8 
London  Botanic  Gardens. 
{Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
\    Jauuary.  1!)06. 
Hook.,  from  the  leaves  of  which  volatile  oils  are  distilled  ;  Ilex  Paraguay  en  sis, 
Lamb.,  whose  leaves  are  known  as  "Mate"  and  contain  caffeine;  Illiciutn 
verum,  Hook,  f.,  with  aromatic  fruits  yielding  oil  of  anise  by  distillation,  and 
/.  religiosum,  S.  &  Z.,  a  poisonous  Japanese  species  ;  Melaleuca  Leucadendron , 
Iy.,  or  Cajeput  ;  Olea  Europcza,  Iy.,  the  olive;  Peumus  Boldus,  Molina,  or 
Boldo  ;  Phoenix  dacty  lifer  a,  Iy.,  or  date  palm  ;  Quillaja  Saponaria,  Molina,  the 
source  of  soap-bark  ;  and  Zizyphus  Jujuba,  L.,  whose  fruit-pulp  is  used  in  the 
preparation  of  the  "Pate  de Jujube"  of  the  French  Codex. 
The  Palm  House. — This  building  was  completed  in  1848,  and  the 
collections  of  palms  and  other  tropical  plants  that  had  previously 
ocupied  the  house  erected  by  William  IV,  near  the  main  gate,  were 
transferred  to  it.  The  heating  arrangements  at  first  were  unsatis- 
factory, but  in  1877  these  were  made  efficient  by  the  installation  of 
a  perfected  arrangement  of  boilers.  The  arrangement  of  the  plants 
is,  to  a  considerable  extent,  a  geographical  one,  the  smaller  speci- 
mens on  the  benches  skirting  the  sides  being  grouped  together 
according  to  the  continents  of  which  they  are  natives,  Tropical 
Asiatic,  Tropical  American,  and  Tropical  African  plants,  for  instance, 
being  successively  placed  together  on  the  benches.  The  larger 
plants  growing  in  the  central  beds  follow  no  very  definite  arrange- 
ment, but  are  largely  grouped  for  convenience  or  effect.  Such 
medicinal  plants  as  are  grown  in  the  Palm  House  are  scattered 
throughout  the  collections ;  many  of  them  have  already  been 
enumerated  in  connection  with  the  contents  of  the  Tropical  Economic 
House ;  but  the  specimens  in  the  Palm  House,  owing  to  greater  space, 
are  finer,  as,  for  instance,  Myristica  fragrans,  Houtt. ;  Theobroma 
Cacao,  L.,  and  Strophantlius  hispidus,  DC. 
Among  the  plants  not  already  enumerated,  the  following  yield  products  of 
interest  to  pharmacists  :  Areca  Catechu,  h.,  the  areca-nut  palm  ;  Carica  Papaya, 
Iy.,  or  papaw,  from  the  latex  of  which  papain  is  prepared  ;  Cocos  nucifera,  Iy., 
the  cocoanut  palm  ;  Elais  Guineensis,  Jacq.,  whose  fruits  yield  palm  oil  ; 
Eugenia  caryophyllata,  Thunb.,  whose  dried  flower-buds  are  known  as 
"cloves;"  Gossypium  herbaceum,  L>,  G.  arboreum  Iy.,  Old  World  species  of 
the  cotton  plant,  and  G.  Barbadense,  L.,  the  source  of  American  cotton  ; 
Hczmatoxylon  Campechianum,  Iy.,  or  logwood;  Musa  sapientum,  Iy.,  the 
banana,  and  its  variety,  Paradisiaca,  the  plantain  ;  Piper  angustifolium  R.  & 
P.,  w7hose  leaves  are  known  in  commerce  as  "  matico,"  and  P.  methysticum, 
Forst.,  whose  rhizome  is  official  in  the  Colonial  and  Indian  Addendum  of  the  B.  P. 
under  the  name  of"  kava-kava  rhizome  ;  "  Smilax  ornata,  Hook,  f.,  the  plant 
whose  root  constitutes  the  "Jamaica"  sarsaparilla  of  the  pharmacopoeias  ; 
Saccharum  officinarum,  Iy.,  the  sugar  cane  ;  Strychnos  Ignatii,  Berg.,  and  S» 
Nux  vomica,  L. 
