developed into the independent house of Merck & Co., in which the family name of the Darmstadt establishment is borne by a son of the deceasedGeorge Merck. (The latter and Theodore Weicker, editor of Merck's Report, constitute the American firm.) "Wilhelm Merck, besides his intensive labors in his chosen field of chemical industry, constantly devoted notable efforts-in the unassuming way characteristic with him-to the public affairs and welfare of the commonwealth in which he resided. He was, during a quarter of a century, a member of the Municipal Council and President of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1889, Wilhelm Merck's public merits were also formally recognized by his sovereign, who appointed him Privy-Councillor of Commerce and a life member of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy, a body analogous, in that commonwealth, to what in Great Britain is the House of Lords." Hervey C. Parke, President of Parke, Davis & Co., died on February 8th. The following sketch we take from the Bulletin of Pharmacy: "Beginning life with no other capital than a stout heart, a willing pair of hands and a good name, he ended it the head of a great institution known the world over. Mr. Parke was born the son of a physician in Bloomfield, Mich., and was educated at a private school in his native village. When 16 years old he attended the High School in Buffalo for one year, after which he entered the employ of an upholsterer in that city. Two years later his parents were both the victims of an epidemic, and he returned to his home. Here he taught school for a time, and then was successively a clerk in a hardware store, a clerk in a general store, the financial manager of a mining company and a dealer in mining hardware. Then was started, after these twenty-two years of business success and education, the institution which was to engage his future activities and which was to make his name known to every prescriber and dispenser of medicine in every country on the globe. Duffield, Parke & Co. were successful manufacturers of chemicals in Detroit for four years, when Mr. Duffield's interest was purchased and the firm became known as Parke, Davis & Co. From the small three-story building and the few employes of that time, the business has grown until now three entire city squares are covered with the laboratories of the firm, and over 1,200 employes are engaged in the manufacture of its products-until the services of 130 travelers, scattered throughout the world, are required-until large branch offices have become necessary in the main American cities and in foreign countries. No better monument to the memory of Mr. Parke could be builded than the house of Parke, Davis & Co. "All through his life Mr. Parke was a liberal philanthropist. He regularly gave a large portion of his income to the support of the Church, and to many public and private charities he was a liberal contributor. Kindly in disposition, modest in demeanor and democratic in spirit, Mr. Parke was beloved by his family, his friends, his business associates and by all who knew him. The humblest employe, if personally known to him, received the same friendly nod of recognition accorded the heaviest stockholders of the corporation. When his death became known about the laboratory there was real sorrow in the heart of every employe who had known him personally, and almost every one could have been found at the funeral services a few days later." THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY MAY, 1899. SYRUPUS PRUNI VIRGINIANÆ (ACETOUS). Syrup of wild cherry has long been one of the favorite vehicles not only for the administration of active remedies, but on account of its agreeable taste; it is often used per se for allaying slight bronchial irritation. Pharmaceutically no great difficulty has ever been experienced in making a good syrup, but the presence of tannin in considerable quantity has created much difficulty in making a permanent fluid extract, which possesses all of the valuable constituents and a minimum of the undesirable principles. In the series of experiments undertaken to prove the value of acetic acid as a menstruum, fluid acetract of wild cherry was made, and in the course of collateral investigations to show its miscibility with water, glycerin and syrup, the idea of using very dilute acetic acid for the infusion to be made into the syrup suggested itself, and the following formula is proposed: Diluted acetic acid, U.S. P., sufficient to make 1,000 C.C. 34 fl. oz. Moisten the wild cherry with 50 c.c. (or 11⁄2 fluid ounces old form) of the diluted acetic acid, and macerate for twenty-four hours in a close glass or earthenware vessel, then pack it firmly in a cylindrical non-metallic percolator. Percolate the wild cherry with diluted acetic acid until 450 c.c. (or 15 fluid ounces old form) of liquid is obtained. In this dissolve the sugar by agitation without Jour. Pharm , 1899 the use of heat, strain, and pass enough diluted acetic acid through the strainer to make the product measure 1,000 c.c. (34 fluid ounces old form). The quantity of acetic acid may be reduced if necessary by using for a menstruum, equal quantities of diluted acetic acid and water. The syrup thus made is light reddish-brown in color, has the characteristic peach kernel flavor, with a decidedly agreeable, acidulous taste, with the astringency greatly modified. Hydrocyanic acid is present, the acetic acid not interfering with its generation. The glycerin, it will be observed, is not added to the menstruum, but is placed in the receiving vessel; this prevents the decomposition of the infusion, which rapidly occurs when a solely aqueous menstruum is used; in addition to this less tannin is found in the product, for, as is well known, glycerin is the best solvent for tan nin. AN INVESTIGATION INTO" HUSA," AN ASSERTED PLANT PREPARATION TO CURE THE OPIUM HABIT.1 BY PROF. JOHN URI LLOYD. In February, 1898, The Texas Courier-Record