Pharmaceutisches u. Chemisches. — Agricultur etc. 463 



Verf. zieht noch die Rinde von Rhamnus Purshiana in den Kreis 

 der Untersuchung. Matouschelt (Reichenberg). 



Perrot, E. et Ph. de Vilmorin, Du Ginseng et en parti- 

 culier du Ginseng de Coree et de Mandchourie. 

 (Trav. Lab. Mat. med. Ecole super. Pharm. Paris. T, II. 

 1905. p. 129-210.) 



Les racines du ginseng coreen sont diaphanes, de couleur jaune 

 ambree, compactes, jamais spongieuses, tres destinctes comme apparence 

 du ginseng americain (Panax quinquefolium L.). Ces racines sont quel- 

 quefois simples, ordinairement ramifiees en deux ou quatre branches. La 

 saveur est sucree. 



Au microscope, elies se montrent constituees d'une facon tout ä 

 fait normale^ avec un cylindre ligneux compact, montrant des rayons 

 vasculaires ä Clements plus ou moins groupes. Les bandes liberiennes, 

 non ecrasees, separees par de larges rayons medullaires, contiennent de 

 nombreux canaux secreteurs avec oleo-resine jaunätre, qui se continuent 

 dans la zone corticale secoiidaire. Sous le liege exterieur mince^ on 

 trouve une zone parenchymateuse ä larges Clements dont un certain 

 nombre renferment des mäcles d'oxalate de calcium. La racine non 

 traitee par la vapeur d'eau, renfermerait d'apres Petrowsky, de l'amidon 

 et du l'huile. F. Jadin. 



Burtt-Davy, J., The Climate and Life Zones of the 

 Transvaal. (Transvaal Agricultural Journal. IV. 1905. 

 p. 114-134.) 



A paper contributed to the British Association Meeting at 

 Johannesburg, August 1905, principally devoted to the 

 consideration of the distribution of economic plants in the 

 Transvaal as controlled by temperature, humidity or aridity, 

 soil composition and soil texture. A summary is given of the 

 available data relating to temperature, rainfall, etc. It is pointed 

 out that the normal climate of the area is tropical or subtropi- 

 cal and this is found at elevations of less than 1500 feet, Above 

 1500 feet siibtropical and many tropical crops can be grown 

 all the year round. Accordingly the work of plant introduction 

 should be devoted to the development of subtropical and tro- 

 pical crops, with addition of the most promising kinds from 

 warm temperate regions rather than with the crops of tem- 

 perate regions. 



An analysis is given of Orders, genera and species to which 

 plants recorded from the Transvaal belong. 



There are three principal life Zones in the Transvaal: 

 1. Highveld. This includes practically all the country 

 above 4,000 feet, about two fifths of the whole Colony; gene- 

 rally a treeless and fenceless steppe. Annual short-season 

 subtropical crops, such as early maize and tobacco, can be 

 grown in places, but the seasons are too short for cotton etc., 

 and the winters too cold for citrus fruits, and pineapples. 

 ,.Rust" prohibits the growth of cereal crops of temperate 

 regions. 



The Highveld is a pastoral rather than an agricultural 

 region. Experiments have shown that lucerne (Medicago 



