part 13

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[149] Fleming, _Catal. of Indian Med. Plants and Drugs_, Calcutta, 1810. 27.

[150] On the native drug called _Gulancha_ by Ram Comol Shen.—_Trans. of Med. and Phys. Soc. of Calcutta_, iii. (1827) 295.

As found in the bazaars the drug occurs as short transverse segments of a cylindrical woody stem from ¼ of an inch up to 2 inches in diameter. They exhibit a shrunken appearance, especially those derived from the younger stems, and are covered with a smooth, translucent, shrivelled bark which becomes dull and rugose with age. Many of the pieces are marked with warty prominences and the scars of adventitious roots. The outer layer which is easily detached covers a shrunken parenchyme. The transverse section of the stem shows it to be divided by about 12 to 14 medullary rays into the same number of wedge-shaped woody bundles having very large vessels, but no concentric structure. The drug is inodorous but has a very bitter taste. The root is stated by O’Shaughnessy[151] to be large, soft, and spongy.

=Microscopic Structure=—The suberous coat consists of alternating layers of flat corky cells and sclerenchyme, sometimes of a yellow colour. The structure of the central part reminds one of that of _Cissampelos Pareira_ (p. 28), like which it is not divided into concentric zones. The woody rays which are sometimes intersected by parenchyme, are surrounded by a loose circle of arched bundles of liber tissue.

=Chemical Composition=—No analysis worthy of the name has been made of this drug, and the nature of its bitter principle is wholly unknown. We have had no material at our disposal sufficient for chemical examination.

=Uses=—Gulancha is reputed to be tonic, antiperiodic and diuretic. According to Waring[152] it is useful in mild forms of intermittent fever, in debility after fevers and other exhausting diseases, in secondary syphilitic affections and chronic rheumatism.

=Substitute=—_Tinospora crispa_ Miers, an allied species occurring in Silhet, Pegu, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippines, possesses similar properties, and is highly esteemed in the Indian Archipelago as a febrifuge.

[151] _Bengal Dispensatory_, 1842. 198.

[152] _Pharm. of India_, 1868. 9.

BERBERIDEÆ.

CORTEX BERBERIDIS INDICUS.

_Indian Barberry Bark._

=Botanical Origin=—This drug is allowed in the _Pharmacopœia of India_ to be taken indifferently from three Indian species of _Berberis_[153] which are the following:—

1. _Berberis aristata_ DC., a variable species occurring in the temperate regions of the Himalaya at 6000 to 10,000 feet elevation, also found in the Nilgiri mountains and Ceylon.[154]

2. _B. Lycium_, Royle, an erect, rigid shrub found in dry, hot situations of the western part of the Himalaya range at 3000 to 9000 feet above the sea-level.

[153] For remarks on the Indian species of _Berberis_, see Hooker and Thomson’s _Flora Indica_ (1855), also Hooker’s _Flora of British India_, i. (1872) 108.

[154] Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, _Med. Plants_,