Am.  Jour.Pharni. 
May,  1882 
Clda  and  Allied  Species  of  Salvia. 
231 
be  retrorsely  pubescent  and  the  leaves  to  be  acuminate,  with  an 
acute  base  and  pubescent. 
In  1866  Guibourt  published  "Observations  sur  les  productions  du 
Mexique^^  ('^  Jour.  Phar.  Chim."  August,  p.  95  to  108),  of  which  an 
abstract  appeared  in  this  Journal  (1866,  p.  497  to  503).  In  this  paper 
chia  is  referred  to  Salvia  hispanica  and  reference  is  made  to  an  Essay 
on  Mexican  Materia  Medica,  printed  at  Puebla  in  1832,  in  which  a 
few  lines  are  devoted  to  these  mucilaginous  seeds.  Guibourt  further 
states :  "  The  seeds  have  been  planted  at  the  ecole  de  pharmacie,  and 
the  plant  has  grown  to  a  height  of  35  centimeters,  but  it  has  not 
flowered  and  there  is  still  doubt  about  its  specific  characters ;  it  would 
be  interesting  to  collect  the  entire  plant  in  its  native  country."  The 
author  also  states  that  by  pressure  an  oil  is  obtained  which  is  used  like 
linseed  oil ;  but  since  it  is  rare  and  sold  at  a  rather  high  price  there  is 
scarcely  anything  else  used  under  the  name  of  aceite  de  chia  except 
linseed  oil. 
I  have  not  found  any  later  observations  on  this  plant  grown  in  Paris, 
and  the  above  quotation  propably  refers  to  the  experiment  related  in 
the  "  Histoire.'^  This  plant  cannot  be  identical  with  Salvia  hispanica, 
which  is  an  annual  and  grows  wild  not  only  in  Spain,  but  in  other 
parts  of  Southern  Europe,  as  w^ell  as  in  Jamaica,  Mexico  and  tropical 
America.  This  belief  is  strengthened  by  the  Farmacopea  Mexicana,which 
quotes  the  plant  as  a  new  species  and  gives  the  following  information : 
"Chia.  Salvia  CMan,  LaLlave.  Chiantzotzolli,  Mex. — Grows  in  the 
central  table  land  of  Mexico  and  is  cultivated  in  various  parts  of  the 
republic.  The  seeds  contain,  according  to  Sr.  Oliva,  starch,  a  drvdng 
oil  and  mucilage  of  the  nature  of  gum  tragacanth.  Immersed  in  water 
they  augment  considerably  in  volume,  and  in  this  state,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  sugar  and  lemon  juice,  furnish  a  refreshing  drink  ;  they  are  also 
used  in  cataplasms  as  an  emollient.  A  seed  placed  under  the  eyelid 
is  used  by  the  people  for  the  purpose  of  removing  foreign  bodies  from 
the  eye." 
A  similar  use  for  the  eye  is  popularly  made  of  various  more  or  less 
mucilaginous  smooth  seeds,  for  instance  flaxseed,  and  the  seed-like 
akenes  of  a  numl)er  of  species  of  Salvia  are  employed  in  the  same  man- 
ner. Redwood's  Su])plcment  to  the  I^harmacopoeia  states  of  Salvia 
verticillata,  Willd.,  which  is  indigenous  to  Central  Europe,  thjit  "  the 
seeds  ])ut  into  the  eye  l)ecqme  mucilaginous  and  thus  facilitate  the 
extraction  of  anything  that  has  got  into  it."  In  addition  to  this  species, 
