Am'juiy,ri8P84arm'}  Baycuru.  361 
heat  add  the  potassium  bicarbonate  in  small  portions  waiting  after  each 
addition  until  effervescence  has  ceased  before  adding  more.  When 
action  has  entirely  ceased  filter  the  liquid  through  paper.  After  the 
liquid  has  ceased  to  drop  add  enough  water  through  the  filter  to  make 
the  filtrate  weigh  5,850  parts  (or  measure  10  fluid  ounces.)  In  1,200 
parts  (or  2  fluid  ounces)  of  this  liquid  dissolve  the  ferric  citrate  with 
the  aid  of  heat,  and  add  the  solution  to  the  balance  of  the  liquid.  In 
this  solution  dissolve  the  sugar  with  or  without  the  aid  of  heat  and 
filter  through  paper,  adding  through  the  filter  enough  water  to  make 
the  completed  syrup  weigh  10,000  parts  (or  measure  16  fluid  ounces). 
Detroit,  Mich.,  May  30,  1884. 
BAYCURU  ROOT. 
By  Frederick  Augustus  Dalpe,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
Baycuru  is  the  vernacular  name  given  to  a  plant,  indigenous  to 
Brazil,  natural  order,  Plumbaginaceae,  and  probably  derived  from  the 
genus  Statice.  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes,  London,  believes  it  to  be  Statice 
brasiliensis.  Although  the  Plumbaginacese  do  not  generally  inhabit 
tropical  countries,  some  do  exist  there,  and  Dr.  Symes  gives  some  fur- 
ther information  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  plant.  "  It  grows  on 
the  shores  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  imbeds  itself  more  or  less  in  the 
sand,  a  number  of  radical  leaves  rising  from  above,  and  being  some 
five  to  seven  inches  in  length,  by  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches  in 
breadth.  The  flower  resembles  that  of  the  London  pride  (Saxifraga 
serratifolia).  The  whole  plant  is  sometimes  covered  by  the  sea,  for 
days  and  even  weeks  at  a  time,  dependent  on  the  direction  of  the 
winds,  there  being  no  tides  in  that  locality.  The  natives  have  an 
unlimited  amount  of  faith  in  its  virtues  as  an  astringent  and  discutient 
remedy,  in  all  kinds  of  enlargements  and  glandular  swellings ;  exter- 
nally as  a  fomentation,  and  frequently  as  a  vapor.  It  is  also  prescribed 
by  the  resident  physicians,  not  as  a  specific,  for  Dr.  Landell  has  found 
it  to  fail  utterly,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  reliable,  both  externally  and  inter- 
nally, and  forms  a  valuable  astringent  gargle.  The  root  is  used  both 
in  the  fresh  and  dry  states/'  As  seen  in  commerce  the  root  is  sub- 
cylindrical,  from  six  to  eight  inches  in  length,  and  from  a  half  to 
an  inch  in  width.    It  has  a  blackish  brown  bark  externally,  is  quite 
