Amiu^us^t■J897^'m•}    The  Pharmacist  and  the  Microscope.  401 
too),  are  all  to  be  employed  where  necessary  in  determination  of 
drugs.  Now,  there  are  times  when  the  use  of  the  microscope  alone 
is  essential,  whereas  at  other  times  it  is  rather  a  convenience  in  the 
practice  of  pharmacy.  Some  of  the  applications  of  the  microscope 
in  pharmacy  are  the  following  : 
(1)  Examination  of  Some  Crude  Drugs. — While  appearance, 
odor,  taste,  etc.,  are  generally  sufficient  aids  in  determining  most  of 
the  commercial  crude  drugs  one  from  another,  still  there  are 
instances  where  a  microscopical  examination  is  desirable  and  neces- 
sary. This  is  especially  so  when  certain  drugs  occur  in  relatively 
small  pieces,  or  when  two  or  more  drugs  that  possess  similar  charac- 
teristics are  supposed  to  be  intermixed  or  incorrectly  labelled.  The 
microscopic  structure  will  generally  enable  one  to  quickly  dispose 
of  such  doubtful  cases.  The  following  crude  drugs  of  the  U.S.P. 
require  not  infrequently  a  microscopical  examination  for  their 
accurate  determination,  especially  when  they  do  not  appear  in  the 
forms  usually  seen  in  commerce : 
Mexican  sarsaparilla  from  Honduras  sarsaparilla. 
Belladonnae  radix  (the  horny  kind)  from  Inula. 
Belladonna  folia  from  Stramonii  folia. 
Serpentaria,1  from  Spigelia. 
Granatum  from  Xanthoxylum. 
There  are  a  few  cases  in  the  examination  of  crude  drugs  where 
microscopical  examinations  have  been  advocated,  and  while  some- 
times necessary,  the  quality  and  nature  of  adulterant  may  frequently 
be  told  by  the  eye  alone,  as  Crocus,  etc. 
(2)  Examination  of  Powdered  Drugs. — In  recent  years  powdered 
drugs  have  been  introduced  to  such  an  extent  that  in  many  retail 
pharmacies  few  crude  drugs  are  to  be  found.  Drugs  in  the  powdered 
condition  may  be  obtained  pure,  but  adulteration  is  more  easily 
effected.  The  reason  for  this  is  owing  to  the  inability  of  the  average 
pharmacist  in  detecting  it.  We  notice  that  some  State  Boards  in 
their  examinations  give  the  candidates  very  few,  if  any,  crude  drugs 
for  determination.  In  time  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
candidates  for  the  State  Board  examinations  will  be  required  to 
identify  powdered  drugs  and  pronounce  on  their  quality.  This 
is  desirable  for  the  sake  of  the  profession  of  pharmacy,  and  in  accord 
1  The  microscope  is  not  necessary  here,  as  will  be  shown  in  an  article  to  be 
published  later. 
