these figures without doubt would have been reversed, and there can be little doubt in any unprejudiced mind that the demand for the contaminated article must be growing, and will grow, less and less. The adulteration of Foods and Drugs Acts were specially passed to protect the poor. They were not passed because it was known or suspected that such adulterated articles were sold at high prices to the rich and educated in such places as Bond Street and Plough Court, but because it was known or suspected that they were sold at low prices to the poor and uneducated in such places as Seven Dials and Petticoat Lane, and kindred metropolitan and provincial localities. What Mr. Mee said so tersely in a dozen lines in your issue of the 3rd of February is possibly the most to the point of all that has been written on the subject. There is little doubt that the lawyers will soon cut the Milk of Sulphur gordian knot in the way he intimates. It were hard indeed on the grocers to compel them to declare when they sell a sophisticated coffee, if the druggists may sell sophisticated milk of sulphur without a similar declaration. Mr. Slipper will not lose his patrons by being unable to sell them the whiter article of which they are so enamoured, but while supplying them, he will be compelled to assist in educating them, by teaching them that the article he sells them is contaminated with sulphate of lime. In past Pharmacopoeias "Lac Sulphuris" has been ordered to be prepared by alternative processes, one of which would yield an impure and the other a pure article. At different times in past Pharmacopoeias, but more recent ones than those to which I have just alluded, "Sulphur Præcipitatum" has been ordered to be prepared by processes one of which would produce the impure and the other and later the pure article. Therefore how more than idle it is to contend that "Milk of Sulphur" is the equivalent of sulphur cum lime, and "Precipitated Sulphur" of pure sulphur. Mr. Slipper is painfully illogical; he would always for "milk of sulphur" sell the contaminated article to his customers, he would never dispense for "lac sulphuris" other than the pure if written in a physician's prescription. Why he would make fish of one and fowl of the other it were hard to tell. He certainly should make at least one exception to the rule he lays down for his guidance-viz., when prescribed for himself. Mr. Slipper praises "the common sense and skill" which Professor Redwood has by tongue and pen displayed in the matter, but the Professor is logical, and consequently would do the very reverse of what Mr. Slipper says he would do with such prescriptions. Southampton, Feb. 22, 1877. ROBERT CHIPPERFIELD. THE ADMINISTRATION OE PHOSPHORUS. Sir,-The last two numbers of the Pharmaceutical Journal (pp. 694 and 712) have contained an interesting account of the preparation and administration of phosphorated cod liver oil, by Dr. E. R. Squibb, of Brooklyn. He gives a process for making a one per cent. solution of phosphorus in cod liver oil by employing heat and shaking the two together in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. By this means he avoids the liability to oxidation of the phosphorus and the formation of the pellicle on the surface of the oil, and subsequent dark brown deposit on the sides and bottom of the bottle, which have always given so much trouble to those who have attempted to make it. So much does this latter difficulty stand in the way that, according to the formula of one who makes it largely, he directs a solution of phosphorus in almond oil to be made first and this diluted with sufficient cod liver oil to make it the required strength. This process, I believe first suggested by M. Méhu,† is now generally adopted, taking so much phosphorated oil of the British Pharmacopoeia and adding the requisite quantity of cod liver oil. The subject has been well and carefully investigated by M. Méhu, who holds that the most stable solution of phosphorus in oil is in almond oil that has been carefully superheated (I am glad here to be able to corroborate M. Méhu, now that I find, as he says, it stands exposure to light better). Dr. Squibb prefers the cod liver oil solution because on cited by Mr. Thompson, he states that it "seems to have been pretty clearly shown" "that its solution in vegetable oils is liable to develop poisonous properties, which render these variable and unsafe; and it is supposed that this is due to the formation of hypophosphorous acid, by a reaction between the phosphorus and certain elements of the oils, under the influence of light, air and moisture." Too much credence, according to many authorities with whom I have communicated, seems to have been placed by Dr. Squibb on Mr. Thompson's statements. Most of the solutions of phosphorus in vegetable oils are poisonous, because they are active, definite, and stable in comparison with the ethereal, alcoholic, and