82  The  American  Materia  Medica.  {^bS^^E*' 
or  charlock  seeds.  A  sample  taken  from  any  part  of  the  dry  mustard 
flour  may  be  taken  to  test  for  artificial  color  or  added  starch,  as  these 
adulterants  are  generally  worked  up  pretty  well  in  the  material. 
Red  pepper  seems  to  be  the  most  difficult  spice  to  obtain  a  uni- 
form sample,  owing  to  the  manner  in  which  the  pods  are  ground. 
The  first  method  is  impracticable  with  this  spice,  while  the  results 
obtained  by  sampling,  using  the  second  method,  are  about  fair.  The 
most  satisfactory  method  to  employ  is  the  following: 
A  metal  tube  about  one  inch  in  diameter  and  about  three  feet 
long,  with  a  sharp  end,  and  so  constructed  that  it  can  be  forced 
from  the  top  of  the  barrel  containing  the  red  pepper  through  to  the 
bottom  of  the  barrel,  is  used.  The  tube  is  emptied,  inserted  several 
times  through  the  pepper  in  the  barrel,  the  samples  are  mixed  and 
subdivided  until  a  sufficient  sample  is  obtained  for  the  analysis.  I 
may  say  that  this  method  of  sampling  gives  good  results  with  the 
majority  of  the  spices  where  samples  have  to  be  taken  from  barrels. 
CONCERNING  THE  AMERICAN  MATERIA  MEDICA  * 
By  John  Uri  Lloyd,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
(Concluded  from  page  n.) 
The  Lobelia  Epoch. — One  of  the  main  tenets  of  the  Thom- 
sonians  was  the  employment  of  no  poisonous  remedies.  They  aimed 
to  exclude  ail  mineral  substances,  as  well  as  every  vegetable  sub- 
stance that  could  produce  death  or  that  could  be  reckoned  among 
those  antagonistic  to  life  processes.  Thus  the  list  of  remedies  used 
by  Thomson  omitted  even  such  drugs  as  sanguinaria,  or  veratrum, 
or  gelsemium. 
Comes  now  the  irony  of  fate !  The  sheet  anchor  of  the  Thom- 
sonians  was  lobelia.  A  lobelia  course  was  preliminary,  in  most 
instances,  to  any  other  form  of  treatment  whatsoever.  A  vital 
blow  was  now  struck  by  the  antagonists  of  Thomson.  Lobelia  was 
by  them  thrown  into  the  list  of  poisons!  Many  were  the  deaths 
reported  as  resulting  from  the  heroic  medication  of  the  Thomson- 
ians  in  which  lobelia  was  shown  (or  asserted)  to  have  been  the  chief 
offender.    Came  at  last  the  arrest,  prosecution  (or  as  some  prefer 
*  Address  delivered  before  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy, 
November  4,  1909,  being  the  third  of  a  series  of  special  lectures  for  1909-10. 
