74 
Indigenous  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     Feb.  1,  1871. 
one  of  our  principal  establishments  has  lately  negotiated  for  a  full 
line  of  indigenous  drugs  from  Pembroke,  Kentucky. 
My  information  seems  to  indicate  that  the  mountainous  regions  of 
Kentucky,  especially  Eastern  Kentucky,  contributes  largely  to  the 
supplies  of  our  Western  dealers  in  indigenous  drugs.  From  East 
Tennessee  and  Western  Georgia  large  quantities  maybe  and  undoubt- 
edly are  obtained.  Several  years  ago  I  had  offers  from  a  party  in 
Chattanooga  of  quite  a  line  of  indigenous  drugs.  Where  they  find 
their  market  I  am  unable  to  say,  but  incline  to  the  belief  that  the 
principal  collections  reach  New  York  by  way  of  Savannah,  Ga.  In 
many  of  the  Southern  States  this  branch  of  trade  appears  to  attract 
considerable  attention  since  the  war,  mainly  in  mountainous  and 
swampy  sections.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Walhalla,  South  Carolina, 
quite  a  brisk  industry  has  sprung  up,  and  large  shipments  are  made 
from  there  to  New  York,  through  the  agency  of  Charleston  firms. 
The  drugs  collected  there  may  be  enumerated  in  the  following  : 
Panax,  Smega,  Cypripedium^  Liatris  spicata,  Spigelia,  Sanguin- 
aria,  Aralia  nudicaulis,  Aralia  raeemosa,  Asctepias  Syriaca,  Ascle- 
pias  tuberosa,  Rumex,  Podophyllum,  Hepatica,  Rhus,  Ruhus  villosus,. 
Cimicifuga,  3Iarruhium,  Stillingia,  Spiraea  uhnaria,  Aletris,  Oo7i- 
vallaria  polygo7iatum,  Tussilago  farfara,  Phytolacca,  Uhmis,  Good- 
yera  pubescens,  Frasera  Carolinensis,  Arum,  Solidago  Odora,  &c. 
Occasionally,  consignments  of  Senega,  Serpentaria,  and  Spigelia 
reach  our  markets  from  Arkansas  direct.  Several  years  ago  I  pur-, 
chased  several  bales  of  Senega  and  Spigelia,  consigned  to  one  of  our 
wholesale  houses  from  Ozark,  Arkansas.  It  proved  to  be  a  poor  in- 
vestment, as  the  interior  of  the  bales  consisted  largely  of  stems,  and 
had  to  be  garbled.  The  drug-gatherers  of  the  Southern  States  being 
generally  small  farmers  and  negroes,  make  no  regular  profession  of 
it,  and  only  collect  as  their  time  permits.  Hence  the  difference  in 
the  yield  of  these  drugs  between  one  year  and  another.  They  are 
disposed  of  by  them  to  the  nearest  country  storekeeper,  who  on  his 
part  consigns  them  to  the  wholesale  dealer  with  whom  he  may  happen 
to  do  business.  I  am  told  by  reliable  informants  that  the  drugs  col- 
lected in  the  Red  River  districts  seldom  reach  our  markets  except  by 
way  of  New  Orleans  and  New  York,  and  that  when  they  do  reach  us 
direct,  they  are  generally  inferior  in  quality.  One  of  our  principal 
wholesale  drug-houses  buys  its  supplies  of  indigenous  drugs  exclu- 
sively from  a  New  York  firm,  and  nearly  all  of  the  others  dfepend 
