part ii. Materia Medica. — Hydrargyrum.

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sleep, the preparations of bops reduce the frequency of thepulse, and increase its firmness in a very direct manner. Onedrachm of the tincture and four grains of the extract givenonce in six hours, reduced the pulsations from ninety-six tosixty in twenty-four hours. 1 He found the extract exceedinglyefficacious in allaying the pain of articular rheumatism: butour own experience has not afforded us sufficient proof of itsutility as a sedative; and Dr. Bigsby's 2 experiments have les-sened very much the confidence practitioners were disposed togive to it; indeed, we are rather surprised that the EdinburghCollege has adopted it into their list of Materia Medica. Anointment compounded with the powder of the hop and lard isrecommended by Mr. Freake as an anodyne application to can-cerous sores. We have seen a fomentation of it afford muchrelief in painful swellings and tumours. It may be given inthe form of powder, infusion, tincture, or extract. The doseof the powder is from grs. iij. to 9j.; that of the infusion, whichis made with ^ss. of the hops and Oj. of boiling water, f ^jss.with f ^ss. of cinnamon-water, twice or thrice a day.

Officinal preparations. Extractum Humuli, L. Tinctura Hu-muli, L. E.

HYDRARGYRUM. 3 Mercury or Quicksilver.

Syn. Mercure (F.}, Quicksilber (G-), Mercurio (I.), Ai6gue (S.), Abue(Arab.), Para (H.), Parada (San.).

This metal is found in Spain, Germany, and Hungary;Siberia, the Philippines, China and Peru. The most produc-tive mines are those of Idria, Carinthia, and the Palatinate;Almaden, near Cordova, in Spain 4 ; and Guanca Velica, nearPotosi, in Peru. 5 It is procured,

A. In its metallic state :

i. Unalloyed,ii. Alloyed with silver,iii. With sulphur.

Sp. 1. Native mercury.1. Native amalgam.

1. Cinnabar. Var. a. Dark red.

b. Bright red.

2. Hepatic ore, or carbo-sulphuret.

Var. a. Compact.b. Slaty.

i Observations on the Humvlus Liqmlus, Sec. by A. Freake.

- Vide London Medical Repository, vol. v. p. 97.

5 'TSpdpyvpos Grsecorum.

* This is the oldest and the richest mine of Cinnabar in Europe. It was wroughtby the Romans two thousand years ago; and yields about 6000 quintals of fluidmercury annually.

5 These were discovered in 1566 and 1567, by Henry Garces, a Portuguese.Garces was a native of Porto, and went to Peru in the Spanish service. Examin-ing one day the red earth which the Indians used as paint, and called limpi, he ob-served it was native cinnabar; and knowing that mercury was extr»cted from cin-nabar in Europe, he began to work the Peruvian mines.