N. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 527 



as applicable in cancer. An elaborate series of experiments 

 is now being prosecuted by the Indian government to de- 

 termine its availability in similar cases. Salicylic acid was 

 also dwelt upon as an important addition to the resources 

 of the pharmaceutist. Its great superiority to carbolic acid 

 in most cases was pointed out, which, combined with its 

 much less objectionable taste and flavor, will doubtless call 

 it extensively into use. Introduced in small quantities into 

 the water in which leeches are kept, it preserves those ani- 

 mals in a healthy condition, showing its non-poisonous char- 

 acter. The speaker thought its future applications were 

 more likely to be internal than external. Reference was 

 made to the artificial preparation of oil of winter-green 

 (salicylate of methyl), prepared from the artificial acid, and 

 possessing the taste and odor of the oil of the plant on dis- 

 tillation. The interesting fact was stated that salicylic acid 

 can be obtained in nearly pure crystals from the essential oil 

 of A^idromeda LeschenauUii^ a plant growing in inexhaust- 

 ible profusion on the Neilgherry Hills. By saponifying the 

 oil with potash and adding a mineral acid, the salicylic acid 

 is precipitated in a state of purity. If this is distilled with 

 lime and sand, pure carbolic acid is obtained. It is thought 

 that both these acids can be obtained from the plant at a 

 cost of a few shillings a pound. A substance has lately been 

 derived from the roots of the Digitalis pwyurea, which is so 

 poisonous as to render doubtful its availability for medicinal 

 purposes. 18 A^ October 18, 1875, 89. 



ox JABOKANDI. 



Among the most remarkable objects of the Materia Medica 

 lately introduced to notice is one known as Jahorandi^ and 

 especially noteworthy from its power of producing a rapid, 

 prompt, and intense salivation. Tlie plant is a native of 

 the Empire of Brazil, and known to botanists as the Pi- 

 locarpus pinnatus. Four grammes of the leaves dissolved 

 in 125 grammes of boiling water, or in 20 grammes of 

 alcohol, will bring about at the end of twenty to forty 

 minutes a perspiration which continues from one to two 

 hours, and is enough to completely saturate the clothing 

 or even the bedding of the patient with moisture, to an 

 amount estimated at from three to five hundred grammes. 



