SOME USEFUL PLANTS 335 
the Hawaiian Islands. It is also still more largely manu- 
factured from the juice of the sugar-beet (Sect. 392), both 
in Europe and in our own country. : 
A small amount of sugar of delicious flavor is made in 
various parts of the United States 
from the sap of the sugar maple. 
(2) MEDICINAL PLANTS AND 
THEIR PRODUCTS 
411. For thousands of years 
nearly all the most important 
medicinal substances were parts 
of plants or simple infusions 
(“teas”) or tinctures made from 
plants. During the nineteenth 
century chemical compounds, 
such as the alkaloids, of which 
quinia and morphia are familiar 
examples, took the place, to a con- 
siderable extent, of cruder prepa- 
rations, such as wine of Peruvian 
bark and laudanum, made from 
the same plant material. More 
recently many of the coal-tar prod- 
ucts have come into general use 
as remedies. But a little exami- Bit seer An oe 
nation of the contents of any well- (Much reduced.) s : 
stocked pharmacy will serve to 
show how dependent we still are on the curative action of 
plants for treating diseases. Sometimes the dried root, 
stem, or leaf is sold for medicinal use, as in the case of 
marshmallow root, quassia wood, sage leaves. Often the 
