IPECACUANHA, fp'-kzileii-rin'n (Port.. from Brazilian ip•canpuen, smaller wayside plant emetic. the native name). The name hoth of a very valuable medicine and of the plant produc ing it. According to the American and English pharmaeoweias the source of this drug is CephacliN iperacuanha (referred by some bota nists to PRuchotria ipecacuanha). which belongs to the natural order Rubiaccne, and grows in damp. shady «onds in Brazil. and some other parts of South America. It is somewhat shrubby. with a few oblong-lanceolate leaves near the ends of the branches, long-stalked heads of small white flowers. and soft, dark purple berries. The part of ipeeacuanha used in medicine is the root, which is simple or divided into a few branches, flexuous. about as thick as a goose-quill, and is composed of rings of various size, somewhat fleshy when fresh. and appearing as if closely on a central woody cord. The different kinds known in commerce (gray, red, brown) are all produced by the same plant. the differences arising from the age of the plant. the mode of drying, etc. Ipeeaeuanha-root is prepared for the market by mere drying. It is collected at all seasons, although chiefly from January to March. The plant is seldom cultivated in South America, but is sought for in the forests chiefly by Indians.
It has been successfully cultivated in India. and elsewhere, hut the slow growth of the plant and low price have kept it from being profitable. Vari ous other plants are used as substitutes for it. The ipecacuanha of Venezuela is produced by Sar costemma glaueum. of the order AselepiadaceT; and to this order belongs' Ty]ophora asthmatica. the root of which is found a valuable substitute for ipecacuanha in India. Other unotficinal plants which are said to resemble ipecac in their effect are Riehardsonia pilosa, Riehardsonia rosea.
Psychotria .emetica, and various species of loni dium. Gillenia stipulaeea is called American ipecac.
It is in the bark of the root that the active principle, the emetine, almost wholly lies, the other ingredients. such as fatty matters, starch, peetine, saccharose, choline, ligline, etc.. being almost entirely inert. Emetine is represented by the formula according to Lefort and N‘urtz, and by C.,,EL,N,0, according to Willard. It is a white, inodorous, almost insipid powder, moderately soluble in alcohol, and having all the characters of the vegetable alkaloids. It acts as a violent emetic in doses of one-sixteenth of a grain or even less. and is a powerful poison. In small and repeated doses ipeeacuanha increases the activity of the secreting organs. especially of the bronchial mucous membrane, and of the skin. In larger doses it excites nausea and de pression, while in still larger doses it acts as an emetic, without producing such violent action. or so much nausea or depression, as tartar emetic. Ipeeacnanha is useful as an emetic when it is necessary to unload the stomach in eases where there is great debi-lity, or in childhood. As a nauseant. expectorant. and diaphoretic. it is prescribes] in bronchitis, etc.. and in disorders in which it is desired to increase the action of the skin. Besides the powder, the most useful prepa rations are the wine of ipeeacuanha and Dover's powder. in which ipecacuanha is a constituent. To produce the full effect as a sudorific. a dose of Dover's powder should be followed by copious draughts of sonic warm and harmless drink.