Origin and Development of the Composite ?. 167 
Anatomy. 
The general anatomical characters of the Composite are of 
little use in classification of groups above the rank of genera (cp. 
Vuillemin and Hildebrandt, Chap. I, B, also Michael, 168), but a 
critical analysis of the facts might well lead to the elucidation of 
evolutionary principles, if the main lines as laid down in Chapter 
XIII and Fig. 79 were taken for guidance. 
An interesting point is mentioned by Whitaker (173), namely, 
the occurrence of internal phloem in the leaf traces as they pass 
through the cortex; this is figured for Solulago and mentioned as 
a general feature “of the genus and probably of the family.” 
Various types of phloem development have been observed in these 
leaf traces; it may be all round the xylem, as it is sometimes in 
Olearia Haastii, or almost completely encircling the xylem, as in 
some species of Senecio, or of the bicollateral type, as in other 
species of Senecio. These facts are of interest on account of the 
bicollateral bundles of the Cucurbitaceae, one of the lowest families 
of the Campanulatae. For other anatomical anomalies, such as 
“ inverted ” bundles, medullary bundles, etc., the reader is 
referred to Solereder (144) and the papers there mentioned. 
Phytochemistry. 
Systematic phytochemistry is a subject which must be largely 
developed in the future if there is to be any rational exploitation of 
plants. Hallier (163) deals with it in a general exposition of what 
is known and Greshoff (162) makes a strong plea for this eminently 
utilitarian study. Comparative phytochemistry is sometimes of 
distinct value in cases of doubtful affinity (cp. 163 and X, 39), and 
if the subject were properly developed it would at least remove the 
stigma from science which results from the fact that up to the 
present our knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants rests, 
in practically every case, on the experience of savages or bar¬ 
barians. Only in a very few cases has civilised man discovered a 
new medicinal plant, either in his own or in any other country. 
The literature of the subject, so far as the Composite are con¬ 
cerned, is so scattered through chemical and pharmaceutical 
publications that only one or two interesting points can be 
noticed here. The subject awaits a proper systematic in¬ 
vestigation both practically and bibliographically. 
The medicinal properties of the Compositae are discussed 
in a general way by Lindley (I. 56, pp. 199-201). Greshoff ( loc . cit.) 
records the occurrence of cyanogenetic glucosides in a number of 
genera, notably in the Cynareae and Anthemideae, also of saponin 
in a smaller number of genera. Two alkaloids, senecionine and 
