M?i*m"'}        An  Asserted  Specific  for  Ague.  295 
phuric  acid,  and  Trommer's  test  applied  without  giving  any  evidence 
of  glucose. 
6.  Two  troy-ounces  of  the  seed  were  treated  according  to  the  pro- 
cess for  obtaining  colchicia,  but  without  a  satisfactory  result. 
From  the  above  experiments,  it  appears  that  lobelina,  by  exposure, 
undergoes  some  change,  by  which  it  is  rendered  incapable  of  uniting 
with  acids  to  form  salts. 
ON  AN  ASSERTED  SPECIFIC  FOR  AGUE. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
When  I  wrote  the  short  notice  on  Artemisia  Ludoviciana,  Nuttall, 
in  my  "Pharmacognostical  Notes,"  in  the  May  number  of  this  journal, 
I  did  not  expect  that  I  should  meet  again,  in  so  short  a  time  and  un- 
der a  different  garb,  with  a  plant  which  appears  to  possess  the  pro- 
perties of  the  aromatic  bitters  merely  in  a  very  moderate  degree.  In 
the  same  month  in  which  the  above-mentioned  paper  was  first  pub- 
lished, I  received  from  East  Saginaw,  Michigan,  a  letter  from  Mr.  F. 
C.  Weber,  enclosing  portions  of  the  flowering  tops  of  this  plant,  which 
had  been  offered  to  him  as  a  specific  for  ague.  Guided  by  the  infor- 
mation received  from  Mr.  Weber,  I  applied  to  Mr.  Ottmar  Eberbach, 
at  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  who  kindly  furnished  me  with  an  original  pack- 
age, the  dimensions  of  which  are  2  by  by  4  inches,  and  which 
weighs  ounces.  The  material  consists  of  the  leaves  and  the  flow- 
ering tops,  with  but  small  portions  of  the  stems  of  the  plant  named 
above,  the  whole  cut  up  and  much  broken,  but  the  botanical  charac- 
ters, particularly  of  the  flower-heads,  readily  discernible.  It  is  done 
up  in  an  angular  package,  of  the  dimensions  stated,  and  packed  first 
in  thin  white  printing  paper,  which  is  enclosed  in  a  wrapper  of  yellow 
paper,  with  the  following  printed  on  the  outside : 
CHINESE  AGUE  CURE. 
[Wood-cut  of 
a  Chinaman, 
holding  a 
plant  in  his 
right  hand.] 
Directions. — Steep  a  tablespoon  once  and  a  half  full  of  the  herb  in  one  quart 
