LABELS  FOR  VESSELS  KEPT    IN  THE  CELLAR. 
107 
Extraction  of  Oolocynthin. 
Take  of  Colocynth  in  very  fine  powder,        125  parts. 
"       Purified  animal  charcoal,  60  « 
Proceed  as  directed  for  bryonin,  until  250  parts  of  concentrated 
alcoholic  tincture  is  obtained. 
Evaporate  this  spontaneously  in  flat  dishes  to  perfect  dryness. 
The  product  is  friable  and  pulverizable  ;  it  is  garnet  colored,  its 
bitterness  is  insupportable,  its  solubility  in  water  and  alcohol  is 
like  that  of  bryonin,  and  like  the  latter,  insoluble  in  ether, 
Liebig's  statement  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
The  purgative  property  of  this  colocynthin  is  a  little  more  ac- 
tive than  that  of  bryonin,  from  the  author's  experience,  as  in 
a  vigorous  adult,  it  purged  strongly  in  a  dose  of  10  centigrammes 
(1J  grains),  especially  when  in  the  liquid  form;  and  for  children 
from  2 1  to  5  centigrammes  (f  to  f  of  a  grain). 
If  it  is  desirable  to  have  these  principles  in  a  state  of  great 
purity,  the  above  described  product  should  be  dissolved  in  strong 
alcohol,  and  treated  with  a  little  animal  charcoal,  which  removes 
a  minute  quantity  of  foreign  matter  ;  but  this  purification  is  un- 
necessary in  a  medical  point  of  view. 
Colocynth  loses  four-fifths  of  its  weight  by  being  deprived  of 
its  seeds,  it  being  necessary  to  take  20  ounces  of  the  fruit  to  get 
four  ounces  of  the  powder. 
Colocynthin  constitutes  exactly  a  thirty-second  part  of  the 
entire  fruit,  or  about  half  an  ounce  to  the  pound,  av. 
M.  Mouchon  believes,  that  in  the  form  presented  by  his  pro- 
cess, these  principles  are  destined  to  play  an  important  part  in 
the  therapeutics  of  these  drugs,  and  he  believes,  that  by  carry- 
ing out  his  process  with  gentian,  centaury,  wormwood,  menyan- 
thes,  columbo,  holly,  etc.,  that  the  several  principles  which  give 
them  bitterness  and  activity,  may  be  rendered  equally  available. 
— Repertoire  de  Pharmacie,  Nov.,  1855. 
ON  A  SIMPLE  MEANS  OF  MAKING  LABELS  FOR  VESSELS  TO 
BE  KEPT  IN  THE  CELLAR,  WHICH  ARE  NOT  ALTERABLE  BY 
DAMP. 
By  Mr.  T.  A.  Quevenne. 
Most  pharmaceutists  use  labels  painted  in  oil  colors,  which  is 
very  well,  some  varnish  the  labels,  and  some  use  a  paste  contain- 
