Salicylate  of  Atropia. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1877. 
adults,  from  about  one  fluid  drachm  to  one  tablespoonful  ;  and  the 
uime  of  death  from  two  hours  and  a  half  to  seven  hours  and  a  half. 
In  one  instance,  15  grains  of  the  resinoid  "  gelsemin "  proved 
fatal  to  a  woman  in  one  hour  after  the  dose  had  been  taken. 
Fiftv  minims  of  a  tincture  prepared  from  four  ounces  of  the  root  to 
one  pint  of  dilute  alcohol,  proved  fatal  to  a  child,  aged  three  years,  in 
two  hours.  And  in  another  instance  a  much  less  quantity  of  the 
tincture,  taken  in  two  doses,  caused  the  death  of  a  child  in  one  hour 
after  the  second  dose  had  been  taken. 
In  one  of  the  non-fatal  cases  a  tablespoonful  of  the  fluid  extract 
had  been  taken  ;  but  it  was  soon  followed  by  vomiting,  induced  by  an 
emetic. 
In  another  instance,  in  which  from  one  to  two  teaspoonfuls  of  the 
ordinary  fluid  extract  produced  most  profound  symptoms,  recovery  took 
place  under  the  administration  of  three  grains  or  more  of  morphia, 
employed  hypodermically,  in  half-grain  doses,  repeated  overy  few 
minutes.  From  the  report  of  this  case,  by  Dr.  Geo.  S.  Courtwright 
("Cincinnati  Lancet  and  Observer,"  Nov.,  1876),  it  would  appear 
£hat* the  morphia  was  the  means  of  saving  the  life  of  the  individual. 
In  the  cases  thus  far  reported  there  seems  to  be  only  one  or,  at 
t:nost,  two  instances  in  which  the  poison  was  administered  with  crimi- 
nal intent. 
Columbus,  Ohio,  February  2jth,  1877. 
SALICYLATE  OF  ATROPIA  AND  ITS  APPLICATION 
TO  PHARMACY.1 
By  C.  R.  C.  Tichborne,  Ph.D.,  F.C.S.,  &c. 
It  is  well  known  how  difficult  it  is  sometimes,  in  the  most  simple 
preparations,  to  get  one  that  shall  meet  all  the  requirements  of  the 
physician,  the  surgeon,  and  the  pharmaceutist.  Thus,  whilst  a  particu- 
lar preparation  may  just  hit  off  the  views  of  the  prescriber,  it  may  be 
devoid  of  keeping  properties,  a  point  of  considerable  importance  in 
these  days,  when  the  dispenser  has  neither  the  inclination  or  time  to 
make  his  own  preparations. 
A  striking  instance  of  this  clashing  of  requirements  is  to  be  observed 
in  the  solutions  of  atropia  contained  in  the  u  British  Pharmacopoeia." 
5  Paper  read  before  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  February  8,  1877,  and 
communicated  by  the  author. 
