^"^jliy^'Iys^"""'}       ^l^^'^r  of  Paullinia  or  Guar  ana  301 
whence  it  came  from  and  its  therapeutic  properties.  It  seems  then 
that  there  would  be  but  little  trouble  experienced  in  the  introduction  of 
Paullinia  of  commerce  by  the  apothecaries,  in  place  of  the  above-named 
nostrum,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  consumer  would  be  better  satisfied, 
knowing  that  he  was  taken  guarana  and  saving  from  300  to  400  per 
cent.  Perhaps,  if  a  chemical  examination  was  made,  it  might  be  found 
to  contain  but  little  guarana,  and,  in  some  respects,  resemble  cincho- 
quinine,  which  tried  hard  to  live  and  be  brought  into  general  use  ;  but 
the  analysis,  by  Professors  Diehl  and  SchefFer,  was  too  much  for  it  ;  it 
received  such  a  severe  blow  that  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  survive.  If 
the  results  of  such  investigations  were  spread  throughout  the  land,  and 
published  in  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  journals,  physicians  would 
become  acquainted  with  the  true  composition  of  such  nostrums,  disap- 
prove of  their  use,  and  they  would  be  dropped  and  buried  forever. 
Paullinia  acts  as  a  nervine,  owing  to  the  large  quantity  of  caffeina  it 
contains.  Dr.  Stenhouse  found  caffeina  to  be  more  abundant  in  Paul- 
linia than  in  any  other  vegetable.  He  obtamed  5 "07  per  cent,  from 
Paullinia  ;  from  good  black  tea,  2*13  ;  from  coffee,  I'OO  per  cent.,  and 
1*2  per  cent,  from  Paraguay  tea  ("  Pharm.  Journ.,"  xvi,  213).  My 
object  here  is  to  frame  a  formula  for  an  elixir  of  guarana  or  paullinia, 
which  has  been  prescribed  in  our  town  by  a  few  practitioners  with  very 
good  success  for  nervous  headache.  Frequently  physicians  are  misled 
in  their  experiments  for  ascertaining  the  value  of  a  remedy,  by  prescrib- 
ing other  medicines  with  the  one  under  trial,  and  giving  the  credit  of 
the  cure  to  the  new  remedy,  when  it  was,  perhaps,  due  to  the  medicine 
associated  with  it.  But  the  elixir  of  guarana  was  prescribed  alone,  and^ 
in  many  cases,  gave  instant  relief ;  it  was  made  by  the  following  for- 
mula : 
Take  of  Paullinia,       ......  ,^iv 
Alcohol,  ......  f^vi 
Water,  .  .  .  .  .  .  f^^vi 
Glycerin  (pure),  .....  ^iv 
Oil  of  Orange,  .....  gtt.  viii 
Oil  of  Ceylon  Cinnamon,  ....     gtt.  i 
Diluted  alcohol,  a  sufficient  quantity. 
Reduce  Paullinia  to  a  fine  powder,  mix  5^^  ozs.  alcohol  with  the 
glycerin  and  water,  moisten  the  powder  with  this  mixture  and  pack  in 
a  glass  funnel  or  a  conical  glass  percolator  ;  pour  on  the  balance  of  the 
glycerin  mixture,  and,  when  this  ceases  to  pass,  add  sufficient  dilutee 
