Amktrdh'  S** }        Belladonna  and  Hyoscyamus.  .  99 
of  Michigan,  and  on  the  adjacent  mainland  on  either  side.  Bella- 
donna is  hardy  at  Detroit,  where  it  maintained  a  foothold  for 
many  years  on  ballast  grounds  until  exterminated  by  the  processes 
of  economic  improvements.  It  has  also  been  under  cultivation 
for  several  years,  and  is  still  in  a  nourishing  condition,  having 
weathered  the  cold  winters  of  zero  temperature  and  below  without 
any  protection  and  seemingly  without  injury  to  the  vigor  of  the 
plants. 
Seeds  of  the  annual  Hyoscyamus  Bohemicus  obtained  from  com- 
mercial drug,  together  with  seeds  and  seedlings  of  Atropa  Bella- 
donna and  of  the  biennial  Hyoscyamus  niger  procured  several  years 
ago  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  were  sown  and  trans- 
planted, and  these  or  their  descendents  are  still  producing  flourish- 
ing growths.  The  seeds  of  belladonna  sown  in  the  garden  did  not 
germinate,  but  the  self-sown  seed  from  the  plants  germinated  the 
following  spring  in  large  numbers.  Individuals  of  the  biennial 
henbane  often  have  corollas  that  are  veined  with  brownish  green  or 
olive  instead  of  violet  or  purple,  even  on  the  same  plant,  and  the 
contrast  is  rather  striking. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  henbanes  are  subject  to  destructive 
attacks  by  the  common  potato  bug,  Doryphora  decemlineata,  and 
the  allied,  three-lined  potato-bug,  Lema  trilineata,  it  would  seem 
that  its  cultivation  for  commercial  purposes  in  this  country  will  not 
meet  with  any  degree  of  success,  as  the  cost  of  keeping  the  plants 
free  from  these  pests  would  make  the  price  of  the  drug  prohibitive. 
Belladonna  is  not  so  liable  to  be  attacked,  last  year  (1914)  being 
the  first  season  since  their  cultivation  began  (1910)  that  these 
plants  were  infested  by  insect  pests. 
In  a  recent  paper  on  belladonna  and  hyoscyamus,  published  in 
this  Journal  by  Professor  Newcomb,  of  the  Minnesota  College  of 
Pharmacy,  Hyoscyamus  albus  is  illustrated  by  two  figures.  From 
a  taxonomic  point  of  view,  at  least,  these  figures,  as  representative 
illustrations  of  Hyoscyamus  albus  Lin.,  are  open  to  criticism.  If 
compared  with  the  accompanying  figure,  which  is  a  reproduction  of 
plate  2  of  vol.  20  of  Richenbaclr  s  / cones,  showing  H.  niger,  H.  albus, 
and  H.  pallid  us,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  they  show  no  strain  of 
H.  albus,  a  species  more  closely  related  to  H.  aureus  than  to  H. 
niger.  H.  albus  differs  widely  in  its  nearby  orbicular  leaves,  all  of 
which  are  petioled,  and  in  its  prominently  peduncled  Homers  and 
fruits,  the  calyces  of  which  are  of  a  different  shape;  none  of  these 
