To the Editor:
—I note in The Journal, Dec. 7, 1918, p. 1917, an editorial comment on "The 'Acrid Principle' of Certain Plants." You cite the work of Brown and Anderson at the Pharmacological Laboratory of the University of Minnesota respecting the cause of acridity in certain plants. I called attention to the facts cited in the editorial in an article published in Science, 1903, 18, 115. My attention was called to the matter by Mr. W. E. Safford, botanist in the Bureau of Plant Industry. He said that he had heard it stated that the acridity of certain plants mentioned, such as the Colocasia and Arisaema triphyllum, was due to this cause, and requested that I have an examination made of them. As described in the article mentioned, I turned the matter over to Mr. B. J. Howard, microscopist of the Bureau of Chemistry. Soon after beginning the examination