COMPOUND  ELIXIR  TARAXACUM. 
71 
too  small  for  the  collection  of  the  sporules,  namely :  Lyc.  inun- 
datum,  Lin.,  which  is  common  in  the  Northern  States  and  Can- 
ada, and  Lyc.  alopeeuroides^  Lin.,  which  is  most  abundant  in  the 
Southern  States, 
Of  the  remaining  five  species  Lyc.  dendroideum,  Mich.,  and 
Lyc.  complanatum,  Lin.,  are  perhaps  diffused  over  the  greater 
area,  while  Lyc.  OaroUmanum,  Lin.,  is  confined  chiefly  to  the 
Southern  States,  and  Lyc.  clavatum  and  annotinum',  Lin.,  are 
most  abundand  northward. 
In  Europe  lycopodium  is  collected  indiscriminately  from  those 
species  which  yield  the  largest  amount  of  sporules,  and  these  of 
a  size  not  exceeding  those  of  the  true  club  moss  ;  Lyc.  clavatum, 
complanatum  and  annotinum  are  almost  exclusively  used.  The 
spikes  are  collected  during  the  months  of  August  and  Septem- 
ber, dried  in  suitable  vessels  in  such  a  manner  that  no  loss  of 
sporules  can  occur  from  wind  or  draft,  and  the  spores  are  then 
obtained  by  beating  and  rubbing,  whereby  the  sporangia  are  rup- 
tured ;  the  resulting  powder  is  then  passed  through  a  fine  sieve 
to  separate  fragments  of  leaves,  spore  capsules  and  other  acci- 
dental impurities. 
To  the  three  species  mentioned,  Lyc.  dendroideum  might  be 
added  in  this  country  as  a  source  for  commercial  Lycopodium, 
and  this  might  be  most  advantageously  collected  in  the  Eastern 
States  and  in  Canada.  Since,  however,  the  yield  is  small  from 
the  bulky  spikes,  it  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  the  collection  of 
Lycopodium  in  North  America  will  scarcely  pay,  owing  to  the 
greater  value  of  labor,  as  long  as  the  European  article  of  unex- 
ceptional quality  can  be  bought  in  this  country  at  from  50  to  70 
cents  currency  per  pound. — Proc.  Amer.  Pharm.  Assoc.,  1869. 
COMPOUND  ELIXIR  TARAXACUM— THE  BEST  YBHICLE 
FOR  QUININE. 
By  p.  C.  Candidus. 
I  present  to  the  A.  P.  Association  a  formula  for  the  above 
elixir,  which  I  prepared  about  eight  months  ago,  at  the  request 
of  Dr.  Jerome  Cochran,  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  the  Mobile 
Medical  College.     He  wanted  the  virtues  of  Prunus  Virg., 
Taraxacum,  and  Gentian — the  latter  in  small  proportion : 
