V 
AMfuiyU?'  IS-;™'}  Varieties.  327 
Notion  ia  grandifiora  as  a  Remedy  in  Hydrophobia. — At  a  recent  meeting; 
of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  the  subject  of  the  application  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Bombay  of  Nottoma  qrandiflora  as  a  remedy  in  hydrophobia  was 
brought  forward,  and  a  reference  made  to  the  statements  of  Major  Wheeler  in 
the  Times  not  lonu  since,  to  the  effect  that  six  men  under  his  charge  having 
been  bitten,  an  infusion  of  the  stem  of  the  plant  was  administered  to  five  who 
recovered,  the  sixth  who  refused  to  take  it  having  died.  To  Dr.  A.  Gibson  is 
due  the  credit  of  having  introduced  the  properties  of  this  plant  to  notice  in 
India.  It  is  a  succulent  belonging  to  the  Compositae,  and  is  found  in  dry  rocky 
places  in  the  Madras  Peninsula.  The  following  notes  on  the  administration 
and  its  effects  is  from  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  India:  "About  four  ounces  of  the 
freshly  gathered  stems,  infused  in  a  pint  of  cold  water  for  a  night,  yield  in  the 
morning,  when  subjected  to  pressure,  a  quantity  of  viscid  greenish  juice,  which, 
bting  mixed  with  the  water,  is  taken  at  a  draught.  In  the  evening,  a  further 
quantity  of  the  juice,  made  up  into  boluses  with  Hour,  is  taken.  These  medi- 
cines are  directed  to  be  repeated  for  three  successive  days.  From  official  doc- 
uments placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Editor  by  Dr.  Gibson,  it  appear;;  that  the 
remedy  has  been  tried  in  numerous  cases,  but  as  «t  the  time  of  the  infliction  of 
the  wound,  caustic  was  applied  locally  in  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  how  far  the  Nottonia  operated,  if  at  all.  as  a  prophylactic.  Further 
trials  may  solve  the  question.'" — Pharm.  Journ.  [Loud.),  April  2G,  1873. 
Supposed  American  Origin  of  Rub  as  Ulceus. — Our  cultivated  Raspberry  is 
an  importation  from  Europe.  Our  native  Red  Raspberry,  R.  strigosus,  how- 
ever, is  so  near  it  that  the  specific  distinctness  has  been  in  doubt;  and  specs- 
mens  from  British  America  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  certainly  occur  which  a 
botanist  must  needs  refer  lo  R.  Idceus  itself.  In  his  studies  of  the  European 
Rubi,  Prof.  Areschoug  (in  Botaniska  Notiser.  1872,  and  in  a  translation  by 
himself  in  Trimen's  Journal  of  Botany,  April,  1872,  p.  108,  etc.)  makes  promi- 
nent and  important  the  fact  that  R.  Idceus  has  no  near  relative,  or.  in  other 
words,  is  the  sole  Raspberry  in  Europe,  but  in  mode  of  growth,  in  the  bark, 
etc.,  as  well  as  in  the  fruit,  accords  with  American  species, — with  one  of  them 
so  closely  that  all  who  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  species  have  a  history 
must  needs  infer  a  community  of  origin..  Areschoug  conclud- s.  accordingly, 
that  "this  species  did  not  originally  have  its  home  in  Europe,  but  its  origin  is 
to  be  found  in  the  east  of  Asia,  viz.,  Japan  and  the  adjacent  countries,  or  per- 
haps in  North  America."  It  is  one  of  the  members  of  that  old  boreal  flora  (as 
we  suppose)  now  mainly  East  Asiatic  and  North  American,  which  has  found  its 
way  to.  aud  held  its  place  in,  the  north  of  Europe  somewhat  exceptionally. 
Both  R.  strigosus  and  R.  Idceus  inhabit  Japan  and  Mandchuria,  and  Maximo- 
wicz  regards  them  as  forms  of  a  common  species.  Prof.  Areschoug  adopts  the 
now  familiar  idea  "  that  the  Asiatic  and  North  American  floras  have  recipro- 
cally mixed  with  each  other  by  passing  Rehring's  Straits  and  the  islands  which 
in  its  neighborhood  form  a  bridge  between  the  two  continents  ;" — which  is  a 
partial  explanation  of  a  problem  that  has  to  be  treated  far  more  generally  now 
that  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  flora  formerly  filled  the  Arctic  zone, 
lie  trunks,  moreover,  th.it  the  simple-leaved  frutescent  species  (also  extra- 
