Am.  Jour.  Pharru.  1 
April,  1900.  J 
Lands  Where  Drugs  Grow. 
163- 
only  drying  agent  used  by  him.  A  smaller  grower  stated  that 
he  plucked  the  leaves  from  the  stalk,  laid  them  flat  between  porous 
paper,  after  the  manner  of  preparing  botanical  specimens,  and 
allowed  them  to  dry  while  so  pressed.  He  exhibited  some  very 
fine  examples  said  to  have  been  prepared  by  this  method.  And 
again,  isolated  growers  dry  the  plants  by  the  kitchen  fire,  thus 
producing  fairly  good-looking  drugs. 
The  manufacturing  of  the  extracts  of  fresh  plants  is  not  within 
the  province  of  this  paper.  We  may,  however,  note  that  by  this 
process,  when  well  conducted,  the  green  color  of  the  plant  and 
its  characteristic  odor  are  well  retained.  It  is  stated  that  to  ob- 
tain this  color  it  is  necessary  to  bring  the  plant  juice  quickly  to 
an  elevated  temperature,  whereby  the  ferment  principle— the  cause 
of  the  change  of  color — is  destroyed. 
For  drying  the  leaves  the  most  common  method  observed  was 
by  means  of  what  might  be  called  drying  closets.  These  are  fitted 
up  with  trays,  the  bottoms  of  which  are  of  wire,  or  in  some  in- 
stances cloth.  These  closets  are  usually  heated  by  hot  air,  but  in 
the  larger  establishments  are  fitted  up  with  steam  pipes ;  along  the 
bottom  or  sides  of  the  closet  provision  is  made  for  the  inlet  of  cold 
air,  and  for  the  exit  of  warm  air  at  the  top. 
So  far  as  I  could  judge  it  seemed  the  general  practice  in  the  case 
of  plants  like  belladonna,  hyoscyamus,  digitalis,  etc.,  to  pick  the 
leaves  from  the  stem  (from  hyoscyamus  the  midrib  is  removed), 
then  to  lay  them  flat  and  rather  loosely  upon  a  tray,  and  place  the 
tray  in  the  drier.  The  temperature  was  then  run  quickly  up  to 
i6o°-i8o°  (sometimes  higher).  As  soon  as  the  leaves  were 
well  heated  through,  the  trays  were  either  removed  to  another 
compartment  where  the  temperature  was  lower,  or  else  the  heat 
was  shut  off,  the  real  drying  being  continued  at  a  moderate  tem- 
perature, accompanied  by  a  careful  turning  of  the  leaves  as  the 
process  went  on.  In  one  drying  apparatus  I  noticed  that  round 
baskets  of  cloth  and  wire  were  used  instead  of  trays.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  primary  object  in  such  processes  is  to  preserve 
the  natural  color  of  the  plant,  and,  of  course,  incidentally  to  prevent 
decay. 
I  became  satisfied  that  this  course  is  pursued  in  most  instances 
without  any  other  consideration;  many  of  the  growers,  having  found 
that  a  given  method  will  produce  the  desired  color,  follow  the  pro- 
