THE BRITISH AND LONDON PHARMACOPIAS COMPARED. FOR THE USE OF PRESCRIBERS.

All the important preparations of the London Pharmacopoeia are now contained in the British Pharmacopoeia, and, with very few exceptions, the composition and strength of the medicines remain unaltered. In a few instances, however, it has been found necessary to make some alterations, so as to establish uniformity, and to make the same medicines applicable in England, Scotland, and Ireland, as contemplated by the Legislature in providing for the publication of a British Pharmacopoeia.

The following are the only material changes requiring the special attention of physicians who have been accustomed to prescribe from the London Pharmacopœia :

ACETUM CANTHARIDIS. Rather stronger than the L.P., but not so powerful as the Edin. and Dubl. preparations. Stronger than the L. P., in the proportion of 10 to

ACIDUM PHOSPHORI

CUM DILUTUM.

8.7.

DECOCTUM ALOES COM-Rather stronger of aloes than L. P., but not so

POSITUM.

EMPLASTRUM BELLA

DONNE.

strong as in 1864. It now contains 4 grains of extract of aloes in a fluid ounce.

Made with an alcoholic extract of belladonna. Adheres to the skin without an adhesive margin.

LIQUOR ARSENICI HY-This is nearly three times the strength of Liq. Ar

It

senici Chloridi, Lond., being now made to correspond in strength with Liquor Arsenicalis. contains grain of arsenious acid in f3i.

Half the strength of L. P. They contain grain of morphia salt in f3j.

More active and more definite in composition than the P. Antimonii Compositus, Lond. It now consists of 1 part oxide of antimony and 2 parts phosphate of lime.

Long pepper omitted, making the composition similar to Pulv. Aromaticus, Edin.

The dry ingredients of Confectio Aromatica, Lond.

Stronger in spirit, and about one-half stronger in ammonia, than L. P.

Stronger and more definite in strength than the L. P. preparations. They all contain I volume of essential oil in 50 volumes of the spirit.

One-third the strength of L. P.
About half the strength of L. P.

Rather weaker than L.P. It contains 1 oz. extract
of opium in a pint.

TRANSACTIONS

ОР

THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY.

AT A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL, July 3rd, 1867, Present-Messrs. Abraham, Bird, Bottle, Brady, Carteighe, Deane, Haselden, Hills, Morson, Sandford, Savage, Squire, and Waugh,

The following Pharmaceutical Chemists were elected

Resolved,-That a Curator for the Museum be appointed, whose duties should be exclusively devoted to that department. (Vide Notice, page 2 of the Wrapper.)

The following re-appointments were made for the ensuing year: —
THEOPHILUS REDWOOD, Ph.D, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy.
ROBERT BENTLEY, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., Professor of Botany and Materia Medica.
JOHN ATTFIELD, Ph.D., F.C.S., Professor of Practical Chemistry and Director
of the Laboratories.

WILLIAM AUGUSTUS TILDEN, F.C.S., Demonstrator of Practical Chemistry.

BENEVOLENT FUND.

Twenty pounds was granted from the Fund to the wife and family of a member in Scotland; and Five guineas to assist a widow in procuring votes for the election of her son, last application, in the British Orphan Asylum at Slough.

BOARD OF EXAMINERS, July 17th, 1867.

Present-Messrs. Bird, Carteighe, Cracknell, Darby, Davenport, Deane, Gale, Garle, Haselden, Southall, and Squire.

Twenty-six candidates presented themselves for the Minor and Major Examinations ; the following passed and were duly registered :

:

A CHEMICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ROOT OF THE HEMLOCK-CONIUM MACULATUM.

BY JOHN HARLEY, M.D. LOND., F.L.S.,

ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN TO KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL, ETC.

All that is known of the root of the hemlock is contained in the following:(a) Theofrastos says that in the case of other roots the juice is weaker than the fruit, but that of Kovelov is stronger, and rids a man of life easily and quickly when given as a potion in a very small quantity.

