Dr. Gerard writes : " On page 340 of Gardeners' Monthly you remark that you would venture a guess that even our good friends of the Garden do not know what M. De-launay means by ' dog-tooth grass.' " This is an old English name for Triticum caninum, Huds., the Gramen caninum of the older botanists, and the Chien dent of the French. It, as well as Cy-nodon dactylon, is so called, says Prior, because of ' the sharp-pointed shoots of its underground stems.' Some grasses are said to be emetic and purgative, as, for example, Bromus purgans and B. catharticus. The long roots of Cynodon dactylon have been held in some repute as a substitute for sarsaparilla."