in asthma, and the result was pretty favourable. There was more or less relief in almost every case of hemicrania and asthma in which the solution was tried ; but the cases of hysteria and epilepsy benefited by it were very few. Although the relief afforded by the solution is always temporary, yet it is in many cases instantaneous. The quantity of the solution must not be more than four or five drops in each nostril, for in one case in which it exceeded ten or twelve drops, the irritation of the membrane was severe and lasted for one or two days. Applied in the form of paste or poultice over the parts stung or bitten by poisonous insects, as scorpions, centipedes, &c., the pulp of soap-nut relieved the pain in two or three cases to my own knowledge. When bruised and agitated in water, it forms suds like soap, and in this condition is an efficient detergent and very useful for washing and cleaning the body, linen and hair. The kernel of the seeds is sweetish, nutrient, and yields an oil on expression, which is a very good substitute for almond oil.
I have been using the pericarp of soap-nut in my practice for several months, and have just (August 1887) discovered it to be the one of the best, cheapest and commonest emetics in India. While it is as safe as ipecacuanha and several other vegetable emetics, it is decidedly more speedy in its action than all those drugs. It is however, required to be employed in a much larger dose than ipecacuanha ; but this is no disadvantage, for it is always administered in the form of a draught, and this draught is less nauseous and unpleasant than that of ipecacuanha and many other emetics. As an emetic, the soap-nut well deserves to be brought into general use by the medical profession.
Soap-nut is supposed to be a good anthelmintic in some native medical works, in four or five grain doses ; but this is not really the case. I have used it in very large doses ( 3 j to 3 ij) in many cases, and its emetic action was sometimes accompanied by one or two loose motions. But 1 have neither seen nor heard of any of my patients passing a single round or any other abdominal worm on any occasion. The root of the
