AMYGDALUS COMMUNIS. 
5 
furnish a complete remedy for phthisis, in its incipient stage.* 
M. Magendie combines one part pure Prussic Acidf with six parts 
water ; this diluted acid he calls medicinal Prussic Acid, and pre- 
scribes according to the following formula: — 
Infusion of ivy, two ounces; medicinal Prussic Acid, fifteen drops; 
syrup, one ounce. A dessert spoonful to be taken every nine hours, 
shaking the bottle each time. 
Prussic Acid may be considered as one of the most powerful 
sedatives we possess; and as such, has been recommended in 
asthma, sympathetic cough, acute pain attending abortions, pul- 
monary consumptions, acute and chronic pleuritis, cancer of the 
matrix, &c.; as a topical remedy, it has been used for ringworm, and 
other cutaneous diseases.^ M. Haller has prescribed the Prussic 
Acid in very large doses, and in a variety of diseases. For the 
result of his success, we refer our readers to a paper on the subject. 
(Vide Lancet, Vol. 1.) 
* We bave seen the Prussic Acid tried in various stages of phthisis, and upon per- 
sons of different habits, and although, in some instances, it has produced temporary 
good effects, chiefly we imagine from its sedative properties, yet we have never seen 
one cure effected by it. The Prussic Acid of commerce must likewise be a very 
uncertain medicine from the difficulty of preparing it of an uniform strength, and its 
tendency to decomposition, which becomes greater the purer the acid ; it is therefore 
a medicine, which, practitioners should use the greatest precaution in prescribing. An 
instance came under our own observation, where a young lady had been for a consider- 
able time using the Prussic Acid, under the superintendance of an eminent physician, 
the dose being gradually increased ; but on procuring a fresh bottle of the acid, from 
the druggists, and taking the same quantity as on the previous day, it produced almost 
instant death ; the fresh acid being uo doubt more concentrated than what she had been 
previously taking. 
t " Pure Prussic, or Hydro- cyanic Acid is obtained by digesting the crystallized 
" deuto-cyanuret of mercury in two-thirds of its weight of liquid; and slightly fuming 
" Hydro-chloric Acid, in a tubulated retort, which communicates with a receiver con- 
" taining fragments of chloruret of calcium and chalk, and which itself communicates 
" with a smaller receiver, destined to collect the product. These receivers must be 
" surrounded by a mixture of ice and salt. After the deuto-cyanuret of mercury and 
" the acid have been successively put into the retort, a slight heat is to be applied ; a 
" little ebullition soon succeeds, arising in part from the evaporation of the Prussic 
" Acid, wliich is formed, and is condensed in the first receiver with a little Hydro- 
" chloric Acid and water. When the quantity of water becomes very sensible, the 
" operation must be suspended, in order that the product already obtained may be 
" purified ; this is performed by isolating the first receiver from the retort, taking away 
the ice which surrounds it, and replacing the ice by water at 32 or 33 degrees, 
" (89. 6 or 91. 4 Fah.) under these circumstances, the Hydro cyanic Acid passes alone 
" into the smaller receiver; for the water and the Hydro-chloric Acid, which were at 
" first volatilized with it, are now retained in the first receiver ; the water by the 
" Chloruret of Calcium, and the Hydro-chloric Acid by the Vims." Magendie s Formulaire. 
t In impetigo, acne rosacea, and several other cutaneous diseases. Dr. A. T. Thomp- 
son has used the following lotion with much benefit : — 
Take of Hydro-cyanic Acid f 5iv. 
Kectified Spirit of Wine f ?i. 
Distilled Water f fsss. 
