48 POWDERED VEGETABLE DRUGS 



tous) cells known as hyphse. There are a great many species, differing 

 widely as to gross characteristics. 



A few drugs are derived from this group of plants, of which by far 

 the most important are Claviceps pupurea (ergot) and Ustilago maydis 

 (corn smut). Ergot is a fungus which attacks the undeveloped seeds 

 of rye, wheat and other cereals, the fungus displacing the grain sub- 

 stance entirely, developing into a structure which gradually takes 

 on the form of a distorted and enlarged cereal grain, as of rye, wheat, 

 barley, grass, etc. Corn smut attacks the developing seeds of Indian 

 corn. Polyporus fomentarius (Zunder, Feuerschwamm) was formerly 

 employed for checking hemorrhage. Impregnated with a solution of 

 saltpeter it is still extensively employed in the outlying rural districts 

 of certain lands for lighting fires and pipes, with the aid of flint and 

 steel. Lycoperdon giganteum (Surgeon's fungus) is still a popular 

 remedy in certain countries for checking hemorrhage. 



In looking over a collection of leaves and herbs there will be found 

 leaves and herbaceous stems with circumscribed areas of a dark or 

 brown color, indicating the presence of a blight fungus which attacked 

 the plant before the drug was collected. A careful inspection of the 

 unpeeled tree barks may reveal the presence of black spots about the 

 size of a pin-head; these are the apothecia of spot fungi, or perhaps of 

 lichens, to be mentioned later. Since these spot fungi do not occur 

 upon root barks, their absence or presence is of some diagnostic value. 

 Since parasitic fungi are so widely distributed, one may expect to find 

 them normally present in many drugs. The drug, however, decreases 

 in value with the increase in the areas infected. The fungi modify or 

 destroy the active constituents of the drug by decomposing them 

 chemically. This applies especially to leaves and herbs; fungi rarely 

 infest the living tree barks in sufficient numbers to seriously lessen 

 the medicinal value. 



Drugs which are slowly or incompletely dried, or which are stored 

 in damp rooms or containers, are almost invariably attacked by hyphal 

 fungi as well as bacteria. The hyphal fungi belong to a group com- 

 monly known as molds. They grow very rapidly; a day often being 

 sufficient for the fungus to spread through a large collection, the hyphae 

 growing over the surface, into crevices and intercellular spaces, into 

 broken cells, along the path of vascular tissue, finally spreading through 

 the entire supply. In the case of leaves the hyphse gain entrance into 

 the spongy tissue and palisade tissue by way of stomata and broken 

 epidermis. In the actively growing stage the hyphss are white, pre- 

 senting a wooly appearance. This whitish growth can readily be seen 

 as it spreads over the drugs. There is also the very marked and 



