300       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {Am'jJUnUe^i9oiarm' 
(copper  acetate  I  part,  water  20  parts)  is  given  the  preference, 
it  staining  resins  from  blue  to  emerald  green,  according  to  botani- 
cal origin.  Passing  over  the  individual  peculiarities  of  each  resin 
and  oil-bearing  plant  examined,  we  find  the  following  important 
conclusions : 
First :  In  no  case  were  volatile  oils  and  resins  found  in  the  secre- 
tion cells,  bordering  the  intercellular  spaces  of  the  stems,  the  con- 
tents of  such  cells  being  either  of  fat  or  of  tannin.  Ethereal  oil  is 
invariably  found  in  subcuticular  spaces  (hence  in  glands),  where  it 
evidently  originates,  being  decomposition  product  of  the  cell  wall 
rather  than  of  the  cell  contents. 
Second :  Wherever  resin  is  found,  mucilage  accompanies  it ;  the 
walls  of  resin  glands  invariably  having  a  mucilaginous  layer  in 
which,  according  to  the  writer,  the  resin  is  manufactured ;  in  other 
words,  the  layer  which  Tschirch  calls  "  resinogenous  "  (resinogene 
schicht)  is  invariably  mucilaginous. 
Third :  As  yet  the  exact  chemical  processes  involved  in  the 
origin  of  resins  and  oils  is  unknown. 
Fourth  :  It  is  observed  that  while  tannin  accompanies  the  resins 
in  most  glands,  it  is  found  more  abundant  in  old  glands  than  in 
young  ones.  This  fact  could  be  construed  either  as  favoring  or  dis- 
proving the  theory  that  tannin  is  an  intermediate  stage  in  the  for- 
mation of  resins.  The  writers  lean  toward  the  affirmative  opinion, 
explaining  the  deficiency  of  tannin  in  the  young  cells  by  saying 
that  it  is  all  used  up  in  the  process  of  transformation  into  resin  and 
that  when  the  glands  become  older  and  the  resin  formation  ceases, 
the  unused  tannin  is  stored  up  without  change.  H.  V.  A. 
CONCERNING  CATHA  EDULIS, 
This  plant,  a  native  of  Abyssinia  and  Arabia,  where  it  is  called 
Kat  and  where  its  leaves  have  been  used  from  the  earliest  times  by 
the  natives  of  that  region  as  an  innocent  stimulant,  such  as  our 
coffee  and  tea,  is  the  subject  of  a  lengthy  paper  by  A.  Beiter  (Arch. 
Ph.,  1901,  17.)  Passing  over  his  pharmacognostical  description  we 
find  that  he  obtained  from  the  plant  an  alkaloid  by  treating  the 
leaves  with  chloroform,  saturated  with  ammonia,  evaporation  of 
the  chloroform,  solution  in  acidulated  water,  extraction  with 
chloroform  and  repeated  crystallization.  The  yield  was  about 
of  one  per  cent.,  was  in  the  form  of  small  needles  of  bitter  un- 
