310 
ON  A  METHOD  OF  PRESERVING  ERGOT. 
that  the  powder  should  be  thoroughly  dried  at  a  temperature  not 
exceeding  139°  F.  Next  prepare  a  solution  of  camphor  in 
ether.  80  grs.  of  camphor  to  gj.  ether  will  be  found  to  be  a 
convenient  strength  for  small  bottles  ;  have  ready  some  strong 
ounce  bottles,  cleaned  and  dried.  As  it  is  important  the  bottles 
should  not  be  damp,  it  would  be  well  either  to  dust  them  out 
without  wetting,  or  if  washing  is  preferred,  let  them  be  well  dried 
in  a  drying  closet  before  use ;  finally,  provide  for  the  vials  some 
good  tightly  fitting  velvet  corks. 
Into  one  of  the  bottles  put  a  drachm  of  the  solution  of  camphor 
above  mentioned,  and  immediately  begin  filling  with  the  dry 
powdered  ergot;  with  a  suitable  instrument  press  the  powder  very 
tightly  several  times  while  filling,  and  continue  the  operation 
until  the  bottle  is  quite  full  of  the  closely  compressed  powdered 
spermoedia. 
On  examining  the  appearance  of  the  contents  of  the  bottle, 
the  lower  half  will  be  observed  to  have  a  dark,  damp  look,  while 
the  upper  part  will  still  preserve  the  light  brown  color  of  the 
dry  powder ;  the  line  of  demarcation  will,  however,  be  observed  to 
be  slowly  ascending,  when  the  whole  of  the  ergot  in  the  vial  has 
a  moist  appearance,  which  is  a  criterion  that  all  the  atmospheric 
air  has  been  expelled  and  its  place  occupied  by  camphorated 
ethereal  vapor  ;  about  half  a  drachm  of  the  solution  of  camphor 
should  be  poured  in,  and  the  bottle  immediately  corked  very 
tightly.    The  tops  may  now  be  covered  with  sealing  wax. 
If  larger  or  smaller  bottles  are  used,  the  proportion  of  the  pre  • 
serving  solution  should,  of  course,  be  relatively  increased  or  di- 
minished. Should  the  ergot  be  preserved  in  large  bottles,  and 
if  it  be  subsequently  desired  to  distribute  it  among  a  number  of 
smaller  ones,  the  above  process  must  be  gone  through  precisely 
as  if  the  ergot  were  being  put  up  for  the  first  time. 
The  bottles  should  be  examined  occasionally  ;  and  as  long  as 
the  ergot  appears  damp,  the  efficacy  of  the  drug  may  be  relied 
on.  As  soon,  however,  as  any  part  of  the  powder  presents  the 
slightest  indication  of  dryness,  the  bottle  should  be  opened,  about 
a  drachm  of  the  solution  of  camphor  added,  and  then  quickly 
restopped  with  new  corks. 
The  use  of  sealing-wax  as  a  coating  for  the  corks  may  appear 
rather  inappropriate  on  a  bottle  partially  filled  with  ethereal 
