374      The  Species  of  Berber  is  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  { AmAig"r;f78arm' 
pared  from  hydrastis,  in  its  behavior  to  various  reagents  ;  the  reactions 
being  identical,  proved  the  identity  of  the  substance  with  berberina. 
On  examining  the  yellow  precipitate  occasioned  in  the  concentrated 
tincture  by  water,  it  was  found  to  contain  more  berberina,  and  possibly 
another  alkaloid,  which,  however,  was  not  isolated. 
The  powdered  rhizome,  previously  exhausted  with  strong  alcohol, 
was  treated  with  water.  The  infusion,  on  being  tested  with  the  usual 
reagents  for  alkaloids,  gave  no  reaction  ;  it  contained,  however,  gum 
and  sugar. 
ON  the  SPECIES  of  BERBERIS  of  the  PACIFIC  COAST. 
t  By  John  M.  Maisch. 
-  The  genus  Berberis  comprises  shrubs,  which  have  a  more  or  less 
yellow  wood  and  a  yellow  inner  bark,  and  produce  racemes  of  yellow 
or  yellowish  flowers,  and  several-seeded  acidulous  berries.  As  at 
present  constituted,  about  50  species  are  known  which  belong  to  both 
continents,  but  are  largely  South  American.  One  species,  Berb. 
vulgaris,  Lin.,  is  indigenous  to  Europe,  has  been  naturalized  in  New 
England  and  grows  spontaneously  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 
It  has  the  early  leaves  reduced  to  sharp,  usually  triple  spines,  from  the 
axils  of  which  deciduous,  obovate,  spatulate,  bristly,  serrutate  leaves  with- 
out pointed  petioles,  are  produced.  The  shrub  grows  6  to  8  feet  high, 
while  the  only  species  indigenous  to  the  eastern  section  of  the  United 
States  is  but  1  to  3  feet  high.  This  is  the  Berb.  canadensis,  Pursh, 
which,  however,  according  to  Gray,  is  not  indigenous  to  Canada,  but 
grows  in  the  Alleghanies  of  Virginia  and  southward  ;  it  has  repandly- 
toothed  leaves  and  few-flowered  racemes. 
A  larger  number  of  species  are  found  in  the  Western  United  States, 
in  the  territory  bordering  the  Pacific.  All  of  them  are,  however,  very 
different  in  aspect  from  those  noticed  above,  the  differences  having 
been  considered  so  important  that  the  plants  were  arranged  by  Nuttall 
into  a  separate  genus,  Mahonia,  which  was  also  adopted  by  De 
Candolle,  but  has  more  recently  been  regarded  merely  as  a  sub  genus 
of  Berberis,  from  which  it  is  distinguished  by  evergreen  oddly  pinnate 
leaves  with  sessile  spinulously-toothed  leaflets,  by  the  absence  of 
glandular  spots  at  the  base  of  the  petals  and  by  the  presence  of  a  tooth 
on  each  side  of  the  apex  of  the  filament.  While  the  berries  of  the 
species  noticed  above  are  of  a  bright-red  or  scarlet  color  and  oblong  or 
