ON THE PREPARATION OP ETHIOp's MINERAL. 271 
expressed oil owes its purgative property to the presence 
of a minute quantity of the active principle alluded to. It 
has even been supposed that the purgative principle was an 
oleo-resinous body. M. Callond affirms that this principle 
possesses neither the character of an oil nor of a resin. 
The following are the experiments upon which this asser- 
tion is founded : — 
1. After having expressed the oil from the seeds by a 
powerful pressure, the mark was treated with pure alcohol 
and the filtered liquor submitted to spontaneous evapora- 
tion. The oily residue, administered in different doses, was 
found to have the same action as the expressed oil. 
2. After having exhausted the seeds of everything solu- 
ble in boiling alcohol, the residual mark, when administered 
to the extent of seven or eight grains in a glass of sweetened 
water, produced nausea and salivation, which continued 
for more than six hours. Thirty grains, administered in 
two doses to a young man of strong constitution, caused 
vomiting, accompanied by much straining, for nearly 
twenty-four hours. 
M. Callond is still engaged in these investigations. — 
Pharmaceutical Journal from Journ. de Pharm. 
ART. LXIL— ON THE PREPARATION OF ETHIOPS MINERAL. 
By M. C. Vogler. 
The usual method of preparing Ethiop's mineral, con- 
sists in triturating the mercury and sulphur together in a 
marble or porcelain mortar. The mixture is sprinkled from 
time to time with water or spirit of wine while the tritura- 
tion is continued, until globules of mercury can no longer 
be discovered by means of a magnifying glass. This pro- 
cess is objectionable in a practical point of view, for as the 
