ANTIDOTE  TO  STRYCHNIA. 
555 
urination.  To  extract  parafine  from  the  purified  parafine  oil, 
obtained  in  the  manner  described,  the  oil  is  to  be  cooled  to  a 
low  temperature — say  to  30°  or  40°  Fahr.  ;  and  the  lower  the 
temperature,  the  larger  will  be  the  quantity  of  parafine  separated 
from  the  oil.  In  this  way  parafine  is  made  to  crystallize,  when 
it  may  be  separated  from  the  oil  by  filtration  through  woolen 
or  other  cloths,  and  then  sqeezing  it  in  a  powerful  press,  by 
which  means  it  will  be  made  sufficiently  pure  to  be  employed  for 
lubricating  and  some  other  useful  purposes.  But  the  parafine 
may  be  further  purified,  if  required,  by  treating  it  several  times, 
at  a  temperature  of  about  160°  Fahr.,  alternately  with  its  own 
bulk  of  oil  of  vitriol  and  with  a  similar  quantity  of  a  solution  of 
caustic  soda  (of  the  specific  gravity  already  mentioned)  until  the 
parafine  ceases  to  render  the  oil  of  vitriol  black.  It  is  then  to 
be  washed  in  a  weak  solution  of  soda,  and  lastly  with  boiling 
water,  until  the  water  ceases  to  change  the  color  of  red  litmus 
paper.  Another  method  adopted  to  obtain  parafine  from  para- 
fine oil  is,  to  put  the  oil  into  a  still,  and  distil  over  one-half  or 
more  of  its  contents.  The  portion  then  remaining  will  contain 
a  much  larger  proportion  of  parafine  than  the  parafine  oil  at 
first  put  into  the  still  contained ;  this  residue  being  then  distilled 
over  into  a  separate  vessel,  and  allowed  to  cool.  Parafine  may 
be  separated  by  filtration  and  squeezing  in  cloths,  and  also 
purified  by  treatment  with  oil  of  vitriol  and  soda,  as  before  de- 
scribed. Parafine  oil  from  which  parafine  has  been  separated, 
as  above  described,  still  contains  parafine  in  solution,  and  is 
suitable  for  lubricating  or  lighting  purposes  Mechanics  Maga- 
zine, April,  1851,  and  Jour,  Franklin  Inst. 
ANTIDOTE  TO  STRYCHNIA. 
(Extract  of  a  letter  from   Wm.  Nick  Pindell,  M  D..  of  St.  Michael's, 
Talbot  County,  Maryland,  to  the  Editor.) 
The  object  of  this  letter  is  merely  to  state  facts,  and  through 
the  Journal  to  have  the  facts  made  known,  at  the  same  time  to 
obtain  through  your  influence  further  experiments,  either -to  satisfy 
or  dispel  from  the  minds  of  some  that  there  is  always  at  hand  a 
"  safe  "  and  "  sufficient "  antidote  to  the  poisonous  "  strychnia." 
Will  you  have  the  "  antidote"  tested  ? 
