PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
15 
Cleaning and Garbling . — All drugs should be freed from foreign 
matter which may cling to them. This applies particularly to subter- 
ranean organs, which must be freed from soil, sand, foreign roots and 
rootlets and other foreign particles. Most of the dirt may be removed 
by brisk shaking, especially if the soil, in which the plants have been 
growing, is quite dry and sandy. Wet adobe soil clings quite tenaciously 
and after drying it bakes and clings very firmly. Soil which can not 
be removed by shaking must be removed by washing in clean water. 
Leaves, herbs, barks, fruits and seeds should never be washed. 
Washing should only be employed when necessary and should not be 
prolonged more than is required. Prolonged soaking and washing in 
water removes much of the active principle and reduces the value of 
the drug accordingly. 
Garbling consists in removing by picking, sifting or winnowing all 
undesirable parts or particles. Careful cleaning and garbling gives 
the drug a wholesome appearance and adds greatly to its commercial 
as well as medicinal value. Machinery and various mechanical devices 
are desirable or necessary in cleaning and garbling. 
Sorting into grades is not permissible with drugs. That is, separating 
the crop yield into grades of different qualities, as is generally done 
with fruits and grains, for only first grades or qualities are wanted. 
Wholesale as well as retail dealers always call for the best quality drugs. 
The grower who would place on the market a sorted, inferior article 
would be guilty of a gross misdemeanor. 
Peeling, Cutting and Slicing . — These processes hasten drying by 
increasing surface exposure and increasing the rate of evaporation of 
moisture. The special function of the epidermis and cork tissue is to 
reduce the evaporation of moisture from the interior of plant organs. 
Removing these tissues therefore permits the more rapid escape of 
moisture ; as a result the drug dries more quickly, which is not only 
time saving, but also lessens the decomposition of active principles 
and reduces the tendency toward the development of microbes, molds, 
mildews and other animal parasites. 
Occasionally peeling is for the purpose of removing the outer inert 
portions, as with many barks (cinnamon, elm, soap bark, butternut, 
etc.) and the fruit of colocynth. In some instances peeling is practiced 
when it is unnecessary or undesirable, as in the case of ginger and 
calamus. 
As a rule drugs which are cut or sliced are not peeled or decorticated 
for reasons which are perhaps self-evident, though there are exceptions, 
as for example, rhubarb roots, which are both peeled and cut. The 
manner of cutting and slicing drugs varies in different countries and 
with different drug collectors. These operations are performed on 
fleshy roots, rhizomes, tubers and bulbs. Some are sliced or cut trails- 
