572 
Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm^ 
I   December,  1904. 
will  be  told.  That  these  lands  furnish  some  of  the  most  desirable 
of  tropical  produce  is  finely  demonstrated  by  the  magnificent  botani- 
cal display  in  the  Palace  of  Education.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that 
this  is  the  "  only  "  exhibit  in  this  line  on  the  grounds. 
Togo  lies  next  to  that  unruly  negro  kingdom  of  Ashanti.  Their 
staff  of  life  is  furnished  by  the  seeds  of  the  various  varieties  of 
Andropogon  sorghum  Z.,  a  plant  favoring  tropical  climes,  growing  to 
a  height  of  from  8  to  20  feet.  The  seed  shown  are  from  three 
varieties — about  the  size  of  a  millet  grain,  of  pure  white  color,  of  a 
rich  orange  and  a  fine  cacao-red.  These  plants  also  grow  in  Ost- 
Africa,  where  the  aborigines,  not  to  be  outdone  by  their  Teuton 
masters,  have  for  centuries  brewed  a  beer,  merissa,  from  these  grains. 
Cola  acuminata  is  not  so  rich  in  caffein  and  theobromin  as  is  the 
Cola  vera.  The  brownish  seed  of  both  are  found  in  a  five-capsuled 
fruit,  cacao-like,  some  3  inches  long  by  1  inch  in  diameter.  This 
cola  is  used  largely  in  making  liquors  and  medicinal  tonics.  In  the 
neighboring  Soudan  it  forms  the  drink.  Chewed  by  the  traveling 
natives,  it  sustains  them  on  the  often  long  and  forced  marches  the 
couriers  must  make  in  those  countries. 
Butyrospermum  Parkii yields  a  nut  that  much  resembles  a  buckeye 
in  size  and  form.  The  eye  is  white  and  more  elliptical  in  shape  ; 
the  body  color  is  a  fine  pale  brown.  These  seeds  boiled  with  water 
yield  the  so-called  shea  butter,  a  bland  fat  of  pale-green  color  that 
does  not  turn  rancid. 
At  least  six  varieties  of  strophanthus  are  shown.  Togo  grows 
two — the  5.  hispidus  and  5.  sarmentosus.  The  seed-pods  and  seeds  of 
all  are  markedly  different  in  size,  shape  and  color.  The  twin-pods  at 
almost  right  angles  terminate  a  twig.  Some  are  plump  and  a  foot  in 
length,  others  nearly  20  inches.  The  5.  hispidus  pod  shown  is  about 
18  inches  long,  at  the  base  about  ^  inch  in  diameter,  slowly  taper- 
ing to  a  sharp  point.  The  husk  is  of  a  darkish-brown  tint,  splotched 
with  white  spots.  The  seeds  are  of  fine  deep  uniform  brown,  more 
sharply  lenticular  and  rounded  body  than  the  others.  The  S.  sarmen- 
tosus has  fleshy,  12. inch  long  pod  of  uniform  pale-brown  color.  The 
seeds  are  of  a  very  pale  gray-brown  color. 
The  3-foot  blades  of  Sansevieria  guinensis  form  the  fiber  plant. 
The  long  white  fibers  are  heavy,  and  are  excellent  for  making  the 
strong  ropes  needed  on  shipboard. 
Papuan  or  Guinea  nutmegs  from  the  Argentea  myristica  are  about 
an  inch  in  length,  wrinkled  and  not  plump.    The  Myristica  pseudar- 
