BEST  PART  OF  CONIUM  MACULATUM  FOR  MEDICINE.  465 
water  used.  The  residues  obtained  were  diluted  to  the  same 
extent,  and  the  farther  dilution  they  would  bear  tested  with  the 
re-agent  before  mentioned.  In  this  series  of  experiments, 
Squibb's  fluid  extract  (of  leaves)  gave  a  solution  bearing  dilu- 
tion with  20  times  its  volume  of  water,  Tilden's  1J  times  its 
volume,  and  Thayer's  4  times  its  volume,  making  the  compara- 
tive strengths  of  Squibb's  42,  Tilden's  5,  and  Thayer's  10. 
Some  fluid  extract  made  from  the  fresh  fruits  of  coniurn  in 
1864,  in  such  a  manner  that  a  minim  of  the  liquid  represented  a 
grain  of  the  un dried  seeds,  wTas  also  tested.  The  oxalic  solution 
was  found  to  bear  dilution  with  19  times  its  volume  of  water. 
If  we  suppose  the  seeds  from  which  this  preparation  was  made 
in  1854  to  have  been  of  equal  strength  with  those  gathered  in 
1866,  it  will  follow  that  this  preparation,  after  the  lapse  of  13 
years,  still  retained  about  two-thirds  of  its  original  efficacy.  But, 
of  course  no  reliable  inferences  can  be  drawn  from  a  mere  suppo- 
sition. 
The  only  experiment  yet  made  by  the  writer,  in  the  investiga- 
tion in  progress,  to  test  the  therapeutic  effects  of  the  conium, 
consisted  in  his  swallowing  16  minims  of  Squibb's  fluid  extract 
of  conium  seed,  with  a  view  of  arriving  at  some  idea  of  the  suita- 
ble medicinal  dose.  The  quantity  mentioned,  taken  about  five 
hours  after  breakfast,  produced  marked  operative  effects  in  about 
twenty  minutes.  The  effects  manifested  were  a  peculiar  sensa- 
tion of  heaviness  in  the  eyelids  and,  as  it  seemed,  some  degree 
of  ptosis,  and  a  feeling  akin  to  dizziness,  that  made  it  quite  un- 
pleasant to  retain  a  sitting  posture.  There  appeared  to  be  no 
disposition  to  sleep  produced.  The  effects  were  at  their  height 
in  about  an  hour,  and  mainly  passed  away  after  the  lapse  of  two 
hours  from  the  time  of  taking  the  dose.  A  moderate  meal  had 
been  eaten  in  the  interval. 
This  experiment  would  indicate  a  suitable  commencing  dose  of 
the  fluid  extract  above  mentioned,  to  be  about  five  minims. 
What  appears  to  have  been  arrived  at  by  the  experiment  nar- 
rated is  this :  That  the  immature  fruits  of  conium  are  far  pref- 
erable to  the  leaves,  that  they  may  be  dried  without  serious 
injury,  and  that  a  very  active  preparation  may  be  made  from 
them.    The  further  course  of  this  investigation,  it  is  designed 
30 
