THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
77 
name. Under B. alba he places the varieties ghitinosa, cordifolia. 
minor and carpafJiica. Bciiila pcndula of the old world and its 
variety Japonica are said to represent the two forms recently 
described from America as B. alaskana and B. kcnaica. Bctula 
occideiitalis is considered to be only a form of B. alba. 
The Ornithologist and Botanist Again.— We were some- 
what surprised at the number of orders received for the files of 
this journal offered in the September number of American Bot- 
anist. There are still twelve sets left, if others desire them. 
Each set contains ten numbers of eight pages each, and a set will 
be mailed for ten cents. The journal was the first official organ 
of the Gray Memorial Botanical Chapter and contains a good pro- 
portion of plant lore that is still of interest. Address this office. 
The Heliotrope as a Fever Cure. --Among our most valu- 
ed ornamental plants, says Cosmos, is the helitrope, not because 
its beauty, form, and color are specially remarkable, but because 
it flowers abundantly throughout the year and is particularly fit- 
ted for bouquets, its suave odor being spiecially sweet and agree- 
able. Now, as if these qualities were not sufficient, a more ser- 
ious one is attributed to it, namely, ability to cure fever. The 
ancients, we know, notably Dioscorides recognized this property 
and in the sixteenth century, if we may believe Bauhin's "His- 
tory of Plants," its seeds were prescribed tO' be taken in wine for 
quartan fever; but in our day of light and progress, who pays 
any attention to the ancients ? So like so many other beneficial 
plants, it has been cast into oblivion. Now, however. Dr. Pilot- 
off, of Moscow, has rehabilitated it in a memoir presented to the 
Russian Academy of Medicine and affirms that the heliotrope can 
be substituted for quinine in medicine, having all its advantages 
without any of its inconveniences. He adds that for many years 
it has been used in Persia, Turkey and parts of Russia as a remedy 
for fevers with success. 'Tts mode of prq>aration is very simple 
consisting merely in macerating the stems and leaves in brandy." 
The writer adds that there is now a passion in France for every- 
thing Russian, the new medicine evidently opens a rich field for 
the horticulturist. 
