66 
LINIMENTUM ACONITI AND LINIMENTUM BELLADONNAS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Sir,—In answer to the questions asked in the July number by Mr. Gissing, of 
Wakefield, I beg to state, that in the preparation of aconite and belladonna 
liniments of the British Pharmacopoeia, sixteen parts by weight of dry crushed 
aconite or belladonna roots require, to moisten and macerate sufficiently for per¬ 
colation, sixteen parts by measure of rectified spirit; and to obtain the product 
by displacement will take at least twelve parts by measure more. 
The above statement is based upon six experiments carefully made, the quan¬ 
tity being about one gallon each time. 
Other experiments have been made to see how much spirit can be recovered 
by pressing the marc after exhausting, details of which may be tabulated as 
follows:— 
Date. 
Root. 
Spirit Used. 
Product. 
Spirit 
Recovered. 
Loss. 
2 Mo.21.67 
160 oz. 
260 fl. oz. 
160 OZ. 
70 oz. 
30 oz. fl. 
10 „ 16.67* 
160 „ 
280 „ 
160 „ 
100 „ 
20 „ 
4 „ 14.68 
160 „ 
290 „ 
160 „ 
103 „ 
27 „ 
6 „ 
2.68 
160 „ 
270 „ 
160 „ 
82 „ 
28 w 
7 „ 
7.68 
144 „ 
194 „ 
144 „ 
38 „ 
12 ' „ 
10 „ 22.68 
160 „ 
300 „ 
160 „ 
122 „ 
18 
Total 
944 oz. 
1594. 
944. 
515. 
135.* 
By converting the above numbers into decimals of 1 lb. we shall have— 
•94 1-594 *944 *515 T35 
15 oz. 26 oz. 15 oz. 8 oz. 2 oz. fl. 
So that 10 oz. of the root will take rectified spirit, thus— 
16 oz. 27i oz. |^ 16 oz. fl. 9 oz. 2i oz. 
Trusting these remarks may be useful, 
I am, yours obediently, 
J. T. Porter. 
Laboratory , 338, Oxford Street , July 7th. 
NOTES ON SOME NEW OB LITTLE-KNOWN VEGETABLE 
PBODUCTS. 
BY JAMES COLLINS, 
CURATOR OF THE SOCIETY’S MUSEUM. 
Chuquiragua (Chuquiraga insignis , Hurnb. et Bonpl.).—This prickly plant, 
the leaves and young shoots of which are very highly prized at the commence¬ 
ment of any kind of fever by the Indians of Columbia, I noticed in London last 
summer, a bale of it having been sent to Messrs. Im Thurn and Co., described 
as “ a medicinal grass from Guayaquil.” It seems to have been first offered 
for sale in this country in 1864. This plant has already attracted the attention 
of writers on Materia Medica. Merat and De Lens* notice it as being “ a 
plant of Upper Peru employed at Payta in the form of an infusion against 
fevers.” 
* ‘ Dictionnaire de Matiere Medicale,’ tome ii. p. 275. 
