524 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1888. 
mention & little historical fact, that among all the 
surgical instruments now in use, with the exception of 
those required for dissecting purposes, the little 
stethoscope is the oldest, and jet, though this is the 
case, I remember the time when a medical man 
required to sound a patient's chest, it was done by 
the old method of tapping with his hand, and applying 
his ear to the part. It is little, if at all, over sixty 
years since the stethoscope superseded the old clumsy 
method of knocking at the chest doors of their patient 
by the medical man, in order to learn if the heart 
and lungs were doing their duty in a proper manner. 
The following list of things is taken from the 
catalogue of a house in which only small articles are 
enumerated, and from which we omit surgical appli- 
ances : — The articles under the head of domestic, 
stationary, and sanitary articles, embrace a number 
of draught tubes, " tubular rubber door springs," 
" squeegees," " foot warmers," '■ muff warmers," 
"Panstrep'on bath brushes," bathing caps, "spring 
bags," India-rubber teats, teething pads, baby jumpers, 
gum rings, gum brushes, teeth brushes, feeding bottles, 
India-rubber copying brushes, India-rubber marking 
pens, "Claude rubbers," "watch preservers," and 
'.' stud guards." 
We have next articles for mechanical and railway 
purposes. Amongst these are " buffer bearing springs," 
" conical shape buffers" and "bar springs." "Pump 
ball valves," " hydrant ball valves," " closet cones," 
"gauge glass washers," "hat blocks," "gas bags" for 
various purposes, Indiarubber washers, amongst which 
is the " man-hole washer." Then there are wheel 
tires, aerated water bottling machines, "washer tubes, 
pump rings, and pump valves. 
The above are only a few out of a great number 
of small articles contained in the catalogue, and they 
have been noticed simply for the purpose of showing 
the almost endless uses to which India-rubber, both 
in its natural and vulcanised state, can be applied. 
The hospitals and iufirmaries have had many articles 
made of rubber which have been of much servioe 
in alleviating the sufferings of their patients. But I 
do not think there is any profession that has bteu 
so greatly benefited by the use of articles made of 
India-rubber than the surgeons ; many of their useful 
instruments are made of the gum, aud some of the 
most important tools could not be made of any 
other material. 
From what has been said, the reader will have 
observed that there is an adaptation in this material 
to many of the business affairs of life which few 
other things in nature possess. — Indiarubber and 
Guttapercha Journal. 
DRUGS: MATERIA MEDICA NOTES. 
Commercial Cocaink. — Some time ago Dr. E. R 
Squibb called attention in Ephemeris to the curious 
manner in which the cocaine hydrochlorate of the 
same maker varies in quality, iu so far as the Uuited 
States are concerned. It has also been frequently 
pointed out iu this country that commercial cocaine 
hydrochlorate is not always of the high degree 
of purity which such an important remedial agent 
should be. We poiuted out (Ths Chemist and 
Dbuggist, vol. xxx. page 297) that a most useful 
test whereby any one may prove the purity of the 
salt is that which was devised by Mr. Henry Mac- 
Lagan, an American pharmacist. That test, according 
to its deviser, consits in adding one or two drops of 
■olution of ammonia to a solution of 1 grain of cocaine 
hydrochlorate iu about 2 oz. of water. If the hydro- 
chlorate is pure, that is free from amorphous alkaloid, 
there is, on stirring, au immediate precipitate, which 
in a few seconds separates into Hocks of crystals, 
and these .subside leaving the supernatant solution 
dear. We showed that it is better to use 1 on. of 
water to L grain of cocaine, and that a sample of 
crude cocaine gave no precipitate whatever. The 
test is now recognised as a most delicate 
one, aud is generally adopted. There recently came 
under our notice a case in which a chemist had 
reported to a manufacturer that the cocaine hy- 
drochlorate made by the latter was impure. The 
manufacturer averred, however, that the hydrochlorate 
conformed to MacLagau's test, giving a perfectly 
clear solution with ammonia, and this he took as 
a proof that the salt was free from amorphous al- 
kaloid- Our attention was called to the matter, and 
we find that another manufacturer in Germany has 
reproduced the test in the following form: — 
" To 0 1 gramme hydrochlorate of cocaine, diluted 
iu 100 grammes of distilled water, 5 drops of liquor 
ammonise Ph. B. are added. The solution should re- 
main perfectly bright. (McLagan's test.)'' 
