Am.  Jo  or.  Pharm.  ] 
Aug.  1, 1871.  J 
Laboratory  Notes. 
3G9 
On  Monday,  May  23d,  having  returned  from  the  country  in  good 
general  health,  he  took  two  more  pills  (grains  10)  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility, one  at  noon,  and  the  other  shortly  before  dinner.  While 
eating  his  dinnei  he  experienced  a  peculiar  tingling  sensation  in  his 
tongue,  which,  in  a  few  minutes,  became  so  swollen  as  to  interfere 
with  articulation  and  deglutition.  This  symptom  was  soon  followed 
by  a  rapid  pulse,  heat  of  skin,  mental  excitement,  and  incessant  mus- 
cular tremors.  The  hands  swelled,  assumed  the  classical  boiled- 
lobster  hue ;  in  short,  he  was  again  ill  for  four  or  five  days,  and 
desquamation  ensued  for  the  third  time.  The  quantities  of  quinine 
stated  as  taken  are  accurately  given,  and  a  subsequent  examination 
of  the  pills  remaining  in  the  box  showed  that  they  contained  only  the 
sulphate  of  quinine  with  a  little  cinchonine  and  the  usual  sugar  coat, 
ing.  As  if  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  relation  between  the  symptoms 
and  the  cause  assigned,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  Mr.  A.  had  a 
similar  attack  about  six  years  ago,  which  was  regarded  by  his  physi- 
cian as  scarlet  fever,  and  that  the  attack  came  on  after  he  had  taken 
a  few  doses  of  the  tincture  of  bark,  which  had  been  prescribed  for 
him  as  a  tonic. 
I  have  been  able  to  find  but  three  cases  recorded  in  full,  which 
resemble  that  of  Mr.  A.  They  all  appeared  in  the  British  Medical 
Journal  of  1869  and  1870.— A^.  Y.  Med.  Gaz.,  vii,  88,  89.  . 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
By  E.  B.  Shuttleworth. 
Utilization  of  Residue  in  making  Tincture  of  Myrrh. — In  preparing 
this  tincture  by  the  directions  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  a  residue 
of  about  two-thirds  of  the  original  amount  of  myrrh  remains.  This 
consists  almost  entirely  of  gum  or  arabin,  as  the  spirit  of  84  per  cent., 
used  for  percolation,  exhausts  the  myrrh  of  resin  and  essential  oil^ 
leaving  the  gum,  with  the  ordinary  mechanical  impurities,  as  sand, 
bits  of  wood,  bark,  &c.  It  occured  to  the  writer  that  this  might  be 
utilized  as  mucilage  ;  and  to  put  the  idea  into  execution,  the  residue 
of  the  percolation  of  52  pounds — the  quantity  required  for  50  wine 
gallons  of  the  tincture — was  dissolved  in  boiling  water,  strained,  and 
allowed  to  deposit.  Twelve  gallons  of  very  tolerable  mucilage  was 
obtained,  and  which,  although  unfit  for  sale,  or  the  nicer  purposes  of 
trade,  was  found  an  excellent  substitute  for  ordinary  paste,  possessing 
unlimited  keeping  qualities,  but  scarcely  as  adhesive  as  mucilage  from 
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