562 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW, 
This bean, known as the ordeal bean of Calabar, is a very rare plant of 
the leguminous order, grown only in the King’s garden. It was intro- 
duced to Dr. Christison some years ago by a missionary named Waddel. 
Dr. Christison described certain poisonous properties peculiar to it, in the 
“ Pharmaceutical Journal,” ten or twelve years back ; hut the special pro- 
perties in producing a contraction of the pupil have only recently attracted 
the attention of ophthalmic surgeons. Dr. Argyle Robertson, Dr. Frazer, 
Dr. George Harley, Mr. L. Woolcott, Mr. Selberg Wells, all concur in 
proving it to be of some value in ophthalmic practice, as an anti-medreatic 
or contractor of the pupil. Its physiological effects are apparently directly 
opposed to those of belladonna. It may thus counteract the disagreeable 
and frequently too prolonged action of the solution of atropine in ordinary 
use in dilating the pupil previous to, and for assisting in, ophthalmo- 
scopic examination. 
Mr. J. Woolcott, of the Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital, one of the 
earliest observers in England, will shortly publish his cases, and it is 
hoped will confirm the facts by cases and observations. 
The “ New Pharmacopoeia.” — The “ New Pharmacopoeia” — that is, the 
“ British Pharmacopoeia ”• — is now almost ready for publication, the proof- 
sheets having been laid before the General Medical Council. The labour 
upon this work is immense ; it has occupied for some years gentlemen 
associated with the Edinburgh, Dublin, and London Colleges of Physicians, 
and with other learned bodies connected with pharmacy. Professor Garrod 
is the secretary to their committee. This work will form what has long 
been wanted — a truly national pharmacopoeia. 
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society, Peter Squire, F.L.S., &c., 
has just published a work called the “ Pharmacopoeia of Thirteen of the 
London Hospitals.” It is so arranged in groups for easy comparison with 
the formulae of various hospitals, that in future it will be interesting to 
compare them with the forthcoming work above mentioned, to which it 
will form a most valuable supplement. 
Quinine in India . — -To those persons who are watching with interest the 
growth of quinine in India, it will be gratifying to know that quinine and 
the other alkaloids known as tonics and useful for their febrifuge pro- 
perties, have been extracted from the barks of the cinchonas of two years’ 
growth from the Neilgherry Hills. It has been found that the per-centage 
of quinine, cinchonidine, and cinchonine is as great as can be obtained from 
the bark of the South American produce.* 
Anaesthetics . — As an anaesthetic, chloroform has not yet fully satisfied 
the expectations of the profession. A committee of some of the members 
of the Medico-Chirurgical Society has been appointed, and is now actively 
engaged in experimental inquiries as to the uses, effects, and best modes of 
administering chloroform. The main object which the committee has in view, 
is to inquire not only into the practice of employing chloroform by inhalation 
for surgical operations and in midwifery practice, but to ascertain its 
MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS, 
See also Chemical Summary 
