330  Some  North  American  Medicinal  Plants. {^m;/u0iy;Sfrm- 
NOTES  ON  SOME  NORTH  AMERICAN  MEDICINAL 
PLANTS. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
Read  before  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  at  York,  June  II. 
Adulterated  Star  anise. — The  Repertoire  de  Pharmacie ;  of  April  10, 
contains  the  following  statements  : 
"  Mr.  E.  Barral  announces  in  Gazette  hebdomadaire,  of  November 
29,  1889,  a  new  dangerous  falsification  of  staranise  with  the  fruit  of 
Illicium  parviflorum  ;  these  fruits,  he  states,  resemble  those  of  the 
true  staranise,  and  for  several  years  have  been  met  with  in  England 
and  Germany.  Mr.  Barral  has  studied  the  effects  of  the  decoction 
and  of  the  extract  of  this  fruit,  and  has  proved  that  these  preparations 
contain  a  toxic  principle  which  produces  in  dogs  vomiting,  insensi- 
bility, paralysis  of  the  posterior  limbs,  convulsions,  and  finally  death. 
The  poisonous  principle  resides  principally  in  the  seed,  and  is  prob- 
ably a  glucoside  differing  from  that  met  with  in  /.  religiosum" 
The  plant  mentioned  is  a  shrub  indigenous  to  the  southern  dis- 
tricts of  Georgia  and  to  East  Florida,  and  to  some  extent  cultivated 
in  Europe  in  botanical  gardens.  It  is  scarcely  likely  that  the  fruit 
be  collected  in  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  mixing  it  with  staranise  ; 
and  inquiries  made  by  me  in  this  country  have  thus  far  failed  to 
find  the  fruit  in  commerce.  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes  called  attention  to 
this  fruit  in  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  December  18,  1880  (see  Am. 
Jour.  Phar,  1881,  p.  335),  described  it  as  consisting  of  eight  short- 
beaked  capsules  having  a  sassafras-like  taste,  and  stated  that  it  and 
the  fruit  of  III.  floridanum  are  not  met  with  in  commerce. 
The  two  indigenous  species  have  been  looked  upon  with  suspi- 
cion in  their  native  localities,  and  the  la-t  named,  which  is  found 
from  Florida  west  to  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  is  known  sometimes 
as  "  poison  bay."  This  species  was  histologically  and  chemically 
investigated  by  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch  (Am.  Jour.  Phar,  1885,  pp. 
225  and  278),  who  isolated  from  the  leaves  and  the  capsules  crystals 
of  a  glucoside  which  probably  represents  the  poisonous  principle, 
and  differs  from  the  shikimin  isolated  by  Eykman  from  the  capsules 
of  ///.  religiosum.  The  different  parts  of  /.  parviflorum,  to  which 
attention  has  again  been  drawn  by  Barral's  communication,  deserve 
to  be  fully  investigated. 
Hedeoma  is  the  name  of  a  genus  of  labiatous  plants,  comprising 
about  fourteen  species  indigenous  to  North  and  South  America. 
