3:26 Remarks on the Use of Piperine. 



mable substances ; and when the effects are too powerful, to 

 attend to such experiments securely, he connects the insula- 

 ted wire with the ground, and transmits the accumulated 

 electricity with silence, and with safety." 



Art. VIII. — Remarks on the use of Piperine, with the for- 

 mula for its manufacture, together with observations and 

 experiments on the Piper Nigrum and its preparations ; 

 by George W. Carpenter, of Philadelphia. 



Since the discovery of quinine and cinchonine, by the 

 celebrated chemists Pelletier and Caventon, vegetable che- 

 mistry, previously almost unknown as a science, has made 

 rapid advancement ; and the still further successful experi- 

 ments and discoveries since made upon vegetable matter, 

 have not only swelled the catalogue of highly important and 

 useful materials, but have given an additional stimulus for 

 the undertaking, and created an ardent zeal for investigation 

 in those already engaged in researches, as well as opened a 

 field of encouragement, in which numberless votaries have 

 appeared. By these means, this department of science, hav- 

 ing emerged from a stage of neglect and obscurity, has risen 

 with unparalleled rapidity, even within the space of a few 

 years, to its present exalted position ; and the numerous ad- 

 vantages and useful discoveries, resulting from its rapidly 

 improving condition, have caused it to rank as one of the 

 most important branches of chemical science. 



Every vegetable substance in the materia medica, which 

 has yet been subjected to chemical analysis, has produced 

 an elementary or alkaline principle, upon which the virtues 

 and activity of the medicine entirely depend. An instance 

 is found, even in opium, which, acting in a double capacity, 

 both as a stimulant and sedative, has afforded two principles, 

 corresponding with the operations of the crude material : one 

 is stimulating, the other sedative. When administered in 

 combination, acting like the crude substance ; when sepa- 

 rate, individually exercising the sedative or stimulating ef- 

 fects, as one or the other may be employed. These isolated 

 substances possess many and great advantages over the 

 crude materials. The activity of those particular effects, 

 which are desired from the administration of the medicine. 



