476  Chemical  and  Pharmacognostical  Notes.  {Am's^trif84arm' 
one  white,  which  is  generally  esteemed  wholesome,  and  the  other  very 
prettily  variegated,  which  is  regarded  as  poisonous.  The  poisonous 
character  of  the  latter  is  due,  according  to  Drs.  Davidson  and  Steven- 
son, to  hydrocyanic  acid,  which  is  formed  when  the  beans  are  mace- 
rated in  water  by  a  similar  process  to  that  by  which  it  is  produced  in 
certain  plants  of  the  Rosacea?,  such  as  the  almond  and  cherry  laurel. 
The  reason  why  two  varieties  of  a  plant  which  cannot  be  distinguished 
from  each  other  by  any  definite  botanical  characters  should  produce 
different  chemical  compounds  is  a  most  interesting  problem,  and  seems 
to  deserve  further  investigation. — Ibid. 
Proton  mo rif alius. — A  Mexican  plant,  by  name  "palillo,"  has 
recently  been  the  subject  of  experiment  in  France,  by  Messrs.  Dugees 
and  Armendaris  ("Bull.  Soc.  Bot,,"  [2],  v.,  p.  233).  Two  or  three 
drops  of  the  oil  contained  in  the  seeds  act  like  a  moderate  dose  of 
castor  oil.  The  natives  of  Mexico  use  the  leaves  of  the  plant  in  the 
form  of  infusion  as  a  remedy  for  gastralgia  and  atony  of  stomach. 
The  tincture  of  the  leaves  is  said  by  the  above-named  experimentalists 
to  give  excellent  results  in  neuralgia,  especially  when  occurring  in  the 
face,  either  when  used  as  liniment,  or  dropped  into  the  ears,  or  taken 
in  the  dose  of  10  or  15  drops  in  orange-flower  water. — Ibid. 
Sizygium  jambolanum  is  an  East  Indian  plant  belonging  to  the  natu- 
ral order  Myrtacese,  the  fruit  of  which  has  recently  been  somewhat  in 
demand  on  the  Continent  for  use  in  the  treatment  of  diabetes.  M. 
Banatrala  ("Repertoire  de  Pharmacie,"  p.  169)  has  found,  in  three  cases 
in  which  he  has  tried  it,  that  its  use  led  to  a  diminution  in  the  amount 
of  urine  secreted,  and  that  it  caused  the  disappearance  of  the  sugar. 
These  results  were  manifested  in  forty-eight  hours  after  taking  the 
medicine.  During  the  time  that  the  patients  were  submitted  to  the 
action  of  the  drug  they  could  take  amylaceous  food  with  impunity. 
The  astringent  rind  of  the  fruit  appears  to  be  the  active  part. 
Borneolfrom  Camphor. — By  C.  L.  Jackson  and  A.  E.  Menke  ("  Amer. 
Chem.  Jour."  [v],  pp.  270-271).  The  camphor  is  dissolved  in  10 
parts  of  alcohol,  a  small  excess  of  sodium  gradually  added,  and  the 
alcohol  distilled  off;  water  precipitates  crude  borneol.  After  washing 
with  water  it  is  crystallized  from  alcohol.  The  reaction  is  expressed : 
C10H16O  +  H2  =  C10H18O ;  the  yield  is  excellent,  94  per  cent,  of  the 
theoretical  amount  being  obtained. — Jour.  Chem.  Soc. 
Matico-camphor. — A  specimen  of  matico-camphor  (from  Piper  angus- 
tifolium),  examined  by  K.  Kiigler  ("Ber."  [16],  pp.  2841-2843,  had 
