ADeiTbr;rPit9r8m'}         Powdered  Vegetable  Drugs.  623 
(some  of  these  have  been  furnished  by  Gilpin,  Langdon  &  Co.)  and 
in  many  instances  drugs  ground  by  the  author. 
In  publishing  these  results  at  this  time  no  one  realizes  more  than 
the  author  that  the  whole  scheme  is  but  tentative  and  that  addi- 
tional study  and  the  application  of  the  method  outlined  will,  no 
doubt,  cause  some  changes  to  be  made  in  practice.  It  would  be  sur- 
prising, furthermore,  if  there  are  not  some  errors  of  either  commis- 
sion or  omission  in  that  in  some  cases. the  characteristics  given  or 
withheld  may  be  due  to  the  examination  of  diseased,  deteriorated 
or  even  spurious  drugs.  But  all  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
collecting  and  caring  for  drugs  is  not  carried  out  on  scientific  princi- 
ples. Even  should  there  be  oversights  or  errors,  the  publication  of 
this  work  must  be  of  some  value  to  pharmacognocists.  We  must 
realize  that  a  communication  of  this  kind  to  be  complete  in  any 
sense  must  have  incorporated  with  it  the  results  and  experiences  of 
numerous  investigators  from  rather  widely  scattered  sections  of  the 
country  and  world. 
The  scheme  is  based  on  scientific  principles,  but  it  has  been  con- 
sidered desirable  at  the  outset  to  open  up  the  subject  by  dividing 
the  powders  into  groups  depending  on  their  color.  It  is  true  that 
color  varies  in  the  plant  itself  in  nature  and  according  to  the  time  of 
gathering,  mode  of  collecting  and  subsequent  treatment,  exposure 
to  light,  etc.  But  it  is  very  necessary  that  these  things  be  thor- 
oughly studied  before  we  are  prepared  economically  to  properly 
exhaust  drugs,  make  preparations  and  pronounce  on  the  therapeu- 
tical value  of  them.  In  this  connection,  it  must  be  stated  that  in 
the  study  of  powdered  drugs  the  education  of  the  eye  to  color  is 
very  important,  and,  indeed,  necessary.  Old  and  freshly-powdered 
drugs  are  to  be  distinguished  by  this  means  alone,  as  also  a  properly 
prepared  drug  from  one  carelessly  treated.  To  the  author's  mind 
the  eye  and  nose,  and  possibly  the  taste  are  very  important  factors 
in  the  study  of  powdered  drugs  in  connection  with  the  microscope. 
A  number  of  interesting  features  have  been  brought  out  in  this 
investigation.  In  fact  it  opens  up  possibly  an  entirely  new  method 
in  the  study  of  our  drugs  at  large. 
(1)  In  the  first  place,  in  the  color  of  the  powder  certain  charac- 
teristic and  diagnostic  features  are  brought  to  light.  Leaf  and  herb 
drugs  in  the  powdered  condition  should  be  greenish  or  grayish,  and 
not  blackish  or  brownish- black  ;  many  roots  and  rhizomes  ought  to 
