I3S 



'I HE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



BUNSEN ANTICIPATED? 



There is in the possession of Thomas 

 J, Macmahan an interesting relic of the 

 famous chemist Priestley, the discoverer 

 of oxygen. Should it be possible to 

 establish as a fact what Mr. Macmahan 

 has good reason to believe, then the 

 credit for the invention of the Bunsen 

 burner would be moved from Germany 

 to England, or, at least, divided between 

 the two. 



It will be recalled that Joseph Priest- 

 ley died in Pennsylvania in 1804, just 

 thirty years after his famous discovery. 

 With him had come from England two 

 brothers Gale, one, Charles, known as 

 the Squire, and the other, John, a 

 mechanical genius. The distinguished 

 chemist frequently called upon John 

 Gale to assist him in making appa- 

 ratus, and it was he who helped to 

 put together the apparatus used in the 

 first experiments with oxygen. 



Priestley went the way of all flesh, as 

 did also his friend John. The apparatus 

 fell into the Squire's hands, and at the 

 death of the latter it was sold, with the 

 other household and farm effects, as old 

 "lumber." Mr. Macmahan, Sr., the 

 father of Thomas J., bid on the old box 

 of odds and ends. As no one increased the 

 bid, the auctioneer knocked it down to 

 him. 



The small boy Tom afterwards came 

 along, and in order to get his voice in 

 training for its future usefulness, con- 

 structed a horn from one of the tubes in 

 the apparatus. Being out at the old 

 homestead on a visit some time ago, and 

 having acquired some knowledge of the 

 value of the old relic, he hunted through 

 the garret and found what was left ot the 

 horn. He brought it to the College of 

 Pharmacy, where it is now in the keep- 

 ing of Prof. Coblentz, who believes that 

 it was the forerunner of the Bunsen 

 burner. — Druggists' Circular. 



CHARAS: THE RESIN OF INDIAN HEMP. 



BY T. B. WOOD, M.A., W. T. N. SPIVEY, M.A., B. SC, and 

 T. H. EASTERFIELD, M.A., PH.D. 



The authors have examined "charas," 

 the exuded resin of Catmabis i?idica, with 

 a view to the isolation of the active 

 principle. The method adopted con- 

 sisted in the fractional distillation of the 

 ethereal extract prepared from the crude 

 substance. By this means four com- 

 pounds were isolated : (i) A terpene, b. 

 p. 170 — 180°. (2) A sesquiterpene, b. p. 

 258 — 259°, identical with that previously 

 obtained by Valenta from Personne's 

 "cannabene," the green oil obtained 

 when the hemp plant is distilled with 

 water. (3) A paraffin, probably CsgHgo, 

 ra. p. 63.5^64°. (4) A red oil, formula 

 CigHsiOj, semi-solid below 60°, and boil- 

 ing constantly at 265° at 20 mm. pres- 

 sure; this compound is present to the 

 extent of 33 per cent, in the sample of 

 "charas" examined. In doses of 0.05 

 gram it produces intoxication, followed 

 by sleep. The substance has also been 

 isolated by the authors from a number of 

 pharmaceutical preparations made from 

 the plant. The resin as prepared by T. 

 & H. Smith in 1847 contains no less 

 than 80 per cent, of the oil. There can 

 be no doubt that the characteristic action 

 of Indian hemp is due to the presence of 

 this compound, the constitution of which 

 is under investigation. — Proc. Chern. Soc. 



One of the latest developments in electrical 

 therapeutics is an electric poultice pad made of 

 asbestos and kept warm with an ordinary cur- 

 rent. It is given the effect of moist heat by 

 covering it with a wet flannel. The old style 

 poultice was objectionable on account of the 

 frequent changes of temperature incident to its 

 renewal. This is entirely avoided in present 

 device. 



A PIECE of gum camphor in the boxes or bags 

 where silverware is kept will keep it from 

 tarnishing. 



