34  Chemistry  of  the  Duboisias.  (^"anSary^giS"' 
three  crops  are  gathered  every  year.  In  the  south  of  France  it  is 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  intensive  culture  by  irrigation  and  rich 
manuring  in  order  to  make  the  single  crop  pay.  In  Algeria  the 
flowers  are  cut  for  the  first  time  in  early  spring;  the  second  cutting 
is  in  June;  and  the  third,  if  any,  in  October  and  November. 
Five  hundred  pounds  of  the  plant,  consisting  of  the  entire  stem 
with  leaves  and  flowers,  containing  56  per  cent,  of  moisture,  were 
distilled.  Only  3.5  ounces,  or  0.044  per  cent.,  of  water-free  filtered 
oil  were  obtained.  Considering  the  season  in  which  the  plant  was 
collected  the  yield  was  satisfactory,  and  it  will  be  safe  to  assume 
that  the  Nilgiri  geranium  is  normal  in  its  oil-content.  Further  ex- 
periments on  these  lines  must,  however,  be  made  before  we  can  be 
said  to  have  got  full  and  sufficient  data  on  the  subject,  and  this  can 
only  be  done  if  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  is  taken  in  hand. 
It  is  recommended  that  its  cultivation  be  encouraged  in  the 
Nilgiris  as  an  auxiliary  crop  for  the  use  of  eucalyptus  distillers. 
The  climate  of  Ootacamund  is  well  suited  for  its  cultivation.  The 
Nilgiri  plant  yields  an  oil  of  excellent  aroma,  having  46.60  per  cent, 
of  free  geraniol  and  28.19  per  cent,  of  combined  geraniol,  for  which 
a  sale  can  be  readily  found  even  in  India. 
THE  CHEMISTRY  OF  THE  DUBOISIAS.1 
The  plants  which  are  classified  by  botanists  in  the  family 
Solanaceae  frequently  contain  substances  possessed  of  powerful 
pharmacological  qualities.  Mention  may  be  made  of  the  mydriatic 
alkaloids  of  the  atropine  group  and  the  active  principles  of  the  nico- 
tine series.  The  number  of  substances  classified  in  the  atropine 
group  was  at  one  time  numerous,  but  better  methods  of  purifica- 
tion have  led  to  the  separation  of  some  uncommon  bodies  into  two 
or  more  well-known  alkaloids.  The  chief  members  of  this  group 
are  hyoscyamine,  scopolamine  and  nor-hyoscyamine. 
Hyoscyamine  is  an  optically  active  alkaloid,  of  which  the  lsevo- 
variety  occurs  naturally.  This  optical  isomer  is  powerfully  mydri- 
atic. Atropine  is  the  racemic  form  of  this  substance,  and  is  readily 
made  by  shaking  the  lsevo-variety  with  a  little  alkali.  Such  atropine 
as  is  separated  from  plants  is  believed  to  be  due  to  the  racemization 
1  Medical  Journal  of  Australia. 
