6TH JULY 1894, Nos. 481, 481A, 481B, 481C, REVENUE.
7
Indian squills.—The squills used in European medicine are the bulbs of Urginea maritima,
Baker, but in India the bulbs of two allied plants are used as substitutes for these drugs, and
they are derived from ( 1 ) Urginea Indica,K u n t h . , a n d ( 2 )
L e d e b o u r i a h y a c i n t h o i d e s ,R
o t h .
These bulbs are very similar in size, shape and colour, but on cutting across them, the first
is seen to be tunicated like an onion, and the second is made up of thick fleshy scales. The
bulbs of the Urginea have been analysed by Assistant Surgeon C. L. Bose, Calcutta, who,
amongst other things, found a substance in the alcoholic extract which caused vomiting, and
acted like a similar preparation of ordinary squills. Dr. Dobie, Principal Medical Storekeeper
of Madras, sent me last November some squills which had been offered for sale, but which
differed slightly from those usually employed in the depôt. They were the bulbs of a species
of Ledebouria, about the size of small pears, and were very acrid and bitter to the taste. A
chemical examination revealed the presence of a large quantity of mucilage, some needles of
calcium oxalate, and a very acrid glucoside, which gave a purplish-red colour with strong
sulphuric acid. In respect to its yielding this principle, it resembles the composition of ordi-
nary European squills. The reason that Indian squills do not sometimes afford a good
substitute for the western article is because they are improperly collected and carelessly
stored. They should be gathered when the plants are leafless, cut transversely into thin
slices, and dried in the sun. Very large bulbs, or those collected when the plant is in flower
or leaf, are very inferior to the small ones, and the bulbs of the best quality rapidly deterio-
rate if kept in a damp place for any length of time.
Wild liquorice root.—The root of Abrus precatorius, when grown in certain situations, has
a sweetish taste, and has been thought by some authorities to resemble liquorice root in its
characters. Without sufficient enquiry and investigation, it was introduced into the " Pharma-
copœia of India" in 1868; but it has been very seldom, if ever, used in European practice in
India. In 1884, Drs. Warden and Waddell found the root to have an action similar to that of
the seeds which are now well known for their poisonous properties, and other medical men in
this country have drawn attention to the worthless nature of this root as compared with
liquorice. An opportunity having occurred of examining an authentic specimen of the root, I
am in a position to confirm the evidence against its being used as a substitute for liquorice.
It yields a resin which is not present in genuine liquorice; also an alkaloid which may have
a deleterious action upon the system, judging from the nature of the alkaloids found in other
leguminous roots. There was a small quantity of ghycyrrhizin present, and not to be compared
to the large amount that naturally exists in ordinary liquorice root.
Chemical examination of hemp drugs.— The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission appointed
me to examine and report upon several samples of the drugs collected by the members while
on their tours. A systematic analysis of ganja, bhang and charas from different districts of
India has not before been attempted, and consequently a great deal of uncertainty exists as to
the composition of Indian hemp. It should be first pointed out that bhang is the leaves of
the male plants; ganja is the flowering or fruiting tops of the female plant; and charas is the
resinous portion collected from the female plants mixed with some of the hairs and vegetable
débris. The bhang is the weaker preparation, ganja is a stronger preparation, as it is most
largely used as an intoxicant, and charas is the strongest drug made and used in Northern
India only. The active principle resides in a resin, and the proportion of resin in the drugs
determines to a large extent the activity of the samples. On an average, bhang yields 10 per
cent. of resin, ganja 20 per cent. and charas 40 per cent. When Dr. O'Shaughnessy in 1839
introduced ganja to the notice of the medical profession, he gave the percentage of resinous extract
as 20 per cent., and this percentage can easily be obtained at the present time by working on
good samples. The ganjas prepared at Naogaon, Rajshahi district, Bengal, are uniformly rich
in resin, but a sample of that prepared in Daggupad in the Kistna district gave the highest
amount of resin in the whole of India. The ganja cultivated in the Javadi hills, North Arcot,
was rather variable in its composition, as the resin ranged from 13.92 to 21.68 per cent. The
higher priced ganjas always contained more resin than those of inferior quality. The mineral
matter of ganja and bhang is more uniform in its composition, and does not contain so much
potash as tobacco leaves. Lime, salts and phosphoric acid are prominent, and manganese is
pr es ent . Ni t r ogen; i s r at her hi gh compar ed wi t h cer t ai n pl ant s us ed f or f odder , and on t he
whole, the higher the nitrogen the higher the resin, but there are some exceptions to this rule.
Alkaloids are present in minute quantity in most of the samples, but they have no distinct
physiological action. An uncrystallisable sugar is present in all the Madras samples of ganja,
and in the bhang from Assam, Rajshahi and Pykara, it would appear to be a natural consti-
tuent of the hemp plant grown in certain situations. Besides this, a full analysis of over sixty
samples of hemp drugs has been made. A complete analysis of the ash of ganja and bhang,
an examination of the seeds, a calculation of the amount of seeds in the samples, the nature of
the resinous extractive were undertaken, and the results reported to the Hemp Drugs
Commission.