^  AuH;       }     SopUstication  of  Extract  of  Malt.  357 
the  headache  was,  however,  greatly  relieved.  On  another  occasion 
she  took  a  similar  dose,  and,  being  in  bed,  she  soon  fell  into  "  a 
delightful  sleep,"  and,  on  awaking,  found  that  the  headache  was 
almost  gone  ;  but  she  complained  of  dryness  of  the  fauces  and  throat, 
although  on  the  first  occasion  she  did  not  experience  either  of  these 
efi*ects.  Some  months  after  the  same  lady  suffered  from  headache,  and 
did  not  receive  any  benefit  from  a  similar  dose ;  nor  did  another  per- 
son experience  any  relief  from  toothache  nor  any  other  effect  beyond 
slight  dryness  of  the  fauces,  which  soon  passed  off. 
Convinced  by  the  foregoing  considerations  that  the  medicinal  pro- 
perties of  hyoscyamus  reside  exclusively  in  the  plant  of  two  years 
old,  and  that  the  plant  of  one  year's  growth  is  therefore  useless,  I 
sought  to  discover  an  easy  test  by  which  the  age  of  the  plant  from 
which  a  given  tincture  had  been  prepared  could  be  determined.  The 
following  has  at  least  the  advantage  of  simplicity :  Add  a  little  of 
the  tincture  to  a  glass  of  water ;  if  the  mixture  become  slightly  milky, 
the  tincture  was  made  from  a  two-year  old  plant ;  if  it  remain  trans- 
parent, the  plant  was  in  its  first  year. 
The  British  Pharmacopoeia  gives  no  information  as  to  what  shall  be 
the  age  of  the  hyoscyamus  from  which  the  tincture  is  to  be  made ;  it 
is,  therefore,  a  matter  of  chance  whether  it  will  have  any  effect  or  be 
powerless.  Given  in  the  dose  of  twenty  or  thirty  drops,  as  is  some- 
times done,  it  is  hard  to  believe  it  can  have  any  effect  in  either  case. 
— Pharm.  Journ.,  May  13,  1871,  from  The  Medical  Press  and  Cir- 
cular. 
SOPHISTICATION  OF  EXTRACT  OF  MALT. 
Messrs.  J.  M.  Hirsh  &.Co.  publish  in  the  July  number  of  the 
Pharmacist  a  reply  to  the  charge  made  by  Mr.  Clacius  concerning 
the  sophistication  of  their  extract  of  malt.  Mr.  Clacius'  paper  hav- 
ing been  published  on  page  317  of  the  last  number  of  this  journal, 
we  make  the  following  extract  from  the  rejoinder,  and  refer  to  page 
331  of  the  July  number  in  regard  to  the  term  Liehig's  Extract  of 
Malt  used  in  Mr.  Hirsh's  answer.  That  the  odor  of  all  impure  gly- 
cerin is  produced  by  acroleine  is  an  incorrect  statement,  as  the  exam- 
ination of  the  cheaper  commercial  qualities  of  glycerin  will  show : 
"  While  we  are  as  German  as  Mr.  Clacius,  we  shall  ever  cherish 
the  recollection  of  Napoleon  and  his  great  Industrial  Exhibition — 
