440 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Mediea. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm . 
1      Sept.,  1881. 
states  that  the  bulbs  of  this  plant  contain  a  glucoside  to  which  their 
poisonous  properties  are  attributed.  Convulsions  and  speedy  death 
follow  the  eating  of  the  bulbs  of  this  plant.  No  antidote  is  yet 
known  for  it. — Amer.  Naturalist,  1881,  p.  651. 
Aracliis  hypogasa,  Lin.  —  Formerly  peanuts  came  to  the  United 
States  almost  exclusively  from  South  America  and  Africa ;  of  late 
years,  however,  they  have  been  grown  here  so  extensively  that  the 
importations  have  almost  entirely  ceased.  The  bulk  of  the  crop  in 
the  United  States  comes  from  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina^ 
Georgia  and  Tennessee,  the  best  nuts  being  raised  in  the  vicinity 
of  Wilmington,  N.  C.  For  the  three  States  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  alone  the  crop  last  year  was  upward  of 
2,000,000  bushels.  The  use  of  peanuts  in  different  kinds  of  confec- 
tionery and  cake  has  largely  increased  the  sale  of  the  nuts,  and  they 
are  also  used  for  an  oil,  which  is  expressed  in  considerable  quantities 
from  the  seeds,  and  which  is  said  to  be  in  no  way  inferior  to  olive  oil. 
— The  Cultivator. 
Euplioria  litchi,  Desf.  s.  E.  punicea,  Lamarck.  Nat.  ord.  Sapinda- 
cese.  Stanislas  Martin  describes  the  fruit  as  being  10  centimeters  (4 
inches)  in  circumference  and  12  cm.  long;  fleshy;  the  seed  with  a 
hard  testa ;  the  embryo  exalbuminous,  hard.  The  arillus  is  covered 
with  rough  and  sharp  projections,  weighs  35  centigrams,  is  brittle, 
contains  tannin  and  brown  resin,  burns  with  flame  and  leaves  little 
ash.  The  pulp  of  each  fruit  weighs  2  to  3  grams  and  contains  much 
sugar,  pectin,  mucilage,  tartaric  acid  and  an  aromatic  principle.^ — 
Bull.  gen.  de  Therap.,  April,  p.  325. 
Mulberry  bark  has  enjoyed  some  reputation  as  a  tsenifuge  since  Dios- 
corides.  Dr.  Berenger-Feraud  has  experimented  with  the  fresh  bark 
of  the  black  and  white  mulberry,  taken  from  vigorous  tress  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Toulon,  and  did  not  observe  any  appreciable  physi- 
ologic effect.  The  bark  was  given  in  the  form  of  infusion,  in  doses 
varying  from  16  to  300  grams. — Lbid.,  March,  p.  220. 
Eupatorimn  Ayapana,  Vent. — H.  Paschkis  describes  these  leaves  as 
attaining  a  length  of  9  and  a  breadth  of  2  centimeters,  lanceolate, 
gradually  acuminate,  and  at  the  base  narrowed  into  a  short  petiole, 
of  the  thickness  of  paper  and  appearing  finely  hairy  under  a  magni- 
fying glass.    The  low^est  two  lateral  nerves  spring  at  a  very  acute 
^The  litchi  fruit  is  used  in  China  and  India  in  febrile  diseases  for  its 
refrigerant  acidulous  properties. — Editor. 
I 
