Ferula Sumbul,

(Kauffmann) Hooker filius.

The rhizome and roots.

Habitat. C. and N. W. Asia; Turkestan, Bucharia, Russia, E. Siberia; mountains, 900-1200 M. (3000-4000°) elevation.

Syn. Musk-root, Sumbul Radix; Fr. Racine de Sumbul; Ger. Sumbulwurzel, Moschuswurzel.

Sumbul. L. fr., Ar., Pers., Hind., sumbul, spikenard - their native name, sum-boul, a spike - i. e., the appearance of the flowering stem.

Plant. - Perennial herb, dying after flowering; stem erect, 2-3 M. (6-10°) high, 4 Cm. (1 3/5') thick at base, solid, glabrous, purplish, exuding milky juice when injured, with 12 stiff, slender, divaricate branches in the upper half; leaves - radical .8 M. (2 1/2°) long, triangular, tripinnate, with short, channeled, completely clasping petiole, leaflets ovate, deeply divided into wedge-shaped segments, dentate, bright green - cauline decrease in size toward summit, flowers polygamous, umbels, 10-15-rayed; fruit 12 Mm. (1/2') long, 6 Mm. (J') broad, meri-carps with 3 faint, thread-like dorsal ridges, no dorsal vittae, the commissural ones collapsed. Rhizome, fusiform, vertical, in transverse segments, 2.5-10 Cm. (1-40 long, 2.5-7 Cm. (l-2 4/5') thick, light brown, longitudinally wrinkled, upper portions with smooth, grayish, epidermal layer, occasionally with the short stem-bases; fracture short, fibrous, spongy; internally brownish-yellow, arrangement of wood irregular, with yellowish-brown resinous patches frequently over entire ends; odor peculiar, musk-like; taste bitter, aromatic. Powder, grayish-brown; microscopically - numerous irregular, brownish fragments and isolated tracheae, occasional fragments of epidermal cells, many fragments consisting of a granular substance of ill-defined cellular structure, sieve tissue, parenchyma with few starch grains, .003-.012 Mm. (1/8325-1/2075) broad. Solvent: alcohol (65-75 p. c). Dose, gr. 10-30 (.6-2 Gm.).

Commercial. - Plant which should furnish our official product, first described by Kauffmann in 1871, was discovered, 1869, in the mountains separating Russian Turkestan from Bucharia; much of the commercial article, however, comes from other sources (F. suave'olens (?), with faint, musky odor) through Moscow, being accepted as "false musk-root" or "false sumbul." A root of unknown source, but of supposed umbelliferous characteristics and marshy habit, has long been used in India and Persia under the name of sumbul or jatamansi, as a perfume incense, and medicine; Russian physicians first employed it, being offered as a substitute for musk as early as 1835.

Fig. 294. - Sumbul root: section.

Constituents. - Volatile oil (bluish, peppermint taste), .33-1 p. c., Resin (soft, musk odor) 9 p. c., fixed oil 17 p. c., angelic acid (sum-bulic acid), C5H8O2, valeric acid, C5H10O2, methylcrotonic acid, bitter extractive, sugar, starch, ash 5-6 p. c; dry distillation gives bluish volatile oil, containing umbelliferon.

Preparations. - 1. Extractum Sumbul. Extract of Sumbul. (Syn., Ext. Sumbul, Extract of Musk-root; Fr. Extrait de Racine de Sumbul; Ger. Sumbul (Moschus)-wurzelex-trakt.)

Manufacture: Macerate, percolate 100 Gm. with 80 p. c. alcohol until exhausted, reclaim alcohol, evaporate residue at 70° C. (158° F.), frequently stirring, to pilular consistence; yield 15 p. c. Dose, gr. 2-5 (.13-3 Gm.).

2. Fluidextractum Sumbul. Fluidextract of Sumbul. (Syn., Fldext. Sumbul, Fluid Extract of Sumbul, Fluidextract of Musk Root; Fr. Extrait fluide de Sumbul; Ger. Sumbul-wurzel (Moschuswurzel) fluidextrakt.)

Manufacture: Similar to Fluidextractum Sabal, page 95; menstruum: 80 p. c. alcohol. Dose, ex-30 (.6-2 Ml. (Cc.)).

Unoff. Preps.: Tincture, 10 p. c. (67 p. c. alcohol), dose, 5ss-2 (2-8 Ml. (Cc.)). Resin, dose, gr. 1-2 (.06-.13 Gm.).

Properties. - Stimulant, carminative, tonic, nervine (resembles musk and valerian), antispasmodic.

Uses. - Hysteria, female nervousness, epilepsy, chlorosis, amenorrhoea, asthma, delirium tremens, bronchitis, leucorrhoea, gleet, typhoid, atonic dysentery, hypochondriasis; often combined with asafetida in nervous troubles, with iron, arsenic, etc., in chlorosis. Incompatibles and Synergists: Same as for asafetida ; all preparations immiscible with water.

Allied Plants: