April 29, 1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
8G3 
names of the alkaloids, the balance of usage is in 
favour of “ ine,” instead of “ ia,” as the terminal sylla¬ 
ble of the words; thus, morphine, quinine, strych¬ 
nine,—not morphia, quinia, strychnia. 
THE TAMARIND. 
BY JOHN R. JACKSON, A.L.S. 
Curator of Museums, Royal Gardens, Keu\ 
The Tamarind (Tamariiulus imlica, L.) is well 
known in this country as an agreeable and useful 
medicinal preserve. There is only one species of 
the genus, of which, however, there are two varieties, 
one growing in the East, and the other in the West 
Indies. The chief difference is in the length of the 
pods, those of the Eastern plant being from three to 
six inches long and slightly curved, and containing 
from six to twelve seeds, while the Western variety 
is shorter and seldom has more than four seeds. 
The trees grow to a great height, attaining in the 
East Indies eighty feet. The pinnate leaves and 
racemes of yellow and red-streaked flowers, with 
purple filaments, give it a pleasing and graceful ap¬ 
pearance. 
The wood is excessively hard, and so heavy that 
it sinks in water. It is peculiarly marked with 
broad cliocolate-brown streaks. In the East Indies 
it is used for furniture and for general building pur¬ 
poses. Tamarinds, as seen in commerce, consist of 
the pulpy or fleshy part of the pods—after the outer 
shell has been removed—preserved in syrup or 
sugar. The mode of preserving them is either by 
throwing hot sugar from the boiler on the ripe, 
pulpy portion of the pods, or by placing alternate 
layers of tamarinds and sugar in stone jars: pre¬ 
served in this way they are said to have a finer 
flavour and better colour. Tamarinds are valued 
with us, as well as in nearly all the countries where 
they grow, for their gentle laxative and cooling pro¬ 
perties ; they are, moreover, used in tropical countries 
as an article of food. In Sumatra they are salted 
and used in cooking and served at table, and in 
Western India they are used in preserving or pick¬ 
ling of fish. The leaves partake of the acid property 
of the fruit, and a decoction is employed in Ceylon 
for fomentations and in ophthalmic cases; they are, 
moreover, taken internally for the cure of jaundice. 
In Bengal an infusion is made from them and used 
in preparing a fixed yellow dye, in which silks, after 
having been previously dyed in indigo, are dipped 
and changed to a green. 
The Tamarind-tree is said to exhale a large amount 
of acid, and the damp air becoming impregnated with 
it during the night, sensibly injures the fabric of 
cloths exposed to its influence for any length of tune. 
On tins account the natives have a strong objection 
to sleep under the trees. It has been said that no 
plants will grow under the shade of the Tamarind; 
but tins is evidently a mistake, though it is not im¬ 
possible that the acid has an injurious effect on some 
plants. The flowers are employed in Ceylon in the 
preparation of a confection which is considered valu¬ 
able in liver complaints. The seeds, in times of 
scarcity, are eaten as food, being first roasted and 
then soaked for some hours in water, by which the 
hard outer skin is removed; they are afterwards 
boiled or fried and eaten. Simply pulverized, they 
are mixed with water into a thick paste, and applied 
to boils to promote suppuration. The powder is also 
boiled with thin glue, and is said to constitute one 
of the strongest of wood cements. Besides all these 
various uses of the Tamarind-tree, it is said that the 
native silversmiths in Southern India use a strong 
infusion of the acid fruits mixed with sea salt for 
cleaning and brightening silver. 
EXTR ACTUM CINCHONA 'FLA.VJE 
LiaUIDUM. 
BY A. W. GERRARD, 
Dispenser , Guy's Hospital. 
Having’some time since obtained this preparation 
from a different wholesale house than whence we 
usually purchased it, I was much surprised at the 
difference in taste, odour and colour from that we 
had been previously using. I was still further 
astonished when, on dispensing it with an alkali, it 
gave neither precipitate nor turbidity. I at once 
set some of this aside for examination, and at the 
first opportunity prepared some by the British Phar¬ 
macopoeia ; and having purchased three other sam¬ 
ples, I engaged myself to determine their relative 
value. 
We know that its medicinal properties are due to 
the alkaloids therein ; and if it is made as instructed 
with the yellow bark, winch should not contain less 
than two per cent, of quinine, a measured quantity 
should yield on precipitation with an alkali an 
amount of alkaloids not below a certain standard; 
what that standard is should, I think, be deter¬ 
mined and introduced as a test in a future edition of 
the Pharmacopoeia. 
The following table shows the amount of washed 
and dried precipitate obtained from two drams of 
each on the addition of solution of potash:— 
1 6 
£ 
Weight 
of Pre¬ 
cipitate. 
Colour. 
Taate. 
T 
2 
3 
4 
5 
Home made. 
Purchased. 
>> 
>> 
grs. 10 
„ 10 
„ 7 
>, 3 
„ o 
Dark brown. 
V 
Brown. 
Pale brown. 
Very pale 
brown. 
Aromatic bitter. 
M . 99 
Les3 bitter. 
Slightly bitter. 
Sweetish and 
faintly bitter. 
I subjected each of them to the test for quinine 
by the ether chlorine water and ammonia process, 
1, 2, 3 and 4 gave the emerald green colour, 5 failed; 
1 and 2 left the largest amount of quinine upon the 
watch-glass after the evaporation of the ether. I 
may here mention that a quick and ready method of 
proving the presence of quinine in tliis preparation 
is to place a thin layer on a piece of window-glass, 
on drying and exposing to transmitted light, it wil. 
show the well-known fluorescence. 
It is evident that this article, as met with in our 
pharmacies, is a very varying product. All of the 
samples except No. 1 came through respectable 
wholesale houses ; that they should supply chemists 
with such diluted forms as 4 and 5 is deserving of 
censure, and warns us to he vigilant. The remedy 
for this is in our own hands. Every-day expe¬ 
rience teaches that many preparations which are, 
usually purchased should be home made. What 
proofs have we, that bought pill-masses, powders, lini¬ 
ments, etc., are not made with the commonest instead 
of the best materials? The chemist should get the 
