314 
A  New  Variety  of  Opium* 
f  Am.  .Iotik.  Pharm. 
t      July  1,1873. 
In  a  subsequent  paper  published  in  the  Pharm.  Journ.,  March  29, 
Mr.  J.  Moss  proves  experimentally  that  ammoniacum  contains  no 
sulphur. 
False  China  Root.  At  a  public  sale  of  drugs,  E.  A.  Webb  met 
with  an  article  named  China  root,  which  in  reality  was  that  curious 
fungoid  production,  Pachyma  cocos,  which  has  been  described  by  Mr. 
Hanbury  as  resembling  large,  ponderous,  rounded  tubers,  having  a 
rough  blackish-brown  bark-like  exterior,  and  consisting  internally  of 
a  compact  mass  of  considerable  hardness,  varying  in  color  from  cin- 
namon brown  to  pure  white.  It  is  stated  that  this  was  the  first  time 
it  appeared  in  commerce  in  England. — Pharm.  Journ.,  March  29. 
Origin  of  Myrrh,  Among  the  plants  brought  by  Ehrenberg  from 
his  travels  in  Asia  in  1826,  was  Balsamodendron  myrrha,  Nees,  from 
which  myrrh  has  since  been  supposed  to  be  collected,  until  some  years 
ago  the  late  Prof.  Berg  found  in  Ehrenberg's  herbarium  a  specimen 
of  a  different  species  labelled  by  Ehrenberg  that  he  had  collected 
myrrh  from  it;  Berg  named  the  plant  Balsamodendron  .Ehrenbergia- 
num.  Daniel  Hanbury  now  calls  attention  to  our  deficient  knowledge 
of  the  source  of  myrrh,  which  is  asserted  t(f  be  produced  in  no  less 
than  four  districts,  namely,  1,  in  the  country  about  Ghizan  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  red  sea;  2,  on  the  southern  Arabian  coast  east- 
ward of  Aden  ;  3,  in  the  Somali  country  south  and  west  of  Cape 
Gardafui,  and,  4,  in  the  region  west  of  the  gulf  of  Aden,  lying  be- 
tween Tajura  and  Shoa,  including  Harar,  to  the  south-east.  There 
are  certainly  three  varieties  of  myrrh  which  may  well  be  derived  from 
distinct  species.  Numerous  well  preserved  specimens  of  the  trees, 
including  leaves,  flowers,  fruits  and  the  exudation  are  needed  to  solve 
this  question. —  Ibid.,  April  19. 
ON  A  NEW  VARIETY  OF  OPIUM. 
By  P.  Carles.- 
For  some  time  past  a  new  kind  of  opium  has  been  met  with  in  com- 
merce which  is  said  to  come  from  Persia.  The  sample  obtained  by 
the  author  was  in  conical  cakes,  weighing  about  440  grams,  which 
had  been  covered  with  poppy  leaves,  of  which  a  few  remnants  re- 
mained, and  were  free  from  rumex  fruits.    Its  odor  is  not  narcotic 
^Translated  from  Journal  de  Pharmacie  et  de  Chimie,  1873,  Juin,  427-429. 
