in the inside. in water, alcohol and ether. Alkalies communicate to it a fine orange hue. It rapidly oxidizes when exposed to the atmosphere, assuming an orange colour. A decoction of the wood is affected by the alkalies and air in the same manner as fustine. It gives a bright orange precipitate with lime and baryta waters, and a similar coloured precipitate with chloride of tin. Persulphate of iron yields with it an olive-green precipitate. Young orange colour, but it is easily affected by light; its chief fustic dyes wool mordanted with salts of alumina a fine employment is in conjunction with cochineal, to the red colour of which it imparts a brilliant orange hue. It is much used in Turkey and the Tyrol by tanners, to impart to their leather an orange-yellow colour. Persian berries, which are extensively employed by woollen and mixed fabric dyers, calico-printers, paperstainers and leather-dressers, are the berries or fruit of a genus of plants called Nerprun, which grows freely in France, Spain, Turkey, Persia, etc. Generally speaking, the berries are gathered before they are quite ripe, which is the reason why the berries, which are the size of a small pea, have a yellowish-green shrivelled appearance. The berries only give good results when recently gathered; after one or two years they lose a great deal of their value, not yielding to the dyers such brilliant hues. The yellower they are, the less price they command in the market. They bear among the dealers the names of the countries from which they are imported; thus there are Avignon berries, Spanish berries, Turkish berries and Persian berries. The latter are the best, and are obtained from the Rhamnus amygdalinus. Among dyers and calico-printers all the varieties are called Persian berries. In this case again my master, M. Chevreul, was the first to isolate the two colouring matters which the wood contained. To the first of these Wagner gave the name of morintannic acid, and to the second that of moric acid. To extract these, rasped fustic is boiled twice with water, and the solution concentrated to the state of a syrup, when after a few days a crystalline deposit takes place, which is separated, washed rapidly with cold water and pressed. To separate the two colour-giving principles, the pressed mass is treated with boiling water, which leaves the moric acid as an insoluble mass, while the morintannic acid is dissolved. The moric acid is treated with weak hydrochloric acid, to remove some lime salts; The yellow decoction of the berries assumes an orangeit is then dissolved in alcohol, from which it crystallizes yellow tint with alkalies, which is not changed on the in the form of yellow needles. To obtain the morin- addition of an acid. Lime-water gives it a greenish tannic acid which was dissolved, the solution is concen- hue, persulphate of iron a greenish-yellow. Chloride trated, when the colouring matter crystallizes out, and of tin gives a greenish-yellow coloration, and a slight only requires recrystallizing once or twice from acidu- precipitate. lated water to give it almost pure. It forms yellow Sir Robert Kane succeeded, some years ago, by treatcrystals, soluble in alcohol, which have the formula ing the berries with ether, in extracting a substance, CHO. It gives a greenish-black precipitate, with crystallizing in fine golden-yellow crystals, to which he sulphate of protoxide of iron, and, with salts of lead, a gave the name chrysorhamnine, and assigned to it the yellow precipitate soluble in acetic acid. It is decom- formula CHO. He found that when a solution of posed by concentrated alkalies, and when boiled with this compound was boiled in the air or in presence of an zinc and sulphuric acid, the solution assumes a very oxidizing agent, it became converted into a substance bright red colour, due to the transformation of morin- which he named ranthorhamnine, to which he gave the tannic acid into two most interesting substances, phloro- formula C3 H12O14 glucine and machromine. Moric acid, though insoluble in water, is freely soluble in alcohol and ether, but is insoluble in bisulphuret of carbon. It is soluble in alkalies, to which it gives a yellow colour, and from this solution it is reprecipitated by the addition of an acid. Perchloride of iron communicates to its alcoholic solution an olive-green shade. It gives yellow precipitates with salts of zinc, tin, lead and alumina, and a dark green precipitate with copper. It has the formula C12 HO5. Old fustic is especially employed for dyeing wools in yellow or olive-green shades. They are mordanted with a salt of alumina for yellow, or with a salt of iron for green. By the employment of salts of copper and other mordants a variety of shades can be obtained. It is much used by dyers, but only to a limited extent by calico-printers. Young fustic belongs to the same genus as