president’s ADDRESS — SECTION R. 
37 
of A. laurifolia , F. v. M., from the Illawarra, contains 8*25 per 
cent, of tannic acid, and 2635 per cent, of extract, which, through 
inadvertence, was not examined for glycyrrhizin. 
Michaud has found a glucoside (sapotin) in the kernels of Achras 
Sapota. This substance may be looked for in the kernels of our 
species of Achras , Lucuvui , and other Sapotaeeie. 
Jasminece . — Chionanthus picropliloia , F. v. M., has an intensely 
bitter bark, which has been used as a febrifuge, though what claim it 
has to that character appears to be unknown. 
Apocynecc. — Alstonia constvieta , F. v. M., first brought into notice 
for its medicinal properties by the late Dr. Joseph Bancroft, has not 
outlived its reputation. Its bark is remarkable for the number of 
alkaloids found in it, and for a number of years has been investigated 
by a number of chemists, particularly Hesse. The last work on it is 
by Merck ( Bulletin , i., 5), who has re-examined alstonine. There is 
no doubt that the bark is a useful antiperiodic, antiseptic, and 
stimulant, uniting in some measure the properties of quinine and 
strychnine. 
A well-known poisonous tree of India and the Malay Archipelago, 
and also indigenous to Queensland and Northern Australia, is Cerbera 
O doll am , Gtaertn. The nut is poisonous, and the bark is purgative, 
but only recently has this interesting plant been investigated chemi- 
cally. Greshoff* finds that the sap, leaves, and bark have no toxic 
action, but the seed-kernel contains, in addition to a non-poisonous 
fatty oil, the substance cerberin, which has a poisonous action on the 
heart. He also gives an account of his chemical examination of 
cerberin. 
The timber and bark of Och osia Moorei , F. v. M., a plant of 
New South Wales, are intensely bitter, and are well worthy of 
chemical investigation. Greshoff: has found a crystalline, colourless, 
moderately poisonous alkaloid, soluble in ether, in various Javanese 
Ochrosias — viz., O. acuminata , aclceringce , and coccinea. 
The bark of Tahernannontana orientnlis, R. Br.,is intensely bitter, 
and it has therefore been used for very many years as a tonic in country 
districts. Some time ago Dr. T. L. Bancroft made some preliminary 
experiments with it, and informed me that it is physiologically inert, 
or practically so. Since then Greshoff:* has been examining T. 
sphaerocarpa , Bl.,from Java, and finds that it contains an alkaloid and 
a wax-like compound which is free from nitrogen, and which melts at 
185 degrees. In view of this it may be desirable to subject T. orientalis 
to chemical analysis. 
Asclepidacecd . — An Asiatic species of Tylophora (T. asthmatica , 
W. et Arn.) has for many years been used in India and the Mauritius 
as a substitute for ipecacuanha, both root and leaves being employed. 
It is a really valuable medicine, and it is included in the pharmacopoeia 
of India (see Waring, p. 112), and an account of the plant maybe 
found in Bentley and Trinien’s “ Medicinal Plants,” No. 177. Hooperf 
has found it contains an emetic alkaloid, which he calls tylophonne, 
and this substance might well be sought for in our numerous 
Tyloplioras , and in perhaps some of our Marsdenias. 
Ber., xxxiii., 3537 ; Journ. Chem. Soc., lx., 337. 
f Pharm. Journ. [3], xxi., 617. 
