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PHARMACOPCEIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS.

due time its botanical name will be known." He neglected, however,to concern himself further in the matter.

In the fall of 1878, Dr. C. H. Adair, of Colusa, California, apartner of Dr. Bundy, sent the writer specimens of the bark and bo-tanical specimens of the tree yielding it. These, on identification byMr. Curtis G. Lloyd, proved to be Rhamnus Purshiana. This factwas announced in a paper on "Some Specimens of Western Plants,"presented to the American Pharmaceutical Association held at themeeting in Atlanta, Ga., November, 1878, (Proceedings, 1879, p. 707)and completed the drug's history.

Names. —Dr. Bundy supplied the drug under the Spanish name"Cascara Sagrada," a name said to have been in local use through-out some sections of California, which soon came to be the com-mon name of the drug, and will surely dominate all others as long asthe drug is in use. The anglicised name "Sacred Bark" has also beenapplied to the drug, and the Scriptural term Chittim bark was alsoemployed in early days in some parts of California, but these lastnames are now obsolete.

RHEUM

Rhubarb (Rheum officinale, etc.) is a gift of the Chinese, whohave used it in domestic practice from all times, as noted in the herbalPen-king, probably the production of the Emperor Shen-nung, the"father of Chinese agriculture and mediane," about 2700 B. C. Asexported from its home in China, it has been respectively known asRussian, Turkish, and Chinese rhubarb, in accordance with the countrythrough which it reaches the market from its native land. As a ca-thartic and a laxative this drug is sold in large amounts, having beenaccepted as a household remedy in syrups and tincture forms the worldthroughout. It is a gift of empiricism to the medical profession.

RHUS GLABRA

Sumach, Rhus glabra, is found in most of the temperate parts ofthe United States, to which it is indigenous. The North American In-dians used the powdered seeds to treat piles and as an application towounds, the juice of the fresh fruit being used as an application towarts and in skin diseases like tetter. In domestic medication, follow-ing the Indians, the roots were used by the settlers for rheumatism, inalcoholic tincture, as well as in infusion. In domestic medicine the ber-ries were also employed in a decoction, as a gargle in quinsy, ulcerationof the mouth and throat, and, following the Indian use of the drug, as awash for ringworm, tetter, and offensive ulcers. These well-knownuses of the American plant, so ornamental after the frost strikes itsleaves in the fall, led to its introduction into professional medicine.In Turkey the berries of sumach are used (so this writer was in-formed) in starting their populär curd food.

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