508  Powdered  Vegetable  Drugs.         {A  o^ffi.uK111, 
a.  CRYSTALS  ROSETTE  OR  STAR-SHAPED. 
a.    Containing  starch? 
2.  Aralia  nudicaulis. — Crystals  35-70  fx\  starch,  10- 15  ju;  secre- 
tion reservoirs  (yellow  and  brown);  sklerenchyma. 
3.  Aralia  spinosa. — Crystals  about  50  fi)  starch  about  10  p.\  reser- 
voirs containing  oil  and  resin  ;  cork  brownish  ;  sklerenchyma  fibres  ; 
also  sometimes  fine  needle-shaped  crystals. 
4.  Galla  (Chinese  or  Japanese). — Few  crystals,  20  ju;  starch  40  ju; 
non-secreting  hairs ;  milk  vessels  accompanying  ducts  ;  mounts  in 
glycerin  show  acicular  crystals  of  gallic  acid. 
5.  Passion  Flowers. — Crystals  15  ju>;  starch;  pollen  35-45  ju; 
sklerenchyma. 
6.  Podophyllum. — Crystals  50  p.  in  diameter;  starch  5-8  ju 
diameter ;  single  grains  to  2-6  compound ;  numerous  single  or 
groups  of  cells  colored  yellow ;  sklerenchyma  fibres  and  ducts. 
7.  Spigelia. — Crystals  5— 1 5  fi\  starch  4  p.  \  parenchyma  and  long 
light  colored  sklerenchyma  fibres  characteristic ;  apparently  at  one 
stage  or  in  an  admixed  drug  calcium  carbonate  is  present 
p.    Without  starch. 
8.  Anisum. — Crystals  2-3  ju  in  aleuron  grains  6  ju  in  diameter  ; 
non-secreting  hairs ;  secretion  reservoirs  ;  epidermis  of  seed  coat 
and  pericarp  characteristic. 
9.  Buchu. — Crystals  15-20  ju;  sphere-crystals  of  a  carbohydrate 
35  n ;  mucilage ;  sklerenchyma  very  characteristic ;  non-secreting 
hairs ;  heavy  cuticle ;  oil  secretion  reservoirs. 
10.  Castanea. — Crystals  15  p ;  wavy  epidermis;  sklerenchyma; 
some  pollen  grains ;  presence  of  few  or  no  non-secreting  hairs  dis- 
tinguish it  from  Castanea  pumila. 
2  If  there  are  any  doubts  about  the  presence  of  starch,  the  reaction  for  which  is 
sometimes  hid  by  the  presence  of  resinous  or  other  principles,  a  small  quantity 
of  the  powder  may  be  boiled  for  a  minute  with  a  few  drachms  of  water  in  a 
test-tube,  the  liquid  filtered  and  tested  with  iodine  and  potassium  iodide  solu- 
tion. 
Regarding  the  presence  of  reserve  starch  and  calcium  oxalate  crystals  in 
plants,  the  amount  of  these  constituents  is  an  uncertain  one  owing  to  the 
changes  induced  by  certain  Fungi.  J.  H.  Wakker,  in  Pringsheim' 's  Jahr.f.  Wis- 
sensch.  Bot.,  xxiv,  p.  499,  states  that  he  found  in  Rhamnus  frangula  the  cal- 
cium oxalate  crystals  to  be  fewer  and  the  starch  grains  more  numerous  when 
plants  were  diseased.  See  also  Hartig's  Lehrbuch  der  Baumkrankheiten  and 
Byron  D.  Halsted's  paper  before  the  A.  A.  A.  S.,  1898. 
