IIDITORIAL DEPARTMENT. :.!i5

there is a very spe cial, and very important, and very frequent clinical variety of neurasthen ia (nerv ous CX·

hau.stion), to which the term sexua l neurasthen ia may pr operly be applied . The lat e Dr . Bea rd, the author of th is work , was an enthu si as t on this sub­ject, and had his life been s pared, be eventu ally would have developed and systematized his idea s into pra ctica l app licat ion . Opi n'ons ha ve differed and will continue to diffe r as to the valu e of some of his suggestion s. and conclusions upon this . as well as upo n man y oth er the mes with which bis t hought and pen were co nsta ntly busy; but th at most of them were o rigina l-s tampe d with his own individuality . and pr esen ted in such a cle ar and live ly way as to com pel a tte ntion-all must agree . The autho r d is­cusses bis subject und er the following heads, viz :

1. ~atu rc and Vari eties of Neurasthenia.

~-

Evo 1ution and Relation ol the Sexual Sen ~c. Re la tion of Neura sthen ia to oth er d isca!'-c~. Sexual H ygiene . Diagn osis and Pr og nosis. Illustrat ive Case s. Treatment of Sexual r-.:carasth cnia. Diet for the ~c n·o us .

.\nyt hing and everything re lati ng t o the scxu.il :lpv a.ratu s anti its diseases. command attent ion . Th e ps yc hi cal rath er. pcrhap :,., th :u th e im mt..'diatc phy sica l cffec1s which cn~ue on a «le r.-1ngcmcn t, or a fancied de ran1,:cmcnt, ,,r th c!-c ori:;ans, ar c :it the root o { a la rg e congeric~ of distinc t an<l inJi~tin f t, rcal a nd imaginary, a ilments. The work \\·hi ch shall ~uccced in <lisco,·e rinJ.: the real na lllre of a ..-tual d is­

•;, se an~ in exposing the folly of broodin1t on fancied d isease a5sodatcd with the o rg:an~ of procreation will be a b04..lfl, cspcd ally to yo ung men , a lthough J·ou ng wome n an<l cn:n ol der peo ple. of both ~cxcs. woul d not in fre quen t ly profit t,y suc h a work. The author had his speci a l ideas rel a!ive to the se: affect ions and he has gi, ·en them , clearly and succi nctly. in th e book bef ore us . \Yhether he is right or wr on .:-. time and observation will de ­ter mine . We ar e onl y sorry his life was not spared to learn practic al!)• the results of h is theory , and to carry it out to its fullnes s. It is a n intere sting book to read . Much good can be learned fro m it , and we recommend it to eve ry intelligent ph y!tid an to read it. 7 I ,11u,ulit11 u t1/ tlu f,l,- ~1· v ... r.t .11~,,,.o Clr ir nr J,·l, .,, s,. ,.,.,.,_

1!83 . \Vhi lc the Soci ety, of whos e mectinJ:S 1he beauti ful

, ·olumc of 163 pa~e~ before u , is a report, ha ~ no disti nct ive name. it is app ar ent from its published papers an d di scussio ns. that i t is co mpo se d or gl·ntk­me n who belic,·c in the dom inance of the la,, · nf similia similih us cunmlur in thtra pc:mics. 1t is also appar en t, ho wc, ·er, that these, ge ntleme n art· eciuca.1ccl anrl intellig e nt. Th ey a rc no t boun d ha nd ancl foot bv th is dogma , nor arc they slaYL'S 10 infini1t.~sirnal d~s age . Perhaps it is not th e prop C'r thing to class ify ~uch ge ntl emen as hom<E:opath ~. an<t m ore espe ci.lll)' so wh en the y the msckcs ha ve droppe d the: <ti~tincti\"C ap pellati on. A homa:opath is ruled by his doJ.:ma, and when he yield s the point tha t · ·h ie doi;:ma i!li n ot unh ·er"'ally appli cabl e as a ,a.:uidc tu 1herapcut ics, he cea~e~ to be a hom rr.op at h . The i:ent lcmcn o l the N. Y. ~lcdic o -Chi ruri:ic:il Socic 1y h.tve, there fo re, been emin en tly consistent in <lrop­J,1in1,r the ti tl e anJ ta kin~ th ei r !i-land on 1hc broad platform of the physici a n.

Ne \\" Rewt:die :s.

