848 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



/3-carboxylic acid; allantoin; a phytosterol; small amounts of a 

 phytosterol glucoside and pentatriacontane; a new crystalline glu- 

 coside, phaseosaponin, and a mixture of fatty acids. The roots also 

 contain some resin and amorphous glucosidic material and a quan- 

 tity of reducing sugar. No alkaloid was present, nor could any 

 trace of a compound capable of yielding hydrogen cyanide be detected. 

 Physiological tests, in conjunction with the results of the chemical 

 examination, afforded no evidence that the roots of the scarlet runner 

 bean, as obtained from cultivated plants, possess the toxic properties 

 ascribed to them. Power, Pharm. Jour., 1913, p. 550. 



Erythrophloeum Guineense. The bark of Erythrophloeum 

 Guineense (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Caesalpinacese), a tree 

 indigenous to central and western Africa. The bark of the tree is 

 also known as sassy bark, casca bark, doom bark, and in the vernac- 

 ular of the Congo as Nkasa. It has been employed by the natives of 

 western Africa as an ordeal in their trials for witchcraft and sorcery, 

 as well as for other criminal purposes, and apparently also enters into 

 the composition of the arrow-poison of the Pigmies. A chemical 

 examination of the bark resulted in the isolation of several well- 

 known compounds and the presence of a highly toxic alkaloid, desig- 

 nated by previous investigators as erythrophleine. Neither this 

 alkaloid nor its salts could, however, be obtained in a crystalline 

 state. Power, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1912, p. 337. 



ROBINIA PSEUDO-ACACIA or common locust (Fam. Leguminosae, 

 sub-fam. Papilionaceae). The bark of this well-known tree possesses 

 highly poisonous properties. These are due to the presence of a 

 protein, Robin, which is soluble in water. Power, Amer. Jour. 

 Pharm., 1913, p. 339. 



Derris Ulignosa (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese). 

 The stem of this species of Derris is used in the Far East as a fish 

 poison. The material employed for its investigation was obtained 

 from the Fiji Islands. It was ascertained that the poisonous prop- 

 erty resides in a resin, which, together with other constituents of 

 the drug, was chemically examined. Power, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1902, 

 p. 296. 



GERANIACE.fi, OR GERANIUM FAMILY 



A small family of about 500 species, native to temperate cli- 

 mates and most abundant in South Africa. The flowers are perfect, 

 regular, 5-merous and hypogynous. The fruit is an elastically 

 dehiscent capsule separating with their long styles from the axis. 



