62 
Drug  and  Herb  Vendors. 
( Am.  Jour.  Phartu. 
\    February,  1900. 
appearance  of  those  official  plants  which  grow  almost  at  our  very 
doorsteps,  for  it  undoubtedly  lends  interest  to  an  otherwise  dry 
subject. 
There  are  few  pharmacists  in  this  city  who  are  aware  of  the  fact 
that  more  than  75  per  cent,  of  the  official  drugs  are  growing  within 
a  radius  of  a  few  miles  of  Philadelphia,  but  such  is  the  case ;  and, 
what  will  be  still  more  surprising  to  many  persons,  more  than  50  per 
cent,  of  the  official  drugs  are  offered  for  sale  on  the  street  corners 
by  persons  who  earn  a  living  by  collecting  them  and  preparing 
them  for  sale.    These  persons  are  perfectly  familiar  with  the  season 
and  habitat  of  each  drug  and  are  acquainted  with  the  medicinal 
uses  of  every  drug  collected  by  them. 
The  subject  of  drug  vendors  and  their  wares  has  received  little 
attention  by  pharmaceutical  writers,  but  it  was  a  subject  in  which 
the  late  Professor  Henry  Trimble  was  deeply  interested,  and  it  was 
at  his  suggestion  that  the  writer  of  this  paper  began  collecting 
notes  on  the  subject  several  years  ago. 
The  large  amount  of  miscellaneous  information  which  was  obtained 
made  the  task  of  compilation  very  difficult,  but  while  the  subject  has 
by  no  means  been  exhausted,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  present 
Bundles  of  Herbs  and  Drugs  as  sold  by  the  Street  Vendors. 