Some Afric&D Kolas , in Their Botu ical, Chemical &ad Therapeutical Aspech . • -Among the vegetabl e produ cts of the African soil, th ere is perhap s none more int erest ing and valuable th an th ose wh ich under the va rious name s of ••kola, · · •• gourou. " '"o m benC ," •• nangouC " and •• kok. korokou." arc used as articles of co nsumption th rougho ut tropical and equato rial Africa , as cquiva. lent to tea, coffee, mate and cacao. Used under the form of seeds , probably from time imm emor ial , by the native tribes , these product s arc of varyin g bot anic or igin , and their history has been up to the pre sent time imperfec tly known ; but th e autho rs ha \·e been able to avail themse lves of the observa tions of some recent travelers to clear up some obscure points .

The prod uct s which arc included by the au thors undtr the name " kola " (the ,·arious synonym ... quoted being speci a l to part icular cou ntries ) consis t of se eds, yielded by t wo fam ilies of pla nts and di f. fcrinJ.: very m uch in app earance . The k.ind m o~t widely distribu ted , the " tr ue kola," ' wh ich by som L· of the natives is called the •· (err.rt.le kola.·· comes from the Ste rculiace~e : an oth er va riet, ·, ca lled by th e a utho r "false kol a ," is known a monJ.!· the ncgroes ac. simply •• kola," o r '' male kola. " IJdorc the aut hors · :-ese:uches only the ·· tru e .. o r ··female " kol a wa ~ kn o wn, and it had been asccr1aincrt to be vieldcd b\· the Stc-rculia acum in at a. J>. 1le Beau,·. (Coia acu mir;. a t.1, R . Br . ). To th is ~fessr~. 1-fcr.keJ an d Schlag­de nhau ffen arc ahle nnw 10 adrt in£nrmali on co ncern­ing the .. male· · kola. h ith crw unkn o wn, an d to gi,·e reasons fc,r belic,· inK that vari ous ot her spccic:s oi Ster culia . besides S. acu m ina1a, yield kola seeds.

Dealing first with ·· lcma le ·· kola. the authors de. sc ribe at le ngth Stercu lia acumi na1a from specimens . the: des criptio n agreei ng with c >liver'$ desc ription of var . fl (FI. Tr op. A f. i., 22 0). According to the hcst info rmati on. the tre e- which is from 30 to (KJ feet h igh . an d rn gen eral aspl"ct re se mb le~ the chest nu1-grows wild upon the \'fcst ern coast of Afr ica co m ­prised be tw een Sierra Le one and the Co ng o or Low er Guinea, reaching into the in terio r about five or six hunctred m iles. where it appears to follow the limit s of the palm . Upo n the eas tern co ast i t appears 10 be unknown in pla ce:c. where it has not been intro­duced by the Engl ish. Dr. Schwcinlurth. spcakin~ o f the country of the f\ yam s- Nyam s, near lake Nyanta , sa ys that among th e impo:!!oing forms of \'egetat io n a Sterculia of the kol a k ind predomin ate ~ and is call ed locally " kokko rokou... In the countr y of the )l o mboutou s (2~ • E. long ., J N. lat . I. too. upon asking fo r kola he was su ppl ied with the frui t . in its r >"e-colore d envelope : bu t th e onl)· info rmatio n he could ubt ain there co ncer ning it was that the nut ~ wer e found in th e co untry in the wild !-tatc and were calle d " nang oul:" by the natives. who chc\\·e<l s lice~ of it wh ilst s moking . Kar sten, in his ·· F lore de Colom bf e." dcs crilJes the plant as gr o wing w ild in the m ois t hl")t woods near lh e ~outh ern co ,tst of \ "tne­zuela . but 1he .author!'-hdic\'e it was probably intr o­duced th ere about the same time a~ it was in1rodu ced int o M.uti nic1ue, a.nd that it wa ~ so wn by Afr ican negr oes , who br oui:ht it into th o:,c co untr ies in th r same manner as they are known to h.tvc intr od ucc<l S. cordiro lia fo r th e ~ak c of its delicious fruit. It ha ~ also been intr odu ced St!CCcHfully by th e English iu the Eas t 1ndit~ . the Se\'ch elles, Ce \·lon, Dem crar:. . Oomin ica, Mauritius. Sidney and Za nzi l.Jar, and hy the Fr enc h recen tly at Guadel oupe . Cayenne . Cochi11 Chin a a nd lhc (;aLoon . In all thc~t stauons th <: kola tre e Oouri~hcs bc:,t in mui~t lands at the !tea. level, or a litt le abov e. Al Sierra Leone so m e ftnt ·

• Ab'\tr.i.~ t o( a 1t:nl(th)' mrrnu.r read bdnre: tht· 1·n1 1111 ~it ti1i,1u(" drs Ph.i.rma ci<"R"I d(" t- r:tnct- hr t:. H ,:c kc l ;and I· Schl;aJ,;dcnhaullcn. (journ . Pharm. cl 1lc Ch1m 1c. uj . \ 11. p . ~ SJ ; v iii, p . 8 1, 1,;,.

