730 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Ma? 1, l90S. 
That the reputation the plant enjoys as a plague- 
pr.^ventive is ;iu i em of fj.li-lire, and no mn-eis 
sufficiently clear from whao Forskael says, but do 
the fresh leaves, aa Boa i, st ites, ev-r have intoxi- 
cant qualities? As the property id associated especially 
«ith the leaves of wild plants, the absence 
of the propeity from the leaves of plants 
grown at Calcutta proves nothing. But the state- 
ment gives an a'-ided interest to the que-ition 
whether the Qat is truly wilil in Arabiri, whence 
the propirtv- is reported ; it-s accuracy ah luld admit 
of biiug readily tested in Abyssini t, where the species 
is uaqadotioiiAbly wild. Tha: the oi-di'iary commer- 
cial Qat IS uoi/ de3meJ intoxicaiir,, s-'.e n^ laiclyoleir 
from the statem-^nfc made in the Treasury of Botany 
that certain Arabs were ioiiuceu to assume towards 
the species the attitude that "".he Wahabi sect as<ume 
towards Tobacco and, on account of its stimulant pro- 
perty, to class Qat among those intoxicants whose 
use is forbidden by the Koran. A synod consequently 
was oonveued to consider the point, and after due 
deliberation, hiving regard to the fact thit it only 
caused hilarity aud con luaed to good humour, but 
neither impaired health nor interfered with attention 
to the duties of religion, this synod decreed that 
the use of Qat is lawful. 
Focskiel, as we have seen, gently throws a doubt 
on the potency claimed for Qat by the Arabs ; Lindley 
(Gardeners' Chronicle 1843), says : — " We have tcied the 
quality of the infusion in hot water, but are unable 
to say anything in its favour." Were the welter to 
judge from the results of his o^v i tri Us, he must 
consider the stimulant properties even of fresh 
leives just as doubtful as their narcotic ones. 
Possibly, however, Forsk vel, T/mdley, and the writer 
have n)t gone on long enoagn I 
The Qat viubarreh or " inferior " Qat of the Gardeners 
Chronicle is clearl/ the leaves of alternate-leived 
three-year-old young stems, but whether the young 
shoots gathered in the fourth year are alternate-leaved 
branches or opposite-leaved branchleta we do not know. 
Theoretically we should expect them to be the latter ; 
we know, however, that with cuttings the opposite- 
leaved branchlets remain suppressed aad alteLQate- 
leaved branches at once arise, and it may be that with 
seedlings this is also the case. Anyhow the matter, 
which might be settled by a simple observation in 
Abyssinia or Arabia, has never received the attention 
it demands. That the two kinds of Qat, the ' red ' 
and the ' white,' referred to by Lindley's Abyssinian 
correspondeut, are simply twigs from young alternate, 
leaved and from opposite-leaved shoots respectively, 
will be obvious to those who hxve studied the braach- 
system of the plant. Unfortunately our certainty as 
to this throws no light on the problem as to whether 
good Qat has leaves opposite or alternate, because 
no reference has been made to the relative quality 
the "red" and the " white " kinds, 
De Oandolle remarks on the fact that the use of Qat 
baa not spread eastward to Beluchistau and India, 
where intoxicants are so much in request, in spite 
of the fact that the plant is likely to thrive well 
enough in both countries. The first question of course 
is as to whether Qat be really an intoxicant at all. 
Apart from this, however, a sufficient reason 
possibly is that the people of those parts of Beluchis- 
tau, Persia or India, where Qat will freely grow, did 
not require to trouble about so relatively innocent 
an article when they had at band such potent intoxi- 
cants in Hyoscyamus, Cannabis and the like. 
The Gardeners' Chronicle for 1890 speaks of Qat as 
a plant that it might be advisable to introduce 
into various British Colonies and Depet dencies. In 
the writer's opinion Qnt is a plant that deserves 
further investigation, but something more definite than 
we have yet been told must be known before its 
introduction aa other than a cutiosity need be 
advocated. 
