NOTE ON A NEW KIND OF KAMALA. 
279 
poisonous. A single drop of the expressed oil placed on the head of an infant had been 
known to produce death, aud fumes of tobacco inhaled by young children had produced 
a similar result. Consequently, in every sense of the word, tobacco was highly dan¬ 
gerous and prejudicial to the human frame. As to whether tobacco led to intemperance, 
Mr. Hornby said he believed it was one of the greatest incentives to the use of strong 
drink. Its beneficial effects, however, when it was moderately used by one’s own fire¬ 
side, he believed more than counterbalanced its evil results and tendencies—A brief dis¬ 
cussion followed, and at the close a vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to Mr. 
Hornby for his instructive paper. 
BATH CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
At a meeting held at the Commercial Rooms on Friday evening, November 1st, it was 
proposed by Mr. T. T. Harding, seconded by Mr. Barnitt, and carried nem. con., “ That 
the best thanks of the Association are especially due to their late President, Mr. Merri- 
kin, for his exertions in memorializing the Board of Inland Revenue to reduce the 
Methylated Spirit Licence from £2. 2s. to 10.?., which, through the influence of the 
Pharmaceutical Society, is now an accomplished fact, and available to the whole drug 
trade of the United Kingdom.” 
ORIGINAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
NOTE ON A NEW KIND OF KAMALA. 
BY DR. F. A. FLiiCKIGER, 
LECTURER ON MATERIA. MEDICA IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERNE, HONORARY MEMBER 
OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF ST. PETERSBURG. 
Kamala is tlie name of the small glands which densely cover the tricoccous 
fruit of Mallotus philippinensis, Muller Argov. (De Candolle, ‘ Prodromus,’ xv. 
980), formerly known as Rottlera tinctoria , Roxburgh, and are simply brushed 
off from the ripe capsules. The same glands occur also in the thin tomeutum of 
the under side of the leaves, and even on all parts of the male spike of the 
shrub ; but in the latter places they are so little numerous and so scattered, 
that they are scarcely seen without the magnifying glass. All these glands 
are of an irregular spheroidal shape, but depressed and somewhat flattened 
on that side where they are fixed upon the capsules or leaves, while the op¬ 
posite side is more regularly domed. If they are caused to roll under water 
or glycerine, the glands all ultimately show to the observer their flat side. 
In its centre we find a very short stalk-cell, from which a certain number of 
small clavate cells radiate in different directions, thus constituting the some¬ 
what globular form of the gland, which is covered by a weak integument. 
The thicker ends of the small clavate cells within, appear at the outside as soft 
protuberances, upon which partly depends the irregularity of the nearly glo¬ 
bular form of the glands. The radiate cells in question are arranged arouud 
the centre of the flat side to the number of from 9 to 30. If only the basal side 
is examined, they will be seen to be filled with a dark brown or brownish-red 
resin, the intermediate spaces aud the outer membrane being of a light yellow 
colour. The outline of that side, which is always turned to the observer, forms 
thus an undulated circle or ellipsis, the diameter of which varies from 70 to 120 
micromillimetres (thousandth parts of a millimetre),—the height of the whole 
gland being always considerably less. 
The kamala glands are always accompanied by a tolerable amount of charac¬ 
teristic, stellate, colourless or brownish hairs, belonging equally to the fruits of 
Mallotus , and some fragments of the latter and inorganic impurities. 
I 
