336 
Obituary. 
j  Am  Jour.  Phasm. 
t    July.  1, 1873. 
intelligence.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the  rhizome  of  Aconitum  lycoetonum, 
which  in  no  way  resembles  the  officinal  aconite  tubers. 
In  the  third  chapter  the  species  of  aconite  peculiar  to  the  Himalaya  moun- 
tains, are  characterized,  and  their  tubers,  which  occur  in  commerce  frequently 
mixed  with  each  other  under  the  name  of  bikli  or  bish,  are  described  and  com- 
pared with  a  false  jalap,  named  by  Guibourt  jalap  digitc,  which  we  have  never 
met  in  our  commerce.  Bikh  cannot  be  mistaken,  except  by  the  grossest  and 
most  unpardonable  carelessness,  for  true  jalap,  even  not  for  the  oblong  or 
sometimes  almost  fusiform  adventitious  tubers  which  are  frequently  found  to  a 
considerable  extent  intermixed  with  the  globular  and  uapiform  tubers;  the 
concentric  arrangement  of  the  resin  cells  in  true  jalap  is  so  apparent  and  at  the 
same  time  characteristic  that  thereby  it  may  be  readily  distinguished  from  all 
other  drugs. 
The  fourth  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  aconitia.  The  author 
found  that  for  the  fresh  root  the  exhaustion  with  tartaric  acid  is  at  least  use- 
less; he  recommends  the  following  process  as  adapted  also  to  the  quantitative 
estimation  of  the  alkaloid  :  Finely  powdered  root  is  exhausted  with  92  per  cent, 
alcohol,  containing  1  per  cent,  tartaric  acid  ;  the  alcohol  is  distilled  off  in  a 
vacuum  at  about  40°  C.;  and  the  residue  almost  completely  exsiccated  under 
the  air  pump.  The  extract  is  dissolved  in  water,  the  filtered  solution  washed 
with  ether  to  remove  coloring  matter  and  resin,  saturated  with  powdered  bicar- 
bonate of  sodium  and  again  agitated  with  much  ether  to  dissolve  the  alkaloid, 
which  crystallizes  on  the  spontaneous  evaporation  of  the  ether.  If  not  entirely 
colorless,  the  aconitia  is  dissolved  in  nitric  acid,  decolorized  by  animal  char- 
coal and  recrystallized  from  ether.  The  author  has  generally  obtained  about 
0"3  per  cent,  of  pure  alkaloid. 
The  chemical  properties  of  aconitia  are  described  in  the  fifth  chapter,  in 
which  the  author  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  alkaloid  of 
aconite — a  supposition  which  is  not  warranted  by  actual  experiments,  the  ar- 
guments being  insufficient  to  disprove  the  results  obtained  by  Messrs.  Smith, 
Morson  Hiibschmann  and  others,  although  the  decomposition  of  this  alkaloid 
in  the  presence  of  other  constituents  of  the  root  and  under  the  influence  of 
heat  may  explain  the  different  results.  This,  however,  is  acknowledged  by  the 
author  in  summing  up  his  results. 
The  pharmaceutical  preparation*  and  their  processes,  and  the  toxical  effects 
of  aconite  and  aconitia  are  discussed  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  chapters. 
The  essay  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  aconitd 
OBITUARY. 
Thomas  Q.  McKenzie  died  in  Baltimore  May  6th,  in  the  "1st  year  of  his  age. 
He  had  been  in  the  apothecary  business  for  nearly  half  a  century  at  the  corner 
of  Baltimore  and  Gay  streets,  and  enjoyed  in  a  high  degree  the  esteem  of  his 
fellow  citizens.  For  several  years,  owing  to  increasing  age,  he  had  led  a  \ery 
retired  life. 
Josiah  Stewart,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain,  died  on  the  21st  of  March  last,  aged  69  years. 