D. f EAIM. 
As a supplement to the interesting article on Arab 
Tea, wriMen bv M joi- D Prain, in last week's 
Indian Planting and Gardming, it would be well 
to give the leauits of the chemical investigations of 
this plant. 
As the leaves are employed as a stimulant, it was 
naturally supposed that, like coffee, tea, and kola, 
the plant contained caffeine, but three independent 
observers searched for this alkaloid with negative 
results. Dr. AttfleM in 1865, Professor C. Schlorem- 
mer in 1884, and Dr. Paul in 1887 were nnable to 
find indications of caifeine. Dr. P. ml attributed the 
action of the drug to an etherial oil or some other 
aromatic or volatile constituents. Professor Schlo- 
reirmer isolated from the leaves a smill quantity 
of a kind of sugar which was apparently mannitie. 
A long piper was written in 18S7 on the history 
and composition of Catha ediiUs by Professor Fliickiger 
and Gerock, and the authors, as the result of a 
chemical investigation, detected the presence of an 
alkaloid existing in small quantity which they named 
katine." 
In 1894 the physiological and therapeutic 
properties of Catha were studied by M. E. C )llin of 
Paris. He found th it the drug has a powerful 
stimulating action on the nervous system, banishing 
sleep, restoring the ph>sical forces and sustaining 
muscuUr activity. 
In 1899 the leaves were again submitted to analysis 
to ascertain their proximite constituents, and Pro- 
fessor Sihatr o£ Strasburg comtniinicated the rej^ults 
to the Convention of German Nitucalists and Physi- 
cians. The principal constituents were found to be— 
1. Physiologically active alkiloid, cathine, which forms 
rhombic crystals. 2. Large quantities caoutchouc. 
3. A tannin, closely related to that of tea leives. 
4 Mannite, 5. Small quantities of an oxygenated 
volatile oil. From the seeds about 50 per cent of 
fixed oil, composed of glycerin-esters was obtained. 
Dr. Albert Beitt<^r, in 1901, found the alkiloid to 
exist in very small amount ; the leaves from Aden 
yielding only 0'C76 per cent., while those from Htrrar 
yielded only one half as much. The alkaloid ia 
associated with a new caoutchouc substance, which 
softens at 50 deg 0. and melts at 120 deg. C, ; and 
the composition is represented by the formula C iO H 
17 0. 
These particulars may be of interest to those who 
wish to know what are the constituents of Arab 
Tea. The plants grows well at Poena, and could 
no doubt be easily cultivated elsewhere in India. Dr. 
Zwemir, of Arabia, who visited Calcutta last December 
informed me ttiat Catha edulis was one of the most 
useful drugs of the country aud formed an important 
article of trade. 
D. HOOPEB, 
MEXICO'S VEGETABLE PRODUCTS, 
MOST OF THE KNOWN PLANTS AND TREES OF THE WORLD 
POUND IN THE BEPUBLIC. 
{Concluded from page 666.) 
Plor de Noohe Buena, Euphorbia pulcherrima, Eu- 
phorbiaceaa : A peculiar red Mexican flower, me- 
dicinal. 
Flor de San Juan. Bonvardia longiflora, Bubiaceas : 
Beautiful native flower of the valley of Mexico, used 
for pfrfume. 
Ploripondio, Brngmansia puaveolens and bioolor, 
Solauoceas : Large white or coloured flower. 
Fresno, afh, Prax^nns juglandifolia, Oleaceas ; Es- 
pecially on Central Plateau. 
Frijol, Mexican bean, Phasseolus vulgaris, Legu- 
minosas : Many varieties, best is called bayo gordo, 
sowed between the Indian corn, furnishes the prin- 
cipal food of the people. 
Garambullo, Cereus GarambuUos, Cactna with 
eatable reddish pargative berxiea. 
