Am.  Jour.  Pharru.") 
December,  1895.  J 
Ph  a  r  ma  cent  tea  I  Meet  Dig. 
641 
•Q.  H.  LaWall,  and  one  of  genuine  Turkey  Rhubarb  purchased  in  the  London 
market  in  1856,  the  latter  being  from  Prof.  Remington's  cabinet. 
Mr.  England  inquired  which  aloin  the  sample  was,  and  Mr.  LaWall  said  that 
it  was  a  combination  of  the  official  aloins. 
The  chairman  exhibited  two  Kola  plants,  which  had  been  grown  in  the  con- 
servatory of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  through  the  courtesy  of  Superintendent 
•Charles  Lawrence,  from  seeds  ( both  white  and  red),  which  he  had  procured  from 
Messrs.  Frederick  Stearns  &  Co.,  and  upon  his  invitation  Prof.  Bastin  gave  a 
description  of  the  genus  to  which  these  plants  belong.  Prof.  Bastin  said  that 
not  much  was  known  of  these  plants  until  1865,  or  still  later  when  Messrs. 
Heckel  and  Schlagdenhauffen  published  their  investigation  of  them.  They 
belong  to  the  Kola  acuminata  or  Sterculia  acuminata,  which  is  a  member  of  the 
•order  Sterculiacese.  The  members  of  this  order  are  mostly  shrubs,  but  some 
are  trees  and  some  vines. 
The  genus  Sterculia  is  indigenous  to  tropical  Africa  or  the  western  Soudan, 
hut  now  grows  wild  in  Venezuela  and  the  West  India  Islands,  and  has  been 
naturalized  in  Australia  and  on  the  southeastern  coast  of  Africa. 
The  plants  are  evergreen  trees  or  shrubs.  The  leaves  are  acuminate  and 
alternate,  and  those  which  are  mature  are  smooth,  while  the  younger  ones  are 
■covered  with  a  stellate  pubescence  which  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  Sterculia  or 
Kola. 
The  flowers  are  yellow  and  form  corymbose  clusters.  They  have  but  a  single 
iloral  envelope,  which  consists  of  a  five-sepaled  calyx,  and  are  monoecious. 
Prof.  Bastin  also  mentioned  some  other  peculiarities  of  the  plants,  and  then 
referred  to  some  of  the  uses  of  the  seeds. 
In  the  Jamaica  exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  preparations  of 
Kola  seed,  made  to  resemble  the  commercial  preparations  of  chocolate  and 
cocoa,  were  shown.  The  commissioner  in  charge  said  that  they  were  used 
instead  of  the  more  expensive  preparations  of  similar  character,  and  were 
more  nutritious  than  chocolate  and  not  inferior  to  it  in  taste. 
Prof.  Bastin  thought  that  this  latter  statement,  coming  from  an  interested 
person,  should  be  accepted  with  a  grain  of  salt,  but  that  it  is  altogether  prob- 
able that  this  commodity  will  become  an  important  article  of  commerce  in  the 
near  future. 
Mr.  Procter  wished  to  know  of  Prof.  Bastin  whether  he  considered  the  fresh 
seed  superior  to  the  dry  for  making  the  preparations,  as  is  stated  by  some 
manufacturing  firms,  and  remarked  that  he  had  gotten  good  results  with  the 
dry  seeds.  Prof.  Bastin  thought  well  to  suspend  opinion  until  further  investi- 
gation of  the  subject  had  been  made.  Prof.  Trimble  said  that  the  astringenc}* 
is  due  to  2  or  3  per  cent,  of  tannin  which  is  not  as  great  as  that  of  tea.  He  also 
referred  to  the  probable  danger  of  the  "kola  habit,"  which  may  be  attributed 
to  the  popularity  attained  by  this  drug  through  advertising. 
Mr.  Kebler  then  read  a  paper  entitled  Tubular  Crystals  of  Monobromated 
Camphor^  in  which  he  described  many  peculiar  forms  of  crystals,  such  as  those 
of  quartz  and  galena,  and  those  obtained  by  artificial  means  or  in  the  process 
of  manufacture.  Prof.  Bastin  also  mentioned  the  peculiarity  of  the  quartz 
crystal,  and  stated  the  fact  that  it  usually  contains  a  cavity  and  a  vacuum  bub- 
ble, the  latter  being  dissipated  at  a  temperature  of  4000  or  5000,  and  that  this 
temperature  is  regarded  as  an  indication  of  the  temperature  at  which  the  quartz 
•crystal  was  formed." 
