AmjJUne'i£5.arm-}     Use  of  Wood  Alcohol  Pharmaceutically.  285 
tree,  he  buries  two  or  three  such  fruits  in  the  ground,  and  at  most 
two  or  three  plants  are  the  result.  After  continued  experiment  it 
was  found  that  seeds  taken  from  the  central  portion  of  the  largest 
and  finest  fruits  were  the  most  likely  to  be  fertile,  and  would  give 
more  encouraging  results.  The  proper  adjustment  of  the  sexes  in 
tropical  soil  is  difficult  and  exasperatng. 
The  papaw  is  much  like  the  nutmeg  in  its  vagaries  of  sex  rela- 
tion. It  is  generally  agreed  that  for  fertilization  one  male  to  ten 
female  plants  is  the  proper  ratio,  but  until  the  trees  arrive  at  the 
blossoming  stage  (five  years  in  the  case  of  the  nutmeg)  the  male 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  female.  One  can  imagine  the 
dismay  of  the  cultivator  who  finds  at  the  end  of  all  his  toil  and 
waiting  that  he  has  a  plantation  of  male  non-fruit-bearing  instead 
of  the  coveted  female,  or  fruit-bearing  plants.  I  have  records  of 
numerous  instances  where  acres  of  ground  were  planted  with  thou- 
sands of  papaw  plants  in  which  the  males  were  in  the  majority  of 
over  fifteen  to  one. 
This  constantly  recurring  disproportion  of  the  sexes,  suggests 
that  in  cultivation  we  were  so  changing  environment  as  to  cause  a 
perversion  of  the  sexes,  resulting  in  a  race  of  non-fruit  bearers. 
Methods  of  artificial  fertilization  and  budding,  such  as  is  followed 
in  the  propagation  of  melons  and  oranges,  are  now  in  the  experi- 
mental stage. 
( To  be  continued. ) 
A  FEW  NOTES  ON  THE  USE  OF  WOOD  ALCOHOL 
PHARMACEUTICALLY. 
By  Frederick  T.  Gordon,  Pharmacist  U.  S.  N. 
The  point  has  been  raised  that  one  of  the  objectionable  features 
in  the  use  of  wood  alcohol  pharmaceutically  is  its  strong  and  pecul- 
iar odor,  an  odor  that  is  unpleasant  to  many  persons  and  which  at 
once  makes  the  substitution  of  this  for  grain  alcohol  apparent.  That 
this  is  a  drawback  is  undeniable;  therefore  the  question  has  been 
asked  if  there  is  anything  that  can  counteract  or  improve  this  odor. 
This  is  perfectly  legitimate  to  answer,  for  there  are  many  prepara- 
tions in  which  purified  wood  alcohol  can  be  used,  e.  g.  liniments, 
lotions,  toilet  preparations,  etc.,  without  impropriety,  provided  that 
the  use  thereof  is  made  known  to  those  whom  it  will  most  concern, 
