the end of branchlets or on axillary shoots, pentamerous, bisexual. " The Strychnine tree is handsome, and when in flower is at once recognized by the strong odour of turmeric which the flower gives off (Gamble). Peduncle ½-2in. Calyx 5-parted, persistent, ¼-1/5 the size of Corolla ; lobes acute. Corolla valvate, hypogynous, regular, tubular, or funnel-shaped, with a 5-lobed, reflexed, short limb. Tube ¼-⅓in. long ; glabrous at the throat, lobes valvate, about |in. long, glabrous, a few conical hairs down the tube, Stamens 5, epipetalous in the throat of the Corolla-
tube, alternating with the Corolla-segments. Ovary free, 2-celled, style filiform, glabrous, as long as the Corolla-tube. Stigma 2-lobed. Fruit a berry, globose, smooth, indehiscent, orange-sized, orange-coloured when mature, rind shell-like ; full of a soft, white, intensely bitter, jelly-like pulp, with 2-5 seeds immersed in it. Seeds ½in. diam., circular, discoid, shining, light-silvery grey, silky, having one surface convex, the other concave, with a small foveola in the centre of each side.
Mr. James Small communicated to the Pharmaceutical Society of great Britain at an evening meeting in London, on Tuesday, April 8th, 1913, the following important note on False Nux- Vomica seed.
"A new kind of nux-vomica seed was recently sent over from Burma and offered to manufacturers, bub on examination it was found to contain no strychnine. The seed is of a light grey colour externally and yellow internally. The yellow endosperm is much lighter in colour than that of Strychnos Nux-vomica, which is usually dark grey and more translucent. The outer surface is densely covered with closely appressed hairs. The seed is flattened, round, or elliptical, and has a ridge around the edge where the two disc-shaped masses of endospern meet. There is no trace of bitterness in the taste, which in itself is good proof of the total absence of strychnine.
Transverse radial sections of the seed were cut and examined. The three tissues present are the endosperm, the layer of collapsed parenchyma, and the hairs. The internal mass of endosperm is almost identical with that of Strychnos Nux-vomica. The outermost layer, shows a slight difference. In the genuine nux-vomica seed the cells of this layer have frequently more or less triangular ends, while in the false seed these cells are more usually square-ended. These cells vary somewhat and square ends occur rather too frequently in the genuine seed to permit of any diagnostic value being attached to this character. The layer of parenchyma, is the same in both seeds. The bases of the hairs, are practically identical, but the angle which the rest of the hair makes with the hair base is slightly
