Am.  Jour  Pharm. ) 
Sept.,  1885.  J 
Prickly  Pear  in  America. 
449 
two  iron  pans  are  luted  with  a  mastic,  that  of  the  earthen  vessel  with 
the  refrigerant  by  means  of  rag  bandages.  The  vapor  reaching  the 
earthen  vessel  is  condensed  when  it  strikes  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
pan  holding  the  cold  water,  and  falls  into  a  small  circular  trough 
running  round  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  from  which  it  escapes  through 
a  small  pipe.  The  small  pipe  opens  out  into  a  bamboo  which  conducts 
the  products  of  distillation  into  a  closed  tinned  vessel  full  of  water, 
where  the  oil,  rising  to  the  top,  drives  out  a  corresponding  quantity  of 
water. 
A  distillation  lasts  two  days  and  the  yield  from  ten  Annamite  kilo- 
grams of  star  anise  is  two  and  a  half  decilitres  of  oil.  The  residue  of 
the  distillation  is  thrown  away.  A  single  manufacturer,  and  there  are 
many,  would  distil  150  to  180  Annamite  kilograms  of  oil  yearly. 
The  oil  is  enclosed  in  tinned  recipients  and  sold  in  China  at  Luong- 
chau.  Before  the  French  occupation  of  Hanoi  and  Bac-ninh,  a  part 
of  the  products  went  by  these  two  places  into  Tonquin,  but  since  then 
the  Chinese  dealers  have  remained  the  masters  of  the  market. — Phar. 
Jour,  and  Trans.,  July  25,  1885,  p.  91. 
PRICKLY  PEAR  IN  AMERICA. 
In  some  recently  published  Consular  reports  of  the  United  States 
the  following  interesting  paragraph  on  the  nopal,  or  prickly  pear 
(Opuntia  cochinillifera)  occurs :  ^'The  plant  abounds  in  the  whole  ter- 
ritory of  Mexico,  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  California,  and 
extends  much  further  north.  It  has  flat  oval  leaves,  about  six  inches 
long  and  nearly  half  an  inch  thick,  covered  by  long  sharp  thorns,  and 
bears  a  fruit  of  a  purple  color  resembling  a  pear,  filled  with  numerous 
small  seeds.  The  plant  grows  from  three  to  six  feet  high.  Its  fruit 
is  eaten  freely  by  cattle,  and  the  leaves,  after  having  been  burnt  in  a 
fire  to  get  rid  of  tlie  thorns,  are  thrown  by  the  cartmen  in  j)lace  of 
fodder  to  their  oxen  by  means  of  a  long  sliarp-pointed  stick,  especially 
when  on  a  road  where  there  is  no  grass.  It  also  makes  an  excellent 
hedge,  and  once  planted  will  last  for  ever.  There  is  another  species 
of  nopal  called  nopal  de  castilla,  which  has  no  thorns,  and  which  is 
cultivated  for  the  sake  of  its  fruit.  Tins  nopal  has  much  larger  leaves 
than  the  wild  species,  and  grows  to  the  height  of  ten  and  twenty  feet, 
and  the  fruit  is  much  larger.    Of  this  species  there  are  a  great  many 
29 
