496 
Spurious  Cubebs. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
\       Sept..  1892. 
fact  that  merchants  in  Holland  complain  that  cubebs  which  do  not 
give  the  crimson  color  with  sulphuric  acid,  but  which  were  exported 
by  the  Java  planters  to  Holland,  do  not  find  a  ready  sale.  The 
hitherto  unknown  fact  that  false  cubebs  were  cultivated  in  Java  and 
exported  to  Holland  (probably  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
any  difference  between  them)  threw  quite  a  new  light  upon  the 
subject,  and  explained  several  points  that  required  clearing  up. 
In  the  national  herbaria  in  London  there  exist  specimens  of  the 
c«beb  plant  (not  in  fruit)  which  differ  considerably  in  the  shape  and 
size  of  the  leaves,  and  the  differences  in  the  leaves  appear  to  be 
constant  in  a  series  of  specimens,  indicating  that  probably  more 
than  one  species  is  under  cultivation.  The  information  given  by  my 
Dutch  friend  led  me  to  examine  more  carefully  the  specimens  pre- 
sented by  Dr.  Treub.  On  examination,  in  which  my  observations 
were  checked  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Greenish,  it  was  found  that  the  specimen 
preserved  in  spirit  (which  in  size,  shape,  and  length  of  pedicel 
resembles  true  cubebs),  the  fruits  themselves  did  not  give  the 
crimson  reaction  characteristic  of  the  genuine  drug,  but  that  on 
evaporation  of  the  spirit  in  which  they  had  been  preserved,  the 
residue  gave  the  crimson  color.  On  the  other  hand,  the  spike  of 
dried  fruit  proved  on  examination  to  differ  considerably  from  the 
specimen  preserved  in  spirit.  The  fruits  were  larger  and  the  stalks 
longer  and  somewhat  flattened.  The  flavor,  which  is  not  mace-like, 
differed  from  that  of  true  cubebs  and  the  taste  was  very  bitter.  The 
fruits  gave  a  yellowish  brown  but  not  a  crimson  reaction  with  con- 
centrated sulphuric  acid.  The  fruits  are  evidently  not  true  cubebs, 
but  those,  in  all  probability,  of  the  Piper  crassipes,  described  by 
Hanbury  and  Fliickiger  in  "  Pharmacographia,"  and  apparently  the 
same  as  the  ^arge  blackish  cubebs  imported  into  this  country  some 
months  since.  The  absolute  identity  of  these  I  shall  endeavor  to 
ascertain  by  histological  examination.  So  far  as  observation  by  a 
lens  and  by  taste  are  concerned,  Piper  eras sip ^s1,  Korth.,  is  the  source 
of  the  dried  cubebs  sent  by  Dr.  Treub  and  of  the  cubebs  lately 
imported  into  England,  but  not  of  the  cubebs  with  a  mace-like  odor. 
The  latter  variety  of  cubebs  yet  remains  to  be  identified,  but  as 
the  planr  yielding  it  is  now  traced  to  the  plantations  in  Java  further 
information  will  probably  soon  be  forthcoming.  In  a  volume  of 
five  hundred  pages  just  received  from  Dr.  Treub,  and  containing  a 
history  of  the  Buitenzorg  Gardens  and  a  large  amount  of  informa- 
