March 4,1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
705 
or ganglionic system of nerves, and but slightly on the 
brain. I have used it in doses of from 1 to 5 grains, 
with very marked advantage in the low stage of typhoid 
fevers, confluent small-pox, and that form of mortifica¬ 
tion of the toes which is so singularly fatal to old people. 
But, in addition to this, different medical friends of mine 
have found it useful in hemicrania, neuralgia, and what 
has been called relapsing fever; and in the case of an 
overdose of opium, it appeared to relieve the narcotic 
symptoms speedily. With regard to the cost of this 
medicine, I have discovered that in the ordinary process 
of roasting coffee the whole of the theine is driven off 
before the torrification of the coffee is completed, and 
this theine may be cheaply collected by making the axis 
of the coffee-roaster tubular. If, instead of a solid axis, 
we employ at one end of the roaster a tube passing away 
to the distance of about three feet, the theine is condensed 
in this tube by the refrigerating power of the atmosphere, 
and may afterwards be easily dissolved out by a little 
water, and purified in the manner about to be indicated. 
As the result of much experience, I have obtained, on an 
average, 75 grains of theine from the roasting of one 
pound of raw coffee; and when we reflect that in Great 
Britain alone there arc more than 13,000 tons of coffee 
roasted annually, we see that about 140 tons of theine 
are wasted and lost every year by sheer ignorance. It 
may, perhaps, be thought that the saving of the theine 
will damage the flavour of the coffee, but from experi¬ 
ence I know that it has no such effect; and, in point of 
fact, it is an advantage to the flavour of the coffee to 
make both the axes of the roaster tubular, and to cause 
a gentle current of air to pass through the apparatus 
during the roasting of the coffee, so as to expel the em- 
pyreumatic products as they are formed. I will now 
relate the fact upon which the purification of theine de¬ 
pends; and when this is once clearly understood, the 
manufacture of theine from either tea or coffee becomes 
an extremely simple matter. Theine is absolutely inso¬ 
luble in a concentrated solution of the carbonate of 
potash, and thus we may precipitate it from its adrnix- 
ture with sugar, mucilage and vegetable extract. If, 
then, by means of the subacetate of lead, we have re¬ 
moved from a vegetable infusion the tannin, malic acid, 
etc., we have only to evaporate the filtered solution to a 
small bulk, and add to it its own weight of dry carbo¬ 
nate of potash, and the whole of the theine becomes at 
once insoluble ; so that, having collected this insoluble 
product, and boiled it in rectified spirit of wine, we have 
a solution of pure theine, which, after distilling off the 
spirit, furnishes crystals fit for immediate use. In con¬ 
clusion, I will merely mention a distinctive test for 
theine, sufficiently delicate to detect the one-thousandth 
of a grain of that substance. Dissolve the theine in a 
small quantity of water, and pass through this a stream 
of euchlorine, then allow the fluid to evaporate at a steam 
heat; a blood-coloured substance will remain, which, on 
the application of a few drops of cold water, forms a 
beautiful scarlet solution like red ink. It is, I appre¬ 
hend, almost unnecessary for mo to say that euchlorine 
gas is formed by the action of hydrochloric acid upon 
the chlorate of potash. 
I ought, perhaps, to add that theine, collected as a 
■waste product from coffee, and purified by myself, has 
cost me les3 than threepence per ounce troy .—Medical 
Times and Gazette. 
AMERICAN DRUGS. 
BY C. LEWIS DIEIIL. 
To write an article upon a subject that has not been 
completely investigated is, perhaps, the most unsatis¬ 
factory task imaginable, and this appears to be allotted 
to me in the present paper. When I accepted query 
23, for 1863, I had no idea of the difficulties to be en¬ 
countered in its proper solution. Apart from those of a 
purely personal character, I have met with the greatest 
difficulties in obtaining answers to inquiries from par¬ 
ties who could, if inclined, have given the desired 
information. Yet some little information has been 
obtained, which, however meagre, I propose to give in 
the following. 
