Botanical Papers. 187 



In the new edition of the pharmacopoeia it is evident that the 

 committee of revision have endeavored to express in as few words 

 as possible the most essential characteristics of the drug. The de- 

 scriptions of these characteristics have been compressed into an 

 average space of about ten lines. In the case of the description of 

 aniseed, we have the following statement : " Ovoid, laterally com- 

 pressed, 4 to 5 mm. long; carpels usually cohering and attached to 

 a slender pedicel ; grayish to greenish gray to grayish brown ; each 

 with a flat face and five light brown filiform ridges and about sixteen 

 oil-tubes; odor and taste agreeable and aromatic. Nq mouse-like 

 odor should be developed when solution of potassium hydroxide is 

 poured upon anise (absence of conium). The powder contains 

 one-celled, straight or curved, non-secreting hairs, which vary from 

 0.025 to 0.100 mm. in length." 



Those who are familiar with these substances know how im- 

 portant it is to distinguish anise from conium, a poisonous fruit 

 from the same family; a fruit which is readily mistaken for the in- 

 nocent, aromatic aniseed. It would be impossible in this paper to 

 give anything like a satisfactory analysis of the botanical work of 

 the present pharmacopoeia. The detailed description of the 

 changes and improvements would require a small volume, but it is 

 the object of this paper to call attention not only to the pharma- 

 copoeia itself, but to the botanical features of it which botanists 

 should be interested in. Indeed, all scientists who are interested 

 in the progress of a national work, a work that is recognized by 

 various state laws and by the United States government, should be 

 interested in the reviewing of this recently revised standard for 

 medicinal substances, whether from the point of view of the sci- 

 ences connected with the vegetable, animal or mineral kingdom. 