276 TIIE THERAPEUTIC GAZETTE.

trees are found at an elevation of 200 to 300 metres, but not higher than that.

The k ola tree commences to yield a crop about its fourth or fifth year, but ir is not until about its ten th year that it is in full bearing. A single tree will then yield an average of 12 0 lbs. of seeds annually. The flowering is nearly con tinu ous after the tree reaches maturity, so that a large tree bears flowers and fruit at the same time . There are two colle ction s ; the June flowering yielding the fruit in Octo ber and November, and that of November and December in ~fay and June. When the fruit is ri pe it tak es a brownish yellow colo r. In this condition dchi scence (l ( the capsule commences alo ng the ventral sutur e, exp osing red and white seeds in the same shell. · It is at thi s period that they arc gather ed. It has been ~tated that there exist two varie ties of kol a, one ~·iclding exclu s ively red sc etls and the uth.:r whit e ; lmt the aut hors have been repeate d ly a ssure d that this is not the case , and that one and th e same capa su le may contain fifteen seeds varyi nK con~i<lcrnbly in size , white and red togeth er, without the white being considered lc!o,S rip e tha n the r ed The carpel s are from 6 to tJ cent imetr e$ long and 3 t o :, thick and the ~pongy pericarp is ab out 2 or 3 millimetres thick. A s ma ny as fi\'e o r six ripe carp els may result fro m a single flower, and the se ma)' each contain lrom five l o fiftee n se eds : but som etimes car pels ar c met with containing only a single se ed . The seed s removed fr om the ir envelope weigh, a ccording to their deve la u pment , from s to 25 or 28 grams. T he epiderm is th e princ ipal site of the coloring matter, a nti beneath it the co tyledona ry tis sue consi sts of a mas~ or cell s ..:urged with larg e starch granule~ compar able to po tato starch. It is in these that the alk alo ids ca f. fe ine and the CJbromine a re found in the free state .

T he collection is condu cted with great care and is mad e by women. The seeds :>.re remov ed from the husk and freed fro m the epispcrm. In order to main . ta.in their valu e among the ncgr ocs it is ne cess ary to keep them in a fit state and in good condit illn . They

. are, the refor e, ca.rc fully picked O\'Cr, all damaged a nd worm -eaten seeds being rem oved , an<l the sound seed s arc then placed in large ba sket s. made o f barl: and lined with " bal" leav es (Ster culia acuminata, Car., or S. het cro phylla . n eauv .?>; th e seeds ar c heap ed up and then CO\'Cred O\'e r with more " ba l " lca \'es which, by th eir thickne ss, rc :i.i!1itancc and cJimen sions, contr iLute not a little to the prese rvati o n ol th e seeds by keep ing th em from co nta ct with dry a ir. Pac ked in thi s ma nn er the seeds can be tran s­p'lrt ed cons iderable d i:i.tanc es , rema ining fr ee from rno uld for about a mon th , Juring wh ich time it is not necess ary 10 submit them to any treatm ent in order to preserve th em fresh beyo nd kee ping the "bal " lea\'eS moist. But if it Le des ired to keep them Ucynn d that time the oper ati ons of picking .1nd re-pac king have to be repeated ab out e \'cry thi r1y day s : the i,.ecds being wa she d in fresh water and fres h " bal " leaves placed in the bas kets. The baskets usu:til) ' <.:on tain :ibo ut 3 cwts . of seecls. lt is in th i!I-('0114.tition that ·' ko la " is sent into c;am::>i.1 ant.I l; o rt·c , where 1he prin cipal dcalin~ s in the seeds ar c carr i<:d nn. In Gam bia they ar c so ld in th e fre sh sta le to mer cha nts travel ing with ca.ra\'an s in to the int erinr. wh o dry them in the sun and reduce them to a line powder , \\'hich i~ useJ , m ixcU with milk and hoo ey, by the trib es or the inter ior to mal.:t a very .tj,.:r ccal, \c, stimu ­lati ng and nour ishing bt\'t :ragc . It most frequen tly arriv es a t So kota a.nd Kuuka in the Soudan and Tim ­buc too , where la r~e sales o! the seeds a re made. in the fres h co nditi on : fro m the Soud an marke ts it is carri ed Uy carava ns to Tri p(>li, and fro m Timli uc too into Mo rocco. As might be ex pected the ea lue of the Kola increases as it ma kes i1s way int o th e in ­terior of Afr ica , an d the auth ors stat e that so me of the tri bes furth c!l rem o \•cd fro m the sea pay fo r the dry powde r with an equal we ight o f gold ·Just. Kola play s an imp ortant part in the social life of many of the African tribe s, and the au tho rs menti on some of the occ asi ons up on whi ch it is used in terms almost HJcnti cal with those in a paper rca<l at an evening

