Pharmacognostical Evaluation of Caesalpinia sappan Heartwood
Caesalpinia span heartwood is used in folklore in India. The present work attempts to summarize the pharmacognostical characters of the heartwood of this plant. Ash and extractive values, phytochemical tests, HPTLC and fluorescence analysis were carried out. The present work contributes for the standardization of this medicinal heat wood.
Fluorescence of powdered vegetable drugs with particular reference to development of a system of identification.
An introductory section includes a brief resume of previous observations on the fluorescence of crude drugs and drug products exposed to ultraviolet radiation. A key for identification of powdered vegetable drugs based on their fluorescence under ultraviolet radiation is presented. Possible application of the method and its shortcomings are discussed.
Facies and microfacies of slope deposits
Abstract This paper reviews the facies and microfacies of the main types of slope deposits. Lamination and sorting, when preserved, are good evidence for overland flow. Features due to deformation (folds, boudins, coatings and tails due to the rotation of clasts) are associated with the early stages of deformation in earth slides. Other mass-movements such as debris flows, rock avalanches, earth flows, and to a certain extent, dry grain flows may be characterised by similar microscopic facies, typically a poorly sorted, porphyric material. Porosity gives evidence for both liquefaction (debris flows) and frost-induced mass-movement (solifluction). However, this criterion is thought to be irrelevant for fossil deposits owing to the rapidity and scale of post-depositional changes (wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, bioturbation). At present, only a detailed analysis of both the macro- and micromorphological characteristics of the deposits allows an accurate identification of past slope dynamics.