Erigeron canadensis, Ricinus communis, Cucurbita Pepo, Phytolacca decandra, Prunus domestica, Prunus serotina, Quercus alba, Rhamnus Purshiana, Rhus glabra, Rubus villosus, Seronoa serrulata, Saccharum officinarum, Salvia officinalis, Sassafras sassafras, Scutellaria lateriflora, Aristolochia reticulata, Sinapis alba, Brassica nigra, Spigelia marilandica, Stillingia sylvatica, Datura Stramonium, Taraxacum officinalis, Pinus palustris, Ulmus fulva, Viburnum prunifolium, Agropyron repens, Zea Mays, Fagara Clava Herculis.

Among the Texas plants the following may be mentioned as of interest either on account of the properties they possess or because closely related to official species :

Acacia farnesiana is known in Texas as huisache, chiefly found in the arid region along the lower Rio Grande. It sometimes attains the height of thirty feet, usually less; the branches form a spreading, round head. The leaves are sensitive to weather, the opposite leaflets closing together at night or when cloudy, and open after sunrise or as the sky brightens. The bark is reddish-brown, thin, irregularly broken, exfoliating in large, thin scales. The trunk is seldom over a foot in diameter; the wood is hard, compact and durable. It is of a rose-red color, used to some extent for cabinet work, but serves principally for fuel. The wood and pods contain considerable tannin, a decoction of the latter with an iron salt being used by the Mexicans to make ink. The seeds, when chewed, smell and taste like garlic. The flowers, which appear in February and March, are yellow, and very fragrant, reminding one of the odor of a violet, only more intense; the perfume is carried by a breeze for quite a distance. Several years ago Messrs. Schimmel & Co. subjected the oil obtained from the flowers to thorough investigation, and published their results in their semiannual reports (1899-1904). The tree yields a gum resembling in appearance and qualities acacia, more so than the mesquite gum. Very little use is made of the flowers in Texas, although there has been some inquiry relative to them by perfumers. The yield of a tree would be little, if any, in excess of two pounds of dried flowers. Locally they are sometimes used medicinally in the form of an infusion for a sedative; aphrodisiac pro perties are also ascribed to them.

Sophora secundiflora, or coral bean, contains sophorine; by Mexicans the bean is sometimes used as an intoxicant. The resulting exhilaration is followed by a long, deep sleep. An overdose produces convulsions and death.

Glycyrrhiza lepidota resembles liquorice root in taste, and contains about five per cent. glycyrrhizin.

The cassias are well represented, but none of them seem to possess the active properties of the official varieties.

Aside from the official species of coniferæ we have Juniperus occidentalis, monosperma, pachyphloea, flaccida, oxycedrus and virginiana. Pinus

edulis furnishes an edible nut, and yields an oil having a lemon like odor, and otherwise also seems to differ from the turpentine oils.

Juniperus pachyphloea yields, by tapping the trunk, a light-colored, thick oleoresin, which is used to some extent in urinary disorders. Ephe. dra antisyphilitica is known on the plains of Texas as canatilla. It is a shrub with numerous equisetum-like branches, two to four feet high, the leaves being merely bracts. The plant contains considerable tannin. It is used in the form of an infusion or decoction in the treatment of gonorrhoea and syphilis. In the former ailment it is used both as an injection and internally. In excessive doses it has been known to cause strangury.

Of the Chenopodiaceæ there are Chenopodium ambrosioides, capitatum, album, botrys and others; the latter is known as Mexican tea, and used as a tonic and anthelmintic.

Twenty or more species and varieties of Croton are found, many of which are used in the place of tea or coffee as stimulants. No unfavorable results have been noticed from drinking the infusion and the effect is said to be pleasant.

Aside from the official Stillingia, linerifolia, augustifolia, spinulosa and dentata are prevalent. Jatropha macrorhiza has a large globular rhizome with emetic and purgative properties. It is kept in drug-stores along the Mexican border and is known as Jalapa.

Krameria parvifolia, ramosissima, canescens and secundiflora grow here. The latter in medicinal properties seems the equal of the official and also in tannin content. Several of the Polygalas of Texas have the properties of the official. The Polygonacea are well represented by plants containing tannin. A few years ago the Canagre plant came into considerable prominence and to some extent the plant is still cultivated. Eriogonum longifolium is considered by old settlers a specific for flux and is still used quite extensively by the laity. In the early days a settlement near Dallas became afflicted, and the death-rate from it reached nearly the limit until use was made of an infusion of the root of this drug which locally is known as red root. The cures were rapid, and it is said there were no further fatal cases, when used in time. It contains about fifteen per cent. of tannic acid, some resin, emodin, a wax and a red coloring matter.