cod-liver oil solutions which Mr. Thompson recommends. As was pointed out by your reviewer of his work, the quantity of phosphorus given in ethereal solution could not have been one-fourth that mentioned by him, i. e., one-fifth to three tenths of a grain three times a day, to a boy of ten years. Because four grammes of phosphorus are ordered to be macerated in 200 grammes of pure ether it is taken for granted that it will be all dissolved. Whereas if saturated it cannot hold in solution more than one-third of that quantity at the ordinary temperature. Reckoning on such assumption one cannot wonder that stable phosphorated vegetable oils given in doses containing an amount of phosphorus equivalent to that which Mr. Thompson supposed he was giving in phosphorated ether produced poisonous effects. It has also been shown that the supposition of their poisonous action being due to the formation of hypophosphorous acid in the phosphorated vegetable oils was erroneous. A sample of phosphorated almond oil contain ing one per cent, of phosphorus, which I kept for phosphorous acid and the hypophosphites are both fre but a very faintly acid reaction to litmus paper; and hypo quently used in medicine in doses above those which could be contained in medicinal doses of phosphorated oil. years, gave In my hands (I have not tried Dr. Squibb's process) I have found phosphorated cod-liver oil very prone to change. On keeping there is always a dark-brown deposit quickly formed on the bottom and sides of the bottle. This must detract from its strength, and probably account for the palatability (?) of phosphorated cod liver cil in comparison with an equivalent dose administered in other forms. I do not think that it will be conceded here that "its solution in cod liver oil is the best" form of administering phosphorus, I should be glad if Dr. Squibb or Mr. Thompson would set the matter at rest in regard to the poisonous property of phosphorated vegetable oils in comparison with that of phosphorated animal oils, by physiological experiments on dogs or other animals with samples, of each oil carefully prepared and of equal strength. Dr. Squibb's suggestive mode of administering phosphorated cod liver oil with glyconin and in powder is worthy of attention in regard to its appliance to phosphorated almond oil. 10, New Cavendish Street. WM. MARTINDALE. C. R. H.-The subject was recently under the consideration of the Council, and it was then decided that lists of the candidates who succeed in passing should be exhibited in the hall of the Society's house on the morning following the examination. We can see no just cause of complaint in the regulation. 1. O. U.-Any good modern school book on Arithmetic. J. Lonsdale. Your question is one that should be addressed to a medical contemporary. A. B. C.-See an article on "Preservation of Plants for Herbaria," in the Pharmaceutical Journal for March 21, 1874. Syrupus."-(1) Tortula muralis; (2) Grimmia pul vinata; (3) Mnium hornum; (4) Bryum carneum; (5) Didymodon umbellus. C. W. Lawton.-(1) He would cease to be a member of the Society. (2) By an order from a Fellow. (3) He must attend the course during the following session. (4) Yes. A. Frazer.-In most parts no examination at all is necessary. COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have been received from the authority of Mr. J. Ashburton Thompson, and others Heighington, Mr. Palmer, Dr. Hesse, Mr. Goodall, G. C., Mr. Edden, Mr. Strebor, Mr. Gallaway, Mr. Mould, Mr. * Pharm. Journ., Nov. 11, 1876, p. 407. + Pharm. Journ., July 2, 1875, p. 3, Pharm. Journ., July 2, 1875, p. 3. R. O., X. Y. Z., Y. E., Inquirer, Nemo. * Free Phosphorus in Medicine,' Pharm. Journ., Nov, 3, 1875, P, 399, AN ADULTERATION OF ACONITE ROOT. BY E. M. HOLMES, F.L.S., Curator of the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society. Aconite root possesses such powerful properties that it is very important the medicinal article should be, as far as possible, of uniform strength and quality. Yet this is by no means the case, for it is difficult to find in a commercial sample one root in a dozen which upon fracture appears sound and in good condition. This is due, according to Hanbury, to its being gathered indiscriminately by peasants, who regard neither the most advantageous time for collection, nor the proper species. This is not to be wondered at considering that the wholesale price in this country is as low as 6d. per lb. As the root is sold by the German peasants to buyers who obtain a profit by supplying wholesale dealers in Germany, and these again have to obtain a profit before it is exported to this country, it is obvious that the prices paid to the peasants must be too small to pay for careful collection. In some districts aconite root is said to be gathered by intelligent herb and root collectors who are well acquainted with the plants they gather, but what is collected by them is