628 
PHAEMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
considered superior to the Adiantnm Capilliis- Veneris^ and should be used. 
Syrup of maidenhair was a remedy for coughs amongst old women when I was 
an apprentice. 
Carvi, Carum Ccirvi^ Linn.; Orabelliferes. The fruit. 
Cascarille Officinale, Croton Eluteria^ Swartz ; Euphorbiacees. The bark. 
*Centaurce (Petite) Erythrcea Centanrium, Pers.; Gentianees. The flowering 
tops. 
*Chiendent Officinal ou Petit Chiendent, Triticum repens, Linn.; Graminees. 
The rhizomes or underground shoots. I find it somewhat difficult to understand 
why caraway and cascarilla, most valuable, the one as a carminative, and the 
other as a tonic, should not have the asterisk, which is given to centaury, a dis¬ 
carded bitter, and to Triticum repens, or couch-grass, the virtues of which, 
though lately much extolled, are very doubtful. I have frequently prepared a 
liquor of it, but it appears to me to contain little beyond sugar and starch and 
some mucilage, but 1 am inclined to think that farmers who are bothered by it 
might turn it to some account in brewing. 
Colchique, Colchiciim autumnale^ Linn. ; Colchicacees. 
*Corms, Flowers and ^'Seeds. As in the P. B., the corms and the seeds are 
preferred. The wine of the seed or conn was no doubt the active principle of 
the once celebrated Eau Medicinale d’PIusson, for which there was a modest 
charge of eight or ten shillings for about ninety minims, about two doses. 
^Copaiba, Colombo, and Colocynth are, as with the P.B., all in good repute. 
^Coriander has the asterisk in preference to caraway, which is not easily 
accounted for, unless it is that the oil of coriander is scarce and dear, while that 
of caraway is, on the other hand, cheap and plentiful. 
*Crotoii-Tiglium. Nom francise du Croton Tiglium^lumTx. ; Euphorbiacees. 
The seeds are called also Tilly grain, or seeds from the Moluccas. The best 
Croton seeds, I am told, come from Penang. 
^Cubebe ou Poivre a Queue, Cuheha offi.cinarum^ Miquel. Piper Cubeba^ 
Linn.; Piperacees. The fruit. 
This is sometimes called Piper caudatum, or Tail-pepper. I shall be excused 
mentioning this, I trust, because the tail or, as described in the P.B., the stalk, 
of rather more than its own length, will assist the student in distinguishing it 
from other peppers. Students do occasionally hesitate at naming tne pepper, 
though seldom the powder; there is an apparent familiarity with the odour, 
which, says the P.B., is characteristic. 
^Curcuma Long et Bond, Curcuma tinctoria, Guibourt. The tubers. The 
long and round turmeric have the asterisk, and though turmeric can scarcely 
be said to be used as a medicine, seeing that its chief employment is in the com¬ 
position of curry powder and the preparation of test paper, I think it might 
have been retained in our Materia Medica with some others, and particularly 
so as I find them amongst the Materia Medica specimens in the examiners’ 
room. 
*Dictame de Crete, Origanum Dictamnus, Linn. ; Labiees. Flowering plant. 
It is the marjoram of Candia, or Dittany of Crete, possessing properties similar 
to those of Origanum vulgare. Oil of Thyme is no longer retained in the Ma¬ 
teria Medica of the P.B., but I think it might have been, with as much reason 
as oil of rosemary ; it is true it is not so dear, and is much employed in veteri¬ 
nary surgery, but that does not render it less useful as an adjunct to liniments, 
and as a remedy in toothache it has often been found quite as efficacious as oil 
of cloves. 
Digitalis purpurea^ Linn.; Scrofulariacees. The leaf gathered a 
little before blossoming-time ; the flower only when it is prescribed. The P.B., 
speaking of the leaf, says to be gathered when about two-thirds of the flowers 
are expanded. There are nine or ten preparations from foxglove in the Codex, 
