84 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Adulterants. The rhizomes of other ferns are sometimes sub- 

 stituted for those of the true drug. The botanical origin of these 

 substitutes is not clear. A very common substitute is shown in Fig. 

 12, C, which is derived from Osmunda Claytoniana or a related 

 species. It occurs in large pieces with coarse, wiry roots, flattened 

 stipes and is free from chaffy scales. 



ADIANTUM. Maidenhair or Venus Hair. The fronds of 

 Adiantum pedatum or A. Capillus-Veneris (Fam. Polypodiaceae). 

 These well-known ferns are rather common in Eastern and Central 

 tlnited States and are occasionally used in medicine. They are 

 among the most graceful and delicate of the North American ferns. 

 The rhizomes are horizontal, slender and with blackish roots. The 

 leaves are few but well developed in the early part of the summer. 

 They consist of long, blackish and shining petioles, pedately branch- 

 ing at the summit, first into two recurving, primary forks, and then 

 into several spreading divisions, each of which bears numerous 

 regularly alternating leaflets. The latter are obliquely triangular- 

 oblong, the upper margin being incisely lobed and serrate; the sur- 

 face is glaucous and very smooth. The odor is slight; the taste 

 being slightly bitter and somewhat astringent. 



Inner structure. Consult Holm, Merck's Report, 1909, p. 62. 



Lycopodium. The spores of Lycopodium clavatum, and of 

 other species of Lycopodium (Fam. Lycopodiacese), perennial herbs 

 indigenous to Europe, Asia, North America and Central America. 

 The spores are obtained from the ripened cones by shaking the fruit- 

 ing tops (sporogonia) and the extraneous matter is removed by siev- 

 ing. The principal sources of supply of Lycopodium are Germany, 

 Russia and Switzerland. 



Description. A light-yellow, very mobile powder, nearly inodor- 

 ous and tasteless, floating upon water and not wetted by it, but sink- 

 ing on being boiled with it, and burning quickly when thrown into a 

 flame. 



Spores tetrahedral (Fig. 15), from 0.025 to 0.040 mm. in diameter 

 with one convex side, and delicately reticulate on the surface. 



Constituents. About 50 per cent of a deep green odorless, non- 

 drying oil with an acid reaction, which consists chiefly of oleic acid, 

 with some lycopodic (di-oxy-stearic), palmitic, and myristic acids 

 (Rathje, Archiv. Pharm., 246, 1908, p. 699); a small amount of 

 phytosterin, and 3 to 8.2 per cent of glycerin. The spores also con- 

 tain. 5.3 per cent of a nitrogenous substance; about 3 per cent of a 

 sugar, and yield about 1 per cent of ash. On heating with a solution 

 of potassium hydrate, monomethylamine is liberated, and on macer- 



