196 
EXTRACTUM  PEPO  FLUIDUM. 
It  has  proved,  in  the  hands  of  the  above  physician,  a  valuable 
remedy  for  "  taenia  solium,"  and  he  regards  it  as  an  indispensa- 
ble addition  to  the  list  of  new  remedial  agents.  Having  given 
it  in  the  dose  of  a  tablespoonful  three  times  a  day  for  a  short 
period,  its  action  was  such  as  to  destroy  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
w^orm,  and  by  continued  use  it  was  completely  eradicated. 
The  above  is  sufficient  evidence  of  its  efficacy  to  admit  it  as 
a  remedial  agent. 
Pumpkin  Seed  have,  for  a  length  of  time,  been  known  and 
valued  as  a  medicine  for  tapeworm,  and  recent  uses  of  it,  more 
especially  in  the  form  of  a  fluid  extract,  have  established  its 
reputation  above  other  well-known  remedies,  and  indeed  in  cases 
where  male  fern,  pomegranate  and  kamela  have  not  been  uni- 
formly efficacious. 
No  preparations  of  Pumpkin  Seed  have  been  offered  which 
afforded  convenience  and  reliability,  being  usually  administered 
in  the  form  of  an  emulsion  ;  and  this  indeed  has  operated  very 
much  agninst  its  general  use,  and  deprived  us  of  an  indigenous 
remedy  of  great  importance.  A  thought  suggested  itself  to  my 
mind  that  the  above  menstruum  was  applicable  to  extract  the 
active  principle,  being  a  general  solvent  for  proximate  principles, 
in  their  native  combination,  and  affords  a  preparation  of  perma- 
nency. 
I  determined  that  the  fixed  oil  which  the  seed  contains  was  not 
soluble  in  alcohol ;  and  believed  that  it  contained  no  efficacy  of 
itself,  though  it  is  reputed  to  be  the  active  principle.  It  is  true 
it  may  hold  in  solution  the  active  principle,  whatever  it  may  be. 
But  these  experiments  demonstrate  the  fact  that  it  does  not  de- 
pend upon  the  oil,  as  the  menstruum  does  not  dissolve  it. 
I  exhausted  the  seed  of  their  oil  by  means  of  ether,  and  from 
one  thousand  grains  obtained  three  hundred  grains  of  fixed  oil, 
affording  the  unusual  large  amount  of  nearly  thirty-three  per. 
cent.  Its  sp.  g.  is  -94 ;  it  is  of  a  pale  green  color,  which,  on 
being  heated  gently,  to  expell  the  adhering  ether,  my  attention 
was  called  to  the  brown  color  which  it  assumed ;  and  on  resting 
for  a  few  days,  it  regained  its  original  color.  It  afforded  no 
striking  reactions  with  the  mineral  acids.  Its  taste  is  somewhat 
sweet  and  nut-like.    It  does  not  readily  become  dry,  therefore 
