ON  COMMEECIAL  BELLADONNA  LEAVES. 
123 
I  saw  a  young  oak  in  the  grounds  of  Joshua  Hoopes,  at  West 
Chester,  Pa.,  which  was  grown  from  an  acorn  obtained  from  a 
tree  in  the  Marshall  Garden,  a  few  miles  from  West  Chester, 
which  was  raised  from  a  scion  or  acorn  of  the  original  Bartram 
Oak.  The  Hoopestree  is  about  fifteen  feet  high  and  three  inches 
in  diameter.  It  has  all  its  leaves  lobed,  and  in  foliage  has  no 
resemblance  to  the  willow  oak.  This  may  arise  in  part  from  its 
young  and  vigorous  growth,  there  being  often  a  tendency  in 
young  trees  to  have  different  foliage  from  what  they  wear  at 
maturity  ;  however,  this  is  not  often  the  case  with  the  willow  oak. 
Mr.  Hoopes  told  me  that  most  of  the  leaves  of  the  Marshall  tree 
were  also  lobed.  Should  these  trees  maintain  their  character- 
istics and  be  propagated,  the  Bartram  oak  may  become  an 
example  of  the  formation  of  a  new  species  from  a  form  of  an 
old  species. 
That  new  species  are  being  constantly  made  slowly  and 
gradually,  is  believed  by  many  botanists,  yet  the  shortness  of 
human  life,  and  our  limited  observations,  prevent  us  from  seeing 
and  proving  it. 
It  is  desirable  that  the  trees  alluded  to  should  be  preserved 
and  propagated  to  test  the  question  for  the  satisfaction  of  future 
enquirers. 
Now  the  Bartram  Oak  is  a  variety  of  Quercus  phellos,  but 
time  may  cause  it  to  be  a  good  species. 
ON  COMMEECIAL  BELLADONNA  LEAVES. 
By  J.  M.  Maisch. 
Atropa  belladonna,  Linn,  grows  in  the  greater  part  of  Europe 
in  moist  woods.  Besides  the  root,  the  leaves  are  of  great  im- 
portance as  medicinal  agents,  and,  as  far  as  my  observation 
reaches,  much  more  frequently  employed  in  this  country  than 
the  root.  The  chief  pharmaceutical  preparations  for  which 
they  are  used,  are  the  tincture  and  the  extract,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  the  latter  being  manufactured  here  on  the  large 
scale,  and  the  consumption  of  the  by  far  largest  portion  of  the 
imported  leaves  is  undoubtedly  for  this  latter  purpose. 
Belladonna  leaves  are  imported  into  this  country  chiefly,  if 
