Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Jan.,  1884.  / 
Tincture  of  Nux  Vomica. 
31 
patient  took  a  heavy  supper  the  night  before  the  administration  of 
the  draught,  and  yet  the  entire  worm  was  expelled.  In  all  the  eight 
cases,  various  tapeworm  remedies  had  been  tried  previously,  decoction 
of  pomegranate  root-bark  being  also  among  those  employed  without 
success,  the  head  of  the  worm  remaining,  although  the  decoction  in  the 
cases  alluded  to  was  retained  by  the  patient.  It  would  thus  appear 
that  the  preparation  I  have  described,  in  addition  to  being  free  from 
all  objectionable  taste,  may  also  be  superior  to  the  decoction  of  the  bark 
in  point  of  activity,  owing,  probably,  to  the  entire  absence  of  astringent 
principles,  the  abundant  presence  of  which  in  the  decoction  is  not 
unlikely  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the  anthelmintic  constituents. 
The  preparation  obtained  as  above  has  a  pleasant  fruity  flavor  and 
is  readily  borne  by  the  stomach.  The  most  fastidious  patient  would 
take  it  without  the  slightest  difficulty.  The  value  of  such  a  preparation 
appears  to  me  the  greater  from  the  fact  that  all  tapeworm  remedies  of 
repute  share  the  nauseous  taste  and  sickening  effects  of  the  decoction  of 
pomegranate  bark. 
While  admitting  that  the  cases  in  which  this  new  preparation  has 
thus  far  been  put  to  the  test  are  yet  not  great  in  number,  I-  think  I  am 
justified  by  the  results  in  inviting  the  best  attention  of  medical  practi- 
tioners on  the  one  hand,  and  of  pharmacists  on  the  other,  to  this  sub- 
ject. Those  who  are  fully  acquainted  with  the  numerous  failures  in 
the  treatment  of  cases  of  tapeworm  by  even  the  most  renowned 
remedies,  must  long  since  have  felt  the  want  of  a  preparation  combining 
efficacy  with  freedom  from  all  unpleasant  taste. — Phar.  Jour.  Trans., 
November  17,  1883. 
NOTES  AND  SUGGESTIONS  UPON  TINCTURE  OF  NUX 
VOMICA. 
By  Wyndham  R.  Dunstan  , 
Assistant  Lecturer  in  Chemistry  and  Physics  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
and  Demonstrator  of  Practical  Chemistry  in  the  School  of  Pharmacy ; 
and 
F.  W.  Short, 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Practical  Chemistry  in  the  School  of  Pharmacy. 
In  a  former  paper  we  have  shown  by  analysis  that  commercial  tinc- 
tures of  nux  vomica  vary  considerably  in  alkaloid  al  strength  (see 
"  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1883,  p.  579).  This  difference  is  no  doubt  in  the 
first  instance  due  to  a  variation  in  the  amount  of  alkaloid  contained  in 
the  seeds  of  Strychnos  nux  vomica  now  in  commerce,  the  existence  of 
