Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ") 
Feb.  1875.  j 
Varieties. 
8s 
Recoid")  describes  the  combination  of  camphor  and  phenol,  and  gives  its  therapeu- 
tical conclusions. 
If  equal  parts  of  carbolic  acid  and  camphor  be  dissolved  in  alcohol,  and  the  mix- 
ture be  allowed  to  stand  for  thirteen  hours,  a  yellowish,  oily  stratum  arises  to  the 
surface.  This  will  not  mix  with  the  water  Qr  liquid,  nor  is  the  camphor  precipitated 
by  the  alcohol.  This  substance  is  called  camphorated  phenol.  It  is  best  prepared 
as  follows  :  One  part  of  carbolic  acid  and  two  of  camphor  are  mixed  in  a  vessel  and 
allowed  to  stand  for  some  hours.  A  reddish-yellow  oily  liquid  will  be  formed, 
which  is  to  be  purified  by  washing  with  water.  The  properties  of  this  combination 
are  reddish-yellow  color,  oily  appearance,  smell  of  camphor,  insoluble  in  water,  but 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether.  From  considerable  experience  in  its  use,  Bufalini 
concludes  ; 
(1)  Camphorated  phenol  produces  the  same  effects  as  carbolic  acid,  but  is  less 
dangerous.    It  may  be  used  both  externally  and  internally,  viz.,  in  enteric  fever,  etc. 
(2)  It  has  the  power  of  modifying  unhealthy  wounds  and  of  destroying  the  para- 
sites which  are  present  in  certain  diseases,  as  septicaemia,  typhoid  fever,  etc. 
(3)  The  medical  use  of  camphorated  phenol  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  of  carbolic 
acid,  as  the  former  does  not  present  the  disadvantages  of  the  latter. 
(4)  Camphorated  phenol,  when  applied  to  wounds  does  not  irritate  them  or  act 
as  a  caustic  or  disorganizing  substance  on  them,  and  may  be  used  in  large  doses, 
without  producing  symptoms  of  poisoning. —  Kansas  City  Med.  Jour.,  Nov.,  1874, 
from  Det.  Rev.  of  Med. 
Refined  Camphor. — Crude  camphor,  as  brought  to  this  country,  is  refined  here 
by  being  introduced  together  with  quicklime  into  cast-iron  vessels,  which  serve  as 
retorts,  over  which  are  placed  covers  of  sheet-iron  connected  with  the  lower  vessels 
by  a  small  aperture. 
A  number  of  these  stills  are  placed  in  a  large  sand  bath,  and,  after  the  melting  of 
the  camphor  within  them,  kept  at  a  uniform  temperature  that  the  process  may  go  on 
quietly.  The  quicklime  serves  to  retain  the  moisture  that  otherwise  would  interfere 
with  the  condensation  of  the  pure  camphor.  This  takes  place  under  the  shelf  u]3on 
which  the  cone  stands,  the  vapor,  when  in  excess,  passing  into  the  loosely  affixed 
cones  of  sheet-iron,  care  being  taken  to  keep  the  hole  open. 
A  great  deal  of  attention  and  experience  are  requisite  to  successfully  refine  cam- 
phor, but  the  process  is  now  well  understood  in  this  country  as  well  as  in  Europe, 
and  what  is  sold  in  this  market  is  refined  here,  and  is  of  satisfactory  quality  and  ap- 
pearance.— Philadelphia  Drug  Exchange,  Circular  No.  10. 
The  Cultivation  of  Castor  Beans. — A  California  letter  says  of  this  crop: — 
"The  method  of  gathering  and  preparing  for  market  is  as  follows:  Every  day 
the  ripe  spikes  are  gathered  by  hand,  put  in  sacks,  and  hauled  to  the  '  popping" 
ground,'  which  is  a  space  of  about  an  acre,  made  smooth  and  hard,  like  an  old- 
fashioned  buckwheat  threshing  ground.  Here  the  spikes  are  spread,  and  during 
the  day  they  pop  open,  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  throwing  out  the  beans.  Each 
morning  the  straw  is  raked  ofi\,  the  beans  shoveled  up,  cleaned  in  a  fanning  mill, 
and  sacked,  ready  for  market.  By  the  time  the  field  is  once  picked  over  it  is 
ready  for  another  picking,  like  cotton,  and  the  season,  commencing  in  August, 
is  not  yet  over.  The  yield  is  estimated  at  fifteen  hundred  pounds  per  acre,  worth 
four  cents  per  pound,  or  a  gross  yield  of  ^60  per  acre.  The  expense  of  cultiva- 
tion, etc.,  is  estimated  this  year  at  one-half  this  amount,  but  is  greater  than  it 
probably  will  be  another  season,  owing  to  inexperience  and  preparing  new  land. 
There  is  probably  no  crop  so  easily  raised  that  will  yield  so  large  a  return." — 
Med.  arid  Surg.  Rep.,  Nov.  7,  i  874. 
