Am.  Jeur.  Pharm.  \ 
Aug.,  1877.  J 
Fluid  Extract  of  Jaborandi. 
393 
and  diaphoretic,  Rabuteau,  Gubler,  Rolin  and  other  physicians  of  that 
city  employed  the  remedy  in  doses  of  from  four  to  six  grams,  infused 
in  hot  water,  the  dregs  being  swallowed  along  with  the  liquid.  The 
same  plan  of  administration  was  adopted  in  other  parts  of  the  Conti- 
nent. In  England,  Ringer  and  others  prescribed  a  tincture  repre- 
senting thirty  grains  to  the  fluidrachm,  which  necessitated  the  adminis- 
tration of  two  fluidrachms,  as  the  equivalent  of  the  four  grams  used  in 
making  the  infusion. 
Having,  in  September,  1875,  received  from  Pernambuco,  Brazil,  a 
sufficiently  large  supply  of  the  leaves  for  an  extended  trial  of  the  new 
drug,  I  determined  to  employ  a  fluid  extract  in  the  investigation  I  pur- 
posed making  in  regard  to  its  action  on  the  economy,  and,  after  several 
failures,  succeeded  in  making  a  preparation  which,  in  every  instance  it 
was  administered,  produced  all  the  effects  obtained  from  the  infusion 
made  from  a  drachm  of  the  bruised  leaves.  The  results  obtained  with 
this  fluid  extract  in  a  series  of  experiments,  conducted  mainly  at  the 
U.  S.  Naval  and  St.  Joseph's  Hospitals  in  this  city,  were  so  satisfactory 
and  so  confirmative  of  the  experience  of  foreign  observers,  in  regard 
to  the  efficacy  of  the  jaborandi,  that  I  communicated  them  to  the 
Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  Navy  Department,  in  the  form  of  a 
report,  which  was  subsequently  published  in  the  "Philadelphia  Medical 
Times"  of  October  30th,  1875. 
In  the  investigation  pursued  at  St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  I  was  very 
kindly  assisted  by  Dr.  John  M.  Keating,  who,  on  entering  upon  his 
term  of  service  as  Visiting  Physician  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  in 
January,  1876,  immediately  introduced  the  use  of  jaborandi  into  the 
wards  of  that  institution,  where  its  application  and  action  have  since 
been  carefully  investigated  by  himself  and  colleagues.  In  a  late  very 
interesting  clinical  lecture  on  the  subject,  which  has  been  presented  to 
the  notice  of  the  profession  through  the  columns  of  the  "  Philadelphia 
Medical  Times"  of  June  23d,  Dr.  Keating  states  that  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  are  strongly  in  favor  of  jaborandi  as  a  safe  and  effectual 
remedy  in  various  forms  of  disease.  In  the  above-mentioned  hospital 
it  has  become  the  practice  to  administer  the  drug  in  the  form  of  an 
infusion  of  the  leaves,  as  it  was  found  that  the  preparations  in  the 
market  could  not  be  depended  on  to  produce  the  desired  action  on  the 
skin  and  salivary  glands.  As  the  same  complaint  has  been  made  by  a 
number  of  the  profession,  who  have  not  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
