97<) 



STIMULANT, AROMATIC, NAKCOTIC AND MlvDICINAL CROP.S 



STIMULANT, 



AROMATIC, 



NARCOTIC 



AND MEDICINAL 



CROPS 



The tests of the watery extract of the plant proved that the tannic sub- 

 stances contribute very much to imparting the different shades to wools, 

 mordanted or not with metalHc salts, and dyed with the extract of the bran- 

 ches or leaves. Dye tests made with cotton, wool and silk are dealt with 

 in a table where it is shown that the results with cotton are insignificant, 

 while with wool and silk the pigment is fixed even without mordant. The 

 writer extracted the pigment from the leaves in the form of fine tufts of 

 orange-yellow needles in a quantity of 2 grams per kilogram of dried henna ; 

 this pigment behaves hke an acid dyestuff. 



757 - Production of Medicinal Plants in Italy. — cortesi fabrizio in Nntwa, Rivista 



di Scicnzc naturaU, Vol VII, pp. 1-44. Mian, January-April 191 6. 



General considerations en the conditions of the growing of and trade 

 in medicinal plants in Italy, followed by : i) a Hst of medicinal plants (78) 

 found wild in the ItaHan flora, and a synoptic table of their geographical 

 distribution in Italy ; 2) a list of the average prices quoted on the princi- 

 pal Italian markets for the chief medicinal drugs before and during the Eu- 

 ropean war ; 3) a table of Itahan imports and exports of the principal 

 medicinal drugs during the years i9i2toi9i4. 



The Itahan flora is very rich in wild medicinal plants, but the trade 

 in these is far from being as considerable as it should be, Vio o^i^ being in the 

 hands of ignorant herbaHsts. Italy produces and exports (whole or in 

 parts) the following medicinal plants : 



Absinthe, aconite, adonis, agaric, almond, angelica, common aniseed, 

 arnica, burdock, beUadonna, borage, field camomile, Roman camomile, 

 maidenhair, centaury, chicory, couch-grass, hemlock, colchicum, cumin, 

 digitalis, hellebore, eucalyptus, eupatory, male fern, fennel, gentian, po- 

 megranate, juniper, germander (officinal), hops, hyssop, iris, master -wort 

 (root), henbane, laurel, cherry laurel (leaves), lavender, hchen, flax (seed) 

 mallow, woody nightshade, lily of the valley, manna, bugleweed, melissa 

 (balm), mustard (seed), mint, perforated St. John's-wort, myrtle, walnut 

 (leaves), poppy (heads), herb patience, parietary, dandelion, plantain, 

 phellandriam, puhcaria (seeds), bear-berry, Hquorice, castor oil plant, 

 rosemary, sweet-rush, soapwort, sage, squill, spurred rye, stavesacre, thorn- 

 apple, elder, lime tree, thyme, marsh clover, saffion, coltsfoot, valerian, 

 violet. 



Some of these plants, such as mallow, field camomile, castor oil, etc., 

 although partly exported also need to be imported, the production being 

 insufficient to meet the demands of national industry. 



In Italy, the production of essential oils is at present confined to Sicily 

 and Calabria, with regard to citrus oils, and to Piedmont for peppermint 

 oils. In 1914 Italy exported: essential oils of citrus fruits, 74 558 cwt of 

 a value of £ 484 326 (as against 92 776 cwt value £ 603 822 in 1913) ; 

 spirit cf peppermint : 23 521 cwt value £23422 (as against 43 885 cwt value 

 £ 43 698 in 1913). The Itahan .spirit of peppermint is of absolute purity. 



Trials of aloes cultivation {Aloe vulgaris Lamk.) have been undertaken 

 in Sicily, and a juice fairly rich in active principles appears to have been 

 obtained from the leaves. Sicily possesses almost a monopoly of the ])ro- 



