210  Botany  and  Materia  Medica.        { Am  aJSi*.  SS™* 
The  figures  of  the  cross-sections  of  the  stems  of  these  three  spe- 
cies, if  compared,  will  show  how  similar  they  are  as  respects  the 
distribution  of  tannin,  for  all  of  these  drawings  were  made  from 
sections  which  had  been  cut  from  the  fresh  stem  and  immediately 
placed  in  a  freshly  prepared  solution  of  anhydrous  ferric  chloride  in 
absolute  alcohol. 
CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION. 
A  specimen  of  bark  of  Cuban  pine,  received  from  Dr.  Mohr,  of 
Alabama,  collected  in  December,  1895,  yielded  the  following  per- 
centages of  moisture,  ash  and  tannin  : 
Per  Cent. 
Moisture  ,   9*04 
Ash  in  absolutely  dry  bark.   072 
Tannin  in  absolute!  3^  dry  bark   1*36 
Evidently  this  species  will  never  be  of  any  value  on  account  of  its 
tannin.  It  is  probable  that  a  specimen  from  a  younger  tree  would 
yield  more  of  the  astringent  principle,  as  the  bark  investigated  con- 
sisted largely  of  cork.  But  in  any  event,  the  bark  of  this  species  is 
very  poor  in  tannin. 
The  resin  of  this  and  the  loblolly  pine  is  more  fluid  than  that  in  the 
long-leaf  pine,  and,  therefore,  yields  a  larger  proportion  of  spirit  of 
turpentine,  with  a  corresponding  decrease  in  the  amount  of  resin. 
ECONOMICS. 
This  is  one  of  the  three  species  which  yield  the  great  bulk  of  the 
turpentine  of  the  South,  although  the  amount  obtained  from  Cuban 
pine  is  far  below  that  from  the  long-leaf  pine.  The  wood  is  used 
to  a  limited  extent  for  lumber. 
[To  be  continued.^ 
NOTES  ON  THE  RECENT  LITERATURE  OF  BOTANY 
AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
By  George  M.  Beringer. 
This  voluminous  work,  rendered  possible 
only  by  the  munificence  and  forethought  of 
Index  Kewensis.    ,T    ^      .  .  ,  ,  . 
Mr.  Darwin,  has  been  recently  completed  by 
the  botanists  of  Kew.    It  is  riot  only  a  list  of 
plant  names,  indicating  in  each  case  the  family  to  which  the  plant 
has  been  assigned,  but  is  a  bibliographical  index  of  descriptions 
