41  o  Bidara  Laut.  {^'I™'*™"*' 
from  Mr.  J.  D.  Vrijdag  Zijnen,  he  believes  the  source  of  the  wood  to 
be  Strychnos  ligustrina.  On  the  other  hand,  a  short  note  in  the  issue 
tor  August  26,  1877,  refers  the  wood  to  Eurycoma  longifolia,  Jack.,  a 
simarubaceous  plant. 
Messrs.  Wattez  and  Bakhoven  appear,  from  a  communication  made 
by  the  latter  on  March  18,  1878,  to  have  had  occasion  to  examine  this- 
wood,  and  to  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  brucia,  or  at  least  an 
alkaloid  agreeing  with  brucia  in  all  reactions,  was  present,  but  that 
strychnia  was  absent. 
Mr.  Vrijdag  Zijnen,  Jr.,  of  the  Hague,  however,  informs  us  that,, 
according  to  analyses  of  various  samples  of  Bidara  laut  made  by  hi& 
father  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  E.  A.  Van  der  Burg,  brucia  principally  is 
present,  but  that  some  sorts  contain  strychnia  also.  To  this  Dr.  Van  der 
Burg  replies  in  the  issue  for  April  21,  1878,  and  points  to  a  misinterpre- 
tation by  Mr.  V.  Zijnen  of  his  father's  analyses,  and  stating  that  Bidara 
laut  had  been  examined  in  his  laboratory  without  a  trace  of  strychnia 
being  found. 
A  few  days  ago  an  opportunity  of  analyzing  a  sample  of  this  drug 
obtained  from  Mr.  Vrijdag  Zijnen  presented  itself  to  me,  the  results  of 
which  form  the  subject  of  this  communication. 
Without  going  deeply  into  its  history,  it  may  be  here  stated  that 
Bidara  laut  is  largely  used  in  India  as  a  popular  remedy  for  dysentery,, 
the  people  being  in  the  habit,  according  to  Mr.  Vrijdag  Zijnen,  of 
scraping  a  spoonful  and  taking  it  in  a  glass  of  water.  The  sample 
which  I  had  given  me  consisted  of  part  of  the  trunk  or  branch  of  a 
small  tree,  about  2J  inches  in  diameter,  with  small  eccentric  pith,, 
exceedingly  hard  wood  and  thin,  dark  grey  bark,  in  some  places  exfoli- 
ating but  in  others  adhering  to  the  wood  with  considerable  tenacity. 
Professor  Russow,  of  this  University,  has  been  kind  enough  to  under- 
take the  microscopical  examination,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the 
botanical  source  of  the  wood.  From  him  I  learn  the  development  of 
phleom  in  the  pith,  well-shown  in  the  Bidara  laut,  is  a  peculiar  character- 
istic of  plants  belonging  to  the  group  Contortae,  which  includes  the  orders 
Gentianacese,  Loganiaceae,  Apocynaceae  and  Asclepiadaceae.  The  size 
of  the  sample,  Bidara  laut  however,  excludes  Gentianaceae  and  Ascle- 
piadaceae, which  orders  produce  herbaceous  or  at  most  shrubby  plants.. 
The  presence  of  brucia  and  the  absence  of  laticiferous  tissue  prove 
without  doubt  that  the  plant  yielding  Bidara  laut  belongs  to  the  natural 
