"Veratria has, since the last year, become so important a medicine, having been recommended first by Dr. Turnbull; and now fairly ranking among the most salutary ingredients in Materia Medica, it must naturally be of great interest to the pharmaceutical and medical world to obtain so valuable a substance in its purity."--_Silliman's American Journal, April, 1836._ Price 3s. 6d. boards. ON THE PREPARATION AND MEDICINAL EMPLOYMENT OF ACONITUM NAPELLUS AND ITS ALCALOID ACONITINA. "Aconitine will cure a local pain where every description of depletive and counter-irritant has failed."--_London Medical Gazette, Nov. 5, 1836._ "Dr. Turnbull's work will be read with great interest by persons afflicted with neuralgia and other painful diseases. The profession is certainly indebted to him for drawing the attention of the public to an important, very potent, and much-neglected class of substances."--_London Medical Gazette, April 1st, 1837._ "As a topical remedy, aconitine is most valuable for the relief of neuralgic and rheumatic pains. In neuralgia no remedy, I believe, will be found equal to it. One application of the tincture produces some amelioration, and after a few times use it frequently happens that the patient is cured. In some cases the benefit seems almost magical.--_Pereira's Elements of Materia Medica, vol. II., page 1808._ "Of the great efficacy of aconitina in neuralgic and rheumatic affections, no one can entertain any doubt who has submitted the remedy to trial."--_Pereira's Elements of Materia Medica, vol. II., page 1812._ _Aconitine, discovered by Geiger and Hesse, in Aconitum Napellus and A. Ferox._--Our knowledge of this base is very limited. There is reason to think, from the experiments of Dr. Turnbull, either that the plant contains two bases, or that the aconitine of Geiger and Hesse is an _altered product_. "Dr. Turnbull has succeeded in producing, but with difficulty and in small quantity, an aconitine possessing in perfection all the active properties of the plant. It produces _numbness_ of the _tongue_ when applied to it, and is said to _contract the pupil_, whereas Geiger's aconitine _dilates_ it. In obtaining the aconitine of Turnbull, much appears to depend on the freshness of the plant; and the alkaloid itself is easily decomposed, especially by alkalies. "As a remedy in neuralgia and similar painful and obscure diseases, the aconitine of Turnbull possesses most valuable powers. Could it be obtained at a reasonable price, it would be extensively employed. At present, however, only one manufacturer has been able to obtain it, and that in small quantity. The aconitine of Geiger and Hesse does not appear to possess the same action on the system.--_Turner, Leibeg, and Gregory's Elements of Chemistry, 1842, page 1167._ CORRIGENDA. In part of the impression the following errors occur:-- Page 37, line 14, _for_ "28" _read_ 8. Page 38, line 15, _for_ "months" _read_ weeks.