sumach, of which I shall speak further on, and its botanical name is Rhus Cotinus. It grows in the West Indies, and in France and the southern parts of Europe. It is found in commerce in the form of small logs and crooked branches. Young fustic contains a tannin matter and three colour-giving principles, a red, a brown and a yellow. The yellow colouring matter, when isolated and crystallized, bears the name of fustine. It is soluble Cantor Lecture, delivered Tuesday, Feb. 28. Reprinted from the Journal of the Society of Arts. Since then, several eminent chemists have examined into the nature of these colouring matters, among whom may be mentioned Bolley, and especially Lefort and Schützenberger. From their researches the following facts may be gathered. Lefort, in 1866, succeeded in isolating two colouring matters from the berries, which he named rhamnagine and rhamnine. Rhamnagine is soluble in water, and may be obtained under the form of crystals, while rhamnine is an insoluble yellow amorphous powder. In researches published in 1869, he found that rhamnagine was identical in composition with rhamnine, and that only a molecular change took place in the transformation of rhamnagine into rhamnine, such as we are all aware starch undergoes on conversion into dextrine. He supported this view by analyses, showing that both these substances had the same formula, namely, CH32014. The researches of Schützenberger further proved that, under the influence of weak sulphuric acid, rhamnagine is decomposed into a peculiar sugar and a substance to which he gave the name rhamnatine, thus showing that rhamnagine is a glucoside. The following formula show the decomposition which takes place : = CH32014+ 3H2O CH10O+2(C, H1406). nine and rhamnatine, which are insoluble in water, are only products of decomposition. fumes cease to be given off. The mass is then poured slowly into a large bulk of water. The chrysammic Decoction of Persian berries is principally used in acid falls in flakes to the bottom of the vessel. These print works for producing bright yellows and greens, on are washed with water until they assume a fine purple prepared tin cloth, in steam styles. To obtain yellows, colour. The formula of this acid is C-H2 (NO2) O2 the extract is mixed either with a little red mordant It forms small golden-yellow scales, soluble in alcohol (sulpho-acetate of alumina) or with a little muriate of and ether. Although but sparingly soluble in water, it tin. The mixture is thickened, printed on, and the communicates to it a magnificent purple tint, and its fabric steamed. To produce greens, the decoction of dyeing power is considerable. Mr. Saac has made a berries is mixed with prussiate of tin, the mixture is great number of dyeing experiments with chrysammic thickened and printed on the fabric, which is then acid, and has produced with it a variety of shades. He steamed, when the yellow of the berries and the Prussian believes that one day they will become commercial. blue which is formed unite to produce green on the Turmeric is the root or underground stem of the fabric. The decoction of berries is very apt to enter Curcuma tinctoria, a plant which grows abundantly in into fermentative decomposition, and thereby become the East Indies. It is imported principally from Bomropy; this may be prevented by the addition of a little bay, Java, Batavia and Barbadoes. That from Bombay carbolic acid. is the most valuable. It is ground and sold to the dyers in the state of a fine powder of a remarkably brilliant orange hue, and of a strong odour. Vogel and Pelletier succeeded in extracting from it a colouring matter, to which they gave the name of curcumine. M. Lepage has, however, given the best process for its extraction. The ground roots are treated with bisulphuret of carbon, which dissolves a volatile oil and resinous matters. The root is then dried and acted on by a weak alkaline solution, which dissolves the curcumine. To liberate it, the alkaline solution is neutralized with an acid, when the curcumine falls as a precipitate. This is collected, dried, and dissolved in ether, from which it separates under the form of small, brown scales, which yield on trituration, a brilliant, yellow powder. A very fine brilliant yellow lake is produced from a decoction of Persian berries, the manufacture of which was kept secret for a long period by the Dutch. It consists in adding pure carbonate of lime to the decoction, when the lime salt falls, carrying with it the colouring matter of the decoction. The yellow lake thus produced is moulded into small lumps, which are dried in the shade. There is a variety of mignonette which used to be cultivated in England and France, called weld, its botanical name being Reseda luteola. This plant yields a most valuable yellow dye when fixed on wool by means of alum, not only because the colour is