Piper. Black Pepper. The unripe berries, dried, of Piper Nigrum, or Black Pepper; Lin. Syst., Diandria trigynia; growing in tropical countries, as Java and Sumatra, now chiefly imported from the West Indies.

Description. A berry about the size of a small pea, black, rough or wrinkled on the outside, the contained seed is grayish; when decorticated it forms white pepper.

Prop, & Comp. Odour hot and aromatic; taste acrid; contains a nitrogenized feeble base, Piperine (C34 H19 No6), in rhom-boidal prisms, white, almost tasteless, and inodorous; although the piperine of commerce is always yellow and acrid from the presence of volatile oil. A volatile oil (C20 H16), lighter than water, giving the odour and taste to the drug, is also present: besides the ordinary constituents of such fruits, there exists also some acrid resin.

[Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis. Confection of Pepper. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] (Black pepper, two ounces; caraway, three ounces; clarified honey, fifteen ounces, rubbed well together.)

This preparation is a substitute for a nostrum long known as "Ward's Paste, and much used in the treatment of piles.

Therapeutics. Pepper is chiefly used as a condiment. It acts as a stimulant stomachic, and appears to influence the mucous membrane of the rectum, hence its value in haemorrhoids; it also acts on the urethral membrane, and may be used as a substitute for cubebs in gonorrhoea, etc. Piperine probably possesses anti-periodic powers, and is stated to have been used with success in agues. Externally, pepper, or its oil, may be employed as a rubefacient; the oil is sometimes applied topically in relaxed sore throat.

Dose. Of pepper, 5 gr. to 20 gr.; of piperine, 5 gr. upwards; of the confection, 40 gr. to 120 gr. and upwards.

Piper Longum. The unripe fruit of Piper Longum, or Chavica Roxburghii [Not officinal in U. S. P.]; Lin. Syst., Diandria trigynia. It is not now officinal, but is sometimes used as a condiment.

Description. The spikes are from one to two inches in length, and studded with eminences arranged spirally; of a light gray colour.

Prop. & Comp. As black pepper; the odour being rather different.

Therapeutics and Dose. The same as of black pepper.

Cubeba. Cubebs. The unripe fruit, dried, of Cubeba Officinalis, the Cubeb Pepper; Lin. Syst., Diandria trigynia: cultivated in Java.

Oleum Cubebae. Oil of Cubebs. The oil, distilled in England from Cubebs.

[Oleoresina Cubebae. Oleo-resin of Cubebs. U. S. Prepared by percolation with ether; the larger part of the ether is recovered by distillation in a water-bath, and the remainder is evaporated.]

Description. Very like black pepper, but having small stalks or tails attached, which serve to distinguish them; they are also lighter in colour.

Prop. & Comp. Cubeb pepper has an odour like camphor, in addition to that of pepper; its taste is hot and spicy; it contains Cubebine, which by some is said to be the same as piperine; but this is doubtful; the volatile oil is colourless or pale greenish yellow, with the odour and taste of cubebs (C30 H24). There is also some resin or oxidized oil in cubeb pepper.

Therapeutics. Cubebs and the oil are used almost exclusively for their action on the mucous membrane of the urethra and bladder, upon which they act as stimulants, and have the power of arresting abnormal discharges.

Dose. Of the powder 20 gr. to 120 gr.; of the volatile oil, 5 min. to 20 min.

MTatica. [Matico. U. S.] Matico. The leaves of Artanthe Elongata or Piper Angustifolium, Matico plant; Lin. Syst., Diandria trigynia; a native of Peru.

Description. The leaves are from 2 to 8 inches long, oblong lanceolate, acuminate, tesselated on the upper surface, reticulated and downy beneath; of a green colour, with an aromatic, warm and slighty astringent taste and aromatic odour; as imported, the leaves are mixed with the spikes and stalks, and in a compressed state.

Prop. & Comp. Matico contains traces of tannic acid, and a peculiar acid, named artanthic acid, which is readily crystalliz-able; soluble in water and alcohol, but remarkably so in ether; nitrate of potash, colouring matter and a volatile oil or camphor (?) not yet isolated are also found in the leaves. No piperine has been obtained from them, and they contain no starch.

Off. Prep. Infusum Maticae. Infusion of Matico. [Not officinal in U. S. P.] (Matico, cut small, half an ounce; boiling distilled water, ten fluid ounces.)

Therapeutics. The surface of the leaf or the powder applied to bleeding parts, as leech-bites, etc, acts as a powerful styptic; when given internally it is stated to produce astringent effects and to affect the genito-urinary mucous membrane and rectum, like pepper or cubebs; it contains little ordinary astringent matter, and it has been supposed that its power, when applied topically, is due to the mechanical structure of the leaf.

Dose. Of powder, internally, 30 gr. to 60 gr.; of infusion, 1 fl. oz. to 2 fl. oz.