Pharmacopceias. 85 



oil that has been stored for some time would be preferable to the fresh product, as 

 being less poisonous. — Schuffner and Vervoort recommend as a medium dosis three 

 times 0.4 grams of chenopodium oil daily. Better results had been obtained with 

 several small doses than by giving a larger quantity in one dosis. A laxative ought 

 not to be given before, but after the cure. Anaemic persons should drink Karlsbad 

 waters during the cure, which takes about five days. People suffering from kidney 

 or liver complaints are very sensitive and should be treated with small doses only. 

 Chenopodium oil is said to have proved efficacious too as a remedy against 

 tape-worms. 



An article in the Apothekerzeitung also points out the danger of giving too large doses 

 of American wormseed oil 1 ). According to H. Briining a dosis of 0.2 cc. per kilo of 

 weight was deadly for dogs, smaller doses caused paralysis, for instance of the 

 respiratory organs. The oil can be given pure or in emulsions and is said not to 

 have the disagreeable by-effects produced by santonin. — Children ought to have as 

 many drops as they are years old, but not more than ten, to be given after a little 

 breakfast. Two hours later castor oil or another mild aperient should be given. The 

 author proposes to include the remedy in the new edition of the German Pharmaco- 

 poeia and to fix the maximum doses. 



The following cases show that it is not superfluous to call attention to the 

 noxiousness of chenopodium oil when given in large doses: — 



A child of two years, who had taken 8 grams of wormseed oil, meant for an 

 older brother or sister, died in spite of all medical assistance 2 ). 



As per The Perfumery and Essential Oil Record 3 ) oil of chenopodium has been the 

 cause of a fatality at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Endsleigh Gardens, London, N.W. 



Regarding the production of chenopodium oil in Java see p. 80 of this Report. 



Pharmacopoeias. 

 Italian Pharmacopoeia. 



(Farmacopea Ufficiale del Regno d'ltalia, ed. IV.) 



The third edition of the Italian pharmacopoeia, in use since 1910, has now been 

 succeeded by a new one, the paragraphs of which concerning our articles we wish 

 to deal with in the customary manner. Unfortunately, not much favourable can be said 

 about them. Indeed, we could confine ourselves to a mere reference to our criticism 

 of the former edition of the pharmacopoeia (Report April 1910, 128) since the compilers 

 deemed it unnecessary to do away with the numerous faults and mistakes of the third 

 edition, and in the few cases where this was attempted it was. performed rather un- 

 satisfactorily. Here, the compiler of the paragraph ought to have realised that incorrect 

 statements are of but little use in commercial intercourse, as they give rise to groundless 

 objections and unnecessary correspondence. There was no difficulty in eliminating the 

 existing errors, if one had taken pains to look out in the respective literature. 



It may be taken for an effort to modernisation that with the essential oils notice 

 has been taken of the direction of optical rotation, but since no limits have been 



») Apoth. Ztg. 36 (1921), 375. -- 2 ) Pharm. Ztg. 66 (1921), 697. — 3 ) Perfum. Record 12 (1921), 185. 



