go 
False  Pellitory  Root. 
( Am.  Jour.  PhariL. 
\       Feb.,  1892. 
FALSE  PELLITORY  ROOT. 
By  E.  M.  Holmes,  F.L.S., 
Curator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 
A  few  weeks  since,  a  small  sample  of  pellitory  root  (Anacyclus 
Pyrethrum)  was  forwarded  to  me  by  a  wholesale  herbalist  in  London, 
stating  that  it  had  been  offered  to  the  wholesale  trade,  but  that 
there  was  some  doubt  as  to  its  genuineness.  The  only  feature 
noticeable  at  the  first  glance  was  the  slightly  paler  color  of  some  of 
Fig.  4. — Transverse  section  of 
Fig.  \.— Anacyclus       Fig.  2. — Corrigiola         Anacyclus  Pyrethrum, 
Pyrethrum.  telephiifolia.  magnified. 
the  pieces,  but  on  cutting  a  transverse  section  and  examining  it 
under  a  lens,  it  was  noticed  that  some  of  the  specimens  possessed  a 
structure  entirely  different  from  that  of  pellitory,  and  that  it  was 
quite  possible  to  distinguish  the  spurious  root  by  this  means.  Some 
of  the  pieces,  however,  so  closely  resembled  pellitory  root  in  gen- 
eral appearance  (Figs.  1  and  2)  that  they  might  easily  be  overlooked. 
It  seemed  desirable,  therefore,  to  place  on  record  the  occurrence  of 
the  spurious  root,  and  to  point  out  the  features  by  which  it  may  be 
recognized. 
