water, dried, and digested in alcohol; by distilling this solution the quinine is deposited. BLACK AND GREEN TEA.-Mr. Brande has lately made a comparative analysis of black and green tea, from which he finds that "the quantity of astringent matter, precipitable by gelatine, is somewhat greater in green than in black tea, though the excess is by no means so great as the comparative flavours of the two would lead one to expect. It also appears that the entire quantity of soluble matter is greater in green than in black tea, and that the proportion of extractive matter, not precipitable by gelatine, is greater in the latter." This accounts for the greater degree of roughness of green over that of black, as this principle is owing to an astringent matter contained in tea, denominated tannin. Jelly, obtained by boiling certain animal substances, particularly skin, in water, when added to a solution of tannin, forms a particular combination with it, by which it is separated from the fluid in which it was dissolved; and would, therefore, spoil the finest pot of tea we could make, a serious experiment, by the bye, to many of our domestic "quid nuncs," who retail their scandal in the same proportion as they measure their tea, and who drink a quantity of this beverage in proportion to its goodness. Oil of vitriol, spirit of salt, vinegar, &c. separate the tannin from an infusion of tea; subacetate of lead, or cerusse, as it is called, mixed with an infusion of tea, separates a bulky buff-coloured matter, leaving the remaining fluid entirely tasteless and colourless. Mr. Brande's experiments upon the respective quantities of matter of tea capable of being dissolved in water, and the proportion of inert woody fibre which communicates no virtues at all to boiling water, may be shewn by the following table: PRUSSIC ACID.-An excellent paper, detailing experiments with this substance, has been published in a contemporary journal, by that excellent surgeon, Mr. Anthony Todd Thompson. He has, for the first time, employed this powerful medicine as a local application; and the cases which he details, proves the value of it, when used in this manner, for the cure of certain cutaneous affections, accompanied with great itching and irritability. He says, that having No. 75.] Prussic Acid. 79 been convinced by numerous experiments on quadrupeds, and also from closely watching its effects on the human body when taken into the stomach, that prussic acid is a direct sedative, and diminishes more suddenly and effectually than any other sedative the sensibility of nerves; he was induced to investigate its powers as a local application, and his success in the practice has well rewarded the labours of the pursuit. The disease made choice of by Mr. Thompson, for the external application of the remedy, was an inflammatory eruption on the left leg of a stout, and otherwise healthy, man, which consisted of minute pustules, surrounded by a red, glazed base; and where they were unbroken, the pustules were filled with a yellowish fluid. In many places along the shin, where the bone is covered by little more than skin, the surface was excoriated, and the intermediate parts red, shining, and perforated with minute pores, from which a thin ichorous discharge poured out; while other parts of the surface were covered with thin, yellowish flaky scales, turning up at the edges, and oozing out from beneath them the same ichorous discharge that was supplied by the broken pustules. The patient complained of the most intolerable itching and tingling of the limb, which completely destroyed his rest at night, and obliged him to rub and scratch the diseased part, although he was well aware, that by doing so, he only increased the evil: he had tried a great variety of ointments, which had only aggravated the tingling and itching, and had taken a considerable quantity of purgative medicines. In this troublesome affection, the discharge which exudes from under the flaky crusts that characterise the eruption, is thin, and so extremely acrid, that it excoriates even the surrounding healthy skin, wherever it touches it, and thus spreads the disease to unaffected parts. The itching and tingling in the limb is almost insupportable, particularly at night, when the patient is warm in bed, and little benefit is derived from the employment of any of the ointments or lotions commonly prescribed, or even from the internal exhibition of the largest doses of opium: indeed, the abraded surface frequently becomes so morbidly sensible, that the mildest applications cannot be borne. In this case, the torments of those afflicted with this disease are most lamentable; and hitherto the sympathy of the medical attendant has been the only consolation he could offer to his patient. Reflection on the causes of this extreme_irritability of the surface under this cutaneous disease, led Mr. Thompson to conclude that prussic acid would have the effect of moderating the susceptibility of the diseased surface, from which the discharge would consequently become milder; and he expected, that should the remedy have the effect of diminishing the excitement of the cutaneous vessels, by which this discharge is supplied, the exudation would be greatly diminished in quantity, and rendered considerably less acrimonious. These anticipations, he observes, were verified in the first case on which he tried the experiment. Mr. Thompson did not, however, succeed equally to bis wishes in his first attempts at relieving this disorder by means of the prussic acid, in consequence of the internal remedy, which he administered, being incapable of correcting that disordered state of the constitution that most probably is the cause of the local affection: this was no other than the prussic acid itself, which, he was in hopes, when exhibited internally, would subdue the morbid irritability