430    Materia  Medica  of  the  Mexican  Pharmacopoeia.     { ^'''^llt^lst^' 
Bromine  reacts  violently  with  menthol,  vapors  of  hydrobromic  acid 
being  given  off,  while  a  dark  purplish  oily  liquid  remains.  From 
the  solutions  in  ether  or  chloroform  menthol  is  obtained  in  feathery 
or  somewhat  stellately  arranged  needles.  Sodium  introduced  into 
melted  menthol,  liberates  hydrogen  and  a  glassy  mass  is  left,  which  on 
exposure  becomes  brown,  opaque  and  deliquescent. 
A  very  good  vehicle  for  the  application  of  menthol  is  oleic  acid  in 
which  it  is  freely  soluble,  and  as  an  application  in  toothache  a  solution 
is  very  serviceable  in  the  proportion  of  20  grains  of  menthol  in  one 
and  a  half  drachms  of  chloroform. 
MATERIA  MEDICA  OF  THE  NEW  MEXICAN 
PHARMACOPOEIA. 
By  the  Editor. 
(Continued  from  page  389.) 
Cardo  santo,  Cirsium  mexicanum,  De  Cand. ;  Compositse.  The 
leaves  and  flowers  are  used  in  place  of  the  European  blessed  thistle, 
and  possess  stomachic,  febrifuge  and  sudorific  properties ;  the  flowers 
also  that  of  coagulating  milk. 
Carrizo,  Arundo  Donax,  Lin.;  Graminacese;  grows  in  Mexico  and 
other  countries.    The  rhizome  is  sudorific  and  diuretic. 
Cascalote,  Ciesalpiuia  coriaria,  Willdenow  ;  Leguminosse;  in  hot  and 
humid  regions  of  the  western  slope  of  the  Mexican  Cordillera.  The 
fruit,  which,  according  to  P.  Alcocer,  of  Mexico,  contains  30  per  cent, 
of  tannin  and  17  per  cent,  of  gallic  acid,  is  used  for  tanning,  and  in 
medicine  as  an  astringent. 
Cebadilla  de  Tierra  caliente,  Veratrum  officinale,  Schlechtendal 
(Asagnea  tenuifolia,  Martins  et  Galeoti).  The  capsules  are  three- 
celled,  papyraceous,  light  reddish  gray,  the  cells  several  seeded,  and 
the  seeds  blackish,  sword-shaped,  rugose,  sharp-pointed,  of  a  bitter 
and  acrid  taste,  and  produce  a  copious  flow  of  the  saliva. 
Cebadilla  del  Interior,  Veratrum  Sabadilla,  Retzius  (Y.  virescens. 
Mart,  et  Gal.).  The  fruit  differs  from  the  preceding  in  being  more 
rounded  and  like  the  seeds  of  a  darker  color. 
Cebadilla  del  Valle  de  Mexico,  Veratrum  frigidum,  Schlechtendal. 
The  capsules  are  much  larger  and  longer,  and  of  a  lighter  color,  like 
the  seeds,  which  assume  a  yellowish  tint  and  are  collected  before  com- 
pletely ripened. 
