October 15, 1914] 



NATURE 



^11 



quickly they are dried. In the case of potent 

 drugs, such as belladonna and digitalis, it is 

 imperative that the leaves do not become 

 "heated," this being prevented by spreading in 

 very thin layers. Large growers of drug products 

 have proper drying plant, but a heated glasshouse 

 could be readily converted into a dr\'ing shed. 



The labour problem is another great hindrance 

 to cheap supplies of British-grown medicinal 

 plants. On the Continent wild plants are col- 

 lected at odd times usually when harvesting is 

 over. On English drying farms the crops are 

 .taken when plants are at their best, the time of 

 collection having in some cases an important influ- 

 ence on the therapeutic eflfect of the drug. This 

 point is fully recognised in the theory of medi- 



YiG. 2. — Cuttins 



English belladonna. (Atrofia belladonna) From the Journal of the Board of Agriculture 

 By permission of H.M. Stationery Oifice. 



cine, but in practice it is usually lost in the 

 modern craze for "cheapness." The cheeseparing 

 policy at times defeats its own object, as the pro- 

 portion of actual drug in a dose of medicine is so 

 small that doubling the cost of crude drugs would 

 make little or no difference in ultimate cost. A 

 ten-minim dose of digitalis tincture from British- 

 grown drug costs I /500th penny more than that 

 from imported drug, quite a negligible quantity' 

 in comparison with the greater certainty of 

 action. 



The drug trade is likely to regret bitterly for 

 some time to come the policy which led to the 

 virtual exclusion of home-grown drugs. A con- 

 siderable extension of the acreage under medi- 

 cinal plants will result from the conditions created 



NO. 2346, VOL. 94] 



by the Eurof)ean war. When this is over and 

 foreign supplies are again available it is to be 

 hoped that druggists, wholesale and retail, will 

 give that moral and patriotic support needed to 

 prevent it again relapsing. 



VV. .A. \\'hat.mough. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOX IX XEW 

 SOUTH WALES. 



Sydney, August 27. 



THESE lines are written a few hours after the 

 departure of our visitors for Brisbane, where 

 two addresses will mark the conclusion of the 

 first Australian Meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion. When the shadow of this cloud of war 



has passed away, 

 ' the Australian 

 Meeting w i 1 1 

 stand out as a 

 notable one. Its 

 total of 4700 

 members is 

 about 1000 

 greater than 

 that of any 

 other meeting. 

 Much solid work 

 has been done in 

 the various sec- 

 tions, while 

 great public in- 

 terest has been 

 aroused by the 

 lectures and ad- 

 dresses. Those 

 who believed 

 that the out- 

 break of war 

 would have a 

 serious effect 

 upon it ■ have 

 learned that 

 their fears uere 

 gr'oundless. 

 Though t h e 

 minds of all 

 have been filled 

 with anxious 

 thoughts of %vhat may be happening to our sol- 

 diers and sailors far away in this crisis of the 

 Empire's fortunes, on all hands there is ample 

 evidence that the meeting has been an unqualified 

 success. 



On Thursday, August 20, our visitors arrived 

 from Melbourne, about 10 a.m., in three special 

 trains, and the arrangements for their sjieedy 

 transit to the houses of their hosts worked ad- 

 mirably. Early in the afternoon the Reception 

 Room at the University began to be thronged 

 with members inquiring for their various tickets, 

 and anxious to secure places in the excursions 

 without delay, which had been arranged for tile 

 week-end. 



The President delivered the second half of his 



