104 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 6 , 1870. 
it lias been directed to tlie search for mere details, 
and has thus become incoherent. This tendency 
has prevailed so far that special causes are sought 
for each of these innumerable processes, for each 
one, in fact, there has been found a particular spe¬ 
cies of fungus or animal, and this is likewise the 
case for many diseases, such as cholera, etc. In 
this way we have attained to such a point, that we 
are no longer able to comprehend how it is that, in 
the presence of these enemies, the organic world 
continues to exist. If we ask the microscopic in¬ 
vestigator what is really the nature of the ferments 
which give rise to lactic, butyric, and other acids, 
we receive as an answer the names of certain spe¬ 
cies of fungi! 
Though probably no one will dispute the utility of 
microscopic observations, it is, nevertheless, indis¬ 
pensable to recognize the fact that “ causes ” are 
not to be seen, even with microscopes. Observations 
of that nature are well calculated to define the 
limits of things that participate in a process, and to 
direct investigation to the part they take in it; but 
the supposition that the whole affair is at an end 
when something has been found of which we have 
no further knowledge, is sufficient evidence that the 
true value of physiological facts is misconceived. 
All putrefaction-ferments, when left for a time, give 
rise to the formation of butyric acid from their own 
elements, and they excite butyric fermentation in 
other materials winch are susceptible of such change, 
just hi the same way that yeast, when left to itself, 
produces alcohol and excites vinous fermentation 
when placed in sugar solution. From the fact that, 
under certain conditions, yeast excites lactic fermen¬ 
tation instead of vinous fermentation, it may be in¬ 
ferred with great probability, that under those condi¬ 
tions, lactic acid is actually produced in the yeast in¬ 
stead of alcohol. Salicin, a glucoside, breaks up in con¬ 
tact with emulsin into saligenin and sugar, but in the 
presence of yeast and carbonate of lime it breaks up 
into saligenin and lactic acid. These facts are, I 
conceive, indications that admit of our hoping to 
come, by means of properly conducted investigation, 
somewhat nearer to the causes of these changes. 
The production of succinic acid and glycerine ap¬ 
pears to be indicative of a fermentation going on 
simultaneously with the vinous fermentation; it is 
evidently analogous to the fermentation processes in 
which lactic acid is formed from sugar or mannite and 
sometimes butyric acid, from lactic acid. It is pos¬ 
sible that the detection of a small quantity of hydro¬ 
gen in the carbonic acid evolved, might lead to fur¬ 
ther elucidation. Mannite and glycerine differ only 
in the amount of hydrogen they contain. 
I have regarded the phenomena of fermentation 
and putrefaction from a totally different point of 
view, and have considered their elucidation as the 
bridge by means of which we may arrive at a more 
exact knowledge of the processes taking place in the 
organisms of animals and plants.- Who can, at the 
present time, fail to perceive the significance of these 
facts, in regard to the conception and explanation of 
many vital processes ? If a change in the locality 
and relative position of the elementary particles of 
animal substances, outside the organism, be capable 
of exerting a very definite influence upon a nmnber of 
organic substances which are brought in contact with 
them, if those substances are thereby decomposed, 
while new compounds are formed from their elements,, 
and if it be considered that the class of substances 
susceptible of such changes as take place in fermen¬ 
tation, comprises all those which are constituents of 
the food of man and animals,—who can doubt that 
the same causes act one of the most important parts 
in the vital process, or that they have a powerful 
share in the alterations which the materials of food 
undergo when they are converted into fat, blood, or 
constituents of organs ! We know, indeed, that there 
is in all parts of the living animal body an incessant 
change going on; that living particles of the body 
are eliminated; that their constituents, whether 
fibrin, albumen, gelatin, or whatever else they may 
be, rearrange themselves as new compounds; that 
their elements unite to form new products. In ac¬ 
cordance with our experience we must presume that 
in virtue of this activity, there is, at all places where 
it obtains, and corresponding to its direction and in¬ 
tensity, a parallel alteration in the character and 
composition of constituents of the blood, or of food, 
coming in contact with such changing particles— 
that consequently the animal metamorphosis is itself 
a main cause of the alterations that the food under¬ 
goes, and a determining condition of the nutritive 
process; that with every pathological variation in 
the metamorphosis of an organ or a gland, or any 
constituent of them, the action of that organ upon 
the blood coming in contact with it, or upon the cha¬ 
racter of its secretion, is also altered; that the action 
of many therapeutic agents depends on the share 
they take in the metamorphosis, and that they exer¬ 
cise an influence on the quality of the blood, or of 
the food, chiefly in virtue of the circumstance that 
they alter for a time the direction and power of the 
activity obtaining in the organs, either accelerating, 
retarding, or stopping it ? 
UNTO-MOOL. 
Tylophora asthmatica, W. and A. 
BY M. C. COOKE. 
Recently it has been proposed to introduce and 
cultivate ipecacuanha in India, on a large scale, for 
medical purposes, as has been done with cinchona. 
It would be well to inquire, before such a step be 
taken, whether any of the known indigenous pro¬ 
ducts affords a good substitute for the officinal plant.. 
It is probable that the evidence already collected is 
insufficient; but it would be comparatively easy to 
test the value of such drugs as we may name prior 
to any extensive experiment on acclimatization. 
The Natural Order Asclepiaclece, contains several 
plants with the reputation of possessing emetic 
virtues, some of them equal to ipecacuanha. Of 
these, the root of the “ mndar,” Calotropis gigantea, 
has been named. The emetic properties of mudar 
root have been vouched for by several good medical 
authorities, amongst whom may be mentioned Sir 
W. O’Shauglmessy, Dr. Bonavia, Dr. Hutchinson, 
Dr. M. Boss, Dr. Newton, Dr. Stewart, and others. 
On the other hand, it is admitted that precaution 
must be taken to dig the root at the proper season 
and to prepare it in a certain maimer, or it is liable 
to prove inert. 
Then, again, Secamone emetica, H. Br., has been 
mentioned, as regarded by the natives highly for its 
emetic properties ; but the only trial which has been 
recorded was unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it was- 
* Ann. Chem. Piiarm. lxii. 263. 
