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HHE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



soft paraflan with woolfat — was spoken of by 

 Professor VULPIUS as not being in all cases sat- 

 isfactory, as, for instance, in making red oxide 

 of mercury ointment or ointments containing 

 potassium iodide. 



Ur. V. OefelE read a very interesting paper 

 on thes'ate of pharmacy before the time of Hip- 

 pocrates, in which he showed that although 

 the practice of medicine was not separated from 

 that of pharmacy among the Greeks and Ro- 

 mans, there was such a separation among the an- 

 cient Egyptians, from whom the distinction was 

 handed down to the Copts and by them to the 

 Arabians, and, in fact, that the term pharmacist 

 is probably of Egyptian origin, being derived 

 from Ph-ar-maki, which signifies the preparation 

 of medicine from drugs. The Egyptian phar- 

 maki who were engaged in that occupation be 

 longed to the higher social ranks of writers or 

 academically-educated persons comprising also 

 the priests, physicians, statesmen and military 

 commanders. 



A paper of more practical character was then 

 read by Professor Partheil, of Bonn, upon the 

 methods of testing various drugs, etc. , in regard 

 to their medicinal value, ammonium carbonate, 

 extract of nux vomica and carbolic oil being the 

 articles specially referred to. Dr. HeffTER, of 

 Leipzig, drew attention to the chemistry of the 

 Cactacae, a class of plants which have hitherto 

 been regarded only as furnishing the food of 

 cochineal insects. More recently the observa- 

 tions of Schumann, Lewin and others have 

 shown that some members of the cactus family 

 contain alkaloids. HeFFTER'S investigations 

 have furnished very interesting additions to the 

 knowledge of the Cactaceae. He has shown 

 that the mescale buttons known by the name of 

 Pellote, and often mentioned under that name 

 as being used for medicinal purposes by the 

 Mexican Indians as well as in various religious 

 ceremonies, are derived from a species of cactus 

 \\z., Anhalonium lewinii. Botanically closely 

 related to that plant is Anhaloniurn zvilliatnei, 

 which contains about 0.9 per cent, of the alka- 

 loid to which HEFFTER gives the name of pello- 

 tine, CigHiaNOo. This crystalline base is a 

 narcotic, and the plant from which it is obtain- 

 ed also contains abundance of malic acid and 

 quercite, but no tannin. Anhaloniurn lewinii 

 contains in smaller quantity a mixture of the 

 alkaloids anhalonine, C12H15NO3, mescalin, 

 C11H17NO3, anhalonidine, C12H15NO3, and 

 lophophorin, CigHi^NOj. A. fissuratuin con- 

 tains 0.02 per cent. anhaline,CioHi-NO,and^. 

 prismaticum contains a small amount of an ex- 



tremely poisonous alkaloid. Goebel has sug- 

 gested that these succulent plants may be pro- 

 tected from the attacks of insects by their 

 poisonous constituents, and that appears to be 

 the case in A. lezuinii, which is destitute of 

 protection by other means such as spines, wax- 

 coating, etc. Guided by that observation, 

 Heffter has examined other kinds of cactus 

 which are unprotected, and has found traces of 

 alkaloids in Phylloceiieus acktrvianni, Epiphyl- 

 luni russelianum and Astrophylurn myriostig- 

 ina. Echinoceneus mamillosus contains a para- 

 lyzing base, Anhaloniurn visnagra a base pro- 

 ducing violent tetanus, and some other kinds 

 of cactus contain bases which act upon the 

 heart. 



At a sitting of the combined medical sections 

 on the 23d of September, Dr. Paul Rosenberg 

 of Berlin read a paper on the preservation of food 

 materials by means of a dilute solution of form- 

 ic aldehyde in methylic alcohol, which is dif- 

 fused into the air from a porous clay slab by 

 heating. Evidence was produced to show that 

 by this means the development of pathogenic 

 bacteria is prevented or very considerably re- 

 tarded. Fresh meat, etc., treated in this man- 

 ner, and then coated with a layer of gelatin, 

 was shown, which had been kept for several 

 months without losing its freshness of smell or 

 taste. Another preparation recommended as 

 applicable to therapeutic purposes contains 

 menthol, which serves to counteract the irrita- 

 ting action of formic aldehyde upon the respi- 

 ratory organs. The very small quantity of for- 

 mic aldehyde requisite for producing the desired 

 eflfect was insisted upon as an important point. 



A paper was read by Professor Hartwich of 

 Zurich, on some abnormal peculiarities in the 

 structure of aconite tubers, and another by Dr- 

 Schneider of Dresden, on the determination of 

 boric acid, drew attention to the very remark- 

 able circumstance, that in the presence of alco- 

 hol vapor, boric acid is so very freely volatilized 

 that it can be completely distilled over from a 

 retort, if the neck is protected from cooling. 

 The application of this is likely to be of consid- 

 erable utility in analytical operations. Among 

 the subjects of the remaining papers there were 

 several of practical interest from a pharmaceuti- 

 cal point of view, such as the testing of copaiba 

 balsam, the glucosides of black and white mus- 

 tard, the methods of preserving solutions of 

 volatile substances, and the preparation of ether 

 intended for use as an ansesthetic— /%arwa- 

 ceutical Journal. 



