ii8 
Varieties, 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm^ 
Feb.,  1880. 
Summing  up  the  argument,  in  conclusion,  we  have  pointed  out : 
1.  That  many  of  the  weeds  of  Europe  have  migrated  to  America. 
2.  That  many  of  these  have  become  so  thoroughly  naturalized  here  that  they  pre- 
vail over  some  of  the  plants  native  to  the  soil. 
3.  That  only  two  or  three  American  weeds  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  become 
naturalized  in  England. 
4.  That  the  difference  of  climate  and  the  conditions  of  mutual  commerce  do  not 
fully  account  for  this  marked  difference  in  the  migrative  power  of  the  two  floras. 
5.  That  in  the  Miocene  era  the  European  and  American  floras  were  very  much 
alike. 
6.  That  since  that  era  the  European  flora  has  been  vastly  altered,  while  the 
American  flora  still  retains  a  Mipcene  aspect,  and  is  therefore  the  older  of  the  two. 
7.  That  this  long  persistence  of  type  in  the  American  flora  may  have  induced,  by 
habit,  a  rigidity  or  indisposition  to  change  in  the  American  flora. 
8.  That  the  changes  in  the  European  flora  since  the  Miocene  era  betray  a  plas- 
ticity of  nature,  or  power  of  adapting  itself  to  circumstances  of  which  the  Amer- 
ican flora  gives  no  sign. 
9.  That  in  this  view  the  European  flora  is  better  able  to  adapt  itself  to  the  strange 
climate  and  conditions — that  is,  to  emigrate — than  the  American  flora. 
10.  That  being  thus  more  plastic  or  adaptable  it  succeeds  in  the  New  World,, 
while  the  less  adaptable  American  flora  fails  in  the  Old  World. 
The  writer  wishes  to  add  that  in  the  above  paper  he  has  brought  forward  chiefly 
the  instances  of  migration  from  England  to  America  and  'vice  ^ersa.  A  few  other 
American  plants  might  be  found  naturalized  in  other  parts  of  Europe  on  closer 
examination,  but  the  list,  at  best,  would  be  exceedingly  scanty.' — Pharm.  Journ.  and' 
Trans. y  Nov.  22,  1879. 
VARIETIES. 
Fucus  Vesiculosus  (Anti-Fat). — Now  that  this  remedy  is  so  universally  used 
for  the  reduction  of  obesity,  it  may  interest  the  profession  to  recall  to  mind  another 
use  found  for  it  in  1826. 
Laennec  having  observed  that  on  the  coast  of  Brittany,  where  the  air  is  more 
humid,  but  at  the  same  time  milder  and  more  equable  than  in  the  interior  of  France, 
the  number  of  phthisical  patients  was  comparatively  small,  and  having  also  seen 
that  young  men  from  Brittany  became  consumptive  during  their  sojourn  in  large 
cities,  and  recovered  on  returning  to  their  native  province,  came  to  the  conclusion, 
that  the  peculiar  atmosphere  of  the  sea  coast  had  something  to  do  in  these  results. 
He,  therefore,  tried  to  imitate  it,  in  some  measure,  by  placing  near  the  beds  of 
the  patients  certain  fresh  marine  plants.  He  brought  together,  into  two  small  wards, 
a  number  of  phthisical  patients,  and  surrounded  their  beds  with  the  fucus  'vesiculosus^ 
Rudbeckia  laciniata  has  established  itself  in  many  parts  of  Central  Europe. — See  "Amer.  Jour. 
Phar.,"  1872,  p  107- — Editor. 
