AmAuT'if86arm-}  The  Kola  Nut  and  its  Action.  391 
cinchonidine  thus  apparently  indicated.  In  some  instances  the  opti- 
cal method  has  given  data  indicating  the  presence  of  some  2  per 
cent,  of  cinchonidine  sulphate  in  material  that  did  not  contain  a  trace 
of  it. 
The  rotatory  power  of  the  alkaloids  in  question  under  the  conditions 
laid  down  by  Oudemans,1  were  determined  by  Dr.  Hesse  to  be  as  fol- 
lows : 
For  concentration  A:  Quinine  tartrate  («)d=  — 216'6° 
Cinchonidine  tartrate   "  — 134*6° 
For  concentration  B:  Quinine  tartrate  "  —212-5° 
Hydroquinine  tartrate  "  — 176"9° 
Cinchonidine  tartrate    "  —132-0° 
  J.  M.  M. 
THE  KOLA  NUT  AND  ITS  ACTION. 
By  Watson  Smith,  F.C.S.,  F.I.C.,  Lecturer  on  Chemical  Technology,  Victoria 
University. 
The  kola  nut  (Cola  acuminata)  is  indigenous  to  the  West  African 
coast.  Heckel  and  Schlagdenhauffen  say  the  seeds  are  reputed  to 
clarify  and  render  healthy  the  most  foul  waters,  and  even  to  make 
tainted  meat  edible.  A  member  of  the  Linnean  Society  gave,  at  a 
meeting  of  that  society,  an  account  from  actual  experience  of  the 
kola,  and  of  certain  effects  produced  by  it.  He  stated  that  the  fore- 
man of  his  estate  was  habituated  to  excess  in  drinking,  and  that  every 
Saturday  his  habit  got  considerably  the  better  of  him.  However,  he 
had  a  wife  who  cared  for  him  (and  herself),  and  she  reduced  a  kola 
nut  to  the  condition  of  a  paste  every  Monday  morning  shortly  before 
her  husband's  services  were  required,  and  administered  the  paste  to 
the  man.  In  thirty  minutes  his  head  was  clear  again.  But  it  is 
further  maintained  that  after  such  an  application  of  the  kola  a  drunk- 
ard cannot  return  to  alcoholic  stimulants  for  some  days  without  feel- 
ing nausea.  At  some  of  the  garrison  towns  a  native  sits  at  the  road 
side,  and  sells  the  nuts  as  the  soldiers  pass.  By  the  time  the  men 
reach  the  barracks  they  are  quite  clear-headed,  and  the  stupefaction 
1  The  solutions  with  which  Oudemans  operated,  and  his  results,  are  as  fol- 
lows : 
Concentration  A.  Concentration  B.  Concentration  C. 
Tartrate                                                   0  4  0  8  12  gm. 
Normal  hydrochloric  acid  ........       3-0  6-0  9  0  ccm. 
Distilled  water  sufficient  for                     20-0  20  0  200  ccm. 
Quinine  tartrate  (a)  D=  —  215-8°  — 2115°  — 207-8° 
Cinchonidine  tartrate  (a)  D=  —1313°  —129-6°  —128-1° 
Editor  Am.  Jour.  Phar. 
