158 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



the pomegranate is very conspicuous, symbolizing 

 fecundity and abundance. The fruit was dedicated to 

 Juno, a deity always represented in sculptures as hold- 

 ing a pomegranate (191). 



The Greek authors, as Theophrastus (633), de- 

 scribed the pomegranate under the names of "roa" 

 and "roa side;" also, Dioscorides (194) quite explicitly 

 sets forth the medicinal properties of different parts of 

 the plant. Among Roman authors who describe the 

 pomegranate and its uses are Cato Censorius (132). 

 Pliny, Celsus (136), and others. Subsequent writers, 

 for example the Arabians, in the 9th century also refer 

 to the pomegranate, but seem to have mainly repeated 

 the substance of the writings of their Greek and Roman 

 predecessors (422). The Arabian Nights (Burton 

 edition) speaks of the use of the seed, cooked, as fol- 

 lows: "Every day I cook five dishes for dinner, and the 

 like for supper; and yesterday they sought of me a 

 sixth dish, yellow rice, and a seventh, a mess of cooked 

 pomegranate seed." (Adventures of Mercury Ali of 

 Cairo, Vol. VII, p. 185). Of the writers of the Middle 

 Ages may be mentioned Tragus and J. Bauhinus (47), 

 the latter giving a most detailed compilation of that 

 which was known before his time on the pomegranate, 

 including connected myths. It was not until the present 

 century, however, that the literature of pomegranate 

 was enriched by the study of its chemical aspects. 



GRINDELIA (Grindelia) 



Grinddia rdbusta was introduced into the Pharmacopeia of 

 1880. In 1890 and 1900 two varieties are named, G. robusta and 

 G. squarrosa, while in the U. S. P. 1910, G. robusta is dropped al- 

 together, the varieties mentioned being "Grindelia camporum 

 Greene, or Grindelia cuneifolia Nuttall, or Grindelia squarrosa 

 (Pursh) Dunal." 



