THE importance of purified forms of alkaloids in inducing plant tumours is well known. Very little work has however been done on the use of plant extracts, containing alkaloids, in tumour production. Takenaka1 has summarized the meagre data available and noted the effects of two plant extracts on living plant tissue. Alstonia scholaris yields an alkaloid having medicinal properties, especially in the cure of malaria. The present work deals with the application of bark extract of this species on root tissue of Allium cepa.