meeting of the Pharmace utica l Society eighteen years ago (Pharm. Journ., [2], vi., 450). An interchange of white kola between two chiefs is jndicative of friend ship and peace, whilst the sendi ng of red kola is an act of defia nce . An offer of marriage is acco m. pan ied by a present of white kola for the mother of the lady; the return of white kola is equiva lent to acceptance of the suit, wh ilst red means rejection. The absenc e ol a supply o f kol a from among the mar­riage pre sents woulc\ endanger the whole arrange­me nt. All the oaths arc administered in the presence of kola seeds ; the neg ro stretch es ou t his hand ove r the m ,vhilst he swears anJ eats them afterwards.

Fresh kola i~ used as a masticatory, as is also the dried powder, by the trib es in the interi or. When fresh the taste of th e seeds is first sweet, then ast rin a gsnt and finally bitter. When the seeds become dry the bittern es s d iminishes, gi\·ing place to a swe eter fla\'or; bu t upo n steeping them in water for a couple o r day~ th e original bitternes s is nearly resto red. Preferen ce is given for mastication to seeds con tain­ing only 1wo cotyl~d onary scgmcncs , it being as se rted th a t they are le!-S rough than th ose with fou r to six segment~ ; but the auth o rs <lid no t find anything in th eir chem ical exam inat ion to e"Xplain this preference. T he pra ctice of kola mast icati on, which is a lways aeco a1pan ie<l by the swa llowing of the saliv a, docs not in jur iously affect the teet h, as is the cas e with the betel nut, but tend s to ren der the gum ~ firm, and exer cises a ton ic influence on the dige st ive orga ns. The seeds arc reputed to clari fy a nd re nder heal thy th e mos t foul water ~. and to render ta inted meat cdil>le, and when chewe d . either fre sh o r as a dry po wde r, and the saliva s wall owed, to be a su re pre­,·enti\ ·e again st dy~entu y. They arc also said, like er ythr oxyl o n C•,L t. IO posse~s the phys iological prop . crty of ena bling perso ns eating th em to underg o pr o­longed exertio n with out fat igue , which is pro bably to be attributed to the caff eine they co ntain . Furt her it is said that kola exer cises a favorable influence upon th• li\'cr. and th at whit e peop le , living in those regi ons. who chew a sma ll quantity befor e mea ls escape constitut ional cha nges due to a ffectio ns of th at organ . Th ey are also believed by the negroe s to ha ,..e a phro disiac propertie s. With re spec t to the a~sert io n tha t the pulp or po wde r of the seed s th rown int o (oul wat er ha s the property ef clea ning it, an ex. pcriment made by the auth o rs would appear to sho w that any actio n in thi s dire ction would be due to the form a tio n or a kind of mu cilage , which ,•oul d act mechani ca lly like the whit e ol an egg.

It has been poin ted out that the nam e "k ola .. is a pp lied in Af rica in<liffcre ntl) ' to !lievernl Stcrcula­ceous ~eeds other than th ose of the tw o \'ari cties or C<.>..:a acuminat a , nlthou~h thes e are the moM valu ed in th e na.ti\' c mark ets. ' It is proba ble that the Afri. ca n pl:rnts capah lc of yieldin~ sec, ls rcsc ml>ling the tru e kola or Cc.ila Oup:irquetiana, HaHI.. C. ficifolia, Mas t. , C. hete rop hy lla. )la st., C. cordilol ia, Cax .. a ncl perha ps Sterc uha to mentosa . !l end . Hut the a uth ors th ink it dou btfu l whether the se seed s conta in caff eine, o ther wi!-c they woul d be as much sough t a fter ns th e tru e k1Jla.

