350 
ARSENIC  EATING. 
combined  as  above,  has  much  the  same  appearance,  but  was  not 
present,)  and  the  larger  and  coarser  crystals  are  in  all  probability 
cinchonine.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  cinchonidine  may  be 
indicated  in  some  of  the  small  aggregations  of  crystals.  These 
crystals  present  a  pleasing  and  varied  appearance  under  the  mi- 
croscope, but  I  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  making  permanent 
preparations,  since  the  glycerine  which  I  generally  employ 
gradually  dissolves  most  of  them,  and  I  have  not  yet  found  any 
medium  free  from  this  objection.  I  had  some  specimens  mounted 
in  cells  in  pure  water,  intended  for  the  museum  of  the  Pharma- 
ceutical Society,  but  found  that  the  crystals  slowly  dissolved  even 
in  water. 
Dr.  Berg,  of  Berlin,  in  a  recent  publication,  remarks,  "  The 
crystals  which  Howard  figures  are  not  found  in  that  manner  in 
the  bark,  but  are  first  formed  through  chemical  treatment  of  the 
preparation.0  In  this,  as  in  most  of  his  observations  on  barks, 
the  Professor  seems  to  have  drawn  rather  largely  on  the  stores  of 
his  own  insight.  I  am  unable  to  conceive  how  it  is  possible  that 
boiling  a  section  of  bark  for  two  or  three  minutes  in  an  exceeding 
we&k  caustic  solution,  washing  with  abundance  of  distilled  water, 
and  placing  the  slice  immediately  under  the  microscope,  could  by 
any  possibility  produce  crystals  intersecting  the  cells  in  all  di- 
rections,* neither  can  I  understand  why  it  should  invariably  do 
this  in  one  species  of  bark  and  in  many  others  not  at  all. 
The  fact  is  that  Dr.  Berg's  mode  of  preparation  empties  the 
cells  of  all  their  contents,  and  he  cannot  believe  that  any  one  has 
seen  what  he  has  not  himself  observed. — London  Pharm.  Jour., 
May,  1865. 
ARSENIC  EATING-. 
Dr.  Maclagan,  of  Edinburgh,  on  a  visit  to  Styria  in  the  spring 
of  this  year,  obtained  conclusive  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this 
*  The  bark  must  previously  be  macerated  in  water  for  twenty-four 
hours.  From  the  time  the  slice  is  cut  to  its  being  placed  under  the  mi- 
croscope, less  than  five  minutes  should  elapse,  of  which  two  minutes  are 
passed  in  the  boiling  solution. 
