516 
SULPHATE  OF  NICKEL — A  SEDATIVE. 
gent  regulations,  the  culture  of  opium  might  be  effected  in  this 
country  so  as  to  be  a  profitable  crop.  The  need  of  assaying  it 
would  be  imperative  until  its  physical  characters  became  suffi- 
ciently well  established  to  be  depended  on  by  commercial  dealers. 
We  would  advise  Mr.  Wilson,  he  knowing  the  amount  of  ex- 
tract he  adds,  to  reduce  its  quantity  so  that  the  pure  juice  of 
the  capsules  may  bear  a  larger  proportion  to  the  gross  amount  pro- 
duced. Probably  one-half  less  would  make  the  result  nearer 
commercial  opium,  containing  10  per  cent,  of  morphia. 
There  are  various  experiments  going  on  at  the  south  and  west, 
in  Mississippi  and  elsewhere,  this  season,  but  as  yet  the  results 
have  not  reached  me.  The  subject  is  sufficiently  important  to 
claim  the  attention  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
and  if  experimenters  throughout  the  country  will  communicate 
their  results  to  the  writer  with  a  clear  statement  of  the  processes 
of  culture  and  preparation  employed,  he  will  engage  to  give  a 
faithful  report  of  them  to  the  next  meeting  at  Chicago.  It  would 
be  best  to  accompany  each  communication,  if  any  are  sent,  with 
about  half  an  ounce  of  the  product,  fairly  representing  the  gross 
amount  produced  by  the  sender. 
Philadelphia,  Oct.  1868. 
SULPHATE  OF  NICKEL— A  SEDATIYE. 
J.  Dabney  Palmer. 
In  a  communication  to  the  Richmond  Medical  Journal  last 
spring,  the  attention  of  my  medical  brethren  was  invited  to  the 
sedative  action  of  sulphate  of  nickel  in  neuralgia. 
It  has  since  been  employed  in  a  variety  of  painful  affections, 
and  also  with  the  view  of  simply  producing  sleep,  where  Dover's 
powder  and  other  preparations  of  opium  were  contra-indicated, 
and  in  every  instance  produced  the  desired  effect.  This  expe- 
rience, although  limited,  inclines  me  to  believe  that  the  sulphate 
may  be  regarded  as  a  valuable  sedative.  And,  unlike  many 
others  of  that*class,  it  is  not  followed  by  disagreeable  sensations, 
nor  derangements  of  the  alimentary  canal. 
Montwello,  Florida,  Oct.  7,  1868. 
