Art/.  .Umr.  riiarm. ) 
Jail  ,  / 
Gleiuunfjs  in  Materia  Medica. 
II 
between  "043  per  cent,  in  the  eultivated  plant  and  '107  per  cent,  in 
the  variety  arvensis,  calcnlated  for  the  air-dry  herb.  Tlie  root,  stem 
and  leaves  contain  a  comparatively  large  amonnt  of  salicylic  acid,, 
the  petals  only  a  small  qnantity  and  the  leaves  only  a  minute  trace  of 
it  in  the  free  state,  but  an  apparently  larger  quantity  in  combination. 
Reactions  indicating  the  presence  of  a  little  free  salicylic  acid  were 
also  obtained  with  the  rhizome  of  Viola  odorata,  Lin.;  V.  silvatica, 
Fr.;  V.  palustris,  Lin.;  V.  canina,  Lin.,  and  V.  arenaria,  DC.  The 
leaves  of  Y.  odorata  yielded  salicylic  acid  only  after  boiling  with 
dilute  hydrochloric  acid.  The  acid  was  not  detected  in  V.  uliginosa, 
Schrad.;  V.  mirabilis,  V.  uniflora,  V.  floribunda  and  V.  pinnatifida, 
Lin. — Inaugural-Dissertation,  Dorpat,  1881. 
The  cultivation  of  Angelica  is  carried  on  in  France,  principally  near 
Clermont-Ferrand,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  annual  average  pro- 
duction being  100,000  kilos.  The  leaves,  root  and  fruit  are  employed 
in  medicine  and  for  the  manufacture  of  liquors  (de  la  Grand-Chart- 
•  reuse  and  im-itations);  the  stalks,  which  often  attain  a  height  of  1*50 
meter  and  a  diameter  of  '06  meter,  are  used  by  confectioners,  after  the 
removal  of  the  fibrous  layer  by  boiling  them  slowly  in  water,  and 
afterwards  repeatedly  in  syrup.— Rep.  de  Fliar.,  1881,  p.  519. 
Pimento  Plantations  of  Jamaica. — The  stems  of  young  pimento  trees 
are  largely  exported  from  Jamaica  to  England  and  the  United  States,  to 
be  used  for  umbrella  sticks.  For  the  past  five  years  the  average  annual 
eifportation  was  2,000  bundles,  while  the  returns  of  the  first  three 
quarters  of  1881  show  an  exportation  of  over  4,500  bundles,  valued 
at  $15,000.  When  it  is  remembered  that  each  bundle  contains  from 
500  to  800  sticks,  each  of  which  represents  a  young  bearing  pimento 
tree,  the  extent  of  the  destruction  may  be  realized. — Scient.  Amer.^ 
Dec.  31. 
Erim,ocarpus  setigerens  is  extensively  distributed  in  California  about 
the  foot-hills  and  valleys,  growing  in  different  soils  and  flowering 
through  the  summer.  It  is  1  foot  or  more  in  height,  branched  and  in 
tufts,  and  very  wooly  and  hoary  in  appearance,  the  leaves  looking 
almost  like  white  flannel.  The  flowers  are  small  and  unconspicuous 
and  (collected  in  small  whorls  along  the  branches.  It  beloiigs  to  the 
Composite  family.  Its  odor  is  slight,  but  to  the  taste  the  whole  plant 
is  very  acrid,  j)articularly  the  root,  the  chewing  of  whic^h  leaves  an 
imj)ressi(m  on  the  fauces  like  that  of  the  well-known  Indian  turm'p. 
We  arc  informed  by  J)r.  Henry  M.  Fiske,  of  San  Francisco,  that  old 
