488 
Work  in  an  English  Herb  Garden,  j 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Noyember,  1913. 
At  the  Wellcome  Materia  Medica  Farm,  situated  at  Dartford, 
Kent,  England,  investigations  on  these  lines  have  been  proceeding 
for  the  past  eight  years. 
In  the  following  short  account  of  these  investigations,  is  included 
a  record  of  the  more  recent  results,  hitherto  unpublished. 
For  obvious  reasons  the  investigation  of  those  plants  which  owe 
their  medicinal  value  to  some  compound  such  as  an  alkaloid,  a 
glucoside  or  an  essential  oil  which  can  readily  be  determined,  is  the 
most  suitable  to  undertake.  At  the  Wellcome  Materia  Medica  Farm 
attention  has  mostly  been  devoted  to  alkaloid-producing  plants. 
The  land  employed  is  situated  on  chalky  hills  and  has  a  south- 
west aspect.  The  soil  is  light,  permeable  and  chalky.  The  following 
is  an  analysis  of  a  representative  sample  of  the  dry  soil  after  re- 
moving pebbles,  etc.,  which  represent  about  20  per  cent,  of  its  weight : 
The  photographs  which  are  here  reproduced,  showing  crops  of 
belladonna  and  hyoscyamus,  will  serve  to  convey  a  general  idea  of 
the  surroundings  of  the  farm. 
The  experiments  have  been  made  in  most  detail  in  the  case  of 
Atropa  Belladonna,  but  before  describing  them  a  brief  review  of 
other  work  may  be  given.  An  analysis  of  the  dried  stem  and  leaf  of 
Cytisas  Scoparius  (Broom) ,  gathered  monthly  during  twelve  months, 
was  made  by  Carr  and  Reynolds  (P.  J.,  1908,  80,  542). 
The  results,  which  are  recorded  below,  prove  in  a  conclusive  man- 
ner that  in  this  instance  the  plant  stores  up  its  alkaloid  during  the 
quiescent  months  of  autumn  and  winter  and  that  it  rapidly  disappears 
from  the  stem  and  leaf  during  the  growing  and  flowering  period. 
Ca  C03   
K.O   
Fe203  and  A1203  .... 
H3P04  
Total  loss  on  ignition 
Insoluble  in  acids  . .  . 
1 1.4  per  cent. 
0.4  per  cent. 
6.2  per  cent. 
0.6  per  cent. 
9.5  per  cent. 
72.2  per  cent. 
Analysis  of  Broom-tops. 
August  . 
September 
October  . , 
November 
0.07  per  cent.  Sparteine  Sulphate 
0.17  per  cent.  Sparteine  Sulphate 
0.34  per  cent.  Sparteine  Sulphate 
0.46  per  cent.  Sparteine  Sulphate 
