976 DR THOMAS R. FRASER ON STROPHANTHUS HISPIDUS. 



Buchanan as the flowers of the plant from which the seeds used in the greatest number 

 of my experiments had been derived, Professor Oliver expresses the opinion that they 

 are the flowers of & hispidus. 



It is, therefore, to the species hispidus that the greatest amount of interest is at 

 present attached, for, in all probability, it chiefly has furnished the materials for the 

 chemical and pharmacological investigations that have hitherto been made in this country, 

 as well as for the therapeutic experience that has been collected within the last fifteen 

 years. 



This species is not known to occur elsewhere than in Africa. It appears to be widely 

 distributed over that continent, in its tropical and subtropical regions ; having been 

 found at various places between the east coast and centre of Africa, above the Victoria 

 Falls of the Zambesi (Kirk), on the banks of the Shire River, in the Manganja country, 

 and extending northwards to the Murchison cataracts (Buchanan); as well as along a 

 large portion of the west coast, in Senegambia, Sierra Leone (Kirk), Guinea, and the 

 Niger and Gaboon districts. 



The plant is described by Buchanan* as a strong climber lying in folds on the ground, 

 and climbing to the tops of neighbouring trees by forming coils round them. The stem 

 is about 3 inches in diameter, and young shoots grow from it, as nearly straight rods, of 

 great length. When the stem is cut there exudes from it a milky juice, which is sticky 

 and very bitter. The fruit is arranged in pairs, which have the appearance of gigantic 

 thorns. He believes that, even under favourable circumstances, a plant will not produce 

 flowers and fruit until it is three years of age. 



Sir John Kirk — in a letter dated 1st January 1864, which was sent to me by the 

 late Professor Sharpey — gives a similar description. He states that the Kombe plant 

 (Strophanthus hispidus) " is a woody climber, growing in the forests both of the 

 valleys and hills. The stem is several inches in diameter, and rough on the outside. It 

 climbs up the highest trees, and hangs from one to the other like a bush vine." 



There is considerable diversity of statement with regard to the periods of the year at 

 which flowers and fruit are borne. At Eastern and Central Tropical Africa it is stated 

 by KiRKt and OliverJ to flower in October and November, and by Buchanan in January 

 also ; while at Western Africa, Baillon § and Diniau || state that the flowering season is 

 in April and May, and Soubeiran,1F on the authority of G. Fontaine, a pharmacist 

 employed in the French Naval service, in December. The plant is said to bear fruit at 

 East and Central Africa, in June, by Kirk ; and in July, August, and September, by 

 Buchanan and Consul Hawes : ## and at West Africa, in June, by BLONDEL,tt Cazaux,}} 

 and Diniau. 



* Unpublished letter. t Unpublished letter to Dr Sharpey, 1st January 1864. 



X Loc. cit., p. 79. § Archives de Physiologie, tome iv., 1871-72, p. 526. 



|| Bulletin Ge'ne'ral de The'rapeutique, tome cxiii., 1887, p. 172. 



*T Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie, 15 Juin 1887, p. 593. 

 ** Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, March 3, 1888, p. 748. 

 tt Bulletin G4n4ral de The'rapeutique, tome cxiv., 1888, p. 81. 

 XX Contributions a Vhistoire me'dicale des Strophanthus. These. Paris, 1887, p. 15. 



