554 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
excellent and mild purgative, and lie gave them in doses from one to four 
(seldom exceeding the latter number), according to the age or strength of the 
patient; one for the age of three or four years, two at ten or twelve, three .at 
fifteen or eighteen years, and four as a full dose for an adult. When adminis¬ 
tered, the kernels are extracted from their shells, and sometimes given in that 
form; but usually they are pounded in a mortar with water, and, after being 
well incorporated, the emulsion, strained, is given as a draught to the patient. 
It operates a few hours after it lias been taken, and is regarded as an excellent 
aperient. Ur. Bennett’s own experience with them, however, is not so favour¬ 
able. He states that he occasionally administered them, but always found their 
effects very irregular, some requiring a dose of from six to eight seeds, others 
only the usual dose of four ; but in all an uneasy burning sensation in the 
bowels, with nausea and vomiting, followed. This uncertainty in operation 
corresponds exactly with the observations of Professor Christison (‘ Dispensa¬ 
tory,’ p. 794) on the use of the expressed oil of these seeds, of which they yield 
from 25 to 80 per cent. One sample from Barbadoes seeds acted precisely like 
castor oil in doses of 10 to 20 drops, whilst that from Jamaica seeds caused, in 
some cases, the same severe sickness and watery evacuations, as croton oil, and 
in others was inert in doses of 30 drops. This want of uniformity in action 
would preclude its employment in practice. 
One circumstance regarding this seed remains to be noticed. Professor 
Christison observed that the marc or residuum left after the expression of the oil 
from the bruised seeds, retained active properties, a dose of a few grains occa¬ 
sioning violent purging and vomiting. I shall have occasion to notice this fact 
hereafter. 
Equal, if not superior, in potency is our next article, the seeds of Curcas mul- 
tijidus , Endl., commonly known as French Physic Nuts. The seeds, observes 
Dr. Lindley (Flor. Med., p. 185), are one of the best of all emetics and pur¬ 
gatives, acting briskly but without inconvenience. With all due respect to so 
high an authority, I beg leave to doubt this ; as far as I am aware, there is no 
reliable evidence of their being either safe or effectual. I once fell in with a 
case of poisoning by them, in the person of a young man, a Hindoo, who had 
swallowed three or four of the fresh seeds. Violent purging and vomiting, intense 
heat and pain in the stomach, with great prostration of the vital powers, .were 
the principal symptoms. Recovery took place under the plentiful administra¬ 
tion of lime-juice and stimulants. 
Next in power, we may mention the seeds of Euphorbia Lathyris , Linn., the 
Caper Spurge, a European plant. They possess additional interest as evidencing 
that, in our cold northern climate, the seeds of Euphorbiaceous plants possess 
all the active properties of their tropical congeners. The seeds, about the size 
of a peppercorn, are at first sweetish to the taste, but soon impress a sensation 
of acridity on the fauces. When swallowed, they cause a sensation of burning 
throughout the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach, and, if swallowed to the extent 
of six or twelve, they operate as a violent emetico-cathartic. Their expressed 
oil was first introduced into practice by Dr. Calderini, who stated that in doses 
from 6 to 8 drops it acted efficiently and safely as a purgative, without causing 
nausea or colic ; but subsequent trials with it at the Clinique at Bologna, and 
elsewhere, tended to show that it is very uncertain in its operation, which is a 
great objection to any medicine, but especially to a purgative. 
It is worthy of note that the capsules, which, in the fresh state, are un¬ 
doubtedly acrid and poisonous, become innocuous by undergoing the process of 
pickling, and that they are used as a substitute for capers, which they resemble in 
size, appearauce, and pungency. Dr. Pereira, however, justly observes (vol. ii. 
pt. i. p. 1271) that the free use of the pickled fruit may be dangerous. 
The next article in our list is the Hura crepitans , Linn., the sand-box tree 
