THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



253 



plerom which is exterior to the cambium. 

 It is this complex structure to which the 

 term "bark" has always, except by a 

 few individuals, been applied. Its limit 

 is not only that of natural and convenient 

 separation, but is well marked as one 

 which separates the regions of the two 

 great classes of medicinal deposits. The 

 corticle and bast regions, it is true, show 

 some differences from one another in this 

 respect, but no such sharp and funda- 

 mental a one as exists between the wood 

 and the collective tissues which sur- 

 round it. 



The full awkardness ol a situation re- 

 sulting from the general acceptance of 

 the morphological definition is now 

 apparent. In purchasing Calisaya, to 

 adhere to our original illustration, we 

 must first ascertain whether it bear any 

 portion of tissue of corticle origin, and if 

 not we must call for it as Calisaya bast. 

 If it does, we must speak of it as so much 

 Calisaya bast and bark, or Calisaya inte- 

 gument, or else we must coin a new 

 name for the structure which has always 

 been known as bark. If the order call 

 for Prunus Virginiana, the druggist 

 would be forced under our existing offi- 

 cial definition to carefully remove all the 

 bast before supplying it. 



If the term "bark" were strictly a 

 scientific one like periderm or phello- 

 derm, or if it were pre-eminently so used, 

 the proposition to restrict it to a new 

 meaning might have a basis, though 

 even then it would in our opinion be de- 

 void of any beneficial object at all com- 

 mensurate with the trouble which such a 

 change would occasion; but as the mat- 

 ter stands, even this is not the case. It 

 is a word of common usage, of the dic- 

 tionary, of an extensive commerce, and 

 of an extensive and most important 

 standard literature. If science desires on 

 scientific grounds to cultivate clearer 



ideas on the subject of bark origin and 

 structure, a very important desideratum 

 for which we are all willing to work, it 

 should do so through the coining of a 

 new name to represent the comparatively 

 new idea, and not introduce an unneces- 

 sary confusion by the wresting of a w r ord 

 of this character to a new use. 



Eucalyptene. — Voiry, in the course of his in- 

 vestigations on oils of eucalyptus, has deter, 

 mined the presence of a strongly dextrorotary 

 terpene in the oil of Eucalyptus globulus dis- 

 tilled in southern France. Bouchardat and 

 Tardy have prepared a number of derivatives of 

 this body in order to compare them with those 

 of laevo-terebenthene. This dextrorotary ter- 

 pene appears to correspond exactly with the 

 laevo-terpene which is the main constituent of 

 the pine product. It boils at i56°--i57°, and 

 has a specific gravity of .870 at o°. Its optical 

 activity is (a) d = -\- 39 . The principal body 

 studied by the authors is the product of hydra- 

 tion. By the action of absolute formic acid, 

 they have obtained an acoholic formate, which, 

 when saponified, yields C 20 H 18 O 2 , a body cor- 

 responding in all details to the one prepared 

 from the laevo-terpene. It crystallizes in volu- 

 minous masses, melting at 33°-34°. It boils at 

 218 , and is dextrorotary (a) d = + 88°.— Bull, 

 de la Soc. Chim. de Paris. 



The Alkaloids of Calabar Beans.— From 

 these beans three alkaloids have hitherto been 

 extracted — eserine or physostigmine, eseridine, 

 and calabariue. According to Ehrenberg, the 

 last named does not exist already formed in 

 the plant, but a new alkaloid was extracted 

 which he terms eseramine. This body crysta- 

 lizes in colorless needles, melting at 238 . It is 

 almost inactive physiologically. Its formula 

 appears to be C 1G H 2 -,N. l 3 . It is known that 

 eserine, under the influence of alkalies, gives a 

 coloring matter, rubreserine, which rapidly 

 turns blue. If, however, alkalies be allowed to 

 act on eserine, in the absence of air and in the 

 cold, a new base is formed, which can be ob- 

 tained in crystals by means of dry ether. Ehren- 

 berg proposes to term this base eseroline. It 

 has the formula C 18 H 18 N 2 0; exposed to air it 

 rapidly oxidizes to rubreserine. This body is 

 not obtained from eseredine.— The British and 

 Colonial Druggist. 



