Lands  Where  Drugs  Grow. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.- 
1       April,  1900. 
opment  of  benzol,  benzaldehyde,  benzoic  acid,  and  styrol  in  ben- 
zoin; the  formation  of  ferulic  acid  in  asafetida;  and  in  all  resinous 
drugs  complex  and  varied  reactions  take  place  during  their  prepara- 
tion for  sale  and  use.  The  same  author  cites  the  well-known  and 
most  profitable  examples  of  such  action  as  exhibited  in  vanilla,  in- 
digo, litmus,  etc.,  wherein  the  principles  sought  are  resultants  of 
what  is  termed  a  curing  process  "  the  work  of  man." 
In  watching  the  handling  of  drugs  in  the  field,  and  in  the  studjr 
of  their  growth,  a  series  of  changes  becomes  quite  apparent  to  the 
senses,  and  is  easily  demonstrated  by  experiment.  As  the  plant  is 
broken  into  parts,  striking  changes  occur  as  the  minutes  go  by; 
oxidation  follows  with  incalculable  rapidity;  starch  and  inulin 
change  to  or  toward  sugar;  the  sugars  in  turn  are  transformed; 
the  juices  jellify ;  fats  are  broken  up;  proteids  are  dissolved;  gluco- 
sides  are  resolved  into  sugar,  aromatics  and  pigments. 
These  phenomena  present  important  problems  which  have  been 
but  little  studied.  We  know  that  the  living  plant  structure  is  the 
seat  of  a  multitude  of  chemical  changes;  that  is,  has  been  built  up 
by  successive  or  alternating  chemical  actions  and  reactions.  As 
the  life  force  departs,  a  series  of  changes  begins  in  the  plant  cell 
that  is  even  more  complex  than  those  of  the  living  tissues. 
Many  of  the  changes  here  mentioned  as  observable  in  the  plant 
cells  during  the  preparation  for  use  have  been  erroneously 
attributed  to  the  action  of  the  "  plant  acids,"  or  obscurely  explained 
by  the  use  of  the  indefinite  term  "  oxidation."  The  key  to  the  trans- 
formations in  the  dead  cells  lies  in  the  action  of  the  ferments  and 
the  bacteria.  When  a  plant  is  uprooted  from  the  soil ;  when  the 
stalk  is  severed  from  the  root ;  when  the  branch  is  cut  from  the 
stalk;  or  the  leaf  is  torn  from  the  stem,  there  is  a  change  of  condi- 
tions and  of  environment  that  is  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  organic 
existence.  It  dies  as  the  animal  body  would  die  if  the  head  were 
severed  from  the  body,  only  more  slowly,  more  in  detail  and  uncon- 
sciously. The  organs  and  functions  of  plant  life  fade  away ;  it  wilts  ; 
nutrition  ceases ;  the  secretions  dry  up ;  capillary  circulation  is 
checked ;  the  living  thing  dies.  Accompanying  this  phenomenon 
of  death  is  a  series  of  changes  more  rapid  and  more  nearly  akin  ta 
those  which  follow  the  departure  of  animal  life.  Micro-organisms 
within  the  plant  tissue  and  of  the  air  are  loosed  from  restraint ;  the 
changes  in  the  plant  protoplasm  afford  a  nutritive  pabulum,  and  the 
