252 
MOTIPHIA AND CAUYOPHYLLUM COMPARED. 
some days, and deposits a quantity of mucilaginous and fatty matter, after 
whidi it is filtered. Tlie filtering bags are made of a cloth found in com¬ 
merce, and have a capacity of seven kilogrammes of oil. When filled, the 
mouths of these bags being tied up, they are placed on the tin-lined shelves, 
disposed in such a manner round a room .that, by the aid of tubes, the filtered 
oil flows from all sides into the vessel placed to receive^ it. Each room 
usually contains about 2000 kilogrammes of oil, the temperature being kept 
at about 55° Fahr. The exhausted marc is used as a manure for hemp and 
flax, for which purpose it is supposed to be well adapted. 
Some little while ago it was proposed to use the marc as a cosmetic in the 
same way as we employ almond meal, but it did not answer this purpose, as 
it was found to possess considerable irritant properties. Might not these 
qualities render it a useful counter-irritant applied as cataplasma ? As the 
marc is readily obtainable in England, it would be as well if some one were 
to report on its therapeutical value. 
Complaints have been made of the difference of quality in Italian castor-oils, 
and of the tendency in some samples to deposit fatty granules in cold weather; 
but the oil prepared according to the method just described, which is that 
emplo 3 ''ed in the Veronese territory, cannot be surpassed in taste or appear¬ 
ance, and gives little or no deposit in the ordinary temperatures of winter. 
The deposit complained of is due to greater heat having been employed in 
the processes of pressure and filtration. 
From the large doses of the oil used in Italy,—sometimes two ounces, 
simple or mixed with almond oil,—it would seem that the comparative taste¬ 
lessness and brilliancy of the oil are acquired at the expense of its purgative 
power. I have heard or read that the Chinese use castor-oil in their salads. 
Surely it can possess but feebly the purgative qualities of other castor-oils, 
leading one to suppose that climatic influences and mode of cultivation oppose 
the development of the purgative principle, which is still further lessened in 
the oil by a careful preparation. It is probable that to some such causes 
we must attribute the peculiar blandness of true Italian castor-oil. 
I am indebted to Signor Valeri for much of the information in the fore¬ 
going paper. 
Florence, August, 1866. 
MORPHIA AND CARYOPHILLUM COMPARED BY THE NITRIC 
ACID TEST, ETC. 
BY A. F. HASELDEN. 
In Dr. Farre’s excellent work upon Materia Medica, amongst the remarks 
upon caryophyllum are the following :— 
“ Composition and Chemical Characteristics.—Cloves owe their properties 
to a volatile oil; they also contain tannin, resin, extractive, etc. Nitric acid 
reddens infusion of cloves ; tincture of perchloride of iron renders it blue; 
the oil of cloves also undergoes similar changes to the infusion. These facts 
deserve especial attention in relation to opium and morphia, on account of the 
analogous phenomena presented by morphia wFen acted upon by nitric acid 
and perchloride of iron. Infusion and oil of pimento are similarly affected.” 
Assuming that this statement is substantially correct, the question naturally 
suggests itself,—Is morphia likely to be substituted for clove, and vice versa ? 
N either the alkaloid nor any of its salts, under ordinary circumstances, could 
be mistaken for cloves, nor any of the solutions for infusion of cloves; but it 
