March, 1920] PHARMACOGNOSY 123 



834. Anonymous. Egyptian opium. Report dc Pharm. 74: 345. [Through Pharrn. 

 Jour. 102: 219. 1919.] — The area devoted to cultivation of the opium poppy (Papaver somni- 

 ferum) in Egypt has varied from 5000 acres in 1833 to 1500 acres in 1917. The white-flowered 

 variety is used and is chiefly grown in the islands of upper Egypt, which are annually inun- 

 dated. The seed is sown in October and November, the inspissated juice is collected in Feb- 

 ruary and March, and the finished opium usually contains not more than 7 per cent of mor- 

 phine, though lots containing from 12 to 15 per cent are not uncommon. The cultivation is 

 free, but trading in opium is prohibited, though it is sold clandestinely. None is exported. — 

 E. N. Gathercoal. 



835. Anonymous. Ground liquorice root. Pharm. Jour. 102 : 177. 1919. — In court pro- 

 ceedings in Birmingham, England, the claim made by the City Analyst, that "ground liquorice 

 root" (the pulverized dried root of Glycyrrhiza glabra) must contain not more than 9 per cent 

 of ash and that 16 per cent of it should be soluble in water, was not sustained. The evidence 

 tended to show further, that "ground liquorice root" should not be deemed a drug under the 

 Act considered. — E. N. Gathercoal. 



836. Ewing, C. O., and E. E. Stanford. Conium maculatum L., and Aethusa cynap- 

 ium L., an adulterant. Jour. Amer. Pharm. Assoc. 8: 385. PI. 1-2, fig. 1. 1919. — A recent 

 importation of "Conium leaves" proved to consist chiefly, not of Conium, but of Aethusa. 

 The differential characteristics of Conium maculatum and Aethusa cynapium, are given. The 

 paper also includes the results of alkaloidal assays which showed Conium to contain 0.013 per 

 cent of alkaloid. Two samples of Aethusa contained 0.0013 and 0.0002 per cent respectively. 

 The authors suggest that the Conium herb, because of its notorious variability and its pre- 

 viously reported rapid deterioration, might properly be entirely deleted from the materia 

 medica; the more so as the fruit of the plant (Conium N. F.) contains the alkaloids of hemlock 

 in very much larger amounts. — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



837. Koch, George P. Atropa Belladonna. Jour. Amer. Pharm. Assoc. 8: 390-405. 

 1919. — Author reports on the cultivation of belladonna as conducted at the Mulford Biological 

 Laboratories. The extensive paper is divided into subjects as follows: (1) Germination of 

 seeds. (2) Planting. (3) Effect of fertilizers on growth. (4) Effect of moisture on growth. 

 (5) Effect of shade on growth and development. (6) Means of combating insects. (7) Effect 

 of drying leaves at different temperatures, upon the alkaloidal content. (8) Production of 

 seeds. (9) Influence of the presence of stems, upon the alkaloidal content of leaves. — Anton 

 Hogstad, Jr. 



838. McCutcheon, Alexander. Some Highland household remedies. Pharm. Jour. 

 102: 235-236. 1919. — In the Badenoch district of Invernesshire (Scotland), the trained 

 physician and the pharmacist are unknown and illness is treated with household remedies. 

 The drugs most used are the root of Menyanthes trifoliata (buck bean), the herbs of Geranium 

 Robertianum (herb Robert), Stellaria media (chickweed), Artemisia absinthium (wormwood), 

 Marrubium vulgare (horehound), Plantago lanceolata (plantain), and the root stalk of Rumex 

 obtusifolius (yellow dock) . The Menyanthes root is the most highly prized medicinal plant of 

 the district and is used as a stomachic bitter and tonic. The Stellaria herb is used as a poul- 

 tice for inflamed or suppurating breasts, and is prepared by bruising the herb between stones 

 that have been heated and then cooled (in a manner calculated to exclude contaminating 

 bacteria, though the native people have no scientific knowledge of sterilization) .— #. N. 

 Gathercoal. 



839. Plenderleith, J. W. Precipitation of alkaloids by liquorice. Pharm. Jour. 102: 

 236. 1919. — -Liquid extract or infusion of liquorice precipitates the alkaloid from aqueous 

 solutions of strychnine or quinine hydrochloride by double decomposition occurring between 

 the potassium and calcium glycyrrhizinates of liquorice and the alkaloidal salt. The chlorides 

 of morphine, codeine and heroine cause no precipitate with liquorice infusion but tincture 

 of opium does, possibly on account of free meconic acid. Nor did atropine sulphate, codeine 



