30 
Medicated  Bougies. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      Jan.,  1881. 
with  1  drachm  of  poppy  seeds  are  made  into  a  mixture  with  honey 
and  water  and  given  as  an  anodyne  in  cough,  gout,  etc.  Equal  parts  of 
the  seed  and  opium  are  used  as  a  powerful  narcotic.  A  mixture  of  the 
powdered  seeds  with  pitch  is  used  to  stop  hollow  teeth  which  are  pain- 
ful, and  also  as  a  pessary  in  painful  affections  of  the  uterus.  The 
juice  or  a  strong  infusion  of  the  seeds  is  dropped  into  the  eye  to  relieve 
pain.  Ainslie  and  other  European  writers  upon  Indian  materia 
medica  notice  the  use  of  hyoscyamus  seeds  in  India  and  attribute 
them  to  H.  niger,  but  I  have  not  heard  of  anyone  who  has  raised  this 
plant  from  the  bazaar  seed.  In  the  ^'Mufaridat-i-Nasari'^  it  is  dis- 
tinctly stated  that  the  officinal  article  should  be  the  seed  of  white  hen- 
bane (bazr-ul-banj-abiad).  • 
Henbane  seed  is  the  only  part  of  the  plant  used  in  native  practice 
in  India;  it  is  known  in  Hindostan  as  khorasani  ajwain,''  in  Bom- 
bay as  "  khorasain  owa/'  and  in  Madras  as  ^'  khorasain  omam.'^ 
For  the  purpose  of  supplying  government  hospitals  with  extract  and 
leaves  the  Hyoscyamus  niger  has  been  cultivated  at  Saharunpore  in  the 
Bengal  presidency,  at  Hoonsoor  in  Mysore  and  at  Hewra,  near  Poonah 
in  the  Deccan.  The  quantity  grown  is  limited  to  the  requirements  of 
goverment.  It  is  a  cold  weather  crop.  If  sown  in  October,  the 
plants  will  produce  ripe  seed  in  March,  or  even  earlier.  As  regards 
medicinal  qualities,  the  experience  of  medical  men  in  India  is  that  the 
plant  cultivated  for  government  yields  preparations  in  every  respect 
equal  to  those  obtained  from  Europe.  Dr.  O'Shaughnessy  found  that 
3  grains  of  the  sun-dried  extract  produced  marked  soporific  and  ano- 
dyne effects. 
At  present  henbane  leaves  are  not  an  article  of  commerce  in  India, 
but  the  superintendents  of  the  government  gardens  are,  I  believe, 
allowed  to  grow  any  profitable  crops  of  medicinal  plants  for  sale.  The 
price  charged  by  the  Hewra  gardens  to  the  medical  department  this 
year  for  dried  leaves  is  Ks      per  lb.,  and  for  extract  Rs  4  per  lb. 
The  price  of  the  imported  seed  in  the  Bombay  market  is  usually 
Rs  7  per  maund  of  37 J  lbs. — Phar.  Jou7\  and  Trans. ,  Nov.  6,  1880. 
Medicated  Bougies.  By  F.  Fridrichs. — Melt  together  white  gel- 
atin 3  parts,  glycerin  6  parts,  distilled  water  1  part ;  then  add  the 
desired  medicament  and  draw  the  mass  into  a  glass  tube  of  suitable 
size,  which  has  been  previously  oiled.  After  cooling,  the  mass  is  pushed 
out  by  means  of  an  oiled  rod,  and  cut  into  pieces  of  suitable  length. — - 
Phar,  Zeitung,  1880,  p.  629. 
