SCIENCE 



NEW YORK, APRIL 7, 1893. 



THE WORK OF A BOTANICAL LABORATORY IN PHAR- 

 MACEUTICAL MANUFACTURE. 



BY JOHN S. WBI&HT, LABORATOHIES, ELI LILLY & CO. , 

 INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 



sSTOTANY is constantly growing in pco- 

 Domic importance, each year we see 

 some new and valuable practical ap- 

 plication of it in industry or science. 

 The many botanical laboratories 

 maintained in connection with agri- 

 cultural experiment stations testify 

 as to its important work in agricul- 

 ture. Brewers have seen so much 

 practical value in botanical study of 

 \east that laboratories for this pur- 

 pose have in some instances been 

 established in connection with their plants ; while it plays such 

 an important part in the study of disease that many well-equipped 

 hospitals and quarantine stations are provided with facilities for 

 botanical investigation in the line of bacteriology. 



IN LABORATOHY. 



In pharmacy, botany has always occupied an important place, 

 our first drugs were of botanic origin, and each year has added 

 new plant products to drug-lists until now thehundreds of botanic 

 drugs make, at least, a fundamental knowledge of botany a 

 requisite for scientiflc pharmaceutical work, so that it now forms 

 a part of every thorough course of study in pharmacy. 



Though it bears this close relation to pharmacy, many persons, 

 who should be acquainted with the facts, ask what service a bo- 

 tanical laboratory can render a pharmaceutical manufacturing 

 establishment, so this article shall attempt to explain briedy the 

 equipment and work of such a laboratory; as the writer is aware 

 of the existence of but one such in this country, the article is of 

 necessity an account of it. 



Facilities for good systematic work are of the highest impor- 

 tance in such a laboratory, and in the one referred to there exists 

 an herbarium of many thousands of species, representing the 

 flora of the United States, and containing numerous forms from 

 Europe and other foreign regions. An essential feature of the 

 laboratory equipment is a jar collection of crude drugs represent- 

 ing nearly all the authenticated botanical products which enter 



into the manufacture of medicines. In connection with this, a 

 line of crude drug adulterants is being collected. 



A dissecting microscope, a good compound microscope with line 

 of eyepieces, objectives, and other accessories provide means for 

 microscopic work. A hand microtome, a large Bausch & Lomb 

 laboratory microtome with reagents, and all necessary materials 

 for staining and mounting sections comprise the outfit for his- 

 tological work. 



In addition to the study of herbarium specimens and cured 

 plants, means are provided for work upon living plants, through 

 the erection, in the laboratory, of a large glass propagating case, 

 in which seeds are germinated and plants grown for study. 



The laboratory is supplied with current botanical and micros- 

 copical journals, with standard texts and manuals on botany and 

 pharmacy for reference. Briefly, in its equipment, the laboratory 

 is not essentially different from that of any college in which sys- 

 tematic and structural botany are taught, except in point of num- 

 ber of workers for which it is arranged. 



The laboratory was founded to provide accurate and scientific 

 means for examining and identifying crude drugs. Many hundreds 

 of botanic products find their way into medicine. These include 

 roots, barks, leaves, flowers, fruits, and, in many instances, en- 

 tire plants. As the list comprises drugs of widely diverse values 



CRUDE DRUG 



and effects, and many are liable either to intentional or uninten- 

 tional adulteration and substitution, it becomes necessary to give 

 each lot of drugs received careful inspection. These examinations 

 are made bythe botanist in charge, and, in cases of the least doubt, 

 literature giving the physical appearance of the drug is consulted; 

 the herbarium sheet specimen is used, and, if the material be leaf, 

 flower, fruit, or herb, it is easily proven to be false or true. 

 After identification, the drug is further examined as to its physi- 

 cal condition, compared with the standard jar specimen, and, if 

 found to be in proper condition, labeled and passed into stock. 



In all this work the herbarium has a constant use and is essen- 

 tial to careful examination of many drugs. It is highly valuable 

 in the detection of substitutions and adulterations, and in many 

 cases is the only means by which the determination of these 

 sophistications is rendered possible. While it is important to 

 know of a substitution or an adulteration, it is almost equally 

 important to know of what it consists. Were the herliarium less 

 general in its charactei', including only recognized medicinal 

 plants, a great part of its usefulness would be destroyed, as only 

 by careful comparison can some vegetable adulterants be located 



