338 
REMARKS  ON  TARAXACUM  ROOT. 
lowing  results — namely,  that  it  was  most  bitter  in  the  summer 
months,  more  especially  in  July ;  almost  as  bitter  in  the  begin- 
ning of  March,  should  the  weather  be  then  favorable  for  the 
season,  and  the  preceding  month  had  not  been  very  frosty  ; 
much  less  so  in  October,  November,  and  the  commencement  of 
December,  and  least  bitter  in  the  winter  months,  in  fact,  even 
sweetish  in  frosty  weather  or  directly  afterwards.  The  cause  which 
produced  the  increased  amount  of  the  bitter  principle  in  the 
root  in  the  spring  over  that  of  the  autumn  he  did  not  attempt  to 
explain ;  it  was,  no  doubt,  due  to  some  chemical  changes  in  the 
contents  of  the  root  of  which  we  were  at  present  entirely  igno- 
rant.   From  the  above  facts  alone  it  would  appear  that  in  the 
summer  months  the  root  possessed  the  greatest  medicinal  value, 
next  to  them  in  the  early  part  of  March,  then  in  the  autumn, 
and  least  in  the  winter  months.    Practically,  there  were  several 
difficulties  in  obtaining  a  satisfactory  result  in  a  pharmaceuti- 
cal point  of  view  from  the  roots  collected  during  the  summer, 
and  therefore  he  considered,  taking  every  circumstance  into  con- 
sideration, that  the  end  of  February  or  beginning  of  March  was, 
as  a  rule,  the  best  time  for  collecting  the  root  for  medicinal  use; 
or,  should  the  season  be  very  cold  and  the  preceding  months 
have  been  very  frosty,  then  the  time  of  collecting  might  be 
somewhat  later.     He  was  further  convinced  of  the  superior  ac- 
tivity of  the  root  at  the  above  periods  from  being  himself  in  the 
habit  of  taking  the  preparations  of  taraxacum  as  a  medicine, 
and  he  had  always  noticed  that  those  prepared  in  the  spring 
were  more  active  than  those  obtained  at  other  periods.  While 
thus  referring  to  the  medicinal  properties  of  taraxacum  root  he 
could  not  but  add  his  testimony  to  its  value,  its  effects  upon 
him  being  very  decided  and  beneficial,  and  he  had  also  seen  the 
best  results  experienced  by  its  use  in  others.    He  then  said  that 
he  trusted  that  some  Pharmaceutical  Chemist  would  operate 
upon  roots  collected  at  the  several  periods  mentioned  above, 
and  exhibit  the  results  at  a  future  meeting  of  the  Society,  and 
also  at  the  same  time  place  the  different  preparations  in  the 
hands  of  one  or  more  hospital  physicians  in  order  that  their 
activity  might  be  properly  tested.    By  such  a  course  of  proceed- 
ing we  should  soon  come  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion  as  to  the 
proper  period  for  collecting  taraxacum  root  for  medicinal  use. 
■ 
