ADULTERATION AND FRAUD. 89 



nulaceae belonging to the genera Adenophora and 

 Platycodon are frequently used to adulterate and re- 

 place the genuine root, and it has even been stated that 

 Japanese ginger has been found in some samples. 



"It has been claimed by Messrs. Hirsch & Lowen- 

 stein, of New York, that Japanese ginseng has been 

 imported into the United States, shipped to the interior 

 of the ginseng country, sold to country merchants in 

 small quantities, and resold by them to the wholesalers, 

 who export it as American ginseng. Upon learning of 

 this alleged fraud, authentic specimens of American 

 and Japanese root, the latter imported by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture from Japan, were examined by 

 Mr. A. J. Pieters of the Division of Botany. He found 

 upon careful microscopical study of cross and longitu- 

 dinal sections that no characters can be found in the 

 Japanese roots which are not also observed in the 

 American. It is stated by one ginseng dealer that when 

 the Japanese root is broken in two the surfaces of the 

 fracture differ from similar surfaces in broken Amer- 

 ican root in much the same way that the fractured 

 surfaces of the hard wheats differ from similar sur- 

 faces in the soft wheats. It has been noticed, however, 

 that some specimens of American root have the same 

 kind of fracture as the Japanese, and the difference 

 may be merely an incidental variation due to different 

 methods in drying; roots dried in mild heat exposing 

 a different fracture from roots dried more quickly in a 

 more intense heat. This test is, however, not suffi- 

 ciently constant to be of general application. 



"Unless Japanese ginseng could be laid down in 

 New York in wholesale quantities by sailing vessels it 

 would cost too much to distribute the root in small lots 

 to the country dealers for mixing and reshipment. If 

 it were imported in any considerable quantity, it seems 

 more likely that the adulteration would be practiced in 

 the New York market by the wholesalers themselves. 



