THE CODEX AND THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 
631 
have been brought from Syria, is now cultivated in the south of Europe; the 
fruit is rather larger than an ordinary French olive, more the size of a fine 
Spanish one, of an oval shape ; when ripe, and dried in the sun, they are kept 
for pharmaceutical purposes. You will perceive by some dried ones which I 
have brought, that the epicarp is very thin but coriaceous, and of a red colour, 
in the interior there is, beyond the pulp or mesocarp, a long hard shelly endo- 
carp, containing an oily kernel or seed ; the fiavour of the fruit is pleasant, 
somewhat between that of a date and a raisin. The fruit is said to be softening, 
pectoral, and good for coughs; thepa^e de jujubes was formerly supposed to con¬ 
tain some, and of course it is ordered in ttie Codex, but in England it is con¬ 
sidered a myth, nevertheless there is much difierence in de jujubes^ some 
remaining soft and pliable much longer than others. 
^Jusquiame Noire, Hyoscyamus iiiger^ Linn. ; Solanacees. The leaves of the 
full-grown plant. 
^Jusquiame Blanche, Hyoscyamus albiis^ Linn. ; Solanacees. The seed. 
Remark: White henbane is considered less active than the black, therefore, 
except by a special order to the contrary, the leaves, or the preparations from 
them, of the Hyoscyamus niger should be sent. As to the seeds, those met 
with in commerce are always of the Hyoscyamus alhus. It is scarcely neces¬ 
sary to add that the P.B. only recognises preparations from the leaves and 
branches of Hyoscyamus niger. 
Kino de ITiide. The dried juice of Pterocarpus Marsupium., Roxburgh; 
Leguinineuses-papilionacees. The asterisk is not attached to this substance, and 
the remarks appended coincide in general with those of the P.B.; the conclud¬ 
ing part—that its solubility in water and spirit diminishes according to its age 
or the time it has been kept in stock—may be suggestive; if so, the sooner it is 
made into tincture or a spirituous solution, the better. It may be worthy of re¬ 
mark, that the tincture does not gelatinize if kept in small bottles, say two- 
ounce bottles, while they are full. I have some now prepared in 1863, perfectly 
liquid in the full bottles but gelatinized in one that is half filled, some having- 
been used. 
*Neroli ou Essence de Neroli. The commercial name of the volatile oil ex¬ 
tracted from the flower of the bitter orange. 
^Nicotiane ou Tabac, Nicotiana Tabacum Linn. ; Solanacees. The leaf. 
Although the asterisk is attached, no remark is added. Well, the employment 
or enjoyment, as the case may be, of tobacco is so great both at home and 
abroad, that it would seem almost superfluous to make any comments thereon, 
except perhaps that under circumstances of excess in enjoyment, it becomes not 
only deleterious but dangerous, and though it may increase thought it diminishes 
action. 
^Opium. The inspissated juice, obtained by incisions in the unripe or green 
capsules of the poppy, Papaver somniferum Linn.; Papaveracees. 
In the remark, after defining the Smyrna opium as the officinal, and describing 
its appearance, it is said, that in the moist state it should yield at least ten per 
cent, of morphia, and when dried from eleven to twelve. It is further stated, 
that though more rarely, another opium, described as Constantinople opium, is 
met with which contains thirteen to fourteen per cent, of morphia; and, in con¬ 
tinuance, that in France an opium has been obtained from the white and purple 
garden poppy, equal in quality to the ordinary of Smyrna, and that in 
the north of France, opium obtained from the capsules of the Pavot oeillette, 
a variety of the Papaver nigrum, contained as much as 20 per cent, of morphia. 
This opium, observes the Codex, should be reserved for the extraction of the 
alkaloid. Could such opium be produced with certainty it might prove a good 
speculation to turn poppy-grower, but hitherto experience has pointed in the 
other direction. 
