338  Can  we  Modify  the  Acridity  of  Gnaiac  ?  {Ami^;mlrm' 
developing  after  contact  in  the  fauces,  a  burning  persistent  taste 
with  a  sensation  in  the  affected  parts  of  a  surface  roughened,  or 
even  excoriated.  In  just  how  far  the  physiological  effects  of  medi- 
cines must  be  tolerated  in  order  to  secure  their  fullest  utility,  is  a 
question  we  are  hardly  prepared  to  discuss  here.  Sheathing  the 
mucous  secreting  surface  with  a  demulcent  adjuvant,  seems  to 
present  as  the  first  suggestion,  for  it  is  necessary  that  for  topical  or 
localized  application  we  should  have  the  resin  in  as  impalpable  a 
powder  as  is  attainable. 
If  time  was  not  a  limited  quantity,  I  should  like  to  diverge  here 
for  more  than  a  moment  or  two,  to  speak  of  the  importance  to  the 
manipulator  of  drugs  of  studying  each  particular  substance  or 
product  as  it  comes  into  his  hands,  in  order  to  acquire  the  fullest 
knowledge,  not  only  of  its  properties,  therapeutically,  but  of  its 
characteristics  physical,  and  other  composition.  It  is  this  knowl- 
edge which  gives  us  the  power  over  the  material  to  use  it  and 
^combine  it.  Who  but  the  potter  can  mould  and  shape  the  other- 
wise senseless  clay  ?  In  dealing  with  our  guaiacum  the  first 
thought  which  suggests  is  to  interpose  some  sheathing  substance 
or  to  so  envelop  this  acrid  property,  that  its  release  shall  be  by 
unappreciable  degrees  and  thus  obtunded.  The  illustration  of  this 
suggestion  is  here  presented  in  the  form  of  a  compressed  troche  or 
lozenge,  each  containing  two  grains  of  the  gum  of  guaiacum.  Petro- 
latum and  chocolate  are  here  the  carriers  of  the  medication,  and  the 
solution  is  effected  in  the  fauces  in  such  a  manner  that  although 
the  peculiar  pungency  is  perceptible,  the  contact  is  not  disagree- 
able. Doubtless  in  more  skilled  hands  than  mine,  the  principles 
here  employed  could  be  made  to  yield  yet  more  satisfactory  results, 
and  a  pursuit  of  the  subject  may  prove  attractive  to  others. 
Our  query  has,  of  course,  more  to  do  with  the  topical  or  localized 
effect  than  with  that  of  its  general  therapeutic  action  on  the  internal 
economy.  Still,  it  will  be  interesting  to  note,  at  this  point,  the 
efforts  whiGh  have  been  made  to  obviate  the  objections  which  have 
ever  existed  to  the  uses  of  this  substance.  The  range  of  prepara- 
tions into  which  guaiacum  enters  as  a  chief  component  is  not  great. 
A  partial  saponification  was  early  resorted  to  to  secure  greater  solu- 
bility, as  well  as  a  modified  action.  I  his  is  instanced  in  the  "  Soap 
of  Guaiacum."  Acting  upon  this,  Dr.  Benjamin  Dewees,  an  hon- 
ored member  of  a  former  regime  of  eminent  medical  practitioners, 
