Am.  Jour.  Pbarru. 
November.  1898. 
Notes  and  News. 
vii 
poison — gonotoxin — is  contained  in  the  bodies  of  the  bacteria  and  not  in  the 
culture  medium.  Injected  subcutaneously  into  human  beings  the  toxin  pro- 
duces a  painful  induration,  with  slight  rise  of  temperature,  malaise  and  joint 
pains,  all  symptoms  disappearing  in  two  days.  Immunity  could  not  be  pro- 
duced either  in  man  or  in  animal.—  Upiv.  Med.  Mag.,  1898,  p.  567;  from 
Zeitschr.  f.  Hygiene  und  Infectionskrank .,  April,  189S. 
Cuitiration  of  Henbane  and  other  herbs  has  been  carried  on  successfully  by 
George  Allen  &  Co.,  of  Ampthill,  Bedfordshire,  Eugland.  This  firm  has  had 
many  years'  experience  in  the  growth  and  culture  of  medicinal  herbs,  and  Lehr. 
&  Fink  are  the  sole  agents  for  the  United  States.  Their  preparations,  particu- 
larly of  belladonna,  digitalis,  conium,  hyoscyamus.  stramonium,  scoparius,  etc., 
Crop  of  Henbane,  second  year  biennial  plant. 
according  to  the  Chemist  and  Druggist,  represent  excellent  preparations  from 
drugs  which  exhibit  full  care  in  harvesting  and  drying.  The  illustration  rep- 
resents a  crop  of  henbane  of  this  firm.  They  grow  or  collect  all  those  medici- 
nal British  plants  which  are  required  for  the  preparation  of  green  and  other 
extracts,  juices,  liquors,  confections,  etc 
Immunity  toViper  Poison. — An  extraordinary  immunization  to  snake-bite  is 
reported  by  Phisalin  The  Therapist,  1S9S,  p.  1421  by  the  use  of  cholesterin 
extracted  from  gall-stones.  Vegetable  cholesterin  extracted  from  the  com- 
mon carrot  had  previously  been  demonstrated  to  possess  similar  properties. 
Ty rosin  has  lately  been  tried  for  viper  poison  with  much  success.  Vege 'table 
tyrosin  abounds  in  the  dahlia,  and  Phisalin  found  that  by  injecting  a  juice 
from  the  tubercles  of  the  dahlia  he  imparted  all  the  immunity  conferred  by 
tyrosin.  As  this  quantity  of  the  dahlia  juice  would  contain  but  little  tyrosin, 
he  concludes  that  some  other  immunizing  principle  is  contained  in  it.  This 
