The generic name Euphrasia is derived from the Greek Euphrosyne (gladness) due to its use in folk medicine for the treatment of failing eyesight. The use in eye medicine probably originated in the Doctrine of Signatures as the flower bears a resemblance to an eye, the latter gave rise to the vernacular name Eyebright.One of the first records of the use of Eyebright occurred in a 15th century herbal (D a w s o n , 1934). G e r a r d ( W o o d w a r d , 1927) extolls its virtues in the treatment of eye disorders. L e c 1 e r c (1936) stated that an infusion had astringent properties and was soothing in conjunctivitis. The British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (1971) lists Euphrasia as a specific treatment for conjunctivitis. Other uses for Eyebright are for the treatment of catarrh ( P o t t e r , 18971, hay fever and bronchial congestion ( G r i e v e , 1931; B e r g e r , 1954). This use is probably due to homeopathy, large doses of the herb causing irritation of the bronchial mucosa promoting copious secretion. The herb is also an ingredient of herbal tobacco ( G r i e v e , 1931). Phytochemical investigations have established the presence of a tannin, euphrastic acid ( P o t t e r , 1897), a 0-glycoside, aucubin ( B r a e k e , 1924; N a t h e r o v a and F i a 1 a , 1960; K r o 1 i k o w s k a , 1960, 1967) together with volatile and fixed * oils, reducing sugars, gallotailnins (M el t o n and S a y r e , 1925; S r e p e l , 1950). B r o d a , J a r o n i e w s k i and S w i a t e k (1960) detected 0.6% caffeic acid in E. .officinalis which they found to have a bacteriostatic action and to inhibit seed germination. M e 1 t o n and S a y r e (1925) attributed the medicinal properties of E. officinalis to aromatic, resinous compounds. Early tests for alkaloids were inconclusive ( M e l t o n and Sayre,-1925) whereas H u l t i n and T o r s e l l (1964) detected 0.003% alkaloid in E. offici17alts and 0.01% in E. frigida.
MaterialThe material investigated was a commercial sample containing the dried, coarsely powdered aerial part of three microspecies of Euphrasia officinalis L., namely, E. tremorosa (Per s .) W a 1 1 r., E . confusa, P u g s I . and E. psetrdokerneri P u g s 1. 1 Part VII. H a r k i s s , K. J.: Planta medica 23, 182 (1973).