The seeds, which are nearly of the same size with those of the Ricinus communis, yield on pressure an oil, which, in the crude state in which it is usually obtained, is powerfully drastic and emetic. But, from what some writers state, it would appear that the acrid property of the oil arises from some deleterious principle resident in the cotyledon leaves, which divide the kernel into two equal parts; and the removal of which, previous to the operation of pressing, would divest the oil of its objectionable qualities, and render it as bland and efficacious in its operation as that obtained from the seeds of the Argemone. And I am the more inclined to this opinion from the resemblance, in many of its medicinal properties, which exists between the milky juice of both plants; and from the powerfully anti-spasmodic effects of a decoction of the leaves, which the celebrated Dr Wright (of Jamaica) assures us "is often used with advantage in spasmodic bellyache (colic) attended with vomiting, sitting easier on the stomach than anything else, and seldom failing to produce a discharge by stool." The usual dose of the oil is a table-spoonful, or about half an ounce. From the abundance of the physic nut, the facility with which it is propagated, and the abundance of oil which it affords, the Jatropha curcas is eminently entitled to the attention of those philanthropists who would raise our West Indian colonies from their present state of suicidal prostration, by the cultivation of their natural capabilities, rather than by the horrors of immigration, the resuscitation of monopoly, or the oppression of the Creole peasantry."

[From numerous experiments with the oil of the Jatropha curcas, Dr Christison found that one sample expressed from Barbadoes seeds acted precisely like castor oil, in the dose of ten, fifteen, and twenty drops; but that another from Jamaica seeds sometimes caused the same severe sickness and watery evacuations as croton oil, and at other times was inert in the dose of thirty_drops.-Dispensatory, 2nd edit., p. 794. Dr Bowerbank's experience of the use of this oil accords with Dr Christison's observations; and we are informed by Dr B. that the same irregularity characterises the purgative action of the oil of the seeds of the Hura crepitans.]

"The Hura crepitans, or sand-box tree, is a small tree, remarkable for the extreme brittleness of its timber and the slowness of its growth. It belongs to the natural order Euphorbiacea of De Candolle, and attains a height of about thirty feet, with

spreading branches, which afford an agreeable shelter from the fervid heat of the sun, to a distance of sixty feet frequently in diameter; but even the largest of these branches are so singularly brittle as to snap with a sudden gust of wind, or even a loud peal of thunder. It thrives best in a deep rich soil, and in the vicinity of water, and is cultivated, for the sake of its shade, near the house of the planters.

"The seeds, which are contained in the cells of an extremely compressed circular capsule, marked externally by deep furrows, corresponding to the number of the cells and seeds within, possess, when recent, a strongly emetico-cathartic quality, insomuch that the new comer, who, tempted by the agreeable flavour of the kernel, imprudently eats even so much as a single seed, is usually attacked with a severe vomiting and purging within a very few minutes after. This effect may be counteracted, as far as the emetic operation is concerned, as an American captain, whom I met in the West Indies, informed me, by splitting the kernels in two, and carefully removing the cotyledon leaves, in which the emetic principle appears wholly to reside. Thus prepared, he constantly carried them about him, and found four or five eaten in the morning relieve his bowels without sickness, pain, or griping. The oil obtained from the recent seeds, similarly prepared, would most probably be found a valuable addition to the purgatives of our materia medica. With age, the seeds become almost totally inert. I have myself eaten several with the most perfect impunity; but I should not advise others to act with equal imprudence."-Phar. Journ., Sept. 1849.

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296.-On Collodium Cantharidale. F. ILISCH.-According to Dr Ilisch of St Petersburg, collodion in combination with cantharidin, is in many cases well adapted to act as a vesicant, supplying not only the place of the emplastrum cantharidis, but affording even the advantage of dispensing with linen and leather. It is particularly useful in cases where a strong vesicant is to be applied to a part of the body where it can be easily disturbed by the movements of the patient, or where the irritability of the latter prevents the undisturbed position of the plaster.

