^"^•juiy'isS^""'}        ^oies  on  Some  Old  Remedies.  339 
are  employed  in  dyspepsia  and  in  cholera.  Our  indigenous  species  of 
Acalypha  do  not  appear  to  have  been  used  medicinally. 
Syzygium  Jamholanum,  DeCand.,  the  jambolana  or  jambul  of  tropi- 
cal countries,  was  referred  to  in  a  paper  read  before  this  Association 
in  1882,  (Proceedings,  p.  155,  Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1882,  p.  351).  It 
was  recently  reported  by  Dr.  J.  Munday  (^Brit.  Med.  Jour.),  to  be  of 
service  in  diabetes,  in  greatly  reducing  the  quantity  of  urine,  though 
it  does  not  seem  to  affect  the  percentage  of  sugar  secreted.  One  seed  is 
taken  thrice  daily ;  the  diminution  of  urine  takes  place  within  two  days. 
Schinus  MoUe,  Linne,  is  a  large  tree  of  South  America;  its  bark, 
leaves,  fruit  and  exudation  are  medicinally  employed.  The  fruit, 
which  was  recently  sent  to  the  London  market  on  speculation  (PA(xr. 
Jour,  and  Trans.,  Dec.  3,  1887),  is  of  the  size  of  a  pea  and  is  remark- 
able for  the  striking  resemblance  in  flavor  to  a  mixture  of  pepper  and 
fennel,  and  also  has  a  slight  bitterness  and  acridity.  It  has  been  used 
with  success  in  gonorrhoea  by  Leotard  {Les  nouv.  Remedes,  Nov.  27, 
1887),  and  by  E.  Bertherand  {Jour,  de  Med.  de  Paris,  March  4,  1888), 
and  is  given  in  the  form  of  confection,  the  fruit  being  deprived  of  its 
reddish  pericarp,  then  finely  powdered  and  mixed  with  a  small  quan- 
tity of  syrup  of  gum,  whereby  the  odor  and  taste  are  sufficiently 
masked.  The  powder  may  also  be  made  into  pills.  The  tonic  effects 
of  the  schinus  fruit  give  it  a  great  superiority  to  cubebs. 
HydroGotyle  asiatica,  Linne,  the  Indian  pennywort,  has  been  studied 
physiologically  and  therapeutically  by  Dr.  C.  Daruty  de  Grandpre 
(Les  nouv.  Remedes,  April  8,  1888).  In  small  doses  it  acts  as  an 
energetic  stimulant,  its  effects  being  chiefly  directed  to  the  cutaneous 
system ;  hence  its  usefulness  in  various  skin  diseases.  In  large  doses 
it  is  narcotic,  producing  stupor,  headache,  and  in  some  persons  vertigo 
with  a  tendency  to  coma. 
Gfymnema  sylvestre,  R.  Brown,  a  twining  asclepiadaceous  shrub,  in- 
digenous to  India,  is  regarded  there  as  a  remedy  against  the  poison  of 
serpents.  In  a  paper  read  before  the  Nilgherry  Natural  History  So- 
ciety, at  Otacamund,  David  Hooper  called  attention  to  the  curious 
property  of  the  leaves  upon  the  sense  of  taste.  They  are  bitterish, 
astringent  and  acidulous.  After  chewing  one  or  two  of  the  leaves, 
the  sweetness  of  sugar  is  not  noticed,  and  quinine  tastes  like  chalk. 
The  effect  seems  to  last  for  several  hours,  and  is  apparently  due  to 
gymnemio  acid,  which  somewhat  resembles  chrysophanic  acid.  The 
taste  of  sour,  saline  and  astringent  substances  is  not  materially  altered. 
