86 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[J uly 30, 1870. 
SPOGEL SEEDS. 
Plantago ispaghula, Roxb. 
BY M. C. COOKE. 
Spogel seeds have long been known and employed 
in the East. Probably both seeds and the report of 
their virtues were first derived from Persia. The 
seeds of several species of Plantain, as Plantago am- 
plexicaulis , Cav.; P. ciliata, Desf.; P. decumbens, 
Forsk., and P. major, var. asiatica, are used in 
North-Western India, as well as those of P. ispa¬ 
ghula. Dr. Stewart says that all these, and it may 
be others of the wild species, at times, are col¬ 
lected and sold as the officinal seeds, known under the 
two names of “ isafghol ” and “ bartang.” They are 
considered cooling and emollient, and given in 
diarrhoea and fever. Honigberger states that the 
seeds of P. major, which are brought from Cashmere, 
are officinal with the Hakims. 
The true spogel seeds are those of P. ispaghula, 
Hoxb. They are the ‘Ispagool’ of the Persians, 
called by the same name in Hindustani, the ‘ Is- 
pungur ’ of Sindh, ‘ Ispoghol ’ of the Tamuls, ‘ Is- 
phagula ’ of the Teloogoos, the ‘ Buzr-katoona ’ of 
the Arabs, and the Yonanee ‘ Fuslioon.’ 
The plant itself is thus described:—Stem very 
short, soon dividing into three or four ascending 
round villous branches which are a few inches in 
length. Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 3-nerved, 
luxuriant in young plants, remotely denticulate, 
somewhat woolly, towards the base channelled, and 
stem-clasping, length six to eight inches, by a quarter 
to half an inch broad. Peduncles axillary, solitary, 
naked, erect, round, a little villous, the length of the 
leaves. Spikes solitary, terminal, when in seed 1 
to inches long, and erect. Capsule ovate, 2-celled. 
Seeds solitary, ovate-elliptic, convex on the outside, 
concave on the inner. Integument rather thick, 
tough, and brown. 
The seeds are the officinal part, and are about the 
eighth of an inch in 
length, of a greyish 
colour, with a pink¬ 
ish tinge. Under the 
microscope they bear 
some resemblance to 
a minute cowry shell, 
the concave side hav¬ 
ing a deep longitudi¬ 
nal furrow or cleft, 
which is gaping at 
the middle and nar¬ 
rowed towards each 
end. They yield to water an abundance of tasteless 
mucilage. 
Ainslie observes that the seeds are of a very cool¬ 
ing and mucilaginous nature, and are, on that ac¬ 
count, much prized by the native practitioners, who 
prescribe an infusion of them in cases of gonorrhoea, 
catarrh, and in nephritic complaints. He adds, 
this is one of the few articles of the Tamool Materia 
Medica, the virtues of which are so well ascertained 
by the English inhabitants of India, as to have 
rendered their use common in the regimental hos¬ 
pitals. 
Dr. Waring, in his * Remarks on Bazaar Medi¬ 
cines ’ says, “ These seeds, which are procurable in 
most bazaars, are highly useful, by their demulcent 
and mucilaginous qualities, in diarrhoea and dys¬ 
entery, and they may be advantageously employed, 
whether fever be present or not. In the early stages 
of these diseases they are best given in decoction, 
prepared by boiling four drachms of the bruised 
seeds in two pints of water, till the quantity is re¬ 
duced to one pint, and straining. The whole of this 
may be taken, in divided doses, in the course of the 
day. It need not interfere with the use of opium, or 
any other remedies deemed necessary. In chronic 
diarrhoea they are best given whole, in doses of two 
drachms and a half, mixed with half a drachm of 
sugar-candy or sugar. In their passage through the 
intestines they absorb as much fluid as make them 
swell, and by the time they reach the lower part of 
the canal, they give out a bland mucilage, and in 
general continue to exercise their mucilaginous pro¬ 
perty until they are passed by stool. They are 
chiefly useful when the stools are very watery. A 
low diet and small doses of opium aid their operation. 
In the new India Pharmacopoeia, this drug is in¬ 
cluded amongst the primary articles, an evidence of 
the esteem in which the authors held it for Indian 
practice. On one or two occasions only it has ap¬ 
peared in the English market. The only prepara¬ 
tion named in the above work is the decoction of the 
seeds, but, when bruised and moistened with water, 
they are also recommended as forming a good emol¬ 
lient poultice. 
Mr. Twining, in his ‘ Diseases of Bengal,’ quotes 
the report that a slight degree of astringency, and 
some tonic property may be imparted to the seeds by 
exposing them to a moderate degree of heat, so that 
they shall be dried, and slightly browned. “ This 
remedy,” he adds, “sometimes cures the protracted 
diarrhoea of European and native children, after 
many other remedies have failed.” 
In Spain, perhaps also in other parts of Southern 
Europe, and on the northern coast of Africa, the 
seeds of another species of Plantain, P. psyllium, 
Linn., are employed for their mucilaginous properties, 
and are made into demulcent drinks as a substitute 
for linseed or marsh-mallows. Many other species 
possess like properties in a more or less eminent 
degree. 
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 
BY J. ALFRED WANKLYN. 
Having treated of the general conclusions to be 
drawn from chemical examinations of the atmo¬ 
sphere, I will now consider the analytical operations 
by which the composition of the atmosphere has been 
investigated. 
The amount of oxygen in air is determined by as¬ 
certaining the degree of contraction which a mixture 
of a certain volume of air with an excess of hydro¬ 
gen gas undergoes on being exploded by the electric 
spark; one-tliird of the contraction is equal to the 
volume of oxygen contained in the original air. An¬ 
other method, which is very nearly, but not quite so 
accurate, is to absorb the oxygen directly, by means 
of pyrogallate of potash. The determination of the- 
proportion of oxygen in ah ranks among the most 
accurate operations of chemical analysis. This has 
been splendidly exemplified by Regnault and Bun¬ 
sen. 
The carbonic acid in the atmosphere has been 
determined by several methods in recent times. The- 
plan of absorbing the carbonic acid by means of pot- 
