July 20, 1972.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
43 
or no interlacing of reticulations as in Pareira and 
very markedly in the non-Pliarmaceutical Sanse- 
viera. The original membrane between the thick¬ 
ening layers or bars of the larger cells is very thin 
and easily broken, and unless great care is exercised 
in making sections, will cause the observer to con¬ 
clude that true spirals are not only present, but very 
abundant, but it does not appear ever to be wholly ! 
absorbed so as to form perforate vessels. The 
elongated parenchyma cells (sometimes woody fibre) 
which accompany the not common laticiferous 
vessels, forming with the vessels the vascular system 
of this root, are commonly stained brownish yellow, 
the colouring matter being easily removed by boiling 
water. The cell contents are starch granules of 
slightly variable shape and size, generally round, 
with a very indistinct hilum, and small. They are not 
sufficiently characteristic to require description. The 
cortical layers consist, beginning at the innermost 
layers, of multiangular parenchymatous cells with 
thick walls, and not very intimately attached to each 
other, with frequent very small intercellular spaces. 
Nearer the bark these cells are smaller, have thinner 
walls, and become more sinuous until the imme¬ 
diately sub-cuticular layers are reached, where their 
shape approximates to the normal cubical type, 
which, however, only occurs in the layer below the 
highly coloured cells of the sub-cuticle. The outer¬ 
most cells are difficult to make out; and do not 
differ in any way from the usual type. 
The root of Gentian is a good subject for the 
moderately advanced microscopist to try his hand 
upon, as it is somewhat complicated, without present¬ 
ing special difficulties. 
THE GENUS EUCALYPTUS: ITS ACCLIMA¬ 
TIZATION AND USES. 
(Concluded from p. 24.) 
When M. Hamel first called attention to the im¬ 
mense value of the Eucalyptus as a forest-tree, he 
claimed for it as one of its most valuable properties, an 
anti-miasmatic action in marshy districts. This 
theory, received at first with some doubt, was tested 
by planting the tree in three Algerian stations that 
had become notorious for their unhealthiness. The 
result has been that among the workmen who, four 
or five years since, were sorely tried by fevers, not a 
single case now occurs. The trees have absorbed 
the excess of humidity in the soil, and caused the 
total disappearance of the morass. 
Its success as a therapeutic agent is also now well 
established, and has been recently referred to in 
this Journal.* So popular has an infusion of its 
leaves become as a febrifuge, especially in cases 
where quinine lias not been successful, that M. 
Alunnacla says that his trees were completely strip¬ 
ped of leaves, and he was still unable to supply 
many people that came to him for the remedy. 
Employed as an antiseptic, the essential oil will 
be very useful in putrid fevers, foetid suppurations,' 
etc. Dr. Gimbert states that, mixed with albumen 
or fresh fibrin, it prevents decomposition; injected i 
into the veins of an animal, it prevents or retards 
putrefaction foi* a long time. Clots of blood of 
injected rabbits and rats have been kept three 
months without alteration ; the tissues were dried, 
mummified, and exhaled the eucalyptic odour. Some 
drops evaporated in an apartment corrected bad 
odours that had been persistent for several days, 
and it has been successfully employed for em¬ 
balming. 
In an alkalimetric investigation made by Baron 
von Mueller he found that the ashes of the Euca¬ 
lyptus wood contained a larger proportion of potash 
than the elm or the maple, which are the trees most 
esteemed for that purpose in America. The yield from 
the latter trees is estimated at 10 per cent, of the 
ashes, while that from the Eucalyptus is as much as 
21 per cent. 
The products obtained by the destructive distilla¬ 
tion of Eucalyptus wood are similar to those ob¬ 
tained from other woods,—pyroligneous acid, tar, 
methylic alcohol, carbonaceous residues, etc. Be¬ 
sides the various solid and liquid substances, certain 
gaseous products are collected, which are more or 
less abundant according to the relative constituent 
elements of the wood. The leaves and young branches 
are particularly rich in hydrocarbons, and are some¬ 
times employed in the preparation of gas for lighting 
purposes. 
The barks of various species, as has been already 
mentioned, furnish ample materials for the paper- 
makers. They are also used in Australia, and in 
Spain and Portugal, on a large scale for tanning. 
Nearly all are possessed of energetically astringent 
properties, due to their richness in tannin, and pro¬ 
bably many other principles yet undefined. M. Hoff¬ 
mann, of the laboratory attached to the Melbourne 
Botanic Gardens, while engaged in estimating the 
tannic acid contained in various Eucalyptic barks, 
has sought to determine the value of the numerous 
astringent principles accompanying the gum resins 
produced by these trees. The following figures give 
the proportion of tannic and gallic acids in four 
E. Stuartiana . • 
Tannic 
Acid. 
. 4-6 
Gallic 
Acid. 
0-7 
E. longi folia . . . 
. 8-3 
2'8 
E. corymbosa . . . 
. 2-7 
0-8 
E. odorata .... 
. 20-4 
0-8 
E. dealbata . . . 
. 4-9 
0-4 
been found, however, 
that there 
is a 
difference in barks of trees grown in different places,, 
for while M. Cloez found the 'bark of a tree grown 
in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, gave scarcely any 
indication of tannic acid with persalts of iron and 
solution of gelatine, in Egypt, M. Maillard de Ma- 
rafy has found it so abundantly that he is of opinion 
it will surpass the accessory products in importance. 
Leaves of E. globulus , taken from a plantation near 
Alexandria and pulverized like sumac, when used 
upon cotton and wool in the same proportion as the 
best Sicilian sumac, gave an intense black that left 
nothing to be desired. 
According to Dr. Sicard, the leaves and young 
branches yield by distillation (1) a distilled water, 
opaline in colour, bitter in taste, and having the 
odour of the bruised leaves, but more pungent; (2) 
an essential oil with a fragrant odour resembling 
that of lavender, but more penetrating, and a special 
perfume; (3) a yellow gum, having an agreeable 
aromatic taste, sweet at first, but bitter and styptic 
after a short time. 
* Volume II. (1871-72) p. 703. 
