37° 
The  International  Exposition. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      Aug.,  1876. 
acidulating  and  treating  with  phospho-tungstic  acid,  an  alkaloid  ('02  per  cent,  of 
the  bark)  called  ditamina,  which  yields  crystallizable  and  very  bitter  salts.  By 
treating  the  bark  directly  with  petroleum  benzin,  several  principles  were  obtained, 
of  which  echicautchin,  echicerin  and  echiretin  appear  to  be  compounds  of  02  with 
respectively  5,  6  and  7  molecules  of  C5H8,  while  echitin  was  found  to  have  the 
composition  C32H5202,  echite'in  being  C42H70O2.  The  last  named  two  principles, 
handsomely  crystallized,  are  exhibited  by  Fr.  Jobst,  together  with  echicerin.  Jobst 
and  Hesse,  however,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  febrifuge  properties  of  dita  bark,  if 
really  as  powerful  and  reliable  as  has  been  asserted,  can  hardly  be  due  solely  to  the 
minute  quantity  of  alkaloid  contained  in  it,  and  that,  therefore,  the  bark  promises  to 
be  of  little  importance  as  the  source  of  well  characterized  alkaloidal  salts  ("Ann. 
Chem.  u.  Phar.,"  vol.  178). 
It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  mention,  in  this  connection,  that  several  other 
species  of  Echites  are  medicinally  employed  in  the  East  Indies,  as  Ech.  malabarica , 
Lam.,  the  root  of  which  is  used  as  a  febrifuge  and  the  leaves  as  an  application  to 
carbuncles ;  Ech.  caryophyllata,  Roxb.,  the  leaves  used  in  arthritic  fevers ;  Ech. 
pubescens,  Buch.  and  Ech.  anti dysenteric af  Roxb.,  the  bark  used  as  a  remedy  for 
diarrhoea  and  dysentery.  Several  Brazilian  species,  like  Ech.  Cururuy  Mart.,  Ech. 
insignis,  Spr.  and  Ech.  longiftora,  Desf.,  are  used  there  for  similar  affections  of  the 
bowels,  and  Ech.  syphilitica  Lin.  fil.,  indigenous  to  Surinam,  is  employed  there  in 
syphilitic  complaints.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  all  species  of  this  genus,  perhaps  all 
the  plants  of  the  natural  order  Apocynacese,  possess  valuable  medicinal  properties 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 
By  far  greater  importance  must  be  attributed  to  a  native  tree  of  Australia, 
Eucalyptus  globulus,  which,  during  the  last  six  or  eight  years,  has  attracted  a  great 
deal  of  attention  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  on  account  of  its  reputed  anti- 
malarial and  febrifuge  properties  (see  "  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,"  1869,  p.  300  5  1872, 
pp.  219,  540,  564;  1873,  PP-  *33>  281  ;  1874,  p.  41  5  1875,  P-  4*3  5  1876,  pp.  23, 
329).  It  is  now  extensively  cultivated  in  Southern  Europe  and  Northern  Africa, 
throughout  a  large  part  of  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  nearly  all  the  States  of 
that  section  having  sent  the  leaves  and  volatile  oil  to  the  exposition  j  some  also 
other  pharmaceutical  preparations,  like  distilled  water  and  spirit,  tincture,  wine, 
extract,  resin,  &c.  The  Orange  Free  State  of  Southern  Africa  sends  a  section  of 
wood,  and  from  American  countries  Eucalyptus  leaves  are  exhibited  by  Brazil, 
Mexico,  Jamaica  and  the  United  States.  In  Jamaica,  where  the  plant  has  been 
introduced  in  1870  and  raised  from  seed,  has  attained  a  height  of  fifty  feet  in  five 
years ;  it  is  at  present  grown  at  an  elevation  of  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the 
fresh  leaves  have  yielded  the  same  amount  of  volatile  oil  as  in  Australia,  about  -75 
per  cent.,  some  of  which  is  exhibited  by  Mr.  Rob.  Thomson,  also  some  wood,  the 
tree  being  regarded  as  very  valuable  for  timber.  During  the  last  two  years  the 
tree  has  become  popular  in  a  few  localities  of  South  Carolina,  and  more  recently  it 
has  been  planted  in  North  Carolina,  promising  well  in  both  localities.  To  study 
the  various  species  of  Eucalyptus,  however,  more  particularly  in  relation  to  their 
wood  and  natural  exudations,  no  portion  of  the  exposition  offers  better  opportuni- 
ties than  the  native  country  of  these  myrtles,  Australia. 
The  province  of  Queensland  exhibits  several  large  collections  of  its  valuable 
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