Seeds of' the Croton Tiglium. 69 



in the smallest degree, the alcoholic solution for subsequent 

 use, agitate well, pour oflF the solution, and add more alcohol 

 in the same manner until the dissolved portion is diffused in 

 such a proportion of alcohol that each half dram measure shall 

 contain equal to one dose of the croton oil for an adult, — by 

 placing the phial near a fire, to evaporate what remains of the 

 alcohol in the bottle, if the remainder be to that which has been 

 abstracted by the alcohol as 65 to 45, the oil is genuine, — if 

 olive, or any other oil, little soluble in alcohol, has been added, 

 the residuum will be in larger proportion. But if castor oil has 

 been employed, the proportion of the residue will be smaller 

 than in the genuine medicine. 



The alcoholic solution appears to me the best vehicle for 

 administering the active principle of the croton oil ; and fur- 

 nishes the means of readily proportioning the dose to the various 

 circumstances of cases under treatment. The following is the 

 formula which I have employed, and the directions for avoiding 

 the uneasy feelings which are produced in the mouth and throat. 



R. Alcohol, croton, 5 Q. 

 Syrupi simplicis. 

 Mucilag. gum. Arab. Ja 3 ii- 

 Aq. distillat. | jR. M.— ft. haustus. 



After swallowing a little milk, take the draught very quickly, 

 and wash it down with repeated quantities of the same diluent. 



Having already administered this remedy in private practice, 

 in considerably above an hundred doses, and to some patients 

 many times, a copious list of cases might be furnished. At 

 present it may be sufficient to state that in not more than three 

 or four cases was vomiting produced, and that not in a violent 

 degree ; — in not many more was nausea felt; — in all the cases 

 purging was induced in a space of time between half an hour 

 and three hours after taking the medicine : — the purgative 

 effects were generally moderate, accompanied with griping, 

 rarely ; and in proportion generally to the effect which was 

 intended to be produced, circumstances which some of my 

 medical friends, whom I furnished with the alcoholic solution 

 prepared from the seeds, as well as myself, are inclined to 

 attribute to the instantaneous and equable diffusion of the 



