Akakia : an ancient Eastern medicine / [David Hooper].

  • Hooper, David.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Akakia : an ancient Eastern medicine / [David Hooper]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    With a knowledge of what nn extract of babiil pods sliould be, the light of chemical inquiry was next diiected towards the composition of trade samples of Akakia. Three specimens are exhibited in the Indian Museum, two of which are in the form of round black cakes, and one in a. hard yellowish, resin-like mass. One of the black cakes, obtained from the Panjab, merely softened in hot water, without dissolving. On igniting a small quantity on platinum foil, it. burnt with a dense smoky flame, and left a residue of 58 per cent, of mineral matter. It had all the characters of pitch or asphalt. Another sample of the same shape and colour, but obtained from Bengal, was similar in appearance to that from the Panjab. It consisted of a pitch-like, resinous material, and yielded when ignited about 45 per cent, of siliceous ash. The third specimen labelled “from Hyderabad,” was a vitreous substance of a yellowish-brown colour. It was composed of gum, resin, vegetable debris and sand. It afforded no reactions for lannin, and, like the previous samples, was altogether foreign to the products of species of Acacia. Since these samples were examined a further attempt has been made to procure in Calcutta a genuine specimen of this extract, but from the diversely coloured and resinous articles supplied under this name it is evident, that entirety different substance are regularly being sold by the bazar druggists in place of the once renowned Akakia. The local specimens, of which t here are three in number, are coloured respectively black, green and light brown. The black cake bears a resemblance to those previously described, but closer examination showed that the resinous principle consisted of shellac, while the other consti- tuents were charcoal, and a liberal allowance of sandy mineral matter amounting to two-tliirds of the weight of the whole. The light brown specimen is a pure resin, and is no doubt allied to Olibanum, many varieties of which are obtained from species of Boswellia. The green lump is probably the same compound mixed with colouring matter. Olibanum seems also to be the basis of the resinous ingredient present in the Bengal variety. The result of this inquiry shows a state of affairs which deserves explanation. Kither the native apothecary is entirety ignorant of the nature of some of the drugs he dispenses, or he is recklessly or fraudu- lently practicing a system of substitution. The condition of the trade in the time-honoured drug Akakia is far from satisfactory, and it is only by practical investigations in this direction that we can hope to remedy it. 5