ON ARISTOLOCHIA RETICULATA. 
11 
varieties which indiscriminately furnish the article of 
commerce : these are the Jlristolochia hast at a, hirsuta, 
reticulata and serpent aria. 
As this essay is designed to be a comparative exami- 
nation, it is necessary to a proper comparison that both 
varieties be described. 
A. serpentaria. This is an herbaceous plant with a pe- 
rennial root, which consists of numerous small fibres, much 
interlaced, united to a horizontal head or caudex. Several 
stems often arise from the same root, and are about eight 
or ten inches in height: slender, round, flexuose, jointed at 
irregular distances ; frequently of a reddish purple color at 
the base. The leaves are oblong, cordate, acuminate, 
entire, alternate, 3-nerved, supported on short petioles at 
the joints of the stems, and are of a pale green color. 
The flowers, which are small, delicate, and purple, are 
supported on small peduncles and hang down, thus almost 
covering the flower in the earth and decayed leaves ; the 
fruit is an hexangular capsule divided into six compart- 
ments, many-seeded. This plant is a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia. (Wood and 
Baches Dispensatory.) It grows in light soil in forests. 
It is met with in commerce in bales of one hundred 
pounds, of a color varying from yellow to reddish-brown, 
of a bitter and pungent taste, and camphoraceous odor. It 
is said to be adulterated sometimes with the roots of the 
Panax quinquefolia or ginseng. This must be by acci- 
dent, as there could be no object for this adulteration, as the 
price of ginseng is equal to that of serpentaria. The roots 
of the Collinsonia precox are also used for this purpose, 
but this falsification is not met with in this country. The 
roots of the Spigelia marilandica are sometimes found in- 
termixed, but the absence of the bitter taste will serve to 
distinguish them. In the " Dictionaire des Drogues" it is 
