116  EXTRACTION  OF  CANTHARIDIN. 
thin  muslin,  in  order  to  separate  any  foreign  substance,  such  as 
chips  of  wood,  sand,  &c,  from  the  fluid  portion.  It  is  now  ready 
for  use,  and  employed  in  the  following  manner : 
R.    Ext.  Assafoetidae  Fl.  (ethereal)  gi.,  31. 
Olei  Theobromae,  ^xij.  ut  q.  s. 
Ft.  Suppositorii,  No.  xxiv. 
The  ethereal  extract  is  placed  in  a  capsule  over  a  water-bath. 
After  the  ether  is  driven  off  by  the  heat  (which  occurs  in  about 
five  minutes),  melt  the  butter  of  cacao  in  the  same  vessel  with 
the  residuum.  Stir  these  well  together  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
pour  into  moulds. 
It  will  be  found,  however,  that  a  dense  orange-colored  sub- 
stance persistently  remains  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  which 
will  not  mix  with  the  fat,  even  though  stirred  constantly  until 
cool,  when  this  heavy  substance  will  have  become  solid,  and, 
upon  examination,  will  prove  to  be  resin,  from  which,  however, 
the  volatile  odorous  principle  has  been  removed  by  the  melted 
butter. 
Each  of  the  suppositories  thus  made  will  contain  the  medicinal 
virtues  of  about  five  grains  of  the  gum.  They  are  uniform  in 
appearance,  and  possess  in  a  very  marked  degree  the  character- 
istic odor  of  assafoetida. 
Philada.,  Feb.,  1868. 
ON  THE  EXTRACTION  OF  CANTHARIDIN. 
By  Dr.  A.  Fumouze. 
It  was  shown  by  Robiquet  that  the  remarkable  action  of  Can- 
tharis  vesicatoria  resides  in  the  properties  of  the  cantharidin  ; 
and  he  extracted  this  principle  by  exhausting  the  flies  with 
alcohol,  distilling  olf  the  excess  of  the  solvent,  and  leaving  the 
residue  to  deposit  crystals.  Procter  suggested,  a  few  years  ago, 
to  replace  the  alcohol  by  chloroform,  inasmuch  as  this  latter 
liquid  dissolves  cantharidin  with  much  greater  facility  than 
alcohol. 
But  ther  e  arises  in  both  processes  the  same  difficulty  in  separa- 
ting the  cantharidin  from  the  fatty  and  other  matters  by  which 
it  is  accompanied.    To  overcome  this  difficulty  it  would  be 
