Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
May,  1884. 
Tincture  of  Hyosuyamus. 
287 
The  history  of  these  different  tinctures  will  be  referred  to  immediately, 
but  I  would  in  the  meantime  call  attention  to  test  tube  numbered  3, 
which  contains  the  tincture  of  German  annual  received  from  Mr. 
Holmes  and  which  you  will  find  not  the  least  marked  both  as  regards 
the  chlorophyll  solution  above  and  the  brown  tincture  beneath.  So 
much  for  the  spectroscope  as  discriminating  between  a  tincture  prepared 
from  the  annual  and  biennial  plants. 
Coming  now  to  the  other  test,  namely,  that  of  the  milky  opacity  on 
the  addition  of  water,  I  have  not  found  one  single  sample  of  bien  rial 
which  failed  to  give  it,  nor  can  I  recollect  of  ever  coming  across  such 
a  sample  during  the  last  eight  or  ten  years  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
business.  I  would,  therefore,  unhesitatingly  reject  as  bad,  owing  to 
age,  or  from  some  defect  in  drying  or  from  exposure,  or  other  cause, 
any  biennial  plant  the  tincture  from  which  failed  to  yield  it.  In  say- 
ing this,  however,  I  am  saying  all  that  can  be  said  for  this  test.  It  is 
not  a  test  which  can  distinguish  the  biennial  tincture  from  the  annual, 
for  I  have  come  across  as  many  specimens  of  the  latter  which  do  give 
the  milkiness  as  of  those  which  fail  to  give  it.  Of  those  which  give 
the  milkiness,  some  give  it  at  once,  while  others  only  give  it  after  stand- 
ing for  some  time.  This  last  fact  may  be  the  reason  why  the  reaction 
has  not  been  more  frequently  observed.  The  tincture  from  the  German 
annual,  which  we  have  here,  for  example,  gives  it  readily  and  copiously, 
and,  in  every  respect  as  well,  answers  all  the  tests  of  a  good  biennial 
specimen,  with  the  exception  of  the  odor.  Probably  most  will  have 
noticed  the  heavy  fetid  odor  (not  unlike  ox-gall)  which  the  biennial 
tincture  gives  on  the  addition  of  caustic  potash.  This  peculiar  odor  is 
almost  entirely  wanting  in  every  specimen  of  tincture  prepared  from 
the  annual  plant  which  I  have  examined,  the  odor  being  quite  different, 
In  this  respect  the  sample  of  the  annual  on  the  table  closely  resembles 
the  tincture  prepared  from  the  large  stem  leaves  of  the  biennial  sample 
received  from  Mr.  Holmes.  This  sample  makes  a  very  inferior  tinc- 
ture and  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  compared  to  the  tincture  prepared 
from  the  leafy  tops  received  also  from  Mr.  Holmes. 
It  was  originally  my  intention  to  have  confined  my  notes  to  the  two 
points  touched  upon,  but  after  proceeding  with  the  examination  of  the 
different  specimens  placed  at  my  disposal,  my  attention  was  directed  to 
a  paper  read  by  Mr.  Gerrard,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Conference,  on  "The  Odorous  principle  of  Henbane  Leaf."  In  a  con- 
cluding note  to  this  paper,  in  which  Mr.  Gerrard  practically  applies 