of Medicine, p. 195, in the leading article, under the head, "Practice of Medicine," published a paper by W. W. Winthrop, A.M., M.D., Fort Worth, Tex., titled, "Singular Discovery of a New Florida Plant, that is an Antidote for Snake Poison, and a Cure for the Opium and Morphine Habits." This paper is not suitable for condensation, and is too long for reproduction. In substance, the author states that in Florida he found a negro who had a secret antidote to poisonous reptile bites. This negro would allow two immense rattlesnakes to bite him with impunity. To use "Dr. Winthrop's" words, "These snakes he would irritate any number of times a day and allow to bite him on the hand, arm, breast or any place indicated. This I saw frequently and investigated. After each bite he would take a mouthful of some herbs which he carried in a little bag, he claiming that these herbs counteracted the effects of the bites, which they evidently did." Read at the joint meeting of the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society and the Cincinnati Academy of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati, March 15, 1899. Naturally, the author endeavored to identify these "herbs," but the negro refused to divulge his secret. He then made the negro drunk and learned that, "Boss, de is viellies an' husen, an' I gets 'em from de Semmes in de dales," which the author interpreted as "Seminole Indians who live in the everglades." At once he started for the everglades, but found that "I could elicit nothing from the Indians, men or women." None would give up the valuable secret. Then came a friend in need in the form of a remarkable naturalist from Scotland who supplied the missing information, the event being chronicled as follows: "Just as I was about to give up the matter in disgust I met a Dr. McGregor, a Scotchman, from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, who has spent many years in Florida and along the Gulf coasts. He was gathering orchids and other plants for his university or museum. From him I learned all I wanted to know. Viellies an' huser,' as translated by him, means the spear-eared violet, Viola sagittata, huser' is husa, so-called by the Indians, sometimes hoosu; the whites call it yousa and yusee." Proceeding, the author (Dr. Winthrop) informs us that "The Viola sagittata has long been known as possessing antidotal properties for snake poison. The eclectic school of medicine use it for many purposes. Husa, however, is not much known. It is an unclassified plant of a dirty whitish-green color, about 2 or 3 inches long. It has at its summit a ball-like white formation. Where the flower should be this is hard, slightly lobulated, and is to all appearances like a small cauliflower. It grows in clumps, in moist, shady places, particularly on the hammocks at the roots of the cabbage palms. It is of a low order of plants, above the mosses; it is, I believe, a cryptogam." Thus it appears that this mixture of herbs that the negro used was (Winthrop) a mixture of two plants, one (viola sagittata) long, according to the author, known to eclectic medicine, the other (husa), unclassified. But, while the first of these was, according to the author, used by the eclectics in snake bite, etc., the second, unknown to science, was a remarkable cure for the morphine habit. This is asserted as follows: "From Dr. McGregor I learned that it is a perfect antidote for all snake bites, stings of insects, etc., also an antidote for narcotic poisons. It is the most diffusible stimulant known, acting immediately. It is, owing to these two last-mentioned properties, that it has been found to be so efficient a remedy for the opium habit. I have tested it beyond question, and in every case, without one single exception, it is found to be a perfect cure. It takes the place of opium or morphine. Supporting the patient fully, it is sedative but not narcotic. It produces slight elation, but no somnolent effect. To use the illustra tion of one physician who cured himself of the opium habit with it, a habit of twenty-three years' standing, and using 40 grains sulph. morph. daily, 'It makes a man feel just as easy and comfortable as one feels after a satisfying meal.' As soon as I learned its properties, I sent some of the husa plant to several doctors I knew who used morphine; they one and all pronounced it 'a perfect success.' I have never known of a failure when the patient wanted to be cured. In the hands of a careful physician this remedy will be found efficient in the worst cases of drug addiction. * * With husa, physicians can cure their patients addicted to the use of opium, morphine, etc., instead of letting them get into the hands of quacks." * The paper ends with the statement that "Any physician interested in this matter will find me willing at all times to give him all the information I possess on the subject." Soon following this came a leading editorial in The New York Medical Journal (April 16th, p. 538, 1898), based on the foregoing paper from The Texas-Courier Record, in which the editor finally remarked that "It is to be hoped that the botanists will give us some information about Husa,' and that its medicinal virtues may be inquired into systematically." Succeeding this, The New York Medical Journal, June 25, 1898, gave place to a personal contribution from Dr. Winthrop, who added as follows: "It has an acrid taste when chewed in a recent state. The tinc. ture, according to its strength, is a diffusive stimulant, causing a gentle excitement to pervade the entire system, making one inclined to talk, laugh and have fun.' The active principle, husin, consists of white, very light flocculent, minute crystals which agglomerate into lumps when exposed to the air. It is poisonous as atropine or strychnine, of a grain causing violent beating of the heart, as though it would pump itself through the thorax. The blood rushes through the blood vessels with a resilient sweep that can be fol |