THE  AMEKICAN" 
JOURNAL  OF  PH 
JANUARY,  1917 
A  LETTER  FROM  THE  ORIEN 
MASTIC  AND  ITS  ORIENTAL  US 
ES. 
By  John  Uri  Lloyd,  Phar.^^  " 
A  series  of  studies  such  as  I  am  making  is  increasingly imteres't- 
ing  and  instructive.  After  having  obtained  second-hand- informa- 
tion all  one's  life  concerning  Oriental  drugs  and  products,  it  is  re- 
freshing to  study  them  in  their  homes,  and  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  methods  of  collecting,  sorting,  and  preparing.  Indeed,  I 
cannot  but  feel  that  I  have  done  myself  an  educational  injustice  not 
to  have  more  than  once  made  the  effort  to  learn  what  a  person  con- 
cerned in  drugs  should  know  at  first  hand,  by  personal  investigation. 
I  am  quite  of  the  opinion  that,  for  more  reasons  than  one,  it  would 
have  been  the  proper  thing  had  I  made  such  excursions  as  this  long 
ago,  and  contributed  the  results  to  others.  But  enough.  My  object 
is  not  to  intrude  professional  study  in  a  letter,  however  interesting  it 
may  be  to  me. 
The  methods  of  life  of  the  Orientals  are  very  instructive.  The 
foods  are  often  somewhat  peculiar,  as  also  are  the  creatures  eaten. 
Nor  do  we  have  to  go  to  the  land  of  the  Turks  for  examples.  For 
instance,  whoever  visits  Naples  makes  a  mistake  if  he  misses  the 
Aquarium.  It  is  the  most  complete  in  the  world.  Indeed,  the  world 
of  science  contributes  to  its  support.  Our  Smithsonian  Institution 
makes  to  it  an  annual  donation  of  money.  Here  are  to  be  seen  the 
sea  creatures  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  alive,  and  content.  In  great 
glass  compartments  are  the  many  swimming  and  creeping  things  that 
1  Written  in  Naples,  March  26,  1906.  The  article  on  Mastic  was  written 
in  Smyrna,  some  months  later.  The  right  is  reserved  to  its  use  by  a  medical 
and  pharmaceutical  journal.    /.  U.  L. 
(1) 