For its application, nothing is required but to paint the part with it by means of a brush. If, after the collodium has been thus applied and dried, which occurs within about half a minute, some part of the skin is found not to be perfectly covered by it, the application is to be re

peated; and the effect is quicker and safer if the part be covered with lard. The collodion operates as speedily as blister plaster, and possesses the advantage of not staining the linen.

Preparation. One pound of coarsely powdered cantharides is subjected to the action of one pound of sulphuric ether and three ounces of acetic ether, in Mohr's apparatus; and the liquid is allowed to percolate the cantharides as long as it is coloured, by which a saturated ethereal solution of cantharides, together with some coloured animal fat, is obtained. In two ounces of this liquid, twenty-five grains of gun-cotton are dissolved." This is the easiest method, and can be performed with facility in the laboratory of any apothecary. The process is more complicated and expensive if twenty grains of pure cantharidin and twenty-five grains of guncotton be dissolved in one ounce and ahalf of sulphuric ether and half an ounce of acetic ether.

The collodium cantharidale can be preserved without injury in well-closed glasses, and is, for that reason, better adapted than any other vesicant for military hospitals, and for diseases which befal the soldier on his march.

Although the collodium cantharidale is much more expensive than the blistering plaster, there is a great saving in its use; for one drachm and a half of it are equal to half an ounce of the latter. Its efficacy has been substantiated by several experiments made by Balbiani and Boose.Pharm. Central Blatt., and Pharm. Jour., September 1849.

[Two specimens of the collodium cantharidale have been prepared for us by Messrs Duncan and Flockhart of this city, in one of which acetic ether was the solvent medium employed; in the other, sulphuric ether. From some trials of our own, and others made by Dr J. W. Begbie, in the Royal Infirmary, it has been found that these preparations act efficiently as vesicants when applied in a layer of considerable thickness. The preparation made with acetic ether is the more certain vesicant, but it is inferior to the other in not forming a dry membrane. It is not, as stated above, an economical preparation.]

297.-On Rhine Wines.-"The following results of experiments, performed by Geisser with the most scrupulous attention, are communicated by Liebig (Ann. d. Chem. und. Pharm., lxv. 356), and accompanied by some very important ob

servations.

"The various sorts of Rhine wine were all of the growth of the year 1822, and

"From the known prices of these wines, it is obvious that the proportion of alcohol, although one factor, in determining the value of a wine, is not the only absolute one, nor does it stand in any fixed relation to the commercial value of the wine. It is remarkable that the finest sorts of wine contain a much greater proportion of solid substances in solution than the inferior sorts; and that the weight of the residue which the Rhenish wines yield on evaporation, offers a safer criterion for determining their commercial value than the proportion of alcohol. [The same is also the case with wines from the Palatinate: Herxheimer Riesling of 1844 is sold at 24 kr. the bottle; and Deideshei mer and Forster-Riesling, of the same year, at 33 to 36 kr. per bottle; after evaporation, there was found in the first only 87 parts of solid substances in 100 parts. This so-called extract of wine is yellowish brown; at 212° Fah. it is still viscid, very hygroscopic in the air, and of a very acid taste; besides supertartrate of potash, it contains a free vegetable acid, which is analogous to citric acid. Small propor tions of sulphuric and phosphoric acids are neutralised by potash, lime, magnesia, ammonia, and a small quantity of protoxide of iron. If the free acid of this wine be saturated by potash, the liquid evaporated, and a mixture of sulphuric acid and alcohol dropped on the residue, which is then heated, a peculiar agreeable smell develops itself, almost like that of

Malaga wine, but no smell of acetic ether. -Buchner. These solids disguise the acids, take off the acrid taste, and at the same time impart body, mellowness, and oilyness. Among the extractive matters of new wines are sugar, which gradually disappears by keeping; and also some imperfectly known gummy substances, which become brownish when the wine is submitted to evaporation. The presence of these in wine appears chiefly to be determined by the soil, and the condition and locality of the vineyard; and it is obvious that the qualities dependent upon these extractive matters cannot be replaced by sugar.

