6 
Luffa  Aegyptiaca. 
Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1884. 
The  percolates  with  cold  and  hot  water,  contained  glucose,  starch, 
and  albumen;  but  neither  a  glucoside  nor  an  alkaloid  could  be  detected. 
The  dried  guru  was  found  to  be  entirelyjinsoluble  in  water  or  alcohol, 
but  in  the  presence  of  an  alkali  it  became  soluble. 
Of  the  powdered  seeds  extracted  with  benzin  75  grams  were  boiled 
with  several  portions  of  water  until  the  water  from  them  gave  no  color- 
ation with  iodine ;  the  starch  was  converted  into  sugar ;  this  was  esti- 
mated by  Fehling's  solution,  and  the  starch  calculated  from  it  giving 
3*95  gram  or  5*268  per  cent. 
The  residuary  powder  was  now  boiled  with  diluted  sulphuric  acid 
for  several  hours,  when  the  liquid  contained  glucose  and  on  con- 
centrating it  transparent  rhombic  crystals  were  formed,  which  were 
insoluble  in  alcohol  or  ether,  readily  soluble  in  boiling  water,  and  this 
solution  was  not  precipitated  by  ammonium  oxalate. 
In  reviewing  the  results  of  my  work  we  find  in  this  unpretending 
and  unnoticed  plant,  not  only  a  remarkable  and  peculiar  histology,  but 
interesting  constituents  which  surely  seem  to  possess  sufficient  indi- 
viduality to  deserve  a  closer  investigation. 
LUFFA  AEGYPTIACA. 
By  Reinhakd  J.  Weber,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
Description. — Luffa  aegyptiaca,  nat.  ord.  cucurbitaceae,  is  indigenous 
to  Egypt  and  Arabia,  and  is  a  large  climbing  vine,  with  a  thin,  but 
very  tough  light  green  succulent  stem,  attaining  a  length  of  from  ten 
to  thirty  feet.  The  leaves  are  alternate  and  palmately  lobed,  of  a 
light  green  color  and  almost  destitute  of  taste.  The  flowers  are 
monoecious;  petals  five,  united  below  into  a  bell-shaped  corolla; 
anthers  cohering  in  a  mass ;  ovary  two-celled,  style  slender,  stigmas- 
three.  The  fruit  is  elliptical  ovate,  fleshy  and  indehiscent,  with  a 
green  epidermis,  longitudinally  marked  with  black  lines,  varying  from 
ten  to  fifteen  in  number ;  under  each  of  these  lines  is  found  a  tough 
woody  fibre.  The  fruit  attains  a  length  of  from  six  to  twenty-five 
inches.  I  have  seen  a  specimen  of  the  fruit,  grown  in  Allentown,  Pa.r 
which  measured  thirty-four  and  a  half  inches  in  length,  and  nine 
inches  in  diameter.  When  the  epidermis  is  removed  it  presents  a 
layer  of  interwoven  woody  fibres,  which  may  be  used  like  a  sponge, 
being  hard  and  rough  when  dry,  and  soft  when  soaked  in  warm  or 
