290 
Yerba  Del  Polio. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm„ 
June,  1897. 
alkaloid  from  both  the  acid  and  alkaline  solutions.    From  this  we 
are  led  to  infer  that  the  alkaloid — if  one  and  only  one  be  present — 
exists  in  the  root  as  a  salt,  and  also  in  its  basic  condition. 
University  of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 
YERBA  DEL  POLLO. 
By  Alfonso  Herrera,  of  Mexico. 
Several  plants  of  the  family  Commelinaceae  are  known  in  Mexico 
by  this  name,  and  are  to  be  found  in  cold  as  well  as  in  warm  and 
temperate  regions.  They  grow  on  the  sandy  banks  of  rivers  and 
brooks,  and  flourish  from  July  until  September. 
Hernandez  calls  them  Matlaliztic  prima,  secunda,  texcocana, 
tercia,  asphodelea,  and  coapatli.  According  to  this  author,  the  Aztecs 
used  this  plant  to  cure  fevers,  headaches,  tumors  and  hemorrhages, 
and  to  give  relief  in  child-birth.  The  hemostatic  properties  of  the 
Yerba  del  Polio  were  therefore  known  to  the  Indians,  but  this 
precious  plant  was  forgotten,  together  with  many  other  good  and 
useful  products  of  the  conquered  country. 
Almost  three  centuries  later,  Alzate  made  known  to  his  country- 
men the  remarkable  activity  of  this  plant  in  stopping  the  blood  from 
wounds,  but  his  efforts  were  useless,  for  the  plant  remained  unnoticed 
until  1863.  at  which  time  we  began  to  read  about  it  in  the  works  of 
Hernandez  and  Alzate  ;  we  repeated  the  experiments  of  these  illus- 
trious authors,  induced  physicians  to  use  it,  and  began  to  seek  for 
its  active  principle. 
A  short  time  afterwards,  Mr.  Touraine  read  the  work  of  Padre 
Alzate,  and,  on  trying  the  efficacy  of  the  drug  as  a  hemostatic,  he 
met  with  great  success ;  the  results  of  his  experiments  and  investi- 
gations he  laid  before  the  Academia  de  Medicina  de  Mexico,  on  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1866;  the  paper  was  published  in  the  Gaceta  Medica, 
Vol.  II.  He  asserted  that  nobody  had  studied  the  plant  since 
Alzate's  time,  and  he  suggested  for  it  the  name  Tradescantia  erecta ; 
the  president  of  the  Academy,  Dr.  Jimenez,  observed  that  we  had 
attracted  his  attention  to  the  subject  in  the  year  1863,  and  its 
extract  had  been  applied  to  a  number  of  patients  with  success. 
Synonyms. — Commelina  tuberosa,  Linn.  Sp.  PI.  Ed.  1,  page  41  ; 
C.  B.  Clarke,  in  D.  C.  Monogr.  Phanerog.  Ill,  page  149  ;  Andr.  Bot. 
Rep.,  t.  399;  Schnizl  Iconogr.,  t.  48.    Commelina  parviflora,  Reichl. 
