Mav f, if84.j 



tHE TROMCAL AGStCtJLW&ISf, 



809 



Ocean and Gulf, Summer and Winter, and I am told by the 

 lady from Virginia referred to^ that the houses are never 

 hot day or night in the hottest weather, except sometimes 

 the nights are hot until 12 o'clock, then always cool. The 

 average rainfall at Jacksonville for five years was 54"47 

 inches. — Pollaed. — Southern Planter. 



UNCOMMON DRUGS. 



The following notes were recently read at a meeting of 

 the Chemistts' Assistants' Association by JMr. J. O. Braith- 

 waite in a report on materia medica, samples of the various 

 drugs named being submitted. The author explained that 

 he had obtained his information in the laboratory of Messrs. 

 AVrigbt, Layman & Umney, and he expressed his obligations 

 to tbeni, and also to Mr. Holmes, the curator of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society's museum, who had identified some of the 

 samples. The first drug reported ou was 

 Slickd Jamaica Jai.ap. 

 This sample was grown in the Government Botanical 

 Gardens as an experiment, to see if the yield of resin could 

 be increased by careful cultivation. The first sample which 

 reached this comitry was examined by Mr. Greeuish, and 

 reported on by him to the Pharmaceutical Conference in 

 18tt5- He found it to contain 



Per Cent. 



Resin 9-89 



Ether-soluble resin 1"21 



Moisture 14-3 



This second consignment has given me. — 



Per Cent. 

 Resin soluble in alcohol ... ... 12'6 



Kther-soluble rosin 10 



Moisture 11-0 



It nnll be thus seen that the second lot yields a trifle 

 more alcohol-soluble resin, but that the ether-soluble por- 

 tion — the jalapin of Mayer — is not so high. 



Perhaps it will not be out of place for me to point out 

 here the importance of thoroughly washing the resin with 

 boiling water when making the ofiicial preparation or when 

 assaying a sample of the drug, in order to get rid of the 

 sugar. To determine when this has been effected, it is necess- 

 ary to test a portion of the supernatant liquid with Fehl- 

 mg"s solution. In many cases abimdance of sugar will be 

 found in the perfectly colourless washings, and if this pre- 

 caution be not taken, as much as 5 or U per cent of sugar 

 may be weighed as resin. 



It has been stated that slicing the root increases the 

 yield of reein, by allowing a more perfect oxidation of 

 some of the secreted matter. You will notice that the 

 sliced root has but little of that peculiar fnuty odour which 

 is found in the ^vild jalap; the powder, however, is fairly 

 fragrant. The jalap resin obtained from this sample is of 

 extremely good colour. 



Gamboge in Tears. 

 The "gum" but seldom comes to this country in this 

 form, but is generally met with in " pipes " or lumps. In 

 tears it is quite free from adulteration, but it is not likely 

 to be preferred to the other, on account of the large pro- 

 portion of bark which is removed witli each tear. 

 CoQuiLLA Nuts. 

 These hard nut-like seeds were recently offered as a 

 " drug." It is difficult to imagine what medicinal virtue 

 could be supposed to reside in them. They are the seeds 

 of a species of palm, Attalia funiftva. The testa is ex- 

 tremely hard and very thick. The nut is employed in turn- 

 ery for making such small articles as door and tool hand- 

 les, also for carving. As the name "funifera" implies, this 

 palm also yields a valuable fibre of grpat strength, whieh 

 is used to make ropes. The albuminous kernels of an allied 

 species of Attalia arc eaten in the countries where it grows. 

 That of the specimen we have here is by no means un- 

 palatable, abounding in a bland oil, and having an agreeable 

 nutty flavour. 



Physic Nuts. 

 The next specimen was oflFered for sale as croton seed. 

 It is the seed of the plant closely allied to the croton-oil plant, 

 viz., Jatropha cvrcc^y or Ci'rca.t j^vrgans, the physic nut of 

 the tropics. The gejius Jatropha is closely allied to croton 

 on one hand, and Biennis on the other. 



