422 
Medicinal  Plants  in  France. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm  • 
June,  1920. 
THE  CULTIVATION  OF  MEDICINAL  PLANTS  IN  FRANCE 
AND  THE  FRENCH  COLONIES.* 
A  very  interesting  account  has  recently  been  published^  of  the 
development  of  the  movement  instituted  in  Paris  in  the  early  years 
of  the  war  for  extending  the  cultivation  in  France  and  French  Col- 
onies of  medicinal  plants  and  plants  used  for  the  production  of  vola- 
tile oils.  The  following  brief  review  of  the  progress  made  and  of  the 
organization  adopted  shows  the  energy  displayed  by  the  French  in 
their  endeavor  to  rehabilitate  what  was  formerly  a  prosperous 
industry  and  to  free  themselves  from  dependence  upon  foreign 
countries  for  raw  material.  The  support  which  the  movement  has 
received  from  the  Government  through  the  Ministry  of  Commerce 
and  Industry  stands  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  treatment  received 
by  a  similar  movement  in  this  country. 
France  has  gradually  lost  by  foreign  competition  the  premier 
position  which  it  formerly  occupied  in  the  collection  and  cultivation 
of  medicinal  plants,  and  has  consequently  been  compelled  to  pur- 
chase these,  chiefly  from  Germany  and  Austria,  to  the  value  of  nearly 
20  million  francs  yearly.  When  these  supplies  were  cut  off  by  the 
war  she  had  perforce  to  foster  both  collection  and  cultivation. 
The  first  attempts,  praiseworthy  as  they  were,  failed  to  produce 
results  of  immediate  value,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  coordinate 
isolated  efforts.  The  importance  of  the  work  has  already  been  pub- 
licly recognized.  The  Minister  of  Commerce  and  Industry  urged  on  the 
President  of  the  Republic  the  desirability  of  appointing  a  committee 
to  organize  and  increase  the  cultivation,  collection  and  preparation 
of  medicinal  plants,  and  in  191 8  a  Committee  of  Medicinal  Plants 
was  officially  formed.  The  President  of  this  Committee  was  a 
professor  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  and  the  Vice-Presidents 
were  a  professor  of  the  Faculty  of  Science  and  a  professor  of  the 
Ecole  Superieure  de  Pharmacie.  Among  the  twenty-six  members 
of  the  Committee  were  representatives  of  the  Colonial  Office,  of 
the  Jardin  Colonial,  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  of  the  Ministry 
of  Public  Instruction,  of  the  Ministry  of  Commerce,  of  the  Associa- 
tion Generale  des  Herboristes  de  France,  of  the  Association  des 
Syndicats  Pharmaceutiques  de  France,  etc.    An  exceedingly  strong 
*From  The  Pharm.  Jour,  and  Pharmacist,  March  6,  1920. 
^  "Le  Comite  interministeriel  des  Plantes  Medicinales  et  des  Plante  4 
Essences:  Son  Histoire,  ses  Buts,  ses  Moyens  d'Action."  Lucien  Declume, 
1919. 
