356 
Note  on  Euonymus  atropurpureus.  { Am\j°y r^ 
Pharm. 
genuine  bark  by  the  eye  or  even  with  the  aid  of  a  lens.  As  in  the 
case  of  Cusparia  and  other  barks  with  a  soft,  friable,  or  .spongy 
cork,  the  external  surface  is  apt  to  vary  greatly  in  appearance.  On 
referring  to  Maisch's  "  Materia  Medica  "  I  found  the  following  de- 
scription, which  is  certainly  better  than  that  of  the  B.  P. :  "  De- 
scription:  Quilled  or  curved  pieces  about  2  Mm.  (1/12  in.)  thick; 
outer  surface  ash  gray  with  blackish  ridges  or  patches,  detached  in 
thin  and  small  scales ;  inner  surface  whitish,  or  slightly  tawny ;  frac- 
ture smooth,  whitish,  the  inner  layers  tangentially  striate;  nearly  in- 
odorous ;  taste  sweetish,  somewhat  bitter  and  acrid."  Stille  and 
Maisch,  in  the  United  States  Dispensatory,  state  that  the  bark  is 
"mottled  with  larger  or  smaller  patches"  or  fine  longitudinal  scaly 
ridges  and  meshes  with  brown  or  blackish  cork,  detaching  in  very 
thin  and  small  scales."  The  bark  that  arrives  in  this  country  is 
usually  almost  free  of  the  blackish  detachable  minute  scales,  probably 
due  to  friction  in  the  packing  ariH  the  sea  voyage,  especially  as  the 
bark  attracts  moisture  in  a  damp  atmosphere. 
Fig.  1.  Euonymus  atropurpurcus,  showing  longitudinally  striated  outer 
surface.  Fig.  2.  Showing  tangential  stratification  of  the  liber.  Fig.  3  False 
bark,  showing  tranverse  scars  on  outer  surfaces.  Fig.  4.  Showing  absence 
of  stratification  in  the  liber. 
The  fine  longitudinal  ridges  are  also  mentioned  by  Planchon  and 
Collin's  "  Drogues-Simples,"  tome  II,  p.  594,  but  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  blackish  detachable  scales,  which  are  not  usually  present 
in  European  samples.    A  good  idea  of  these  longitudinal  striations 
