536       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.    {Ai^0'vJe0mbe?,hi9oa " 
RECENT  LITERATURE  RELATING  TO  PHARMACY.1 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  MEDICINAL  PLANTS. 
The  most  noteworthy  thing  that  has  transpired  is  the  revival  of 
interest  in  the  subject  of  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants.  It 
seems  to  become  more  and  more  recognized  that  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  we  will  be  as  dependent  upon  the  agriculturist  for 
medicinal  plants  and  timber  as  we  are  to-day  dependent  upon  him 
for  our  food  products. 
A  valuable  article  on  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  in  Europe 
•appeared  in  the  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  April,  1900.  In  an  editorial 
in  the  same  number  the  subject  is  further  treated  with  its  possibili- 
ties, as  well  as  an  enumeration  of  plants  given  which  have  been 
cultivated  successfully  in  the  United  States.  At  the  Richmond 
meeting  of  the  A.  Ph.  A.,  the  Chairman  of  the  Scientific  Section 
further  called  attention  to  the  same  subject,  with  the  result  that  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  bring  the  matter  of  drug  cultivation 
before  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  the 
efforts  of  the  Professor  of  Pharmacognosy  in  Michigan  University  in 
securing  several  acres  of  ground  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  medici- 
nal plants  for  purposes  of  research.  All  these  events  indicate  not 
only  an  interest  in  the  subject,  but  emphasize  the  fact  that  there  is 
need  for  consideration  of  the  matter.  Twenty  years  ago  there  was 
just  as  much  interest  felt  as  to-day,  only  the  exigencies  of  the  situa- 
tion were  not  felt.  To-day,  however,  the  gathering  of  medicinal 
plants  is  restricted  to  but  certain  portions  of  the  South,  and  the 
reckless  extermination  without  regard  to  future  collections  is  mak- 
ing an  impression  upon  those  who  utilize  plant  products  for  medici- 
nal and  economical  purposes. 
The  cultivation  of  ginger  has  proved  so  remunerative  in  Jamaica 
that  measures  have  been  taken  to  cultivate  the  plant-yielding  ginger 
in  St.  Lucia,  Dominica  and  Barbadoes.  In  Samoa,  it  is  said  that 
kola  and  vanilla  are  being  planted. 
One  of  the  most  valuable  practical  books  relative  to  growing 
plants  is  "The  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Horticulture,"  to  be  pub- 
1  This  department  contains  a  rteume  of  the  work  in  botany  and  phar- 
macognosy during  the  past  year,  and  is  the  substance  of  a  report  presented  by 
Henry  Kraemer,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Botany  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  June,  1900. 