"It is of importance that the free acid be not removed before the fermentation, because on its presence during this process, as well as during the stoving, depend the taste and principal qualities of the wine. If the acid of the wine must be neutralised prior to fermentation, this process is not prevented, but a fermented liquid is obtained which has no longer any resemblance to wine, and which, even by keeping, never recovers the odour and taste it ought to possess.

"In France an artificial, and therefore fugitive, bouquet is produced, especially in Bordeaux wines, by allowing the fermentation of the unpressed grapes to proceed at a rather high temperature, and under but very slightly limited access of air. In most Bordeaux wines this bouquet is acetic ether; but it is not unlikely that, under these circumstances, butyric ether is also produced. The want of free acid, as may easily be seen, is here supplied by means which promote the generation of acid."-Phar. Journ., Sept. 1849.

Dr Christison observes, that in addition to the bitartrate of potash, "The other solid contents of wine are small in amount, except in sweet wines. The sugar of sweet wines is generally abundant, makes them soon pall on the taste, and renders them little available in medi. cal practice. The resino-mucilaginous extract, colouring matter, and tannin-the last two of which are derived from the husk of the grape, and occur principally in red wines-are never abundant, and diminish slowly with age. The total solid contents are scanty in every wine, except the sweet kinds. In port and sherry, when fit for drinking, the solids seldom exceed 3 per cent.; in Bordeaux wine they amount to 2; and in Hock and Moselle to 2 per cent. only."-Dispensatory, 2nd edit., p. 943.

298.-How to distinguish between True

and Spurious Valerianates.-Within the last few years compounds of valerianic acid with oxide of iron, with oxide of zinc, and with quina, have been introduced into medical practice as efficacious remedies, especially in hysteria, and other affections of the nervous and uterine system, and in fevers. A good deal of attention has been devoted by practical chemists to the preparation of these valerianates, and several processes for making them have been published. The valerianates, however, have always, and necessarily, been expensive preparations, yet the use of them has been gradually extended in consequence of the testimony borne to their great efficacy. Increased demand led to competition in the supply, which has recently resulted in the adoption, by some manufacturers, of a system of fraudulent substitutions that would have speedily brought a valuable set of remedies into disrepute, had not the fraudulent practice been detected.

Citrate and tartrate of iron, flavoured with a few drops of oil of valerian, has been extensively supplied for valerianate of iron; and acetate of zinc, flavoured in the same way, has been substituted for valerianate of zinc; and these spurious compounds have been sold at prices which, although defying competition on the part of the genuine valerianates, have, nevertheless, been twenty or thirty times greater than the commercial value of the substituted articles. For valerianate of quina the disulphate of that base, with a little oil of valerian to disguise it, has been in like manner substituted.

Thus compounds have been supplied for the three medicinal valerianates, which have not contained a particle of the most important of the constituent which should have been present, namely, the valerianic acid.

Such being the nature of the frauds which have been practised, we have no doubt upon many of our readers, we proceed to point out the means of detecting them.

1. The true valerianates have a sour, disagreeable, and very persistent, although not powerful smell, which is essentially different from that of oil of valerian.

1. The spurious imitations, being flavour

ed with oil of valerian, smell strongly of that substance.

2. The true valerianate of iron is almost entirely insoluble in water; and the valerianate of quina fuses into oily globules in boiling water, and dissolves with difficulty. They are both freely soluble in spirit.

2. The spurious valerianate of iron is perfectly soluble in water, especially when

aided with a little heat; it is insoluble in spirit. The spurious valerianate of quina is soluble in about thirty parts of boiling water, and, as the solution cools, it is deposited in acicular crystals, which have the bitter taste and other characters of disulphate of quina.

