1 9  8  What  is  Angelica-Root  ?  {^"iv/aT:x?75"" 
whole  barrel  of  his  bitters  had  been  totally  spoiled  by  it,  so  that  it  was 
rejected  by  all  of  his  customers,  on  account  of  its  peculiar  and,  to 
them,  disagreeable  flavor.  The  root  in  question  had  been  obtained  in 
the  ground  state  from  a  New  York  drug  mill,  and,  on  being  applied 
to,  the  proprietors  insisted  that  there  was  no  error  whatever  on  their 
part,  but  that  the  correct  article  had  been  sent. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  Germanica  "  gives  Archangelica  officinalis^  Hoff- 
mann, as  the  plant  furnishing  the  officinal  Radix  Jngelica.  In  the  old 
editions  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,"  our  indigenous  species  An- 
gelica atropurpurea  (or  Archangelica  atropurpurea^  Hoffm.)  was  recog- 
nized in  the  secondary  list.  The  edition  of  i860  dismissed  the  species, 
and  substituted  the  European  Angelica  Archangelica^  now  named  Arch- 
angelica officinalis  by  Hoffmann.  The  present  edition  has  rejected  both 
plants,  so  that  we  cannot  appeal  to  its  authority  on  this  point. 
The  search  for  an  authentic  specimen  of  American  angelica-root 
revealed  the  somewhat  surprising  fact,  that  at  least  three  or  four  dif- 
ferent roots  are  sold  under  that  name.  One  of  our  Southern  friends, 
who  kindly  favored  us  with  the  pressed  leaves,  as  well  as  the  root  of 
what  he  considered  the  true  Archangelica  atropurpurea^  informed  us  at 
the  same  time  that  he  has  reason  to  believe  the  root  of  Dgusticum  ac- 
tceifolium  to  be  sometimes  substituted.  The  leaves  and  umbellets  of 
his  own  specimen,  however,  vary  materially  from  those  of  Archangelica 
atropurpurea^  while  they  agree  with  the  botanical  description  of  the 
Ligusticum  actcsifoliu7n.  The  flavor  and  odor  of  his  roots,  also,  very 
closely  approach  those  of  the  European  lovage,  Ligusticum  levisticum. 
One  of  the  popular  synonyms  for  this  American  lovage  is  Angelico, 
certainly  a  very  near  approach  to  angelica  ;  and  this  may,  in  part,  ac- 
count for  the  error.  According  to  Gray,  the  Archangelica  atropurpurea 
is  not  even  met  with  south  of  Pennsylvania. 
Another  variety  of  the  commercial  angelica-root,  obtained  from  a 
very  respectable  source,  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  American  spike- 
nard, Aralia  race?nosa.  It  is  most  probably  the  root  of  the  Aralia 
spinosa^  which  is  known  in  many  sections  as  the  angelica-tree. 
The  popular  name  of  masterwort  is  an  additional  cause  of  confusion. 
The  "  U.  S.  Dispensatory  "  applies  this  word  to  three  different  plants  : 
Angelica  atropurpurea^  Heracleum  lanatum  and  Imperatoria  ostruthium. 
As  only  the  latter  of  these  is  of  European  origin,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  is  the  proper  root  to  dispense,  when  called  for  by  Ger- 
mans under  the  name  of  Meister  wurzeL     Regarding  the  two  former, 
