Am'sfptu%884arm'}      Chemical  and  Pharmacognostical  Notes.  475 
consists  in  substituting  20  drops  each  of  the  oils  of  cinnamon  and  of 
cloves,  for  9  Grams  of  cinnamon  and  of  cloves,  directed  for  1,000  parts 
of  the  laudanum.  Thereby  the  active  principles  of  the  medicament 
are  preserved,  the  loss  of  a  notable  portion  of  the  product  during  the 
process  of  preparation  is  avoided,  and  the  composition  is  not  sensibly 
altered  on  keeping,  since  scarcely  any  precipitate  is  formed. 
For  a  long  time  I  have  prepared  Sydenham's  laudanum  in  this 
manner,  and  physicians,  who  have  used  it,  have  found  it  satisfactory. 
The  new  French  Codex  has  replaced  Malaga  by  Grenache  wine  in 
making  this  preparation;  but  all  wines  being  more  or  less  variable,  a 
greater  uniformity  with  the  preparation  in  question  would  be  attained, 
if,  in  place  of  wine,  alcohol  of  a  certain  strength  was  directed. 
CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACOGNOSTICAL  NOTES. 
Euphorbia  pilulifera. — Dr.  C.  C.  Baker,  of  New  Mexico,  reports  in 
the  "Therapeutic  Gazette,"  for  January,  1884,  his  use  of  this  plant  in 
two  cases  of  asthma.  The  results  in  both  were  very  prompt  and  satis- 
factory. This  tropical  weed  has  been  long  used  in  aphthae  and  as  an 
alterative.  As  far  as  may  be  judged  from  the  sensible  properties,  the 
virtues  of  the  plant  are  probably  not  superior  to  those  of  the  closely 
allied  indigenous  weeds  Euph.  maculata  and  hypericifolia.  A  western 
species,  Euph.  humistrata,  Engelmann,  appears  to  be  in  popular  use  in 
some  localities  as  a  remedy  for  bowel  complaints. 
Hazigne. — In  the  "  Journal  de  Pharmacie  "  for  June  (p.  456)  Pro- 
fessor H.  Baillon  describes  a  Malagasy  plant  called  "hazigne,"  the 
fruits  of  which  yield  an  oil,  and  the  stem  a  resin,  which  are  used  by 
the  natives  as  a  remedy  in  certain  skin  diseases,  such  as  leprosy,  the 
itch  and  ulcers.  The  oil  obtained  from  the  seeds  is  also  used  as  food 
and  for  lamps.  The  hazigne  is  a  handsome  tree  belonging  to  the 
Guttiferse,  and  is  named  Symphonia  fasciculata.  The  fruit  is  known 
to  the  natives  by  the  name  of  "  voa-sou-vouara."  Some  of  the  seeds 
are  now  being  submitted  to  chemical  analysis  by  Messrs.  N.  J.  Reg- 
naud  and  Villejean. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  June,  p.  1048. 
Phaseolus  limatus,  Lin. — In  the  "  Practitioner"  (p.  435)  it  is  pointed 
out  that  the  Pois  d'Achery,  a  sort  of  kidney  bean  (Phaseolus  lima- 
tus, L.),  cultivated  in  the  Mauritius  and  used  there  as  an  occasional 
article  of  diet  by  the  Creoles,  exists  in  the  form  of  two  varieties;  the 