66

(b) Two priests ate hemlock roots by mistake; they became raving mad, and mistaking themselves for geese plunged into the water. For three years they suffered with partial palsy and violent pain."+

(c) A vinedresser and his wife ate hemlock roots by mistake for parsneps, and went to bed. They awoke in the middle of the night quite mad, and took to running about the house in the dark, bruising themselves severely against the walls. They recovered under suitable treatment.‡

(d) Störck makes the following extraordinary statement :-"The fresh root, when it is cut in pieces, emits a milk which is acrid aud bitter to the taste. On rubbing a drop or two of it on the end of the tongue, it presently became stiff, swollen, and very painful, and soon afterwards I lost the power of speaking." Again, "If the powder of the root of hemlock be made into pills with a sufficient quantity of mucilage of gum tragacanth, a medicine is produced of great efficacy, but which requires great circumspection in the use of it."§

(e) Gmelin quotes an instance in which 4 ounces of the juice of the root were taken without injury. But the plant which furnished it does not appear to have been properly identified.||

Hist. Plant. IV. viii. p. 298, ed. Schneider.

Kircher, Wimber, 'Wirkung der Arzneimittel und Gifte,' lor. ii. 172. Pereira, Mat. Med., vol. ii. part ii. p. 201.

Petri A. Matthioli 'Commentarii in sex libros Dioscoridis,' p. 736, ed. Venetiis, 1582. Gmelin's Pflanzengifte,' p. 604. rfila, Toxicol. Gén., ii. p. 426, 4me édit. Christison,

(

Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xiii. p. 396.

§ A. Störck, 'Essay on the Medicinal Use of Hemlock,' pp. 8, 12.

Op. cit. sec. 605.

(ƒ) On the 22nd April, Orfila gave 13 ounce of the fresh root to a small dog. No effect followed. The next day he introduced into the stomach of another dog 1 ounce of the same sample of the root, bruised, together with about 8 ounces of the fresh juice of the root. No effect followed.*

(g) Dr. Christison "found that 4 ounces of the juice, the produce of 12 ounces of the roots collected in November, had no effect on a dog; and that 4 ounces obtained from 10 ounces of the roots in the middle of June, when the plant was coming into flower, merely caused diarrhoea and languor. The alcoholic extract of the juice obtained from 6 ounces of the roots, on the last day of May, killed a rabbit in 37 minutes, when introduced in a state of emulsion between the skin and muscles of the back, and the effects were analogous to those obtained with the extract of the leaves."

With statements so conflicting as these, it seemed desirable that a careful examination of the root should be made at the season when it is in full vigour, and about to put forth its leaves.

In procuring for me a quantity of fine roots, and in providing me with a "succus" and an "extract "derived therefrom, Mr. Hemingway of Portman Street has given me every inducement to make such an investigation, and my obligations are due to him for affording me these and other facilities in the execution of my task.

The roots were removed from the ground on the 9th of January of the present year, during a short intermission of severe frost. They were large and well developed, many being more than two feet long, and, near the crown, an inch in diameter. They were all carefully examined and identified, and I have at this present time some fine plants of hemlock growing from a few of the roots, of the identity of which I was doubtful. With many, the young yellowish-green leaves were beginning to shoot from the crown, and here and there one could be found an inch long. These hemlock roots had the same sweet taste and pleasant flavour as the roots of the carrot, and, side by side, there was in this respect little to distinguish them. The hemlock roots were equally sweet, but the carrot roots had a stronger flavour. After chewing the hem. lock root for a few seconds, a numbing sensation like that produced by pyrethrum, but milder, declared the difference. When bruised and in bulk, the hemlock root, moreover, had a rankish odour, approaching to that of the recent leaves.

The roots were well washed and set aside to drain, at a temperature of about 38° Fahr., and thirty-six hours after they were removed from the ground, and reduced to a coarse pulp by twice passing them between finely grooved iron rollers. The pulp was then placed in a number of horsehair bags, and subjected to a pressure of 110 tons, by means of a powerful hydraulic press. 93 pounds of the crushed root yielded 5 pounds of juice, or about 56 per cent. The process was conducted at Mr. Buckle's establishment, 77, Gray's Inn Road, and I have to express my thanks to that gentleman for his kind help and hearty co-operation on this occasion. One portion of the juice was immediately converted, by the addition of one part of rectified spirit to every three parts of the juice, into a preparation corresponding to the succus conii of the British Pharmacopoeia-a "succus conii radicis." A small portion of the crude juice was preserved for separate examination; the rest was at once carefully evaporated down to the consistence of an extract, at a temperature below 100° Fahr.

