Pharmaceutical Considerations 35 



To begin with, the large manufacturer enjoys 

 especial facilities in securing his crude drugs in their 

 most active and workable condition. Eucalyptus, 

 for instance, rapidly loses its volatile constituents, 

 although the leaves should not be worked green. 

 Various barks, such as cascara and wild cherry, 

 require special handling and a certain age, while 

 others, such as the bark of the root of chionanthus, 

 require special slow extraction. Then, too, other 

 drugs should be worked in a green or recent state. 

 Zea, or cornsilk, contains as its active agent maizenic 

 acid, which is lost in the process of drying. Some 

 of the narcotic drugs are much injured by drying. 

 Pulsatilla, active on account of its volatile anem- 

 onin, becomes almost wholly inert by drying. 

 Some reports contend that differences in physio- 

 logical actions obtain as between certain recent 

 and dried drugs. While this may be exaggerated, 

 there is no doubt that the proper condition of a 

 drug for working is far from uniform as involves 

 the various agents, and hence the dried drugs 

 sold in bulk may or may not be in the best con- 

 dition for working. The large manufacturer is in 

 position to secure his crudes in proper condition 

 and to work them at the right time. 



Fermentative changes ruin some plant struc- 

 tures, and microorganisms proliferate very rapidly 

 in others. Cactus grandiflorus, which is rich in a 

 form of mucilage, is utterly destroyed by drying. 

 Indeed, and based upon careful personal investi- 

 gation, the concentrations of cactus sold in granule 

 form proliferate microorganisms even after being 

 made up, and I know of no form of the drug which 

 retains its integrity except that made from the 



