Am;jJury^ro2arm1  Cheap  Drugs.  313 
(6)  Adulteration  or  admixture  of  other  substances. 
(7)  Substitution  of  other  drugs. 
I  propose  to  devote  particular  attention  to  the  first  four  causes, 
as  much  more  attention  has  in  recent  years  been  directed  to  adul- 
terations and  substitutions  than  the  other  causes,  which  I  am  sure 
are  equally  deserving  of  our  careful  consideration. 
(1)  The  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  designates  in  a  number  of  instances 
the  age  that  plants  shall  be  to  yield  the  official  drugs,  as  digitalis  and 
hyoscyamus,  and  in  some  instances  states  at  what  time  of  the  year 
they  shall  be  gathered,  as  in  the  case  of  taraxacum  and  castanea, 
and  in  one  instance  even  the  locality  in  which  they  shall  be  grown,  as 
Cannabis  Indica.  This  constitutes  a  most  important  part  of  the  defi- 
nition, and  will  no  doubt  become  more  general  as  our  knowledge  of 
this  subject  increases.  It  should  be  mentioned  in  this  connection, 
however,  that  the  period  in  the  life-history  of  the  plant,  when  the 
medicinal  principles  are  either  in  greatest  amount  or  most  efficient, 
should  be  mentioned  rather  than  the  season  or  the  month,  as  these 
principles  change  with  the  life-period  of  the  plant,  and  are  inde- 
pendent of  the  seasons,  the  life-period  varying  with  the  particular 
locality  and  climate  in  which  the  plant  grows. 
Conium  and  digitalis  not  infrequently  flower  the  first  year,  and 
while  the  drugs  yielded  by  them  may  not  be  as  active  as  those 
obtained  from  biennial  plants,  still  one  cannot  say  what  cultivation 
may  not  accomplish  in  changing  the  character  of  the  drug. 
Then,  too,  we  are  apt  to  think  of  the  plant  as  being  inactive  during 
the  winter  season,  whereas  most  important  changes  of  its  constitu- 
ents are  continually  going  on,  the  nature  of  which  in  only  a  few 
instances  and  in  a  most  general  way  have  we  a  knowledge.  For 
instance,  inulin-containing  plants  have  this  principle  in  greatest 
amount  from  four  to  six  weeks  after  the  plant  dies  down,  or  from 
four  to  six  weeks  prior  to  the  beginning  of  its  vegetative  activities. 
During  the  winter,  as  during  the  summer,  larger  amounts  of  other 
carbohydrates  are  present.  In  the  same  way  starch-containing 
barks,  roots  and  rhizomes  yield  before  and  after  this  quiescent  period 
various  other  carbohydrates  and  oily  products. 
As  a  result  of  some  thought  along  this  line  I  have  formulated  the 
following  general  rules  for  the  collection  of  various  drugs : 
(1)  Roots,  rhizomes  and  barks  should  be  collected  immediately 
before  vegetative-life  processes  begin  (in  the  spring),  or  immediately 
after  the  vegetative  processes  cease  (usually  in  the  fall.) 
