THE PRODUCTION OF POISON IN PLANTS 87 



Dr. Rodney H. True in an article in the Cyclopedia of American Agricul- 

 ture, 1 says : 



The sources of our crude drugs and condiments are very widely separated, depending in 

 large part on climatic conditions. Common drug plants belonging to the temperate zone, such 

 as digitalis, burdock and caraway, are in very large part produced in northern and central 

 Europe, frequently in more or less localized regions. Caraway comes chiefly from Holland, in 

 small quantities from Norway, east Prussia and southern Germany. Fennel is cultivated in 

 Saxony, Galicia, Macedonia and Italy. Digitalis leaves and belladonna reach the market of 

 northern Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland and England. Peppermint oil is produced 

 chiefly in Japan and the United States. Other plants demanding tropical conditions are ob- 

 tained from regions in which their culture has been undertaken. Cinchona bark, from which 

 quinine is obtained, came formerly from the slopes of the Andes. Cultivation of this plant in 

 India, Java, and other parts of the Orient has succeeded in so far as to cause the practical 

 disappearance of the wild barks of South America from the market. Ipecacuanha, likewise a 

 native of northern South America, is apparently repeating this history. Black and white pepper 

 are chiefly produced in southeastern Asia, coming on the market through Singapore and Penang. 

 Cloves are in large part supplied by Zanzibar, where the crop constitutes one of the royal monop- 

 olies. Some products are derived from still more localized regions, as buchu leaves from the 

 vicinity of Cape Town, South Africa, and aloes from South Africa, the island of Socotra in the 

 Red Sea, and the Barbadoes islands. Some are cultivated, as may be seen in numerous cases 

 cited above, and some are wild products. Camphor until recently has been derived from an 

 essentially wild tree growing in Japan, China and Formosa. The great depletion of the natural 

 forests has led the Japanese government to make extensive plantings. Several African sorts of 

 the red peppers of the market are collected by natives from the wild plants and brought long 

 distances to market. 



CULTURE. Cultivation often affects the amount of poison contained in 

 a plant. A wild vetch of Europe (Laythrus} is extremely bitter, but through 

 cultivation the poisonous material has been largely eliminated and the vetch 

 has become a useful cultivated forage plant. It is stated also that the aconite 

 (Aconitum Napellus) when cultivated loses some of its toxic properties and 

 that this loss of toxic action occurs in a few generations. Prof. S. M. Tracy informs 

 me that the cultivated forms of the Cassava are not injurious to stock but the 

 wild form, as is well known, contains toxic materials. The wild forms of the 

 lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) contains much more HCN than the cultivated 

 forms. 



Dr. Rodney H. True in speaking of the physiological action of the betel 

 nut states that its physiological action 2 depends on several factors. The green 

 nuts produce temporary dizziness. The poisonous variety according to Indian, 

 authorities is one that is reverted to its former wild condition, while the common 

 or ordinary betel nut which has been cultivated for hundreds of years is a mild 

 narcotic stimulant bringing about a feeling of general comfort, good humor and 

 exhilaration. 



It is also well known that when certain toxic bacteria as Streptococcus 

 pyogenes are cultivated they lose some of their pathogenic properties. 



We must not, however, conclude that because a plant is cultivated it loses 

 its poisonous properties, because there are certain cultivated ornamental plants 

 that are as poisonous in their cultivaed form as when grown wild. For ex- 

 ample the tobacco which has been cultivated for several hundred years contains 

 as much nicotin in its cultivated as in its primitive form. 



SOIL. It is believed also that the soil plays an important part in connection 

 with the amount of poison produced in the plant. There can be no question 

 that the soil plays an influence upon the quality of the fruit as well as upon 



1 Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. 2:458. 



2 Pharm. Review, 14:130. 



