526 
Editorial. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X     Nov.  1, 1871. 
New  York  from  Guayaquil,  Ecuador,  many  of  which  are  not  genuine  ;  they  may 
probably  be  identical  with  the  "  big  fruit"  and  "  little, fruit"  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Bobbins.  The  reduction  in  price  from  $100  to  $30  per  lb.  may  be  partly  due 
to  the  increased  supply,  partly  to  the  counterfeit  article.  We  presume  that 
the  market  will  soon  be  "  overstocked"  and  remain  in  that  condition. 
Students  Materia  Medica  Cabinets. — A  practical  and  sound  knowledge  of 
the  articles  of  materia  medica  can  only  be  obtained  by  the  repeated  examina- 
tion of  the  drugs,  and  the  zealous  student  usually  makes  for  himself,  on  a  small 
scale,  collections  of  specimens  of  the  most  important  articles,  presenting  their 
characteristics.  We  were  pleased,  on  learning  recently,  that  the  late  John  D. 
Owen,  while  a  student  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  made  such 
a  collection,  and  left  it  at  his  boarding  house  for  the  use  of  pharmaceutical 
students  coming  there  after  him.  The  rooms  have  again  been  engaged  by 
members  of  the  present  class,  and  they  propose  to  add  to  this  collection  and 
leave  it  again  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  come  to  the  same  place  next 
year.    A  very  laudable  object,  deserving  of  imitation. 
The  Influence  of  Forests  upon  Climate  is  generally  acknowledged,  but 
their  preservation,  or  rather  their  judicious  culture  has  as  yet  received  scarcely 
any  attention  on  this  continent,  ^The  scarcity  of  timber  in  districts  which,  not 
many  years  ago,  furnished  large  quantities,  and  the  necessity  of  obtaining 
suitable  material  from  more  distant  regions,  is  sufficient  proof  thereof.  The 
traveler  often  notices  mere  sickly  remnants  of  what  once  used  to  be  large 
forests,  and  occasionally  a  range  of  barren  rocky  hills  may  be  seen  with  no 
other  vegetation  besides  briers,  huckelberries,  ferns  and  other  noxious  weeds, 
with  perhaps  an  occasional  forest  tree  of  dismal  aspect  and  unhealthy  growth 
in  its  lonely  position.  The  proprietors  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Schuylkill 
County,  Pa.,  have  engaged  a  gentleman  who  has  made  forest  culture  his  special 
study,  and  we  have  been  told  \thdit  they  are  highly  satisfied  with  the  pecu- 
niary and  general  results  obtained  in  a  few  short  years.  The  subject,  however, 
is  of  national  importance  and  deserves  the  careful  attention  of  all.  The  follow- 
ing, which  we  copy  from  the  Pharm.  Journal  and  Transactions  of  Sept.  2d, 
claims,'for  the  above  reasons,  the  attentive  perusal  of  every  citizen : 
The  influence  of  forests  upon  the  climate  of  a  country,  and  the  relation  of 
the  vegetation  to  the  local  peculiarities  of  a  district,  has  often  been  observed. 
A  fresh  illustration  is  to  be  found  in  the  Italian  province  of  Oneglia,  where  for 
the  last  two  years  the  olive  crop  has  suffered  from  drought.  It  has  been 
noticed  that  in  recent  years  the  rain  that  has  fallen  on  this  coast  has  been 
much  less  in  quantity  than  formerly;  and  olive  plantations,  which  were  con- 
sidered safe  and  lucrative  property,  are  now  looked  upon  as  a  bad  speculation. 
The  want  of  rain  is  generally  attributed  to  the  reckless  way  in  which  the  moun- 
tains above  the  oil  range  have,  especially  of  late  years,  been  cleared  of  the- 
forests  which  clothed  them.  From  tim«^  immemorial  the  wood  has  been  cut 
without  any  system  of  replantation  ;  but,  until  about  twenty  years  ago,  there 
being  no  very  great  demand,  and  the  mountains  being  utterly  without  roads, 
thequantity  brought  down  to  the  coast  was  not  large.  Since  that  time  the 
country  has  been  opened  up  to  a  certain  degree  by  roads,  there  has  been  an 
enormously  increased  demand  for  beech  and  oak  for  shipbuilding  and  chestnut 
for  housebuilding,  and  some  of  the  woods  have  been  absolutely  swept  away 
without  a  tree  being  left.  A  society  has  been  formed,  having  for  its  object  to 
stop  these  reckless  cleanances,  and  to  induce  proprietors  to  replace,  by  de- 
grees, the  timber  in  those  positions  which  do  not  allow  of  tillage. 
