36 
Indian  Forest  Products. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
January,  19 18. 
In  i860  Baron  von  Mueller  described  Duboisia  hopwoodii  from 
specimens  brought  back  from  the  Burke  and  Wills  expedition. 
Bancroft  obtained  in  1872  samples  of  the  "  pituri,"  which  was  used 
by  the  aborigines  of  the  interior  as  an  intoxicant.  Mueller  and 
Bailey  identified  "pituri"  with  Duboisia  hopwoodii  in  1876.  Lang- 
ley  and  Dickenson  in  1878  showed  that  pituri  was  closely  similar  to 
nicotine  in  its  physiological  properties.  Gerrard  isolated  the  alka- 
loid, and  named  it  piturine.  Petit,  of  Paris,  in  1879,  identified 
piturine  with  nicotine.  Professor  Liversidge  examined  the  alka- 
loid a  year  later,  and  concluded  that  it  differed  from  nicotine  in 
the  amount  of  nitrogen  present.  In  1910,  however,  the  late  Dr. 
Rothera,  of  Melbourne,  proved  conclusively  that  piturine  was  iden- 
tical with  nicotine. 
In  1867  Mueller  described  Duboisia  leichardtii  from  material 
supplied  by  the  explorer  Leichhardt.  This  plant  is  a  Queensland 
species,  growing  in  the  area  between  that  occupied  by  D.  myopo- 
roides  on  the  coast  and  by  C.  hopwoodii  in  the  center  of  Australia. 
Dr.  J.  M.  Petrie  has  found  the  fresh  leaves  to  contain  0.28  per  cent, 
of  mixed  alkaloids.  From  half  a  gramme  of  mixed  alkaloids  he 
has  separated  0.1  Gm.  i-hyoscyamine,  0.1  Gr.  i-scopolamine,  and 
0.2  Gm.  nor-hyoscyamine.  Now  that  accurate  information  is  avail- 
able as  to  the  distribution  of  these  valuable  medicinal  substances  in 
native  trees,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  chemical  enterpise  and  manu- 
facturing ability  will  bring  about  the  supply  of  these  substances  to 
the  medical  profession  and  to  the  public  from  Australian  soures. 
INDIAN  FOREST  PRODUCTS.1 
Mr.  R.  S.  Troup,  assistant  inspector-general  of  forests,  has 
written  a  very  useful  and  interesting  pamphlet  on  the  work  of  the 
Forest  Department  of  India,  in  which  he  describes  in  a  popular 
manner  the  main  facts  connected  with  the  development  of  forest 
products  generally.  After  dealing  with  the  history,  area,  classes, 
and  types  of  forests,  research  organization,  etc.,  Mr.  Troup  passes 
on  to  a  description  of  the  forest  products  themselves,  these  includ- 
ing gums,  resins,  barks,  leaves,  fruits,  fibers,  etc.,  all  of  which  fall 
under  the  head  of  "  minor  produce."    The  timber-trees  are,  of 
1  Reprinted  from  The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 
