106 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica, 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      Feb.,  1885. 
GLEANINGS  IN  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
By  the  Editoh. 
Drosera  rotundifolia. — H.  Biisgen  has  made  comparative  experi- 
ments intended  to  answer  the  question  whether  the  capture  of  insects 
by  these  and  similar  plants  assists  their  development.  The  experi- 
ments were  made  with  seedlings  grown  in  peat,  which  were  previously 
boiled  in  a  nutritive  solution  ;  these  were  placed  on  saucers  and  covered 
with  bell  glasses ;  one  set  were  fed  with  the  lice  from  vine  leaves,  the 
other  received  no  such  nourishment.  The  unfed  plants  were  less 
strong  and  healthy,  16  plants  producing  9  flower  branches  and  20 
capsules,  while  14  of  the  fed  plants  produced  17  flower  branches  and 
90  capsules ;  the  total  dry  weight  of  the  fed  plants  was  0*352,  and  of 
the  unfed  plants  0*119  grams.  Other  trials  under  less  favorable  con- 
ditions gave  similar  results,  and  the  author  considers  it  as  proved  that 
the  plants  of  drosera  are  capable  of  utilizing  animal  food  and  assimi- 
lating it  beneficially  for  the  production  of  seeds. — Jour.  Chem.  Sog., 
1884,  p.  917;  Bied.  Centr.,  1884,  p.  47. 
Pinus  Sylvestris. — Phenol  has  been  found  in  this  tree  by  A.  B. 
Griffiths,  the  quantity  present  in  the  different  parts  being  in  the  old 
stem  0-1021,  in  the  young  stem  0*0654,  in  the  leaves  between  0*0936 
and  0*0315,  and  in  the  cones  between  0*0774  and  0*0293  per  cent. — 
Chem.  News,  vol.  49,  p.  95. 
A  New  Cotton  Plant  — For  many  years  A.  A.  Subers,  of  Macon, 
Georgia,  has  been  carefully  experimenting  to  hybridise  the  cotton  plant 
that  grows  wild  in  Florida,  with  the  common  okra.  The  new  plant 
retains  the  okra  stalk  and  the  foliage  of  the  cotton.  Its  flower  and 
fruit,  however,  are  strikingly  unlike  either  cotton  or  okra.  The  plant 
has  an  average  height  of  two  feet,  and  each  plant  has  only  one  bloom- 
This  is  a  magnificent  flower,  very  much  like  the  great  magnolia  in 
fragrance,  and  equally  as  large.  Like  the  cotton  bloom,  the  flower  is 
white  for  several  days  after  it  opens,  after  which  it  is  first  pale  pink, 
and  gradually  assumes  darker  shades  of  this  color  until  it  becomes  red, 
when  it  drops.  For  about  ten  days  the  fruit  resembles  the  cotton  boll, 
and  then  its  growth  suddenly  increases,  as  if  by  magic,  until  it  reaches 
the  size  of  a  big  cocoanut.  Not  until  it  reaches  this  size  does  the  lint 
apj)ear.  Then  its  snowy  threads  begin  to  burst  from  the  boll,  but  are 
securely  held  in  place  by  the  okra  like  thorns  or  points  that  line  the 
boll.    One  experienced  picker  can  easily  gather  800  pounds  a  day, 
