822 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 13, 1872. 
large central cavities, and tlieir walls appear little 
■consolidated by secondary deposits. 
Parenchymatous cells of wood zone are smaller, 
somewhat similar in shape to the cells of the me¬ 
dulla, and have similar contents. 
Medullary rays .—Elongated prismatic cells. 
Outer zone .—Consists of cellular tissue, with regu¬ 
larly distributed ligneous bundles, with an invest¬ 
ing membrane of flattened bark-cells ; the ligneous 
(liber) cells little consolidated with secondary de¬ 
posits ; tissue of this zone loose, and corresponds to 
bark layers of above-ground stems. 
The student will find the use of magenta-staining 
fluid of great service in making out these details of 
structure. I generally use Judson’s magenta, one 
■or two drops to an ounce of alcohol. The section 
should be immersed in the fluid for a few minutes 
The more dilute the fluid the longer the time re¬ 
quired and the better the results), then well washed 
in alcohol before mounting in glycerine or glyce¬ 
rine jelly. In a successfully stained specimen the 
whole of the wood-cells, vascular vessels, and other 
sclerogenous structures will be intensely stained, 
whilst the other tissues will be unaffected by the dye. 
The characteristics to be borne in mind in exa¬ 
mining the powder of the root are chiefly the size, 
shape, and optical characters of the starch granules, 
the shape, size, and nature of the “raphides,” and 
the relative proportions of woody fibre, medulla-cells, 
vessels, and cellular tissue of the outer zone. 
The principal adulterants of powdered liquorice 
are wheat and other flours, foreign woody-fibre 
■•(Hassail), turmeric, various starches with turmeric 
tor colour, mineral matter and cane sugar, and 
starch sugar. The whole of these, with the excep¬ 
tion of the mineral matter and starch sugar, are 
■easily to be detected, even if only present in small 
quantities. The adulterants of liquorice in the form 
«sf pipes, lozenges, paste, confections, and extracts 
are not so easy of detection, when they go beyond 
sfclie common-place addition of starches, turmeric, etc. 
to the paste form. Of the extracts, I may have 
Gccasion to say something, with certain tinctures, 
in connection with other apparatus than the micro¬ 
scope pur et simple , by-and-by. 
VESICATING INSECTS. 
BY M. C. COOKE, M.A. 
[Continued from page 744.) 
Violet Oil Beetle, Meloc violaceus , Leach; vio¬ 
let; head and thorax finely 
punctured, the latter with a 
notch behind ; elytra rough ; 
abdomen dark, with a rough 
violet spot on each segment. 
—Leach, Linn. Trans, xi. t. 
vii. f. 3, 4, 5 ; Brandt and 
Itatzb. ii. t. xvi. f. 7. Pro- 
scarahceus violaceus, Stepli. 
Man. n. 2625. 
Included by Brandt and 
Itatzeburg with the medicinal 
species. 
Variegated Oil Beetle, 
Fig. 17 .—3Ieloe vio - Meloc variegatus, Don ; some- 
laceas. what brassy, tinted with pur¬ 
ple-violet ; head and thorax 
punctate; elytra with raised shining confluent points, 
abdomen with the dorsal seg- 
golden- 
Fig. 18 .—llfeloe varie- 
gatus. 
It is the most 
interstices darker 
ments anteriorly 
green, and posteriorly violet- 
red copper, beneath variegated 
with purple and gold.—Bri¬ 
tish Insects, ii. t. 67 ; Leach, 
Linn. Trans, xi. t. vi. f. 1, 2 ; 
Mart. Eng. Ent. t. 39. f. 1; 
Brandt and ltatzb. ii. t. xvi. 
f. 6. Meloe maialis, Seine IF. 
Ic. t. 3. f. 6; Panz. t. 350. 2. 
Length of male, 8 lines to 
1^ in.; female, 1 in. to 1 in. 
9 lines. 
Meadows. Europe; Great 
Britain. 
One of the four species 
which Moquin-Tandon says 
are “ more particularly made use of.” 
showy of all of them. 
This oil-beetle is found very frequently in spring, 
in our meadows and pastures, creeping slowly, and 
feeding on the leaves of the violet, anemone, hound’s- 
tongue, and on the different species of Ranunculus. 
The insect, when touched, exudes an acrid fluid, of 
an oily consistence and of an orange colour, from 
each joint of its legs, which is a powerful rubefacient, 
and was formerly celebrated for its supposed efficacy 
in chronic rheumatism, applied to the parts in the 
form of an embrocation. It has been likewise re¬ 
commended as a diuretic in dropsies, and on the 
Continent, particularly in Germany, as a remedy 
in hydrophobia. Frederick the Great, king of 
Prussia, purchased the nostrum from the disco¬ 
verer for a valuable consideration, as a specific 
against tliis terrible malady. According to the 
Disp. Boruss. Brand., “ Twenty-five beetles that 
have been preserved in honey are, with two drachms 
of powdered black ebony, one drachm of Virginia 
snake-root, one drachm of lead-filings and twenty 
grains of fungus sorbi, to be reduced to a very fine 
powder; the whole, with two drachms of theriaca of 
Venice (and, if necessary, with a little elder-root), 
are to be formed into an electuary.” 
Dr. Leach writes, “ I am informed by Mr. Hunne- 
man that this species is highly prized in Germany 
as a medicine, being considered a specific in hydro¬ 
phobia. For this purpose, it is taken by slipping a 
hair round its neck, and suspending it until it be 
dry; by which means the oily secretion they throw 
out when first taken is preserved, in which its chief 
virtue is supposed to exist.” 
May Oil-beetle, Meloe majalis, Linn.; black, 
smooth, margin of the dorsal 
segments tawny; thorax 
quadrate, rectangular be¬ 
hind.—Linn. Sp. ed. 2, p. 
679; Leach, Linn. Trans, 
xi. t. 6. f. 3, 4; Brandt and 
Hatzb. ii. 1.16. f. 11; Brandt 
and Erichs. Mon. t. 8. f. 8. 
Length of male 1 in. Sp¬ 
lines ; female, 1 in. 7£ lines. 
Inhabits France, Spain, 
Portugal and N. Africa. 
This species does not 
shrink so much after death 
as the majority of its 
congeners, a peculiarity Fig. 19.— Meloe majalis. 
long since observed by Dr. 
