NOTE  ON  A  NEW  KIND  OF  KAMALA. 
143 
empty  resin-cells  are  ruptured  at  the  boiling-point ;  the  observer 
can  count  five,  seven  or  ten  of  them  in  each  of  the  three,  four 
or  five  ranges  or  transverse  divisions  of  the  gland,  if  he  ad- 
justs the  microscope  exactly  so  that  only  the  upper  side  of  the 
gland  occupies  the  field.  The  point  of  insertion  of  the  gland  is 
marked,  though  but  rarely,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  base,  by  a 
very  small  stalk-cell.  The  formation  of  common  kamala  has 
been  well  explained  by  Dr.  Vogl,  of  Vienna,  as  occasioned  by  a 
successive  perpendicular  division  of  a  mother  cell ;  here  we  have 
a  transverse  horizontal  division.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  kamala  in  question  must  belong  to  another  plant  than  Mai- 
lotus  philippinensis,  and  I  am  glad  to  state  that  Dr.  Muller 
(Argoviensis),  the  learned  author  of  the  Euphorliacece  in  De 
Candolle's  6  Prodromus,'  is  of  the  same  opinion.  In  the  genus 
Mallotus  (formerly  Rottlera)  there  are  some  other  species  besides 
M.  philippinensis  which  bear  colored  fruit, — as  for  instance,  M. 
atrovirens,  M.  japonicus,  M.  Alius.  M.  oreophilus,  M.  rieinoides; 
further  researches  are  needful  to  make  out  to  which  of  them  our 
new  drug  may  belong,  if  indeed  it  belongs  to  any  one  of  them. 
Besides  its  peculiar  form,  structure,  and  dimensions,  I  have 
observed,  moreover,  that  the  new  kamala  is  mixed  with  nearly 
colorless  hairs,  but  that  they  are  quite  simple,  not  stellate  or 
tufted  as  in  common  kamala.  I  will  not  mention  other  acciden- 
tal fragments  of  the  plant  which  accompany  the  glands  ;  they 
may  become  of  comparative  utility  in  the  determination  of  the 
plant  from  which  the  drug  is  derived. 
Another  fact  of  some  interest  is  the  curious  behaviour  of  the 
new  kamala  at  the  temperature  of  200°  to  212°  Fahr.,  when  it 
takes  an  intense  black ■  color,  losing  only  5*6  per  cent,  of  water. 
I  presumed  that  this  strange  change  might  be  due  to  the  pres- 
ence of  an  acid  body,  like  a  sulphate  or  sulphuric  acid,  but  none 
such  was  found.  Common  kamala  does  not  undergo  any  appar- 
ent alteration  at  the  said  temperature.  The  structure  of  the 
blackened  kamala  remains  the  same  ;  it  furnishes  also  the  same 
tincture  with  spirit  or  alkaline  liquids.  The  resins  removed  by 
alcohol,  amount  to  71*8  per  cent,  of  the  dried  substance  ;  the  in- 
organic bodies  (ash)  to  12*9  per  cent. 
The  alcoholic  tincture,  if  allowed  to  evaporate  very  slowly, 
