Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  19 18.  ■> 
Current  Literature. 
53 
oil,  or  xylol.  Its  chief  advantage,  however,  is  the  fact  that  it  stains 
different  tissues  with  varying  degrees  of  shade  and  tint.  Muscle, 
for  instance,  is  stained  a  yellowish-brown,  and  the  protoplasm  of 
young  epithelial  cells  a  bluish-pink,  while  the  older  keratinized  cells 
are  bright  scarlet.  In  an  epitheliona,  for  instance,  the  degree  of 
pressure  to  which  the  epithelial  cells  have  been  subjected,  which  is 
a  valuable  guide  to  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  tumor,  is  well  differ- 
entiated. Used  after  methylene  blue  for  tissues  that  have  been 
fixed  in  Flemming's  or  Zenker's  fluid,  it  does  not  discharge  the 
nuclear  stain.  The  staining  is  of  marked  permanency.  He  adds 
that  the  dye  is  now  being  made  by  British  Dyes,  Ltd.  {From  The 
Chemist  and  Druggist.) 
COMMERCIAL  AND  TRADE  INTEREST. 
Aden's  Exports  of  Senna  Leaves  to  United  States. — Among 
the  exports  to  the  United  States  for  the  second  quarter  of  the 
calendar  year  1917,  declared  at  the  Aden  consulate,  those  of  senna 
leaves  take  a  more  prominent  place  than  ever  before  in  the  history 
of  American  trade  with  Aden. 
The  local  article  of  commerce  known  as  senna  consists  of  the 
leaves  of  some  species  of  Cassia  which  grow  wild  in  several  parts 
of  this  commercial  district.  It  is  used  for  medicinal  purposes.  The 
native  name  is  "  senna  makki."  The  supply  in  the  Aden  market 
consists  chiefly  of  two  kinds  of  grades,  known  as  "  Yemeni "  and 
"Jibuti." 
The  Yemeni  grade  is  much  the  better  and  comes  to  Aden  from 
the  Yemen  and  other  Red  Sea  Arabian  Provinces,  while  the  second 
grade  is  collected  in  Abyssinia  and  French  Somaliland,  and  is 
shipped  from  Jibuti  to  Aden. 
Senna  reaches  Aden  in  large  bales  weighing  from  12  to  16 
maunds  each  (a  maund  is  28  pounds).  Recent  prices  for  the  un- 
cleaned  senna  have  been  5  rupees  and  8  annas  ($1.78)  per  maund 
for  the  Yemeni,  and  1  rupee  less  (a  rupee  equals  $0.3244)  per 
maund  for  the  Jibuti  grade.  These  prices  are  approximately  2 
rupees  higher  than  the  normal  figures. 
The  senna  is  cleaned  in  Aden.  Indian  women  are  employed  to 
pick  it  over  and  throw  out  twigs,  discolored  leaves,  etc.  Leaves  of 
other  plants  which  resemble  the  senna  leaves  are  often  mixed  with 
it  in  the  districts  of  production  to  increase  the  weight.  Consider- 
