10 
Gelsemium. 
f  A.m.  Jour.  Phariu. 
I    January,  1897. 
says,  are  peculiar  and  of  positive  value.  "  The  first  of  these  char- 
acteristics," he  says,  "  is  derived  from  the  medullary  rays.  These 
usually  widen  in  a  marked  manner,  going  from  centre  to  circumfer- 
ence, being  sometimes  much  more  than  twice  as  broad  externally  as 
internally.  The  second  characteristic  is  the  tendency  of  the  pith  to 
be  penetrated  by  several  plates  of  large,  thin-walled  cells,  which 
divide  the  pith  more  or  less  perfectly  into  four  portions.  This  lat- 
ter characteristic  is  always  present  and  plainly  enough  marked  to 
serve  as  a  means  of  diagnosis." 
This,  the  author  seems  to  indicate,  is  a  characteristic  of  the  stem 
Fig.  2. — Gelsemium.    Powder  of  rhizome,    a,  wood  tissue  ;  b,  cell  from 
medullary  ray  ;  c,  cork  cells  ;  d,  bast ;  e,  parenchyma  of  cortex. 
and  root.  It  is  possible  he  may  have  meant  by  the  stem  the  under- 
ground stem  or  rhizome,  for  the  stem  is  not  official.  In  either  case, 
whether  the  stem  or  rhizome  is  intended,  the  statement  is  inaccu- 
rate and  misleading,  because  it  does  not  make  distinction  between 
the  stem  (or  rhizome)  and  root.  The  United  States  Dispensatory 
quotes  this  description  of  Professor  Rothrock,  and  does  not  clear  up 
the  ambiguity  and  inaccuracy.  None  of  the  text-books  make  any 
more  definite  and  lucid  description  of  the  root  and  rhizome  of  this 
plant. 
From  the  growing  plant  and  from  the  commercial  drug  numerous 
sections  have  been  made  and  examined  microscopically.    The  ac- 
