Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Jan.,  1875.  / 
On  Some  Substitutions. 
II 
white  powder,  intermixed  with  some  larger,  irregular  white  pieces,  none 
of  which  exceeded  a  quarter  inch  in  length  or  thickness,  but,  on  super- 
ficial examination,  possessed  the  physical  characters  of  true  agaric.  The 
powder  was  of  a  sweetish,  subsequently  bitter,  acrid  taste,  which,  how- 
ever, was  much  less  marked  than  in  the  genuine  drug  \  the  larger 
pieces,  freed  from  the  adhering  dust,  were  nearly  insipid  and  entirely 
devoid  of  bitterness.  A  section  placed  under  the  microscope  showed  it 
to  consist  of  the  peculiar  filamentous  cells  of  the  fungi ;  but  on  search- 
ing a  number  of  works  on  Materia  Medica,  I  found  no  adulteration  or 
substitution  mentioned,  except  by  Wiggers,  who  states  that  agaric  is 
occasionally  mixed  with  pieces  of  Polyporus  igniarius^  Fries,  made  to 
resemble  agaric  by  covering  it  with  the  powder  of  the  latter.  The 
substance  in  question,  however,  is  not  derived  from  a  Polyporus^  which 
genus  is  characterized  by  having  the  hymenium  or  gills  concrete  with 
the  pileus  or  cap,  and  consisting  of  subrotund  pores. 
Some  of  the  pieces  have  fragments  of  lamellae  still  attached,  showing 
the  substance  in  question  to  be  most  probably  the  cap  of  a  species  of 
Agaricus^  from  which  the  lamellate  gills  have  been  almost  completely 
removed,  and  which  was  afterwards  broken  into  small  pieces  and  mixed 
with  some  powder  of  the  larch  agaric,  to  impart  a  bitter  taste.  The 
substitution  can  easily  be  detected  by  examining  some  of  the  larger 
pieces  in  the  manner  indicated  above. 
Gossypii  radicis  Cortex  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopceia,  is  the  bark  of  the 
root  of  the  cultivated  species  of  Gossypium.  The  woody,  conical,  nearly 
simple  root  of  the  cultivated  cotton  plant  is  covered  with  a  thin  bark, 
about  half  a  line  to  one  line  in  thickness,  rarely  thicker.  Externally^ 
the  bark  is  of  a  brownish-yellow  color,  with  larger  irregular  patches  of 
a  brownish-orange,  caused  by  the  abrasion  of  the  outer  layer  of  cork^ 
and  smaller  ones  more  scattered,  of  a  nearly  black  color.  The  yellow- 
ish portion  has  a  slight  satiny  lustre,  the  other  parts  are  dull.  The 
thin,  corky  layer  which  adheres  well  to  the  bast  layer,  forms  shallow 
longitudinal  ridges,  often  becoming  confluent  into  narrow,  elongated 
meshes.  Suberous  warts  or  their  scars  are  scattered  over  the  surface^ 
at  first  circular  in  shape,  ultimately  forming  short  transverse,  black 
lines.  The  inner  surface  is  of  a  whitish,  or  reddish-white  color,  a 
silky  lustre,  and  finely  but,  to  the  naked  eye,  distinctly  striate  in  a 
longitudinal  direction.  A  pocket  lens  reveals  these  striae  as  thin,  med- 
ullary rays  penetrating  into  the  bark.  The  bast  fibres  are  long  and  tough, 
and  arranged  in  tangential  rows,  on  account  of  which  the  inner  bark  may 
be  separated  into  very  thin,  almost  transparent  layers  without  difficulty 
