BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



173 



could be safely managed, that it would no doubt become a valuable remedial 

 agent in the treatment of convulsive and spasmodic disorders. Another species, 

 & Tieute, is a native of Java, and called by the natives, Tjettek. From the 

 bark of the root of this plant, according to Dr. Lindley, there is prepared in 

 Java, one of the most dangerous of known poisons, acting like mix vomica, only 

 in a more intense and violent manner. But perhaps the most valuable species 

 in a medical point of view is the S. pseudoquina, found in " wooded pasturages 

 in all the eastern part of the province of Minas Geraes, in the Diamond and Minas 

 Novas districts, the forest of Goyaz, and elsewhere in Brazil," where it is called 

 Quina do campo. It is described by Dr. Lindley, as a scrubby tree about twelve feet 

 high, with unarmed branches and a corky bark. Aug. de St. Hilaire is of opinion 

 that it is the best febrifuge in Brazil, where it is universally employed instead of 

 Cinchona. In the cure of the intermittents of that country it is considered to be 

 equally efficacious with the well-known Peruvian Bark. It is somewhat remarkable, 

 however, that although exceedingly bitter, more especially the bark, it does not 

 contain that peculiar principle upon which the efficacy of Cinchona is considered 

 to depend. According to the analysis of Vauquelin, it neither contains brucine, 

 strychnine, nor quinine. Whether it may contain some new and hitherto undis- 

 covered principle, is perhaps a matter of uncertainty. 



It is a fact worthy of remark that the fruits of many of the most dangerous 

 plants of this order are eaten by the natives with impunity, even that of Tanghinia 

 Manghas. Of this singular circumstance we have an example in the cherry-like 

 fruit of the common laurel (Cerasus Laurocerasus), which is known to be perfectly 

 innocuous, although every other part of the plant contains a most fatal poison. 



Such are the plants which form the natural order Apocynacece ; and, although 

 they apparently present a few slight anomalies, they offer upon the whole an 

 astonishing uniformity of properties, tending in a great measure to prove the 

 truth of an idea which has long existed among botanists, namely, that plants 

 which resemble each other in structure, possess similar virtues. 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DICOTYLEDONES. 



MALVACEiE. Br. 



Malva creeana. Hort. Showy Red-flowered Mallow. Bot. Mag. t. 3698. This is an 

 extremely pretty species of Mallow, bearing large rose-coloured flowers. It was received from 

 Mr. Pince, nurseryman, Exeter, at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, in the year 1837. It requires 

 a greenhouse, and flowers freely in June and July. Of its history, or country, nothing is known, 

 but in the arrangement of species it should be placed near to Malva divaricata. Bot. Mag. 



VERBEN ACEiE . 



Verbena teucrioides. Gill, et Hook. Germander-leaved Verbena. Bot. Mag. t. 3694. 

 This is a very delicate species, discovered by Dr. Gillies on the highest ridge of the Uspallata 