There is no mention here, it will be seen, of the 
separation of cocaine hydrate on the addition of 
ammonia, and it is rather a strange fact that on 
testing the product of this manufacturer, we find it 
not to conform with his own te^t, but to the origi- 
nal one. We have tested other samples, and find 
that two of German origin quite responded to the 
modified test above quoted, affording no precipitata, 
one of them only giving a faint milkiness. Three 
other specimens gave immediate precipitates with 
ammonia, which in a few seconds became crystalline, 
and on subsiding left the supernatant solution clear. 
These were, therefore, pure ; the first two were not ; 
but we may add that wheu in the latter case the 
volume of water was considerably decreased, a pre- 
cipitate of an amorphous character was afforded. It 
is perfectly obrious that some manufacturers are 
working up to what they consider a standard of 
purity, which is really one of impurity. The result 
is that they produce a cocaine hydrochlorate which 
is very bulky, is in the form of micaceous scaly crystals, 
and dissolves readily in water. The pure hydrochlo- 
rates are much heavier and dissolve more slowly. 
Bktel-leaf Oil. — Several months ago we stated 
that a Dutch-Indian pharmacist of Samarang, in Java, 
had succeeded in extracting an essential oil from the 
leaves of the betel peeper (Charica Betle and C. 
fSirebua). Ttn-se leaves are extensively used by the 
natives of the Indiau Archipelago aud other Eastern 
countries as a wrapping for the betel-nut and gambier, 
which every man, woman, and child there uses as 
a masticatory. The leaves and fruit of the betel pepper 
are also used, like those of other chavicas, as medicinal 
remedies, but they had not been the subject of a 
pharmaceutical investigation until recently. We have 
received a specimen of the essential oil, and, on 
examination, find that it possesses the peculiar odour 
of the betel pepper leaf, which closely resembles 
that of long-pepper fruit. It is of a deep amber 
colour, and has a specific gravity of 0 - 943. It is 
soluble in less than its own volume of rectified spirit, 
and the solution is not disturbed by the addition of 
spirit up to ten volumes. Wuh sulphuric acid the 
oil gives a coffee-brown colour, but perfect charring 
only occurs on the addition of a little nitric acid 
to the mixture. Nitric acid alone darkens the oil 
at first, it rapidly becomes — from reddish-brown-a 
dark-brown colour, and resinifies, the acid also being 
coloured brown. Hydrochloric acid alone has no effect 
upon the oil; but if a trace of nitric acid is added 
to the mixture the oil assumes a lilac colour. Dr L. 
Rossbach, of Jena, in Germany, has tried the oil 
as a remedy for headache, colic, liver disorder, catar- 
rhal affections of the mouth aud throat,, ulcers, and 
especially iu cough. It has also been recommended 
iu consumption. These are the disorders for which 
the leaf is prescribed in India; hut according to the 
Dutch l J harmaceutische Weekblad it has beeu found 
impracticable to employ the leaves in Europe," ss they 
cannot be dried without losing their aromatic and 
stimulaut properties. It is ttated that essential oil 
of betel will eie long be included iu the Pharnut- 
copceiu jYcerlantlica. 
Cuniius.— The last number of the Kern Bulletin 
brings the series for the year to a close, and looking 
over the list of twent)- ight monographs which 
comprise the series, there is every evidence that the 
issue has been successful — so far, at least, as the 
value of the contents are concerned. There might 
be greater variety of subjects and more notes- in each 
number. The present one contains eight notes. It 
