3o 
Notes  on  Casual  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       Jan.,  1878. 
Senth.,  a  small  tree  belonging  to  the  Euphorbiacea.  These  fruits  were 
imported  from  Natal  under  the  name  of  galls,  probably  on  account  of 
their  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  Aleppo  galls  in  shape  and  size. 
Externally  they  have  a  black  color,  and  when  broken  open  exhibit  a 
hard  three-celled  endocarp,  each  cell  containing  a  single  seed.  The 
seeds  in  shape  and  color  are  not  unlike  a  castor  oil  seed,  but  are  less 
than  half  the  size  and  have  no  appreciable  taste. 
The  Boomah  nuts  are  said  to  be  used  for  tanning  in  Natal.  The 
tannin  is  contained  in  the  outer  coat,  or  sarcocarp,  and  must  be  very 
small  in  amount,  considering  the  size  of  the  fruit,  since  so  large  a  por- 
tion is  occupied  by  the  woody  endocarp.  These  nuts  are  not  likely, 
therefore,  to  be  able  to  compete  in  this  country  with  other  tanning 
materials. 
Barosma  ericifolia,  Andr. — This  drug  is  a  species  of  buchu  leaves. 
The  leaves  are  very  small,  resembling  in  size  and  shape  the  leaves  of 
the  heath,  whence  the  specific  name.  The  odor  of  the  leaves  is  pow- 
erful, but  differs  somewhat  from  that  of  the  official  species,  having  a 
slight  resemblance  to  the  odor  of  caraways.  These  leaves  are  used 
by  the  Hottentots  in  the  same  way  as  the  official  kind,  and  also  as  a 
perfume,  and  in  the  form  of  tincture  as  an  application  to  wounds. 
Empleurum  serrulatum,  Alt. — The  leaves  of  this  plant  are  men- 
tioned in  "  Pharmacographia  "  as  being  offered  for  buchu  in  this  coun- 
try. The  characters  pointed  out  in  that  work  render  it  an  easy  matter 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  leaves  of  Barosma  serratifolia,  Willd.,  the 
species  which  it  most  closely  resembles.  One  feature,  however,  not 
noted  in  that  work,  is  very  easily  observed.  When  a  leaf  of  Barosma 
serratifolia  is  held  up  to  the  light  the  lateral  veins  are  seen  to  be  much 
straighter,  longer,  and  more  strongly  developed  than  in  the  leaves  of 
Empleurum  serrulatum. 
Loomoonderfall. — The  large  fruits  which  bear  this  name  were 
imported  from  Zanzibar,  and  are,  I  am  told,  possessed  of  properties 
similar  to  those  of  cocculus  indicus.  I  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to 
ascertain  the  name  of  the  tree  which  produces  them. 
Cassia  Tora,  L. — These  seeds  were  imported  under  the  name  of 
Fantupa  seed.  They  are  about  the  size  of  an  apple  pip,  greenish- 
brown,  polished,  pointed  at  one  end  and  irregularly  angular.  The 
leaves  of  this  plant  ars  used  in  India  for  ringworm,  and  the  seed  of 
another  species  (Cassia  absus,  L.)  has  been  used  in  purulent  ophthalmia, 
but  the  object  with  which  the  seeds  of  C.  Tora  were  sent  to  this  coun- 
try, I  am  not  able  to  conjecture. — Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  Nov.  10. 
