114 
SASSY  TREE  OF  WESTERN  AFRICA. 
of  the  ammonia  which  escapes  conversion  into  cyanogen,  and  thus 
convert  it  also  into  cyanogen  ;  the  ammoniacal  salts  obtained  as 
subsidiary  products,  may  be  converted  into  ferrocyanide  of  potas- 
sium, by  mixing  them  with  lime,  and  adding  them  to  the  raw 
material. — Jour.  Frank.  Inst.,  Feb.  1857,  and  Chem.  Gaz. 
THE  SASSY  TREE  OF  WESTERN  AFRICA. 
TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL ( JOURNAL. 
My  dear  Sir  : — In  the  interesting  paper,  by  Mr.  Procter, 
on  the  Sassy  tree  of  West  Africa,  which  is  reprinted  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal,  xvi.,  233,  there  is  an  error  which  I  ven- 
ture to  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  correct,  there  being  no  evil  in 
Modern  Natural  History  so  great  as  the  excessive  multiplication 
of  names. 
Mr.  Procter  says,  that  "  as  no  specific  name  has  been  given 
to  this  tree,"  he  calls  it  Erythrophleum  judiciale.  It  happens, 
however,  that  it  had  already  two  specific  names,  as  will  be  seen 
upon  reference  to  Hooker's  Niger  Flora,  an  important  sys- 
tematical work,  which  all  should  study  who  write  on  the  plants 
of  the  Gold  Coast  and  neighboring  regions.  At  p.  329  of  the 
Niger  Flora,  Mr.  Procter  will  find  the  following  sentence:  "  1. 
Erythrophleum  Guineense  G.  Bon,  Gard.  Diet.  2,  p.  421.  Fil- 
loea  sauveolius,  Quill,  et  Perr.  Fl.  Seneg.  1,  p.  252,  t.  55." 
I  am  able  to  state,  from  an  inspection  of  Mr.  Procter's  speci- 
mens, with  a  sight  of  which  you  have  favored  me,  that  his  plant 
is  identical  with Erythrophlaium  Guineense,  as,  indeed,  he  will 
see  if  he  turns  to  Guillemin  and  Perrottet's  very  good  figure  of 
the  plant.  Therefore  the  name  judiciale  must  be  erased  from 
works  of  science.  Yours  faithfully, 
Acton  Green,  Dec.  18,  1856.  John  Lindley. 
[Note  by  the  Editor. — The  essay  referred  to  in  Prof.  Lindley's  note, 
was  published  nearly  five  years  ago  in  this  Journal.  On  the  occasion  of 
forwarding  some  specimens  of  American  drugs,  quite  recently,  to  London, 
the  opportunity  was  taken  to  send  the  specimens  of  Erythrophlaeum,  upon 
which  that  essay  was  based,  with  the  request  that  they  might  be  shown  to 
some  prominent  botanist,  with  the  view  of  corroborating  or  correcting  the 
statements  it  contained,  as  the  author  had  some  doubts  in  reference  to  the 
propriety  of  naming  the  tree,  in  the  absence  of  more  extended  references 
to  recent  authorities  beyond  his  reach.] 
