Medico- Botanical Notices, 
191 
44 Columbo, in Indiis wcatum." These were described by La- 
marck, under the name of Menispermum palmatum, and he 
further suggested that it might be the true Columbo. There 
the matter rested until 1811, when Dr. Berry gave an excel- 
lent description of a figure of the male plant, in the tenth vo- 
lume of the Asiatic Researches. He states that it is abun- 
dant in the dense forests of Mozambique, &c, on the east 
coast of Africa. The roots are dug up in March. The main 
root is not removed, but the offsets from the base taken. 
These are cut into slices, strung on cords and dried in the 
shade. It is deemed of a good quality, when on exposure to 
the sun, it breaks short, and to be unfit for commerce when 
it is'soft and black. It is in high repute among the natives as 
a remedy in almost every disorder. They term it Kalumb, 
whence the name under which we know it. 
The latest and fullest account we have of this important 
article, is that by Dr. Hooker, in the Bot. Mag. 2970, 2971, 
who there describes the male and female plants accompanied 
with excellent representations, under the name of Cocculus pal- 
matus. He derived his information from Mr. Telfair, of the 
Mauritius. The root according to this gentleman, is peren- 
nial, composed of a number of fasciculated, fusiform, some- 
what branched, fleshy, curved and descending tubers, of the 
thickness of an infant's arm, clothed with a thin brown epi- 
dermis, marked towards the upper part especially, with trans- 
verse warts ; internally they consist of a deep yellow, scent- 
less, very bitter flesh, filled with numerous parallel, longitu- 
dinal, fibres or vessels. 
The fruit is drupaceous, or berried, about the size of a ha- 
zel nut, densely clothed with long spreading hairs, which at 
the extremity are tipped with a black gland. The seeds are 
sub-reniform, clothed with a thin black shell, transversely 
striated. 
Monodora Myristica. According to information transmit- 
ted by Dr. Bancroft, of Jamaica, to Dr. Hooker, (Bot. Mag. 
3059) a single individual of this tree exists in Jamaica, re- 
ported to have been brought from South America, though Mr. 
Brown considers it more probable that it was introduced by 
the negroes from Africa. The fruit was described by G^ert- 