probably retained for home consumption, and the inferior samples exported. From the cheapness of the root, and from the fact that few roots have the distinctly conical appearance of aconite, it is evident that it would scarcely pay to adulterate it. Adulteration then must either result from careless collection, or from accidental admixture. The root which has lately been found mixed with aconite is that of Masterwort, Imperatoria Ostruthium, L., an umbelliferous plant, official in the Edin dental occurrence in aconite root from Germany is not surprising. Its value in this country is double that of aconite root, and it is obvious therefore that it has not been purposely used as an adulteration. In the sample examined, the masterwort root amounted to about 5 per cent. The characters by which it may be distinguished from aconite root are as follows: The rootstock, fig. 1, for it is properly so called, is less tapering than aconite root, is slightly compressed, and exhibits several warty zones indicating periods of growth. In some specimens, these are much less prominent than in others, but can always be traced. The whole of the rootstock is finely wrinkled transversely, so as to give it a somewhat annulated appearance. The transverse section presents very marked characters. The central portion is of a yellowish white colour, and exhibits a more or less complete ring of brownish dots. The portion next the bark presents elongated dots of a paler colour, which give this portion of the section a radiate appearance. With the aid of a lens, these dots are seen to be filled with an oily or resinous substance. The cortical portion is very thin. The rootstock has an odour comparable to bruised ivy leaves, or to the plant commonly known as cow parsley (Charophyllum sylvestre, L.), and a pungent slightly bitter taste. Fig. 2.-Aconitum Napellus, L. Aconite root is very variable in appearance internally; frequently the centre is quite hollow. Some pieces have a brownish colour, others are white and starchy, and a few present a resinous fracture. In a sound root, however, which is usually starchy or slightly resinous, a faint line may generally be traced, which marks out the meditullium. This line has usually five to nine prominent angles, see fig. 2, the number of angles being larger as the section approaches the top of the root. If the root be wetted and examined with a lens, the line is seen to consist of an irregular line of vessels, which form small bundles in the apex of the projecting angles. The cortical portion occupies nearly half of the circumference of the root. From the above characters it will be observed that the presence of oil receptacles in the masterwort root at once distinguishes it from aconite. A spiritous tincture of masterwort when dropped into water gives a blue fluorescence resembling that of quinine, and a slight milkiness, and communicates to the water its peculiar odour. By these characters its presence might probably be detected in a mixture containing tincture of aconite. ment. Marvellous properties were also attributed to it, such as giving sight, healing poisoned wounds, and restoring youth. It was sold for its weight in gold. The plant was said to have had a supernatural origin. According to Greek authors, seven years before the foundation pulverulent rain that fell in Africa, in the neighbourhood of Cyrene, silphion was suddenly produced by a kind of of the garden of the Hesperides and the Syrtis Major; the productive energy of this rain extended over 4000 stadia. Although the small percentage in the sample exAll authors agree in saying that the silphion gradually amined would lead to but very slight diminution of became more rare in the Cyrenaica from the first century strength in the tincture of aconite made from it, yet in the Christian era, and that at last it disappeared comthe appearance and odour communicated to a mix-pletely; but they explain this disappearance in various ture containing such a tincture might lead to much inconvenience in pharmacy, and throw discredit upon the dispensing department. ways. Pliny says that in his time only a single specimen of this plant was to be found in the Cyrenaica, and that it was sent to the Emperor Nero. However this may the silphion became unknown to succeeding generations, and its representation is now only found upon medals or coins bearing on one side figures of various parts of the plant (stem, root, and seeds) and on the other the head of Jupiter Ammon. It is quite time that the attention of cultivators of medicinal plants in this country should be drawn to the bad quality of the imported root, and that attempts should be made to cultivate it extensively in this country. It is very probable that, as in the Numerous researches have been made with the object case of henbane, a good article would command a of ascertaining to what, if any, existing plant the ancient fairly remunerative price. It