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the psychological effects are the stronger medicine, and the plant substance
is merely suggestive.

Some of the recent finds among plants that have been dramatic break-
throughs in medicines, or promises to be, are drugs useful in the treatment
of arthritis, and substances that have proved useful in one or two types of
cancer. In the former case, substances known as sapogenins from the roots
of a vine, Dioscorea, and other plants have been found to produce a precursor
to ACTH which, when properly modified can be used, under proper conditions,
to help reduce painful swelling in the joints. Unfortunately, this is not a
universal remedy for arthritis, and in certain cases is not only ineffective,
but also causes undesirable side effects.

The only known cure for any type of cancer (and there are many different
sorts) that has as yet been clinically proven, is an extract from a plant
common in tropical gardens, the periwinkle, Vinca rosea. This extract is
effective against a type of leukemia. However, the chances that some material
produced by plants may be effective in the treatment of other cancers is of
sufficient potentiality to cause an enormous effort by the National Insti-
tutes of Health in collaboration with many other institutions. The thorough
procedures employed in the screening tests, and the low percentage of
materials that may be useful, indicate how much effort is required before
a useful new drug becomes available for the treatment of the disease.

The Search for Cancer Cures

First, botanists from the United States Department of Agriculture collect
plant samples in sufficient quantity and satisfactory condition to make it
possible for further work. The samples are identified accurately so that if
any one sample proves to contain interesting possibilities as a cancer cure,