In orde r to de ter min e chemi ca lly the co mp osit ion o f koln st:e ds . th e :,uth or!li mad e a large num ber of ex. periment s: the detai ls ft)) man y pa!;eS in the orig inal pa per. T he dr y sced t, wer e first op erate d upon, a nd the pro,c ss wh ich app ear ed to give the bes t re sult s was to exhau !-1 the <lrie<l powder succcs~ ivcl~· with chlorofo rm a nd alco hol. Th e chloroform per colate wa!il a yctlo wi~h liqui d : thi s was evap orat ed to dr) 1•

ne ss, and the res idue treated with water, whi ch sep · arate<l a fatty substan ce with an odor recalling that of cacao bu tt er and en tirel y ~apo nifiable by caustic potash . Th e yellow liquid u :,on con centration alt er filtrat ion. deposited <ilk)' needle s of caffe ine, but when the solution was ra pidly evapo ra ted and the residue treated wi th water, ether or chloroform, it no longer co mpletely disso lved without using a consid ­era ble quant ity and bo iling, and upon tu ch a so lution cooling a sma ll quantity of a compou nd cr ys talli zed out in micro~cop ic pri sms and octa hedr a wh ich

PERISCOP IC DEP ARTME.i.~T.

proved to be theobromine. The substances separated · by chl_orofo r m from the dry nuts. were-caffeine , 2.348 pe r cent.; thcobromi ne. o .u:3 per cent .; tannin. 0.027 per cent.; fat , o. 583 per cent.

The kola powder was then dried and exhausted with alcohol. A mah og an y colorcd extract was ob­tained which when treated with boiling water dis­solved entirely, but the solution on cooling deposited a large quantity of coloring matter. The aqueous solution was precipitated with triplumbic acetate, the precipitate decomposed with sulphurcucd hy c.lrogcn, and a liquid obtained, free from bitterness, c11:1tain­ing a considerable quantity of a tannin giving an in­tense green color with persalts or iron, and a solubl e colorin g matt er that fo rmed lakes in contact with metallic solutions; the residue of the aqu eou s solu . tion. after rem oval of excess of lead. was found to contain only glu cos e and a small quanti ty of fixed salts. The coloring matter depo sited upon the cool­ing of the boiling wate r used in dissolving the alco­holic extract differed in its nature from the soluhle colo r ing matter. It ap peared to be an oxidation pro. duct from the tann in and presented considerable analogy to cinchona red ~ in orde r to distinguish it. the re fo re, the authors have nam ed it "kola red ."

The compositi o n of th e a lcoholic extra ct fron 'I the dry nuts (;.826 per cent.) was found to be -t a nn in , 1. ;9 1 per cent.; ko la red , 1.2g<> per cent.; g lucose, 2.87; per cent.; fixed salts, 0.070 per cent .

The entire composition of the kola nut is com­pared by the auth ors with that of tea, coffee and cacao as follows :

-=-

!} I!_

~

Tc-a Green Blac k

Fat . . ... . .... .. ..... SJ oo ! 13.0Q 0 .28 0 . 595 Proteid Matters .. . 13 oo i 13 oo 3 .no , 80 #i. 7~1

~tr:~~'.~~:-·· ~:5~ 1 -~:,~ : 0. , 3 o.,.. :-~:! &,~ential Oil. . o.o.t ~ 0 .003 o . i'> o fu . undct. Re1tn .. .. . .. ... . . ... . , ..... 3.6,

~~h:::::::: ...... -~:~.} 15.jo -1 Gum .. .. ..... ... .... 8. ss 7.,8 Cellulose. . .. ... . _14 oo t;.o8 26 . 18

C:oloring Mauers . . 17 '24 19 .20 ColotiDJ Matters .. 5.00 , .n 1.8 , Extractive. . .. . 2J .8o 19 SS Tannin . .... . . . 17 .~ n .83

t~~te~::::·::.-:::: ... l:~ -:~:~1 .::~~ ~- ~~

-- - ---- - !- ­IC,..) 00 1...,,,--,_.-.-, 100 . 00 l l"0 . 00 ---- - - -

2.S75 13 754

: . OAO , .j.8; 1 , . 56 1

I -~:~ ·~

The se result s. it is pointed out, differ somewhat from those obtained by A11ficld (P harm. Journ. [2], vi, 457, ) es pecially in the recogniti on of the presence of a second alkaloid and of tannin. The proportion of caffeine is higher than that observed in any coffee, o r, except in rare instances , in tea, and exceeds that of :.hcobromine in cacao. Th e alk aloid exists in ko1a, as in tea, uncombined, but in coffee, according to Payen, it is present as chlorogcnate of potassium and caffeine. It is worth mentioning that the aut hors report the presence of a con side ra ble proportion of ca ffeine and some theobromine in the pcricarp, but the material at the ir dis pos al was too scanty for an ex haust ive investigation in th is direct ion. The ltaves , wood and Uark were al so examin ed (or alka­loid, but gave negative results. As in the case of coffee, kola undergoes a consi derable loss o f caffeine (th ree-fourths) during roasting, wh ile the quantity of essential oil present is augmented.

