Miscellany. 
171 
warm climates this infusion has been used with advantage ; but Dr. Hall 
has tried it at Maranham, in a case of tetanus, without any beneficial re- 
sult. At Bermuda it is used as an antispasmodic in w T hooping cough, with 
reputed benefit. I always kept some strong tincture of cockroaches by 
me in climates where tetanus is of common occurrence. Happily, how- 
ever, I had no cause for trying its effects. In the course of my experi- 
ments on the infusion of the cockroach, I could riot but notice that com- 
mon salt and water saturated with the juices of these animals, had all the 
odour and some of the flavour and qualities of soy, so that the opinion 
of the sailors as to its composition, may not be far from the truth. 
Ibid. 
Codeine. — M. Merck has obtained this substance in a very simple man- 
ner by treating morphine precipitated by soda, with cold alcohol, satura- 
ting the tincture with sulphuric acid ; distilling to get rid of the alcohol, 
diluting the residue with cold water, till the solution becomes clear, fil- 
tering, and evaporating till the liquid assumes a syrupy consistence, in- 
troducing it when cold into a large flask with a certain quantity of ether, 
then adding an excess of caustic potash, and shaking the mixture for some 
time. The ethereal fluid becomes so highly saturated, that the codeine 
is deposited in a crystalline form in a few hours, on evaporating the ether 
and treating the residue with alcohol, the codeine will gradually be ob- 
tained in a state of purity, totally exempt from an oil, which has always 
been a great obstacle to its crystallization. 
Journ. de Pharm. 
Tonic colly rium for chronic opthalmia. — 
R. Acacia seeds ^ss. 
Rose water ^vi. 
Infuse the seeds in a glass or porcelain mortar, adding the rose water in 
small quantities at a time, and filter. This solution is to be used to wash 
the eyes, and also to be applied during the night, by means of compres- 
sers. 
Ibid. 
Cantharides. — M. Piette of Toulouse states that the best mtode of pre- 
paring these insects, is to place them alive in a large vessel, aSd to mois- 
ten them by a small stream of essence of lavender or of any other of the 
labiate plants. This soon kills them, after which they are to be dried in a 
stove. By this plan, they preserve a beautiful green colour, and are not 
subject to the attacks of mites, thus preserving all the cantharidine. 
Ibid. 
Extract of aconite in acute rheumatism. — Dr. Lombard of Geneva, has 
employed the extract of Jlconitum napellus with great success in acute 
rheumatism. This extract is prepared from the expressed juice of the 
