272 
VARIETIES. 
The beverage called Bosa is a sort of acidulated, and sometimes fer- 
mented, scherbet. In its commonest form, it is made by fermenting an in- 
fusion of millet seed, and in this state probably represents the barley- 
wine, Oivoq KptQuc of the ancients. A more agreeable Bosa is prepared by 
the Egyptians from tamarinds and honey, and by the Greeks from the fruit 
of the love-apple (Solarium Lycopersicum} the latter beverage being called 
Af>0<TtO-TlH.QV . 
The manufacture of these drinks gives employment to a vast number of 
persons called Scherbetzides, the peculiar sound of whose little bells, struck 
by a machine, which at the same time cools their glasses by a stream of 
water, may be heard far and near through the streets of an eastern town, 
inviting customers to their trays, on which syrups, fruit, and sweetmeats 
are displayed. — Lon. Pharm, Journ., March, 1852. 
On Spurious Rhatany Root. By Prof. Mettenheimer, of Giessen. — 
The root of the Krameria triandra, R. and P., is one of the exotic drugs, 
which, generally speaking, is but seldom adulterated. Once lately, the 
author has found it adulterated by the Radix Calagidce, an underground 
root of the Polypodium, growing in Peru, and seldom met with in the 
German trade. It differs both in chemical and physical characters from 
rhatany root. The root of the Krameria Ixinia, L., more closely resembles, 
and has more frequently been substituted for the genuine rhatany. During 
the year the author has several times met with spurious rhatany root, the 
source of which is altogether unknown to him. It has generally a thick- 
ness of one or two inches, and a length of four inches in its principal 
pieces, or of twelve inches in the secondary twigs, the average being 
about half an inch in thickness. Compared with the true rhatany, its 
twigs are smoother and slightly shining, having also deeper furrows 
and transverse depressions, of an annular form. It has, moreover, as 
sometimes seen on the true rhatany, wart-like projections, and the twigs 
and stems have a somewhat undulatory contour. The false rhatany is not 
so tough, and breaks more easily, with a short fracture. When viewed in 
bulk, it has a dirty violet red-brown color. Its bark is thicker and more 
firmly adherent to the wood ; on its inner surface, the bark is lighter 
colored, and, when cut with a sharp knife, has a glistening aspect. The 
centre, when cut through, is of a dull, pale-red color, and without the dark 
points generally met with in true rhatany root. The false root has no 
odour ; its taste is more strongly astringent than rhatany root. With 
chemical reagents, the false root gives generally more abundant precipi- 
tates than the true root. — Ibid, from Jahrbuch fur praktische Phaimacie, 
Oct., and Nov., 1851. 
Cork Stoppers with Wooden Tops. — Dr. Pereira called the attention of 
the Members of the Pharmaceutical Society to the very convenient com- 
