[Proceedings United States National Museum, 1881. Appendix.] 

 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



trNITED STATES N^A-TIOIST^L MIXJSEXJM.. 



No. 8. 



MEinoeANDA FOR COIiliECTOKS OF DRVOS FOR IHE OTATKRIA 

 niEDICA SECTIOIV OF THE NATIOIVAIi MUSEUM. 



By JAMES M. FI.INT, Smgeou V. S. Wavy. 



To carry out the i)lan adopted for the Materia Medica Section of the 

 National Museum, it will be necessary to obtain specimens of all sub- 

 stances nsed as medicines by the people of all countries. That these 

 specimens may be more than mere museum curiosities, it is important 

 that information be furnished regarding the source and mode of pro- 

 duction of each drug. Much doubt still remains as to the exact source 

 of many of the standard articles of the materia medica, and a rein- 

 vestigation of any or all of them is to be desired. 



The following suggestions are made for those more or less unac- 

 quainted with the subject who may have opportunities for making col- 

 lections, and as aids to memory for the expert : 



I. Obtain sx)ecimens of all substances used as medicines, and all 

 drugs which are cultivated, or collected for export, in the region visited. 



II. Gather as much information as possible concerning each speci- 

 men, under the following heads : 



If of vegetable origin — 



1. Name, commercial, vernacular, and scientific. 



2. Botanical and common name of the plant from which the drug is 

 derived. 



3. Character of the region in which produced. (Mountain or valley, 

 dry or wet ground, &c.) 



4. Mode of cultivation or collection, and i^reparation for use or the 

 market. 



5. Commercial importance (quantity, value, &c.). 



6. Supposed medical ijroperties and uses. 



7. History of the individual specimen. 



It is of the greatest importance to obtain pressed specimens of the 

 flowering plant from which each drug is derived for botanical identifi- 

 cation. If a large plant, a single branch, bearing leaves and flowers, 

 may be pressed, or even leaves and flowers separated from the stem. 

 Get seeds also, especially if the flowering plant cannot be had, so that 

 the plant may be propagated in the hot house. 



Plants are easily pressed by arranging them while fresh on sheets of 

 absorbent paper, and putting them between boards, under moderately 



(555) 



