218 
Digitalis.  Foxglove. 
Am.  Jour;  Pharm. 
May,  1913. 
are  superior  to  immature  or  overripe  leaves  of  any  year.  The 
standard  of  excellence  should  be  the  fully-matured,  air-dried  leaf, 
regardless  of  the  age  of  the  plant,  and  we  question  if  collectors 
anywhere  discriminate  concerning  the  age  of  the  plant.  In  this 
connection  we  would  state  that,  originally,  both  the  root  and  the 
Fig.  3.    Prime  Digitalis,  second  year,  in  flower  and 
seed.   (Much  reduced.) 
leaf  of  Digitalis  were  employed  in  medicine.  The  root,  however, 
is  exceedingly  variable  in  structure,  that  of  the  first  year's  growth 
being  insignificant  and  sappy,  whilst  the  root  of  the  second  year's 
growth  is  larger  and  heavier,  and  more  pronounced  in  quality. 
Inasmuch  as  the  leaf  possesses  fully  the  qualities  of  the  drug,  and 
is  more  easily  collected,  it  naturally  displaced  the  root  in  medicine. 
Thus  the  preference  once  given  to  the  second  year's  growth  of  the 
