208 
ON  SOLUTION  OF  GUTTA  PERCIIA. 
quired  a  certain  age  ;  (4  beans  collected  last  fall  having  been 
taken  in  24  hours  without  any  marked  effect).  Their  active 
principle,  (if  generated  by  contact  with  water,)  unlike  hydro- 
cyanic acid,  is  not  entirely  driven  over  by  distillation. 
It  may,  however,  be  found  hereafter,  that,  like  many  other 
oleaginous  seeds,  they  undergo  a  peculiar  and  spontaneous  altera- 
tion, which  may  result  in  the  formation  of  a  volatile  and  power- 
fully purgative  principle. 
ON  SOLUTION  OF  GUTTA  PERCIIA. 
Br  J,  M.  Maisch. 
Collodion,  when  applied  to  the  skin,  contracts  it,  and  is  objec- 
tionable in  many  cases  for  this  reason.  For  the  removal  of  its 
contractile  power,  and  to  impart  more  softness  and  elasticity  to 
it,  the  addition  of  several  substances  has  been  proposed,  and  the 
admixture  of  some  coloring  matter  to  imitate  the  color  of  the  skin. 
Since  Dr.  Graves  proposed  a  solution  of  gutta  percha  in  chloro- 
form for  the  treatment  of  certain  diseases  of  the  skin  in  place  of 
collodion,  the  former  has  been  tried  by  physicians,  and  some  are 
using  it  now  very  extensively.  Being  desired  to  prepare  some, 
I  followed  the  process  of  Dr.  Geiseler,  which  was  published  in 
the  Arohiv.  d.  Pharm.,  July,  1855.  One  part  gutta  percha  is 
to  be  dissolved  in  8  parts  spirits  turpentine,  the  solution  filtered 
and  mixed  with  alcohol  of  90  per  cent,  until  a  precipitate  ceases 
to  appear,  which  must  be  boiled  successively  with  alcohol  and 
water,  and  afterwards  well  dried.  Of  this  purified  gutta  percha 
one  part  may  be  dissolved  in  12  parts  of  chloroform,  when  a  clear, 
almost  colorless  solution  is  obtained,  which  has  a  faint  smell  of 
turpentine. 
In  following  these  directions  strictly,  I  found  that  a  large 
quantity  of  alcohol  is  necessary  to  precipitate  the  gutta  percha, 
of  which  the  filtered  or  decanted  liquor  deposits  another  quan- 
tity after  standing  for  several  days  ;  the  coloring  matter  is  pre- 
cipitated along  with  the  gutta  percha,  and,  though  it  was  always 
deposited  underneath  the  latter,  still  it  wanted  a  mechanical 
separation,  and  some  loss  of  the  white  gutta  percha  was  unavoida- 
ble.   The  process  of  washing  it  by  boiling  in  alcohol  and  water 
