A™kiu™y*m!m'}    The  Apocynacece  in  Materia  Medica.  39 
The  awn  is  greatly  developed  toward  the  summit,  garnished  with 
hair,  relatively  short,  directed  obliquely  from  base  to  the  summit 
and  a  little  yellowish.    The  naked  region  of  the  shaft  is  very  short. 
Regarding  the  seed  itself,  it  is  at  once  remarkable  for  its  yellowish- 
white  color,  shining,  owing  to  the  tomentum,  extremely  thick  and 
long,  with  a  soft  woolly  fleece.  These  hairs  are  directed  from  the 
base  toward  the  summit;  detached  they  form  in  the  drug  frequently 
handled  small  woolly  balls.  Their  length  exceeds  3  or  3^  mm. 
especially  upon  the  margin  of  the  seed. 
Under  these  hairs  the  color  of  the  seminal  tegument  is  a  bright 
maroon.  The  form  is  vaguely  lanceolate,  rather  oblong,  sometimes 
a  little  irregular,  the  larger  proportionally  quite  variable;  rounded 
in  the  rear  and  a  little  tapering  in  front.  The  anterior  portion 
covered  by  the  hairs  frequently  difficult  to  be  seen.  The  ventral 
face,  a  little  flattened,  presenting  a  small  brownish  tuft,  a  little 
inflated  at  its  termination,  towards  the  middle  of  the  seed.  The 
surface  is  longitudinally  striated.  The  dimensions  are  10  to  20  mm. 
in  length  (ordinarily  14  to  16),  3  to  4  mm.  in  breadth  and  1  y2  to  2 
mm.  in  thickness. 
Macerated  in  water  the  seeds  alter  rapidly,  soon  exhaling  a  very 
disagreeable  odor.  The  albumen  is  grayish-white,  less  horny,  less 
cartilaginous  than  in  the  other  species.  The  embryo  is  dull  white 
with  thick  cotyledons  and  a  radicle  infinitely  shorter  than  in  the 
S.  hispidus  or  the  S.  Kombe. 
The  transverse  section  shows  that  in  the  external  layer  the  lateral 
cell  thickenings  are  very  little  convex,  and  gives  to  the  section  the 
aspect  of  a  lenticular  fusiform  body  by  coalescence  with  the  corres- 
ponding thickening  of  the  neighboring  cell.  The  second  layer  of 
the  tegument  is  formed  of  cells  much  flattened  and  nearly  indistinct. 
The  cells  of  the  albumen  and  the  thick  embryo  are  relatively  small. 
With  concentrated  sulphuric  acid,  the  cotyledons  give  gradually 
a  bright  rose  coloration,  commencing  about  the  vascular  bundles. 
The  color  is  much  less  intense  in  the  albumen.  In  a  few  sections 
the  red  color  is  preceded  by  a  yellow  coloration.  After  one  hour 
the  albumen  becomes  red  and  the  embryo  violet. 
THE  GLABROUS  STROPHANTHUS  OF  GABOON. 
Strophanthns  Sp.  ?  Important  as  have  been  the  numerous  expe- 
ditions of  M.  Vincent,  Dr.  Bellay,  etc.,  and  the  physiological  studies 
