THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 119 



ing this starch it is first fermented to form fusel oil and ace- 

 tone and from these the isoprene is produced. It thus appears 

 that the humble potato may support life in an entirely new 

 way. Last year the world used nearly seventy-five thousand 

 tons of natural rubber and the demand is steadily increasing. 

 In May 1910 rubber brought more than $3.00 a pound, but 

 this is an unusual price. The British, who have always been 

 fond of speculations in rubber, haae founded a company with 

 $2,500,000 capital to manufacture the new artificial rubber. 

 It is said, however, that notwithstanding the fact that the ar- 

 tificial product seems to be idenical with the natural, it is not 

 likely to soon crowd it in the market. Only a small amount 

 of isoprene can be made from a given bulk of potatoes and 

 the cost of producing this is still very great. 



Poisonous Moonseed. — The poisonous nature of the 

 moonseed (Menispermum cmiadensc) has again been forcibly 

 brought to notice through the death of a small boy at Lemont, 

 111. from eating a few of the fruits. The boy who was seven 

 years old, found what he supposed were wild grapes as he was 

 returning from school. He ate three of the fruits and in the 

 course of a few hours became violently ill. In spite of medi- 

 cal attention he died the next day. Many dealers in deco- 

 rative plants offer the moonseed for sale and it appears to be 

 extensively planted for covering arbors and the like, its pois- 

 onous nature apparently not being suspected. The fruits are 

 large, deep purplish-black and quite attractive in appearance. 

 When grown about dwellings one ignorant of its qualities 

 might easily be tempted to try it with disastrous results. The 

 vine, however, is a very decorative one with large, glossy 

 angular leaves that are free from the vermin that attack many 

 climbing plants. Fortunately the species is dioecious, that is 

 the stamens and pistils are on separate plants. By using the 

 staminate form one may have the plant without danger of 

 poisoning, but he ought to make sure that it is really stamin- 

 ate. 



