Am- juiyr;Soarn1'  1  Botanical  Origin  of  Pharmacopoeial  Drugs.  325 
species.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  the  medi- 
cinal properties  of  this  bark,  which  according  to  Lindley  {Flora 
medico)  is  much  used  in  the  West  Indies  in  malignant  ulcers,  both 
internally  and  externally ;  an  infusion  is  reckoned  antispasmodic  ; 
tincture  found  by  Dr.  Gillespie,  a  West  Indian  practitioner,  to  be  a 
good  febrifuge ;  according  to  others  the  decoction  is  anti-syphilitic. 
As. at  present  constituted  by  Bentham  and  Hooker,  the  genus 
Xanthoxylum  comprises  about  110  species  which  are  mostly  found 
in  tropical  regions,  four  being  indigenous  to  the  United  States,  but 
only  two  confined  to  this  territory.  These  two  species  are  now 
recognized  by  the  Pharmacopoeia  as  X.  fraxineum  and  X.  carolinia- 
num — names  which  appear  to  the  writer  to  be  more  descriptive, 
and  therefore  preferable  to  the  older  names  X.  americanum  and  X. 
Clava-Herculis,  of  which  particularly  the  latter  has  been  the  cause 
of  much  confusion. 
Cytisus  scoparius,  Link,  broom,  is  a  shrub  introduced  from  Europe, 
and  in  the  new  "  Gray's  Manual"  is  stated  to  grow  in  Virginia  and 
southward.  It  is,  however,  completely  established  in  and  near 
Philadelphia,  along  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore 
Railroad,  where  it  grows  quite  profusely  in  some  localities  in  sandy 
soil  and  sunny  locations.  The  shrub  deserves  to  receive  some 
attention,  as  during  its  flowering  period  in  May  and  June  it  has 
quite  an  attractive  appearance  owing  W  the  numerous  bright  yellow 
flowers,  which  afford  a  pleasant  relief  to  barren,  and  frequently 
bare  hillsides  The  young  branches  have  been  admitted  into  the 
United  States  and  British  Pharmacopoeias,  though  they  are  no  longer 
thus  distinguished  by  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  Continental  Europe  ; 
they  are,  however,  still  popularly  used  there  for  their  diuretic  and 
purgative  properties;  and  the  flower  buds  have  been  used  some- 
times as  a  substitute  for  capers,  and  the  roasted  seeds  in  the  place 
of  coffee.  The  plant  was  placed  by  Linnaeus  in  the  genus  Spar- 
tium  ;  French  and  German  botanists  usually  follow  either  Lamarck, 
who  placed  it  in  the  genus  Genista,  or  Koch  (Sarothamnus),  or 
Link  [Cytisus).  Bentham  and  Hooker  have  grouped  about  40 
species  in  the  genus  Cytisus,  the  plant  in  question  belonging  to 
the  first  section  Sarothamnus. 
Senega. — During  the  past  year  (Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  Sept. 
1889,  p.  449-453)  I  have  shown  that  the  keelless  or  false  senega 
root,  which  has  been  in  the  market  during  the  past  fourteen  years, 
