Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1886. 
Cocaine  Benzoate. 
309 
drill.  Under  a  fched  is  a  charcoal  fire  about  two  feet  long  and  six  inches 
wide ;  alongside  of  the  fireplace  is  a  bamboo  pole  about  three  feet  long 
and  four  inches  in  diameter,  filled  with  warm  sand,  inclining  at  a  slight 
angle  to  the  ground.  On  each  side  of  the  fireplace  is  sitting  a  man, 
but  more  generally  a  woman,  each  holding  an  end  of  the  sausage-roll- 
looking  bag  about  twelve  inches  high  over  the  clear  charcoal  fire,  turn- 
ing the  roll  or  bag  briskly  until  the  lac  begins  to  ooze  through  the 
interstices  of  the  cloth ;  the  bag  is  still  kept  twisted  until  a  coating  of 
soft  lac  covers  the  outside.  It  is  then  removed  from  the  fire,  and  a 
small  disc  of  lac  is  placed  here  and  there  over  the  surface  of  the  bamboo 
by  a  rapid  turn  of  the  wrist.  A  third  woman  is  sitting  at  one  end  of 
the  bamboo,  holding  in  both  hands  a  strip  of  aloe  leaf,  resembling  very 
much  a  thin  magic  wand ;  this  she  pushes  forward  over  the  soft  lac, 
repeating  the  motion  three  or  four  times,  when  a  thin  film  of  the  lac 
covers  over  the  round  surface  of  the  bamboo,  which  is  immediately 
transferred  into  an  open  basket ;  the  lac,  drying  rapidly,  cracks  up  into 
many  pieces — this  is  shellac. 
Button-lac  is  simply  shellac  without  spreading. 
Sheet-lac  is  made  in  a  similar  manner  to  shellac,  only  the  sheets  are 
much  thicker,  and  the  woman  removing  it  from  the  bamboo  in  a  supple 
condition,  and  with  both  hands,  stretches  it  over  the  fire,  in  order  to 
remove  the  wave-like  furrows  which  are  impressed  on  it  by  the  fibrous 
surface  of  the  aloe  leaf.  While  doing  this  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
the  woman — who  performs  her  work  intelligently — lift  the  hot  sheet  to 
her  mouth  and  bite  out  any  foreign  substance,  such  as  dirt  or  sand, 
filling  in  the  hole  so  made  by  a  rapid  movement  of  her  hand  over  the 
sheet.  The  average  rate  of  wages  is  an  anna  and  a  quarter  (If  of  a 
penny)  per  day. — Australas.  Jour.  Phar.,  1886,  p.  49. 
COCAINE  BENZOATE. 
By  B.  H.  Paul,  Ph.D. 
In  The  Month,  for  February,  reference  was  made  to  an  article  by 
M.  Bignon  on  cocaine  benzoate,  in  which  the  salt  was  recommended 
as  being  likely,  in  the  author's  opinion,  to  possess  more  pronounced 
anaesthetic  properties  than  any  other  salt  of  cocaine.  It  was  con- 
sidered that  the  compound  of  cocaine  with  benzoic  acid  would  be 
more  stable  than  the  hyclrochlorate,  and  in  a  trial  of  the  benzoate  it 
was  found  to  produce  the  anaesthetic  effect  without  the  painful  sensation 
