ESSENTIALS 



OF 



V EGETABLE PHARMACOGNOSY 



STRUCTURA L BOTANY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Living Bodies differ from lifeless in tween vital energy and the energy repro- 



their ability to grow by assimilating to 

 their own substance extraneous and dis- 

 similar substances, as seen in the use of 

 carbonic acid in the production of starch 

 and cellulose. This process is called As- 

 similation. They consist also of more or 

 less distinct parts, each of which performs 

 special work differing from that per- 

 formed by the other parts. These parts 

 are called Organs and the special work 

 which each performs is called its Func- 

 tion. Living bodies are, therefore, desig- 

 nated as Organic Bodies and the part of 

 nature composed of them the Organic 

 Kingdom. Of the two terms that of 

 "organic body" is usually preferable, as 

 it applies equally well to a body in which 

 life has ceased to exist. A third imi>or- 

 tant characteristic of living bodies which 

 may be mentioned is their power to give 

 origin to other independent living bodies, 

 which, separating from their parent, or re- 

 maining attached thereto, grow into a re- 

 semblance to it. That is, they possess 

 the power of Reproduction. 

 The assimilated matter of 



bodies is 



organic 



called Organic Matter. Or- 

 ganic matter may be living, as cellulose, 



or lifeless, as starch. It may, as in the 

 case of the starch, be prepared for future 

 use as food, for the construction of 

 tissue, as in the case of cellulose, or it 

 may exist as disassimilated matter re- 

 sulting from the performance of func- tioned: 



tlon. The latter may still be of some ser- 

 vice in the plant economy, or, perhaps, be 

 entirely useless. The energy and force of 

 living matter are called Vital. The same 

 laws govern the conservation of vitiil as 

 of other force, though the manifestation 

 is different and the working of the law is 

 not so patent. There is a direct ratio be- 



sented in the inorganic matter consumed, 

 though the relations are complex and the 

 estimations necessarily difficult, owing 

 especially to the direct contribution of en- 

 ergy by the sun. 



Organic bodies are of two kinds — Veg- 

 etable and Animal — and are denominated 

 respectively, Plants and Animals. A third 

 class was once recognized as consisting 

 of those not distinctively either animal or 

 vegetable. It is not now believed that any 

 such exist, although no one means has 

 yet been devised for ascertaining in every 

 case to which sub-kingdom a body be- 

 longs. This fact, however, does not im- 

 ply any difBculty in applying such dis- 

 tinctions in pharmacognosy, for all plants 

 and animals which contribute to the 

 materia medica are readily distinguish- 

 able. The only known invariable charac- 

 teristic distinguishing plants from animals 

 is the ability of the former, when not 

 modified by parasiticism, to subsist exclu- 

 sively on foods consisting of inorganic 

 matter. Still, even independent plants 

 are not entirely devoid of ability to con- 

 sume organic matter with advantage, and 

 animals require abundant supplies of in- 

 organic matter as a portion of their food. 



There are many other characteristics 

 which distinguish those plants which are 

 under common observation from animals, 

 of which the following may be men- 



1. — The consumption of an excess of 

 carbonic acid over that of oxygen and the 

 discharge of an excess of oxygen as waste. 



2. — The absence of a distinct digestive 



cavity- 



3.^ — The lack of the power of locomotion. 

 This term is not at all equivalent to that 

 of "movement/' for distinct and charac- 



