76 
this and in many other cases the accuracy of the drawing is stated 
to be quite sufficient for the identification of the tree or fruit. 
The tree was sacred to Isis, Nephthys and Hathor, and appears to 
be identified with the “tree of life,” beneath which the soul of the 
departed received the “wreath of justification.” A picture of the 
tree in the Book of the Dead shows two hands projecting from 
the foliage, and offering food and drink to the wandering soul. 
Isis and Nephthys were regarded as protectors of the dead, and it 
was perhaps for that reason that twigs of the Sycomore-fig were 
sometimes added to the offerings in the tombs. : 
he tree, which attains a great age, grows wild in Northern 
Africa (in Egypt, N ubia, Abyssinia, and in oases), where it is also 
cultivated in gardens, and planted, for the sake of the shade that it 
gives, by road-sides and in groups near villages. ee 
Mummy Cloth.—Three samples of mummy cloth have been sent to 
Kew for examination by Mr. G. D. Morce, Dorset Square, N.W. 
Two of the samples were of about the date B.C. 900 and the thir 
B.C. 500. Mr. Boodle reported that all the samples appear to 
have been made from flax. ser fi 
than the others and had probably been soaked in some greasy or 
waxy substance, 
Pilocarpus racemosus.The recent note in the Bulletin on this 
subject (A.B., 1908 
articles on P. racemosus by Mr. E. M. Holm 
» P- 713; vol. xviii., 1904, p. 54). From these it 
; ght, Layman and Umney, who found 
only 0°34 per cent. of total alkaloids, As a previous analysis by 
- D. Rocher, ee by Holmes, gave 1-0 per cent. of alkaloids, 
of which three-fifths were pilocarpine, it seemed desirable to have a 
further analysis ; and a sample of the leaves was accordingly 
submitted to Mr. A. J, Cownley, who found that they yielded 0°6 
per cent. of total alkaloids, which gave about 50 per cent. of a 
crystalline nitrate melting at 155°C. A 
has a melting point of 178° C., and anh 
is estimated to have only one-eighth t 
pilocarpine, physiologically. Further 
req _ 0 ascertain es ei Guadeloupe Jaborandi leaves can be 
s a source of pi ocarpine nitrate, Holmes suggests, in 
ve en At oe in the percentages of alkaloids may 
vi ue to the leaves’ havir e ste ifferent 
periods oF ERs year ig been collected at differen 
as De Be 
Beem cn ee 
