Borer er ay tee a ited at Ot ela iO, ae 
Saas %; ae PREP AR IONe AND ‘Drugs. fie ) 73 
E oe ee occupies the premier saute in the trade. The ee pouches are brought 
a there to the market from the far interior by hunters, and traders. A sac contains from 
~ Ito 2 ounces of pure musk. The musk is forwarded to the coast during the cold 
season of the year, for heat and moisture lower the quality. Only about 80 per cent. 
of the exported musk can be regarded as pure, since adulterations with peas, wheat — 
and barley-corns, ground acorns, roasted liver and pulverised beef, are the order of 
the day, on account of the high value of the commodity 
In recent years the prices. of musk in Tachienlu amounted to:— 
oe 1914 i be tacis per ounce.) AOE. 032". AE to, 12 taels per ounce 
aa e  t8.- s Seas PEAPIO! re ce TA 7 12 my. ON ” 
1916 Die de Ng » NN Occ 10 a eae 12 ld gar airs ” 
The value of the Haikwan tael, which serves as basis for reckoning has risen from 
$ —.65 in 1914 to § 1.20 at end of 1919. 
On account of high prices and unsatisfactory currency conditions, only very modest 
quantities of genuine musk were © imported into Germany during the War. 
_ Nitrobenzene. — One is continually reading of cases of alirobensene poisoning. 
Hence it should again he pointed out how dangerous this preparation is, even when 
diluted. Tuscevski*) writes about three cases, in which after partaking of oil of mirbane 
_ cyanosis, coma, convulsions, and injury to the spinal cord supervened. One patient 
_ died. On another occasion soldiers received the oil preparation instead of fennel oil, as a 
‘remedy against body lice. After rubbing it into their bodies, six of them fell sick with 
symptoms of severe poisoning; one case was hopeless”). K. Bohland relates the case 
of a girl who purchased at the druggists as “Vermin-spirit”, sabadilla vinegar, with an 
_ underlying layer of nitrobenzene. It had to be shaken ‘before using.. When she had 
- rubbed it into the scalp three times, very serious poisoning symptoms appeared’). 
Another severer case of poisoning was, according to Wandel®), probably caused by 
- spirits containing nitrobenzene, and Heller?) established the fact, that almond-flavoured 
essences chiefly contained nitrobenzene. He demands that the unchecked sale of nitro- 
benzene should ‘cease, and that its use should be strictly supervised by the authorities’). 
sc Oregon Balsam: According to information from, people conversant with the 
_ winning of this balsam, the resin is obtained in two ways from the Douglas pines (Pseudo- 
tsuga taxifolia, Britton; P. Douwglasii, Carr.). (1) The trees are felled; the balsam which 
then flows out is received in suitable vessels. (2) The trees, in which cavities have 
_ occurred caused by a squall, and gradually filling themselves with the resin, are bored 
by experienced collectors. With help of a tube the out-flowing balsam (1 to 3 gallons 
_ are frequently obtained from a single boring) is collected in pails®). 
In view of the doubtless need for improvement in this method of winning, S. A. Ma- 
‘hood®) proposes the application of the European methods of getting larch turpentine, 
_ where one or two holes 1 to 11/2. inches wide are bored in the spring, in an almost 
_ vertical direction in the fully: grown trees (of about 40 ft. girth) right into the middle 
of the trunk. The trees without cavities should also be bored. The bore-holes are 
. 
é 
’ ‘ 1) Miinch. med. Wochenschr. 44 (1919). As per Pharm. Ztg. 64 (1919), 845. — 2) Deutsche Med. Wochenschr. 
45 (1919), 1388. As per Deutsche Parf. Zty. 6 (1920),6. — #*) Therap. der Gegenwart 1919, 226. As per Therap. 
q Halbmonatsh. 34 (1920), 60. —  *) Cf. Report 1918, 5. — 5) See also Report 1918, 36. — *) Americ. Journ. 
= Pharm. 91 (1919), 345. ! | 
‘ / 
: Se : t 
Bec. " ok : ¥ Pe -- : : - ra } 
