8  Gelsemium.  {^2S£ST 
GELSEMIUM. 
By  Iv.  K.  Sayrk, 
Member  of  the  Research  Committee  C,  of  the  Committee  of  Revision  of  the 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia. 
RHIZOMES,  ROOTS  AND  STEMS. 
Some  time  ago  my  attention  was  called,  by  members  of  a  class  in 
microscopy,  to  the  varied  structure  of  this  drug.  Fragments  of 
gelsemium  root,  handed  to  the  different  members  of  the  class, 
when  sectioned  and  mounted,  did  not  show  the  same  characteristics. 
This  observation  led  me  to  examine  samples  of  gelsemium  root  from 
different  sources,  and  this  forced  the  conclusion  that  the  gelsemium 
of  the  market  is  composed  not  only  of  the  rhizome  and  root,  but 
also  of  the  stem  in  varying  proportions.  Furthermore,  that  the 
description  of  the  drug,  supposing  it  to  be  composed  of  rhizome  and 
root — as  is  taken  for  granted  by  the  Pharmacopoeia — is  somewhat 
ambiguous  and  misleading.  In  the  present  article  a  more  accurate 
description  of  the  rhizome  and  root,  and  a  method  of  distinguishing 
both  of  these  from  the  stem,  is  suggested. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  stem,  present  to  some  extent  in  the 
commercial  drug,  is  an  adulterant.  Reassuring  myself  on  this 
point,  I  sent  a  package  of  the  commercial  drug  to  Gerald  McCarthy, 
botanist  of  the  North  Carolina  Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 
asking  him  to  report  upon  the  same.  In  his  response  to  my  letter, 
he  states  :  "  The  specimens  you  submit  represent  the  rhizome  and 
stem  respectively,  the  latter  is  the  specimen  with  the  bast  fibres  in 
the  cortex.  The  stem  was  apparently  used  to  adulterate  the  rhizome 
in  the  original  lot.  So  far  as  I  know,  the  stem  has  no  medicinal 
value." 
It  is  an  interesting  question  whether  the  stem  has  any  medicinal 
virtue.  An  investigation  has  been  commenced,  by  which  it  is  hoped 
that  the  relative  value  of  the  rhizome,  root  and  stem  may  be  deter- 
mined. 
Collectors  in  the  South  have  been  applied  to  for  authentic  speci- 
mens. In  the  meantime  the  article  of  the  market  is  being  examined. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  state  that  Mr.  McCarthy,  in  his  letter,  re- 
marks :  "  The  parts  of  the  plant  collected  here  for  medicinal  use  are 
roots,  rhizomes,  leaves  and  flowers." 
The  description  given  of  gelsemium  rhizome  and  root,  in  one  para- 
graph, by  the  U.S. P.,  1890,  reads  as  follows  :  "  Cylindrical,  long,  or 
