128 
Selected Articles, 
consequently, the acid meconates of morphine and iodine, me* 
conine, narceine, the sulphates of morphine and potash ; but 
does not take up all the resinous, volatile or fatty matters : the 
greatest portion of the narcotine also remains undissolved. 
It is highly probable, that the bassorine and caoutchouc 
are wholly insoluble in both the alcohol and water, though it 
is not absolutely certain, as an analysis of neither the solu- 
tion nor the residuum has been made, but Malaga wine does 
not result from a simple mixture of alcohol and water. In the 
usual proportions of this wine of eighteen volumes of alcohol 
to sixty-two of water, the principles of the wine may react on 
those of the opium. For example, the free acids might faci- 
litate the solution of the narcotine, which, it is well known is 
much more soluble in acid liquids than in those which are 
not so, and thus modify the physiological effects, according 
to the observations of M. M. Magendie and Orfila. On the 
other hand, the tanning matter may combine with the narco- 
tine and codeine, as has been shown by M. M. Derosne and 
Robiquet, and thus neutralize them to a certain degree. 
It results from the above, that any attempt to establish a 
priori the composition of the laudanum of Sydenham, must 
fail, though it appears evident that this remedy cannot be con- 
sidered as a simple solution of opium in wine. The chemi- 
cal composition of wines, is so different and ever varying in 
the same species, that it becomes necessary to use the wine 
ordered by Sydenham, to obtain a remedy as nearly as pos- 
sible similar to that so highly praised by him. Added to 
which, the nature of Malaga wine, is not favourable to the so- 
lution of the narcotine, acts but slightly on the codeine, and 
above all the tinctures made with it are not apt to change, 
as it contains less free acid and tannin, and more alcohol and 
sugar than most of the French wines. 
Laudanum of Rousseau. The laudanum of Rousseau, ap- 
pears to constitute a remedy less uniform in its composition 
than the last mentioned, as fermentation is an operation so lit- 
tle understood, that we cannot neither produce it nor arrest 
nor direct it when produced. Its composition must vary not 
only when instead of preparing it according to the original 
