The constituents of some cucurbitaceous plants / by Frederick B. Power.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
[1912?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The constituents of some cucurbitaceous plants / by Frederick B. Power. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    not homogeneous, but consisted of mixtures of a very indefinite char¬ acter, and that the amount of glucosidic substance contained in the fruit is extremely small. On the other hand, it has been shown that the purgative action of colocynth is due to at least two com¬ pounds, one of which is alkaloidal, although a very weak base and apparently incapable of crystallizing or forming crystalline salts, whilst the other source of activity is represented by some principle or principles contained in both the ether and chloroform extracts of the resin. The attempts to obtain the last-mentioned active prin¬ ciples in a more definite state were unsuccessful. Pumpkin Seed. The seeds of the common pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo, Linne) are chiefly of interest on account of their reputed value as a tsenifuge, and it is evidently for this reason that they have long been officially recognized by the United States Pharmacopoeia. Although the seeds are usually administered in the form of the bruised kernels, in doses, for an adult, of 100 to 200 grammes, their action has been variously attributed to both the fatty oil and the resin which they contain. In order to ascertain whether any definite active principle is present in the seeds, they were subjected to a complete chemical examination,15 and the products, so far as practicable, submitted to physiological or clinical tests. The kernels of the seed yielded, on expression, an amount of fatty oil equivalent to 19.3 per cent, of the weight of the entire seed. When, however, the entire seed were ground, and extracted with light petroleum, the yield of oil amounted to 34.3 per cent, of their weight. This fatty oil, which, when viewed in layers of moderate thickness, had a cherry-red color with a marked fluorescence, was found to consist of the glycerides of linolic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids, together with a very small amount of a phytosterol, C27H460. The resinous material, as extracted from the press-cake, amounted to only about 0.5 per cent, of the weight of the entire seed. Neither the fatty oil, in amounts of 15 to 60 c.c (about half a fluidounce to two fluidounces), nor the resin, in amounts of 1 gramme (representing about 200 grammes of the seed), were found to effect the complete removal of tape-worm, when adminis¬ tered to different individuals under the usual conditions of fasting and followed by a dose of castor oil.