exceedingly brilliant, but because it is very solid, resisting light, heat and acids. Alkalies only communicate to it a slight orange tint. Its colouring matter was extracted by M. Chevreul many years ago, and he gave it the name of luteoline. He obtained it in yellow transparent crystals. By the action of oxidizing agents, such as bichromate of potash, it assumes a magnificent yellow tint, identical to that produced with it in cotton fabrics. M. Moldenhauer has since studied luteoline, to which he assigned the formula CH1408. It is slightly soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol. It dissolves without decomposition in strong sulphuric acid, and yields, even when greatly diluted with water, a fine green colour with perchloride of iron. Schützenberger, who has lately studied this body, states that when mixed with water and heated to a temperature of 480° F. in sealed glass tubes, it decomposes into what he considers pure luteoline and resin. The luteoline is found in crystals adhering to the sides of the tube, while the resin collects at the bottom. He states also, that if a decoction of the berries is boiled with weak sulphuric acid, a new yellow colouring matter is produced, which possesses a high dyeing power as well as a pure yellow hue. The introduction of quercitron and flavine is the principal reason why weld has nearly disappeared from the market. Aloes is imported into Europe from Bombay, Barbadoes, Jamaica and the Cape of Good Hope in the form of resinous masses, varying considerably in size. It is the dried sap or juice of several varieties of aloes, of the family of Asphodels. Dr. Stenhouse, who has examined this substance, has succeeded in isolating two compounds; one, which crystallizes in yellow prismatic needles, is soluble in cold water and alkalies, the solution having an orange tint. It has an intensely bitter taste. He has given it the name aloine, and assigns to it the formula CH18 07. The second compound, which may be considered as the resin of aloes, has received the name of aloëtine. Dr. Schunck has produced from aloes a yellow dye, called chrysammic acid, which will probably be yet extensively used. It is prepared by heating in a water-bath eight parts of nitric acid with one of aloes; when the violence of the action has ceased a second part of aloes is added. The application of heat is continued until hyponitric Turmeric is seldom used as a dye, owing to its colour being so easily affected by alkalies, a fact well known to chemists, as they often employ it to ascertain the presence of a trace of free alkali or boracic acid in solutions. It is used in India to flavour rice, and by the natives to colour their skin. Annatto is the pulpy part of the seeds of the Biza Orellana, which grows in South America. It is imported into this country from Mexico, Brazil, the Antilles, and especially from Cayenne, in masses covered with leaves, and varying in weight from 5 to 20 pounds. It is also imported in casks, weighing 4 or 5 cwt., as a homogeneous paste of the consistency of butter, and often having a repulsive odour of urine, which, it is stated, is added by those who store it, to keep it moist and to impart to it a richer hue. At Cayenne, when the fruit of the Bixia is ripe, it is gathered, coarsely crushed, and thrown into water, where it remains for several weeks. By this means the pulpy matter is separated from the kernel. It is next strained through a coarse cloth, and the colouringmatter gradually subsides. It is then collected, and the excess of water evaporated, until it assumes a pasty state, when it is exposed to the atmosphere in the shade until sufficiently dry to be shipped. The powder so prepared, and especially at Cayenne, is comparatively inferior, owing to the mass fermenting and producing matters which prove injurious in the drying process. The following analysis may be taken as the average composition of such qualities of annatto : is imported into this country in the form of small tablets, which are much used for colouring cheese. An alkaline solution of annatto gives an orange precipitate with acids, alum or sulphate of protoxide of iron, a yellowish-brown precipitate with salts of copper, and a lemon-coloured precipitate with chloride of tin. The colouring-matters of annatto have been studied by MM. Chevreul, Kerndt and Bolley. It contains two colouring-matters, one a yellow, which is soluble in water and alcohol but insoluble in ether, and which gives a yellow colour to cloth mordanted with alum. It has received the name orelline, and its formula is CHO. According to Kerndt's statement, however, it is only a product of the decomposition of the second colouring-matter, the real colour-giving principle of annatto being bixine, CHO. Bolley proposes the following method to obtain bixine :-The best quality of annatto from Cayenne, after having been