280 PHARMACOPEIA!, DRUGS 



Dymock naturally makes a close study of the Oriental 

 history of sacchamm. We take pleasure in quoting, as 

 follows. 



"HISTORY. If the wild form of the sugar-cane is to be 

 anywhere now met with, it is in India, of which country 

 it is undoubtedly a native, and where it has been culti- 

 vated from the earliest antiquity. Whether the species 

 grown in China is specifically the same, is scarcely de- 

 termined with certainty, but it is probably native to 

 that country. The Sanskrit name of the plant is Ikshu, 

 and it is also called Guda-trina, 'the grass from which 

 guda is made,' and Guda-daru, etc., from the juice 

 (Ikshurasa); the ancient Hindus prepared an extract 

 by boiling, which, when soft and sticky, was called 

 Ikshurassa-kvatha, Phanita, and Guda, but when 

 allowed to dram and become dry, was known as Guda- 

 sarkara, Khanda or Khanda-sarkara, and Matoyan- 

 dika. Twelve varieties of sugar-cane are mentioned by 

 Sanskrit writers, but in this number are probably in- 

 cluded other grasses belonging to the genera Saccharum, 

 Sorghum, etc. The root of the sugar cane is also used 

 in Hindu medicine, and is considered to have demulcent 

 and diuretic properties. A kind of rum was also ob- 

 tained by the ancient Hindus from the juice of the cane 

 or from guda and water fermented, which was known 

 as Sidhu and Ganda." (Dymock, Pharmacographia 

 Indica, v. 3, p. 593.) 



SALVIA (Sage) 



First mentioned in U. S. P. in 1840, but in Secondary List, 

 which position it held in 1850. It was transferred to the Primary 

 List in 1860, and remained official until 1900. It was dropped in 

 1910. 



Sage, Salvia officinalis, has been used by the herb- 

 alists from all time, being likewise employed as a 



