38o 
Editorial, 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\       Aug.,  1875. 
It  appears  that  a  quantity  of  solution  of  citrate  of  magnesium  was  recently  seized 
in  Iowa  for  violation  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Laws.  The  matter  being  referred  to 
the  Department  at  Washington,  the  decision  of  the  Commissioner  was  as  follows  : 
"  I  have  to  say  that  the  medicine  is  officinal,  as  you  state,  but  it  is  put  up  in  a  style  or  manner  similar 
to  that  of  patent  or  proprietary  medicines  in  general,  having  directions  tor  its  use  printed  on  the  label, 
and  w^ithout  the  formula  by  which  it  is  made  being  either  printed  or  referred  to  on  the  label,  and  conse- 
quently, in  the  opinion  of  this  office,  is  liable  to  stamp  tax." 
Salicylic  Acid. — Dr.  Geo.  H.  Boyland,  of  Baltimore,  has  a  paper  in  the  March 
number  of  the  "  Virginia  Medical  Monthly,"  entitled  "  Practical  Notes  on  Salicylic 
Acid,"  in  which  the  following  sentences  occur:  "The  first  specimens  of  salicylic 
acid  ever  brought  to  this  country  were  brought  here  by  myself  (a  present  from  the 
hands  of  the  learned  Kolbe).  The  first  article  on  salicylic  acid  ever  printed  in  this 
country  was  written  by  myself,  and  appeared  in  the  *  Baltimore  Gazette,'  July  loth, 
1874.  I  refer  to  its  use  as  a  disinfectant."  The  last  two  sentences,  if  taken  to- 
gether as  one  whole,  are  correct,  we  believe.  In  regard  to  the  first,  however,  we 
must  say,  that  salicylic  acid  was  made  by  Professor  Wm.  Procter,  Jr.,  as  early  as 
1842,  and  briefly  described  by  him  in  "American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,"  for  Oc- 
tober, 1842,  p.  212,  and,  afterwards,  has  been  frequently  prepared  by  him  from  oil 
of  gaultheria  as  a  lecture  experiment.  The  above  quotation  is  doubtless  intended  to 
refer  to  salicylic  acid  as  prepared  by  Kolbe's  new  process,  to  which  we  have  re- 
peatedly alluded  Dr.  Boyland,  we  understand,  resided  in  Leipzig  when  the  new 
process  was  discovered,  and  the  antiseptic  and  anti-fermentative  properties  of  salicy- 
lic acid  were  being  investigated,  some  experiments  relating  to  the  latter  being  made 
by  him. 
Damiana  is  the  name  of  a  new  drug,  for  which  wonderful  medicinal  properties  are 
claimed.  It  is  said  to  be  a  powerful  aphrodisiac,  to  improve  the  sexual  ability  of  the 
enfeebled  and  aged,  and  apparently  to  have  a  specific  effect  upon  all  the  organs  of  the 
pelvis,  giving  increased  tone  and  activity  to  all  of  the  secretions  in  that  vicinity. 
It  is  a  native  of  Mexico,  growing  among  the  mountains,  and  collected  after  the 
annual  rain  commences  (about  July),  when  it  bears  dark  green  leaves,  and  small 
white  flowers,  the  stem  being  covered  with  a  species  of  gum  of  peculiar  fragrance. 
One  of  our  consuls  in  Mexico  writes  of  the  death  of  a  man  named  Simon  Anclos, 
whom,  "common  report  set  down  for  100  years  old;  but  an  old  man  (85),  called 
Surayo,  who  had  long  known  Anclos,  says  that  he  (Anclos)  was  ya  un  ancianay 
while  he  (Surayo)  was  yet  a  boy,  and  was  then  old  enough  to  be  his  grandfather. 
There  are  a  great  many  such  in  this  country.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  or  intimate 
that  damiana  does  it  all,  but  only  this  fact,  that  very  many  of  those  old  stagers  do 
sire  children,  as  old  Anclos  did,  up  to  the  last — some  of  them  having  two  or  three 
dozen  legitimates,  without  counting  the  outsiders.  It  is  the  climate,  perhaps,  but  I 
think  it  almost  too  much  to  put  it  all  down  to  climate." 
The  consul  sent  only  new  sprouts  and  leaves,  stating  that  the  wood  was  only  a 
dead  investment  ;  but  the  root  is  said  to  possess  the  same  virtues  as  the  leaf.  The 
best  damiana  bears  a  white  blossom  and  a  small  leaf,  while  another  inferior  kind  has 
a  yellow  blossom  and  a  large  leaf. 
We  gather  the  above  information  from  a  paper  by  Dr.  J.  J.  Caldwell,  of  Balti- 
