160 
MISCELLANY. 
Specimen 5. Calomel, as usually sold by Messrs. Howards and Kent, 
and having a slightly yellowish tinge. 
Mr. Howard, in a letter which accompanied the specimens, observes, 
that 
"Dr. Gardner's paper illustrates the difference which the mechanical 
state of a substance may produce in its medicinal effects. It is, how- 
ever, quite a mistake to suppose that calomel is necessarily or generally 
in finer powder when white ; it may be, and sometimes is, very 
coarse, and yet white, as the specimens which I send will serve to 
show. 
"It is a curious fact, that the hydro-calomel, which is in a far more 
impalpable powder than any other, is objected to by some as not suffi- 
ciently active, except in increased doses, four grains being about equal 
to three, although it has been found to answer extremely well in many 
cases, more particularly in the diseases of children." 
London Pharm, Transactions, 