1 liis Jatro/iha is lorgcly grown in the tropics, where it is 

 used as a purgative, the done being from three to four seeds ; 

 103 



an over-dose causes a burniog sensation in the epigasti-ium 

 and a determination of blood to the head, accompanied by 

 violent piu"ging. The negroes employ copious draughts of 

 cold water to alleviate .the effects. Dr. Christisou found 

 that 15 drops of the oil from this seed are equal in pugative 

 action to 1 oz. of castor oil. Its therapeutic power is, there- 

 fore, intermediate between croton and castor oil. The 

 utility of the plant is not limited to the medicinal action 

 of its seeds. A decoction of the leaves is used in a similar 

 manner to that of Jiicinusy to excite secretion of the lacteal 

 glands. The oil is also largely used as an illuminating agent 

 and for dressing cloth. It has been proposed to use the juice 

 of the i^lant as a marking ink for linen; when first applied to 

 linen fabric it turns from dark brown to black, and the staiu 

 is almost indelible. 



Another plant closely allied to this is the Jatro}}ha Manihot, 

 the source of our tapioca. 



The True Source of Socoteine Aloes. 



This somewhat insignificant-looking fruit is, to me, of 

 considerable interest. I rescued it from a steampan in which 

 socotrine aloes was being boiled. Mr. Holmes has identified 

 it as immature fruit of Aloe Perryi. Until recently the source 

 of socotrine aloes was unknown; but Dr. Uayley Balfour has 

 cleared up the matter, and proved that the species jneld- 

 iug the commercial article is new to science. He has called 

 it A. Ferryi. This new and interesting plant is now grow- 

 ing in the Economic House at Kew, side by side with Aloe 

 succotriiia, the species which was formerly supposed to yield 

 the drug. The plant is, of course, a young one, but its 

 characterit>tic points are already well marked, and distin- 

 guish it itoia A. succotrina at a glance. Aloe Peiryi has 

 thick lleihy jinspotted lanceolate leaves, which spring directly 

 from the level of the eai-th. Aloe succotrinct has narrow 

 rounded ensiform leaves, dightly spotted. 



Considerable uncertainty exists in the popular mind as 

 to the hmit of the term aloe, and it is generally applied 

 to any exotic endogen with thick or evergreen leaves. For 

 instance, we frequently hear both the Now Zealand flax and 

 the American yuccas called aloes by the visitors to our 

 Botanic Gardens. Many of you will doubtless remember 

 the admirable rtsumi of the genus AIou^b which Mr. Baker 

 gave at one of the evening meeting about a year ago. He 

 pointed out that the genus .iVloe may be at once distin- 

 guished by having its stamens exserted, or equal in length 

 to the perianth, which is gamophyllous; that the Yuccoidje 

 have never fleshy, but fibrous, leaves, and that the perianth 

 is polyphyllous. The three other aUied genera, Gasteria, 

 Haworthia, and Apicra, have their stamens included. 



CosTus Root. 

 The next drug is a sample of genuine CostusRoot, Although 

 but little finds its way to this country it is a staple article 

 of commerce of the East. Like most of the drugs sold in 

 Oriental bazaars, the botanical soiu-ce was long doubtful; it 

 has been determined, however, that it is the root of a com- 

 posite plant, Aplotaxis auriculata. It is cultivated in 

 Kashmir, whence it is dirtributed over the whole of India 

 and China. The quantity produced in one year exceeds two 

 million pounds. The root is dug up when the sap begins 

 to descend, and is carefully dried in the sun. It has a pecuhar 

 odour, with a warm aromatic taste. Although great curative 

 properties are attributed to it m the East, it appears to be 

 a simple carminative and stimulant. China absorbs the 

 greater part of this root for use as incense. There, under 

 the name of "pac hak," it is burned in enormous quantities 

 in every "joss house," and in that abode of ritual, no 

 ceremony, civil or religious, is complete without the smoulder- 

 ing Costus. 



Falsified Drugs on the Market. 



I have now to mention a few substitutions, and one or 

 two cases of deliberate adiUteration by the producers. The 

 first is a specimen of bark which was offm-ed for sale as 

 cinchona, and failing to find a purchaser in the role, was 

 afterwards put up as augustura. A glanc- will show that 

 it is neither. It is, however, the bark of a tree closely allied 

 to the cinchonas, viz., Steno^tomum acvi.Uinn, the false 

 quinine bark. Its chemical properties do not appear to have 

 been investigated. I now call attention to two grossly 

 sophisticated samples of *' .scammony gum." The first is soft 

 of ahout the consistence of pill mass, buthah the peculiarsmell 

 of scammony very markedly. It contaius but X per cent 



