230  ON  SOME  SPECIMENS  OF  DUGONG  OIL. 
with  six  parts  of  diluted  alcohol ;  it  will  then  approach  the 
strength  of  laudanum  and  may  be  given  in  similar  doses. 
The  syrup  is  designed  to  be  a  weak  preparation  adapted  to  use 
as  an  expectorant.  We  see  no  advantage  in  attempting  to  com- 
bine the  objects  of  a  powerful  narcotic  remedy  with  the  form  of 
syrup,  a  form  best  adapted  to  mild  anodynes.  The  proportion 
of  two  grains  to  the  ounce  furnishes  a  stronger  preparation  than 
Auhergier  §  syrup,  supposing  that  in  the  latter  the  whole  strength 
of  the  remedy  were  extracted,  and  we  think  we  have  gained  the 
appropriate  strength  in  the  preparation  now  offered. 
Syrup  of  Lactucariurn. 
Fluid  extract  of  English  Lactucariurn,  a  fluid  drachm. 
Sugar  thirty  ounces,  (offic.) 
Water  thirteen  fluid  ounces. 
Distilled  orange  flower  water  two  fluid  ounces. 
Triturate  the  fluid  extract  with  a  portion  of  the  sugar,  then 
dissolve  this  and  the  remainder  of  the  sugar  in  the  water  by  the 
aid  of  heat,  strain,  and  when  nearly  cold  add  the  orange  flower 
water.  If  the  fluid  extract  of  German  Lactucariurn  is  used,  the 
proportion  should  be  increased,  probably  about  25  per  cent, 
although  we  have  no  evidence  founded  upon  experiment  as  to 
the  relative  therapeutic  value  of  the  two  commercial  varieties. 
We  have  not  referred  particularly  to  the  process  of  M.  Gustin, 
in  which  water  acidulated  with  nitric  acid  is  the  menstruum,  as 
we  cannot  conceive  of  this  furnishing  a  fair  representative  of 
lactucariurn,  nor  to  the  formula  of  our  colleague  T.  S.  Wiegand, 
in  which  the  use  of  carbonate  of  potassa  is  directed ;  this  is  par- 
ticularly adapted  to  English  lactucariurn  and  furnishes  a  strong 
preparation  but  not  an  elegant  one,  a  characteristic  which  is 
fatal  to  its  general  adoption. 
ON  SOME  SPECIMENS  OF  DUGONG  OIL. 
By  W.  T.  Fewtrell. 
A  few  years  ago  Dr.  Hobbs,  the  health  officer  at  Moreton 
Bay,  introduced  the  oil  obtained  from  the  dugong  as  a  substitute 
for  cod-liver  oil.    This  animal  is  one  of  the  herbivorous  cetacea, 
