AsneVember!,*89™  }    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  493 
CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION  OF  COMMERCIAL  EXTRACT  OF  WITCH- 
HAZEL. 
By  Joseph  Feil,  Ph.G. 
The  author  gave  the  tests  by  which  he  found  what  was  believed  to  be  pro- 
tocatechuic  acid,  and  he  considered  that  substance  to  represent  the  peculiar 
properties  of  extract  of  witch-hazel.    The  extractive  matter  found  averaged 
about  1  part  in  3,000  parts  of  the  liquid. 
These  papers  were  referred  to  the  Publication  Committee. 
A  paper  entitled 
BOILER-SHOP  PHARMACY. 
By  C.  S.  N.  Hallberg, 
was  then  read.  The  author  had  tabulated  the  percentage  of  disintegration  and 
solution  in  acid  arid  alkaline  aqueous  liquids  of  mass-made  pills  and  friable  pills. 
The  results  were  in  favor  of  the  former  kind.  After  considerable  discussion  by 
Messrs.  Caspari,  Werner,  Kuhn,  Payne,  Sayre,Whelpley,  Hallbeig,  Lyons,  Good 
andPrescott,  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  title  and  contents  of  the  paper,  it  was 
referred  to  the  Publication  Committee  and  business  again  proceeded. 
^SOME  MEDICINES  OF  THE  SWAMPY  CREE  INDIANS  OF  THE 
NORTH. 
By  C.  Flexon, 
was  then  presented.  The  paper  gave  some  particulars  furnished  by  Mr. 
Strath,  Medical  Officer  at  Norway  House,  which  is  located  about  400  miles 
north  of  Winnepeg,  Manitoba.  These  Indians  administer  most  of  their  medi- 
cines in  the  form  of  infusions.  A  combination  of  malefern,  senna  and  wild 
indigo  is  used  for  worms.  Wild  indigo  is  also  used  as  an  antiseptic.  Cala- 
mus is  used  as  a  specific  in  all  throat  troubles,  except  diphtheria,  which, 
however,  is  not  known  to  them.  The  calamus  is  chewed  and  the  saliva  swal- 
lowed. The  Indians  are  not  easily  induced  to  gargle.  Great  difficulty  is  also  ex- 
perienced in  getting  them  to  take  the  salts.  Pills,  however,  are  swallowed  with 
a  relish.  Podophyllum,  spearmint,  sarsaparilla  and  dandelion  are  used  by 
them.  Caraway  is  used  as  a  remedy  for  colic.  Blue  cohosh  is  used  in  obste- 
trics and  female  complaints,  also  for  the  production  of  abortion,  in  which  case 
it  is  mixed  with  an  unknown  powder  ;  an  oil  from  a  mixture  of  hemlock 
spruce,  poplar  and  black  birch  is  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Cypripedium  is 
used  for  rheumatism  ;  the  Indians  will  not  take  salicin  or  salicylates.  He- 
deoma  is  given  as  an  aromatic  stimulant  and  to  produce  abortion.  Plantain  is 
chewed  and  applied  by  the  doctor  in  the  form  of  paste  as  a  haemostatic  ;  willow 
bark  is  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Juniper  berries  are  used  as  a  diuretic  ;  the 
leaves  are  dried  and  dusted  over  indolent  sores  ;  the  root  is  infused  and  given 
for  gravel.  The  rotten  interior  of  the  hemlock  spruce  is  used  as  an  agreeable 
absorbent  toilet  powder.  The  Crees  believe  that  fever  can  only  be  cured  by 
vomiting  it  up,  and  the  powdered  rhizome  and  rootlets  of  Veratrum  viride  are 
used  to  produce  vomiting  to  relieve  fever.  The  same  medicine  is  used  as  a 
snuff  to  reduce  hernia  ;  to  do  this  the  naked  patient  is  elevated  to  a  horizontal 
position  ;  he  then  takes  a  pinch  of  the  snuff  and  during  the  intense  sneezing 
which  follows,  a  companion  standing  ready  at  the  side  plunges  back  the  rupture 
with  his  fist.  It  is  said  that  if  it  be  not  a  strangulated  case,  the  treatment  is 
sufficient.    Gunpowder  and  lard  in  equal  quantities  are  used  for  skin  diseases. 
