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THE CHINA REVIEW.
a petiole 3 to 6 lines long. Stipules, minute, fugitive, easily observed on young branches. Flowers, small, on stalks 3 to 9 lines long, bright yellow, arranged in rather dense terminal and lateral cymes; bracts, few, linear. Calyx, small, persistent, very deeply cleft; sepals, about 1 line long, acute, imbricated. Corolla, rotate, 8 to 9 lines diam., tube 3 to 4 lines long, surmounted by 5 equal lobes 2 to 3 lines long, inner surface of tube marked with red spots. Stamens 5, inserted on base of corolla tube and alternate with the lobes of the corolla, exserted, but shorter than the lobes; filaments equal; anthers lanceolate. Ovary stalked, on a short gynophore, tapering into a style 3 lines long, two-celled, containing many ascending ovules in each cell; style bi-cleft, each division being again slightly divided into two spreading stigmas. Fruit, a brown, dry, oblong, inflated, membraneous capsule, about 1 inch long, having two opposite deep furrows running from base to apex; dehiscence, septicidal. Seeds, very small, furnished with reddish-brown, reniform and imbricated wings.
The above characters were observed on a specimen gathered on the hills overlooking Mirs Bay, at the back of the city of Kowloon in the Kwangtung province, and on another growing on Mount Gough, on the island of Hongkong; the description of the fruit is taken from specimens gathered on the Canton West River.
Gelsemium elegans may now be seen growing in the Hongkong Botanical Gardens.
HABITAT. This shrub grows sparingly in Hongkong, but more abundantly on the hills of the neighbouring mainland of China (Champion, Wright, Wilford, Hance, &c.). In November, 1885, Mr. Westland found a large number of specimens in full flower, climbing round trees to a height of about 12 feet near the Eastern base of Tai Mo Shan.2 It has
1. Flora Hong kongensis, p 229.
2. This is the loftiest (about 3,000 feet) of the hills on the coast of China immediately opposite to the island of Hongkong.
also been observed growing luxuriantly on the banks of the West River, about 120 miles from Canton (Ford), near the district of Lo ting, and in ravines on the island of Lantau, opposite the mouths of the Canton river (Westland). In the Pên ts'ao (Chap. XVII) it is declared a native of the provinces of Chekiang, Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Sze-chuen, and Yunnan. According to Bentham, this poisonous plant also grows in Sumatra, being probably identical with Zygopteris sumatrana, Blume. It flowers in October, November and December and matures its seeds in April and May.
It differs from the N. American species1 of this genus in having smaller, scentless, flowers, larger leaves, and smaller fruits and seeds.
PARTS USED, &c. - The root is the only part of the plant used in medicine. As met with in the native drug-shops in Hongkong under the name
M.: Hu muan ch'iang;
C.: U mun k'eung, it consists of thick pieces of the underground stem with or without portions of the true root and rootlets attached.
A piece of the root in our possession exhibits the following characters. Cortical layer, thick, easily removed from central woody portion, externally of a brown colour, wrinkled, marked at intervals of from ¼ to ½ inch by transverse cracks, extending about half way round, and as far as the medullary layer. A section of the latter shows the medullary rays stretching through the yellow woody portion in a manner similar to that displayed by the root of G. nitidum.2
1. In the South. E. States, G. nitidum, Michaux, the source of the eclectic remedy Gelsemin) is known as Wild Yellow Jessamine or False Jasmine. We prefer to avoid the use of the terms Jasmine or Jessamine in the case of the China species. These names ought to have distinct generic significance, and should be applied only to plants of the genus Jasminum, with which Gelsemium was formerly classed. The value of popular botanical names will be seriously impaired, if their indiscriminate use becomes general.
2. Syn. Bignonia sempervirens, Linn; G. sempervirens, Aiton; G. lucidum, Poir. This species is figured in Bentley and Trimen's Medicinal Plants, (1880), Vol. III, No. 181,
NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA.
When cut with a sharp knife, the central woody part shows a waxy section.
There is every reason to believe, that, in the majority of instances, supplies of this drug are brought from the hill sides only as they are wanted. In but few shops can specimens be seen. This fact will possibly account for the scarcity of the plant on the island of Hongkong: the careless collector doubtless destroys a shrub each time he gathers the drug, the root being the only part sought for.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. - The active principle of this drug is due to an alkaloid which was first isolated in the Government Laboratory in the course of an enquiry ordered by Her Majesty's Coroner in the early part of 1884. This alkaloid is new to chemical science, and its discovery adds one more to the list of the STRYCHNINE OR TETANUS-PRODUCING GROUP OF ALKALOIDS. Its most characteristic reaction is the production of a deep violet colouration when in contact with oxidizing agents. If the alkaloid is present in very small quantity an observer might confound the colour with that displayed by Strychnine and Gelsemine under similar circumstances. In such a case the observer should apply side by side the same reagents to the alkaloids of Strychnos nux vomica and Gelsemium nitidum - a practised eye will at once note the difference.
The following table shows at a glance the different colours produced when manganese oxide and sulphuric acid are applied to---
The alkaloid1 of Gelsemium elegans.
Gelsemine.
Strychnine.
A deep violet colouration, changing to a rich green, which latter tint is more marked at the edges.
A damask-purple colour, changing rapidly to and one of a rich purple hue.
A deep purplish-violet colour, finally assuming a cherry-red tint.
1. Pharmaceutical Journal, (3), XVI., p. 95 and 496; also Hongkong Government Gazette, Vol. XXXI, p. 344.
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These colours are all evanescent, but that displayed by the first mentioned alkaloid is more lasting than the others. The alkaloid of G. elegans is not associated with gelseminic acid, and unlike Strychnine and Gelsemine (P), it will not bear the action of sulphuric acid at a temperature of 100° C.
The publication of other chemical features of this alkaloid is reserved for a future paper.
TOXICOLOGICAL NOTE. - In cases of poisoning by any preparation of the root of G. elegans, no difficulty should be experienced, in detecting the active principle in the contents of the stomach, provided, first, that the victim had not vomited to any extent after receiving the dose, and second, that death had ensued within a few hours of the administration of the poison. The method adopted in the Laboratory of the Government Civil Hospital is a modification of Stas's alkaloidal process. The viscera is treated with about twice its weight of absolute alcohol, acidified with tartaric acid, and digested for a few hours in a flask at a temperature of about 70° C., cooled and filtered. The filtrate is evaporated to the consistence of a soft extract, and treated with successive quantities of absolute alcohol and water, so as to free the alkaloid, if present, from as much extraneous matter as possible. The necessary evaporations may be conducted at a temperature of 100°C. The extract after the last alcoholic treatment is now dissolved in a little water and filtered, and the solution (acid) after being well washed with ether until nothing farther is removed - is made slightly alkaline with ammonia, and immediately shaken with a suitable volume of ether. The ethereal layer, which now contains the alkaloid, is removed; and this treatment having been repeated, the ethereal solutions of alkaloid are mixed, and divided into two parts. The first half should be evaporated
1. Pharmaceutical Journal, (3), XVI., p. 642.
2. This washing of the acid solution with ether ought never to be omitted.
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