is obvious, also, that silphion should be referred. It has been generally ac until it is possible to obtain a plentiful supply of cepted, thought without proof, that the laser was prothe roots of Aconitum Napellus, free from any admix-duced by an umbellifer; but with respect to the species ture of other species, it will not be possible to obtain an accurate knowledge of the alkaloids contained in that species. or even the genus there has been no such unanimity. Several plants growing in Africa have been successively indicated Thapsia garganica, Ferula tingitana, Laserpitium gummiferum, Ferula asafætida, Laserpitium Siler, etc. In 1817, Della Cella brought from the Cyrenaics several plants, among which was an umbellifer that he SILPHION OF THE ANCIENTS AND ITS ALLEGED supposed to be the silphion of the ancients. Viviani MODERN REPRESENTATIVE, BY M. HERINCQ. About three years since* allusion was made in this Journal to a report that a plant found in the Cyrenaica, and called by the natives "drias" (Thapsium Silphium) possessed surprising curative properties, and was claimed to be identical with the ancient silphion, the plant from which the precious "laserpitium" was extracted. Since that time this claim has been put forward more prominently, and under the name of Silphium Cyrenaicum the plant has been introduced as a specialty by a French homoeopathic house. This claim has been disputed rather warmly, and the subject being brought before the Société Botanique de France in 1874, and the materials for an examination being deficient, a wish was expressed that some botanist should examine this plant in the alleged place of its growth. This was done in 1875 by M. Daveau, principal of the seed department of the Natural History Museum in Paris, who brought home from the Cyrenaica a complete set of specimens of the so-called Silphium Cyrenaicum. The conclusion he came to was that the plant was identical with Thapsia garganica. The subject, however, still appears to excite interest, and in a pamphlet issued by M. F. Herincq, an attaché at the Museum of Natural History, Paris, the whole subject is treated in a very thorough manner. The conclusion arrived at will be best shown by the following extracts which, by the courtesy of M. Herincq in placing clichés at our disposal, we are enabled to illustrate. In order to avoid confusion, the author uses the word 'Silphion" when speaking of the plant of the ancients, and "Silphium" when referring to that of the moderns. The Greeks gave the name Silphion" (Expior) and the Romans "Laserpitium" to a plant which grew more particularly in the Cyrenaica and which yielded a gum resin when incisions were made in the root or stem. This gum resin was called "Laseros" by the Greeks, and "Laser" by the Romans, and was emplowed as a condi *Pharm. Journ. [3], vol. iv., p. 598. + La Vérité sur le Prétendu Silphion de la Cyrenaique: ce qu'il est; ce qu'il n'est pas. Par M. Herincq. Second edition. 51 pp. and map. Paris: Lauwereyns. thought he recognized in it the characters of the silphion of the coins, and also a great resemblance to the Thapsia garganica, and named it Thapsia Silphium. But the theory was not accepted as proved, for in 1826, when the Société de Géographie instituted a prize for the description of the Cyrenaica, it expressed a wish that a search should be made for the silphion among the plants of the country. M. Pacho, who obtained the prize, collected the Thapsia Silphium of Della Cella and Viviani, and believed it was the silphion of the ancients; but hesitated to pronounce definitely, because he had found his plants upon the northern hills of the district, whilst the geographical indications for the plant marked its place further south. The question was in this state when, in 1873, Dr. Laval, médecin-major in the military hospital at Valenciennes, sent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation, Paris, some seeds, labelled "Seeds of Cyrenaican Silphion," and accompanied by the following note: "This plant grows abundantly around the ruins of Cyrene and other cities of the Libyan pentapolis, upon plateaux elevated 200 to 500 metres above the level of the sea, and exposed to a temperature of 15° C. during the months of December, January, and February. It seems to prefer sandy soils, and flowers during April and May." The seeds were sent to the Muséum d'Histoire Natu relle to receive their botanical name, and the author was He saw at once that they the first to examine them. belonged to a Thapsia, and by comparing them with seeds of various species of the genus he was convinced that they belonged to the Thapsia garganica, Linn., a plant growing in Algeria, Spain, Italy and all the regions on both coasts of the Mediterranean. This opinion was confirmed by other competent authorities, but did not satisfy Dr. Laval, who visited the Museum to point out the differences he considered to exist between the Thapsia