AmAJu0gU,r,x8P7h7?rm  }  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  403 
solving  crude  sugar  in  little  water,  and  mixing  the  solution  with  alco- 
hol.— Ber.  d.  Chem.  Ges.,  1877,  351-355. 
Arrayan  of  the  Spanish  Pharmacopoeia  is  Myrtus  communis,  Lin., 
the  only  species  of  this  genus  indigenous  to  Europe.  Domingo  Parodi 
states  that  the  Eugenia  cisplatensis  of  Cambessedes  is  the  arrayan  of  the 
Argentine  Republic,  and  possesses  all  the  tonic  and  astringent  proper- 
ties of  the  former.1 
The  same  author  gives  also  a  minute  description  of  Eugenia  Iba-viyu 
(author  ?),  of  Paraguay  and  Chaco,  the  fruit  of  which  is  edible,  has  a 
harsh  and  sweet  taste,  and  contains  chlorophyll,  resin,  volatile  and  fixed 
oil,  tannin,  sugar  and  citric  and  malic  acids.  The  leaves  are  pellucid 
punctate  from  oil  glands,  and  are  aromatic  and  astringent.  The  bruised 
leaves  of  both  the  arrayan  and  iba-viyu  are  used  in  the  form  of  decoc- 
tion in  mucous  atonic  discharges. — Revista  Farmac,  Buenos- Aires, 
March. 
Pitury ;  an  Australian  Rival  to  Coca. — Baron  von  Mueller  has 
succeeded  to  obtain  some  leaves  of  the  pitury,  and  with  certainty  deter- 
mined them  to  belong  to  Duboisia  Hopwoodii,  F.  Muell.,  a  bush  referred 
to  the  order  Solanacea?  or  Scrophulariacece,  which  grows  sparingly  in 
the  desert  scrubs,  from  the  Darling  river  and  Barcoo  to  West  Aus- 
tralia. In  a  recent  communication  to  the  "Australian  Medical  Jour- 
nal," Baron  von  Mueller  states  that  the  natives  chew  the  leaves  to 
invigorate  them  during  their  long  footjourneys  through  the  deserts,  just 
as  coca  leaves  are  used  in  South  America.  Those  living  near  the  Bar- 
coo travel  many  days'  journey  to  obtain  the  precious  foliage,  which  is 
broken  into  small  fragments  and  carried  about  by  them  in  little  bags. 
It  is  also  employed  to  excite  courage  in  warfare. — Phar.Jour.  and  Trans. y 
April  28. 
Constituents  of  Cubebs. — E.  Schmidt  has  again  examined  cubeb 
camphor,  and  corroborates  the  correctness  of  his  previous  analysis 
("Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1870,  p.  225).  It  must  be  regarded  as  a  hydrate 
C15H2rH20,  which  is  further  proven  by  the  observations^of  Schaer  and 
Wyss,  that  on  distilling  oil  of  cubebs  which  has  been  entirely  deprived 
of  water,  water  is  again  formed,  and  by  the  decrease  of  H  and  O  in 
1The  arrayan  of  Peru  is  likewise  a  myrtle,  the  Myrtus  arrayan,  HBK.  See 
"Synop.  Plant,  ^quinoct./'  vol.  iii,  p.  413. — Editor  Am.  Jour.  Ph. 
