ON THE ANATOMY OF DRUGS. 
510 
It is difficult to explain the omission both by Dr. Berg and Dr. Sciiiickhardt. 
of any notice of the crystal-bearing cells. Dr. Radlkofer very properl yattaches 
much importance to them. 
We need not dilate further on the roots of Dicotyledonous plants. The ab¬ 
sence of any notice, in Dr. Berg’s work, of many in common use with us, and 
the presence, on the other hand, of several such as those of LevUticum officinale^ 
Ononis spinosa^ Pimpinella saxifraga^ Lappa sp. Radix Bardanse") and Arte¬ 
misia vulgaris^ all of which are carefully figured, may be attributed to the dif¬ 
ference between medical practice (or fashion ?) in this country and Germany. 
The diagrammatic figures of sections of the various fruits used in medicine or 
for economic purposes, derived from the Natural Order UmhelUferse^ deserve 
remark as a most instructive series. It is not that the observer could expect to 
identify every fruit so figured, without previous study, by the mere outline of 
its transverse section, but that the drawings form an admirable key to the modi¬ 
fications of form in the various species. It would be interesting to see figures 
from actual sections placed alongside those in the ‘ Atlas,’ which as a rule are 
too geometric in their drawing to be regarded otherwise than as ideal sketches. 
Dicotyledonous seeds would of themselves afford material for a long paper, 
for in additition to the embryo, there is the testa or seed coat, and frequently an 
oily, starchy or horny albumen, causing by their modifications an endless variety 
of structure. There are few portions of vegetable histology in which so much 
interesting work remains to be done, as in the anatomy of the seed-coverings. 
Almost the whole of the seeds used in medicine may be studied with advantage, 
but in some few, such as Star-anise, Stramonium, Nux Vomica, Linseed, White 
Poppy and Hyoscyamus, the testa presents structural peculiarities which can 
scarcely be so well observed in any other vegetable tissues. 
But there are still certain vegetable substances, used in medicine in the con¬ 
dition in which they occur in nature, which would not be included in any of 
groups of Exogenous products we have spoken of. Such are the external glands 
which constitute Lupuline and Kamela, and more strikingly still anomalous 
growths like the Nut-gall, which might with almost equal justice be regarded 
as derivatives of the animal kingdom. 
The little bodies found around the seed-vessels amongst the scaly bracts of 
the Hop, and known as Lupuline, are a good example of the organs known to 
botanists as “ compound external glands.” They are often mounted as micro¬ 
scopical objects, and their appearance is therefore familiar to many. They are 
small urn-shaped cellular masses, of yellow colour (owing to the oil or oleo-resin 
they contain), and with a beautifully reticulated surface. It is necessary in 
mounting them to observe that, as heat bursts the capsule, glycerine rather 
than Canada balsam should be used as a medium, but it is still better to mount 
them dry, and examine as opaque objects. 
Kamela consists of minute particles brushed from the seed capsules of Rottlera 
tinctoria^ and to the naked eye it has the appearance of a dull red powder. 
The microscope shows that the constituent particles are not alike, but of two 
sorts, the lighter being colourless stellate hairs, the dark coloured portion being 
composed of brown or red compound glands. The glands are of themselves too 
dark and opaque to admit of their structure being ofeerved, but after treatment 
with caustic alkali or mounting in Canada balsam they may be rendered trans¬ 
parent. In this condition they are seen to be minute vesicles containing 
within them a number of oval, elongated bodies grouped into a mulberry- 
shaped mass. It is these very minute cells which contain the dark red colour¬ 
ing matter so highly esteemed as a dye for silk, and it is probably to the same 
that Kamela owes its anthelmintic virtues. 
