SULPHUR  IN  LOUISIANA. 
449 
SULPHUR  IN  LOUISIANA. 
It  is  well  known  to  the  public  that  for  some  time  past  the 
work  of  boring  for  oil  has  been  prosecuted  in  Calcasieu  Parish, 
near  Lake  Charles,  bj  an  association  under  the  title  of  "  The 
Louisiana  Petroleum  and  Oil  Company."  Recently,  after  reach- 
ing to  a  depth  of  442  feet,  the  labors  of  the  company  were  re- 
warded by  finding  a  strata  of  crystallized  sulphur  some  two  feet 
thick  and  very  pure  in  quality.  In  boring  further,  it  was  found 
that  for  a  distance  of  90  feet  the  augur  passed  through  lime  rock 
which  yielded  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  sulphur,  with  occasional 
strata  of  6  to  8  feet  in  thickness  of  pure  sulphur.  The  treas- 
urer of  the  company  says  that  the  boring  has  now  reached  to  a 
depth  of  600  feet.  It  is  a  great  misfortune  that  the  depth  of 
these  deposits  of  sulphur  are  so  far  below  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  as  the  cost  of  mining  will  be  so  much  enhanced  in  con- 
sequence. We  learn,  however,  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the 
company  soon  to  commence  the  working  of  these  mines,  trusting 
that  the  wealth  to  be  realized  from  the  sale  of  a  commodity  in 
such  general  demand  and  of  so  great  a  market  value,  will  amply 
compensate  for  all  outlays. — The  Canadian  Pharm.  Jour., 
March,  1869,  from  New  Orleans  Price  Current. 
APOMORPHIA,  A  NEW  BASE  DERIVED  FROM  MORPHIA. 
In  noticing  the  objects  exhibited  at  the  Conversazione  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  in  the  last  number  of  this  Journal,  we 
alluded  to  a  new  base  which  has  recently  been  produced  as  the 
joint  discovery  of  Dr.  Matthiessen,  F.  R.  S.,  and  Mr.  Wright, 
B.  Sc.,  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  We  were  then  only 
enabled  to  state  that  this  base  was  produced  from  morphia,  and 
that  it  possessed  the  properties  of  a  powerful  non-irritant  emetic 
and  contra-stimulant.  Since  the  publication  of  that  notice  a 
paper  by  Dr.  Matthiessen  and  Mr.  Wright  has  been  read  before 
the  Royal  Society,  an  abstract  of  which  has  appeared  in  the 
'  Chemical  News,'  and  is  as  follows  : — 
"When  morphia  is  sealed  up  with  a  large  excess  of  hydro- 
chloric acid,  and  heated  to  140"^ — 150°  for  two  or  three  hours^ 
30 
