12 
Drug  Culture, 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     January,  1901. 
as  true,  yet  I  have  seen  specimens  of  cultivated  belladonna  root 
which  would  assay  over  I  per  cent,  alkaloids.  We  are  also  con- 
fronted by  the  fact  that  under  industrial  stimulus  cultivation  has 
had  the  effect  of  increasing  the  alkaloidal  yield  in  cinchona,  poppy, 
coca,  the  caffeine-bearing  plants,  tobacco,  etc. 
On  one  hand  the  possibility  of  a  scarcity  of  certain  drugs  and  the 
probability  of  the  betterment  of  our  vegetable  materia  medica  would 
seem  to  be  questions  of  great  importance  to  pharmacy,  and  would 
seem  to  answer  the  first  and  most  natural  query :  Will  it  pay  ? 
The  following  notes  here  are  given  with  a  view  to  stimulate 
further  study  rather  than  as  having  any  practical  value. 
It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  conditions  which  influence  the  growth 
of  plants  and  agricultural  products  in  general  will  apply  more  or 
less  to  the  cultivation  of  drug  plants. 
The  controlling  influences  of  climate  (heat,  light  and  moisture) 
upon  plant  growth  are  well  known.  To  a  certain  extent  climatic 
conditions  are  more  than  soil.  The  influence  of  climate  upon  the 
medicinal  principles  of  plants  is  undeniable,  but  in  this  respect  we 
have  no  accurate  data  upon  which  to  form  conclusions. 
Numerous  alkaloidal  drugs  at  the  present  time  are  grown  in 
Great  Britain  and  Western  Europe.  Here  we  have  cool  summers 
(in  England  considerable  humidity)  and  a  gradual  approach  of  cold 
weather.  Maturity  is  late  and  indefinite.  Under  these  conditions 
we  find  that  certain  plants  are  rich  in  alkaloids. 
These  same  plants,  if  transplanted  to  America,  would  probably 
be  killed  by  the  fall  frosts  before  maturity,  and  after  a  few  genera- 
tions they  would  acquire  the  quick-ripening  habits  which  are  char- 
acteristic of  our  vegetation.  Would  the  alkaloidal  yield  follow 
this  change  of  growth?1 
Temperature  is  seemingly  not  the  all-important  factor  influencing 
the  alkaloidal  yield.  Some  Northern-grown  tobaccos  are  weak  in 
nicotine  and  others  are  very  rich.  Kentucky  tobacco  is  very  high 
in  alkaloid.  Certain  tropical-grown  tobaccos  are  the  weakest  of 
all.  Poppies  have  been  grown  in  France  yielding  many  times  the 
amount  of  morphia  of  those  grown  in  India.  Indications  point  to 
humidity  and  rainfall  as  more  potent  than  heat. 
1  Atropa  belladonna  is  quite  at  home  in  England,  but  I  have  seen  thrifty  speci- 
mens in  the  tropical  gardens  of  the  West  Indies  as  well  as  in  Northern  New  York. 
