Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
August,  1887.  J 
Investigations  on  Strophanthus. 
427 
greater  part  of  the  seed.  The  section  treated  with  potassa  shows  the 
testa  colored  golden-brown,  the  albumen  colorless,  and  the  cotyledons 
greenish  or  canary-yellow.  Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  colors  the 
hairs  and  testa  golden-brown,  the  albumen  emerald-green,  and  the 
cotyledons  yellow,  changing  successively  to  greenish,  bronze-colored, 
coppery  and  finally  almost  blood-red.  It  appears  from  the  reactions 
that  the  albumen  contains  principally  fixed  oil,  and  the  embryo  be- 
sides fat  also  strophantin. 
A  false  strophanthus  seed  has  been  examined  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes 
(Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  May  7,  1887,  p.  903),  and  shown  to  be  the 
seed  of  Kicksia  africana,  Bentham,  which  grows  on  the  Bag  rooriver, 
at  Fernando  Po  and  at  Bonny,  in  open  low  country,  and  is  the  only 
known  African  species.  The  seed  is  without  awn,  but  is  attached  to 
the  long  hairy  funiculus,  which  resembles  a  retrorsely  hairy  awn.  On 
transverse  section  the  cotyledons  are  seen  to  be  folded  or  contortupli- 
cate.  Prof.  Birch  isolated  from  the  seed  a  toxic  principle,  which  is 
not  a  glucoside,  but  most  likely  an  alkaloid.  Prof.  Kickx,  after 
whom  the  genus  is  named,  was  director  of  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Ghent, 
and  president  of  the  Botanical  Society  of  Belgium,  and  died  March 
20,  1887. 
These  seeds,  as  figured  by  T.  Christy  (Xeiv  Commercial  Plants, 
part  10),  are  pointed  at  both  ends,  somewhat  bent,  not  hairy,  but 
the  retrorse  hairs  of  the  funiculus  project  beyond  the  apex  of  the 
seed. 
Other  strophanthus  seeds  are  also  figured  and  described  by  Christy. 
The  seed  of  Str.  hispidus,  DeCand.,  are  smaller  than  Kombe  seeds,  dark 
brown,  short-hairy,  the  bare  awn  rather  short.  Str.  dichotomus  var. 
Marckii,  DeCand.,  from  Java,  has  the  seed  rounded,  but  narrowed  at 
the  base,  dark-brown,  flat,  slightly  bitter ;  bare  awn  short,  brown,  the 
hairy  portion  paler  and  the  hairs  long.  The  seed  of  an  unknown 
species,  resembles  Komb6,  but  is  larger,  gray-green,  has  a  much  longer 
awn,  and  is  very  bitter.  Another  seed  from  the  Gold  Coast  is  pale- 
brown,  scarcely  bitter,  the  awn  and  awn-hairs  rather  short. 
The  seed  of  Str.  Ledienii,  Stein,  (Gartenzeitung,  1887,  p.  146;  see 
also  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1887,  p.  269),  is  of  the  shape  and  size  of  a 
wheat  graiD,  densely  covered  with  silky  yellowish-brown  hairs,  and 
at  the  apex  provided  with  an  awn,  which  is  about  2  cm.  long,  and 
from  its  base  beset  with  hairs,  the  total  length  of  the  comose  append- 
age being  about  5  cm.  J.  M.  M. 
