In the northern part of South America the Peruvians and some of their neighbors were discovered by early explorers to be chewing the leaves of a native shrub, apparently with much profit and no evil after effects. It served them much as the betel nut does to the natives of India and other regions of the tropical East. With scanty or no food this apparently harmless intoxicant will carry both men and women over periods of severe fatigue. The shrub bearing these leaves is not over four or five feet tall and has bright green foliage and small white flowers.

Quite different in its effects has been the drug which has been extracted from this plant, known as Erythroxylon Coca. Far from being a beneficial and harmless stimulant, cocaine is now one of the drug evils of our time. Its use, outside that prescribed by physicians, is forbidden practically everywhere, but its consumption in this country, aside from its great and legitimate use as a relief from pain, is still very large.

The number of drug plants is legion, so large in fact, that volumes have been filled with descriptions and notes about them. A few of the most important, omitting those already mentioned, are listed below:

DrugDerived from theNative
Betel nut.Seed of Areca Catechu.India.
Calamus.Rootstock of Acorus Calamus.Eastern U. S. and in Asia.
Sarsaparilla.Roots of various species of Smilax.Tropical America.
Saffron.Stigmas of Crocus sativus.Europe.
Arrowroot.Rootstock of Maranta arundinacea.Tropical America.
Cubeb.Unripe fruit of Piper Cubeba.Old World tropics.
Creosote.Wood of Fagus americana and F. sylvatica. North America and Europe.
Hydrastis.Rootstock of Hydrastis canadensis.Eastern N. America.
Star Anise.Fruit of Illicium anisatum.Southern China.
Camphor.All parts of Cinnamomum Camphora.China and Japan.
Witch-hazel.Leaves and bark of Hamamelis virginiana.Eastern N. America.
Licorice.Underground parts of Glycyrrhiza glabra.Europe.
Cascara Sagrada. Bark of Rhamnus Purshianus.Western United States.
Ginseng.Rootstock of Panax quinquefolium.Eastern N. America and Asia.
Wintergreen.Leaves of Gaultheria procumbens.Eastern N. America.
Nux vomica.Seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica.India.
Digitalis.Leaves of Digitalis purpurea.Europe.
Ipecac.Root of Uragoga Ipecacuanha.Brazil.
Castor oil.Seeds of Ricinus communis.Africa or India.

6. The Story of Tobacco

Not until 1492 was the use of tobacco known to the Europeans, when Columbus found the natives of Cuba and Santo Domingo both chewing and smoking it. Subsequent Spanish explorers of the mainland found its use almost universal both in North and South America. It had apparently been used there for countless ages, as smoking it formed part of the most solemn ceremonial rites both of the natives’ religion and their political gatherings. Brought to England in 1586 by Ralph Lane and Sir Francis Drake, the smoking of tobacco spread with the great speed that such a comfortable habit might be expected to exhibit. Notwithstanding violent opposition by certain priests and physicians and other more intolerant opponents of the weed, its use increased throughout the world. To-day, in spite of our modern anti-tobacco fanatics, over two billion pounds are produced annually, and in the United States there is a per capita consumption of over five pounds per year, greater than any country in the world, save Belgium.

All of the many different forms in which tobacco is used are derived from the leaves of Nicotiana tabacum, or perhaps one or two other species of the genus Nicotiana, which belongs to the Solanaceæ or potato family. There are many other species, all natives of the New World, but the actual home of the tobacco plant is in some doubt. As in so many cultivated plants, which have been grown for countless ages, wild specimens are practically unknown. The plant seeds freely and consequently frequently escapes from cultivation, so that in many parts of America apparently wild plants are to be found that