ON  COMMERCIAL  BELLADONNA  LEAVES. 
129 
way,  certainly,  is  to  await  the  experiments  of  different  physiolo- 
gists, not  only  with  cultivated  plants,  but  chiefly  with  the  wild 
growing  ;  in  the  mean-time,  as  long  as  our  Pharmacopoeia  recog- 
nizes the  leaves  only  as  officinal,  the  stems,  flowers  and  fruits 
ought  to  be  rejected.  The  above  package  contained  79-5  per 
cent,  of  leaves  with  the  petioles,  7-5  per  cent,  of  stems  and 
branches,  1-9  per  cent,  of  flowers,  4.1  per  cent,  of  fruit  and  7 
per  cent,  of  decayed  belladonna  leaves. 
Besides  the  above  different  lots,  I  have  examined  a  package 
of  compressed  belladonna  leaves  from  New  Lebanon,  the  general 
appearance  of  which  was  pretty  good ;  the  compression,  how- 
ever, had  been  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  the  larger  leaves 
were  mostly  broken,  and  some  smaller  ones  only,  measuring 
half  to  one  inch,  could  be  separated  entire  by  soaking  in  water 
and  carefully  unfolding  them.  The  base  and  apex  of  a  number  of 
leaves  were  found,  indicating  by  their  size  and  shape  that  the 
whole  leaves  rarely  exceed  two  inches  in  length,  thus  apparent- 
ly justifying  the  conclusion  that  the  leaves  had  been  either 
gathered  rather  early  in  the  season,  or  that  probably  the  cultivat- 
ed plant  in  America  does  not  attain  the  size  of  belladonna  grow- 
ing wild  in  those  countries  where  it  is  indigenous.  Moreover  the 
prepossession  against  cultivated  narcotic  herbs  has  not  been  re- 
futed by  comparative  chemical  analysis,  that  I  am  aware  of. 
This  package  of  American-grown  belladonna  leaves  contained 
none  of  the  thicker  portions  of  the  stem  and  branches,  and  but 
few  of  the  most  tender  tops  of  the  latter,  in  no  case  exceeding 
one  inch  ;  flowers  and  fruit  could  not  be  detected  in  a  half- 
pound  package. 
The  results  of  the  above  investigations  clearly  demonstrate 
the  necessity  for  every  pharmaceutist  to  select  belladonna  leaves 
and  probably  other  narcotic  herbs  with  the  greatest  care.  But 
if  such  adulterated  articles  cannot  be  sold  to  the  dispensing 
pharmaceutist,  is  it  not  likely  that  they  will  be  worked  up  into 
extracts  which  in  many  instances  will  defy  all  examination  ?  It 
is  certain  that  under  our  present  laws  the  importation  of  spuri- 
ous drugs  is  not  prevented,  and  it  would  appear  to  be  the  inte- 
rest of  the  medical  as  well  as  the  pharmaceutical  profession  to 
consider  the  manner  in  which  such  an  evil  can  be  remedied. 
New  York,  January,  1862. 
9 
