I Ml ARM AC AL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 13 



as unlikely of successful culture in California, may on careful and more 

 extended trial do well, as ginger, cardamoms, cinchona, pilocarpus, 

 ipecac, and others. 



7. Preparing Vegetable Drugs for the Market. The following 

 remarks are intended as mere suggestions which it is hoped will be 

 found helpful in working out the most suitable methods applicable 

 in California. 



The exact chemical constituency of many medical plants is as yet not 

 fully understood and much research work along these lines is still to be 

 done. This applies especially to plants bearing medicinally valuable 

 alkaloids, glucosides, and other active constituents. It is also known 

 that the amount of active constituents varies greatly during the vege- 

 tative period and in plants from different localities, and it would be 

 very desirable for the drug growers to make chemical analyses of the 

 plants grown at intervals of about one or several months, in order to 

 determine the exact period when the active constituents are most 

 abundant and what plant parts are most active. Such work should, 

 of course, be supplemented by a reference to the literature on analyses 

 made of plants growing in other localities. 



The manner in which the drug is prepared also modifies the active 

 constituents, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, for which reason the 

 following suggestions are offered : 



Time of Collecting. Drugs should be collected at the time when the 

 active principle or constituent is present in maximum quantity. Unfor- 

 tunately, this period is as yet not accurately determined for many 

 plants. The chemical analyses above referred to should be applied in 

 order to clear up the uncertainties. 



Naturally, the time of collecting depends upon the part of the plant 

 to be used. In a general way it may be stated that the drug is collected 

 when the plant organ or part to be used medicinally has reached its full 

 development. Flowers, floral parts, fruits and seeds are collected at the 

 time of maturity; not before or after maturity. There are, however, 

 numerous exceptions. The flowers of pale rose, lavendula, orange. 

 santonica, the fruits of the poppy, elaterium, vanilla, pepper, allspice 

 and cubeb, are collected before maturity. Most leaves and leafy herbs 

 are collected at the time of flowering or shortly before that period. 

 Generally leaves and herbs not having a strong odor, as aconite, bella- 

 donna, verbascum, stramonium, digitalis, hyoscyamus and others, are 

 to be gathered shortly before blossoming, while aromatic leaves and 

 herbs, as absinthium, tansy, the mints, pennyroyal and rosemary should 

 be collected at the time of blossoming. 



With drugs represented by subterranean organs, as roots, rhizomes, 

 tubers and bulbs, also the bark of trees and shrubs, the time of collecting 

 is quite variable. The most suitable time for collecting such drugs is 



