Lond. Succus spissatus Conii maculati, Edin. Extract of Hemlock.

The London extract is ordered to be prepared in the same manner as the extract of aconite.

The Edinburgh preparation is to be made according to the directions ordered for the preparation of inspissated juices.

Succus spissatus Conii, Dub. Inspissated Juice of Hemlock.

"Express hemlock leaves, gathered when the flowers are about to appear, and allow the juice to remain six hours to deposit the faeces; then evaporate the pure juice to a proper consistence with a moderate heat."

Syn. Extrait de Cigue (F.), Schierlings-extrakt (G), Estratto del' erba della Cicuta (I.).

This extract, or inspissated juice, should be of a clear olive colour, have a foetid odour, and a bitterish, saline taste, and disengage a powerful odour of conia, when rubbed with pure potassa. One cwt. of hemlock leaves yields from three to five lbs. of extract.1 Although it be the form in which Stoerk introduced hemlock into practice, yet the narcotic power of the remedy is always impaired by this mode of preparation; and it is still more weakened by keeping, being nearly lost when a saline efflorescence begins to appear on the surface of the extract. It varies in its power according to the soil where the plant grows, and the seasons. It is used in the same cases as the powder, with which it is frequently mixed when it is to be made into pills; and is an useful adjunct to mercurials in cutaneous affections. I have given it in the manner of Stoerk, and to the same extent, in carcinomatous affections, with most decided advantage. Dr. John Davey employed it in combination with tartar emetic in pneumonia, accompanied with so much debility as to forbid the use of the lancet.

Bergius recommends it in impotency.'2 The dose is gr. iij. gradually increased to Эj ss., given twice or thrice a day.3

The extract, when good, should contain conia: and it is useless if it do not evolve the odour of it, when tested with potassa.