SQUIRTING CUCUMUKI*.

1085

18

BTs.

‘ "f III

The concentrated fret'll tincture poured into diluted liquor potass* (see pro-

iieat . Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, below) deposited crystals whicb dried by steam

iC • hed 75 - ,s -

an Ce possesses the following' qualities: it is crystalline, and has a silky appear-' v >th \ * cr *vstals viewed by a magnifying glass, are observed to be rhombic prismsriato,) -- J . 1 - * — -~ :j -alkaline, and is.

iiisni^l^ed sides; it is very bitter, but odourless ; is neither acid nor ;s "lubl • * n water > but soluble in hot alcohol. Mr. Hennell says it is only very slightlyfixed e J u et her; whereas Dr. Morries states it to be readily soluble in both ether andthat ^ 1 ' s fusible, according to Mr. Hennell, at 350° F. The latter chemist stales

*, '• composed of Carbon 36 9, Hydrogen 23 9, and Oxygen 39 2, which nearly cor-

is jj, . s *° the formula C 6 H 12 O 5 . Dr. Morries says, that at a high temperature itUit r(| SS, P a ted in a thick, white, pungent vapour, having an ammoniacal odour: if so.

detJj' en must be a constituent. But neither by the odour, nor by turmeric, can Iiti ^ a *»monia in this vapour. The late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh , ascertained thatel;|. s . es of one-twelfth or one-sixteenth of a grain it had all the effects of a dose ofMil, m \ “A tenth of a grain,” says Dr. Christison, “ as I have myself witnessed,tcf e( j 0Ine times cause purging in man ; and a fifth of a grain, in two doses, adminis-thel! 1 an ' nte rval of twenty-four hours to a rabbit, killed it in seventeen hours afterCiuj 0l| d dose.” Dr. Golding Bird thinks one-sixteenth of a grain a fair dose tolw b eilc e with: he repeats it every two hours until some effect is produced. It

2 1 ta ken dissolved in spirit, and by this diffused through an aqueous vehicle.

cth e ' r *“ ree * Resin ( Chlorophylie ?)—Is insoluble in water, but dissolves in alcohol,.c ai)st j a,| d caustic potash. It does not redden litmus, though from its ready solubility in"as . a P oti, sh its acid nature might be suspected. Some of it prepared by Mr, Hennell<lo Ses at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and found to act powerfully as a purgative inSei 1ce less than a third of a grain. Perhaps this might have arisen from the pre-

3 p. elaterin; for twenty-one grains of the resin yielded four grains of elaterin.l>itt er .?*® r natter .—This is soluble both in water and alcohol. Its taste is intensely

• Us colour is brownish yellow.

g r ^ IlA RACTERis TIC s.—Good elaterium is friable, has a pale greenish-

■ fine

colour, and an animal odour. Digested in rectified spirit it yieldsie green tincture. Thrown into water it swims. It does not effer-«lat Ce - in ^uted hydrochloric acid: the acid liquor being digested on$caj Urn > an d subsequently rendered nearly neutral by ammonia, gives* llh c % any cloudiness on the addition of oxalate of ammonia. Touchedt}j 0) tincture of iodine, it gives no evidence of the presence of starch;of it be boiled in water, the decoction, when cold, gives traces

cirpl r< A by the blue colour developed on the addition of iodine. If the°Ut 6r ^ 01m ed by the burning of elaterium in the air be ignited in theby Cone of the flame of a candle, the presence of potash is indicated, c bluish or violet tinge.

Vr , ” lu isn or violet tinge.

a, 6in } eSe elaterium has no odour, and scarcely any green tinge. Ex-Star by the microscope, it is found to contain globules of wheatenyj e l,. It sinks in water, effervesces with diluted hydrochloric acid,c °9i ^ a so ^ ut -b>n which, when nearly neutralized by ammonia, gives aa b!t) • "^ite precipitate (oxalate of lime ) on the addition of oxalate ofof Tincture of iodine stains it bluish or greenish black (iodide

ai). , arc ^). If the cinder obtained by burning Maltese elaterium in theCat es . e 1 8 Q ited in the outer cone of the flame of the candle, it communi-st ar , an orange tint to the flame. The adulteration of elaterium bylog.; VVas known to Dioscorides . The Edinburgh College gives the fol-S characteristics of good elaterium:—

** n *

a U(l p ° u r pale-gray : when exhausted by rectified spirit, the solution, concentrated,Cr J'st a i le ” j nt0 hot diluted aqua potasste, deposits, on cooling, minute silky, colourlesss ’ "sighing at least a seventh of the elaterium.”

^ lese characteristics are not sufficiently accurate. Good elaterium