88 
EDITORIAL. 
After  the  usual  display  of  legal  manoeuvering,  the  case  was  submitted  to 
the  jury,  who,  after  being  out  all  night,  could  not  agree,  and  were  discharged. 
There  were  several  legal  technicalities  in  the  case,  not  reported  here,  vvhich 
tended  to  embarrass  the  jury. 
Now  what  we  wish  to  point  out  in  referenceHo  this  affair  is,  the  want  of 
information  manifested  by  the  witnesses  and  lawyers  in  reference  to  the 
hygroscopic  power  of  organic  matter.  We  were  prepared  to  give  the  fol- 
lowing facts  from  experiment,  but  the  trial  was  terminated  without  our 
being  called  to  the  stand,  viz  : 
100  grains  of  cantharides  that  had  been  two  years  in  a  shop  bottle,  and 
were  partially  worm  eaten,  by  exposure  for  six  hours  at  a  temperature  of 
100°  to  120°  F.,  lost  13  grains. 
100  grains  of  the  same  cantharides,  suspended  in  a  large  closed  jar,  con- 
taining a  little  water  in  the  bottom,  absorbed  10  grains  without  exhibiting 
any  moisture  on  examination. 
100  grains  of  powdered  cantharides  lost  11  grains  when  dried  as  above, 
and  the  same  powder  placed  in  the  closed  jar  with  moist  air  gained  16 
grains. 
From  these  results  it  is  shown  that  whole  cantharides  may  contain  23  per 
cent,  of  hygroscopic  water,  and  the  powder  27  per  cent.,  without  it  being 
visible  to  the  eye  or  perceptible  to  the  touch,  and  that  the  flies  in  the  suit 
at  issue  might  have  contained  the  amount  of  water  alleged  by  simple  expo- 
sure in  damp  air,  without  any  fraud  or  ill  intent,  especially  as  they  were 
fresh  ;  yet  it  is  highly  probable  that  flies  saturated  with  hygroscopic  moisture 
if  kept  in  tight  vessels  in  warm  weather,  especially  if  in  powder,  would 
mould  and  undergo  change ;  in  fact  we  have  seen  powdered  cantharides 
thus  affected,  the  moisture  in  which  must  have  been  absorbed  by  accidental 
exposure  after  their  pulverization. 
On  the  other  hand  we  believe  the  desiccating  process  had  in  no  wise  in- 
jured the  flies  medicinally,  an  opinion  based  on  experiment,  (see  Amer, 
Jour.  Pharm.,  Vol.  xxiv.  page  293)  but  it  would  have  been  wiser  to  have 
exposed  them  in  a  damp  atmosphere  until  they  regained  the  lost  moisture 
by  hygroscopic  attraction,  instead  of  pouring  water  on  them,  which  would 
require  a  long  time  to  distribute  itself  equally. 
The  moral  of  this  transaction  points  to  the  necessity  of  druggists  and 
powderers  being  acquainted  with  pharmacology  in  all  its  relations ;  and  to 
the  ill  results  that  arise  from  hasty  action  on  doubtful  premises.  If  the 
druggist  had  represented  to  the  powderer  the  hygroscopic  nature  of  canthar- 
ides, and  requested  him  to  satisfy  himself  by  experiment,  the  latter  must 
have  been  convinced  that  no  fraud  existed;  that  he  should  have  air-dried  the 
flies,  and  not  subjected  them  to  artificial  heat ;  and  that  if  any  allowance 
was  to  be  made  for  excessive  moisture,  it  must  relate  only  to  what  was  above 
the  normal  per  centage  in  fresh  flies.  The  druggist  being  convinced  that 
he  was  right,  should  not  have  taken  back  the  flies,  much  less  resorted  to  the 