My sources of information are various. In some few 
instances I have received responses from those directly 
or indirectly engaged in the collection of indigenous 
drugs; but generally I have been obliged to depend 
upon that obtainable from "wholesale dealers, to whom 
consignments had been made by parties doing business 
with them. 
It is a remarkable fact that our Louisville wholesale 
druggists depend upon the New York markets for their 
supplies of indigenous drugs, many of which abound and 
frequently are collected in our immediate neighbourhood. 
Our retail dealers are supplied "with limited quantities 
by several gatherers living among the range of hills in 
the neighbourhood of New Albany, Ind., known as 
“the Knobs.” Formerly there was a lively trade in 
indigenous drugs in New Albany; but such is not now 
the case, and the drugs gathered in its neighbourhood 
find their markets no further than our city. Our imme¬ 
diate neighbourhood, on the Kentucky side, also contri¬ 
butes to our supplies through a few small gatherers, 
chiefly Germans; but taken altogether, our home sup¬ 
plies far from meet the demand of our retail trade, and 
generally bring better prices than those obtained from a 
distance. 
The drugs principally collected in our neighbourhood 
—of which the largest part among the Knobs near New 
Albany—are : Podophyllum , Leptandra, Caulophyllum, 
lobelia, Cimicifuga, Gelsemium, Ulmus , Stillingia, Xantho- 
xylnm, Phytolacca, Asarum canadensis, Cornus Jlorida, 
Pan ax, Aralia nudicaulis, Aralia raccmosa, Sambucus, 
Qataria, Mentha piperita, Iledeoma, etc., and limited 
quantities of Serpentaria , Spigelia and Senega. These 
abound also, and are collected, in the counties of Shelby, 
Monroe, Brown and Morgan; and one of our principal 
establishments has lately negotiated for a full line of in¬ 
digenous drugs from Pembroke, Kentucky. 
My information seems to indicate that the mountainous 
regions of Kentucky, especially Eastern Kentucky, con¬ 
tribute largely to the supplies of our Western dealers 
in indigenous drugs. From East Tennessee and Western 
Georgia large quantities may be, and undoubtedly are, 
obtained. Several years ago I had offers from a party 
in Chattanooga of quite a line of indigenous drugs. 
Where they find their market I am unable to say, but 
incline to the belief that the. principal collections reach 
New York by way of Savannah, Ga. In many of the 
Southern States this branch of trade appears to attract 
considerable attention since the war, mainly in moun¬ 
tainous and swampy sections. In the neighbourhood of 
Walhalla, South Carolina, quite a brisk industry has 
sprung up, an 1 large shipments are made from there to 
New York, through the agency of Charleston firms. 
The drugs collected there may be enumerated in the 
following:—• 
Panax, Senega, Cypripedium, Liatris spicata, Spigelia, 
Sanguinaria, Aralia nudicaulis, Aralia raccmosa, Asclepias 
syriaca, Asclepias tuberosa, Ritmex, Podophyllum, llcpatica , 
j Rhus, Rubies villosus, Cimicifuga, Marrubium, Stillingia, 
Spiraea ulmaria, Aletris, Oonvallaria Polygonatum, Tussi- 
lago Farfara, Phytolacca, Ulmus, Goodyerapubcsccns,Frascra 
carolinensis, Arum, Solidago odora, etc. 
Occasionally consignments of Senega, Serpentaria and 
Spigelia reach our markets from Arkansas direct. 
Several years ago I purchased several bales of Senega 
and Spigelia, consigned to one of our wholesale houses 
from Ozark, Arkansas. It proved to be a poor invest¬ 
ment, as the interior of the bales consisted largely of 
stems, and had to bo garbled. The drug-gatherers of 
the Southern States being generally small farmers and 
negroes, .make no regular profession ot it, and only 
