ON  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  CHLORODYNE. 
437* 
The  suggestion  was  forwarded  to  Dr.  Anderson,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Botanical  Gardens,  Calcutta,  who  stated  that  he 
had,  for  some  years  past,  thought  of  the  subject,  but  had  been 
unable  to  procure  any  plants  on  trial  until  April,  1866,  when 
one  plant  was  sent  out  overland  by  the  Director  of  the  Royal 
Gardens  at  Kew.  This  original  plant  died  soon  after  arrival, 
but,  at  the  date  of  his  writing,  December,  1868,  nine  plants  were 
in  existence,  artificially  propagated  from  the  original  one,  be- 
sides five  growing  at  the  cinchona  plantations  at  Darjeeling,  to 
which  place  a  cutting  had  been  sent  in  1867. 
The  "Indian  Medical  Gazette,"  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Clarke,  now  acting  for  Dr.  Anderson,  quotes  the  remarks  of 
that  gentleman : — "  When  I  took  charge  of  the  Gardens,  in 
1869,  there  were  seven  plants,  all  under  glass,  and  in  a  very  low 
state  of  vegetation.  The  plant  had  been  found  to  grow  very 
slowly,  and,  moreover,  to  be  very  shy  of  propagation  by  cuttings. 
"It  is  very  possible  that  when  the  plant  once  gets  up,  it  may 
not  prove  slow-growing,  and  that  when  we  once  have  plants  that 
seed,  it  may  not  prove  slow  of  propagation  ;  but  I  fear  many 
days  will  elapse  before  any  produce  is  likely  to  be  obtained." — 
Lond.  Pharrri:  Journ.^  July  2,  1870,  from  The  Medical  Press. 
ON  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  CHLORODYNE. 
By  Thomas  Stretch  Dowse,  M.D. 
It  appears  to  me  very  unfortunate  that  the  endeavors  of  gen- 
tlemen to  elucidate  the  much-vexed  question  as  to  the  compo- 
sition of  chlorodyne  cannot  be  carried  on  through  the  medium  of 
your  Journal  without  giving  rise  to  feelings  so  totally  foreign  to 
the  subject.  The  displays  of  rhetoric  by  "  A  Provincial  "  are 
worthy  of  a  difi'erent,  if  not  a  better  cause.  But  I  fear  they 
will  in  no  way  tend  to  approximate  and  elaborate  the  evidence 
so  kindly  rendered  by  himself  and  others  towards  the  solution 
of  this  controversy,  and  I  do  not  think  the  remark  uncalled  for 
when  I  say  that  if  this  subject,  which  appears  to  be  of  some  in- 
terest in  a  medical  and  chemical  point  of  view,  is  to  be  associated 
with  such  feelings  as  were  evinced  in  the  letter  of  your  last 
number,  the  sooner  the  discussion  ends  the  better.  It  is  not 
by  such  means  that  we  shall  be  able  in  any  way  to  arrive  at  a 