washed and dried, is boiled with concentrated alcohol; the alcoholic solution is evaporated to dryness, and placed to digest with ether, which dissolves a part of the residue, leaving a bright red powder, insoluble in water but soluble in soap and alkalies, to which it imparts an orange tint, and yields a dark blue colour with sulphuric acid. The use of annatto in print and dye-works is rather limited, its chief employment being to modify the shades of other dyes, such as certain tints of yellow produced by fustic or quercitron. It is also used to give a bottom to cotton before it is dyed with safflower or cochineal. In the production of oranges in steam styles annatto is now entirely superseded by aurine, a colour derived from carbolic acid. It is still often used in dyeing a low class of cotton yarns. The yarn is dipped in an alkaline solution of annatto, and then passed through a weak solution of oil of vitriol, which precipitates the bixine in the fibre. It is then only necessary to wash the cotton to complete the operation. If an orange-yellow tint is required, the cotton is previously mordanted with tin. (To be continued.) Parliamentary and Law Proceedings. CROYDON COUNTY COURT.-Monday, January 8th, 1872. Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Harrington. Mr. Flux appeared for the plaintiffs, and stated that the action was brought to enforce a salutary Act of Parliament regulating the sale of poisons, and that the penalty did not pass to the plaintiffs, but would be dealt with as one of her Majesty's Secretaries of State might direct, so that in the institution of the proceedings there was no other motive than in the interests of the public to compel the defendant to comply with the law by causing himself to be registered, if he were, in fact, entitled to be so, or by desisting from the sale of poisons. The Judge pointed out that, according to his opinion, the particulars of demand should have stated that the defendant was not a duly registered person. Mr. Flux explained that the particulars were framed in accordance with those in former similar actions, as to which no objection had been taken, but expressed his readiness to comply with the suggestions of the Court to have the particulars amended. They were amended accordingly. defendant had admitted that he had sold oxalic acid and had been convicted. The Judge suggested that the proceedings before the magistrates should be produced, and the magistrates' clerk examined. Mr. Flux assured his Honour that he had caused inquiry to be made of the magistrates' clerk, and been informed that there were no records whatever of the conviction, and that any person who was present in Court and heard the conviction could give as good evidence as himself of the fact of it, wherefore he had abstained from troubling the magistrates' clerk to attend as a witness. His Honour stated that under the circumstances he would take the evidence of the witness in the box. George Stent was then called, and proved the purchase of the oxalic acid at the defendant's shop; that the shop was an open one, like chemists and druggists' shops usually are; that he had handed the oxalic acid to Mr. Hayward, and that it was labelled with the word "poison," and nothing more. Defendant contended that he was a duly qualified chemist and druggist, although not registered within the meaning of clause 2, and was not liable to a penalty; also that his conviction before the magistrates for the offence of selling the packet exonerated him from further penalties, and he produced certificates according to the Pharmacy Act, signed by himself as a duly qualified medical practitioner. Mr. Flux replied, that if the defendant were in fact entitled to be registered, his proper course was to secure registration by presenting his certificates to the Registrar appointed under the statute, and paying the proper fees, and read to his Honour the various clauses in the Act of Parliament bearing upon the case, and showing that a penalty had been incurred. The Judge expressed his opinion that the plaintiffs were clearly entitled to recover the penalty, and suggested that the justice of the case might be met by the defendant being ordered to pay the costs of the day, and the case standing over until a future Court, in order to afford the defendant an opportunity of presenting his certificates, and paying the fees; and that if the defendant pursued that course, the plaintiffs might allow the proceedings to drop. Mr. Flux said that he had no doubt that the course suggested by his Honour would be willingly acquiesced in by those who instructed him. An order was made accordingly. Reviews. TRAVELS OF A PIONEER OF COMMERCE IN PIGTAIL AND The object placed before him by Mr. Cooper in his travels, was to establish a route between Calcutta and Shanghai, through Assam and Eastern Thibet, and thus open out to