^™  August!^?2o. }  Commercial  Varieties  of  Nux  Vomica.  539 
CEYLON  NUX  VOMICA. 
This  variety  is  orbicular  and  in  many  cases  decidedly  concavo- 
convex.  The  hilum  is  prominent  and  often  raised  (wart-like)  with 
one  or  two  concentric  elevations  between  it  and  the  margin;  the 
ridge  is  distinct  and  micropyle  prominent.  It  is  either  silver-yellow 
or  silver-green  in  color  and  vividly  glossy,  presenting  a  satin-like 
appearance;  4  to  7  mm.  thick  and  15  to  25  mm.  in  diameter.  The 
specific  gravity  determined  was  1.2 102. 
TElylvICHKRRY  NUX  VOMICA. 
This  is  orbicular  and  nearly  flat,  with  the  hilum,  ridge,  and  mi- 
cropyle all  rather  indistinct  and  the  margin  usually  acute.  It  is 
silver-yellow  in  color  but  not  as  glossy  as  the  Ceylon  variety;  3  to 
5  mm.  thick  and  20  to  25  mm.  in  diameter.  Its  specific  gravity  as 
determined  was  1.3521. 
MADRAS  NUX  VOMICA. 
The  Madras  is  nearly  flat,  orbicular,  and  shows  a  hilum  not  as 
pronounced  as  Ceylon,  but  with  the  ridge  and  micropyle  prominent. 
Its  margin  is  usually  rounded,  the  color  a  dull  ash-green,  thickness 
3  to  5  mm.,  diameter  15  to  20  mm.,  and  the  specific  gravity  i .  3024. 
COCHIN  NUX  VOMICA^ 
Samples  from  four  different  sources  were  examined.  They 
possessed  the  usual  orbicular  form,  were  slightly  concave,  showed  an 
indistinct  ridge,  a  rather  prominent  hilum  and  micropyle  and  usually 
a  rounded  margin.  The  color  was  uniformly  of  a  dull  silver-gray 
except  in  the  case  of  an  unwashed  sample  which  was  a  dull  dirty- 
gray  having  adhering  brownish  black  patches.  The  seeds  ranged 
from  4  to  5  mm.  in  thickness,  from  15  to  30  mm.  in  diameter 
and  gave  specific  gravities  as  follows: 
(1)  1-2433 
(2)  1.3236 
(3)  1-2857 
(4)  1-3334 
For  microscopic  study,  transverse  sections  were  made  through 
the  center  of  the  seeds  and  mounted  in  chlor-zinc-iodine.  They 
were  compared  as  to  the  measurements  of  the  outer  layer  of  endo- 
sperm cells,  the  thickness  of  their  walls,  length  of  hairs  and  the  ap- 
pearance when  viewed  under  polarized  light. 
