13 



With Bliss Triumph, treated tubers sprouted about one 

 month before the checks, and with Irish Cobbler, 1925 Long 

 Island Crop, the treated lot produced vines two feet high, bearing 

 second crop tubers i cm. in diameter before the checks appeared 

 above ground. 



Sodium and potassium thiocyanate solutions also gave ex- 

 cellent results. Other chemicals that gave favorable results 

 were: dichloroethylene, triochloroethylene, carbon bisulphide, 

 ethylene dichloride and ethyl bromide. Tests with these are 

 being continued. 



Arthur H. Graves, 



Secretary. 



Meeting of November 10, i92(^ 



This meeting was held at the American Museum of Natural 

 History. The program was an illustrated lecture by Dr. R. H. 

 Cheney of New York University, entitled, "Plant arrow poisons; 

 their sources, preparation and effects." The lecturer stated that 

 the beginning of the use of arrow poisons is lost in antiquity. 

 Mention of them is made in the Bible and by ancient classical 

 writers. Arrow poisons derived from plants come only from the 

 Angiosperms, the chief species used among the monocotyledons 

 being Haemanthus toxicarius^ Discorea hirsuta and Amorpho- 

 phallus campanulatus; among the dicotyledons, Antiaris toxi- 

 caria, Anemone ranunculoides, Aconitum ferox^ Physostigma 

 venenosu?n, Lunasia amara^ Lophopetalum toxicum, Strychnos 

 Gubleri, Castelnaei, Crevauxiana, toxifera and tieute, Acocanthera 

 venenata, Adenium somolense, and Strophanthus hispidus and 

 Komhe. 



No plant arrow poisons have been employed commonly in 

 North America with the exception of Anemone sp. in northern 

 and northwestern Alaska. The southern half of South America 

 is also without the use of arrow poisons. The most effective 

 arrow poison of the Western Hemisphere is curare, a substance 

 prepared from the stems of eighteen species of South American 

 Strychnos. This substance contains two alkaloids, curine and 

 curarine, which paralyze the motor end-plates. The action is 

 very specific and rapid. 



