ORGANIC MATERIA MEDICA. 
425 
leaves are ordered to be used in its officinal preparations. Similar parts are also 
directed to be employed of Conium and Ilyoscyamus. Although the leaves of 
the above-mentioned herbaceous plants have been alone previously ordered in 
British Pharmacopoeias, it has been long known by practical men that per¬ 
fectly efficient and stable extracts, etc., could not be so prepared •* hence we 
are glad to find that the authors of the present Pharmacopoeia have adopted 
the suggestion of Pharmaceutists. 
In the lecture u On Plants in a State of Life,” already alluded to, which I 
delivered in this Institution,f I made some remarks for the purpose of showing 
that the young herbaceous parts of plants did not materially vary in their activity 
from the leaves; and this was, I believe, the first time that their employment was 
endeavoured to be justified upon physiological principles. Thus, after showing 
the action of the leaves in the formation of the products and secretions of plants, 
I proceeded as follows :—“ We have shown above, that without leaves or other 
organs of an analogous nature, no growth to any extent can take place, or any 
secretions be formed in the plant. Thus the floral leaves, and the green parts of 
the flower, have a similar effect to the leaves ; even the young herbaceous parts, 
from which the leaves and other organs arise, are also directly concerned in the 
formation of products and secretions. This assimilating power of the young 
green herbaceous parts is commonly lost sight of, but in reality the structure of 
these parts is essentially the same as the leaves, except that their tissues are some¬ 
what more compact and differently arranged ; hence in proportion to amount of 
matter they do not expose so large a surface to the action of air and light as the 
leaves, and as the process of! assimilation only takes place in the cells imme¬ 
diately below the epidermis, their powers of forming products and secretions is 
somewhat less intense, but the difference between the parts immediately in con¬ 
tact with the leaves and the leaves themselves must be very slight. Indeed I am 
by no means certain, but that the young herbaceous parts frequently contain 
quite as much, or even more active secretions than the leaves themselves ; thus, if 
the latter organs be left on the stem till they have passed their active vital con¬ 
ditions, the active secretions which they normally contain will have passed to a 
great degree into the young stalks in their passage downwards to the main stem, 
and hence they would be then probably more active than the leaves, as they would 
in such a case not only be assimilating organs, but also the receptacle for the pro¬ 
ducts and secretions formed in the surrounding parts. The most convincing proof 
that I can adduce of the capability of young succulent parts to form products and 
secretions, is in the case of Cacti, Euphorbias, etc., which have frequently no true 
leaves or other analogous organs, but the plants are formed of a succulent stem 
or stems, from which the flowers arise; nevertheless, as is well known, and in 
the case of some of the Euphorbias especially, the secretions produced are of a 
very active nature. I might pursue this subject further, but enough has been 
said to show that, in practice, in making preparations from herbaceous plants, 
(to which the above remarks are intended especially to apply), we may consider 
the young vitally active parts in immediate contact with the leaves, as not ma¬ 
terially differing in activity from them, and that consequently they may be 
advantageously as well as economically used with them.” 
Belladonnas Badix.— Belladonna root was not mentioned in the last 
London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, but it was formerly officinal in that 
of the Dublin College. We remark upon it here because we find that the dried 
root imported from Germany is alone directed to be employed in the British 
Pharmacopoeia. We regard this as a mistake, for, in the first place, we have 
no sufficient proof of the German root being more active than that of the wild 
* See Papers by Mr. Squire in Pliann. Journ., vol. iii. 2nd ser. pp. 300 and 3(58. 
f Lecture “ On Plants in a State of Life,” by Prof. Bentley, Pliarm. Journ., vol. iii. 2nd ser. 
pp. 475 and 476. 
