208 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



crude fiber, not more than 3 per cent of total ash, nor more than 

 0.5 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 



Macassar mace, Papua mace, is the dried arillus of Myristica 

 argentea Warb. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



Allied Plants. Macassar or Papua mace, derived from Myris- 

 tica argentea, is somewhat darker, with broader segments than true 

 mace and possesses an odor suggestive of methyl salicylate. It 

 gives a cherry-red color with solutions of the alkalies or concentrated 

 sulphuric acid, is very pungent and yields over 50 per cent of non- 

 volatile ether extract, and less than 10 per cent of starch. 



Bombay mace, or Wild mace, is the product of Myristica mala- 

 barica; it is distinguished from true mace in that the entire mace is 

 narrow-ellipsoidal, the reticulations are not so coarse, the summit is 

 divided into numerous narrow lobes, and it is darker in color. With 

 alkalies or sulphuric acid wild mace assumes a darker red color than 

 the true mace. It is slightly aromatic, but has little value as a spice, 

 and "yields nearly 60 per cent of non-volatile ether extract. 



Bombay mace is very largely used to adulterate genuine mace 

 and is usually suspected when a powdered article has a pronounced 

 reddish color. It can readily be distinguished by its more numerous 

 oil-cells and the fragments being colored bright red upon mounting 

 the powder in concentrated sulphuric acid or a solution of potassium 

 hydroxide. 



RANUNCULACEJE, OR CROWFOOT FAMILY ] 



A large family, consisting of about 1000 species, widely dis- 

 tributed except in the tropics. They are mostly annual or perennial 

 herbs, a few being somewhat woody and climbing, as Clematis. The 

 parts of the flower are numerous, the sepals and petals being from 3 

 to IS, the stamens indefinite, and the carpels usually 5 to 20. The 

 fruits are either achenes, follicles or berries. Among the anatomical 

 characteristics of this family the following may be mentioned. In 

 transverse sections the xylem of the collateral vascular bundle is 

 heart-shaped, having the phloem distributed in the sinus. The 

 pericycle, especially in the woody species, is in the form of a closed 

 ring of sclerenchyma. The hairs are both glandular and non- 

 glandular, the former being always 1-celled and usually mucilaginous. 

 In the leaves of Aconitum and Anemone occur so-called " arm 

 cells " in the palisade layer. 



HYDRASTIS. Golden Seal. The dried rhizome and roots 

 of Hydrastis canadensis (Fam. Ranunculacese), a perennial herb 



