PHAKMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 
m 
a variety of drugs, has proven that a certain amount of 
menstruum is absolutely necessary to exhaust them, and 
this varies from four to five times their weight ; consequent- 
ly the formula of Dr. T. does not exhaust the root. The 
following mode of treatment will yield a tincture possessed 
of all the active parts of the quantity of root named : 
Take of Aconite root in powder, 16 oz., (Troy.) 
Alcohol, (sp. gr. .835) a sufficient quantity. 
Mix the powder with a pint and a half of the alcohol, 
and allow it to macerate for forty-eight hours, introduce the 
mixture into a displacer, cover the surface with a piece of 
filtering paper, and return the fluid until it passes clear, then 
add alcohol in small portions at a time, suffering each to 
disappear before the next is added, until the amount dis- 
placed measures four pints. This is then reduced by 
evaporation or distillation, to two pints, when the tincture 
should be filtered if necessary, and is then complete. 
Gli/cerin, as a remedy in cutaneous diseases^ and as 
applied in certain processes of pharmacy. The sweet 
principle eliminated from the fixed oils in the process of 
saponification, has recently attracted some attention from 
the observations of J. Startin,Esq., Surgeon to the London 
cutaneous institution, (Med. Times, Aug. 7, 1847,) and 
(Braithwaite's Retrospect, part 16, page 226.) 
Glycerin was discovered by Scheele, Chevreul first re- 
cognized its importance and extensive existence in nature, 
and in conjunction with Pelouze, has given the exact nature 
of this body. It exists naturally combined with various oily 
acids, giving rise to the respective neutral oily principles, 
stearin, olein, &c. It is, when perfectly pure, a colourless 
syrupy liquid, 'without odour ; a decided sweet taste, and has 
the sp. gr. 1.25 to 1.27. It dissolves in water and alcohol in 
all proportions, but is insoluble in ether. It is slightly volati- 
lized when boiled with water, but is destroyed by distilla- 
tion, per S3, yielding acrolein, the acrid principle of burnt 
fats, and itself burns with a luminous flame. It combines 
