| Colchicum corm | 10 | parts |
| Bryony root | 10 | ” |
| Betony (root, stem, and leaves) | 50 | ” |
| Gentian root | 10 | ” |
| Camomile (chiefly stem, leaves, | 10 | ” |
| a little root, and flowers) |
M. Collin is one of the leading authorities on the microscopic characters of powdered vegetable drugs, and a microscopical examination of the specimen revealed characters consistent with this formula; such small differences as were observed were only such as might be expected between specimens grown under different conditions of soil, climate, etc.
Another formula which has been published for the powders is as follows, but the sample examined agreed more nearly with No. 1:
| II. | ||
| Colchicum corm | 20 | parts. |
| Bryony root | 10 | ” |
| Betony root | 40 | ” |
| Gentian root | 10 | ” |
| Camomile | 10 | ” |
LAVILLE’S ANTIGOUT REMEDIES.
According to Zernik, the chief constituents of the Liqueur du Dr. Laville, an antigout remedy, very popular in France, in spite of its high price and secret composition, are colchicin (about 0·08 per cent.) and quinine in alcoholic solution. The pilules du Dr. Laville are sold as preventive remedies against gout. They were found to contain extract of winter cherry, Physalis alkekengi, one of the Solanaceae (? capsicum), guaiacum resin, powdered leaves and root of the marsh mallow, and sodium silicate. Each bottle contains 75 grams, about 2½ fluid ounces, and costs 8s.
SOME GERMAN NOSTRUMS.
The following notes upon a few German remedies are quoted from Dr. Zernik’s reports in the Deutsche Medicinische Wochenschrift.
URICEDIN.
This is a Berlin product vaunted as a remedy for the gouty diathesis, but its composition is very simple; it contains 2½ per cent. sodium chlorate, and 66·5 per cent. dry sodium sulphate, the remainder being sodium citrate and sodium tartrate.