514. Dulcamara N.F.—Bittersweet. Woody Nightshade.
514. DULCAMARA, N.F.—BITTERSWEET. WOODY NIGHTSHADE. The young branches of Sola'num dulcama'ra Linné. Off. U.S.P. 1890. Very small cylindrical pieces (branches cut in sections) about the thickness of a quill; externally longitudinally striate and marked with alternate leaf-scars; periderm light greenish-brown or greenish-gray, thin, overlaying a uniformly green, rather thick, inner bark. Wood whitish or yellow, with greenish spots, surrounding a central pith, or, as is generally the case, a hollow; it is in one or two circles, with large ducts and numerous one-rowed medullary rays. The bark consists principally of parenchymatous tissue. Inodorous; taste at first bitter, afterward sweet. Constituents: Solanine, the active alkaloid, and a glucoside termed dulcamarin, C22H34O10, to which the, taste of the drug is due; also resin, wax, gum, starch, and calcium lactate. Commercial Solanin is a mixture of Solanin and Solanidin. Solanidin is soluble in alcohol. Solanin is practically insoluble, excepting in boiling alcohol.
Preparation of Dulcamarin.—Digest aqueous infusion of the drug with animal charcoal; treat charcoal with alcohol. Precipitate aqueous solution of alcoholic extract with lead subacetate, wash, digest with alcohol, and decompose with H2S. Evaporate resulting solution. Purify product by resolution, filtration and evaporation.
Dulcamara is feebly narcotic and anodyne, but is chiefly employed as an alterative and resolvent in skin diseases, particularly those of a scaly character. Dose: 1 to 2 dr. (4 to 8 Gm.).
Extractum Dulcamarae Fluidum, U.S. P. 1890 Dose: 1 to 2 fl. dr. (4 to 8 mils).
