BY E. CHEEL. 591 



my garden at Ashfield, and at Hill Top, on the Southern Line. 

 I have also had some of the fruit made into jam, but although 

 it had a very nice colour and appearance, somewhat resembling 

 the true black currant jam made from the fruit of Hibes nigrum, 

 I must confess that the flavour did not suit my palate. Whether 

 one could acquire a taste for this particular jam, I am not pre- 

 pared to say, but it seemed to me to have a peculiar taste. 



With regard to the name "Wonderberry" being attached to 

 this plant, there seems to be some doubt if the plants grown by 

 Mr. Ward and myself are really the same as those sold by the 

 American seedsmen under that name. Some few years ago, 

 some seeds, reputed to be the true " Wonderberry " of Burbank, 

 were purchased by a leading firm of seedsmen in Sydney, and 

 some of these were sown in the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for 

 observation and report. 



The seeds were sown by Mr. J. L, Boorman on the 4 th June, 

 1909, and a report furnished by him on the 6tli of January, 1910, 

 is as follows : — " The Wonderberry sent to the Gardens for test- 

 ing and for correction in naming according to Mr. Betche, the 

 general opinion of those acquainted with S. nigrum all emphati- 

 cally state it to be merely the normal form of S. nigrum, with- 

 out any appreciable difference from the common introduced New 

 South Wales plant." 



As the resultant plants seemed to be so near the plants com- 

 monly known in the Sydney District as "Native Black Currants" 

 or Common Nightshade (S. nigrum), it was thought desirable 

 by the firm of seedsmen to hold the seed back from sale. On 

 the 6th of March, 1917, I gathered some fresh berries from a 

 solitary plant in my garden at Ashfield, which weighed 21bs. 6oz.; 

 these were submitted to Mr. F. B. Guthrie, Chemist to the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, for examination and report as to 

 whether any poisonous properties were present. I received the 

 following reply: — "The sample submitted contains very 

 minute quantities of a crystalline alkaloid, presumably solanine. 

 The quantity obtained from 200 grms. berries was too small to 

 weigh. The crystals obtained were in small groups, were needle- 

 shaped, soluble in alcohol, insoluble in water, and precipitated 



