178 
In the Museums of Economic Botany at Kew an attempt is made 
to furnish as complete a series as possible of every economic substance 
derived from the vegetable kingdom. In certain cases it is sought also 
to supplement these by exhibiting substances used for purposes of 
adulteration. In this way such substances may be the more readily 
detected. 
In this particular instance the use of the leaves of Solenostemma as 
an adulterant of gn senna =a be decidedly i ean as the 
plant belongs to the Asclepiadacw, a natural order containing plants 
which, as a rule, are of a poisonons tian ter. In быт all elie is an 
acrid juice of a drastic chara 
her means are available to this establishment, Mr. Thiselton 
Dyer would esteem it a favour if the Secretary of State would invite 
the assistance of Her Majesty’s Agent and Consul-General at Cairo to 
procure a small quantity, about a pound in мыло of the dried leaves 
of Solenostemma for the use of the Royal Garden 
i Й am, &с. 
Sir Villiers Lister, K.C.M.G. (Signed ) D. Morris. 
Sir E. BARING to FOREIGN OFFICE. 
My Lorp Cairo, кш 22nd, 1891. 
Ох ceipt of your Lordship’s Despatch, No. 43, 3, Commercial, 
of the 4th Муен; last, I asked Mr. Wallace, the dicte of the 
Agricultural College in Egypt, io endeavour to procure for me some of 
the dried leaves of the Solenostemma Argel, in compliance with the 
desire expressed by the Director of Kew Gardens. 
ve now been informed by Mr. Wallace that he has ascertained 
that the leaves of this plant are not now to be found in Egypt. 
were, he says, formerly brought in from Nubia, before the 
events Е the last few years closed the trade with the Soudan, but they 
are not brought in now. Mr. Wallace has promised to do his best to 
get some of the leaves from Nubia, but before he can do so there may 
be some difficulty and delay. 
I have, &с. 
The Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., (Signed) E. BARING. 
&e &c. &c. 
FonEIGN OFFICE to RovAL rami Kew. 
accompanying specimens of Solenostemma Е" which Sir Е. Baring 
has, at last, succeeded in obtaining from 
Lam, &с. 
The Assistant Director, (Signed) Jas. FERGUSON. 
Kew Gardens. 
