Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July.  1SS9. 
The  Genus  Psoralea. 
349 
Mr.  Richardson  remarks  that  the  roots  are  distinguished  by  their 
large  amount  of  starch,  the  presence  of  a  new  sugar  readily  crystalliz- 
ing, and  by  the  varied  forms  of  nitrogenous  matter ;  he  will  further 
investigate  the  sugar  isolated  by  him. 
An  analysis  of  the  root,  communicated  by  Payen  to  Comptes  ren- 
dus  in  1848,  gave  water  12*50,  mineral  matter  1*61,  nitrogenous 
matter  4"09,  and  starch  81  '80.  The  last-named  item  evidently  in- 
cludes other  carbohydrates  and  compounds  separated  by  Mr.  Rich- 
ard sou. 
The  three  American  species  named  above  are  the  only  ones  used  as 
food,  as  far  as  I  was  able  to  ascertain.  Of  the  species  medicinally 
employed, 
Psoralea  glandidosa,  Linne,  attained  some  notoriety  and  created 
some  confusion  during  the  first  half  of  the  present  century  through 
an  error  into  which  the  distinguished  French  naturalist,  Alcide  Des- 
salines  d'  Orbigny  was  led,  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  while  traveling 
in  South  America,  by  referring  to  this  plant  the  Paraguay  tea,  or 
yerva  mate,  which  is  extensively  employed  in  South  America.  The 
parent  plant  of  this  tea  had  been  previously  named  Cassine  Gongonha 
by  the  German  scientist,  Karl  Friedrich  von  Martius,  aud  Ilex  para- 
guariensis  by  the  French  botanist,  Auguste  de  Saiut-Hilaire.  The 
name  given  by  the  last-named  authority  is  generally  recognized  ;  but 
d'  Orbio-nv's  error  figured  in  scientific  literature  to  some  extent  for 
about  thirty  years,  and  as  late  as  1850,  Lenoble,  when  publishing  an 
analysis  of  Paraguay  tea,  followed  the  erroneous  nomenclature  [see 
Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  xxiii.,  182].  To  the  same  mistake  must  also  be 
attributed  the  origin  of  the  statement  current  in  some  recent  works, 
that  the  leaves  of  this  species  are  used  in  Chili  as  a  substitute  for  Par- 
aguay tea.  The  leaves  were  exhibited  at  the  Centennial  Exposition 
in  Philadelphia  [see  Proc.  Am.  Phar.  Assoc.,  1876,  p.  765),  under  the 
vernacular  name  of  mien.  The  odor  can  hardly  be  called  agreeable ; 
it  resembles  that  of  rue,  and  the  leaves  are  in  their  native  country  em- 
ployed as  a  tonic  and  anthelmintic,  and  externally  as  a  vulnerary. 
The  root  possesses  emetic  properties.  Both  the  leaves  aud  root  have 
been  admitted  into  the  Mexican  pharmacopoeia  under  the  name  of 
yolochiahitl  [Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1886,  p.  171].  An  analysis  of  either 
part  does  not  appear  to  have  been  made. 
Psoralea  bituminosa,  Linne*,  is  a  suffruticose  plant  of  Southern  Eu- 
rope, the  leaves  being  trifoliolate,  like  those  of  the  preceding  species  : 
