No. 1, Octobek, 1920] PHARMACOGNOSY 39 



270. LlNSBAUBR, L. ZurBekampfung der Kohlweisslinge. [Combating the white cabbage- 

 butterfly.] Naturw. Zeitschr. Forst- u. Landw. 17: 117 119. 1919. French war-prisoners in 

 Germany, and gardeners in various localities, have been in t lie habit of sticking branches of 

 the common black older (Sambucus ran »m :«) in the ground between cabbage rows to protect 

 them against the white cabbage-butterfly. The author successfully tried the same experi- 

 ment. It has also boon occasionally found that hemp planted with cabbage acts as a protec- 

 tion against the same butterfly. The effect of hemp is ascribed to odors emitted by the plant 

 glands; but how elder acts is not known. An effort by the author to spray the cabbage with 

 a solution obtained by boiling green leaves of black elder proved unsuccessful. — J. Rocser. 



271. May, W. L. Whorled milkweed, the worst stock-poisoning plant in Colorado. Colo- 

 rado Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 255. 39 p., 28 fig. 1920. — Whorled milkweed (Asclepias galioides) 

 has been shown to be responsible for heavy losses of sheep, cattle, and horses in western and 

 southwestern Colorado. A detailed description of the plant is given, whereby it may be dis- 

 tinguished from two very closely related species, Asclepias verticillala and Asclepias pumila. 

 The geographical distribution of the weed in Colorado, its habitat, and methods of distribu- 

 tion are discussed, also methods of eradication. — W. G. Sackett. 



272. Nelson, E. K. The composition of oil of chenopodium from various sources. Jour. 

 Amer. Chem. Soc. 42: 1204-1208. 1920. 



273. Nord, F. F. Der Acetaldehyd in der Natur, Ergebnisse des Abfangverfahren. [Acet- 

 aldehyde in nature. Methods of isolation.] Naturwiss. 7: 685-687. 1919. 



274. Sctjrti, F., and C. E. Zay. Distillazione della lolla di riso con acidi condensati per 

 la preparazione dei solventi dell'acetilcellulosa. [The distillation of rice chaff with concentrated 

 acids for the preparation of acetylcellulose solvents.] Staz. Sper. Agr. Ital. 52: 278-290. 1919. 

 — In view of the facts that furol, one of the most appropriate solvents of acetylcelluloses, is 

 not easily obtained, and that pentosans yield it under treatment with concentrated acids, 

 according to the formula C 5 Hi O 5 = 3H 2 4- C 4 H 3 O.COH, the authors utilized the large 

 amounts of pentoses in rice chaff. The production and distillation of furol is done in a con- 

 stant level still in which the ratio chaff : acid: distillate is 1:10:10, when the acid used is 30 

 per cent H 2 SOi at the start. When three parts of distillate have passed over, the constant 

 level apparatus is stopped and the acid allowed to concentrate to 50 per cent when the distilla- 

 tion is continued. When four more parts of distillate are collected furol formation has ceased 

 but there is an increase in acidity due to the formation of acetic acid, which can be recovered 

 by additional distillation and concentration. Distillation of the dilution thus obtained, in 

 presence of NaOH, with formation of NaC 2 H s 2 , and additional distillation of the distillate 

 obtained in presence of NaCl gave the furol in a concentrated solution. The yields obtained 

 were 40 grams furol, 110 grams NaC 2 H 3 02 and 650 grams of carbonaceous material, from 1 

 Kg. of chaff. The H 2 S0 4 , recovered in a concentration of 50 per cent, is well suited to the 

 manufacture of perphosphates. The carbonaceous matter obtained has a calorific value of 

 3300 (Mahler).— A. Bonazzi. 



275. Smith, F., and C. T. White. An interim census of cyanophoric plants in the Queens- 

 land flora. Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 30: 84-90. 1918. — Of the plants listed in this paper 

 13 are grasses, 10 are native ferns and 9 belong to the natural order Proleaceae. Passiflor- 

 aceae and Droseraceae are also prominently cyanogenetic families. The order Chenopodiales 

 has not been previously recorded as containing any cyanophoric plant. Twenty-two plants 

 are recorded for the first time as yielding hydrocyanic acid. Several of the plants recorded 

 are of economic importance in relation to the poisoning of stock. — J. H. Faull. 



276. Wilson, E. H. Camphor, Cinnamomum Camphora Nees & Ebermaier. Jour. Arnold 

 Arboretum 1 : 239-242. 1920. — An account of the camphor industry of eastern Asia and par- 

 ticularly that of Formosa is given. — Alfred Rehder. 



