352 
Asbestos. 
Am.  Jour.  Priaru 
July.  1893. 
botanical  description  of  the  plant  has  not  yet  been  published.  This 
may  now  be  given  as  follows : 
Pilocarpus  "  Jaborandi"  n.  sp.,  minis  erecto-patentibus,  ramulis 
junioribus  plus  minusve  puberulis;  foliis  alternis  imparipinnatis ; 
foliolis  oppositis,  fere  4-5  jugis,  anguste  ellipticis,  coriaceis,  rigidis, 
glanduloso.punctatis,  long.  10-15  cm.,  lat.  2j^-5  cm.,  fere  emargina- 
tis,  marginibusque,  paululo  recurvis,  basi  inaequalibus,  in  petiolum 
perbrevem  5  mm.  constitutis  ;  floribus  in  racemum  terminalem 
pedalem  curvatum  rachide  gracili  dispositis,  scepissime  deciduis, 
pedicellis  tenuibus,  long.  x/2-\  cm.,  roseis  minute  bracteolatis, 
bracteolis  subulatis  supra  medium  dispositis  ;  calyce  minuto,  5-angu- 
lari,  non  rite  lobato  ;  corolla  rotata,  petalis  quinque,  ovatis  acutis, 
i-nervis,  pallidoluteis  medio  transverse  roseo-suffusis;  disco  rugoso- 
crenato,  glanduloso-punctato ;  staminibus  quinque,  filamentis  com- 
pressis  lineari-attenuatis,  antheris  innatis ;  ovario  5-carpellato  ; 
fructibus  maturis  paucis,  carpellis  convexis  apice  rotundatis  trans- 
verse striatis,  glanduloso-punctatis,  seminibus  in  carpello  singulis 
nigris  nitidis. 
Hab.  Pernambuco ;  specimen  cum  floribus  in  Hort.  Cantab. 
Angliae  cultis,  a  me  solum  visum. 
The  most  marked  features  in  this  species  are  (1)  the  deciduous 
pinkish-yellow  flowers  with  slender  pink  pedicels,  (2)  the  less  quad- 
rate, larger,  and  more  convex  carpels,  as  compared  with  those  of  P. 
pennatifolius,  Lem.,  (3)  the  more  leathery  leaflets,  with  elliptic  out- 
line, unequal  base,  and  prominent  veinlets  on  the  upper  surface,  the 
leaflets  being  normally  in  four  pairs. 
As  the  leaves  of  P.  Jaborandi  are  known  to  yield  more  alkaloid 
than  the  Paraguay  plant,  the  former  only  should  be  official.  For 
pharmaceutical  purposes  the  leaves  may  be  described  as  follows  : 
Leaves  coriaceous,  elliptical,  entire,  emarginate,  somewhat  rigid, 
10-15  cm.  long  by  2^-5  broad  tapering  equally  towards  either  end 
oblique  at  the  base  with  the  veinlets  on  the  upper  surface  distinctly 
prominent. 
THE  PRODUCTION  AND  USES  OF  ASBESTOS. 
The  Journal  de  la  Chambre  de  Commerce  de  Constantinople  says 
that  the  best  asbestos  conies  from  Siberia  ;  it  is  also  met  with  in  the 
clefts  of  certain  rocks  in  the  Tyrol,  in  the  Pyrenees,  in  the  mountains 
of  Hungary,  in  Greenland,  Brazil,  etc.    The  finest  description  com  s 
