OXYSULPHURET  OF  ANTIMONY. 
267 
keep  longer  than  that  from  almonds.  The  different  varieties 
of  Sherbet,  sold  in  the  streets  of  Alexandria  and  Cairo,  resemb- 
ling milk  of  almonds,  are  prepared  from  this  manna.  Hun- 
dreds of  quintals  of  it  are  brought  from  the  interior  of  Africa  to 
the  bazaars  of  Cairo,  Smyrna,  Magnesia,  Constantinople,  and 
especially  Alexandria,  whence  it  comes  to  Greece  during  the 
autumnal  months.  A  wine  glass  full  sells  at  from  10  to  15 
lepta.  They  do  not  sell  it,  like  other  fruit,  by  weight,  but  by 
measure,  for  which  a  glass  is  always  used.  The  racines,  which 
are  called  ground  almonds,  contain  much  oil  that  can  be  ex- 
tracted by  roasting;  it  is  a  fixed  oil  of  a  very  pleasant  taste, 
and  very  similar  to  that  of  almonds  and  sesame.  It  is  separated 
on  a  large  scale  in  Egypt,  where  it  is  employed  for  a  variety  of 
purposes,  although  it  becomes  rancid  very  quickly.  The  plant, 
so  useful,  is  multiplied  by  tubercles,  and  prospers,  particularly 
in  sandy  soils,  to  such  an  extent  that  large  plains  are  entirely 
covered  by  it.  The  sand  is  separated  from  the  tubers  by  means 
of  a  sieve ;  bags  made  of  camel's  hide  are  filled  with  them,  and 
they  are  carried  by  camels  in  the  caravan  to  Cairo,  where  they 
are  dried  and  placed  in  the  warehouses  devoted  to  this  business. 
The  poorer  class,  after  roasting  them,  use  them  to  prepare  a 
very  pleasant  coffee,  which,  whether  pure  or  with  milk,  is  pos- 
sessed of  more  nutritive  properties  than  ordinary  coffee.  In 
consequence  of  its  tuberculous  form,  the  racine  was  called  by 
Dioscorides  OloJconitis,  and  Pliny  designates  it  by  the  name 
Anthalium. — L.  H.  s.    journ.  Md.  Col.  Pharm.,  March,  1860. 
OXYSULPHURET  OF  ANTIMONY. 
M.  Jacobi  has  made  known  in  France  the  art  of  preparing 
and  preserving  oxysulphuret  of  antimony  according  to  the 
Prussian  Pharmacopoeia,  which  gives  a  receipt  for  a  very  fine 
product. 
1500  parts  of  ordinary  carbonate  of  soda  are  dissolved  in  7500 
parts  of  water ;  and  to  this  solution  are  added  500  parts  of  lime, 
rendered  semi-liquid  by  the  addition  of  1500  parts  of  water ;  to 
this  mixture  100  parts  of  black  sulphuret  of  antimony  are  added 
together  with  125  parts  of  sulphur.  The  whole  is  boiled  for  an 
hour  and  a  half,  water  being  added  now  and  then  to  replace  that 