English commerce and enterprise a hitherto almost unknown region. In this he has not yet been entirely successful. In the present volume Mr. Cooper narrates his adventures in his attempt to accomplish the journey, starting from Hankow on the Yang-tseMr. George Hayward, of Croydon, proved that on the kiang, in which he penetrated as far as the great river 7th November last he caused the witness Stent to pur- Lant-sang-kiang, which flows southwards from the chase at the defendant's shop one pennyworth of oxalic mountains of Eastern Thibet, but was then compelled to acid, also that he examined and tested the contents of return. Two years later, the same enterprising traveller the packet purchased, and found them to consist of oxalic set out from Calcutta up the valley of the Bramapootra, acid; that he had produced the packet to the magistrates but was again driven back from the borders of Thibet. on a summons which charged the defendant with having Whether the route will be of great commercial imsold oxalic acid improperly labelled; that the packet had portance, should it ever be opened, is still quite in unbeen retained by the magistrates' clerk; and that the certainty. Third Notice. The Thibetans are large consumers of tea, which at CoMMENTAR ZUR OESTERREICHISCHEN PHARMACOPOE. By present they get entirely from China; and Mr. Cooper Dr. J. C. SCHNEIDER and Dr. A. VOGL. thinks that the transfer of this trade to our Indian planters in Assam, depends mainly on the policy adopted by our Government. The Bramapootra appears to offer a natural and most admirable means of communication between the two countries. The narrative of Mr. Cooper's expedition is not devoid of exciting adventure, frequently among half-savage tribes who had never before seen a European; not the least alarming incident being his experience of being forcibly married, nolens volens, to a young damsel who persisted in following him many days; and, when at last he sent her home to her friends, the conditions were hardly improved by the arrival of her mother, who, according to the custom of the country, had, with the consent of her husband, come to supply her daughter's place. The border-land between China and Thibet is a very important watershed, the source not only of great rivers like the Yang-tse-kiang and the Bramapootra flowing to the east and west, but of others also, flowing southwards, as the Irrawaddy and the Lant-sang-kiang; the mountain ranges rising to a considerable elevation, and intersected by deep and picturesque gorges. The inhabitants are Thibetan, rather than Chinese, in their habits, though a large portion of Eastern Thibet was, some years ago, annexed to the Celestial Empire. Mr. Cooper's volume would have had greater value in a scientific point of view, had he possessed a more accurate knowledge of the natural productions of the countries he visited; these are seldom described in a manner that conveys much information to the botanist or the zoologist, though many of his observations are interesting as being those of an observant and intelligent traveller. In the province of S'z-chuan, he passed through the country which produces the greater part of the Chinese white wax of commerce, the wax being an exudation resulting from the attacks of a certain insect on the leaves of a certain tree; but, though the process of its manufacture is described with considerable minuteness, we are unable to identify, from Mr. Cooper's account, either the insect or the tree.* em after the commencement of the summer rains in the end classification, viz. "Folia," and we give a short outline Our third notice opens with the fifth Order of the of the general introduction to this part, as it will afford a just idea of the scientific treatment visible throughout the book. Folia. It is not difficult to recognize and to distinguish these remedies, but their characteristics must be carefully collated and tested. Frequently, and especially when only fragments of leaves are at disposal, the microscope bethe organization of the leaf or the distribution of certain comes indispensable, as alone affording an insight into substances. The external fibre of the leaf on both sides is formed by the epidermis; on the under side of the leaf it generally consists of sinuated, tubular cells, and it contains more stomata; on the upper surface the epidermic cells are mostly larger, less sinuated, often merely polygonally leaves. The epidermis often carries different appentubular, stomata being quite absent, as in many leathery dices, as hair, glands, etc.; sometimes single cells are enlarged, and enclose a large crystal of oxalate of lime. As a rule, the epidermal cells enclose colourless, seldom essential oils, starch, etc. In leathery leaves they are, coloured, cell-sap; sometimes other substances, as resins, especially towards the outer side, thickened and covered