Some exp eriments have been made with this kind of kola in the treatment of the at on ic diarrhrea to which Europeans are frequently liable in trop ica l count ries. The result s have been fairly sati s factory, and through the efforts of M. Heck el th e medicine has been supplied to some Fre a ch colo nial stat ions for a ~y,tcmatk rria1. Th r- prer,arations used arc an

aqueous extrart, an alc oholic extr act and a wine. The alc oholic extract is made b~· exhausting fres h kola with 5 part s of 6o ' a lcohol and the wine hr macerating the same proponions of knla in a swee ·t white wine during a fortnight. Neither of chese pre­parations, howe\·er . completely exhaust the kola. at least as far as the caffeine is concerned . The pre. para tion of an aqueous extract presents cons ide rab le difficulty in consequence of the quantity of starch . which fo rms an unmanageable magma .

Conc.:erning the •• male kola " or " kola bitter." as before stated, nothing definite was kn ow n , and as re­cently as the year 1382, it was referred errone ous ly to a species of Sterculia. In the ·· Flora of Tr opica l Africa ," Oliver says : .. The kola bitte r of Fernando. Po is the produ ct of trees belonging to the Guttifcr:e . The authors were led by this rema rk to attempt to obtain from \'arious parts of the eastern coast spe ci ­mens of th e plant yielding · · J.:ola biucr, ·• and a l­though the flowers did not rea ch them they recei\' ctl speci men s of the branches , leaves an d fru its. together wit h a sufficient quantity of !ieeds to allow of a com­plete analysis being made All the specimens re­ceived from \·arious place s cor res ponded in their chara cte rs, an<l · sho wed that the ko la bitter is the produce <)fa single Guttiferous !!pecies, and not uf se\•eral. From the materia l at their disposal the auth ors refer it 10 a new species, Ga rcinia Kola . He ck.cl. * The plant is desc ribed as a tr~e of \"ariab le aspect, 10 to 20 feet in hcigh1 , bearing towards the base of the branches large op posi te leaves ( 12 inches long by i inches broad ,J with short petioles, whi lst a t the extr emity of the bran ches the leaves are mu ch smaller (5 inches by 2 inches). The leave s arc ova!. s' ightly dilat ed at the base, mucronatc at the apex . with out stipu les, full green on the upper surfa ce and greyish underneath. The fru it is a berry the siz e of an apple, with a rugose epiderm covered entir cI~­with rough hairs. It presents thre e or four divisions. each cont ainin g a large oval cuneiform seed, rounded o n the external and angu lar on the interna l face: the seeds are cove red with an abundant sou ri sh yellow. ish pulp, co nstituting a true ar illus. The fruit has at the base the persistent caly x still adherent to the peduncle, and sometimes the persistent corolla, an d at the apex the persistent stigma. The plant is re. pone<l to occur all along the eastC"rn coast of Afri ca and of Senegal, intermixed with the Sterculia acum. inata, flouris hin g under the same conditions. but le!i-!'­wi<lel\' d istributed . In its kn o wn chara cters the plant· would appear to be closely allied with Garci n i., :\l orcll a. which, ho\~evcr, is essent ially an Asiat ic specie!-. The seeds present one con \·ex and tw o plane su rfa ces. the former being towards the circum­(ercncc of the fruit. Th ey arc cover ed by an apr icm . yellow cpispcrm. below which is a la rge yellow ish ­white ma cropodous em bryo. de\·oid of cotyledons. and with numerou s depressions on its surfa ce. T he­tissue is dens er and closer than that of true ko la and crack les under the teeth; iL consists of a compa ct mass of ve ry homogene ous cellular t issue . inter . spers ed her e and ther e with lat iciferous \·e~sels •}i varying size co ntaining resin, the cells con stituting which arc filled with starch granu les larg e r than th ose occurring in true ko la .

