413 
THE PREPARATIONS OF CONIUM MACULATUM OF THE 
BRITISH PHARMACOPCEIA, 1864. 
BY JOHN HAELEY, M.D. BOND., F.L.S., 
ASSISTANT PHYSICIAN TO KING’s COLLEGE HOSPITAL, AND TO THE LONDON PEVEE 
HOSPITAL, ETC. 
In furnishing four preparations,—poultice, juice, tincture, and extract,—the 
Coniiim maciilatiim occupies a prominent position in the British Pharma¬ 
copoeia. Yet, perhaps, there is no plant in any Materia Medica of whose medi¬ 
cinal value we have less assurance than of that of Hemlock. It is commonly 
reputed to be a very poisonous plant, and medical practitioners of the present 
day partake of this opinion, and prescribe it in very small doses. 
The object of my inquiries is to ascertain how far this impression is correct, 
and at the same time to determine the medicinal value of its preparations more 
accurately than has yet been done. 
I have occasionally prescribed the extract and tincture of the London Phar¬ 
macopoeia in much larger doses than are usually given, but without effect. 
Negative results have been too uniformly present to allow me to attribute them, 
in every case, to carelessness in the manufacture or preservation of the par¬ 
ticular drug used ; and a very old impression that the potency of the plant is 
greatly exaggerated, has, for several years past, gained strength in my mind. 
Wishing to give the officinal preparations fair trial, I have long waited for an 
opportunity of getting the fresh, well-grown plant in its proper season, so that 
I might have a sound basis for my experiments. 
On mentioning the subject to Mr. Hemingway, the distinguished pharma ^ 
ceutical chemist, of Portman Street, Portman Square, he has most kindly re¬ 
lieved me of my chief difficulty, and while he has given me the benefit of a 
most cordial interest in the matter, he has provided me with most reliable means 
for conducting my experiments. The first object of my inquiries has been the— 
Tinctura Conii fructiis. —The tincture with which the following observations 
were made, was most carefully prepared by Mr. Hemingway, in the early part 
of November last, under my own inspection. In investigations of this kind 
it is of fundamental importance to ascertain the characters of the materials 
employed and the processes adopted. I shall not scruple therefore to enter into 
a somewhat minute description of them. 
Preparation of the Tincture. —Two ounces and a half of the powdered fruit, 
mixed with fine sand, in order to separate the vegetable particles, and bring the 
spirit into more ready contact with them, were packed in the percolator, with a 
layer of sand above and below, the lower aperture of the percolator being closed 
with a piece of wash-leather. The fruit was then exhausted by the passage, 
drop by drop, and at a temperature of 62° F. of gxx of proof spirit. The per¬ 
colation was preceded and occasionally interrupted by maceration,—the one 
process being substituted for the other by a slight rotation of the stopper. The 
supernatant spirit was preserved perfectly colourless by the upper layer of sand 
during the whole of the time, and thus fresh portions of pure spirit were con¬ 
stantly brought into contact with the separated fragments of the fruit. It is 
obvious that no more perfect process of exhaustion than this can be devised. 
It is one which Mr. Hemingway tells me he has constantly adopted in the pre¬ 
paration of tinctures, and it certainly appears desirable that such a thoroughly 
practical, cleanly, and effectual process should be universally prescribed for the 
preparation of this and similar pharmaceutical products. 
TAe fruit used was a fine specimen, and probably of this year’s growth. Ifc 
was clean, and free from admixture with other umbelliferous fruits. The albu- 
