572 
EDITORIAL. 
&c,  from  Turkey,  amongst  which  the  numerous  samples  of  opium  deserve 
particular  attention. 
Mr.  Sidney  H.  Maltass,  of  Smyrna,  is  also  the  exhibitor  of  a  fine  series  of 
opiums,  besides  scammony,  tragacanth,  and  some  other  drugs  of  Asia  Minor. 
M.  Belanger,  director  of  the  Botanic  Garden  at  St.  Pierre,  Martinique,  con- 
tributes an  instructive  series  of  West  Indian  drugs,  which  the  Jury  consider 
well  deserving  of  commendation. 
Mr.  Theodore  Peckolt,  pharmacien  of  Cantagallo,  Brazil,  has  sent  a  col- 
lection of  small  specimens  of  Brazillian  drugs,  which  deserve  the  attention  of 
pharmacologists. 
Dr.  Welwitsch,  who  has  recently  returned  from  a  visit  of  several  years  to 
the  Portuguese  territories  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  contributes  numerous 
remarkable  raw  products  collected  during  his  journeys  in  those  little-known 
regions  ;  but  the  specimens  being  neither  catalogued  nor  well  arranged  are 
not  displayed  as  they  deserve. 
The  productions  of  Hungary,  including  a  few  well-preserved  drugs,  are  dis- 
played in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Vincent  Janko,  of  which  a  convenient  separate 
catalogue  is  published. 
The  great  project  of  introducing  the  Cinchona  into  India  receives  an  illus- 
tration from  two  or  three  inconspicuous  jars  containing  cinchona  bark,  pro- 
duced upon  the  plantations  of  the  Dutch  Government  in  Java,  contributed, 
together  with  botanical  specimens  of  Cinchona  Calisaya,  Wedd.  and  C.  Pahit- 
diana,  How.,  by  Dr.  Junghuhn. 
Of  the  drugs  which  have  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  come  into  use  during 
the  past  few  years,  we  may  mention  the  following  :  — 
Resin  of  Scammony-root. — The  rude  methods  employed  for  the  collection  of 
scammony,  and  the  extreme  variability  of  that  drug,  induced  Mr.  Clark,  an 
extensive  manufacturer  of  extract  of  liquorice,  residing  near  Smyrna,  to  sug- 
gest the  advantages  that  would  arise  from  replacing  it  by  the  pure  resin  ob- 
tainedJoy  a  suitable  process  from  the  dried  root.  Mr.  Clark  not  having  in 
Asia  Minor  the  requisite  appliances  for  such  a  pharmaceutical  operation,  some 
of  the  root  was  forwarded  to  Professor  A.  W.  "Williamson  of  University  Col- 
lege, London,  who,  after  various  experiments,  recommended  the  following 
process  : — The  roots,  previously  crushed,  are  to  be  boiled  first  with  water  and 
afterwards  with  diluted  acid,  by  which  means  they  will  be  deprived  of  all 
matter  soluble  in  those  menstrua,  while  the  resin  will  be  left  undissolved. 
They  are  then  to  be  treated  with  alcohol,  and  the  alcoholic  solution  being 
evaporated,  the  pure  resin  will  remain.  Numerous  comparative  trials  of  this 
resin  have  been  made  in  the  hospitals  of  London,  and  have  established  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  quite  equal  in  medicinal  activity  to  the  best  scammony. 
The  substitution  of  resin  of  scammony-root  for  scammony,  is  not,  however, 
officially  sanctioned,  and  the  new  drug  has  as  yet  met  with  but  little  demand. 
Root  of  Actcea  racemosa,  L.  (Ranunculacece.) — This  drug  which  has  for  many 
years  had  a  place  in  the  Materia  Medica  of  the  United  States,  has  recently 
come  into  considerable  use  in  England  as  a  remedy  in  rheumatism,  particu- 
larly in  its  acute  forms  ;  it  has  also  been  successfully  employed  in  chorea, 
nervous  headache,  hysteria,  &c.  As  a  complete  account  of  the  drug,  its  natural 
history,  mode  of  administration,  &c,  by  Professor  Bentley  of  London,  has 
been  recently  published,*  we  think  it  unnecessary  to  enter  into  further  par- 
ticulars respecting  it. 
Ramaia,  is  the  Indian  name  of  a  brick-red  powder,  which  consists  of  the 
minute  glands  rubbed  from  the  capsules  of  Rottlera  tinctoria,  Roxb.,  a  tree 
occurring  in  many  parts  of  the  East  Indies.  It  is  employed  in  medicine  as  a 
vermifuge,  and  is  very  effectual  in  the  dose  of  one  to  two  drachms  ;  it  may 
also  be  given  in  the  form  of  tincture.  Kamala  has  been  imported  into  Lon- 
don to  a  considerable  extent,  and  chiefly  shipped  to  the  Continent. 
Bark  of  Larix  Europcea,  DC. ;  Larch  bark. — It  has  been  recently  recom- 
*  "  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Transactions/'  for  March,  1861. 
