THE MICROSCOPE. 



Ji^ljCCiiXillS. 



A Microscopical Examination of the Roots of Apocynum 

 Cannabinum and Apocynum Andros^mifolium. — Although 

 learning soon after taking charge of the laboratory of Lord,Stouten- 

 berg & Co., that the drug furnished by collectors and secondarily 

 by dealers as Apocynum androsffimifolium was identical with that 

 sold as Apocynum cannabinum, my attention was more strongly 

 drawn to this fact on the appearance last year, of Prof. Lloyd's Sup- 

 pliment to the American Dispensatory and it was not until that 

 time that a study of the microscopic characters of the two drugs as 

 likely to afford a means of distinguishing the two species suggested 

 itself. It is true that the naked eye appearances of these two roots 

 are sufificiently distinct to render their identification, when entire, a 

 matter of no difficulty, but, overlooking the fact that the greater 

 number of retail dealers do not, and in the Western market at least, 

 cannot ordinarily find it among their wholesalers except pressed, 

 ground, or powdered, it was thought that this description might be 

 of some value. It will be admitted that some general method, by 

 which ground and powdered drugs can, without too great an ex- 

 penditure of time, or the possession of a high degree of technical 

 skill, be distinguished from each other, and also from the articles 

 used as adulterants and substitutes, is highly desirable. Inasmuch 

 as the compound microscope affords the means of making such ex- 

 aminations, and more nearly fills the conditions of rapid work and 

 ease of manipulation, and at the same time affords the unmistakable 

 results of any method in use, it is hoped that the results of this 

 examination may serve to direct attention to its value in this 

 field. 



The following description of the gross characters of apocynum 

 cannabinum are from the work just referred to: "This root, when 

 gathered in the autumn and dried, is about one-third of an inch in 

 diameter, wrinkled longitudinally, and marked by occasional trans- 

 verse fractures through the bark, which show the v/hite central por- 

 tion. It consists of a bark, externally ash grey in color, beneath 

 which is a thin brown corky layer, and within this the inner bark, 



*Read before the American Pharmaceutical Association, 1881, by Mr. E. B. Stuart. 



