(io8) 



in a large number of varieties. Several hundred varieties 

 of rice, chiefly from the Philippines, will be found of 

 special interest. Of Indian corn, we show not only the 

 highest product of modern plant breeding, but many 

 primitive forms, not far removed from the original wild 

 product. Dhoura or Kaffir corn is another highly im- 

 portant grain, little known among us except as a chicken 

 food, but constituting the staple article of diet of millions 

 of oriental people. Of the more common grains, such as 

 wheat, oats, and barley, the products of different countries 

 have been gathered, as well as sets representing the com- 

 mercial grading by the New York Produce Exchange. 



Drugs. Cases 1 15-174. Our materia medica collec- 

 tion is the largest in the Museum, with the possible ex- 

 ception of that of foods. It includes only the crude, 

 ground, and powdered vegetable drugs, with a few con- 

 stituents extracted from them. It has not been deemed 

 advisable to include manufactured medicinal prepara- 

 tions, partly because of their great number, and partly 

 because of their liability to deterioration when kept for 

 long periods. It is not to be understood that the presence 

 of a drug in this Museum is an endorsement, or even an 

 indication of its value. It is recognized that a large 

 minority, if not an actual majority of vegetable drugs that 

 are or have been used, are either worthless or of so little 

 value as not to be entitled to use. It sometimes happens, 

 however, that new discoveries are made regarding the value 

 of a drug previously regarded as worthless that reveals it as 

 the possessor of important properties. It appears desirable 

 also that such a collection should possess historical value, 

 which is subserved by including in it all plants that have 

 been considerably employed in medicine, without regard 

 to the justification for such use. 



The classification of these collections is of similar charac- 

 ter to that of the foods. They are first grouped as under- 

 ground portions, barks, woods, leaves, flowers, herbs, and 

 twigs, fruits, seeds, and miscellaneous parts and products. 