of the system, and restore the functions of the various organs to a healthy state. His disappointment, however, in these views, led him to investigate how far the digestive organs were implicated in this disease; and he then discovered, that in most of the cases which fell under his observation, there was a superabundant acidity of the stomach, the motions were slimy and irregular, and denoted a deficiency of bile in the bowels, and he further observed, that a chilly fit, succeeded by heat, constituting a paroxysm of fever, made its attack every evening. Being in possession of these facts, he concluded it would be more proper to begin the cure by altering the action of the liver, which was effected by giving the patient a mercurial preparation, in such doses as would enable it, also, in combination with an active purgative, to stimulate the orifices of the ducts of the liver, and thus increase the supply of bile to the bowel in which they terminate at the same time, he thought it would be right to neutralize the acid in the stomach, by exhibiting an alkali in large doses; the alkali, at the same time, improving the secretion of the stomach, by diminishing the irritability of that organ. And, at the same time, he began his attempts to moderate the local irritation by the external application of the prussic acid. The plan of treatment adopted by Mr. Thompson, in the case of a patient at Pimlico, detailed in his paper, will furnish sufficient evidence of the manner in which these indications were fulfilled; it was the following: Take of Pills of Quicksilver, Compound Pills of Calomel, of each half a drachm; Beat them together, and divide the mass into 30 pills; of which one Infusion of Bark, 12 ounces.-Mix. Spirit of Wine, 1 ounce; Distilled Water, 10 ounces and a half.-Mix. And keep the whole of the part affected constantly moist by means of soft rags soaked in this lotion. The patient is desired to live on a light animal diet, avoiding sweet articles, raw and crude vegetable matters, spirits and malt liquor. PRICE'S EPITOME of PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY. -This is the title of a little work just published by Dr. Price, which contains a great deal of information in a condensed space. It is a well-known fact, that persons practising the healing art, should not only have a knowledge of the nature of diseases, and of the remedies adapted for their cure, but should also be well acquainted with the No. 75.] Price's Epitome. 81 changes effected in the qualities and properties of medicinal articles by their chemical influence upon one another, when two, or more o them, are combined in the same prescription. There are a great variety of medicines in the apothecary's shop, that cannot be mixed without instantly suffering a change, that completely alters their nature, and either takes from them, almost entirely, their medicinal properties, or gives them new ones very foreign to the original. It becomes then an inevitable consequence, that no person is qualified to practise medicine, who is unacquainted with the laws of chemistry that determine these changes; a knowledge of this science, therefore, is the necessary qualification to fit a medical man for the duties of his profession; so that he may judiciously blend the remedies which Providence has sent for the relief of suffering humanity, instead of defeating even his own wishes and intentions by improper combinations, which he had neither the foresight to anticipate nor the talent to appreciate. For, as the author, in his preface, very correctly observes, "Medicine is a two-edged sword, which, if used at random, returns upon the head of the unwary; it is a blessing when ministered by the hand of science, but it is a direful curse when dispensed by the designing or the ignorant." The little work before us presents itself as a monitor, by whose assistance, errors, such as we have been describing, may be avoided, and it admonishes while it instructs. It exhibits, in alphabetical arrangement, the articles of the London Pharmacopoeia in one column, whilst, in an opposite one, are the names of those substances which it ought not to be combined with in one potion; we shall here give some examples: Salt of Hartshorn, Magnesia, By the above is meant, that neither magnesia, nor cream of tartar, nor Epsom salts, nor calomel, should be mixed with salt of hartshorn, Gamboge, Infusion of Senna. The foregoing examples will be sufficient to inform the reader of the nature of this valuable little book. The author professes no originality, but has been at the pains of arranging so condensed a compilation of his materials, as to present them to his readers in an infinitely smaller space (and we may add more perfectly too) than is to be found in any other production, and any particular information sought for may be obtained in an instant. We believe there is no practical medical man to whom it will not prove useful; the best informed, except gifted with unusual powers of memory, will sometimes be in doubt, and must seek a remembrancer, whilst those not well versed in chemistry (and who are by far the greater number) will find it as useful a friend as Mentor to Telemachus. WENS.-SIR,-Should the following statement of cases that fell under my eye be worthy your attention, I shall be happy in having communicated them for your most invaluable work, the Gazette of Health: and so Ann Cooper, a servant of mine, had a wen fixed on the top of her nose; it continued to increase between two and three years, rapidly during the last six months of that time, that one eye was very nearly closed, and the other not much less. She applied to several medical men in this neighbourhood, who told her nothing but the knife could remove it. In great terrror at the idea of an operation, she consulted two physicians, who also asserted the same. Some |