July 8, 1871.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
27 
for if such a tube be used, say twelve inches long, it can 
be graduated by scratching with a file, into two-inch 
spaces. 
In the suppository syringe the piston is a rod of glass, 
with cotton wrapped around it at about half an inch from 
the end , and this uncovered portion of the rod disfigures 
the end of the suppository when any pressure is used in 
expelling it. For this reason the funnel-tube is prefer¬ 
able, for the piston being of wood can be cut, and wrapped 
close to the end, which may be made of the same dia¬ 
meter as the suppository, so as not to mar it. 
Vehicle. —That recommended by the British Phar¬ 
macopoeia is composed of equal parts of prepared lard 
and white wax, but this is a very poor vehicle; among 
the objections to it is, that pharmacists very seldom or 
never render or prepare lard for their own use, and con¬ 
sequently rely upon the integrity of the packers, or 
butchers; now it is well known that commercial lard is 
impure—that the Tenderers frequently stir in water, and 
occasionally a solution of sulphate of copper or of alum, 
salt, etc., to whiten it; of course the lard is thereby ren¬ 
dered unfit for pharmacal uses. 
The vehicle of the B.P. is objectionable also as regards 
its melting-point, which is 104° F. (40° C.), or much 
above the temperature of the human body. 
The substance most usually employed for the purpose 
in the United States, is a mixture of cocoa butter and sper¬ 
maceti, in the proportion of four-fifths of the former to 
one-fifth of the latter, in summer, and five-sixths to one- 
sixth in winter; the above proportions will answer also 
Tor cocoa butter and white wax. These mixtures become 
•soft at 79° F. (26T° C.), and 82° F. (27*7° C.), respec¬ 
tively, and consequently readily melt at the temperature 
of the body, in this respect answering an essential re¬ 
quirement of suitable vehicles, and as such they are 
.generally employed. 
But why should these substances be used when in 
•sevum or suet we have a material that answers all the 
.requirements of a good vehicle ? Suet has about the 
•same softening-point, 80° F. (27*6° C.), and is doubtless 
superior to the above mixtures in this: that it sets or 
cools much more readily. This constitutes quite an ad¬ 
vantage, while the expense of the material is only about 
nine-sixth that of the former. To prepare it, take the 
kidney suet of Ovis Aries, and purify as directed in the 
Dispensatory, by cutting into small pieces and melting 
over a moderate heat, and straining through linen. Ac¬ 
cording to the Dispensatory, suet is inodorous, but prac¬ 
tically it is never free from an odour, which is rather 
disagreeable, but which may be overcome by the addition 
of a small quantity of an essential oil to the cooling mass. 
For this purpose I use a mixture of the oils of lavender 
and sassafras in equal parts; about two or four minims 
to the troy ounce is sufficient. This addition not only 
destroys the odour, but acts as a preservative, and pre¬ 
vents the suet from becoming rancid as soon as it other¬ 
wise would; a solution of benzoin is also very good for 
This purpose. After the oils or benzoin have been added, 
the melted fat should be poured into cold, shallow ves¬ 
sels, such as the covers of earthenware jars, in order to 
.•get it in sheets resembling white wax. Prepared in this 
manner it will keep a considerable length of timo— 
usually as long as is required,—and the stock can at any 
Time be renewed. 
Suet is capable of absorbing about 1 fluid drachm of 
water to the troy ounce, so that it is easy to combine 
with it a concentrated mucilage of elm (which also acts 
-as a preservative), or an aqueous solution of an extract, 
•or of salts of various kinds. Some object to adding water 
to suppositories, as it promotes rancidity, but this is not 
.a very serious objection, for finished suppositories are 
>not required to be long kept. Water has the same effect 
upon cocoa butter as upon suet or lard. These bodies if 
exposed to the air absorb oxygen, and become quite acid; 
the fatty acids are naturally in combination with gly- 
xeryle, but they will not combine with the hydrate of 
that base, and the presence of water accelerates the de¬ 
composition of fats, inasmuch as it supplies all that is 
necessary—in connection with the absorption of oxygen 
to form a hydrate of the oxide of the radical glyceryle, 
C 6 II 5 O-j + 3IIO, or glycerine, with the elimination of 
fatty acids. The fluids thus set free, separate from the 
concrete matter, and as a consequence rancid fats have 
the appearance of a mixture of a solid granular substance 
and a fluid. These fatty acids produce the irritating 
properties possessed by rancid fats. 
In former times soap was frequently employed for 
suppositories, but is seldom used at present. 
{To he continued.) 
DUST AND SMOKE. 
(Continued frontpage 5.) 
Let me now state in two sentences the grounds relied 
upon by the supporters of the germ-theory of con¬ 
tagion. From their respective viruses you may plant 
typhoid fever, scarlatina, or smallpox. What is the 
crop that arises from this husbandry? As surely as 
a thistle rises from a thistle seed, as surely as the 
fig comes from the fig, the grape from the grape, the 
thorn from the thorn, so surely does the typhoid virus 
increase and multiply into typhoid fever, the scarla¬ 
tina virus into scarlatina, the small-pox virus into 
small-pox. What is the conclusion that suggests itself 
here ? It is this:—That the thing which we vaguely 
call a virus is to all intents and purposes a seed; that 
in the whole range of chemical science you cannot point 
to an action which illustrates this perfect parallelism 
with the phenomena of life—this demonstrated power 
of self-multiplication and reproduction. There is, there¬ 
fore, no hypothesis to account for the phenomena but 
that which refers them to parasitic life. 
And here you see the bearing of the doctrine of Spon¬ 
taneous Generation upon the question. For if the doc¬ 
trine continues to be discredited as it has hitherto been, 
it will follow that the epidemics which spread havoc 
amongst us from time to time are not spontaneously 
generated, but that they arise from an ancestral stock 
whose habitat is the human body itself. It is not on bad 
air or foul drains that the attention of the physician will 
primarily be fixed, but upon diseased germs which no 
bad air or foul drains can create, but which may be 
pushed by foul air into virulent energy of reproduction. 
You may think I am treading on dangerous ground, 
that I am putting forth views that may interfere with 
salutary practice. No such thing. If you wish to learn 
the impotence of medical science and practice in dealing 
with contagious diseases, you have only to refer to a 
recent Harveian oration by Dr. Gull. Such diseases 
defy the physician. They must burn themselves out. 
And, indeed, this, though I do not specially insist upon it, 
would favour the idea of their vital origin. For if the 
seeds of contagious disease be themselves living things, 
it will be difficult to destroy either them or their pro¬ 
geny without involving their living habitat in the same 
destruction. 
And I would also ask you to be cautious in accepting 
the statement which has been so often made, and which 
is sure to be repeated, that I am quitting my own metier 
when I speak of these things. I am not dealing with 
professional questions. I am writing no prescription, 
nor should I venture to draw any conclusion from the 
condition of your pulse and tongue. I am dealing with 
a question on which minds accustomed to weigh the 
value of experimental evidence are alone competent to 
decide, and regarding which, in its present condition, 
minds so trained are as capable of forming an opinion as 
on the phenomena of magnetism and radiant heat. I 
cannot better conclude this portion of my story than by 
reading to you an extract from a letter addressed to me 
some time ago by Dr. William Budd, of Clifton, to whose 
