PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 
95 
Jltropia. 
The activity of good extract of belladonna, leaves little 
to desire on the part o( the practitioner in the internal exhi- 
bition of this drug, the dose being quite small, yet in its ex- 
ternal application, with a view to the dilatation of the pupil 
of the eye or as an application in neuralgia, the extract 
is so disagreeable an application that several European 
surgeons have sought to avoid the staining effect on the 
skin by resorting to the active principle, atropia, in an iso- 
lated condition. In the February number of the Journal de 
Pharmacie el de Chimie, it is stated that " among the new 
remedies employed by M. Berard in the treatment of dis- 
eases of the eye, atropia should be placed in the first rank. 
This alkaloid, which can now be obtained from some 
pharmaceutists, possesses incontestable advantages in cer- 
tain cases over belladonna itself. 
" The greatest of these advantages is certainly the ex- 
treme rapidity with which it effects the dilatation of the 
pupil even in very minute quantity, as for instance by a solu- 
tion containing one grain in one hundred grains of dis- 
tilled water. 
" Another advantage appreciated by the patient is the 
fact that the use of atropia avoids all the smearing and 
staining of the face, so characteristic of the ordinary mode 
of applying the extract; and which creates so great a repug- 
nance to its use." 
According to the Dublin Quarterly Journal (November, 
1$46, page 553,) " Dr. Wilde of that city employs the solu. 
tiOn of atropia of these strengths: 
No. 1. Atropia grs. j. distilled water f.jj. diluted alcohol gtts. iij. 
No. 2. Atropia grs. ij. distilled water f.gj. diluted alcohol gtts. iij. 
No. 3. Atropia grs. iij. distilled water f.^j. diluted alcohol gtts. iij. 
The alkaloid is rendered soluble by a drop of nitric acid, 
and the spirit is added to make the solution keep. 
A single drop of No. 1 placed on the conjunctiva of 
the lower lid causes dilatation of the pupil in a healthy eye 
in from five to fifteen minutes." 
