242 
Crude  and  Powdered  Drugs. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1909. 
else  could  be  found  in  our  market,  and  there  was  danger  that  the 
manufacture  of  preparations  of  belladonna  root  would  have  to  cease. 
The  unprecedented  action  was  then  taken  by  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment of  permitting  the  poke  root  to  be  picked  out  from  one  large 
shipment  and  the  belladonna  to  be  utilized.  This  happy  occurrence 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of  by  American  importers,  since  in  my 
opinion  it  indicates  a  very  desirable  line  of  action  for  a  number  of 
forms  of  adulteration. 
Dried  scammony  roots  have  long  been  used  in  Europe  for  the 
extraction  of  their  resin,  notwithstanding  that  this  resin  is  required 
to  be  collected  from  the  living  root.  Recently  the  additional  step 
has  been  taken  by  manufacturers  of  importing  a  Mexican  ipomcea 
root  to  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Three  shipments  of  this  root  have 
been  received  at  New  York,  one  labelled  "  jalap,"  the  others  "  scam- 
mony root." 
We  have  had  a  number  of  lots  of  benzoin  in  which  chopped  bark 
occurred  in  very  large  percentage,  this  and  the  sand  present  prob- 
ably representing  40  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  entire  weight.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  the  Pharmacopoeia  does  not  fix  a  limit  of  impurity 
for  this  very  important  and  expensive  article. 
One  lot  of  benzoin  was  entirely  spurious,  being  an  artificial 
mixture. 
Other  artificial  mixtures  are  commonly  imported  as  balsam  of 
Peru  and  occasionally  as  styrax. 
Adulterated  saffron  has  been  on  the  steady  decrease,  yet  many 
such  shipments  have  been  offered.  A  much  more  disgusting  thing 
has  been  two  shipments  of  calendula,  heavily  coated  with  mineral 
matter  and  colored  to  imitate  saffron. 
The  offering  of  lycopodium  has  been,  on  the  whole,  surprisingly 
good,  though  one  lot  was  heavily  adulterated  with  potato  starch,  and 
two  lots  with  pine  pollen. 
Kamala,  adulterated  with  sand  and  with  ground  bark  and  sand, 
has  been  rather  common.  More  unexpected  was  a  lot  containing  a 
large  quantity  of  our  now  familiar  acquaintance,  ground  olive  pits. 
Broken  senna,  if  clean  and  pure,  is  every  whit  as  good  as  the 
finest  whole  leaf,  and  offers  a  good  chance  for  the  pharmacist  to 
economize,  since  it  can  be  bought  much  more  cheaply.  Senna  sift- 
ings,  on  the  other  hand,  are  full  of  seeds,  sand,  pieces  of  wood  and 
other  impurities,  and  should  be  carefully  distinguished  as  very 
inferior.  Many  lots  of  this  latter  article  have  this  year  been  offered, 
labelled  l(  broken  senna." 