Upon ch ew ing these seeds a strongh· bitter, as trin­gent and yet aromatic taste is perceptible, which j, quite different from that of true kola. and appr oachc "­in its ar oma tic flavor that of g reen co ffee; it is thi s aromat ic fta\·or that is este em ed by th e ncgroes. It It is worthy of remark that although the use of the se seed s does not produ ce any notable stimu lant effect-, or ward off fatigue. they are as much sought alt e r and fetch nearly as high a price on the eastern coa ,t as the true kol a. In the interi or, however, the \· are unkn own . The authors arc of opinion that l hcse seeds owe their properties to the resin which they

• 'fhc plant yicldin,r "bitter ko l;t" w as identifi ed .1s :.a ,~ w· ,; o( Gardni" br Dr. Mu well T. ~l~sters <"i~ht yeats :ll{ O, and w as p-..rtl)' dt-~ribcd and the fruit fiK1Jrcd br him in the Jo11r­n:, I o( Botany for March, 1875.-KJit or Phar. Jour., Fchru:ary ,, f"I . 6 10 .

278 THE THERAPEUTIC GAZETTE.

contain , which is slightly stimulant. By the negToes they arc thought to exercise an aphrodisiac action, which the authors consider dou btful, a nd as a masti­ca1ory. they arc said to be a valuab le remedy for colds.

An examina tio n of fresh male kola nul5 for caffe­ine ga\'c nega tive res uhs, the chlo roform I ether anJ alcoholic pc rro latC!I. being al1 free from alkaloid. Besides coln ring m.-.ucr , tanni n and gluc ose, two re si n s Wt:re separated. One or th ese was brown, hygromN ric an d solub le in et her , and mc h cd at th e tempera ture of the wat er -bath ; lhc oth er was yellow ­ish- white, soluble in e th tr , a lcoh ol, acetone and acetic acid , ins olu b le in ca rbo n bisulphidc o r pctro. ieum spirit, and had a high mc:lling poi nt .

A large propo rti on or the pap er is devoted to a st ud )' o f the constit uti on of ca.ffc::inc and several of its cJcrivati, ·es, in rcre ren cc to the identification of the alkal oida l substances obtained by th e authors from the fem 3IC kola. - Phnr . Jour . nnd Tran s., Jan . ~6. 1884.

An Experience with Cannabis Indica .- Hav­ing suffered fro m gen eral neurasthenia for a couple of week5, and annoyed by pain for which I did not care to ta~e opium o r morphia, I took, about 9:45 A. Y. of Mar ch 5th , jus t s even a nd a half (7 ~) min ims of ·•nor mal liquid" cannabis fndica. and twenty-two and on e.ha lf (22~ ) minims of " no rmal liquid .' ergot , samples of which had rec ently been recei•ed from the manufacturers . ~cssrs . Parke. Davis & Co.

About 10.15 A. · M .. while sit ting in my office. I felt a momentary dizziness pass ov er me. accompan. ied by a peculiar liglthuss of the whole body . The sensations were repeated . I laid down the medical journal I was reading, arose from my chair, but again came the phenomena with increased power . I walked up and down the room. experiencing an in­definable nerv ous depression in addi tion to the scn. saiions befo re all uded to. Stamping my foot , I chided myself for allowing th is "nervousness" to master my att ention . The dizziness inc reased . I threw myself upon the sofa, thinking to di9Sipate 1hese feeliogs by a better supply of blood to the brain. I ·had before experienced slight vertiginous auacks after prolo nged mental work . and was not alarmed. On assuming recumbeocy the sym ptoms a.t once increased, immed iately followed by a pecul iar and indesc ribable dread , a nd general muscular weakness .

Satisfied that I was to experience the peculiar phy. siolo gical effects of Ind ian hemp (a vivid description of which I had years ago read, in Dr . H . C. Wood's "'Materia Medica, " I think), combined with lhooe of ergot , I descended to the dini ng . room . s wallo•ed half a wineg lassful of port wine, but could not the balance, inasmuch as I felt I had only strength su ffi. d ent to climb to the seco nd story. where my wife was. As cen ding the two flights of stairs with the greatest d ifficulty , on account of the lead-like heavi­ness in my legs. it seemed as though at the next step I shoul d fall backward. On ente ring the room I in­formed my wife what was to be expected: I was walking about in an aimless, hal f-dazed way , when she led me to the bed , whereon I threw myself, re­moving 1be pillow fro m un der my bead . Gradually increasing darkness came on . accom panied by a swi mm ing of my he ad , a sinking feeling a t the pnt • cordial region, a sensation of ,p as modic , powerful con1ra ct ions of all the blood vessels of the body , even of lhe smallest twigs, a nd a horrible feeling of impending death . I direc ted my wife to give me raw brandy, and sen il for my bott le of liq . atropiae (Lond .) my object being 10 an tag onize the arterial co ntraction . Immediatel y I began movin g th• right leg up and down, rubbing the foot agaiMt lhe bed­clothes very rapidly (my wife informs me I also slapped the be d wi1h my right arm, for a few mo­ments. but I recollect it n ot). as the motion seemed to be a relief , in part ly dist racting my attention from the incrta sing mus cula r hca~in ess. rapid action of