garganica and his Thapsia Silphium, which he asserted was identical with the famous silphion of the Greeks. It was then that the author first heard of the wonderful cures which it was alleged had been worked with an extract prepared from the plant. There appears to have been little difficulty, however, in demonstrating that these seeds presented no character distinguishing them from those of Thapsia garganica, as will be seen from pinnatis, foliolis multipartitis, laciniis simplicibus trifidis, the following sketches :-omnibus linearibus elongatis, utrinque hirsutis, margine revolutis." Fig. 1. Silphium Cyrenaicum. Fig. 2. Thapsia garganica. The dispute then turned upon the leaves, Dr. Laval claiming that the segments were terminated by three lobes and that this was not the case with the leaves of the Thapsia garganica; but this was easily settled by the herbarium specimens. When Viviani published his 'Flore Libycæ' he had to assist him in his diagnosis of T. garganica only the description by Linnæus, in which the trifid character of the terminal segments is not very clearly indicated. Viviani was thus misled when describing Della Cella's plant, which is also Laval's Silphium Cyrenaicum, into making it a new species as Thapsia Silphium, close to T. garganica, with the remark, "cui nostra species valde proxima." A comparison, however, of the later description of T. garganica by De Candolle with that by Viviani of T. Silphium will leave no doubt, the author thinks, in the mind of a botanist that they refer to the same plant. They are as follows: 66 Thapsia garganica (DC. Prod. iv. 202).-Foliis bitri-pinnatisectis, nitidis, laciniis linearibus acutis elongatis, secus margines integerrimis. Variat petiolis glabris aut pilis sparsis subhirsutis." 66 Thapsia Silphium (Viviani, Flor. Libycæ, 117).-Foliis Fig. 4. Fragment of leaf of Silphium Cyrenaicum, Further, M. Daveau, who met with Dr. Laval's plant between Benghazi and Dernah in 1875, says, "The leaves are divided exactly like those of Thapsia garganica, and I have also observed more or less villosity. The radical leaves are much more developed than those inserted on the stems, which are alternate with one another." The dispute next raged about the roots, the advocates of silphium contending that the Thapsia garganica has a tap-root, sometimes bifurcated at its extremity, whilst the T. Silphium has numerous large creeping divergent horizontal roots, the principal stock giving rise to four to eight rhizomes which attain a length 0.70 to 0.80 metres, and where their extremity reaches the surface give rise to a new stock. To this the author replies that the root of Thapsia garganica is always bifurcated when of a certain age, and that he has received from Algeria specimens having three, four, and even nine bifurcations, all very horizontal. As to the four to eight rhizomes springing from the principal stock, which is put forward as characteristic of Silphium Cyrenaicum, the author remarks that this character belongs to all the perennial umbellifers, except the length, and that no botanist would admit these creeping roots, 80 centimetres long, giving rise to new stocks where their extremities touch the surface of the soil. Concerning this point, M. Daveau says, "The root of this plant, which at all ages is brown, is simple while young, becoming branched when older, like that of Fig. 3. Fragment of leaf of Thapsia garganica, natural Thapsia garganica if it grows in arid and stony soil, size, from Blidah. conditions that are met with in the Cyrenaican soil. The divisions of the roots sometimes shoot perpendicularly into the soil, sometimes more horizontally, but in no case do they give rise to adventitious buds upon approaching the surface of the soil. This mode of multiplication, لا Fig. 5. Bifurcated root of Silphium Cyrenaicum. which is said to be the only one with this plant, is materially impossible, as the stalks of the Thapsia Silphium are separated in most cases by a distance of twenty metres. Moreover they frequently extend into the crevices of the rocks, where it would be impossible for them to form runners. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, represent the roots. Having finished his argument that the Thapsium Silphium of Viviani (Silphium Cyrenaicum of Dr. Laval) is identical with Thapsia garganica of Algeria, Spain and Italy, the author proceeds to demonstrate that it cannot be the Silphion of the Greeks. Professor Oersted, in his memoir on the subject,* arrived at the conclusion from a study of the designs on ancient coins that the silphion was probably a species of Narthex, which in anticipation of its discovery at some time he proposed to name Narthex Silphion. On the other hand Dr. Laval claims that the figures on the coins agree with the characters of his plant. M. Herincq, however, remembering the difficulties experienced every day in naming certain species when surrounded by all the |