LOBANTHACEJE. 23 1 



to us from Poona as having a reputation among the Hindus 

 as a remedy in consumption, asthma, and mania ; they are 



astringent* 



w 



Dr. Buchanan-Hamilton, when m Mysore, was shown the 

 Loranthus falcatm^ Linn. ( ^ Wotu,' Canarese)^ the bark of which 

 was used by the poorer natives in place of betel-nut; with 

 quicklime it tinges the saliva and mouth of a fine red, brighter 

 even than that communicated by the Areca. 



In Travancore^ the Loranthaceous parasites on the Nux 

 Vomica are called ^(X/i;V>um-^/.Y^/^fl7 in Malayalira, and are used in 

 medicine by the natives, but when the parasites are scarce, the 

 young leaves of the Nux Vomica tree are used as a substitute. 



A contribution by M. A, -Chatin to the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences entirely contradicts the statement we have extracted 

 from the Pharmacopceia of India ^ and the belief of the natives 

 that these parasites partake of the nature of the plants upon 

 which they grow ; so that the old ideas concerning the non- 

 elaboration of sap by parasitic plants will have to be abandoned. 



M* Chatin finds that the tannin of the mistletoe is not 

 identical with that of the oak on which it grows, but gives a 

 green colour and not a blue-black with iron salts ; that the 

 LoranthuSy which grows on 8trychnos Nux Vomica^ does not, as 

 has been asserted, contain a trace of either strychnine or 

 brucine, and that the Balanophora parasitic on Cinchona Calimya 

 does not contain any of the alkaloids of cinchona barks. The 

 Loranthus growing on orange trees never partakes of the yellow 

 colour of the wood of its host plant, nor does the Orohanche of 

 the hemp possess the odour of the latter ; while Hydnora 

 africana^ used as food in South Africa by the Hottentots, grows 

 on an acrid and even vesicating Euplwrhia. It is evident, 

 therefore, that the sap absorbed from the host plant must be 

 modified by the parasite to form its own peculiar products. 

 (Pliann, Journ.j May 2nd, 1891.) 



The Forest Officer of Ganjam, a district where the Strychno3 

 grows so plentifully, sent to one of us a specimen of a species 

 of Viscum taken from these trees, which was identified as 



