Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Jan.,  1875.  ; 
Os  Sepice. 
9 
contained  in  a  late  number  of  the  London  Spectator^  which  tells  of  a 
cuttle- fish  that  appeared  off  the  New  Foundland  coast,  in  Conception 
Bay  ;  some  fishermen  supposing  it,  from  its  size,  to  be  a  portion  of  a 
wreck,  pulled  out  for  it,  and  striking  at  it,  they  so  enraged  it  that  it 
raised  its  beaked  head  and  encircled  the  boat  with  two  of  its  slimy  arms ; 
instantly  the  men  cut  them  away  with  their  axes,  and  the  fish,  finding 
the  fight  too  severe  for  him,  sailed  away,  inking  the  sea  for  several  hun- 
dred yards.  The  arm,  which  was  of  a  pale  pink  color  and  entirely  car- 
tilagmous,  was  preserved  in  St.  Johns  Museum,  and  was  found  to 
measure  nineteen  feet ;  this  report,  so  well  authenticated,  gives  some 
show  of  truth  to  the  marvellous  story  which  Victor  Hugo  has  so 
graphically  depicted  in  his  tale  of  the    Toilers  of  the  Sea." 
The  use  to  which  Os  sepice  is  put  in  pharmacy  proper  is  but  trifling,  it 
furnishing  when  levigated  and  dried,  a  very  fine  variety  of  carbonate  of 
calcium,  but  is  more  generally  employed  in  the  fabrication  of  tooth 
powders,  being  the  basis  of  Betton's  dentifrice,  and  the  cuttle-fish 
powder  of  Piesse,  formulas  for  which  are  appended  to  this  article. 
There  is  one  other  product  of  the  cuttle-fish  which  is  used  in  the 
arts,  a  substance  called  sepia,  a  coloring  matter  of  black  color,  and 
when  well  prepared  highly  prized  by  artists.  This  substance  is  secreted 
by  the  fish  from  a  bag  or  sack,  which  it  can  contract  at  will,  and  thus 
discharge  some  of  the  coloring  matter  into  the  surrounding  water,  and 
staining  it  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  its  enemies  from  seeing  it  so 
as  to  be  able  to  pursue  it. 
A  few  words  about  the  proper  method  of  making  the  class  of  powders 
mentioned  will  perhaps  be  useful  to  the  readers  of  the  Journal.  It  is  of 
highest  importance  that  the  basis  of  all  tooth  powders  should  be  so  free 
from  all  sharp,  gritty  particles  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of  abrasion 
to  the  enamel  of  the  t<"eth.  This  fineness,  of  course,  is  to  be  obtained 
only  by  careful  pulverization  and  passing  the  powder  through  a  sieve 
of  fine  bolting  cloth,  all  the  various  materials  being  reduced  to  an 
equal  degree  of  fineness.  When  coloring  matter  is  to  be  added,  and 
this  generally  is  some  shade  of  pink,  the  finest  color  is  obtained  by 
washing  the  calcareous  powder  with  a  solution  of  carmine  in  aqua 
ammoniae,  and  exposing  the  powder  to  the  air  until  free  from  ammoni- 
acal  odor  and  moisture  ;  to  this  prepared  calcareous  base  the  remaining 
powders  are  added,  and  the  whole  thoroughly  incorporated  by  sifting 
together. 
