Q
14. No mention is made of Gelsemium Elegans in either Hanbury's' or 'Porter Smith's' Notes on Chinese Materia Medica or in 'Gordon's Epitome of the reports of the Medical officers to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service.' The plant is figured, however, on the last page of the first illustrated volume of the celebrated Chinese Herbal
Pun-tsaou-kang-muh and in another volume a full description of its properties is given. The Chinese have been aware of the poisonous action of this drug for centuries.
15. The writer of the Pun-tsaou states that it is never used internally as a medicine, although preparations of the plant are used with success as an application to boils and ulcers.
16. On the other hand, the Rev. E. FABER assures me, that in some parts of the Kwangtung province the root is secretly used by some native doctors for certain forms of disease.
17. In the following table I have stated what coloration is exhibited when manganic oxide and sulphuric acid are applied to :-
The alkaloid of Gelsemium Elegans.
A deep purplish-violet colouration changing to one of a rich purple hue.
Gelsemia.
A damask-red colour changing to a
rich green, which latter tint is, more marked at the edges.
Strychnia.
A deep-violet colouration changing rapidly to purple and finally as- suming a cherry-red tint.
These colours are all evanescent, but that displayed by the first mentioned alkaloid is more lasting than the others. The above re-actions have been observed several times in the Laboratory. The strychnia was taken from a London sample and the Gelsemia was extracted from an alcoholic extract of the root of Gelsemium Nitidum.
18. The alkaloid of Gelsemium Elegans, although coming very near, is, I am quite certain, distinct from Gelsemia. In addition to the different colours produced when in contact with.oxidizing agents, some important chemical characters do not agree, a publication of which in detail is reserved for a future report.
19. The names by which Gelsemium Elegans is known in the Pun-tsaou-kang-muh, are as follows:-
I.
II.
III. 毒根
IV. 胡蔓草
EP
V. 斷
VI. 黃籐
Cantonese.
Kau Màn.
Ye Kot.
Tuk Kan.
U Mung ts6.
Tin Cheung Trò,
Wong Tang.
VII.
火把花 Fo Pa Fa.
Mandarin.
Kou Min.
Yeh Ko.
Tu Kên.
Hu Mông Ts au.
Twan Chang Ts'āù. Kwang Tiệng.
'Huo Pa Hwa.
20. The coloured plate accompanying this report is the work of a Chinese Artist in Hongkong. The plant in flower and the ripe fruit are taken from a specimen gathered on the hills overlooking the head of Mirs Bay. The root from one obtained by Mr. W. D. HUTCHISON, whose assistance in this and like investigations where intercourse with the Chinese is of service, has been most valuable. I would also express my obligations to Mr. FORD, for many details concerning the Botanical and Geographical situation of important drugs, and to the authorities at the Tung Wa Hospital for much useful informa- tion concerning their use and misuses by the Chinese.
21. It is a matter of importance that the complete analysis of this root be undertaken as soon as possible, and it is my intention to carry out this investigation as soon as the new Laboratory is completed.
22. As far as I can judge no chemical analysis has been even attempted before, and, if such a case as the one alluded to should ever go to the higher Courts, the chemist who had charge of the case in the Laboratory would naturally be examined very closely on the properties and behaviour of an alkaloid, which, in point of toxic power, is I believe quite equal to Strychnia.
23. There have been no analyses in cases of poisoning by Datura Alba last year. Two men were under treatment in the wards of the Civil Hospital suffering from mydriasis, believed to have been caused by the use of this Solanaceous plant, but the Police were unable to discover any rem- nants of the meal in which it is assumed the poison had been incorporated.
24. Bread Analysis. In October last, when the city was disturbed and rumours of bread poison- ing were afloat, at the request of the Government, analyses of the bread supplied from the principal bakeries were undertaken for the detection of poison.
25. These examinations were conducted at an early hour daily, and, in order to avoid unneces- sary alarm the subject was kept as quiet as possible. Processes were adopted which have been found to work both well and rapidly and it is gratifying to be able to report that in no instance was anything unwholesome detected.
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