642        Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy,  {^eclmbe^m™' 
nomethyl  ether  (Abstr.,  1881,  739).  The  carmine-red  coloration 
with  sulphuric  acid  therefore  appears  to  be  characteristic  of  3  :  4- 
dihydroxycinnaniene  and  its  ethers.  The  author  has  only  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  vinylcatechol  as  an  amorphous  powder;  it 
is  a  somewhat  unstable  substance,  for  when  distilled  under  a  pres- 
sure of  12  millimetres  it  is  decomposed,  the  chief  product  being 
catechol.  The  author  thinks  it  probable  that  caffetannic  acid  is 
distributed  throughout  the  vegetable  kingdom  in  very  much  the 
same  manner  as  choline. — Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society,  London, 
October,  1897. 
CHINESE  BANDOLINE  WOOD. 
The  origin  of  this  curious  product,  of  which  a  specimen  has  long 
been  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  has  always  been  a 
puzzle. 
Shavings  of  the  wood  yield  a  mucilage,  when  soaked  in  water, 
which  is  used  by  Chinese  ladies  in  "  bandolining  "  their  hair.  Dr.  E. 
Bretschneider  ("  Notes  on  Some  Botanical  Questions  Connected  with 
the  Export  Trade  of  China,"  1880,  p.  14,)  mentions  the  shavings  as 
being  exported  from  Canton  to  Peking,  under  the  name  of  4<  meio 
kao  pao  hua "  (i.  e.y  cosmetic  glue  shavings),  and  their  probable 
source  as  Sterculia  plantanifolia.  In  1 895,  G.  M.  H.  Playfair,  Esq. 
H.  B.  M.  Consul  at  Ningpo,  sent  to  Kew  specimens  in  leaf  of  a  tree, 
called  "  tiao  chang,"  which  he  had  collected  in  the  mountains  near 
Ningpo,  with  the  information  that  shavings  of  the  wood  were  used 
for  the  purpose  described  above  by  the  women  of  that  part  of  China. 
These  specimens  were  identified  as  Machilus  Thunbergii,  Sieb.  et 
Zucc,  and  flowering  specimens  subsequently  received  from  the  same 
gentleman  confirmed  the  identification.  Mr.  Playfair  further  adds, 
on  the  authority  of  Dr.  A.  Henry,  that  the  Canton  shavings  are 
from  the  same  tree. 
The  species  is  a  native  of  Hong  Kong  and  Chekiang  westward 
to  Szechuan,  in  China  ;  also  of  Formosa,  Japan,  and  the  Corean 
Archipelago.  Owing  to  the  interest  attaching  to  the  identification, 
the  species  has  been  figured  in  Hooker's  "  IconesPlantarum"  (t.  2538). 
— Kew  Bulletin,  October,  1897. 
FUNCTION  OF  TANNIN  IN  PLANTS  AND  ESPECIALLY  IN  FRUITS. 
C.  Gerber  (Compt.  Rend.,  1897,  124,  1106-1109)  has  practically 
studied  this  obscure  but  interesting  subject,  and  reached  the  follow- 
ing conclusions  :  In  the  respiration  of  soft  fruits  containing  tannin, 
