252      Microscopical  Characters  o f  Spurious  Pareira.  { Am^P}mi&Tm ' 
the  shippers,  for  they  set  to  work  and  cut  all  they  could  and  flooded 
the  market.  Fair  prices  were  obtained  until  January,  1890,  when  it 
dropped  to  98s;  in  March  and  April  to  95^.,  905.,  and  gradually 
down  to  255.  in  October,  1 891,  there  being  about  100  bales  still 
on  hand.  The  trade  in  general  have  purchased  parcels  of  this 
article,  and  appear  to  be  quite  satisfied  with  the  results.  Most  of 
the  wholesale  druggists  consider  it  to  be  genuine.  It  has  been  con- 
signed from  two  different  firms  from  Bahia.  It  is  very  interesting 
to  note  that  the  genuine  Pareira  Brava  from  Rio  Janeiro  is  gener- 
ally exported  in  wicker-work  cases,  technically  known  as  baskets, 
and  that  the  different  mode  of  packing  does  not  seem  to  have 
raised  any  suspicion  of  a  possibly  different  geographical  source  in 
the  minds  of  the  buyers.  The  last  occasion  on  which  I  noticed  a 
spurious  Pareira  Brava  in  the  market  was  in  1886.  The  article 
then  examined  came  from  the  Congo  State  (see  Kirkby,  Pharm. 
Jo  urn.  [3],  vol.  xvii,  p.  218).  Like  the  spurious  kind  now  under 
consideration,  it  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  genuine  root  in 
its  external  appearance,  being  of  a  dark,  nearly  black  color  with 
interrupted  transverse  ridges  or  scars,  and  being  rowed  or  striated 
longitudinally.  Both  the  Congo  and  the  Bahia  roots  can,  however, 
be  easily  distinguished  from  the  genuine  by  the  more  woody  and 
narrower  zones,  the  medullary  rays  being  consequently  thinner  than 
in  the  genuine  root.  Most  of  the  pieces  are  also  much  lighter  in 
weight  than  the  genuine  drug,  so  much  so  as  to  be  easily  perceived 
when  the  root  is  held  in  the  hand.  I  have  little  doubt  that  you  will 
find  such  microscopical  differences  in  structure  as  may  be  expected 
to  occur  in  roots  so  strongly  resembling  each  other  as  those  of  dif- 
ferent menispermaceous  plants." 
The  drug  above  referred  to  consists  of  pieces  both  of  stem  and 
root. 
Stem. — As  seen  in  transverse  section  the  stem  has  a  small  but  well 
marked  medulla,  composed  of  round  and  oval  cells  somewhat 
smaller  than  the  medullary  cells  of  the  same  size  of  chondodendron. 
Some  of  these  cells  contain  starch  granules  and  others  numerous 
small  crystals  (apparently  octahedral  and  probably  calcium  oxalate). 
Scattered  throughout  the  medulla  are  numerous  groups  of  scleren- 
chymatous  cells  with  evident  canaliculi,  and  with  the  central  cavity 
almost  obliterated.  The  layers  of  thickening  are  very  distinct. 
There  is  not  the  same  gradual  transition  of  the  cells  of  the  medulla 
