An\u£st'  fjis11"'}    Coriaria  myrtifolia  as  an  Adulterant.  555 
that  sphagnum  dressing  is  superior  to  any  cotton  dressing  and  that 
it  has  better  absorbent  qualities. 
A  number  of  the  pharmacists,  especially  those  in  certain  sections 
of  Scotland,  have  aided  in  this  service  and  their  botanical  knowledge 
was  highly  useful  in  this  connection. 
It  is  stated  that  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  collect  the  moss,  dry  it 
in  convenient  clean  places  and  pack  it  in  bags.  Sphagnum  moss 
grows  so  extensively  in  the  marshes,  bogs  and  wet  places  through- 
out a  very  large  portion  of  the  United  States  that  its  value  as  a  sur- 
gical dressing  or  packing  and  for  other  war  purposes  where  cotton, 
oakum  or  similar  materials  are  now  being  used,  should  be  deter- 
mined and  this  problem  is  well  worth  the  investigation  of  Red  Cross 
and  Army  Medical  authorities.  If  its  usefulness  for  such  purposes 
can  be  established  an  endless  supply  is  available  at  a  nominal  cost 
and  in  many  localities  the  pharmacists  could  very  well  cooperate  in 
the  collection,  drying  and  transportation  thereof. 
CORIARIA  MYRTIFOLIA  AS  AN  ADULTERANT  OF 
MARJORAM.1 
*    By  George  M.  Beringer,  A.M.,  Ph.M. 
From  time  to  time,  reports  have  appeared  in  technical  and  scien- 
tific literature  of  the  detection  of  the  leaves  of  Coriaria  myrtifolia  L. 
as  an  admixture  in  various  foods  and  drugs.  The  adulteration  of 
senna  with  these  leaves  was  recorded  on  several  occasions  during  the 
last  century.  In  recent  years  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  has  several  times  reported  that  marjoram  containing 
these  leaves  had  been  imported. 
La  Wall2  proposed- the  following  method  for  the  separation  and 
estimation  of  coriaria  in  marjoram:  "by  placing  a  five  gramme 
sample  of  the  suspected  drug  upon  a  large  sheet  of  paper  and  re- 
peatedly shaking  and  blowing  until  the  lighter  particles  of  marjoram 
are  removed,  leaving  behind  the  stems  and  any  sand,  dirt,  stones, 
etc.,  that  may  be  present  and  the  flat,  heavier  particles  of  coriaria 
leaves." 
Coriaria  myrtifolia  L.  is  one  of  the  characteristic  shrubs  of  the 
1  Presented  in  abstract  at  the  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  Spring  Lake,  N.  J.,  June,  1918. 
2  Proceedings,  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  1917,  page  241. 
