506 HODGE 



can poison which is now valued by modern medicine for use in shock therapy, 

 was also discovered in a similar fortuitous manner. 



All too frequently, only when a specific need arises, are scientists detailed 

 to make an intensive screening of the thousands of plants known to be used 

 by the world's primitive peoples. That much "pay dirt" still remains to be 

 recovered is shown in the results of the recent search for cortisone precursors 

 in plants. A century ago in Central Africa, David Livingstone noted the use 

 of the pounded seeds of one of the species of Strophanthus as the source of a 

 deadly arrow poison. Though subsequently used as an official drug (a heart 

 stimulant), it was not until 1929 that the chemical sarmentogenin was found 

 as a compound. It proved to be a potential cortisone precursor. Yet it took 

 a research program coordinated by botanists and chemists, initiated since 

 World War II, to recognize that the chemicals in Strophanthus seed originally 

 used for killing could also be used for saving men's lives. Through the same 

 program various species of Agave and certain tropical yams (Dioscorea) have 

 proven to be even better cortisone sources. 



One of the most rewarding areas in this field of more plants for man should 

 lie in a systematic survey of the world's aboriginal plants. A team of ethnolo- 

 gists, botanists, and chemists would play cooperative parts. Such a survey 

 should not be delayed, for with civilization advancing as rapidly as it is, 

 much of the vast stock of plant lore gathered by primitive tribes will soon be 

 lost. Curiously enough, even in the United States where our Indian popula- 

 tion is no longer primitive, such lore is still proving of value. An investigation 

 made of the drug plants used by Nevada Indian tribes a decade or so ago 

 brought forth the discovery in the ordinary creosote bush (Larrea divaricata) 

 of a complex acid which prevents fats like butter and lard from becoming 

 rancid. Although chemists have recently found that the acid is easily synthe- 

 sized, had it not been for this ethnobotanical study we would not have this 

 important new compound today. 



Still awaiting the chemurgic attention that it deserves is our native jojoba 

 (Simmondsia chinensis), a wild shrub of our Southwest whose edible oily 

 seeds have been long known and eaten by Indians. Jojoba seed seems to have 

 great industrial potentiality, yielding an oil identical to sperm oil, a hard 

 wax of high purity similar to carnauba wax, and numerous acids such as 

 pelargonic, hydroxy, and dibasic — of great value in the making of synthetic 

 lubricants, low-temperature plasticizers, tough fibers, plastics of the nylon 

 type, and heat-resistant rubbers. 



Support for research in bringing together the tremendous backlog of isolated 

 and scattered reports on new potentially economic plants and for their analysis 

 or re-examination in relation to chemical constituents is a field which offers 

 great promise in the development of more plants for man. Already certain 

 countries, for example Australia and India, recognizing the potential value of 

 the work, have initiated comprehensive surveys of their economic species. 



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