the heart , and cold waves , which were pusing rap. idly and in quick succession over my whole body . The motio n was wholly voluntary , as, on the en­tra nce of Dr . Davis , l discontinued it long enough to demons t ra te lt was under co ntro l. I explained to him the stat e ol affa.irs, advis ed the giving of atropia as an ar ter ial dilato r, and wa~ gi \·en brandy and fflij of the ~olution abov e-mentio ned at his han ds. While he "A·as dropping the above M} ' eyelids clos ed invo J. untaril} ·, but l did not, e \·cn for an instant. los e con. sciousncss. The lids seemed si mp ly to clos e O\•er the eyes, and I had neither inclination nor power to o pen them . ~ext , my brea thing bec ame lo mr Jabo. riou.s. :as though a great we ight were up on my ches t interfering with its expans ion. as well as an impcdi. ment arising from under th e sternum toward the lary nx.

I should here state that up to jusl befo re the arrival of the doctor I had been feeling my pulse , which be­cam e so quick and feeble I desisted from further in. terrogatio n : be ing sensib le , the know ledge of a fail­ing heart would add no lbin g to my power of resist­ance .

Simultane ous with the o ppre ssed breathing (wh ich by the way, Dr . Davi s said became very shallo w for a while . requ iring his admonition to ''breathe more deeply ," with which inst ructi on I compli ed and re­member ). appeared most intense.. and awful coldness in the prz:cord ial region, which seemed actually an. bc a rlllble the instant preceding the application of (almost ) sc1<ldiog hot water, also applied to my fore. head and feet , affording , as it then seemed to me . the greatest relief ever experienced by a sufferiag monal !

Su ddenly a shock , as it may be best expressed , of motor and oensory paralysis passed through my frame ; then I was inst anlan~ousl y introduced to the next stage . How shall I describe it? T o say that like an electr ic flash an unconsciousness passed over mr bra in. and that cerebration was instantly awak. coed to three sensatio ns-on e, that I was speeding along like the wind in the uiter darkness of a broad , inter minable tunnel; another , that my body lay cold in death (upon the bed ) at which I was gazing u from some spo t in the va le of darkness , while I specula ted upon the ap pearan ce my corpse presented ; the third . a consciousness of what my wire and the doctor wer e •ayi ng . To describe all this bat feebly expresses the wonderful trip le sensation .

Despite th e lightning-like rapidity of these occur­renc es , my mind ha d time to so liloquise: " If this be death , 'li s not only devo id of horrvr and fear , ba t brings such calm and e.ase as alone could be vouch­safed mortal by the All- Wise."

The pitch-like darkness gave l\'ay to a phosphores. cent light, quick ly succeeded by the mOS< hcautifa l and soft lilac sha de of misty brightness , lasting S11ffi­ciently long for me to eacl aim. "Oh ! what a beauti­ful purplish hue ?"

Succee di ng thi s came a genuine state of tran ce . which la,i1ed till 4:30 P . M.

My body seemed to be fashioned from wood. My neck and head were hewn from h iclr.ory ; my ches t and a bdo men , of hug e pr opo nions. were also wood. en . and from my hips my limbs were represented by a log of wood extend ing an int erm inable distance along a pathway thr o ugh woods, the gTeen-leaved t rees risin g up on either sid e, and, far abo\re, the clea r, blue . beautiful. half -sunny sky seemed to look willi benignant glance upon the stra nge object st re tched upon the ground . How queer my carved­from -wood face appeared to my 01her self, which never for an ins tan t failed to recogn ize the dual exis · ten ce, to realize wha t was transpiring about me in the room, hall, or e ven the hall belo,.. stain . How extremely funny appeared to my a/Irr ,go my cbes l and abdomen. forming a hu ge barrel. So e:1.ttu.cia­lingly lud ic rous it seemed that, lifting my arm, and cryin g out : "Se e how ho llow this barrel -stomach of mine is!"' I struck out with such force as to make the re sult any th ing but agreeable to the put at· tacked. !'ln soo ner had the ha nd touched my bod y