16 ox THE MEDICINAL AND TOXICOLOGIC A L 



Agardli., Apli. 94; Sn2)plem.Vol. to Mer. &De L,, 431 ; Scliimck, 

 Prelim. Xote on Lichens wliicli furnish coloring matters, in Jour, 

 de Pharm. 120G, 1842. 



f A coloring matter is extracted 

 Endocarpon miniatus^ Ach. j from this plant, though inferior 

 Lichen^Jj. > to that from the E. pustulatus, L. 



[ (Umbilicaria pustulata, Schrad.) 



Lejrraria chlorina. Used as a dye. Lind., ISTat. Syst. Bot. 320. 



Vcuiolaria fag'inea, Pers. 



" comomcnis, Ach. 

 Lichen fagineus, Linn. 

 Pertussarla. 



Bitter-zoned Variolaria. Com- 

 mon on the bark of trees, espe- 

 cially of old beech (Northern 

 States to Arctic America, Tuc- 

 ^ kerman). 



The intensely bitter taste of this lichen distinguishes it from 

 every species hitherto discovered, M. Braconnot detected in this 

 and several other crustaceous lichens, oxalic acid ; in the present 

 plant in such abundance that 100 j^arts yielded 18 of lime, com- 

 bined with 29.4 of oxalic acid ; and nearly the same quantity in 

 several other crustaceous lichens. And he remarks, that the 

 oxalate of lime bears the same relation to the cryptogamia as 

 carb. of lime to corals, and phosphate of lime to the bony struc- 

 ture of the more j^erfect animals. "It diminishes, however, grad- 

 ually in the family of lichens^ in proportion as the species lose 

 their general crustaceous texture, and approach more and more 

 to the membranous or cartilaii;inous, althouo-h the latter also con- 

 tain a considerable rpiantity of salt." Edinb. N. Phil. Journ.. 

 V. 13, p. 193. "M. Braconnot strongly recommends the adoption 

 of V. faginea in the production of oxalic acid, and an eminent 

 French chemist now informs me that it is so employed in France, 

 and upon a very extensive scale." Crypt, of England. The \. 

 communis, Pertussaria communis of Ach., is found in S. C. ! and 

 in the Northern States. Tuck. ; (11. W. R.) 



Variolaria orcina. A coloring paste, Orse'dle de Terre^ is made 

 from this plant. From the recent analysis of M. Robiquet (Jour, 

 de Chim. Med. v. 324), among other active principles he found 

 a SAveet substance, which had the property of striking a beautiful 

 red tint with ammonia. This able chemist proposes the name 



