568 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



hydrate on the addition of a sufficient quantity of water. Dr. 

 Richardson also calls attention to the fact that chloral, from 

 its affinity to water, is a caustic, and that its use may, per- 

 haps, sometimes be advisable in this connection, in view of its 

 after soothing effects. 20.4, March 18, 311. 



APOMORPHIA. 



A substance known as apomorphia, discovered by Dr. Mat- 

 thiessen and Mr. Wright a year or two ago, promises, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Gee, to be of some importance in a medical point 

 of view. It is'obtained by subjecting chloride of morphia for 

 several hours to the action of strong hydrochloric acid at a 

 high temperature. Chloride of apomorphia is the result, from 

 which the base can be separated ; but, as it is very unstable, 

 the salt has been generally used. The principal chemical dif- 

 ferences of apomorphia from morphia consist in having one 

 molecule less of water. It is a white crystalline powder, sol- 

 uble in thirty parts of cold, and much less of warm water, 

 and its special function is its remarkable emetic powers, which 

 act rapidly and certainly. According to Dr. Gee, it always 

 produces favorable results when employed, and by a single 

 dose. As the salt is free from any alcoholic irritant prepara- 

 tion, it can be used hypodermically. A very small dose is 

 one fifth of a grain by the mouth, or one tenth by hypodermic 

 injection (which answers the purpose much more rapidly and 

 freely), while the action, unlike that of other emetics, is not 

 accompanied or followed by any ill effects. In general, the 

 vomiting seems to put an end to itself, there being no subse- 

 quent nausea. Attention has lately been called to this drug 

 on account of its important qualities as an emetic, since no 

 other substance, as such, can be administered by subcutane- 

 ous injection, and all others are bulky, uncertain, and gener- 

 ally produce distressing nausea and depression. 1*1 A, Janu- 

 ary 7, 545. 



BUHSA AS A NAECOTIC. 



A narcotic used by the inhabitants of Central Asia, known 

 as buhsa, is prepared by the Kirghises by rubbing millet to a 

 pulp with water, and, after diluting this with still more wa- 

 ter, and occasionally with mare's milk, the mixture is poured 

 into a large stone jar, tightly corked, and buried in the soil. 



