DRUGS (Fa., Drogueries ; GEE., Droguerien).
The term " drugs," in its widest sense, embraces all substances employed in medicine ; it is, however, especially applied to those derived from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, notably the latter. In this article, attention will be confined to such of these as possess some commercial importance.
A remarkable feature of this class of raw products is the ignorance which enshrouds their pro duction, and the uncertainty in the quality and quantity of their supply. With the one notable exception of cinchona, drug-yielding plants have nowhere been made the object of systematic cultivation ; this wide and remunerative field seems to have been persistently overlooked by British planters in all parts of the world. It therefore happens that, for our supplies of many of the most important medicines in every-day use, we are dependent upon the poorest peasants and shepherds, in Europe ; upon wandering tribes of Tartars, Yuruks, and Arabs, in Asia ; upon Nubians, Kaffir,A and Hottentots, in Africa ; and upon the lowest classes of Indians in N. and S. America. As a natural consequence of the ignorance and poverty of the collectors, the plants are seldom gathered at the best season ; they are often replaced by worthless, and even injurious, substitutes ; they are prepared and transported in the most careless manner ; they are furnished in very irregular quantities ; and wasteful collection, in some instances, threatens them with extermination.
While the historical, chemical, microscopical, and purely botanical features of the principal drugs have been fully treated in such able works as the Pharmacographis; and ' Medicinal Plants,' there exists bat very meagre and scattered information as to their growth and preparation. The object of the present artiple is to set forth all available knowledge upon points interesting to growers and merchants.
Aconite (Fa., Aconit ; GER., Eisenhut, Sturmhut).—The roots and leaves of Aconitum Napellus are largely prescribed : a tincture of the former is used as an anodyne liniment ; from the leaves and small shoots, is prepared an inspissated juice, of somewhat uncertain action. In Kunawar, the tubers are eaten as a tonic, under the name of atis (v. post —Atees). The plant is widely diffused in mountainous districts. Throughout the Alps, it is common up to 6500 ft.; and on the Pyrenees, on the mountains of Germany and Austria, and in Scandinavia, it is also known. Its range east
wards extends through Siberia, over the Himalayas at elevations of 10,000-16,000 ft., and in China generally, being cultivated both for use and ornament in the northern part of Szechuen. In W. England and S. Wales, it has been aparsely naturalized ; in the New World, it is found on the Pacific ranges of N. America. Aa an arrow-poison, it wee used by the ancient Chinese, and perhaps the aborigines of Gaul, and is still in favour among some hill tribes iu India. The dried root is somewhat tapering, usually 2-3 in. long, and in. thick at the top ; the fresh root has a sharp odour of radish, which is absent from the dried root; the flavour is sweetish at first, but soon becomes very acrid, followed by tingling and numbness. The bruised leaves have a herby odour ; and a flavour at first mawkish, then burning. The preparation of the alkaloid has been described under Alkalies—Organic, p. 230. This market is not supplied from cultivated plants, but with wild roots collected by shepherds on the mountains of Europe, without regard to season or species, consequently the roots of several other apecies get mixed up. It is sold in bulk by the Continental druggists at about 4-5d. a lb., containing 150 or moro roots. The root of masterwort (Imporatoria Ostruthium) has been found mixed with aconite. It may be distinguished by its aromatio odour, and more compressed, less conical, shape.
Aconite (Indian or Nepal), or highly poisonous roots of Aconitum fcrox and some closely allied species are used as a source of aconitine, being considered more potent than the ordinary root. The plants are natives of the temperate and sub-alpine regions-10,000-14,000 ft.—of the Himalayas, in Garwhal, Kumaon, Nepal, and Sikkim, and the roots of the various species aro gathered iudiaeriminately. That exported to us, however, is of uniform appearance, and probably from A. fcrox only. The roots are conical, usually 2-3 in. long and about 1 in. thick at the top ; often broken ; blackish-brown without, horny and hard, from having been dried by fire ; or sometimes white and starchy, and then less valuable. In the Indian bazars, the roots are found steeped in cows' urine, to preserve them from insects ; in this state, they are suitable only for poisoning wild beasts.