AmAP7iir;Kooarm"}         Lands  Where  Drugs  Grow.  165 
drying  roots  in  their  own  way.  Many  special  processes,  the  pro- 
duct of  which  brings  high  prices,  are  held  as  secrets.  Uniformity 
of  color  seems  to  be  a  general  object.  In  certain  cases  this  is 
brought  about  by  a  combined  process  of  sweating  and  drying. 
The  fresh  material  is  covered  and  placed  in  a  moderately  warm 
place  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  until  the  desired  color  is  de- 
veloped, and  is  then  dried.  As  a  rule,  the  more  quickly  the  drying 
is  accomplished,  the  lighter  will  be  the  color.  The  intelligent 
producer  has  also  learned  that  at  certain  stages  of  growth  the  root 
or  leaf  is  more  likely  to  yield  the  desired  color.  Another  requisite 
is  that,  at  the  time  of  gathering  roots,  the  content  of  resin,  starch 
or  inulin  should  be  at  its  fulness.  It  has  been  found  that  at  such 
a  time,  the  cells  being  well  filled  and  the  product  more  firm,  the 
result  will  be  a  weight  increased  in  proportion  to  bulk. 
Many  drugs,  more  especially  roots,  when  received  by  the  large 
buyer  from  the  growing  district,  are  unmarketable;  probably  they 
have  not  been  well  washed;  or  they  have  been  carelessly  dried,  and, 
when  looked  at  in  heaps,  they  present  a  motley  array  of  colors, 
sizes  and  shapes.  It  is  the  province  of  the  dealer  to  put  them  into 
a  merchantable  condition.  Then  begins  a  series  of  washings,  soak- 
ings  in  water,  splitting,  cutting  and  drying,  a  general  dressing  up, 
until  the  whole  lot  is  brought  to  a  somewhat  uniform  outward  ap- 
pearance. I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whether  or  not  in  such  manipu- 
lation foreign  substances  are  sometimes  added. 
In  the  course  of  my  observations,  seeing  here  a  heap  of  light-col- 
ored root  which  ought  to  be  dark,  and  there  a  heap  of  dark-colored 
root  which  ought  to  be  light;  here  a  mixture  of  muddy  reds  and 
browns  that  should  have  been  bright  and  clear;  noting  in  close 
proximity  a  mixture  of  chalks  and  solutions  of  various-colored 
dyes,  I  could  imagine  how  easily  a  change  of  color  might  be  brought 
about  with  the  means  so  close  at  hand.  How  much  or  how  little 
the  toning  processes  which  I  have  described  affect  the  important 
constituents  of  the  drugs  is  an  unanswered  problem. 
Dieterich  has  treated  the  question  of  chemical  changes  which  take 
place  in  the  drying  of  many  drugs  in  a  most  painstaking  manner. 
Among  the  important  transformations  which  he  enumerates  is  the 
oxidation  of  tannic  acid  into  phlobaphenes.  This,  as  he  shows,  is 
strikingly  illustrated  in  malefern  and  rhamnus,  and  also  in  cinchona, 
cinnamon,  frangula,  and  indeed  in  all  barks;  there  is  also  the  devel- 
