242  Seeds  of  two  Species  of  Stryclinos.  {^^JnTM™' 
itj.  The  cotyledons  are  broadly  oval,  scarcely  cordate,  rather  acute, 
three  to  five-nerved. 
Spach  *  describes  the  tieute  seeds  as  follows  :  Elliptic,  oval  or  sub- 
orbicular,  velvety,  brownish,  (brunatre,)  lenticular  or  plano-convex ; 
embryo  projecting  from  the  hiium,  marginal,  about  one-third  shorter 
than  the  perisperm :  cotyledons  heart-shaped,  acuminate,  nerved, 
foliaceous ;  radicle  club-shaped,  as  long  as  the  cotyledons.  The 
description  corresponds  closely  with  the  tieute  seeds  in  my  possession,, 
the  color  excepted. 
The  so-called  Indian  gum-nuts  are  subglobose,  of  an  appearance  as 
if  composed  of  two  unequally-convex  halves,  with  an  elevated  line 
surrounding  the  largest  circumference  ;  they  are  of  a  dirty,  somewhat 
brownish  grey  color,  with  very  short,  closely  appressed  hairs ;  the 
largest  diameter  is  three-eighths  to  one-half  inch.  A  rather  thin,  but 
hard,  integument  covers  a  horny  albumen  which  encloses,  as  in  nux 
vomica,  an  orbicular  cavit}^,  into  which  the  embryo  reaches  to  about 
one-third  the  diameter.  The  radicle  is  marginal,  short,  cylindrical ; 
the  cotyledons  are  broadly  oval,  souiewhat  acuminate,  and  about  three- 
nerved.  Notwithstanding  the  horiiy  texture  of  the  albumen,  the  seeds 
are  readily  broken  in  an  iron  mortar,  but  are  difficult  to  powder  ;  their 
taste  is  insipid,  not  bitter. 
When  the  seeds  are  boiled  with  dilute  muriatic  acid,  they  become 
very  soft,  so  that  they  are  readily  mashed  between  the  fingers ;  the 
acid  decoction,  which  is  not  precipitated  by  iodohydrargyrate  of 
potassium,  was  treated  with  an  excess  of  lime,  the  precipitate  washed 
with  cold  water,  dried,  exhausted  with  boiling  alcohol,  and  the  clear 
filtrate  evaporated ;  a  yellowish  mass  was  left  without  the  slightest 
tendency  to  crystallize.  It  had  an  insipid  taste,  and  did  not  show 
the  color  reactions  of  either  brucia  or  strychnia ;  concentrated  sul- 
phuric acid  decomposed  it  rapidly.  The  seeds,  therefore,  contain  no 
alkaloid. 
In  the  East  Indies,  the  seeds  of  Strychnos  potatorum,  Lin.fil.,  are 
used  for  clearing  muddy  water,  under  the  name  of  tettan-kotta,  or 
clearing-nut.  Spachf  describes  them  as  greyish,  suborbicular,  about 
five  lines  in  size.  Dr.  WaringJ  says  they  are  of  a  flattened,  spherical 
^'  Histoire  Naturelle  des  Yegetaux.  Phanerogames  viii,  485.  Paris,  1839. 
t  Log.  cit. 
%  Pharmacopoeia  of  India,  p.  146.    London,  1868. 
