Am.  Jour.  Pharm., 
Dec  ,  1885. 
Indigenous  Species  of  Croton. 
597 
stated,  and  manufacturers  should  place  on  their  labels  a  statement  of 
the  proportion  which  their  product  actually  contains. 
The  description  given  of  this  salt  in  the  new  British  Pharmacopoeia 
contains  the  erroneous  statement  that  it  is  readily  soluble  in  ether,  and 
otherwise  characterizes  the  salt  in  a  very  imperfect  manner.  The 
description  given  of  coca  leaves,  as  having  a  "  taste  somewhat  bitter 
and  aromatic,"  omits  certainly  the  most  important  characteristic  of  the 
drug — its  benumbing  effect,  lacking  which  the  leaves  may  be  safely 
pronounced  of  no  value. 
ON  AN  INDIGENOUS  SPECIES  OE  CKOTON.^ 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
A  few  months  ago  I  was  consulted  about  a  plant  which  had  been 
sent  to  this  city  by  a  farmer  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  with  a  letter  in 
which  the  following  statements  were  made  concerning  the  properties 
•of  this  plant : 
"  I  do  not  know  whether  it  will  cure  hay-fever,  catarrh,  consumption,  or 
not ;  but  I  do  know  that  it  will  cure  several  diseases.  A  tea  made  from 
this  plant  will  give  instant  relief  in  cramp  colic,  will  stop  diarrhoea,  and, 
by  gargling,  will  cure  sore  throat,  also  any  kind  of  ulcers  in  the  mouth  ;  it 
will  also  cure  the  colic  in  horses.  A  man  was  cured  of  eating  cancer  by 
the  use  of  this  plant ;  but  I  do  not  know  how  he  prepared  it.  When  the 
•green  plant  is  cut  a  drop  of  bloody  water  runs  out ;  this  blood  aj^plied  on 
any  kind  of  bruise,  cut  or  bite  will  beat  anything  for  healing  that  I  have 
-ever  tried  or  seen  tried  ;  it  will  also  stop  the  flow  of  blood.  The  plant 
appears  to  be  perfectly  harmless  ;  I  never  heard  of  any  one  being  injured 
by  it." 
It  was  not  the  extravagant  statements  made  by  a  non-medical  man 
that  attracted  my  attention,  but  the  fact  that  the  plant  proved  to  be  a 
species  of  Croton,  which  genus  comprises  about  450  species,  the  large 
majority  of  which  are  arborescent  or  shrubby.  The  stimulant  and 
tonic  barks  known  as  cascarilla,  malambo  and  copalchi  are  obtained 
from  this  genus ;  the  drastic  and  irritating  croton  oil  is  extracted  from 
the  seeds  of  one  species,  and  a  kind  of  dragon's  blood  is  yielded  by 
several  Mexican  and  South  American  crotons.  In  addition  to  the 
preceding,  other  woody  species  of  the  same  genus,  indigenous  to  tro^j- 
ical  Asia  or  tropical  America,  are  more  or  less  employed  there,  their 
properties  being  usually  stimulant  or  acrid,  or  in  some  cases  irritant. 
'  Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  November  17,  1885. 
