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before ifc that evening probably one of the most 

 interesting collections of specimens which had ever 

 been shown in that room. He always thought that 

 the materia medica of any locality, as used by the 

 natives, was deserving the attention of those persons 

 who were better informed than the natives, for there 

 was, perhaps, some truth at the bottom of the use of 

 all such remedial agents. There were among the 

 specimens some substances which would afford scope 

 for the researches of those students who were anxious 

 for something to investigate. For instance, if they 

 would examine the sample of cantharides. Eeference 

 had been made to a sample of castor oil which was 

 sometimes mild and sometimes drastic in its action. 

 The mode of preparation might account for the 

 difference. If portions of the seeds were boiled out 

 and left in the oil, the preparation would be drastic 

 in its properties. There was one substance which would 

 make a very useful medicine indeed. Dr Parker had 

 described it as a " disperser of mental fog on the 

 brain." There certainly was a great opening for such 

 a medicine. 



Dr Parker, in replying to the remarks which 

 had been made, stated, with reference to the existence 

 of pharmacy as a speciality in Madagascar, that a 

 concession had been obtained from the Queen, that 

 none but medical students who had been trained by 

 English, Norwegian, or French Doctors — or, in other 

 words, by European Doctors— and whose adequate 



