THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 7 



the occult sciences, and the efficacy of mechcinal remedies is not in- 

 quired into; tried and discarded by the medical professions of both 

 America and Europe, it still remains to the Chinaman a panacea "for 

 all the ills that flesh is heir to," and has been styled the "cinchona of 

 China." The recently revived Kezv Bulletin has presented a revision of 

 the species under A r alia. The author recognizes seven varieties besides 

 the type, as follows : 



Aralia qninqucfolia. Decne. and Planch. United States and Canada. 

 This is the type. 



Van Ginseng, Regel and Maack. Manchuria, and cultivated in 

 Corea and Japan. 



Var. rep ens, Burkill. Corea and Japan. 



Var. major, Burkill. Central China. 



Var. Pseudo-ginseng, Burkill. Nepal. Shevpore. 



Var. Notoginseng, Burkill. South China. 



Var. angustifolia, Burkill. British India. 



Var. elegantior, Burkill. 



Var. Ginseng produces Manchurian ginseng, var. repcns Japanese 

 ginseng, and var. Notoginseng South China ginseng. The only other 

 form of the species that produces a commercial article is the American 

 type. The Bulletin further says that in the east the rootstocks of 

 Centaurea, Adenophora, Angelica, Plafycodon, Reliuiannia, and of other 

 plants are used as adulterants as well as ginseng roots that have once 

 Ijeen extracted and then dried. 



A New Source of Alcohol in West Australia. 



As early as 1876 an application was made to the Australian Patent 

 Office for a patent covering a process of making sugar from the grass- 

 trees of Australia. These "grass-trees" belong to the rush family, Jun- 

 ■caceae, and to the genus Xanthorrhca, of which there are some dozen 

 species. Ten years earlier than this it was known that about twenty 

 gallons of a saccharine juice could be obtained from a ton of the pith 

 •of interior parts of the plant, which when distilled yielded four gallons 

 of proof spirit. Nothing was done, however, at that time to try to make 

 alcohol from the grass-tree on a commercial scale. Of recent years 

 the grass-trees have become so numerous that they are considered a 

 pernicious weed. The Australian Agricultural Department has turned 

 its attention to the matter and is conducting experiments in making 



