THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
JUNE,  1894. 
AMERICAN  COLOCYNTH. 
mm 
By  L.  E.  Sayre,  University  of  Kansas. 
A  few  months  ago  there  was  brought  to  the  University  a  sample 
of  fruit,  which,  it  was  stated,  was  interesting  from  a  medical  stand- 
point. The  donor,  Judge  J.  S.  Emery,  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  Presi- 
dent of  the  National  Irrigation  Association,  had  just  returned  from 
a  visit  to  California  and  New  Mexico,  and  this  specimen  he  said  was 
given  to  him  by  a  "  very  intelligent  gentleman,"  connected  with  the 
Canaigre  works  at  Deming,New  Mexico,  who  had  raised  it  himself,  as 
an  experiment.  The  fruit  on  examination  proved  to  bean  excellently 
developed  gourd  of  Colocynth.  My  interest  was  at  once  excited, 
and  a  correspondence  with  the  original  donor,  whose  name  was  then 
unknown,  being  desired,  a  letter  regarding  the  specimen  was 
addressed  immediately  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Canaigre 
works  at  Deming,  which,  to  my  surprise,  brought  a  reply  from  an 
old  acquaintance  and  classmate,  Mr.  Charles  B.  Allaire,  Ph.G.,  Class 
of  '67,  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
In  this  reply  Mr.  Allaire  stated  that  the  "fruit  was  raised  from 
Trieste  seed  obtained  from  Dr.  Squibb,  Brooklyn,"  who  asked  him, 
in  making  agricultural  experiments,  to  compare  the  fruit  resulting 
from  this  seed  with  that  of  the  imported  article  from  Trieste,  and 
to  point  out  any  differences  which  might  arise  from  variation  of 
climate.  Mr.  Allaire  also  stated  that  "  there  were  from  65  to  80 
melons  per  vine,"  and  that  he  might  have  had  many  more  but  for 
the  frost,  as  the  vine  was  full  of  flowers  and  embryo  fruit  when  frost 
came.  In  a  subsequent  letter  he  said,  "  I  thought  you  might  be 
surprised  at  the  size  of  the  apples.    I  do  not  know  under  what  con- 
(273) 
