PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS. 
109 
as  completely  as  does  strychnia,  one  grain  introduced  below  the 
skin  being  sufficient. 
2d.  They  affect  the  heart  equally  with  the  external  parts. 
3d.  They  each  cause  contraction  of  the  heart,  which  distin- 
guishes their  action  from  that  of  other  narcotic  alkaloids,  and  they 
act  more  violently  on  cold  than  on  warm  blooded  animals.  Caffein 
produces  the  same  effects  when  introduced  directly  into  the  circula- 
tion as  when  taken  into  the  stomach.  The  effects  of  caffein  on 
the  human  system  is  that  of  a  powerful  sedative  and  anodyne, 
especially  applicable  to  neuralgic  headache.  The  dose,  in  such 
cases,  is  2  grains. — Hays'  Journal. 
Opium  fumes  for  Coryza* — Dr.  Lombard  states  that  the  severe 
pain  in  the  nose  and  frontal  sinuses  which  often  attend  coryza, 
(or  cold  in  the  head,)  is  relieved  with  great  success  by  the  fumes 
of  partially  burned  opium.  The  patient  each  time  places  a  grain 
and  a  half  or  two  grains  of  powdered  opium  on  a  piece  of  sheet 
iron  held  over  a  lamp,  and  inhales  the  fumes  through  the  nose 
till  relieved. — Brit.  $  For.  Rev. 
Manner  of  odorizing  Wines  in  Greece  To  communicate 
a  most  exquisite  aromatic  taste  and  odor  to  wine,  in  Greece,  wine 
makers  are  in  the  habit  of  putting  the  flowers  of  the  grape-vine 
in  the  must  before  its  final  fermentation. 
The  flowers  are  gathered  at  night  after  a  hot  day  when  they 
evolve  the  greatest  odor.  The  stalks  are  struck  with  a  stick,  and 
the  flowers  received  on  a  plate  as  they  fall,  thrown  into  baskets, 
and  then  spread  on  linen  in  thin  layers  to  dry  in  the  shade. 
When  dry,  they  are  put  into  glass  or  earthen  jars,  pressed  even, 
hermetically  sealed  and  kept  in  a  cool  place  till  they  are  re- 
quired for  use. 
In  using  them  about  100  pints  of  clear  new  wine  is  put  into  a 
small  cask,  and  a  pound  of  the  flowers  contained  in  long,  slim, 
thin  muslin  sacks  are  suspended  in  the  casks,  which  are  then 
carefully  bunged,  furnished  with  a  recurved  tube  passing  the 
bung,  and  placed  in  the  cellar  to  ferment,  after  which  the  flow- 
ers  are  withdrawn  and  the  wine  racked  off  into  another  cask, 
which  should  be  entirely  filled.  After  again  racking,  the  ope- 
ration is  terminated,  and  the  wine  thus  prepared  is  used  as  a  kind 
of  boquet  essence  to  give  to  other  wines  the  odor  it  possesses. 
