^"rir'^iSr'^"'*}  Gleanings  in  Materia  Mediba.  97 
decussate,  orbicular,  ciliolate;  anthers  2;  ovary  glabrous ;  fruit  three 
seeded ;  seeds  black. 
The  same  author  describes  also  a  plant  collected  by  Sutton  Hayes,  at 
Acajutla  near  SonsonateJ  as  follows  : 
Omphalea  cardiophylla,  Hemsley. — Leaves  long-petiolate,  papy- 
raceous, very  smooth,  suborbicular,  deeply  cordate  at  the  base,  acumi- 
nate, obtuse  (about  a  foot  in  diameter),  undulate ;  petiole  with  2  glands 
above,  fleshy ;  staminate  flowers  in  narrow  terminal  panicles,  a  foot  or 
more  in  length ;  bracts  oblanceolate,  about  2  inches  long,  short-petio- 
late;  sepals  4,  orbicular,  ciliolate;  anthers  2,  sometimes  3. — Phar. 
Jour,  and  Trans.,  1882,  Oct.  14,  p.  301. 
Starch  in  Belladonna  root  is,  according  to  H.  Werner,  always  pre- 
sent in  autumn,  when  at  and  after  the  ripening  of  the  fruit  starch  is 
produced  and  deposited  in  the  root,  to  be  used  in  the  succeeding  spring 
for  nourishing  the  plant.  To  obtain  the  root,  rich  in  starch,  it  should 
not  be  collected  until  the  flowers  have  begun  to  fade. — Archiv  d.  Phar. 
Agaricus  7'uber,  Pers.,  contains,  according  to  T.  L.  Phipson,  a  rose- 
red  coloring  matter,  ruberin,  which  appears  bright  blue  by  trans- 
mitted light ;  being  soluble  in  water,  it  is  washed  out  of  the  head  of 
the  fungus  by  a  heavy  fall  of  rain.  Ether  extracts  from  the  fungus  a 
yellowish-white  alkaloid  agarythrine,  which  has  a  bitter,  afterwards 
burning,  taste  somewhat  like  aconitine ;  its  chloride  is  soluble,  but  the 
sulphate  insoluble  in  water,  the  latter  dissolving  in  alcohol ;  it  dissolves 
in  nitric  acid  with  a  red  color,  and  is  colored  red  by  chlorinated  lime 
and  afterwards  bleached.  On  agitating  the  solution  of  the  alkaloid 
with  ether,  it  is  oxidized  by  the  air  to  a  red  coloring  matter,  which  is 
probably  the  cause  of  the  red  color  of  the  surface  of  the  fungus. — 
Chem.  News,  1882,  p.  199. 
A  Fatal  Dose  of  Extract  of  Male  Fern  is  reported  on  in  the  "  Ceylon 
Observer."    The  prescription  was  dispensed  as  follows  : 
B         Extr.  eeth.  Filic.  Mar.       .         .  U  oz. 
Pulv.  Kamalse        ...  3  dms. 
Mucil.  Acac,  Syrup,  simpl.         .  aa  q.  s. 
Aquse  Cinnam.        .         .         .  ad  4  oz. 
M.  S.  Half  to  be  taken  at  bed-time  and  half  at  2  A.  M. 
The  dispenser  left  out  powdered  pomegranate  root,  3  drams,  signify- 
ing rthat  he  done  so  to  the  prescriber.  After  taking  the  first  dose,  the 
patient  was  so  distressed,  that  he  sent  to  the  prescriber  to  know  whether 
7 
