.Am.  ^our.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  i88o. 
The  Resin  of  Leptandra. 
489 
the  administration  of  jaborandi  by  the  mouth  with  the  advantage  that, 
when  thus  used,  it  does  not  cause  nausea.  Its  action  on  the  skin  is 
more  prompt  and  certain  than  that  of  the  piant,  owing  probably  to 
varieties  of  jaborandi  containing  variable  proportions  of  the  alkaloid,  in 
the  same  manner  that  quinia  is  found  more  reliable  than  Peruvian  bark. 
Pilocarpina  is  antagonistic  in  effect  to  atropia  and  corrects  the  dryness 
of  the  throat  and  mouth,  which  occurs  when  preparations  of  bella- 
donna are  used.  One  peculiar  effect  it  possesses  is  that,  when  its 
solutions  are  applied  to  the  eye,  only  near  objects  can  be  observed. 
Dried  Salts. — The  inconvenience  attending  the  dispensing  of  such 
salts  as  contain  considerable  proportions  of  water,  when,  prescribed  in 
the  form  of  powders,  has  led  me  to  dry  several  of  such  as  are  in  most 
common  use,  namely  :  Sulphate  of  magnesium,  sulphate  of  sodium, 
phosphate  of  sodium  and  sulphite  of  sodium,  which  were  dried  below 
I20°F.,  and  after  being  kept  near  that  temperature  for  four  or  five  days 
and  finding  that  they  ceased  to  lose  weight  I  found  that 
400  grains  of  sulphate  of  magnesium  were  reduced  to  355  grains. 
400  "  "      sodium         "  "    180  " 
400  phosphate  of  sodium      "  "    235  " 
400  "    sulphite        "  "  "    220  " 
Therefore,  if  40  grains  of  sulphate  of  magnesium  is  called  for  in 
powder,  they  can  be  replaced  by  35J  grains  of  the  dried  salt,  40  grains 
of  phosphate  of  sodium  by  23J  grains  dried  ;  40  grains  of  sulphate  of 
sodium  by  18  grains  dried,  and  40  grains  of  sulphite  of  sodium  by  22 
grains  dried.  Having  so  often  met  with  difficulty  in  reducing  the 
undried  salts  to  fine  powder  I  thought  that  the  above  information  might 
be  of  some  service  to  others. 
ON  THE  RESIN  OF  LEPTANDRA.  / 
By  J.  U.  Lloyd. 
Read  at  the  twenty-eighth  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at 
Saratoga,  and  communicated  by  the  author. 
Leptandrin  of  commerce  varies  in  appearance  from  two  reasons  : 
1.  Different  fineness  of  powder. 
2.  Difference  in  composition. 
If  an  alcoholic  tincture  of  Leptandra  Virginica  be  evaporated  to  the 
consistence  of  a  thick  syrup  and  this  be  poured  into  cold  water  a  black 
tarry  substance  separates.  This,  if  washed  with  pure  cold  water, 
ifinally  becomes  tasteless,  and,  if  it  be  dried,  constitutes  the  article 
