80  The  History  of  Californian  Borax.  {AmFeb'mTrm'' 
lactucerol  and  from  sycocerol.  Euphorbon  has  an  entirely  different 
behavior,  since  it  is  resinified  on  being  heated  with  alcoholic  potassa, 
or  with  glacial  acetic  acid. 
Orthosiphon  stamineus,  Bentham,s.  Ocymum  grandifloruin,  Blume,  is 
indigenous  to  India,  Java  and  the  Nicobar  and  Philippine  Islands.  The 
pale  green  leaves  have  purplish  petioles  and  veins,  and  on  both  sides 
of  the  blade  prominent  oil  glands.  Dr.  Van  Itallie  (Phar.  Zeitung, 
1886,  p.  376)  obtained  from  the  dried  leaves  a  small  quantity  of  vola- 
tile oil  and  of  a  crystalline  glucoside.  This  orthosiphonin  has  a  bitter 
and  afterward  sweet  taste,  is  freely  soluble  in  absolute  alcohol,  less 
soluble  in  weak  alcohol  and  in  chloroform,  almost  insoluble  in  ab- 
solute ether,  and  is  precipitated  by  plumbic  subacetate,  but  not  by  the 
acetate  or  by  tannin.    It  does  not  contain  nitrogen. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  CALIFORNIAN  BORAX. 
By  Arthur  Kobottom. 
Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton,  in  the  "  Last  days  of  Pompeii,"  bears 
testimony  to  the  value  set  upon  borax  in  the  days  of  the  Roman  re- 
public. "Borax,"  says  Sir  Edward,  "was  largely  used  by  Nero  and 
his  slaves  near  2000  years  ago,  and  Pansa  deeply  regretted  that  he 
was  not  rich  enough  to  buy  borax  to  cover  the  arena  after  the  death 
of  the  combatants  at  the  time  of  the  fight  between  Lydon  and 
Tetraides."  Many  a  time  since  my  visit  to  the  Californian  borax 
districts  has  this  passage  sprung  into  my  mind,  and  often  I  have 
thought  what  a  pity  it  was  that  Olanthus,  Glaucus,  Caligula,  and  the 
gladiators  did  not  know  of  the  existence  of  the  great  borax  lake  in 
Slate  Range  Mountains,  California. 
My  visit  to  this  lake  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  journeys  I 
think  I  ever  made  in  my  life,  and  the  accident  of  my  making  this 
journey  arose  in  the  following  manner.  In  the  year  1874  I  visited 
the  borax  deposits  in  Nevada,  and  was  on  my  way  to  San  Francisco, 
when  during  the  journey  I  was  interviewed  by  a  reporter  of  a  Winne- 
mucca  newspaper,  who,  without  my  knowledge,  sent  on  to  San  Fran- 
cisco the  following  particulars  concerning  my  visit  in  his  paper,  and 
which  were  duly  reproduced  before  my  arrival  in  the  "  Californian 
Alta,"  of  San  Francisco : — "Mr.  Arthur  Robottom,  of  Birmingham, 
paid  our  town  a  visit  a  few  days  ago,  on  a  prospecting  tour,  to  dis- 
cover if  any  borate  of  soda  or  borate  of  lime  exists  in  this  section. 
