136 Kansas Academy of Science. 



feature in their pharmaceutical and medical work. One of 

 the most up-to-date gardens I have had the pleasure of ex- 

 amining is located at the University of Minnesota, where there 

 is not only a garden of about three acres and a covered 

 space of about three-fourths of an acre, but also a large green- 

 house connected with the college of pharmacy, which the medi- 

 cal profession, as well as the drug trade, has seen fit to not only 

 acknowledge of great value, but from a commercial as well as a 

 scientific point of view it has been exceedingly beneficial in 

 every respect. 



I regret to say that the appeals of the dean of the school of 

 pharmacy of the University of Kansas for a botanical garden 

 for medicinal plants and for a properly constructed greenhouse 

 thus far have not been permitted to come before the legislature. 

 I feel that this is a very great mistake, but until we can cot?- 

 vince the public that such a demand as I felt myself to be 

 worthy of bringing to the notice of the legislature, we shall still 

 remain as we are now, very backward in this most worthy 

 enterprise. 



University of Kansas, Lawrence. 



ISOLATION OF TOXIC PRINCIPLES OF COFFEE, AND 

 THE DETERMINATION OF THEIR TOXICITY. 



L. E. Sayre. 



IN 1907 the writer published, in Merck's Report, an article 

 on the toxic principle of coffee, and since that time, in the 

 Transactions of this Society, he has had articles on the same 

 subject, so that he has deemed it fit to present another article, 

 bringing forth more recent work on the subject. 



The cause of toxicity of coffee has long been a mooted ques- 

 tion. At first the toxicity was believed to be due to caffeine, 

 but it was quickly recognized that the symptoms that some- 

 times follow the use of coffee are not the same as those re- 

 sulting from an equivalent amount of caffeine, as is seen from 

 the following examples : 



First. Persons who are affected with headache, insomnia, 

 nervousness, etc., by the use of coffee are often similarly af- 

 fected by the mere breathing of the vapors given off during the 

 boiling of coffee. 



