358 
PREPARATIONS  OP  CONIUM,  ETC. 
be  observed  that  the  Lauraceas  belong  to  the  oldest  forms  of 
plants  appearing  amongst  the  earliest  dicotyledons,  excepting 
those  of  the  chalk  stratum;  they  have  apparently  held  no 
unimportant  position  in  the  tertiary  forests. 
The  geographical  conditions  of  the  Lauraceae  resembles  in 
many  points,  and  to  a  high  degree,  those  of  the  Myrtacese, 
which  are  almost  excluded  from  Europe,  and  entirely  from  the 
arctic-alpine  and  antarctic  regions,  but  are  concentrated  in  con- 
siderable numbers  and  similar  uniformity  in  the  tropical  zone  of 
America  and  Asia,  upon  the  continents  and  islands,  and  in  outer 
tropic  zones  occur  more  numerous  in  the  Southern  than  in  the 
Northern  Hemisphere,  and  to  a  larger  extent  in  Australia  than 
in  South  Africa.  The  myrtles,  however,  differ  from  the  laurels, 
in  attaining  more  rarely  the  size  of  high  trees,  in  appearing 
more  numerous  in  Australia,  and  in  their  genera  of  the  tropics, 
which  occur  more  frequently  in  both  hemispheres. 
The  Lauracese  agree  likewise,  in  several  of  the  above  points, 
with  the  Araliacese,  Piperacege  and  Aroidege,  while  those  families 
which  are  more  closely  allied  to  them  in  structure  and  physiog- 
nomy, like  the  Polygonaceee,  Santalaceae  and  Thymelaceae,  differ 
considerably  in  their  geographical  relations. — Abhandl.  der  k. 
layer.  Akad.  d-  Wiss.  II.  C.  X.  Bd.  I.  Abth. 
J.  M.  M. 
ON  THE  PREPARATIONS  OF  CONIUM  OF  THE  BRITISH 
PHARMACOPOEIA,  AND  THE  TINCTURE  OF  THE  LONDON 
PHARMACOPOEIA. 
By  John  Harley,  M.  D.,  Lond.,  F.  L.  S. 
(Assistant  Physician  to  King's  College  Hospital,  etc.) 
(Continued  from  p.  272.) 
In  my  last  communication  I  gave  an  account  of  some  experi- 
ments with  two  samples  of  the  tincture  of  the  dried  leaf.  The 
conclusion  to  be  derived  from  them  clearly  coincides  with  that 
formed  of  the  tincture  of  the  fruit,  viz.,  that  it  is  practically  an 
inert  preparation. 
As  far  as  a  spirituous  preparation  of  the  dried  leaf  is  concerned, 
I  think  my  experiments  are  conclusive.  They  entirely  accord 
with  my  previous  experience,  which  first  led  me  to  mistrust  the 
preparation. 
