Am.  Jour.  Pharir. ) 
Dec,  1879.  J 
Fucus  Vesiculosus. 
611 
between  each  pill  than  is  necessary  for  the  process  of  deglutition.  The 
fluid  extract  may  be  given  in  drachm  doses,  and  it  is  said  that  the  best 
results  are  obtained  when  both  the  solid  and  liquid  extracts  are  taken. 
In  favorable  cases  the  sufferer  may  expect  a  reduction  in  weight  from 
two  to  five  pounds  in  a  week.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  fucus 
appears  to  be  somewhat  tardy  in  its  action,  and  the  patient  should  lay 
in  a  good  stock  of  the  drug  before  commencing  treatment.  In  suc- 
cessful cases,  one  of  the  earliest  effects  is  an  excessive  diuresis,  and 
the  urine  is  said  to  become  covered  with  a  film  of  a  beautiful  nacreous 
aspect.  In  one  carfully-recorded  case  the  patient  did  not  observe  this, 
but  noticed  that  his  water  was  very  high  colored,  and  that  its  odor  was 
•extremely  offensive.  The  next  action  of  the  drug  is  usually  on  the 
bowels,  and  the  patient  has  many  calls  to  relieve  himself,  without,  how- 
ever, being  able  to  pass  anything  more  than  a  little  mucus.  Sometimes 
the  feet  and  body  exhale  a  peculiar  fusty  smell,  so  that  the  patient  is  a 
nuisance  both  to  himself  and  friends.  After  this,  as  a  rule,  the  reduc- 
tion in  weight  takes  place.  Occasionally,  however,  the  opposite  effect 
is  produced,  and  the  patient  gets  stouter  than  ever;  in  fact,  fucus  has 
been  recommended  as  an  "anti-lean." 
By  some  authorities  it  is  stated  that  the  fucus  should  be  gathered  at 
the  period  of  fructification,  about  the  end  of  June,  and  that  it  ought  to 
be  rapidly  dried  in  the  sun;  whilst  other  and  equally  eminent  author- 
ities insist  that  it  should  be  gathered  only  in  September,  and  that  it 
should  be  allowed  to  dry  slowly  in  the  shade — a  high  temperature, 
according  to  them,  destroying  its  active  properties.  It  is  generally 
agreed,  however,  that  the  roots  and  stalks  should  be  rejected,  and  that 
the  fucus  gathered  on  the  west  coast  is  superior  to  that  of  the  east. 
We  understand  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  our  fucus  comes  from 
Billingsgate  market,  it  being  extensively  employed  for  packing  fish. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  we  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  mode  of 
action  of  this  remarkable  drug.  We  are  told  that  it  "stimulates  the 
absorbents,"  but  that  is  throwing  very  little  light  on  the  subject.  What 
we  want  is  a  real  sound  systematic  study  of  its  uses  and  properties,  both 
in  the  physiological  laboratory  and  at  the  bedside.  When  it  has  been 
thoroughly  and  carefully  worked  out,  as  so  many  drugs  have  been  of 
late  years — pilocarpin  and  gelsemin,  for  example — we  shall  be  able  to 
form  an  opinion  as  to  its  value,  but  at  present  we  are  quite  in  the  dark. 
— Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Nov.,  1879,  from  The  Lancet,  Oct.,  25, 1879. 
