EDITORIAL.  PEREIRA'S  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
189 
hence  the  article  under  this  head  is  by  the  editors,  who  give  to  our  coun- 
tryman, Mr.  Guthrie,  due  credit  for  the  first  notice  of  this  substance  in  an 
impure  form.  The  process  of  inhalation  is  described,  and  Dr.  Snow's  inhaler 
figured  in  situ.  This  article,  on  chloroform,  in  relation  to  its  pharma- 
ceutical chemistry,  is  very  deficient.  It  merely  transcribes  the  formulas  of 
the  London  and  Dublin  pharmacopoeias  without  comment,  gives  a  meagre 
account  of  its  properties,  and  hardly  notices  the  impurities  incident  to 
imperfect  manufacture.  Even  Dr.  Pereira's  paper  on  "  decomposed  chloro- 
form/' and  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Gregory,  Mr.  Abraham,  Mr.  Huskisson, 
and  Mr.  Pemberton,  all  published  or  copied  into  the  Pharmaceutical  Jour- 
nal, are  passed  over  unnoticed. 
Acetone  is  not  treated  of  as  a  pharmaceutical  product ;  no  mention 
is  made  of  Gerhardt's  anhydrous  acetic  acid ;  nor  is  carbolic  acid  alluded 
to  in  connection  with  creosote,  although  it  is  known  that  the  creosote  from 
coal  tar  consists  chiefly  of  this  substance. 
The  bitter  orange  is  referred  to  Citrus  bigaradia.  The  recent  papers  of 
De  Vrise  and  Hooker  on  the  botany  and  commercial  history  of  Sumatra 
camphor  have  not  been  noticed.  Dr.  Pereira's  article  on  cotton  is  tran- 
scribed from  the  2d  edition  without  the  mention  of  the  words  pyroxylin 
and  collodion,  nor  would  this  last  important  preparation  have  been  noticed 
but  for  the  American  editor,  who  has  given  a  brief  account  of  it. 
We  now  come  to  the  important  subject  of  opium.  The  additions  to  this 
article  consist  chiefly  in  copious  extracts  from  a  paper  by  Dr.  Eatwell  (Pliar. 
Jour,  xi.  269  et  seq.~)  on  the  culture  of  the  poppy  in  British  India,  and  from 
another,  by  Dr.  Pereira,  on  the  same  subject.  The  editors  have  introduced 
Orfila's  test  for  narcotine,  and  have  given  an  account  of  opianic  acid.  They 
have  not  found  it  necessary  to  add  much  to  the  very  excellent  directions  of 
the  author  for  characterizing  opium,  and  its  more  prominent  principles,  yet 
the  minuteness  with  which  the  constituents  of  opium  are  treated,  would  have 
justified  the  editors  in  devoting  a  few  lines  to  the  papaverine:  of  Merck,  and 
the  opianin  of  Herberger,  two  new  alkaloids  from  opium. 
In  the  article  "calumba"no  mention  is  made  of  the  existence  of  the 
alkaloid  berberin  in  it,  as  ascertained  by  Dr.  Bodiker,  and  which  is  probably 
largely  concerned  in  giving  activity  to  the  root;  nor  is  allusion  made  to 
the  columba  wood,  the  product  of  menispermum'  (coscinum)  fenestratum. 
which  also  contains  berberin  (see  Pharm.  Jour.  xii.  185-189 )  and  which  is 
used  as  a  sophistication  of  the  true  columba. 
Picrotoxin  is  stated  (on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Francis)  to  contain 
nitrogen.  In  the  article  Helleborus  niger,  lielleborin,  the  crystallizable 
substance  discovered  by  Mr.  Wm.  Bastick,  is  not  noticed. 
A  formula  for  Fleming's  tincture  of  aconite  is  introduced  by  the  editors, 
which  is  as  follows : 
"Take  of  the  root  of  Aconitum  napellus,  carefully  dried  and  finely  pow- 
dered, ^xvi.  Troy.  Rectified  spirits  |jxvi.  macerate  for  four  days,  then  pack 
into  a  percolator ;  add  rectified  spirits  until  twenty  four  ounces  of  tincture 
are  obtained." 