The Crude Juice.-The following are the characters of the crude juice :—A turbid brownish-white fluid, of sp. grav. 1022-8, having a decided acid reaction, a carrot odour, and sweet carrot taste, leaving a slight numbing sensation on the tongue. Heated with caustic potash it evolved an odour of conia, but not so strong as that from the juice of the leaves. After standing at a temperature of Orfila, 'Traité de Toxicologie,' 4me édit. ii. p. 423. Christison On Poisons,' 4th edit. p. 855.

32° Fahr. for 36 hours the juice remained opalescent. On boiling, a cloud of albumen, equal, after standing 24 hours, to of the bulk of the fluid, separated. The supernatant fluid was bright and of a faint greenish-brown tinge. It gave reactions indicating the presence of a large quantity of sugar; of chlorine; phosphoric acid in abundance; sulphuric acid, a mere trace; soda; lime; and magnesia. f3j of the crude juice yielded 20 grains of extract; and this quantity of extract 13 grain of ash. The ash was with difficulty fusible, and refused to run into a compact porcellaneous mass, like that derived from the juice of the leaf. It dissolved with brisk effervescence in dilute hydrochloric acid. The solution contained abundance of potash; and a trace of iron, derived no doubt, from the rollers used in crushing the root. No trace of nitric acid could be detected.*

The extract was prepared from the crude juice, as I have stated. Fifty-five fluid ounces yielded 21 ounces avoir. (1093 grains). A very powerful hemlock odour was evolved during the whole of the process. The extract was chiefly composed of sugar, it was of a drab colour, possessed a faint odour, and very sweet saltish taste, otherwise resembling the extract of the leaf. 30 grains of it taken internally produced no effect, but the sensation of numbness before mentioned remained upon the tongue after swallowing it. It was excessively tenacious, and could be drawn out into long threads.

I. January 26. 1867.-Liquified 250 grains of the extract with a little water and f3j of solution of caustic potash (gr. xxxvj in f3j), a strong odour of conia and ammonia was immediately evolved. The mixture was transferred to a retort, and distilled from a chloride of calcium bath at a temperature varying from 220° to 250° Fahr. A fluid ounce of highly alkaline colourless fluid was obtained. By Geiger's process 0-3 of a grain of oily matter, smelling strongly of conia, and 3 grains of nearly colourless sulphate of ammonia were obtained. Only a very slight darkening occurred during the process of evaporation of the neutralized distillate, but a very powerful acrid odour of conia was evolved on mixing the residue with caustic potash. After lying by in a corked tube for a few days, the conia product consolidated into stellate groups of almost colourless minute crystals; and when, after the lapse of three months, it was dissolved in æther the solution had a neutral reaction and a taste free from the biting acridity of conia. In fact it contained but a faint trace of conia, and appeared to be principally composed of one of the three substances about to be described. A dark brown dry mass, evolving an intensely acrid odour somewhat resembling the empyreumatic oil of tobacco, remained in the retort. It was liquified with 1 ounce of water, and washed with a mixture of 1 part of chloroform and 5 parts of æther. After separation and distillation of the æthereal solution, a little clear brown fluid remained, and on allowing it to evaporate spontaneously a partly waxy and partly crystalline substance, of a rich brown colour, was obtained. I will call this the "æthereal extract;" it is composed of three distinct bodies-two crystalline neutral principles, and a resinous substance. As I find no mention of them in chemical works, I will briefly describe them under the names of rhizoconine, rhizoconylene, and conamarine, names which I use merely for the sake of distinction, and without any reference to the relationship of these bodies.

f3viij of the crude juice, heated to 150° Fahr. to precipitate the albumen, and filtered, were mixed with mxxx strong sulphuric acid, and set by. Five months afterwards the mixture was unchanged, and f3j was taken, mixed with a considerable excess of caustic potash, and twice washed with æther. After separation of the æther and its distillation, there remained less than half a grain of soft solid oily matter. It had a sharp minty tobacco taste, and a strong alkaline reaction. Stirred with a little dilute sulphuric acid it refused to dissolve, but on pouring off the acid and adding an excess of caustic potash to it, an odour of conia, as strong as that from a solution of a small drop of pure conia in four drachms of water, was evolved.