520 
Strophanthus  Nicholsoni. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     October,  1897. 
when  they  thought  alcohol  was  needed,  would  prescribe  it  in  the 
manner  just  indicated,  and  if  in  the  next  revision  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, only  alcohol  of  standard  strength  was  retained  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  fermented  and  distilled  liquors.  If  these  changes  were 
adopted  and  carried  into  general  practice,  the  result  would  be  a 
more  complete  separation  of  both  pharmacist  and  physician  from 
connection  with,  or  responsibility  for,  the  general  traffic  in  and  uses 
of  the  various  alcoholic  liquors  in  popular  use. 
v 
STROPHANTHUS  NICHOLSONI— A  NEW  SPECIES.1 
By  B.  M.  Holmes. 
For  some  years  past  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  obtain  herbarium 
specimens  in  flower  and  fruit  of  the  species  yielding  the  kombe 
seed  of  commerce,  and  the  "  white  woolly  "  strophanthus  seeds  im- 
ported from  the  same  district,  but  hitherto  without  success.  Dr.  T. 
G.  Nicholson,  who  has  lately  returned  from  Central  Africa,  kindly 
promised  to  endeavor  to  obtain  specimens,  and  has  brought  back 
flowers  and  fruit  of  a  strophanthus,  the  seeds  of  which  appear  to  be 
identical  with  those  of  the  "  white  woolly"  strophanthus.  The  plant 
proves  to  be  a  new  species  hitherto  undescribed.  Dr.  Nicholson 
has  given  me  the  following  description  of  the  plant :  It  is  a  small 
bush  or  shrub,  about  3  or  4  feet  high,  having  the  habit  of 
growth  of  the  flowering  currant  (Ribes  sanguineum,  Pursh.),  but  the 
main  branches  curve  slightly  outwards,  and  the  slender  twigs  are 
patent  at  an  obtuse  angle. 
It  grows  in  alluvial  plains  at  the  base  of  granite  hills,  intersected 
by  quartz  veins.  These  plains  are  at  an  altitude  of  about  2,200  feet 
above  sea-level.  The  ground  is  sodden  from  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber until  the  beginning  of  April.  It  is  sparsely  covered  with  bush, 
and  there  is  very  little  shade  where  the  strophanthus  grows.  The 
temperature  averages  about  105 0  F.  in  the  sun  and  500  F.  in  the 
night.  The  specimens  in  flower  were  gathered  at  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber. There  are  the  pods  of  the  previous  year  opening  on  the  bush 
at  the  same  time  that  the  flowers  are  in  blossom,  and  in  December 
the  flowers  are  over  and  the  seeds  scattered.  At  the  time  the  plant 
flowers  there  are  no  leaves  formed,  or  they  are  only  very  slightly 
developed. 
1  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  September  4,  1897. 
