570 
Book  Reviews. 
{  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   December,  1915. 
wide  range  of  variation  exists  in  the  alkaloidal  content  of  belladonna 
plants,  the  present  investigation  was  undertaken  to  determine  whether 
the  characteristic  of  alkaloid  production  is  transmissible  to  the 
progeny  through  seed,  and  whether  the  character  is  changed  by 
vegetative  propagation.  The  results  thus  far  show  that  the  first- 
generation  plants  secured  from  seed  of  cross-pollinated  selected  in- 
dividuals display  the  characteristic  of  the  maternal  parent  with 
regard  to  alkaloid  productivity.  This  condition  is  generally  true  at 
all  stages  of  growth  during  a  season,  and  also  for  at  least  two  succes- 
sive seasons.  Close-pollination  of  the  parent  plant  has  shown  only 
a  moderate  influence  on  the  transmission  of  this  characteristic. 
Second-generation  plants  from  cross-pollination  have  been  grown 
at  Arlington,  Va.,  Madison,  Wis.,  and  Timmonsville,  S.  C,  and  at  all 
three  stations  they  have  displayed  the  relative  alkaloid-producing 
tendencies  evident  in  the  original  parent  plant  and  the  generation 
preceding. 
While  the  plants  at  the  different  localities  showed  a  parallel 
relationship  toward  each  other,  there  was  considerable  difference  in 
the  general  quantity  of  alkaloids  produced.  Thus,  in  the  case  of 
Madison  and  Arlington,  where  two  pickings  were  made  at  fairly 
corresponding  stages  of  growth,  it  was  found  that  the  Madison  plants 
yielded  more  alkaloids  than  those  at  Arlington.  At  Timmonsville 
the  yield  was  still  greater  than  at  Madison,  but  here  only  one  pick- 
ing was  made,  and  it  is  hardly  possible  to  make  a  true  comparison. 
Nothing  definite  developed  to  indicate  that  a  relationship  exists 
between  the  amount  of  precipitation  and  sunshine  and  the  percentage 
of  alkaloids  produced. 
Plants  were  grown  from  cuttings,  and  at  two  stages  of  their 
growth  these  plants  showed  a  marked  tendency  to  display  the  same 
characteristic  regarding  alkaloid  production  as  the  plants  from  which 
they  were  propagated  and  the  original  parents  of  those  plants. 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
Scientific  and  Applied  Pharmacognosy.  Intended  for  the  use 
of  students  in  pharmacy,  as  a  hand-book  for  pharmacists  and  as  a 
reference  book  for  food  and  drug  analysts  and  pharmacologists. 
By  Henry  Kraemer,  Ph.B.  (in  Chemistry),  Ph.M.  (in  Pharmacy), 
Ph.D.  (in  Botany)  ;  Professor  of  Botany  and  Pharmacognosy,  and 
