424  Medicinal  Plants  in  France.         i^""- ^Junl\%To: 
disposal  of  the  Commission  to  facilitate  the  carrying  out  of  experi- 
ments. M.  AUand,  the  premier  gum  importer  of  France,  was  re- 
quested by  the  President  (Professor  Perrot)  to  give  an  account 
of  the  cultivation  of  the  gum  acacia  tree,  the  result  of  which  was  that 
the  Commission  decided  to  communicate  with  the  Governor-General 
of  Senegal  with  the  view  of  developing  in  that  colony  the  cultivation 
of  gum-bearing  acacias. 
Soon  after  these  decisions  had  been  arrived  at,  the  Committee 
of  Medicinal  Plants  began  to  consider  ways  and  means.  A  sub- 
stantial income  was  necessary  if  the  work  of  the  Committee  was  to 
bear  fruit.  It  was  resolved  that  the  endeavor  should  be  made  to 
obtain  an  annual  grant  of  50,000  francs  from  the  State,  and  an  addi- 
tional 150,000  francs  from  those  industrially  interested  in  the  work. 
Such  an  income  would  allow  of  financial  assistance  being  given  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  experimental  trials,  of  technical  researches 
in  University  laboratories,  of  investigating  cultivation  in  the  tropics, 
of  the  maintenance  of  an  office,  and  so  on.  A  grant  of  50,000  francs 
for  a  year  (renewable,  it  is  hoped),  was  readily  obtained  from  the 
State.  1 
In  the  meantime  the  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  had  organized 
no  fewer  than  fifteen  Regional  Committees  in  France,  one  in  Algiers, 
and  one  in  Tunis;  in  each  case  the  Regional  Committee  consisted 
chiefly  of  professors  of  the  local  university  or  school  of  medicine 
and  pharmacy  or  similar  institutions,  together  with  pharmacists, 
druggists,  herb-growers,  etc.  As  the  result  of  inquiries,  the  ap- 
proximate quantities  required  of  the  most  important  indigenous 
drugs  had  been  determined,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  Syndicate 
of  Druggists,  a  basis  of  prices  had  been  arranged. 
It  was  now  considered  desirable  to  establish  an  "Office  National 
des  Matieres  premieres  pour  la  Droguerie,  le  Pharmacie,  la  Distillerie 
et  la  Parfumerie,"  and  such  an  office  was  founded  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  and  of  the  syndicates  of  the  sev- 
eral industries  mentioned.  The  object  of  this  office  is  to  form  a 
Society  of  Study,  Research  and  Propaganda,  with  the  view  of  or- 
ganizing in  France  a  drug  market  and  of  producing  drugs,  so  as  to 
render  the  country  independent  of  foreign  markets.    It  is  intended: 
(a)  To  collect  all  information  concerning  the  origin,  cultivation 
and  improvement  of  all  plants  and  their  products. 
^  It  is  understood  that  the  additional  150,000  francs  have  now  been  sub- 
scribed, making  an  annual  income  of  200,000  francs. 
