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 manj^ of the coal-tar prod- 

 ucts have come into general use 

 as remedies. But a little exami- 

 nation of the contents of any well- 

 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 



Fig. 230. Flower Cluster 

 and Leaves of Sugar-Cane. 

 (Much reduced.) 



