not very long since, nine bachelors contributed a crooked sixpence each to make a ring for a young woman in the village to wear for the cure of epileptic fits to which she was subject.
The Earl of Warwick's Powder.
The Earl of Warwick's Powder is named in many old English, and more frequently still in foreign dispensatories and pharmacopœias, appearing generally under the title of "Pulvis Comitis de Warwick, or Pulvis Warwiciensis," sometimes also as "Pulvis Cornacchini." It is the original of our Pulv. Scammon Co, and was given in the P.L. 1721 in its pristine form, thus:—
Scammony, prepared with the fumes of sulphur, 2 ounces.
Diaphoretic antimony, 1 ounce.
Cream of tartar, 1/2 ounce.
In the P.L. 1746 the pulvis e scammonio compositus, made from four parts of scammony and three parts of burnt hartshorn, was substituted for the above, but neither this nor the modern compound scammony powder, consisting of scammony, jalap, and ginger, can be regarded as representing the original Earl of Warwick's powder.
The Earl of Warwick from whom the powder acquired its name was Robert Dudley, son of the famous Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's favourite, and of Kenilworth notoriety. His mother was the widow of Lord Sheffield, and there was much dispute about the legitimacy of the child, but the evidence goes to show that Leicester married her two days before the birth of the boy. He afterwards abandoned her, but he left his estates to the boy. Young Robert Dudley grew up a
