462  ROTTLERA  TINCTORIA  AS  A  REMEDY  FOR  TAPE  WORM. 
the  whole  is  evaporated  till  a  pellicle  is  formed,  when  it  is  set 
Aside  to  crystallize.  The  crystals,  as  at  first  procured,  are  very 
much  discolored,  and  require  to  be  washed  in  alcohol,  and  redis- 
solved  and  crystallized,  to  free  them  from  adhering  sesquioxide. 
This  done,  they  are  of  a  light  green  color,  sweetish  ferruginous 
taste  and  quite  deliquescent,  so  that  if  not  used  immediately  for 
solution,  they  should  be  transferred  to  hermetically  sealed  bottles. 
For  the  preparation  of  BestuchefFs  Tincture  I  use  the  following 
proportions : 
Crystals  of  sesquichlor.  iron,     .       .   2  ounces. 
Spirit  of  wine,  rect.       .         .  -    .  16  " 
Sulphuric  ether,     .  .   8  " 
Dissolve,  filter,  and  expose  in  white  glass  vials  for  forty-eight 
hours  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  or  until  it  becomes  colorless. 
It  will  be  seen  that  six  drachms  of  the  above  tincture  contain 
thirty  grains  of  the  dry  sesquichloride,  which  is  nearly  double 
the  strength  of  the  officinal  tincture. 
It  now  remains  to  point  out  the  only  objection  which  may  be 
urged  against  it,  namely,  that  in  the  absence  of  strong  light  it 
gradually  deposits  a  brownish  precipitate  of  sesquioxide,  which 
somewhat  detracts  from  the  elegance  of  its  appearance.  To 
prevent  this,  I  have  undertaken  some  experiments,  which,  if 
successful,  will  be  communicated. 
Meanwhile,  I  will  add,  that  the  exposure  of  the  vial  containing 
it  to  the  full  rays  of  the  sun  for  a  few  hours,  will  always  cause 
a  resolution  of  the  precipitate,  and  restore  the  transparency  of 
the  tincture. — American  Medical  Gazette,  August,  1857. 
ROTTLERA  TINCTORIA  AS  A  REMEDY  FOR  TAPE  WORM. 
By  Dr.  Thos.  Anderson,  Ass.  Surg. 
The  Rottlera  tinctoria  is  a  species  of  euphorbiaceous  plant 
found  in  the  hilly  parts  of  India,  as  along  the  base  of  the  Hima- 
layas from  Assa'm  to  near  Peshawur,  in  Central  India,  at  the 
Northern  Cercars,  in  Mysore,  and  at  Parell  Hill,  near  Bombay. 
In  its  habit  it  is  almost  arborescent,  growing  to  twenty  or  thirty 
feet  high.  The  substance  called  kamila,  obtained  by  brushing 
the  powder  off  the  capsules  of  this  plant,  has  long  been  known 
in  India  as  a  dye,  and  it  is  also  occasionally  used  by  the  natives 
