^ptemberiS1"}     DruS  and  Medicinal-Plant  Investigations.  421 
abundant  reason  to  indicate  that  stage  in  the  plant's  growth  at 
which  the  maximum  amount  of  active  principle  can  be  obtained, 
and  to  put  on  a  more  solid  basis  a  matter  which  at  present  rests  on 
a  more  or  less  traditional  foundation. 
The  manner  of  curing  the  drug  to  preserve  both  appearance  and 
active  principle  will  be  taken  up  among  the  earliest  subjects  for 
investigation.  Custom  at  present  dictates  how  drugs  shall  be  cured, 
and  the  scientific  evidence  underlying  this  custom  is  weak.  Curing 
by  artificial  heat  at  various  degrees,  curing  by  natural  heat,  curing 
in  the  sunlight  and  curing  in  the  shade,  will  be  studied  with  refer- 
ence to  the  effect  on  the  appearance  of  the  drug  and  on  the  assay 
qualities.  The  part  played  by  the  oxidizing  ferments  in  bringing 
about  deterioration  in  drugs  will  be  made  a  matter  of  early  investi- 
gation, and  the  results  of  studies  made  by  this  department  on  the 
curing  of  tea  and  tobacco  give  strong  ground  for  hope  that  they 
may  be  carried  over  with  great  profit  to  the  question  of  drugs. 
Field  experiments  to  determine  the  value  of  special  treatment  in 
enhancing  the  quality  of  the  drug  are  also,  contemplated.  The 
question  of  the  effect  of  different  methods  of  fertilization  and  con- 
ditions of  cultivation,  the  question  of  shade  and  sunlight,  and  of 
special  methods,  such  as  removing  flower-buds,  will  also  be  investi- 
gated. 
It  is  the  hope  of  those  in  charge  of  this  work  to  extend  these 
studies  to  include  the  domestication  and  cultivation  of  various 
native  drug-plants  which  at  present  furnish  valuable  drugs.  Many 
of  these  plants,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  various  drug-handlers 
from  time  to  time,  are  becoming  increasingly  difficult  to  obtain  in 
sufficient  quantity,  and  the  fear  ha=>  been  expressed  that  extermina- 
tion at  no  very  distant  date  was  in  store  for  these  things,  with  the 
resulting  disappearance  of  the  drug  from  the  market.  Obviously, 
this  would  be  a  calamitv  to  the  human  race,  and  the  cultivation  of 
these  things  under  agricultural  conditions  will  be  a  matter  of  very 
careful  study.  Experiments  have  already  begun  on  a  very  small 
scale  with  hydrastis,  Seneca  snakeroot  and  spigelia.  Attempts 
to  find  methods  of  growing  seed  will  be  first  made,  and  should  this 
be  successful,  the  cultivation  on  a  commercial  scale  will  be  made 
the  subject  of  investigation. 
In  so  far  as  opportunity  allows,  the  hope  is  entertained  that  the 
investigation  of  plants  promising  to  furnish  valuable  new  drugs  will 
