488 
ON  ITALIAN  CASTOR  OIL. 
In  conclusion,  I  may  advert  to  a  peculiarity  I  am  unable  to 
explain,  which  is  the  dense  color  of  an  aqueous  solution  of  the 
galls,  the  galls  themselves  being  light  in  color  and  very  porous 
in  texture. 
Dr.  Attfield  said  be  had  just  received  a  letter  from  Dr,  Wilmot,  of 
Tunbridge  Wells,  confirmatory  of  Mr.  Judd's  results.  From  a  rough  ex- 
amination Dr.  Wilmot  had  found  a  large  quantity  of  tannin  could  be  ob- 
tained from  English  galls,  but  that  they  must  be  gathered  at  a  particular 
period  of  growth.  He  hoped  that  if  we  were  to  suffer  from  a  pest  which 
was  certainly  on  the  increase,  some  good  might  be  derived  from  it,  and 
some  check  in  its  advance  be  furnished  by  the  very  means  whereby  that 
good  was  to  be  obtained. 
— London  Pharm.  Jour.  Oct.  1,  1865. 
ON  ITALIAN  CASTOR  OIL, 
Dr.  Attfield  stated  that  Mr.  Henry  Groves,  of  Florence,  was 
engaged  in  ascertaining  for  the  Conference  the  cause  of  the  ab- 
sence in  Italian  castor  oil  of  that  unpleasant  taste  characteristic 
of  the  chief  commercial  varieties  of  that  well-known  medicine, 
and  would  probably  send  a  paper  on  the  subject  to  the  next  meet- 
ing in  1866.  Meanwhile,  a  recent  pupil,  Mr.  Phillips,  now  of 
Naples,  had  sent  him  some  remarks  on  the  matter,  which  might 
be  read  at  the  present  meeting,  and  would  thus  probably  aid  Mr. 
Groves  in  his  investigation.    Mr.  Phillip's  letter  was  as  follows  : — 
14,  Strada  S.  Carlo,  Naples. 
Dear  Sir, — Seeing  that  the  question  No.  131  had  been  accepted 
by  Mr.  H.  Groves,  I  thought  it  unnecessary  to  trouble  you  with 
any  further  remarks  on  the  subject,  nevertheless  it  has  occurred 
to  me,  even  at  this  late  moment,  that  my  promise  ought  to  be 
kept,  although  I  can  but  offer  but  little  information  on  the  sub- 
ject in  question. 
The  castor-oil  plant  here  attains  a  height  of  from  10  to  16  feet, 
and  is  generally  biennial,  sometimes  triennial ;  the  seeds,  which 
are  ripe  in  the  middle  of  autumn,  are  generally  smaller  than  the 
East  Indian,  some  are  of  a  uniform  dark  color,  others  very  prettily 
streaked. 
The  oil  is  generally  prepared  during  the  following  summer,  the 
warmth  of  the  weather  causing  a  more  abundant  yield  of  oil. 
