PROPERTIES OF THE BARK OF THE LARCH. 
55 7 
that position from twenty minutes to half an hour, being 
perfectly calm and having his eyes closed. He would then 
open his eyes, turn his head round once or twice, and dose off 
as before. In this state he would continue, for an hour, 
more or less, after which he always made an attempt to eat. 
Sloppy mashes, gruel, and short grass was the food offered 
to him, which he managed with difficulty to gulp without 
mastication. Although no medicine was given during the 
employment of chloroform, the bowels recovered their proper 
action, and the general excitement of the system gradually 
disappeared. 
Eactis and Observations, 
THERAPEUTICAL PROPERTIES OE THE BARK OE THE 
LARCH. 
In the Dublin Hospital Gazette appears an account of a 
communication having been made to the College of Physicians 
by Dr. Moore, of the beneficial action of the bark of the larch 
— Pinus larix . Among its constituents are starch, gum, 
resin, and tannin. It has been found efficacious by Dr. 
G. A. Kennedy, in arresting epistaxis and intestinal hae- 
morrhage in the human subject. Drs. H. Carmichael and 
Moore have with it successfully treated cases of bronchitis 
accompanied with bloody sputa. They state that it dimi- 
nished the bronchial super-secretion, checked the haemopty- 
sis, and imparted general tone to the system. Dr. J. Young 
says, that he has given it in cases of chronic mucous dis- 
charges with powerful results, likewise for checking haemor- 
rhages from several mucous canals in the body, especially the 
genito-urinary, for which it may be successfully prescribed 
both locally (Using equal parts of the tincture and water) and 
internally, in such cases as haematuria, &c. 
The forms in which it has been employed are the extract 
and tincture. The former is obtained from a watery infusion 
by evaporation, the latter is prepared by adding one pint of 
proof spirit to two ounces of the larch bark. It has a dark 
carmine colour, an agreeable “ pinic” smell, its taste partakes 
of the oleo-resins, and its action is that of a styptic and car- 
minative. Those who have tried it say, “ it is conclusive that 
xxxi. 74 
