Am.  Jour.  Pharm.") 
November,  1898.  J 
Cantharis  Vesicatoria. 
545 
that  the  resulting  preparation  is  not  very  different  from  that  which 
is  official. 
Fluid  acetract  of  ergot  is  very  successfully  made  with  a  10  per 
cent,  acetic  acid  menstruum.  Since  the  publication  of  the  paper 
above  referred  to  (1897),  many  letters  of  inquiry  upon  the  subject 
have  been  received,  and  it  is  evident  that  acetic  acid  is  being  exten- 
sively experimented  with  in  many  laboratories.  It  is  with  a  view 
of  encouraging  investigations  on  this  subject  that  these  papers  are 
written,  and  any  information  in  the  possession  of  the  writer  will  be 
cheerfully  furnished,  in  the  hope  that  sufficient  experience  will  have 
accumulated  in  two  years  more,  to  warrant  the  introduction  of  some 
of  these  preparations  in  the  next  Pharmacopoeia.  Dr.  Charles  F. 
Squibb  has  furnished  the  writer  with  nine  specimens  of  fluid  ex- 
tracts made  with  diluted  acetic  acid,  which  are  submitted  to  the 
meeting  for  inspection.  They  are  as  follows :  Digitalis,  cascara 
sagrada,  aconite  root,  nux  vomica,  belladonna  leaf,  compound  gen- 
tian, gelsemium  and  coca.  It  will  be  observed  that  these  represent 
some  of  the  most  important  official  drugs.  They  have  all  been 
made  by  repercolation,  and  on  the  large  scale  it  is  found  that  it  is 
possible,  with  drugs  like  nux  vomica,  to  use  such,  very  coarsely 
ground  instead  of  in  fine  powder,  the  acetic  acid  seeming  to  pene- 
trate hard  tissues  and  to  dissolve  the  active  constituents  with  great 
facility. 
The  presence  of  acetic  acid  in  the  finished  product  is,  of  course, 
sometimes  objectionable.  Practically,  this  would  not  be  a  serious 
fault  in  fluid  acetracts  made  from  powerful  drugs  where  the  dose  is 
from  2  to  5  minims,  given  in  water,  and  where  only  a  10  per  cent, 
acetic  acid  is  used  for  a  menstruum. 
CANTHARIS  VESICATORIA. 
By  Bertram  Snyder,  Ph.G. 
The  Spanish  blistering  beetle  belongs  to  the  class  Insecta,  order 
Coleoptera,  family  Meloidae.  The  following  is  a  description  of  the 
insect  {Fig.  1)  found  in  commerce :  Oblong,  somewhat  flattened 
above,  usually  ^  inch,  though  often  found  1  inch  or  more  in 
length;  T3g  to  j£  inch  in  breadth.  The  entire  insect  is  of  a  brilliant 
metallic  green  color,  changing  in  different  parts,  especially  beneath, 
to  a  golden  green.    Head  :  triangular,  and  divided  by  a  faint  median 
