446  Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica.  {Amsept.r('i?8h7arm' 
Heritiera  littoralis,  Aiton,  nat.  ord.  Sterculiacese,  is  a  tree  growing  in 
Eastern  Africa,  India,  the  Philippines  and  Australia.  All  parts  of  it 
are  astringent,  and  the  red  brown  seeds  have  also  a  bitter  taste. 
Heckel  and  Schlagdenhauffen  (Nouv.  Rem.,  1887,  p.  123,)  have  ob- 
served these  seeds  as  an  adulteration  of  kola  nuts.  They  are  readily 
distinguished  from  the  latter  by  their  nearly  orbicular  and  flattened 
shape,  with  a  diameter  of  about  4  cm.  and  a  thickness  of  10  to  12  mm., 
and  by  one  of  the  fleshy- white  cotyledons  being  only  of  about  half 
the  size  of  the  other.  The  starch  grains  are  polygonal,  and  only  one- 
half  the  size  of  those  of  the  kola  nut.  These  false  kola  nuts  do  not 
yield  any  caffeine ;  they  contain  fixed  oil,  4*4  per  cent. ;  tannin  and 
coloring  matters,  5  per  cent. ;  sugar,  5*7  per  cent. ;  cellulose  and  starch, 
56  per  cent. ;  lignin,  12.4  per  cent.;  albuminoids,  13.5  per  cent.,  and 
salts,  about  3  per  cent. 
Cali  nuts  are  described  by  E.  Merck  (Chem.  Centrabl.,  1887,  p. 
343).  They  come  from  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  are  the  seeds  of  a 
papilionaceous  plant,  and  have  a  more  circular  shape  than  Calabar 
beans,  but  otherwise  agree  with  the  latter  in  all  essential  external 
characters.  These  call  nuts  contain  an  alkaloid  which  closely  resem- 
bles physostigmine  in  chemical  properties  and  physiological  action. 
Acacia  delibrata,  A.  Cunn. — Dr.  T.  L.  Bancroft  observed  (Aus- 
tralian Jour.  Phar.,  March,  1887,  p.  103)  that  the  pod  has  not  an 
astringent,  but  a  disagreeable  acrid  taste.  The  acrid  principle  when 
isolated,  was  dirty- white,  not  crystalline,  had  a  faint  odor  and  an  ex- 
tremely nasty  taste,  and  was  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  the  aqueous 
solution  frothing  on  agitation ;  it  is  a  glucoside  and  by  its  chemical 
and  physiological  behavior  related  to,  or  identical  with,  saponin. 
The  ash  of  ipecacuanha  root  was  found  by  H.  E.  Munns,  (Phar, 
Jour.  Trans.,  April  30,  1887,  p.  898)  to  amount  to  3*22  per  cent.r 
and  to  have  the  following  composition :  Silica  31*98,  iron  and  alumina, 
3-53,  Ca  O  15-98,  Mg  O  4*57,  P2  05  6-19,  alkalies  13-80,  S03  4-84, 
CI  1*56,  C02  15-25,  undetermined  and  trace  of  manganese  2*30. 
Roasted  coffee. — Paul  and  Cownley  have  continued  their  experi- 
ments on  coffee,  (see  February  number,  p.  94)  and  ascertained  that 
there  is  no  appreciable  loss  of  caffeine  by  volatilization  in  the  roasting 
operation  when  it  is  carefully  carried  out.  The  loss  of  weight  in 
roasting  is  from  13.7  to  16  per  cent.,  and  the  product  consists  mainly 
of  water  with  a  minute  quantity  of  volatile  acid,  probably  acetic,  and 