with a stout cuticle. sisting chiefly of cells filled with chlorophyll, in which Between the two fibres of epidermis lies a tissue conare imbedded the ramifications of the fasciculi. This mis mesophyll is composed in most leaves of two layers: the Single cells of this tissue often enclose, besides chloroThe following is a description of the manufacture of the phyll, crystalline deposits of oxalate of lime, either in "brick-tea" of Thibet, which is spoken of as giving " separate crystals (Hyoscyamus) or in glands (Thea) or in ployment to thousands engaged in the manufacture and powder (Belladonna). In many instances the mesophyll contains cavities filled with essential oils (Ruta, Barosma) portage of tea from Ya-tsow to Ta-tzian-loo :-The tree from which this peculiar kind of tea is manufactured grows in transmitted light as translucently dotted. Amoror separate large oil-cells (Laurus). Such leaves appear chiefly along the banks of the Ya-ho, and, unlike that phous tannin is in the cells of most leaves microchemiwhich produces the tea exported to Europe, is a tall tree, often 15 feet high, with a large and coarse leaf. The cally recognizable; the coarser nerves generally project first quality is gathered in June and July, or shortly makes those delicate ramifications visible which do not at the lower surface, whereas the transmitted light of May, when the leaf is about an inch long. When stand out from the parenchyma. The direct elongagathered, it is spread in the sun till slightly withered, and then rolled with the hand till moist from the exudation of the sap. In this state it is rolled into balls about the size of a large teacup, and laid up till it ferments. It is then ready for the wooden brick-moulds, which are made with the ends movable and fastened by pegs. The moulds, when filled, are dried over charcoal fires until the tea is baked into a tough solid mass. When taken from the moulds, the bricks are ready for delivery to the merchants of Ya-tzow" (p. 172). At the frontier town of Atenze, Mr. Cooper found in the drug-shops an article known as the "grass-caterpillar," to which is attributed the virtue of reproducing youthful vigour. "The body is yellowish, like the Australian edible grub, and resembles a common caterpillar, about 1 inch long, but with a seeming trunk, 14 inch in length, exactly like a stem of dried grass;" this "trunk being, in reality, a parasitic fungus (Sphæria sinensis), which grows from the caterpillar's head. The volume is illustrated with some well-executed | woodcuts and a map. * See page 569. tions and ramifications of the fasciculi vasorum, run ning up from the stalk of the leaf, are called primary Dicotyledonous leaves may be classified as having two direct continuation of the fasciculus of the stalks up to forms of nervation. There is either a single primary nerve, the point of the leaf, and dividing the whole surface into two lateral halves, or the stalk on entering the leaf splits up into several primary nerves diverging towards the edge, radiated nervation (Adiantum, Malta, Tussilago, Aconitum), or converging in circles towards the point, pointed nervation (Arnica, Coca, Saponaria, Erythræa). In the last two cases the central primary nerve is generally stronger, and is called the median nerve, whereas the other weaker nerves are called lateral nerves. Sometimes the leaves are distinguished as mononervous or polynervous from the number of primary nerves. The secondary nerves may likewise be further classified; they or their branches continue to the edge, more or less in a straight line, without intertwining (Scolopendrium, Datura, Achillea, Conium), or they extend in a circle towards the edge, without touching it, and combine into a fine network. A е One of the several subdivisions of leaves contains the aromatic leaves of the Labiates. It includes the non-perennial leaves of labiates, remarkable for their aromatic smells, owing to essential oils; these oils of various composition are exclusively, or at least chiefly contained in excessively developed hair or glands, dispersed sometimes on both sides of the leaf, sometimes only on the under side, frequently sunk into the epidermis between the ordinary hair of the leaves. They generally occur in two distinct forms, differing not only in shape and size, but also in structure and other behaviour; we may call them large and small glands. The small glands (c) form a short hair of one to three cells, the end cell of which is expanded in globular or ellipsoid shape, and is either single or encloses two adjoining secondary cells; the large cells A, B, on a short stalk (s), contain in the perfect state in one primary cell eight secondary cells (a), with extremely delicate walls. These last generate the essential oil, which, exuding at a later period, collects above them, and lifts up the membrane of the primary cell in