146 THE JAvA BEAN. 
Lockerbie ; Mr James Scott-Halliday, Lockerbie ; Mr Abel Wight- 
man, Lockerbie; Mr E. B. Rae, Town Clerk, Lochmaben; Dr 
T. Wyld Pairman, Hinemoa, Moffat ; Mr John Miller, Elmwood, 
Moffat; and Mr and Mrs W. A. Mackinnel, The Sheiling, 
Duntfries. 
It was agreed to record in the minutes an expression of regret 
at the death of Mr William Thomson, Kirkcudbright, an honorary 
member of the society, who had done much good work in further- 
ing its objects. 
THE Java Bean. By G. F. Scott-Exziot, F.R.G.S., F.L.S. 
The plant, “ Phaseolus lunatus,’’ is a native of South 
America. It was probably first cultivated by the ancient 
Peruvians, for in their graves seeds of it have been discovered. It 
is cultivated in many parts of the world, and under cultivation has 
changed very considerably. The important point to remember in 
dealing with all cultivated plants is that they lose their specific 
characters and become no longer true to type. Thus, e.g., the 
bitter almond in cultivation loses its poisonous character and 
becomes the ordinary sweet almond. That is also the case with 
the Phaseolus lunatus. It is met with in three forms:—(1) 
Cultivated and domesticated, with white seeds (Lima or Dapple 
beans). This seems to be quite harmless ; it is not even said to be 
dangerous. Well-known books of reference give no hint as to 
any dangerous or poisonous character. 2. Semi-cultivated seeds, 
light to dark brown, with violet hues or purple patches. This is 
called in Mauritius “ Pois Amer.’’ It seems also to be the 
Burmah bean or Rangoon bean or Paigya. These beans contain 
small quantities of a glucoside phaseolunatin which furnishes 
prussic acid when crushed and moistened with water. The 
amount is, however, exceedingly small; not more than .004 per 
cent. 3. Wild form known in Mauritius as Pois d’Achery, and 
also Java and Madagascar beans. Seeds are violet, but there 
appears to be much range in colour, as Mr Dunstan found dark 
brown, purple, and light brown seeds in two samples from 
Mauritius. The amount of prussic acid varies from .09 and .08 
per cent. in purple and dark brown seeds to .04 in the light brown. 
This, of course, 1-10 per cent., calculated on the dry beans, is 
quite sufficient to condemn the use of these Java and Madagascar 
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