544  Basis  for  Cant har ides  Plaster.  {Am'i^r;^m' 
with  the  root,  becoming  gradually  more  slender  towards  the  top.  The 
leaves  are  more  than  twice  pinnatifid,  the  pinnae  lancet-shaped,  sharply 
serrate,  the  umbels  with  30  to  50  rays,  the  flowers  white  and  small. 
Besides  the  Euryangium  sumbul,  the  author  has  met  with  another 
umbellifer,  which  resembles  it  very  much  in  its  entire  habit,  but  may 
be  distinguished  by  its  smaller  size,  lighter  leaver,  and  the  absence  of 
the  musk-like  smell  of  the  root. 
The  Eastern  Russian  inhabitants  call  the  Euryangium  sumbul  "Baren- 
klaue  "  (bear's  claw),  and  use  the  root  as  a  medicine.  The  Chinese 
living  in  the  district  use  the  root  of  the  plant  against  various  diseases, 
and  call  it  "  Lsouma-tschen-tuk."  It  is  also  used  by  the  natives 
internally  as  a  remedy  for  swellings  ;  with  them  it  bears  the  names 
"  Ofuokgi  "  and  "  Ouchi." 
The  author  promises  a  future  communication,  giving  the  results  of 
an  examination  of  the  separate  constituents  of  the  root  as  it  is  found  in 
the  district  of  Chabarowka. — Karl  Wittmann,  Phar.  Journ.  and 
Trans.,  Oct.  2r,  from  Ph.  Zeitsch.f.  Russland,  vol.  xv,  p.  545. 
A  NEW  BASIS  FOR  CANTHARIDES  PLASTER.1 
BY  A.  W.  GERRARD. 
Teacher  of  Pharmacy  to  University  College  Hospital. 
In  a  report  upon  the  official  plasters  presented  by  me  before  the  meet- 
ing of  our  Conference  held  in  London  in  1874,  the  cantharides  plaster 
was  omitted  from  the  list,  as  my  experiments  upon  it  were  not  then 
concluded.  Mr.  T.  Groves,  who  was  the  president  of  the  Conference 
for  that  year,  remarked,  in  his  discussion  of  my  report,  that  the  blister 
plaster  was  the  only  one  in  which  he  believed,  therefore  I  thought  it 
too  important  a  matter  to  overlook,  and  am  now  in  a  position  to  lay  the 
subject  before  you. 
The  basis  of  our  present  cantharides  plaster,  as  is  known,  consists  of 
a  mixture  of  wax,  prepared  suet,  resin  and  lard.  In  my  experience 
with  this  basis,  the  most  important  faults  it  possesses  are  insufficiency 
of  adhesiveness  and  flexibility,  and  by  reason  of  this,  after  it  has  been 
spread  a  few  days,  and  more  especially  during  the  winter  months,  it 
becomes  brittle,  cracks  and  peels  from  the  surface  of  the  material 
upon  which  it  is  spread.  To  overcome  these  objections  it  was  neces- 
sary to  alter  the  proportions  of  its  present  ingredients,  or  seek  a  new 
iRead  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
