486  The  Names  of  Medicinal  Plants,  etc.  {A%SeVi5Km' 
this  article,  and  that  by  similar  methods,  especially  extraction  and 
micro-chemical  tests,  the  more  important  plant  constituents  even 
may  be  determined  in  a  quantitative  manner.  Smaller  squares  than 
millimetres  may  be  employed.  Instead  of  tests  being  made  upon  a 
few  milligrams  of  material,  several  grams  should  be  used  to  obtain 
more  uniform  results.  It  is  believed  that  by  preparing  carefully  a 
series  of  powders  with  the  adulterants,  fairly  accurate  results  may 
be  obtained — certainly  sufficient  to  determine  approximately  the  ex- 
tent of  adulteration  without  recourse  to  elaborate  and  prolonged 
chemical  analyses.  By  employing  the  most  accurate  methods  of 
sampling  in  use  in  the  assay  laboratory,  samples  must  be  obtained 
that  are  representative.  Enlargements  by  photo-micrography,  and 
subsequent  cutting  out  and  comparing  by  weight  the  tissues  printed 
and  the  part  remaining,  may  be  of  service.  Finally,  much  time 
must  be  yet  devoted  in  ascertaining  the  real  and  permanent  value 
of  quantitative  microscopical  results  to  that  of  chemical  results. 
It  is  hoped  that  many  will  pursue  similar  lines  of  research. 
THE  NAMES  OF  MEDICINAL  PLANTS  OF  COMMERCIAL 
VALUE  THAT  ARE  GATHERED  IN  NORTH  CARO- 
LINA :  THEIR  VALUE,  AND  RELATIVE  AMOUNT 
SOLD  IN  THIS  COUNTRY  AND  EXPORTED  * 
By  Wiwjam  Simpson,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 
North  Carolina  has  been  facetiously  termed  a  strip  of  land  between 
two  States,  and  if  we  wish  to  know  something  of  its  products,  by 
reference  to  the  geographies  of  the  country,  we  learn  that  it  is  cele- 
brated for  its  tar,  pitch  and  turpentine.  It  is  with  a  view  of  bring- 
ing more  prominently  to  the  notice  of  the  members  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  the  wonderful  resources  of  North  Caro- 
lina that  I  have  accepted  the  query  proposed. 
North  Carolina,  from  its  position  in  the  Union,  being  about  mid- 
way between  the  North  and  South  Atlantic  States,  is  blessed  with 
a  climate  that  partakes  of  the  extremes  of  neither,  and  presents  the 
only  instance  where  the  influence  of  latitude  is  compensated  for  by 
that  of  longitude.    Beginning  at  its  eastern  boundary,  where  its 
*  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  held  at 
Asheville,  N.  C,  September,  1894. 
