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Queen of Madagascar. Dr Parker and Mr Baker, of 

 the Royal Herbarium, Kew, were present, and would 

 give the meeting some information on the subject of 

 the specimens. He would first call upon Mr Holmes 

 to make some remarks upon the donations to the 

 museum. 



Mr Holmes said that several of the native drugs 

 of Madagascar, now exhibited, appeared to be of great 

 interest. Perhaps Dr Parker would give some infor- 

 mation as to how far these native drugs might 

 replace in medical practice the drugs imported into 

 Madagascar from this country. In the first place, there 

 was an insect resembling cantharides, which had been 

 identified in the Zoological Department of the British 

 Museum as a species of Epicauta very near to E. 

 ruficollis ; but there was no specimen exactly like it 

 in the museum. He should like to know whether it 

 would produce vesicant effects without the deterious 

 effects produced by cantharides on the bladder, etc§ 

 There was a specimen of small castor oil seeds such a3 

 were used also on the West Coast of Africa ; the odour 

 of the oil was different from that of ordinary castor 

 oil, and perhaps Dr Parker would inform the meeting 

 whether it was as effective as the castor oil prepared 

 in this country, There was also a large fruit of 

 Brehmia spinosa, belonging to the same family as 

 Nux Vomica. He believed that no species of Strychnos 

 had been discovered in the island, and thought that it 

 would be an interesting point to determine whether 



