spontaneous evaporation at a low temperature. This stearoptene, sold in the shops of Poona and other places of the Deccan, under the name of Ajwain-ka-phul, i.e. flowers of ajwain, was showed by Stenhouse (1855) and by Haines (1856) to be identical with Thymol, CHOH C3H7 as contained in Thymus vulgaris. We obtained it by exposing oil of our own distillation, first rectified from chloride of calcium, to a temperature of 0° C., when the oil deposited 36 per cent. of thymol in superb tabular crystals, an inch or more in length. The liquid portion, even after long exposure to a cold some degrees below the freezing point, yielded no further crop. We found the thymol thus obtained began to melt at 44° C., yet using somewhat larger quantities, it appeared to require fully 51° C. for complete fusion. On cooling, it continues fluid for a long time, and only recrystallizes when a crystal of thymol is projected into it. Semplici, Vinegia, 1561. 130. 3 Essays, Medical and Experimental, ii. (1773) 226. Thymol is more conveniently and completely extracted from the oil by shaking it repeatedly with caustic lye, and neutralizing the latter. The oil of ajowan, from which the thymol has been removed, boils at about 172°, and contains cymene (or cymol), CH, which, with concentrated sulphuric acid, affords cymen-sulphonic acid, CH13SO OH. The latter is not very readily crystallizable, but forms crystallized salts with baryum, calcium, zinc, lead, which are abundantly soluble in water. In the oil of ajowan no constituent of the formula CH1 appears to be present; mixed with alcohol and nitric acid (see p. 279) it at least produces no crystals of terpin. The residual portions of the oil, from which the cymene has been distilled, contains another substance of the phenol class different from thymol. We have found that neither the thymol nor the liquid part of ajowan oil possesses any rotatory power. Uses-Ajowan is much used by the natives of India as a condiment. The distilled water which has been introduced into the Pharmacopoeia of India, is reputed to be carminative, and a good vehicle for nauseous medicines. It has a powerful burning taste, and would seem to require dilution. The volatile oil may be used in the place of oil of thyme, which it closely resembles. Ajowan seeds are largely imported into Europe since thymol has been universally introduced into medical practice (see Folia Thymi). They have proved much more remunerative for the manufacture of thymol than Thymus vulgaris. The largest quantities, we believe, of thymol have been made from ajowan at Leipzig. Substitutes-Under the name Semen Ammi, the very small fruits of Ammi majus L. and of Sison Amomum L. have been often confounded with those of Ajowan; but the absence of hairs on the two former, not to mention some other differences, is sufficient to negative any supposition of identity. The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. being called in India Khorāsāniajwan, a confusion might arise between them and true ajowan; though the slightest examination would suffice to show the difference." FRUCTUS CARUI. Semen Carui vel Carvi; Caraway Fruits, Caraway Seeds, Caraways; F. Fruits ou Semences de Carvi; G. Kümmel. Botanical Origin-Carum Carvi L., an erect annual or biennial plant not unlike a carrot, growing in meadows and moist grassy land over the northern and midland parts of Europe and Asia, but to what extent truly wild cannot be always ascertained. It is much cultivated in Iceland, and is also apparently wild. It grows throughout Scandinavia, in Finland, Arctic, Central, and 1 Roxburgh, Flor. Ind. ii. (1832) 91. 2 To such a mistake may probably be referred the statement of Irvine (Account of the Mat. Med. of Patna, 1848, p. 6) that the seeds of henbane are "used in food as carminative and stimulant"! 3 Babington in Journ. of Linn. Soc., Bot. xi. (1871) 310. Southern Russia, Persia, and in Siberia. It appears as a wild plant in many parts of Britain (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire), but is also cultivated in fields, and may not be strictly indigenous. The caraway is found throughout the eastern part of France, in the Pyrenees, Spain, Central Europe, Armenia, and the Caucasian provinces; and it grows wild largely in the high alpine region of Lahul, in the Western Himalaya.1 2 But the most curious fact in the distribution of Carum Carvi is its occurrence in Morocco, where it is largely cultivated about El Araiche, and round the city of Morocco. The plant differs somewhat from that of Europe; it is an annual with a single erect stem, 4 feet high. Its foliage is more divided, and its flowers larger, with shorter styles and on more spreading umbels than the common caraway, and its fruit is more elongated.3 History The opinion that this plant is the Kápos of Dioscorides, and that, as Pliny states, it derived its name from Caria (where it has never been met with in modern times) has very reasonably been doubted.4 5 Caraway fruits were known to the Arabians, who called them Karawya, a name they still bear in the East, and the original of our words caraway and carui, as well as of the Spanish alcarahueya. In the description of Morocco by Edrisi, 12th century, it is stated that the inhabitants of Sidjilmâsa (the south-eastern province) cultivate cotton, cumin, caraway, henna (Lawsonia alba Lamarck). In the Arab writings quoted by Ibn Baytar," himself a Mauro-Spaniard of the 13th century, caraway is compared to cumin and anise. The spice probably came into use about this period. It is not noticed by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville in the 7th century, though he mentions fennel, dill, coriander, anise, and parsley; nor is it named by St. Hildegard in Germany in the 12th century. Neither have we found any reference to it in the Anglo-Saxon Herbarium of Apuleius, written circa A.D. 1050, or in other works of the same period, though cumin, anise, fennel, and dill are all mentioned. 8 On the other hand, in two German medicine-books of the 12th and 13th centuries there occurs the word Cumich, which is still the popular name of caraway, in Southern Germany; and Cumin is also mentioned. In the same period the seeds appear to have been used by the Welsh physicians of Myddvai. Caraway was certainly in use in England at the close of the 14th century, as it figures with coriander, pepper and garlick in the Form of Cury, a roll of ancient English cookery compiled by the master-cooks of Richard II. about A.D. 1390. The oriental names of caraway show that as a spice it is not a production of the East :-thus we find it termed Roman (i.e. European), Armenian, mountain, or foreign Cumin; Persian or Andalusian 1 Aitchison in Journ. of Linn. Soc., Bot., x. (1869) 76. 94. 2 Leared in Pharm. Journ. Feb. 8, 1873. 623. 3 I have cultivated the Morocco plant in 1872 and 1873 by the side of the common form.-D. H. Dierbach, Flora Apiciana, 1831. 53. 5 Description de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne trad. par Dozy et M. J. de Goeje, Leyde, 1866, 75. 97. 150. 6 Sontheimer's translation, ii. 368. 7 Leechdoms, etc. of Early England, i. (1864). 8 Pfeiffer, Zwei deutsche Arzneibücher aus dem xii. und. xiii. Jahrhundert, Wien 1863. 14. 9 U Meddygon Myddfai, 158. 354. |