the shape of a globe (b); this membrane is cuticular, whereas that of the secondary cells shows the reaction of cellulose. At a later period the oil appears to leave the envelope, at least the whole gland system is often wrapped up in an oil-drop, and the surrounding hair is saturated with oil. B Part of a Section from a Leaf of A. Large gland; (a) secondary cells; B. Large gland, seen from above. China. All cargoes of rhubarb had to be deposited in a special warehouse, rhubarb-brake, and underwent a strict examination by experts; every piece was tested by boring into it or breaking it, and nothing but the very best quality was retained, the rest being burnt. The selected pieces were finally prepared by decortication, drying, etc., and were packed most carefully in boxes, which were enveloped in cloth, covered with pitch, and finally wrapped up in hides. Once a year, in winter, cargoes of 400 cwt. each were sent vid Lake Baikal and Irkutsk to Moscow, where it was sold to the pharmacists to the Crown, or to other wholesale houses. After Canton and Macao had been opened to the foreigners, the rhubarb trade took a southern direction, and a new sort appeared in the market, under the name of Chinese or Canton rhubarb, as distinguished from the Russian or Moscow rhubarb. The opening of other Chinese seaports influenced the Russian trade so seriously, that in 1863 the brake at Kiachta was closed altogether, and there is now only one kind of Asian rhubarb. The exterior of the drug, free from powder, shows white or yellowish veins or fibrous tracings, the interstices being filled up by a white mass with fine longitudinal lines of an orange-red or yellow or brownish-red colour (Fig. B). A The section of a cylindrical piece, not too much decorticated, shows an outer bordering of a dark brown, dense, bright layer (cambium layer), about 1 mm. thick; then comes a zone (radiate layer), about 1 cm. thick, of alternately broader white and narrower yellow or red radial stripes, the last of which run out into the cambium layer. hard Considerable ness and density sets off this zone from the next, which is loose, pulpy and powdery, about half the thickness of the previous one, and recognized by The structure of these organs is best laid bare by ex- yellow and red spots; hausting segments of leaves with alcohol and ether, and a simple circle of peplacing them in a drop of solution of chloride of zinc culiar small systems of and iodide of potassium. The two forms of glands are streaks separates the connected by their development. In the small glands last zone from the cenone surface-cell, by repeated division in a horizontal di- tral pithy mass, which rection, results in the stalks containing several cells, after is of a similar character. which the end cell expands globularly, and generally Larger pieces of the divides into two secondary cells by the formation of a vertical diaphragm. In the large glands horizontal division produces two cells, one above the other, the lower of which becomes the stalk-cell, and the upper one, by repeated vertical partition, composes the gland body. Examination of young leaves clearly shows the different stages of development. We should wish to give many more instances of the scientific treatment of the different subjects, and our only difficulty consists in the selection of some article more valuable than the rest. We will take one on a well-known drug,-rhubarb; which, will bear out our assertion that the author has a singular facility in combining scientific observations with practical remarks. Until the latter part of the past century Russia was the only country which supplied the European market with rhubarb, and since 1728 exclusively vid Kiachta, a Siberian frontier town, south-east of Lake Baikal. The trade in this drug was a monopoly of the Russian Government, in consequence of a treaty between Russia and B top of the root, which are well decorticated, do not show these regular sequels of distinct layers; the cambium does not show at all, the radiate layer is generally only indicated, and it is mostly followed by united veins of different size (fig. A), which run deep into the interior, or frequently also to the outside. According to the decortication the pieces consist either entirely of the woody substance, a proper pith being absent, or they show part of the inner bark; this, corresponding to the liber, consists of extended amylaceous parenchyma cells and crystal fibres, and of cribriform tubes. The white primary mass belongs to the texture of the ligneous bundles; the yellow, red, or reddish-brown stripes, rays, lines and spots are pithy rays, in two or four rows or round cells with thin membranes; the ligneous bundles consist of amylaceous parenchymatic elements with crystal cells, each of which encloses oxalate of lime. The peculiar, and for Asiatic rhubarb characteristic, |