THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 65 



perial Series. The fact that the great family Acanthaceae is practically un- 

 known in medicine lends great interest to any member of it which exhibits 

 a reasonable probability of possessing important medicinal properties. In 

 a brief illustrated article on this plant, published in the Bulletin of Phar- 

 macy some years since, I stated that its field of probable usefulness was indi- 

 cated by the fact that it appears to be toxic to both animal and vegetable 

 forms of life in direct proportion to their lowness in the scale, and that 

 this property is unique among plants. In the paper by Dr. Hooper here 

 referred to, all possible information concerning the uses and properties of 

 the plant has been collected, and this has been supplemented by an experi- 

 mental study, with the result of fully confirming the opinion above quo-tod. 

 Thrown upon water, the leaves are found to completely destroy the lower 

 aquatics and to prevent their reappearance. Laid upon fruits and other 

 perishable substances, they to a great extent prevent mould and decay. 

 They check the development of parasitic diseases on vegetation. Their very 

 extended use in India in the treatment of tuberculosis and similar respira- 

 tory diseases may or may not be founded upon this property. Aquatic ani- 

 malculae are also killed by them, as are insect pests, including plant lice 

 and plant beetles. They are anthelmintic. They quite readily destroy 

 frogs on being thrown into water in which those animals exist, and they 

 are somewhat toxic to fish. They destroy earth worms and are fatal to white 

 ants. There is little evidence of their toxicitiy to the higher animals, be- 

 yond the fact that no pasturing animal will eat them. These qualities 

 have been very clearly proven to pertain to the alkaloid vasicine. While 

 the information collated by Dr. Hooper does not indicate the degree of im- 

 portance which may be expected to pertain to the drug, it is amply sufficient 

 to place it in the front rank of plants entitled to extended practical trial at 

 agricultural stations and in botanic gardens. The monograph here reviewed 

 may be found in the college library. R. 



Silk Cotton Floss. — The Agricultural Ledger., No. 17, 1897, is devoted 

 to the consideration of the silk cotton (floss) of Calotropis procera, a product 

 closely related to the floss of our asclepiads or milk-weeds, which has been 

 similarly experimented with from time to time as to its availability for the 

 manufacture of textile fabrics. This fact lends interest in American eyes 

 to the results of all such experiments as those here reported. It is stated 

 that this article was in demand in London a few years ago for fancy textile 

 purposes, but, owing to the difficulties presented by variations in the quality 

 of products supplied, and to thej intermittent supply when requirements 

 arose, it dropped out of use. It is further stated that the trade might be 

 revived if a moderate but continuous supply could be guaranteed at prices 

 ranging from four pence to five pence (eight to ten cents) per pound. The 

 pods should be gathered and forwarded unopened, with as little handling 



