BIOLOGY. 257 



ieli in 1847. Considerable attention was attracted to the subject, 

 and specimens of the bean were obtained from the Gold Coast. 

 These were planted in the Botanical Garden of Edinburgh, and 

 produced a plant which proved to be a perennial creeper, belong- 

 ing to the family of leguminosce, of an undescribed genus. The 

 inline of phyrostigma, suggested by the peculiar inflation of the 

 stima, was adopted. 



The plant mounts on trees and shrubs near the banks of streams, 

 into which the bean frequently drops, and the natives obtain their 

 supply of the fruit from the borders of the rivers, where it lodges. 



The seed is about the size of a large horse-bean, being some- 

 what more than an inch in length, by three-quarters of an inch in 

 breadth, with a very firm, hard, brittle, shining integument, of a 

 brownish-red or ash-gray color. The taste resembles that of ordi- 

 nary leguminous seeds, without bitterness. The alkaloid principle 

 ean'be extracted by alcohol, and is called phyrostigmine. It is an 

 active poison, one grain being sufficient to produce death. It 

 produces paralysis, loss of reflex action, contraction of the pupil. 

 Immediately after death the pupils dilate. In cases where per- 

 sons escaped from the poisonous effects, it was shown that they 

 took such an over-dose as to produce vomiting. The most inter- 

 esting practical application of the Calabar bean is that of contract- 

 ing the pupil of the eye. A drop of the alcoholic solution affects 

 only the eye which is operated upon. The eye becomes near- 

 sighted under the influence of the alkaloid. It is sometimes ap- 

 plied in case of disease of the optic nerve. 



Coca. Erytroxylon Coca is a shrub which grows wild in South 

 America, ancl is largely cultivated in Bolivia. The plant is 

 propagated from the seed in nurseries, begins to yield in 18 

 months, and continues productive for half a century. The leaves 

 are picked, and dried in the sun and transported in bags. They 

 are known in South America by the name of coca, and have been 

 used by the natives for centuries. A peculiar substance called 

 Cocaina has been isolated by Dr. Niemnn, of a white, inodorous, 

 bitter taste, resembling the alkaloid of tea and coffee. Persons 

 unused to it are liable to unpleasant effects, such as hallucination, 

 delirium, and nervous excitement. The natives chew it for the 

 same purpose that the Styrian peasants are said to employ arsenic, 

 and the sale of the leaves is interdicted by the government. In- 

 stances of the dangerous effects of the leaves were cited by the 

 members, one person having become deranged in consequence of 

 the habit of chewing them. 



Antidote to Strychnia. M. J. Rosenthal (" Comptes Rendus," 

 Juno 3, 1867) noticed that, by establishing artificial respiration in 

 animals so as to suppress all the natural respiratory movements, a 

 much larger dose of strychnia could be borne with impunity than 

 in the normal condition of breathing; the convulsions manifested 

 themselves when the animal breathed naturally, but ceased when 

 artificial respiration was commenced, the animal appearing unaf- 

 fected. This shows that a poison may exist in the blood without 

 manifesting its effects, not powerless, but with suspended action ; 

 and that it is rendered thus inoperative by the special condition of 



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