292 



DtJRAND, ASHER BROWN. 



stance is protected by patent. Saccharin itself 

 has been proposed as a substitute for sugar in 

 sweetening the food of diabetic patients. 



Safrol is the stearoptene of oil of sassafras, 

 and contains the real aromatic principle ot the 

 oil. It is colorless, boils at 449*6 Fahr., and 

 congeals at a moderately cool temperature; 

 sp. g. 1-108. 



Salol, a newly derived antiseptic and antipy- 

 retic, is a phenyl ether of salicylic acid (HC 7 

 H B O 8 ). It seems to be superior to salicylic 

 acid and its salts as a remedy for rheumatism, 

 in its greater power of preventing endocarditis, 

 and its freedom from secondary effects. It is 

 A white, crystalline powder, of feeble aromatic 

 odor (somewhat like wintergreen), and almost 

 tasteless. Its rhombic crystals melt at 42 C. 

 to a clear, colorless liquid. Its tastelessness is 

 presumed to be owing to its insolubility in 

 water ; alcohol, benzol, and ether, however, 

 dissolve it readily. It may be given up to two 

 drachms daily without bad effects. It is sup- 

 posed that salol undergoes no change in the 

 stomach, but is acted upon by the pancreatic 

 secretion and decomposed. It renders the 

 urine blackish in color, owing to presence of 

 oxidation products of phenol. Its use exter- 

 nally prevents the development of, but does 

 not destroy, bacteria. 



Santonate of Atropine is said by a German 

 physician to be the best salt of atropine to use 

 for ophthalmic purposes, owing to its freedom 

 from liability to cause irritation or of its solu- 

 tions to contain fungoid growths. It is a 

 white, amorphous, non-hygroscopic powder, 

 which forms dilute solutions with cold water ; 

 0-01 gramme in 20 grammes of water is suffi- 

 cient to dilate the pupil. 



Scopoline, an alkaloid existing in Scopolia Ja- 

 ponica, dilates the pupil more rapidly than 

 atropine, and its effects last longer. It does 

 not appear to irritate the conjunctiva and it 

 antagonizes the effects of eserine. 



Tsnchiakabe is a recently noticed Japanese 

 drug, consisting of the dried fruit of an orchid 

 indigenous to Japan. It renders water acid 

 and bitter, owing, it is presumed, to the pres- 

 ence of a resin-acid and a glucoside. The Jap- 

 anese employ a watery extract in urinary dis- 

 eases, in much the way that copaiba or cubebs 

 are used elsewhere. It is said to be free from 

 disagreeable odor. 



DURAN0, Asher Brown, an American line-en- 

 graver and painter, born in Jefferson village, 

 (now South Orange), N. J., Aug. 21, 1796 ; 

 died in South Orange, Sept. 17, 1886. He was 

 descended from Huguenot ancestors. In the 

 shop of his father, a watchmaker, he learned 

 to cut ciphers upon spoons, and this employ- 

 ment, with his natural taste for drawing, turned 

 his attention to engraving. His earliest ex- 

 periments were upon plates hammered out of 

 copper coins, with instiuments invented by 

 himself. His first work upon a proper plate 



instruction, he managed to produce a copy es- 

 teemed so successful that he decided to adopt 

 engraving as his profession. In 1812 he was 

 apprenticed to Peter Maverick, of New York, 

 at that time a prominent engraver. During 

 his apprenticeship he was chiefly employed 

 in copying English book-engravings for pub- 

 lishers, but, becoming intimate with Samuel 

 Waldo, he received instruction in portraiture 

 and engraved a plate after a painting of a beg- 

 gar by Waldo. This was exhibited, and proved 

 the beginning of a successful career as a por- 

 trait-engraver. Durand's study of books at 

 this time was for the most part confined to the 

 illustrations, and the only academic art educa- 

 tion that he received was derived from a brief 

 attendance at the antique class of the old 

 American Academy of Fine Arts, where his 

 self-acquired skill in drawing is said to have 



ASHER BROWN DURAND. 



was an engraving of a portrait painted upon the 

 lid of a snuff-box. Although entirely with 



without 



surpassed that of the director. In 1817 he 

 entered into partnership with Maverick ; but 

 this partnership in the monotonous labor of 

 copying English prints and working upon bank- 

 note plates was soon ended by TrumbinTs choice 

 of Durand as the engraver of his painting, u The 

 Declaration of Independence." Upon this en- 

 graving, made from the miniature portraits 

 in the painter's small picture, Durand worked 

 for three years, receiving $3,000 in compen- 

 sation on the publication of the engraving in 

 1820. This plate, which is still probably the 

 best known of his engraved works, estab- 

 lished his reputation as one of the leading 

 American engravers of his time. For fifteen 

 years he was an active and prosperous en- 

 graver. He engraved several heads for the 

 " National Portrait Gallery." Baker mentions 

 thirty-two portraits, among which are engrav- 

 ings after paintings of Washington, Monroe, 



