THE MEDICINAL VALUE OF TINCTUllA CONII FRUCTUS. 
383 
toms occurred which led to the omission of the remedy, although it was some¬ 
what questionable whether they depended on the drug. After about a fortnight’s 
interval, the tincture of the fruit of the British Pharmacopoeia was administered 
to the same patient in doses varying from 1 to 5 drms, three times each day. 
The last-mentioned quantity produced, after each dose, giddiness and a sensation 
of heaviness over the forehead; and when the tincture was increased to 6 drms., 
a sensation of mist before the eyes w^as also produced about twenty minutes 
after each dose. The remedy was therefore discontinued, and after an interval 
of several days the London tincture was again given, in doses varying from 
6 drms. up to a fluid ounce, but even this last dose failed to produce the slightest 
symptom. The two tinctures have been used in several other cases, and it 
has usually been found that half-ounce doses of the British Pharmacopoeia pro¬ 
duce slight symptoms, whereas the same quantity of the London failed to in¬ 
duce such phenomena. The sensation of warmth, so frequently felt in the 
paralysed limbs when these large doses of the tinctures of hemlock are given, 
has been found by Dr. Garrod to depend simply upon the alcohol contained in 
them, and is equally produced by a like amount of tincture of cardamoms. 
Dr. Garrod, in conclusion, stated that he fully agreed with Dr. John Harley, 
with regard to the weakness of the tincture of the British Pharmacopoeia; but, 
at the same time, he considered the London Pharmacopoeia tincture even weaker, 
and he thought that before any member of the Society came to the conclusion 
that the Pharmacopoeia Committee had acted wrongly in substituting the fruit 
for the leaf of the hemlock, he should be in a position to show (which Dr. 
Harley had not done) that the leaf of the plant possessed more power than the 
fruit. 
Professor Bentley said that the subject introduced by Mr. Hemingway was 
one of great interest, and it was most desirable that all instances should be re¬ 
corded in which very large doses of medicines, commonly reputed to be of an 
active nature, had been administered without appreciable effect, and evidence 
given of every precaution having been taken to guard against any possibility of 
accident in their^preparation. On the present occasion, every care appeared to 
have been taken. Mr. Hemingway had placed in his hands a portion of the 
fruits of conium used, and after examination, he (Professor Bentley) pronounced 
them to be a good average sample, containing but a very small portion of any 
foreign substances. Dr. Garrod had so fully gone into the subject of the acti¬ 
vity of tincture of conium fruits, and had given the results of his experiments, 
that it would be unnecessary for him to go over these facts again. He must 
say, however, that he quite agreed with Dr. Garrod in thinking that Dr. 
Harley had under-estimated the activity of Conium maculatum and its prepara¬ 
tions. Cases had been recorded in which their poisonous properties had been 
evidently exhibited. Chemical analysis clearly proved the much larger propor¬ 
tion of conia in the fruits than in the leaves, and hence the present tincture of 
the fruits was certainly more active than that of the London Pharmacopoeia, 
which was prepared from the leaves. Professor Bentley thought, however, that 
the directions given in the Pharmacopoeia might be more explicit. Thus, as 
chemical analysis had shown that the fruit contained the largest amount of 
conia just before arriving at maturity, it was desirable to direct the fruits to be 
gathered as nearly as possible at that time; and moreover, as there were grave 
doubts whether the fruits did not deteriorate by keeping, it would be desirable 
to use fruits of not more than a twelvemonth old. 
The Chairman said that the meeting was very much indebted to the gentle¬ 
men who had taken part in the present interesting discussion; and he trusted 
that should Drs. Garrod and Harley try any further experiments, they would 
communicate the results at a future Pharmaceutical Meeting. 
