AmAprn?ilSarm'}    Medium  for  Mounting  Starches  and  Pollens.  171 
next  morning  a  dose  of  castor  oil  was  taken,  and  that  day  14  yards  of 
tapeworm  were  passed. 
This  would  show  that  both  the  sediment  and  the  overlying  oil  pos- 
sess active  properties,  the  sediment  being  as  active  as,  if  not  more  so, 
than  the  oil,  and  that  it  could  be  separated  from  the  nauseating  oil 
and  administered  with  the  same  result,  as  from  a  dose  of  the  oil  and 
resin.  It  has  the  additional  advantage  of  greater  convenience,  as  the 
capsules  could  be  filled  and  kept  in  stock. 
Note  by  the  Editor. — Although  some  works  of  reference  give 
the  dose  of  filicic  acid  as  a  tsenifuge,  and  all  works  direct  the  oleoresin 
of  male  fern  to  be  dispensed  with  the  sediment,  references  to  actual 
experiments  are  rarely  met  with.  Bernatzik  and  Vogl  (Arzneimittel- 
Lehre,  p.  7),  state  :  "Carlblooni  (1866)  declared  filicic  acid  to  be  the 
therapeutically  active  substance  of  male  fern,  and  recommended  it  as  a 
remedy  for  cestoda  in  powder  form  (dose  0*12  gm.) ;  but  it  appears  to 
be  not  the  sole  active  principle,  since  Rulle  (1'867)  found  the  impure 
filicic  acid  (from  the  ethereal  extract)  more  active  than  the  pure  acid." 
A  NEW  MEDIUM  FOR  MOUNTING  STARCHES  AND 
POLLENS. 
By  A.  P.  Brown,  Ph.  G. 
Having  occasion  to  mount  a  variety  of  starches  for  examination  under 
the  microscope,  I  have  been  looking  for  a  suitable  medium  that  would 
best  show  the  structure  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  the  specimen. 
The  students  of  the  class  in  microscopy  at  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy  are  desirous  of  preserving  the  different  starches  that  are 
given  to  them  for  examination  during  the  course ;  but  until  recently 
I  have  not  been  able  to  give  them,  for  mounting  for  Starches,  Pollens 
and  similar  vegetable  substances,  a  medium  that  would  have  the 
advantage  of  showing  the  structure  of  the  specimen  after  it  had  been 
finished  and  preserved  for  future  reference.  Balsam  of  fir  makes 
starches  too  transparent.  Glycerin  is  good,  but  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  find  a  cement  that  would  hold  it,  on  account  of  its  solvent  proper- 
ties. Carbolic  acid  and  water  in  time  dry  out.  Cosmolin  has  been 
recommended,  but  it  is  too  greasy  and  it  has  the  same  fault  as 
glycerin ;  it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  a  cement  that  will  hold  it. 
A  short  time  ago  Mr.  Charles  Bullock  spoke  to  me  of  a  new 
medium  he  had  been  using  to  mount  vegetable  tissues ;  it  struck  me 