The berries of Karwinskia Humboldtiana are poisonous, producing paralysis of the spinal chord. The poison seems to reside in the seeds, as the pulp can be eaten without ill effect. Other Rhamnae are R. lanceolata, Caroliniana, Californica, the latter is used to some extent for rheumatism. We have upwards of twenty species and varieties of Eupatorium, some of them being used as diaphoretics, in fevers; others, notably purpureum, are used in kidney troubles, some considering the latter a specific for gravel. Some of them have an agreeable odor, which would indicate the presence of coumarin. E. hyssopifolium has a reputation as a snake-bite remedy. In this connection it might be stated that the number of venomous bite

remedies are quite numerous and known by Mexicans as the Yerbas de la vibora. Of the more prominent is Calophanes linearis (Acanthaceae). This is used by them externally as a poultice and internally by chewing. The plant is practically tasteless and seemingly devoid of active properties. There are those who will on payment of a small fee allow themselves to be bitten by a rattler, if permitted to make use of this antidote.

The most common of the Berberideæ are B. trifoliata, Fremonti, Swaseyi and repens, the latter containing a large amount of berberine. The fruit is an acid berry of an agreeable flavor.

The last plant I wish to note is the Larrea Mexicana or creosote-bush which covers the prairies west of the Pecos. It contains an acid resin, a wax and a red coloring matter. The resin is said to be identical with shellac, and has been used to some extent for like purposes. The infusion is quite acrid and is used externally as an application for rheumatism and neuralgia. It is also used for dyeing leather red, and on account of its abundance and the intense heat it gives off, for fuel in lime-kilns.

The paper was ordered received and referred for publication.

The Chair stated that the next paper was one on hydrastis culture, by Mr. Lloyd, but as the author was not present, it would be read by title and referred, without objection, and the members could read it at their leisure. It was so ordered. The following is the text of the paper:

AN EXPERIMENT IN HYDRASTIS CULTURE.

JOHN URI LLOYD.

Whoever has kept track of the phases and conditions of the hydrastis subject during the past thirty years is aware that it has required no spirit of prophecy to foresee the early necessity of hydrastis culture. In the publication "Drugs and Medicines of North America," 1885, the writer went into some detail over both the confronting condition, and the approaching problem to which reference has just been made.

With this brief introduction the following note on an experiment in hydrastis culture is offered, in hopes that it may be of use to interested parties just beginning to appreciate present conditions.

Experiment 1. In the hydrastis section of Kentucky, where, in a natural beech woodland undisturbed by the axe, hydrastis grew naturally in beds and had never been collected for the market, these experiments were instituted. The following report may therefore be taken as a statement of fact concerning the result of transplanting the drug, under the conditions given.

Beginning the first of May, and ending with the drying of the plant in the fall, lots of from ten to fifty pounds of green hydrastis obtained from different collectors were planted in rows, about two feet apart, the plants being separated from each other about six inches in the row. From ten

to one hundred pounds a day were sometimes planted, and again, only fifty or one hundred pounds in a week.

Result. All of this hydrastis grew that season. Where the tops had died during shipment of the drug, the root immediately threw up new plants from the reserve buds. Without any loss whatever, the transplanting succeeded. The following season, that which had been first planted came up first. The stalks also grew more thriftily than did those planted later, and it was observed that the stalks from the roots set out at the end of the season were very feeble, as compared with the roots transplanted the last of April and the first part of May. Indeed, a person looking over the woodland bed would observe that the plants earliest set out, stood from one to even two feet in height, and from thence the crop successively decreased in height, until at the extreme side of the patch, the

Showing full-sized Hydrastis in the background, and cutting sprouts in the foreground.-

June.

stalks from the drug set out late in the season were very feeble, and scarcely six inches high.

The result of this experiment indicates that the earlier the drug is transplanted in the springtime, the better is the chance for its succeeding year's robustness, although scarcely any difference in vigor was observed the season of transplanting. This, however, does not apply to roots transplanted after the top has dried in the fall, no record of which is named herein.

Experiment 2. Five different lots, ten pounds each, of fresh green

hydrastis from different points in Kentucky, were planted in a woodland thicket with a southeast exposure, said thicket being so dense as to prevent the hot sun beating into it during the summer. In all cases, the plants remained green, thriving during the whole summer. They are shown in the background of Figure No. 1, which was taken one month after transplanting.

At the same time, a lot of fresh goldenseal root was cut into pieces, each piece bearing one or more reserve buds. These were set in a bed in the foreground (see illustration) of the afore-described garden, so as to be under identical conditions. Nearly all of them promptly sprouted, and within two or three weeks produced thrifty-looking small plants, one thousand in number, as shown in the bed in the foreground of Figure No. 1. Figure No. 2 shows such root-cuttings (natural size), with their delicate sprouts.

Showing Hydrastis root-cuttings sprouted from the reserve bud.

The next spring, all the old plants showed their heads promptly the latter part of April, and by the first of May were of the size shown in the background of Figure No. 3. Seemingly the entire crop of the full size roots uprose, none being lost. The cuttings, however, shown in the foreground of Figure No. 1, failed to sprout; with the exception of sixteen very feeble plants, as shown in the barren foreground of Figure No. 3, the cross indicating where stood the thousand plants that sprouted so en