3. The true valerianates, when mixed with a little diluted hydrochloric acid, are decomposed, and the valerianic acid being set free, rises like oil to the surface of the liquid. To get this character, it is necessary to operate upon from five to ten grains of the specimen, and to avoid the use of too much of the diluted acid, as valerianic acid is soluble in about thirty parts of water. The liberated valerianic acid has the sour, disagreeable, and very persistent smell, which, to a slight extent, is perceived in its salts, but it is readily distinguished from that of oil of valerian. 3. The spurious valerianates, when added to water, will generally yield a thin film of oil, which floats on the surface, and is easily detected as oil of valerian. On heating the liquid this oil is driven off, without otherwise decomposing the salt, and no further indication of valerian will afterwards be obtained. On treating them with diluted hydrochloric acid, there is no valerianic acid set free. 4. The true valerianates, when mixed with a little proof spirit, and one-fourth the volume of oil of vitriol is then carefully added, will yield valerianic ether, which is recognised by its agreeable fruity smell, somewhat resembling that of the pine-apple. This ether can hardly be distinguished in smell from butyric ether.

4. The spurious valerianates yield no valerianic ether; but the spurious valerianate of zinc, when treated as above, yields acetic ether, which is easily detected.

The foregoing tests are sufficient to distinguish the true valerianates from the spurious substitutes above-mentioned, but there is reason to believe that other substitutions have been practised, although not so extensively. We have met with a specimen of so-called valerianate of iron, which is evidently not what its name indicates, and yet it contains neither citrate, tartrate, nor acetate. It is in the form of a brown powder, insoluble in water and in spirit. It smells of valerianic acid, but on being decomposed with hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, yields no appreciable quantity of the oily product. We have not had time to submit this specimen to a careful examination, but it is easily distinguished from the true valerianate of

iron by its being insoluble in spirit, while the latter dissolves freely in this menstrumum, even without the application of heat. This suspected specimen is also distinguished from the genuine by its behaviour when heated in a platinum crucible.

The true valerianate, if carefully heated, fuses, gives off valerianic acid undecomposed, then as the heat is increased, burns with a luminous flame, and emits a very offensive odour.

The suspected specimen does not fuse or give off any appreciable quantity of valerianic acid. The vapour does not readily inflame, and the odour emitted is not offensive.

The residue of oxide of iron is the same in both specimens, namely, twentyfive per cent., and the acid originally present is organic.

Where mere adulteration is practised, the detection of the fraud is much more difficult than it is in the cases to which we have hitherto alluded, the cupidity of the manufacturer having fortunately, in these cases, blinded his discretion, so that a speedy exposure of the practice was inevitable.

About three years ago, as we find from the "Journal de Pharmacie," much of the valerianate of zinc met with in Paris was found to have been made with butyric acid, instead of valerianic acid. The butyrate thus substituted was of a more beautiful and crystalline appearance than the true valerianate, but it did not essentially differ in character, and the detection of the fraud, by satisfactory tests, was not easily accomplished. A paper was published on the subject by Messrs Laroque and Huraut, in which they recommend the use of a concentrated solution of acetate of copper for distinguishing valerianic from butyric acid. In the use of this test, however, it is necessary, in the first place, to eliminate the acid by adding sulphuric acid to the salt and separating the volatile acid by distillation. When butyric acid is added to the concentrated solution of acetate of copper, a bluish white precipitate is immediately formed; but on adding valerianic acid in like manner, there is no immediate appearance of precipitation or turbidity of the liquid, but on shaking it, oily drops, of a greenish colour, separate, partly rising to the surface and adhering to the sides of the vessel, and partly falling to the bottom.

These oily globules consist of anhydrous valerianate of copper, which retains this condition sometimes twenty minutes or more, but it ultimately becomes hydrated, and then forms a bluish green crystalline powder.-Ph. J., June 1849.