224 
Echinacea. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      May,  1910. 
ECHINACEA  AND  A  SPURIOUS  ROOT  THAT  APPEARED 
IN  THE  FALL  OF  1909. 
By  John  Moser,  Jr.,  P.D. 
Pharmacognosist  for  J.  L.  Hopkins  &  Co. 
During  the  fall  of  1909,  a  root  of  uncertain  botanical  origin 
was  offered  as  echinacea  to  the  New  York  drug  merchants.  The 
commercial  source  was  St.  Louis,  and  for  a  time  nearly  all  of  the 
echinacea  offered  was  found  on  examination  to  be  spurious.  The 
spurious  root  may  have  been  offered  before  this  time,  but  if  so 
it  has  not  to  our  knowledge  been  reported. 
A  search  of  the  literature  on  the  subject,  which  is  not  abundant, 
failed  to  bring  out  any  information  that  would  indicate  that  the 
root  in  question  had  been  previously  recognized  as  spurious,  or 
that  would  throw  any  light  whatever  on  its  probable  botanical 
source.    (See  note.) 
The  "spurious  root  when  in  the  entire  state  differs  in  certain 
features  from  echinacea,  but  yields  a  powder  that  has  a  very 
similar  appearance,  and  in  this  form  its  detection  is  extremely 
improbable  without  a  microscopic  examination. 
Considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  medicinal  value  of 
echinacea  exists,  as  certain  recent  reports  indicate.  That  the  drug 
is  attracting  much  attention  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  demand 
is  constantly  increasing,  while  the  market  supply  of  the  true  root 
is  now  practically  exhausted. 
Echinacea  contains  1  per  cent,  or  more  of  an  acrid  resinous 
substance,  and  is  said  also  to  contain  an  alkaloid.  When  tasted 
it  exhibits  certain  characteristics  which  would  lead  one  to  believe 
it  is  far  from  inert.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the 
spurious  root  cannot  be  expected  to  represent  in  any  way  the 
activity  of  the  true  drug. 
A  comparative  study  of  echinacea  and  the  spurious  root  has 
been  made  in  our  laboratory,  with  a  view  of  bringing  out  data 
which  will  aid  in  the  detection  of  the  spurious  when  in  powdered 
form  or  when  present  as  an  admixture  with  powdered  echinacea. 
The  principal  difference  was  found  in  the  sclerenchymatous  tissue 
as  will  be  later  pointed  out. 
Two  closely  related  plants  of  the  Composite?  contribute  to  the 
