190 
Original Communications. 
a peculiar resin. The gum, which from the size of the masses 
must be furnished in considerable quantities, is of a dull yel- 
lowish white colour, and closely resembles gum Senegal in 
fracture and lustre, it is insipid, and soluble in water in almost 
every proportion, forming a consistent tenacious mucilage, 
and might be used for every purpose to which gum Senegal 
is used. 
Cerbera Tanghin. — The fruit of this plant, a native of Ma- 
dagascar, is the most virulent vegetable poison with which 
we are acquainted. The kernel is not larger than an almond, 
and yet is sufficient to cause the death of twenty persons. Dr. 
Hooker, who has given a representation of the plant in the 
Botanical Magazine, 2968, states on the authority of Mr. Tel- 
fair, a resident of the Mauritius, that it was formerly used by 
the kings of Madagascar, as an ordeal, and that its ingestion 
in the small dose above spoken of, was attended with the fol- 
lowing symptoms : On some persons it begins to operate in 
half an hour or less. Convulsions ensue, accompanied with 
nausea; when vomiting occurs at an early period, recovery 
generally follows; this however is seldom the case. The Cer- 
bera belongs to the natural order, Apocyneae, and produces a 
wood, which, from its hardness and beauty, is well suited for 
cabinet work. 
Cocculus Palmatus. Notwithstanding the unwearied la- 
bours of botanists, and the rapid improvements and discove- 
ries that have been the necessary result, much remains to be 
done in the elucidation of the true origin of many articles of 
the vegetable materia medica. It is especially remarkable 
that till within a very recent period, we have known least 
respecting the plants furnishing the most important and most 
generally employed of these articles, as Ipecacuanha, Jalap, 
Rhubarb, &c. 
The subject of the present notice has been known under 
the name of Columbo, for a very long period, and it was ear- 
ly ascertained that it was a product of some part of the East 
Indies, but its exact habitat and the plant from which it was 
derived, remained involved in great obscurity. 
Commerson, during his residence in the Isle of France, ga- 
thered some specimens of a plant, which he designated as 
