114 PHARMACOGNOSY [Bot. Absts., Vol. VI, 



exceeding 20 per cent is present, a distinct pink color will develop in the oily layer. If less 

 than 20 per cent is present, the pink color is hardly distinguishable. Heating on a water- 

 bath for 20 minutes tends to deepen the color. Some other oils, notably cotton-seed oil, also 

 respond to this test but no pure olive oil does so. — E. N. Gathercoal. 



813. Corfield, C. E., and E. Caird. The fat of Momordica seeds. Pharm. Jour. 104: 

 43. 1920. — An examination of the fat contained in the seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis , 

 a cucurbitaceous plant indigenous to India, Formosa and the Philippines, indicates that it 

 possesses certain characteristics of drying oils, without the property of producing a varnish 

 as does linseed oil. After heating, it behaves as a semi-drying oil, and, admixed with drying 

 oils, might be used in paints and varnishes. The seed kernels, by extraction with petroleum 

 benzine, yield 47 per cent of fat. The fat obtained from the heated seeds by expression solidi- 

 fied on cooling to a pale green granular mass, easily liquified. On exposure to air and day- 

 light it oxidized to a whitish mass easily pulverized. In a film exposed at 100°C, oxidation 

 was complete in three days and the fat has assumed a stiff, granular, gelatinous form, easily 

 disintegrated. The constants of the fat, its fatty acids and alcohols, indicate that it consists 

 chiefly of the glyceryl esters of saturated fatty acids. Some unsaturated fatty acids are 

 present but no wax-alcohols. The seeds contain no alkaloids. — E. N. Gathercoal. 



814. Darbaker, Leastjre K. Vinegar bee. Jour. Amer. Pharm. Assoc. 9: 510-512. 

 1920. — Author reports that in practically all vinegar bees examined there were present two 

 main organisms: Saccharomyces tyrisormis and Bacterivm vermiformae. Other organisms con- 

 stantly found and isolated were Mycoderma aceti and Mycoderma vini. A discussion of these, 

 as well as a number of other organisms follows. — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



815. Dott, D. B. Opium assay from the international standpoint. Pharm. Jour. 104: 

 199. 1920. — The desirability of internationally established processes of assay for potent 

 drugs is indicated. The various opium assays of different pharmacopoeias are discussed. 

 The process of the British Pharmacopoeia, with certain modifications adapted from the Jap- 

 anese and the French pharmacopoeias, gave more accurate results in the hands of various 

 workers than had hitherto been observed with any other process. Final titration rather than 

 the weighing of the purified morphine was preferred and the elaborate process of the United 

 States Pharmacopoeia was not approved. — E. N. Gathercoal. 



816. Dox, Arthur W. Notes on soy bean urease. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 92: 153-157. 

 1920. — In a study of a number of different varieties of soy beans, as to the urease activity, the 

 author reports that some difference exists, but that this difference appears to bear no relation- 

 ship to the germinating power of the seed or the protein content of the latter. It was dem- 

 onstrated that urease was in seeds that were practically dead. In regard to the best tempera- 

 ture to secure greatest activity, the author reports above 50° and probably below 60°. — Anton 

 Hogstad, Jr. 



817. Du Bois, Louis. Cantharides assay. Amer. Jour. Pharm. 92: 157-160. 1920.— 

 A new method is given for the assay of cantharides, which is similar to that of Baudin, modi- 

 fied only so to make it a complete-extraction method, instead of an aliquot one, and which 

 the author states is preferable to the present United States Pharmacopoeia method. The 

 author states that the chief objection to the U. S. P. method is that lower results for both 

 "combined and free" cantharidin were obtained by this than he obtained for "free canthara- 

 din" alone by his method. The crystals obtained by the U. S. P. method were dark and resi- 

 nous, while those obtained by the author's method were clean and white. — Anton Hogstad, Jr. 



818. Farwell, O. A. Adulteration of American centaury and maidenhair fern. Bull. 

 Pharm. 34: 238. 1920. — Three bales of American centaury examined by the author and weigh- 

 ing 472 pounds contained 113 pounds of drug true to name. The balance consisted of Rhexia 

 virginica and Stylosanthes biflora which were not intermixed with the century but each spe- 

 cies occupied a distinct layer by itself, the American centaury occupying the outermost por- 



