688 
Triticum  Re  pens. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
October,  1919. 
Examination  of  Samples. 
No.  1  was  part  of  an  ordinary  commercial  sample  in  the  Museum 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  was  found  to  consist  of  pure 
Triticum  re  pens. 
No.  2  was  another  museum  specimen  from  the  School  of  Phar- 
macy collection,  and  was  genuine  Triticum  rep  ens. 
No.  3  was  collected  at  a  Kentish  farm,  and  was  genuine  Triticum 
re  pens. 
No.  4  was  the  only  recent  commercial  sample  which  consisted 
entirely  of  Triticum  repens.    It  is  described  as  couch  grass,  "  Glad." 
No.  5  Was  a  commercial  sample  obtained  from  a  wholesale  firm, 
and  consisted  of  75  per  cent.  Triticum  repens  with  25  per  cent. 
Cynodon  Dactylon. 
No.  6  was  dog  grass,  sold  as  couch  grass,  by  a  foreign  herbalist. 
It  was  pure  Cynodon  Dactylon. 
No.  7  was  another  sample  of  dog  grass,  and  consisted  entirely  of 
Cynodon  Dactylon. 
Nos.  8,  9,  10,  11,  I2;  and  13  were  samples  from  four  wholesale 
firms,  and  were  all  pure  Cynodon  Dactylon. 
No.  14  was  a  sample  from  one  of  the  same  firms,  and  contained 
a  few  fragments  of  an  unidentified  grass  rhizome  with  no  scleren- 
chyma,  and  with  the  cells  full  of  starch.  The  great  bulk  of  the 
sample  was  again  Cynodon  Dactylon. 
No.  15,  an  old  retail  sample,  was  Triticum  repens. 
Discussion. 
Triticum  repens,  or  couch  grass,  is  a  common  but  rather  variable 
grass  occurring  throughout  Britain  in  cultivated  ground  and  waste 
places,  by  the  roadsides  and  on  the  seashore.  It  is  regarded  as  a 
weed  in  pasture  and  arable  land.  It  is  dragged  out  of  the  fields  and 
left  at  the  edge  for  burning  by  the  farmer  or  for  collection  by  the 
herbalist. 
Cynodon  Dactylon,  or  dog  grass,  is  very  rare  in  Britain,  occur- 
ring only  on  the  South  Coast  of  England.  It  is  very  common  on 
the  sea  coast  in  the  South  of  France  and  in  Spain.  It  is  regarded  as 
the  best  pasture  grass  in  India,  where  it  is  very  abundant. 
These  were  both  known  in  commerce.  It  seemed  possible,  how- 
ever, that  some  common  British  grass  was  being  used,  and  Holcus 
mollis,  or  soft  grass,  a  fairly  common  grass  in  woods  and  pastures 
