G. Grupe, a Manila pharmacist, treating the bark in 1883 by the same process as that used in the preparation of quinine, obtained a bitter substance which he named _Ditaine_. According to Grupe Dr. Pina used this substance with great success in the treatment of malarial fevers, but neither Grupe's report nor Pina's experiment are of any scientific value, inasmuch as they have neglected to mention the doses in which the so-called alkaloid was employed. Later analyses by Hesse and Jobst revealed several principles: two alkaloids _ditamine_ (C_16_H_19_NO_2_), soluble in ether; _Ditaine_ or _Echitamine_ (C_22_H_28_NO_4_ + H_2_O) insoluble in ether, soluble in water; acetic acid and two amorphous substances dextrogyrous in ethereal solution, one of them a resin, _Echicauchina_ (C_25_H_40_O_2_), the other neutral, _Echiretin_ (C_35_H_56_O_2_); two crystallizable principles, dextrogyrous: _Echicerin_ (C_30_H_48_O_2_), _Echitein_ (C_42_H_70_O_2_) and _Echitin_ (C_32_H_52_O_2_). _Ditaine_ is employed under the same circumstances and in the same dose as quinine. (The Hindoo writer, K. L. Dey, states that the plant yields an inferior quality of gutta-percha.) Botanical Description.--A tree, 50 or more feet high, the trunk covered with small eminences resembling the scars of thorns. Branches radiating. Leaves radiating, 5, 6 or more, somewhat elliptical in form, pointed at the apex. Petioles very short, with a pointed glandule on the inner surface of the base. Flowers white, terminal, in umbellate racemes. Calyx very short, 5-toothed. Corolla twisted, tubular, the limb 5-lobuled; throat open, encircled with down. Stamens 5, hidden within the throat and inserted on the tube. Filaments almost wanting. Anthers arrow-shaped. Style as long as the stamens, somewhat flattened, a scarcely visible line throughout its length. Stigma bifid, placed above a cylindrical zone, two follicles, 1° long and 1'' thick, twisted like a string, containing the seeds in a row. Seeds cylindrical with a hairy awn at both ends. Habitat.--In the forests of Luzon, especially in Batangas. Blooms in April. _Nerium odorum_, Aiton. (_N. oleander_, L. and Blanco.) Nom. Vulg.--_Adelfa_, Sp.; _Baladri_, Tag.; _Sweet-scented Oleander_, Eng. Uses.--In the Philippines and in Spain this plant is well known to be poisonous. The bark and the leaves of both the red-flowered and white-flowered varieties are boiled in cocoanut oil and the product is used for inunction in itch and other skin diseases. The bruised root is a useful application for chancroids.