90    Microscopic  Examination  of  Vegetable  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\    February,  1908. 
examination  of  powdered  drugs  I  might  be  led  to  overlook  the 
relative  value  of  crude  and  powdered  drugs.  We  all  know  the  rela- 
tive perishability  of  crude  drugs  depending  upon  the  nature  of  the 
constituents,  some  deteriorating  so  rapidly  as  to  make  it  necessary 
to  use  them  in  a  fresh  condition,  as  Pulsatilla,  bryony  and  conium. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  a  few  vegetable  drugs  which  are  improved 
by  keeping  them  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  but  generally  speaking 
they  deteriorate  more  rapidly  in  the  powdered  condition  than  in  the 
crude  condition.  Another  objection  to  the  use  of  powdered  drugs  is 
the  fact  that  they  lend  themselves  more  readily  to  adulteration  and 
to  the  use  of  poor  grades  of  drugs,  which  ofttimes  would  be  rejected 
if  offered  for  sale  in  the  crude  condition. 
Dr.  Squibb's  papers  1  on  the  study  of  rhubarb  are  not  without 
interest  at  this  time.  From  his  observations  he  concluded  that  "  no 
ordinary  judgment  is  at  all  to  be  depended  upon  in  the  selection  of 
powdered  drugs,"  and  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  "  the  im- 
portation of  any  drug  in  powder  is  prima  facie  evidence  that  there 
is  something  to  be  concealed  by  the  condition  of  being  in  powder, 
and  this  evidence  should  be  taken  as  overbalancing  all  other  evi- 
dence in  the  case  of  medicinal  substances,  until  it  can  be  annulled 
by  proof  to  the  contrary."  At  this  time  we  do  not  insist  that  every 
powdered  drug  upon  the  market  should  be  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion, but  that  it  is  much  more  difficult  to  identify  and  pronounce 
upon  the  quality  of  a  drug  in  the  powdered  condition  than  in  the 
crude  condition.  In  view  of  these  various  considerations  it  would 
probably  be  better  if  pharmacists  made  their  preparations  from 
crude  drugs.  But  inasmuch  as  comminuted  and  powdered  drugs 
are  mostly  purchased  by  retail  druggists  it  becomes  necessary  for 
the  Pharmacopoeia  to  consider  methods  for  their  examination  if  the 
revisers  desire  the  Pharmacopoeia  to  be  of  use  to  pharmacists  in  this 
respect.  That  the  work  is  technical  does  not  argue  against  its  con- 
sideration, but  should,  it  would  seem,  be  all  the  more  reason  for 
giving  it  attention.  Either  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  admit  des- 
criptions of  powdered  drugs,  or  extend  the  descriptions  of  the  his- 
tological characters  of  crude  drugs,  the  elements  being  identical  in 
each  case,  only  in  the  crude  drugs  they  have  a  relation  to  one 
1  Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  16  (1868),  p.  452: 
17  (1869),  p.  398  ;  and  19  (1871),  p.  497. 
