324  Fluid  Extract  of  Echinacea.  {^'''.uUV'iyu''''"'' 
material,  or  that  derived  from  plants  which  were  identified,  his 
statements  and  description  will  need  to  be  modified  in  order  to 
accord  with  the  facts  here  presented.  Furthermore,  the  spurious 
drug  described  by  him  was  really  that  of  authentic  material,  as  1 
have  several  specimens  of  the  root  from  herbarium  material  of 
Brauncria  pallida  collected  in  Missouri  and  Tennessee,  which  ,  are 
similar  to  the  drug-  examined  by  him.  Of  course  it  is  quite  likely 
that  other  species  of  Rudheckia  or  Braimeria,  may  have  some  of  the 
fundamental  characteristics  of  Brauncria  pallida,  the  root  of  which 
together  with  the  underground  stem  or  rhizome,  is  the  source  of 
the  drug  known  as  Echinacea. 
FLUID  EXTRACT  OF  ECHINACEA.^ 
By  George  M.  Beringer. 
Echinacea  is  one  of  the  vegetable  drugs  that,  in  recent  years, 
has  attracted  considerable  attention  in  the  medical  profession,  and 
appears  to  merit  more  extended  study.  By  some  its  virtues  are 
highly  extolled,  by  others  it  is  considered  worthless.  It  is,  however, 
to  be  noted  that  the  condemnation  is  largely  based  upon  the  fact 
that  certain  chemists  who  made  an  examination  of  the  drug  had 
failed  to  isolate  the  active  principle.  We  need  not  be  surprised 
at  this  as  the  chemistry  of  many  of  the  compositse  has  been  but 
little  studied  and  very  few  alkaloidal  or  glucosidal  principles  have 
been  isolated  from  drugs  of  this  plant  family. 
The  aromatic  principles  present  in  Echinacea  are  probably  the 
source  of  its  therapeutic  action.  The  root  has  a  characteristic  aro- 
matic, sharp  and  pungent  taste,  reminding  one  of  the  peculiar  pun- 
gency of  certain  umbelliferous  drugs  such  as  lovage  and  angelica. 
It  leaves  a  warm  and  tingling  sensation  in  the  mouth  and  is  suffi- 
ciently irritant  to  produce  a  prickling  sensation  and  a  slight  blister- 
ing effect  on  the  mucous  surfaces  of  the  lips.  This  pungency  and 
blistering  effect  is  even  more  marked  in  alcoholic  or  hydro-alcoholic 
extracts. 
Echinacea  is  a  plant  indigenous  to  the  western  plains  of  the 
United  States.    The  professional  use  was  preceded  many  years  by 
^  Read  before  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  Asbu*- 
Park,  N.  J.,  June  14,  191 1. 
