Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
June  1, 1874.  J 
Materia  Medica  Notes. 
289 
zome  or  prostrate  stem  having  a  number  of  rootlets  arranged  almost 
in  a  line  along  the  under  surface.  In  a  transverse  section  the  corti- 
cal portion  is  found  to  be  hard,  and  of  a  yellowish  white  color,  while 
the  central  portion  or  meditullium  is  soft,  and  of  a  dirty  greyish  or 
brownish-white  color.  The  odor  is  distinctive,  and  the  taste  has  a 
peculiar  acridity  and  an  after  flavor  which  may  be  likened  to  the 
odor  of  rancid  cocoa-nut  oil. 
The  spurious  drug  may  be  at  once  recognized  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  a  rhizome,  but  a  root  which  evidently  descends  vertically  into 
the  soil,  as  it  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  rootlets.  In  size  it  varies 
from  that  of  arnica  to  five  or  six  times  as  large,  in  some  pieces  ap- 
pearing prsemorse,  and  in  others  suddenly  narrowed  and  elongated. 
The  cortical  portion  resembles  that  of  arnica  in  color,  but  the  medi- 
tullium, or  central  portion,  is  of  a  purple  tint,  and  presents  a  discoid 
appearance,  two  characters  which  I  believe  are  met  with  in  but  few 
roots.  When  the  root  is  soaked  in  water  the  purplish  meditullium 
swells  up  and  loses  its  discoid  appearance.  The  taste  is  astringent 
and  somewhat  aromatic,  faintly  resembling  that  of  cloves.  Thinking 
it  possible  that  the  root  might  belong  to  some  plant  having  leaves 
like  those  of  arnica,  and  that  it  might  have  been  gathered  in  mistake 
for  arnica,  I  examined  several  species  of  Hieracium,  which  grow  in 
similar  situations,  and  resemble  arnica  in  having  composite  flowers 
and  entire  leaves,  but  in  none  of  them  had  the  meditullium  a  purple 
color.  The  astringent  taste  of  the  spurious  arnica  then  led  me  to 
suspect  that  it  might  be  the  root  of  a  rosaceous  plant,  and  the  clove- 
like flavor  seemed  to  indicate  the  root  of  Geum  urbanum,  an  indige- 
nous plant  well  known  to  herbalists  in  this  country,  under  the  name 
of  Avens,  or  Herb  Bennet.  Having  procured  specimens  of  the  latter 
from  Covent  Garden,  I  found  that  the  appearance,  structure  and 
taste  were  identical,  and  have  therefore  no  hesitation  in  referring 
the  spurious  arnica  root  to  that  plant.  The  other  kinds  of  root  were 
present  only  in  small  quantity,  and  appear  to  have  been  accidental. 
One  is  a  slender  rhizome  of  a  paler  color  than  that  of  arnica,  and 
has  a  white  discoid  meditullium,  and  a  bitter  taste  ;  another  is  evi- 
dently that  of  a  species  of  Vaccinium  ;  a  third  looks  very  like  vale- 
rian, but  is  odorless ;  a  fourth  closely  resembles  bistort  root. 
From  all  the  spurious  roots  the  leaves  have  been  carefully  removed, 
while  an  unusual  quantity  of  arnica  leaves  are  mixed  with  the  roots, 
evidently  for  the  purpose  of  producing  the  impression  that  the  root 
18 
