Am.  J  our.  Pharm. ) 
Jan.,  1881.  J 
Tindura  Rusci. 
33 
The  quantity  of  bases  present  in  100  parts  poele  bark  accordingly 
amounted  to 
0-132  Ditamine. 
0*808  Echitammoniumliydroxide. 
0*080  Ecliitenine  and  Alstonamine. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  obtain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  alstonamine  for 
a  thorough  investigation  a  considerable  quantity  of  poele  bark  would 
be  required.  Unfortunately  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  such  a 
quantity,  so  that  I  must  desist  from  the  further  examination  of  this 
alkaloid. 
One  result  of  especial  interest  is  that  the  bark  in  question  contains 
more  than  six  times  as  much  echitammoniumhydroxide  as  does  dita 
bark,  in  which  I  found  0*13  per  cent.  It  may  be  observed  that  the 
action  of  this  alkaloid  and  its  chloride  upon  the  animal  organism  is 
similar  to  that  of  curare,  so  that  it  probably  follows  that  persons  who 
are  treated  with  this  bark  for  the  relief  of  intermittent  fever  would 
undergo  a  more  or  less  powerful  poisoning. — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans. y 
Nov.  6,  1880,  from  Ann.  d.  Chem. 
Tinctura  Rusci. — A  correspondent  inquires  for  a  formula  for  this 
tincture,  which  is  recommended  for  ringworm,  by  Prof.  Kaposi,  in 
Hebra\s  work  on  skin  diseases. 
Of  the  genus  Ruscus,  which  is  classed  with  the  smilacese  or  liliacese, 
three  species  have  been  employed  medicinally,  all  of  which  are  indige- 
nous to  Southern  Europe,  one,  E.  aculeatus,  Lin.,  or  butcher's  broom, 
being  also  found  in  England.  The  rhizome,  known  as  7xidix  rusci  or 
hrusci,  possesses  aperient  and  diuretic  properties,  and  was  formerly 
much  used  in  visceral  diseases.  This  is  doubtless  the  species  employed 
for  the  above  tincture,  but  we  have  been  unable  to  find  a  formula  in 
old  and  recent  works,  though  several  give  directions  for  decoctions. 
Since  the  dose  was  from  10  to  30  grains  in  powder,  the  tincture  is,, 
perhaps,  best  made  of  20  parts  of  the  powdered  drug,  exhausted  with 
sufficient  dilute  alcohol  to  obtain  100  parts.  The  taste  is  disagreeable,, 
sweetish  and  bitter. 
The  other  two  species  referred  to  are  Ruscus  hypophyllum  and  R. 
hypoglossum,  Lin.,  the  former  of  which  was  known  as  laurus  alexan- 
drina,  the  latter  as  bislingua,  uvular ia  and  Iambus  alexandrina  angus- 
tifolia.  The  root  and  evergreen  leaves  were  employed  in  diseases  of 
the  uterus  and  bladder.  J.  M.  M. 
3 
