GIZZARD  OF  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  OSTRICH. 
123 
use  the  pipe).  I  have  had  much  difficulty  in  obtaining  any 
quantity  of  the  article,  and  then  only  at  an  enormous  cost.  I 
was  fortunate  enough  this  season  to  obtain  a  quantity  of  the  seed 
of  the  plant,  and  have  been  successful  in  growing  a  crop,  speci- 
mens of  which  are  herewith  sent,  also  some  of  the  seed.  The 
plant  is  rather  insignificant  in  size ;  the  infloresence  is  very  mi- 
nute, white,  corolla  entire,  and  finely  cleft.  I  have  not  been  able 
to  make  out  its  natural  order,  or  to  find  a  description  of  it  in 
any  work  at  my  disposal.  It  is  not  described  in  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Survey  (in  the  botanical  section  of  that  Government  re- 
port).* The  odor,  when  burnt  in  a  pipe,  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
tonqua  bean,  and  I  presume  it  owes  the  same  to  the  presence  of 
coumarin  in  the  plant. — Proc.  Amer.  JPharm.  Assoc.,  1867. 
GIZZARD  OF  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  OSTRICH. 
By  E.  S.  Wayne. 
The  inner  coat  of  'the  gizzard  of  the  ostrich  is  used  in  Buenos 
Ayres  in  powder,  as  a  remedy  for  dyspepsia.  The  specimen 
herewith  sent  was  presented  to  me  by  Mr.  T.  B.  Coffin,  who  has 
been  for  some  time  past  a  resident  of  Buenos  Ayres,  now  of 
New  York,  and  a  member  of  the  firm  of  C.  E.  Griswold  &  Co., 
manufacturers  of  feather  dusters,  and  importers  of  ostrich  feath- 
ers. The  specimen  was  handed  to  me  with  the  request  that  I 
would  make  some  experiments  in  relation  to  its  value  as  a  source 
of  pepsin ;  also  as  to  its  value  in  substance  or  powder,  compared 
with  pepsin,  as  it  was  supposed,  from  the  popular  belief  in  the 
fabulous  digestive  powers  of  the  ostrich,  that  a  pepsin,  or  similar 
substance  superior  to  pepsin,  from  the  stomach  of  the  calf,  pig, 
&c,  might  be  obtained  from  it.  The  limited  time  I  have  had  for 
experiment  has  prevented  my  making  any  further  report  at 
present.  I  am  making  comparative  tests,  the  results  of  which 
will  be  given  at  some  future  time. — Ibid. 
►*  At  the  request  of  Professor  Wayne  I  have  examined  the  specimens 
sent.  The  seeds  consisted  of  the  empty  involucres  and  the  achene  (with 
the  pappus  much  broken)  of  aEupatorium.  The  dried  plant  was  without 
flowers,  but  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  some  of  our  Northern  species 
of  this  genus,  and  corresponds  closely  with  the  description  of  Eupatorium 
incarnatum,  Walter.  This  species  is  indigenous  to  Texas,  but  is  found 
as  far  east  as  Florida  and  Georgia.  J.  M.  Maisch. 
