246 NATORALE VSiGiEenGE. APRIL, 
in calcined and washed sand. Moreover, for some plants, he does 
not say which, it is a “veritable manure”; when watered with 
a solution they were finer and more vigorous, and flowered better 
and more quickly than under normal conditions. 
In 1887, however, M. A. Marcacci, in his ‘‘ L’azione degli 
Alcaloidi nel regno vegetale et animale,” asserts that atropin has an 
injurious effect on germination. 
M. de Varigny has made an extensive series of experiments, 
growing his plants either on washed and heated sand or cotton-wool, 
and using solutions of the sulphate of atropin of various strengths, 
from ;4, tor per cent. Seeds of aconsiderable number of species were 
tried, wheat, barley, oats, and other grasses, cress, lettuce, radish, 
turnip, buckwheat, and others. In every case the experiments 
were checked by growing the seeds under conditions in every way 
similar, but without the alkaloid. Asa result, he found that almost 
invariably there was certainly no advantage in the presence of 
atropin. For instance, several experiments were made with Indian 
cress, and in almost all the weight of the crop in the control 
experiment exceeded that in the others, and the greater the propor- 
tion of atropin the smaller the crop. This was equally well marked 
with wheat. Out of 75 seeds sown in each case, 64 germinated in 
the control experiment, 39 in the 1 per cent. solution of the salt 
of atropin, and 41 in the ,.. Im some cases, such as the beet; 
cabbage, lentil, buckwheat, and pea, the alkaloid had apparently 
no effect, germination and growth being almost the same in the two 
series of culture, while in the carrot and lettuce it certainly seemed 
favourable to growth, but M. Varigny thinks the experiments with 
these species must be repeated more frequently before arriving at 
any definite conclusion. 
On the other hand, it is quite clear that there are a number of 
species whose germination and growth is retarded, or even stopped 
by the drug. 
JADE IN Upper BuRMAH. 
Dr. NoETuinG, of the Indian Geological Survey, has issued an 
interesting report on jade in Upper Burmah. Speaking of the geology 
of jade, he says that two facts are now established—one, that jade is 
found in association with and enclosed in an eruptive rock closely 
resembling serpentine; the other, that this serpentine pierces strata 
of perhaps lower, but more probably of upper Miocene date. He 
observes that it is now proved that the jade found in Burmah belongs 
toa group of eruptive rocks of late Tertiary age, and as it is intimately 
connected with serpentine, it is probable that it will be found at other 
places where the latter occurs, when once the outer shell of the 
serpentine has been pierced. Formerly it was extracted only in the 
Uru Valley, where it was found in boulders in the alluvial deposits 
