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the principal interest attached to it having reference to its poisonous properties. Thus, the leaves and young branches act as a narcotico-acrid poison, both to the human subject and to certain animals, but more especially to horses and cows. Fatal cases of poisoning have also occurred from swallowing the fruit. It is frequently stated that animals may feed upon the young growing shoots with impunity, but that, when these have been cut off, and left upon the ground for a short time, they are, then, poisonous. This is an entirely erroneous notion for yew shoots and leaves are poisonous both in a dried and fresh state. It seems certain, however, that the red, succulent cup of the fruit is harmless, for a fatal case of poisoning has been recorded of a child from swallowing the entire fruit with its contained seed ; whilst other children, who had partaken of the fruit at the same time, but who had rejected all but the fleshy cup, suffered no ill-effects." (Bentley and Trimen.)

Dr. Dymock informs me that the dried leaves and twigs of this plant constitute the talispatr of the Bombay bazars and druggists' shop. While this is, no doubt, correct, it is rather surprising that the plant Taxus baccata, in no vernacular, bears the name Talisa, a fact that would point to the name talispatr as but of modern application. Gamble says : " the bar, is used in Kunawar as a substitute for, or mixed with, tea ; the berries are eaten, and the leaves are exported to the plains as a medicine." In Europe, the berries are (as already stated) regarded as poisonous, but, in Manipur, I have seen them eaten. The tree is common on the mountains bordering on Burma and the Naga Hills. A twig is worn by the young unmarried Naga females as a charm to prevent pregnancy—chastity being exceptional before marriage. It is remarkable that, in Bengal, the talispatr, as sold in the bazar, should be an Abies, a plant possessed of carminative, expectorant and stomachic properties, while, in Bombay, it should be the poisonous leaves of the yew which possess emmenagogue, sedative and anti-spasmodic properties. See Abies Webbiana. (Watt.)

In Northern India, the leaves are largely employed for medicinal purposes, under the name of birm or brahmi, chiefly