November i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
447 
difference had, however, been regarded as a case of 
mere variability ; hut Darwin showed it to be a beauti- 
ful provision, tho result of which is that insects fertilise 
each flower with pollen brought from a different plant ; 
and he proved that flowers fertilised with pollen from 
the other form yield more seed than if fertilised with 
pollen of the same form even if taken from a different 
plant. 
Attention having been thus directed to tho question, 
an astonishing variety of the most beautiful contrivances 
have been observed and described by many botanists, 
especially Hooker, Axel, Delpino, Hildebrand, Bennett, 
Fritz Miillcr, and above all Hermann Midler and Darwin 
himself. The general result is that to insects, and 
especially to bees, we owe the beauty of our gardens, 
the sweetness of our fields. To their beneficent, though 
unconscious action, flowers owe ' their scent and colour, 
then' honey — nay, in many cases, even their form. Their 
present shape and varied arrangements, their brilliant 
colours, their honey, and their sweet scont are all due 
to tho selection exercised by insects. 
In these cases tho relation between plants and in- 
sects is one of mutual advantage. In many species, 
however, plants present us with complex arrangdiients 
adapted to protect them from insects ; such, for instance, 
are in many cases the resinous glands which render 
leaves unpalatable ; the thickets of hairs and other pre- 
cautions which prevent flowers from being robbed of the 
honey by ants. Again, more than a century ago our 
countryman, Ellis, described an American plant, Diona;a, 
in which the leaves are somewhat concave, with long 
lateral spines and a joint in the middle, which close 
np with a jerk, like a rat-trap, the moment any un- 
wary insect alights on them. Tho plant, in fact, actually 
captures and devours insects. This observation also 
remained as an isolated fact until within the last few 
years, when Darwin, Hooker, and others have shown 
that many other species have curious and very varied 
contrivances for supplying themselves with animal food. 
— Sir J. Lubbock. 
A NEW ALKALOID. 
(From the Pharmaceutical Journal, 27th August 1881.) 
Under the name of cinchamidine, another alkaloid 
has been added by Dr. 0. Hesse to the already long 
list of those derived from cinchona (Berichte, xiv., 
1683). It has been obtained by precipitating the mother- 
liquor from the purification of homocinchonidine sulph- 
ate with ammonia, re-crystallizing the precipitate 
repeatedly from boiling alcohol, dissolving in excess of 
hydrochloric acid and fractionally precipitating the solu- 
tion with neutral sodium tartrate. The last portions 
precipitated consist essentially of cinchamidine, mixed 
with another basic substance that is removed by treat- 
ment in sulphuric acid and solution with a few drops 
of solution of potassium permanganate ; this does not 
attack cinchamidine, which is afterwards precipitated 
with ammonia and re-crystallized from alcohol. Cin- 
chamidine crystallizos from boiling dilute alcohol in 
colourless lamellfc and flat needles, and from strong 
alcohol in short thick prisms, dissolving with great 
iliflicidty in other, tolerably easily in cold alcohol, freely 
ih chloroform, an insoluble in water. It has a com- 
position represented by the formula C Jo H a(> N a O, melts 
at 230° 0., forms salts with acids which are mostly 
beautifully crystalline, is lffivogyre, and dissolved in 
excess of dilute sulphuric acid neither shows fluores- 
cence nor gives a green colour with chlorine and am- 
monia. Dr. Hesse states that cinchamidino crystallizes 
together with cinchonidine and hoinoeine.honidine, rul- 
ing their inciting points, and he thinks that possibly 
its sulphate occurs sometimes in commercial homo- 
ciiielmniditie sulphate, and the base more frequently and 
in larger quantity in commercial " c'mchouidin purum " ; 
tins woidd possibly explain some unexpected analytical 
results obtained by Glaus, which gave for supposed cin- 
chonidine results corresponding more closely to C., o H 20 N„0 
than C ao H a .,N a 0. 
On the other hand it should be mentioned that the 
existence of Hesse's "homocinchonidine" as a distinct 
substance has been more than onco challenged, and 
Skraup states (Monatsh. f. Chemie, ii., 345), that hav- 
ing examined a specimen of cinchonidine " obtained 
from Hesse, he found that its difference in crystallino 
form from " homocinchonidine " was due to its contain- 
ing 1 to 2 per cent of quinine, and that by an ad- 
mixture of quinine with "homocinchonidine" it might 
be obtained crystallized in the form indicated by Hesee 
for his cinchonidine. He therefore contends that as 
Hesse's "cinchonidine" differs from "homocinchoni- 
dine" only by an impurity, the latter name must be 
abandoned. 
According to Mr. Merck's last circular there is still 
some uncertainty as to the active principle of quebracho 
bark, and solid and liquid extracts appear to be pre- 
ferred. What is known as Pcnzoldt's fluid extract (see 
vol. x., p. 50), or tincture, having the proportion 1 : 
2 to the bark used, is evaporated to form a dry ex- 
tract, of which 1 part represents 20 parts of the fluid 
extract. In the preparation of " Penzoldt's extract," a 
resinous body is obtained as a by-product, which is 
said to be a valuable remedy in diarrhoea. The bark, 
according to Hesse (Pharm. Journ., [3], vol. xi., p. 
589), contains a series of alkaloids, and of these, Mr. 
Merck prepares three : Fraude's " aspidospermine," in 
crystalline prisms ; an alkaloid crystallizing in fine nee- 
dles ; and an amorphous alkaloid, fonning non-crystal- 
lizable salts. This last mentioned is said to represent 
the " aspidospemiine " of commerce. 
A NEW BEVERAGE. ' 
There seems to prevail a perfect mania at the present 
time for the manufacture of new beverages. We have 
already zoedone, vivone, vita novo, and other brain and 
nerve invigorators and non-alcoholic sparkling tonics ; and 
as if these were not enough to satisfy the cravings of 
"drinking humanity," we now leam according to a 
French authority, one M. L. Gouty, after a special visit 
to South America, has contributed to the Revue Scicnti- 
fique an article giving tho results of his examination 
of the food question in that continent, especially 
with respect to a nutritious beverage known as"Mocte, " 
which he believes is destined to replaco coffee and al- 
cohol to a very great extent. The leaves are derived from 
the Flex Pa/raguayensis which grows to a height of from 
three to six metres, and covers acres of ground through- 
out Paraguay, Bio Grande, Parana, and the province of 
St. Catherine, which represent a zone larger than France 
and Germany united. The leaves, which are thick and 
oblong, are picked only every three or four years. They 
are dfied by artificial means in the woods by the peasants 
themselves, who send them in a rough state to the fact- 
ories. Here they undergo a separating process by means 
of sieves, and then they are packed ready for salo. Tho 
leaf is boiled for a minute or two and a liquid is pro- 
duced less limpid than tea and not so daik as coffee. 
Tho aroma is less pronounced than that of good tea. 
Mocto is less bitter to the taste than coftee, and may 
be drunk without sugar. It may with advantage pass 
through seven or eight successive boilings, each time 
in fresh water, and the last infusions are better than the 
first; but in this caso it must not ho allowed to get 
cold. It is sold at the rate of 7 fr. and 8 fr. per 15 
kilogrammes, delivered at Antonine, a shipping port in 
Parana; and as each kilogramme furnishes -10 litres of 
a strong infusion, the rate per litre is no more than 2 
centimes. Hut Die cost would bo far less if there were 
proper means of trallic from the woods, carriage rates 
being three times as expensive as the article. Of four*! 
a great reduction might fairly be anticipated if ruil\\u\s. 
