Am.  Jour.  Pharro."! 
June,  1902.  f 
Descriptions  of  Crude  Drugs. 
273 
during  the  past  two  or  three  years,  that  a  method  of  assay  for  total 
alkaloids  at  least  might  be  introduced.  In  addition  to  this  a  de- 
scription of  the  color  of  the  ground  or  powdered  drug,  with  the 
chief  cell  characteristics,  might  be  added. 
Here  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  some  of  the  difficulties  that 
will  necessarily  be  encountered  in  developing  satisfactory  tests  or 
descriptions  for  the  various  constituents  and  different  appearances 
of  powdered  drugs.  As  is  well  known,  the  German  Pharmacopoeia, 
in  its  last  revision,  recognized  the  fact  that  many  crude  drugs  are 
being  marketed  in  a  ground  or  powdered  form,  and  has  given  quite 
a  number  of  very  satisfactory  and  reliable  descriptions  of  the  various 
powders.  Among  others  it  includes  a  description  of  the  powder  of 
ipecac.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  description  strictly  applies  to 
the  root  of  Brazilian  origin  ;  so  that,  despite  the  fact  that  chemical 
as  well  as  physiologial  investigations  have  demonstrated  that  the 
Carthagena  root  is  in  many  respects  quite  as  efficient  and  even 
conforms  with  the  chemical  requirements  of  the  German  Pharma- 
copoeia, it  is  nevertheless  barred  from  use  in  Germany  on  account 
of  the  reputed  difference  in  the  size  of  its  starch  grains. 
Apart  from  any  question  of  whether  or  not  it  is  necessary  or 
desirable  to  admit  the  Carthagena  ipecac  on  the  same  terms  as  the 
Brazilian  root,  this  particular  incident  only  illustrates  the  fact  that 
we  cannot  possibly  expect  to  have  a  series  of  descriptions  that  will 
prove  to  be  perfect  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time,  for,  as  has  been 
repeatedly  pointed  out,  it  is  only  by  making  mistakes  and  subse- 
quently discovering  them  that  we  can  possibly  expect  to  make 
progress  in  any  vocation  or  science. 
Belladonna  leaves  are  certainly  never  seen  in  trade  as  herbarium 
specimens,  so  that  at  least  the  first  half  of  the  U.S.P.  description 
would  not  be  applicable  to  their  identification,  as  they  usually  occur 
in  the  shops.  In  addition  to  the  remaining  portion  of  the  descrip- 
tion we  should  have  an  enumeration  of  characteristic  cell  formations 
that  may  be  found  and  also  a  method  of  assay  for  the  alkaloid. 
Rhubarb  belongs  to  a  class  of  drugs  for  which  we  cannot,  at  the 
present  time  at  least,  expect  to  have  a  satisfactory  chemical  standard. 
We  have,  however,  several  qualitative  tests,  and  also  several  distinct 
cell  constituents  and  cell  forms  ;  these  should  be  enumerated  in  the 
official  description. 
Practically  the  same  is  true  of  squill;  here,  again,  a  quantitative 
