THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 16,1872. 
754 
the use of starch to form a neutral or acid amylaceous 
pepsine,—these are some of the points vigorously handled 
by M. Guibourt, and of which he sought the solution by 
'experiment. The Codex of 1866 adopted the results of 
this important report. 
Although M. Guibourt did not occupy himself with 
pure physics, in many of his works applications of that 
science are to be found. Among these may be mentioned 
.a memoir-upon the “Density of Volatile Oils,” “The 
-Optical Properties of the Turpentines and their Es¬ 
sences,” some observations made in conjunction with M. 
Bouchardat, showing that the rotary powers of volatile 
-oils are often very unstable and modified by simple dis¬ 
tillation ; “ The Density of Porous Bodies,” and the 
■errors to which its determination is liable ; and a memoir 
on “Tabaschir,” in which he reviewed the physical cha- 
-xacters of that singular concretion, — its increase in 
volume in contact with water, the transparency it ac- 
.quires, and the feebleness of its index of refraction com¬ 
pared to its great density, of which he gave a just expla¬ 
nation. 
More than once he was employed in researches relative 
to toxicology, and in 1829, being appointed with MM. 
Henry and Davis, to report on a case of presumed 
poisoning, he was able to demonstrate the presence of 
.arseniousacid—the suspected poison—and also of sulphate 
.of baryta, with which it had been adulterated by the 
vendor. Later he published some observations upon 
* l Hydrate of Peroxide of Iron as an Antidote to Arsenic,” 
the practical importance of which has diminished since 
the advantages of calcined magnesia have been pointed 
-out by M. Bussy. In 1830, he verified a fact already 
noticed, but upon which doubts had been thrown, that 
the arsenic contained in commercial bismuth contami¬ 
nated the subnitrate obtained by precipitation, and com- 
jnunicated to it toxic properties. 
Materia medica, or the natural history of medicaments, 
was from the commencement of his scientific career the 
special study to which M. Guibourt devoted himself; it 
is also that to which the most numerous and most im¬ 
portant of his memoirs belong. Struck with the vague¬ 
ness that reigned everywhere in the descriptions of some 
of the most commonly used medicines, he gave himself 
up to most minute and patient investigations with a view 
io define more exactly the knowledge as to their origin, 
properties, and distinctive characters. He was thus 
.enabled to correct many errors, to prove the identity of 
some substances previously thought to be distinct, and 
also to establish a well-marked distinction between sub¬ 
stances hitherto regarded as identical. 
In the numerous papers that he published upon opium, 
cinchona, scammony, jalap and rhubarb, he sought prin¬ 
cipally to describe the characters of the commercial kinds, 
and to enable the pharmaceutist to recognize products of 
good quality. In these memoirs, as in all he published, 
he always combined the knowledge of the chemist with 
that of the naturalist. Devoted as M. Guibourt was to 
•chemistry, to which he had consecrated his early studies 
and the progress of which he watched with lively in¬ 
terest, it was not without inquietude that he saw the 
"tendency to replace the original substances by the prin¬ 
ciples separated from them by chemical processes. In 
his opinion morphine and quinine represented but one 
portion of the effects of opium and cinchona; this opi¬ 
nion, long since expressed, has since been confirmed by 
the separation of fresh alkaloids possessing special and 
distinct properties. 
The relations which M. Guibourt maintained with men 
of science in other countries caused him to receive speci¬ 
mens of materia medica from all parts of the globe. He 
was thus enabled not only to verify the characters of a 
.great number of known substances, but also to indicate a 
multitude of new products, such as woods, barks and roots, 
1>y which the French materia medica might be enriched. 
It is not possible to enumerate all the substances 
which were thus successively the object of M. Guibourt’s 
researches, but a few may be mentioned to show their 
variety. “A Botanical, Chemical and Medical History 
of Bebeeru and the Febrifuge Alkaloid that it contains; ” 
“ Researches upon the Long Disputed Origin of the 
Ergot of Rye,” in which he showed its true nature, as 
since verified by the observations of M. Tulasno: an 
examination of a great number of aromatic roots and 
seeds of Scitaminaceous plants; a description of the 
physical and chemical characters by which Cauella alba 
and Winter’s bark (Drimys IVinteri ) might be distin¬ 
guished; the comparative value of black and grey 
cochineal; observations upon musk and castoreura, va¬ 
rious kinds of balsams and turpentines, catechu, gambir, 
gum kino, and many other substances. Besides these 
numerous labours of his own, he was always eager to 
bring before his countrymen those of foreign workers, 
such as the memoirs of Hanbury, Pereira, Christiscn and 
Graham, generally increasing the value of the infor¬ 
mation by additional notes. 
M. Guibourt’s publications in pharmacy proper were 
very numerous and of great practical interest. They 
were all characterized by the scrupulous exactitude of 
the experiments and the logical deductions drawn from 
them. Some had for their object to make known fresh 
processes for the preparation of certain medicaments, 
such as the syrups of sarsaparilla and ipecacuanha, mer¬ 
curial ointment, croton oil, ethiops mineral, etc. Others 
had for their object to describe new preparations, such 
as “An Epispastic Ointment without Cantharides,” or 
spurge ointment, which he was the first to indicate. In 
other cases he investigated the alterations that took 
place with the lapse of time in such substances as cantha¬ 
rides, jalap and tincture of iodine; also the adulterations 
practised in senna, saffron, essence of roses, balsam of 
copaiba, and iodide of potassium. 
The chemical analysis of the original substances occu¬ 
pied much of M. Guibourt’s attention. Although in 
principle he placed more confidence in the examination 
of exterior characters than in the results of analyses, 
always more or less imperfect, he was far from despising 
their utility. This may be seen by the researches re¬ 
sulting in a memoir on “ The Estimation of Morphia in 
Opium,” giving the results of the examination of more 
than forty specimens from various sources, from which 
a standard mean for normal opium was taken and 
adopted in the .Codex of 1866; his analytical investiga¬ 
tions as to the cinchonine in commercial sulphate of 
quinine, and those published in conjunction with M. 
Bussy as to the presence of quinidine in the same salt. 
Independently of the preceding, which imperfectly 
represent the original memoirs of M. Guibourt, he pro¬ 
duced many others in the capacity of reporter to various 
learned societies to which he belonged. 
M. Guibourt became a member of the Societe de 
Pharmacie in 1818. In 1823 he was elected a member 
of the Acadcmie de Medecine, an honour which he 
much esteemed. Although still young, he had already 
published upwards of twenty-four memoirs upon various 
pharmaceutical subjects, and might have looked upon it 
as a recompense for services rendered ; but he preferred 
to regard it as an encouragement for those he could yet 
perform. He attended the sittings assiduously, and 
always appeared ready for work, accepting commissions 
involving the most laborious details, and presenting to 
all an example of most laudable emulation. 
More simple and more practical in their character, the 
sittings of the Societe de Pharmacie were to M Guibourt 
a fresh source of pleasure. He was there, a* it were, at 
home, surrounded by colleagues who showed to him that 
regard and deference which the authority of his age and 
experience so well merited. Strongly petached to the 
Society, he always desired that the r^ults of his in¬ 
vestigations might be first announce* at its sittings. 
Another motive is mentioned in odo of his memoirs, 
that, tried by passing through the crucible of discussion, 
his work might go forth to the won’d with better chance 
