764 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. . [March 29, 1873. 
the amount of citrate of quinia present is about 50 
per cent, greater than the amount of quinia given as 
the result of the above assays—the sample assaying 
11*5 of quinia having 17*39 of citrate of quinia,] 
CHURRUS. 
BY JOHN R. JACKSON, A.L.S., 
Curator of the Museums, Royal Gardens, Kcw. 
Three well known products of the Hemp plant 
(Cannabis sativa ) are known in India as Gunja, 
Bhang, and Churrus: the first being the dried flower 
branches pressed together while in a fresh state, and 
used for smoking like tobacco; the second, the leaves 
and capsules, from which an infusion or intoxicating 
drink is made ; and the third, a kind of an earthy resin, 
which is always described as the most powerful of all. 
Churrus varies, however, in quality, three or more 
kinds being known: the first or highest quality occur¬ 
ring in large irregular lumps, the second in smaller 
lumps, and the third in finely broken pieces, with a 
large proportion of dust. All these have a more or less 
earthy fracture, but there are two small samples in the 
Kew Museum which have been apparently moulded 
by pressure into hard and compact masses, each about 
two inches long, and about half as thick again as a 
man’s thumb, rounded at each end, and which have a 
somewhat greenish fracture, and a perceptible odour 
of musk. Whether this has "been imparted to them in 
the course of preparation, or by contact with other 
articles, I am not able to say. The specimens formed 
part of the collection of the Medico-Botanical Society 
of London, and were obtained for the Kew Museum 
in 1853, since which time they have been kept in a 
glass jar, separate from other specimens, sufficient 
time, one would think, for them to lose any perfume 
not actually incorporated into their substance. Chur¬ 
rus is said to be seldom or never the pure resin as it 
exudes from the leaves, stems, and flowers of the 
hemp plant, so that it is not improbable that musk 
may sometimes be mixed up with it. And, as a 
further proof of the system of adulteration, the fol¬ 
lowing fact may also be stated: — Amongst some 
fruits, seeds, and other botanical specimens recently 
received at the Kew Museum from Yarkand, were 
some of the mealy fruits of the Trebizonde date ( Elce - 
agnus hortensis). The information which accompa¬ 
nied them was to the effect that the tree was culti¬ 
vated for the sake of the fruits, which were largely 
consumed as food, and were carried in quantities in 
caravan journeys. The wild fruits, however, are not 
eaten, but the meal obtained from them is used en¬ 
tirely to adulterate Churrus. In India the hemp is 
an officinal plant, its principal use being in tetanus, 
hydrophobia, and neuralgia, in its various forms ; but 
it has also been used, it is said, with success in such 
diseases as cholera, rheumatism, asthma, and some 
phases of skin disease. It is applied in the forms of 
extract and tincture, and has been recommended for 
use in this country. In the Indian Pharmacopoeia 
are some remarks by Sir Robert Christison, who 
speaks of it not only as an excellent substitute for 
morphia, but as being suitable in cases where mor 
phia could not be applied, or was obj ected to by the 
patient. He further says, he has “long been con¬ 
vinced, and new experience confirms his conviction, 
that for energy, certainty, and convenience, Indian 
Hemp is the next anodyne, hypnotic, and anti-spas¬ 
modic to opium and its derivatives, and often equal 
to it.” All the products of the hemp are, however, 
so much adulterated, that the difficulty seems to be 
in obtaining Gunja of good quality from which to 
prepare the extract, which Sir R. Christison considers 
the best of all forms in which it can be used. 
Under the name of “Majoon,” a compound is used 
in India composed of Bhang, butter, sugar, flour, and 
milk. 
FERROUS HAMATE. 
BY M. GHYSEN. 
The author has reported to the Medical Society of 
Liege the result of some experiments he has made to 
obtain a preparation of iron in the ferrous state which 
could be kept without undergoing change, and in 
which he used manna as a preservative agent. The 
method adopted was as follows :—75 grams of pure 
crystallized sulphate of iron was pulverized and 
mixed intimately with 100 grams of manna in tears. 
80 grams of solution of ammonia (sp. gr. *905) was 
then added, and the mass rubbed up so as to obtain a 
thoroughly homogeneous mixture. To this was added, 
a little at a time, 130 grams of alcohol (94°), which 
mixture separated clearly into a soft mass and a 
supernatant ammoniacal liquid that was rejected. 
The residue was again washed with 130 grams of 
fresh alcohol, and the product afterwards dried 
quickly and pulverized. The liquors rej ected weighed 
together 310 grams. The quantity of ferrous man- 
nate so produced consisted of 125 grams of a beautiful 
green powder, entirely unalterable in the air. The 
powder, suspended in water, coloured it green without 
dissolving, and the liquor passed through a filter 
colourless. Nevertheless, directly the iron entered 
into solution it oxidized with great rapidity, turning 
the liquor yellow, and showing that water acts inju¬ 
riously by causing the iron to pass into the higher 
state. 
Ammonia was used in preference to potash or soda, 
in order easilv to eliminate by evaporation the excess 
of alkali, and so obtain a product composed entirely 
of manna and iron. As a ferruginous preparation, 
M. Ghysen believes the mannate, in regard to the 
quantity of active principle it contains, to be one of 
the richest. It may be administered in powder, in 
doses of from a few centigrams to a gram, or in pills. 
The following formula he has found to yield a good 
result- 
Ferrous Mannate, in powder . . 10 grams 
Water.150 „ 
Make into pills of 20 centigrams. 
He states that the mass is hard, but may be rolled 
and divided with facility, while the pills keep per¬ 
fectly without being coated. 
THE DISCRIMINATION OF GOOD WATER AND 
WHOLESOME FOOD.* 
In the second of a course of lectures on sanitary science 
now being delivered weekly in Dublin, under the auspices 
of the Royal Dublin Society, Dr. Emerson Reynolds said 
that the impurities often present in water used for drink¬ 
ing purposes, and the numerous adulterations to which 
articles of food are liable, have frequently formed subjects 
for able and interesting discourses. Most of these objec- 
* Printed, but not published, by Thom and Co., Dublin, 
for H. M. Stationery Office ; from the London Medical 
Record. 
