302 
ON  FLUID  EXTRACT  OF  ERGOT. 
Case  third  was  also  a  married  woman  with  an  attack  of  neuralgia. 
Two  fluid  ounces  were  administered  here  without  effect. 
Case  fourth  was  a  married  woman  with  inflammation  of  the 
mammae.  One  and  a  half  fluid  ounces  of  the  extract  prepared 
from  the  Shaker  senna  was  given,  and  no  effect  produced. 
Case  fifth  was  one  in  which  one  and  a  half  fluid  ounces  were 
given  of  the  above  to  a  man,  but  without  any  action. 
There  were  several  other  cases  in  which  this  preparation  was 
administered,  but  all  resulted  as  above  ;  thus  proving  most  conclu- 
sively that  the  Cassia  Marilandica  is  very  weak,  if  possessing  any 
purgative  properties  at  all,  and  entirely  inferior  to  the  imported 
senna ;  having  signally  failed  in  all  cases  in  which  it  was  tried. 
There  was  one  other  case  in  which  it  was  given  in  combination 
with  epsom  salts,  but  the  effect  produced  was  no  more  than  that 
from  the  last  named  purgative. 
The  above  experiments,  carefully  performed  by  Dr.  Martin 
from  preparations  of  the  plant  in  its  greatest  state  of  perfection, 
prove,  in  my  opinion,  that  its  therapeutical  qualities  have  been 
overrated,  and  that  it  does  not  possess  the  virtues  which  have 
been  ascribed  to  it  by  the  medical  profession  ;  and  thus  this  pre- 
viously unsettled  question  is  finally  determined,  that  the  Cassia 
Marilandica  possesses  no  cathartic  properties  that  would  entitle 
it  to  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  other  varieties  of  senna. 
ON  FLUID  EXTRACT  OF  ERGOT. 
By  T.  Roberts  Baker,  of  Richmond,  Va. 
In  a  former  paper  upon  Ergot,  published  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Pharmacy,  of  April,  1852,  the  subject  was  treated 
purely  in  its  chemical  relations. 
In  that  paper  were  given  the  entire  results  of  my  ana- 
lysis of  ergot,  together  with  the  processes  resorted  to  for  ex- 
tracting the  different  constituents.  Since  the  period  referred  to, 
I  have  prepared  a  fluid  extract  of  ergot,  availing  myself  of  the 
processes  employed  in,  and  the  numerical  results  of,  my  analysis, 
as  the  basis  of  operations. 
When  we  consider  the  uncertainty  attending  the  administra- 
tion of  powdered  ergot,  owing  to  the  inferiority  of  the  article 
before  powdering,  or  its  liability  to  deviate  when  kept  powdered, 
