Chemical examination of pumpkin seed / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
[1910?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Chemical examination of pumpkin seed / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [Reprinted from the Journal of The American Chemical Society, Vol. XXXII. No. 3. March, 1910.] * [Contribution from the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories, London.] CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF PUMPKIN SEED. By Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. Received January 13, 1910. The seeds of the common pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo, Linne) have been recognized for several decades by the LTnited States Pharmacopoeia un¬ der the title of Pepo, and are regarded as an efficient and harmless taeni- fuge. This property appears to have been generally attributed to the fatty oil contained in the seed, which is stated to have been used with success in repeated half-ounce doses.1 On the other hand, Heckel2 found that the membrane surrounding the embryo is capable of expell¬ ing tapeworms, and as the membrane contains a resin, he believed this to be the active constituent. There is, however, no indication that Heckel had in any way confirmed this supposition by the separate ad¬ ministration of the resin. A more definite observation regarding the activity of the resin appears to have been made by Wolff, since it is re¬ corded3 that he found this efficient as a taenifuge in doses of 15 grams, whereas the fatty oil, when pure and free from resin, was inert. Ordi¬ narily, however, the remedy is employed in the form of the kernels of the fresh seed, suitably prepared, in doses ranging from 30 to 200 grams. No complete chemical examination has hitherto been made of pumpkin 0 seeds, and the constituents of their fatty oil have been only imperfectly known. The results of an investigation by Kopylow,4 in 1876, showed that previous statements respecting the presence of an alkaloid or gluco- side in these seeds could not be confirmed, but that they contained, be- 1 Lancet, Sept. 25, 1875, p. 462. 2 Ibid, and Pharm. J., Oct., 1875, p. 308. Compare also Vigieo, Amer. J. Pharm., 1876, p. 509. 8 U. S. Dispensatory, 18th Edit., p. 1012. 4 Pharm. Zeit. fiir Russland, 1876, p. 513.