_Caulis et radix Tinosporæ._
=Botanical Origin=—_Tinospora cordifolia_ Miers (_Cocculus cordifolius_
DC.), a lofty climbing shrub found throughout tropical India from
Kumaon to Assam and Burma, and from Concan to Ceylon and the
Carnatic.[148] It is called in Hindustani _Gulancha_; in Bombay the
drug is known under the name of _Goolwail_.
=History=—The virtues of this plant which appear to have been long
familiar to the Hindu physicians, attracted the attention of Europeans
in India at the early part of the present century.[149] According to a
paper published at Calcutta in 1827,[150] the parts used are the stem,
leaves, and root, which are given in decoction, infusion, or a sort of
extract called _pálo_, in a variety of diseases attended with slight
febrile symptoms.
O’Shaughnessy declares the plant to be one of the most valuable in
India, and that it has proved a very useful tonic. Similar favourable
testimony is borne by Waring. Gulancha was admitted to the _Bengal
Pharmacopœia_ of 1844, and to the _Pharmacopœia of India_ of 1868.
=Description=—The stems are perennial, twining and succulent, running
over the highest trees and throwing out roots many yards in length
which descend like slender cords to the earth. They have a thick corky
bark marked with little prominent tubercles.
[148] Fig. in Bentley and Trimen, _Med. Plants_, part 13.
[149] Fleming, _Catal. of Indian Med. Plants and Drugs_, Calcutta,
1810. 27.
[150] On the native drug called _Gulancha_ by Ram Comol Shen.—_Trans.
of Med. and Phys. Soc. of Calcutta_, iii. (1827) 295.
As found in the bazaars the drug occurs as short transverse segments of
a cylindrical woody stem from ¼ of an inch up to 2 inches in diameter.
They exhibit a shrunken appearance, especially those derived from the
younger stems, and are covered with a smooth, translucent, shrivelled
bark which becomes dull and rugose with age. Many of the pieces are
marked with warty prominences and the scars of adventitious roots. The
outer layer which is easily detached covers a shrunken parenchyme.
The transverse section of the stem shows it to be divided by about
12 to 14 medullary rays into the same number of wedge-shaped woody
bundles having very large vessels, but no concentric structure. The
drug is inodorous but has a very bitter taste. The root is stated by
O’Shaughnessy[151] to be large, soft, and spongy.
=Microscopic Structure=—The suberous coat consists of alternating
layers of flat corky cells and sclerenchyme, sometimes of a yellow
colour. The structure of the central part reminds one of that of
_Cissampelos Pareira_ (p. 28), like which it is not divided into
concentric zones. The woody rays which are sometimes intersected by
parenchyme, are surrounded by a loose circle of arched bundles of liber
tissue.
=Chemical Composition=—No analysis worthy of the name has been made of
this drug, and the nature of its bitter principle is wholly unknown.
We have had no material at our disposal sufficient for chemical
examination.
=Uses=—Gulancha is reputed to be tonic, antiperiodic and diuretic.
According to Waring[152] it is useful in mild forms of intermittent
fever, in debility after fevers and other exhausting diseases, in
secondary syphilitic affections and chronic rheumatism.
=Substitute=—_Tinospora crispa_ Miers, an allied species occurring in
Silhet, Pegu, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippines, possesses similar
properties, and is highly esteemed in the Indian Archipelago as a
febrifuge.
[151] _Bengal Dispensatory_, 1842. 198.
[152] _Pharm. of India_, 1868. 9.