68 PHARMACOGNOSY [Bot. Absts., Vol. IX, 



west. Its evil effects are similar to those of the Oriental Indian Hemp (Cannabis). Unfortu- 

 nately, the mescal buttons are regarded with superstitious reverence and are used in religious 

 ceremonials. — Wm. B. Day. 



457. BoHRiscH, P. Ueber Tupelostifte. [Concerning tupelo tents.] Pharm. Zentralhalle 

 62: 109-111. 1921. — The writer does not agree with Braux's statement, that tents made from 

 tupelo wood, Nyssa aquatica L., are ineffective because they do not swell as readily as tents 

 made from Laminaria. When the wood is pressed to from 1/4 to 1/5 of its diameter, it swells 

 to about 3 times its thickness when placed in water. — H. Engelhardt. 



458. BouLAY, A. Note sur les caracteres et la composition de I'huile de Gillesiella congo- 

 lana. [Character and composition of the oil of Gillesiella congolana.] Bull. Sci. Pharm. 27: 

 G2G-Ci2S. 1920. — The fruit of Gillesiella congolana contains about 51 per cent of a yellowish- 

 brown, transparent oil which has a taste recalling that of oil of sweet almond. It has the sp. 

 gr. 0.9159, a saponification value 192.5, and an iodine value 93.8. The combined fatty acids 

 melt at 29°C., have a saponification value of 205.7, and the molecular weight 272.2. They 

 consist of 35 per cent of solid and 65 per cent of liquid fatty acids. The former consist of erucic 

 and palmitic acids, while the latter are composed of oleic acid with a small amount of linolenic 

 acid. These consta,nts do not quite agree with those given by Pieraerts, but the author 

 believes that the discrepancy is due to the fact that the samples examined differed considera- 

 bly in weight and in size. — H. Engelhardt. 



459. Bouquet, J. Documents sur la matiere medicale indigene dans I'Afrique du Nord 

 (Sud Tunisien.- Extreme-Sud Constantinois. — Maroc Occidental.) [Reports on the native 

 medicinal plants of northern Africa (southern Tunis; southernmost Constantine; western 

 Morocco).] Bull. Sci. Pharm. 23 : 22-36, 73-S4. 1921. — An exhaustive compilation of the vari- 

 ous plants used for medicinal purposes in northeastern Africa. — H. Engelhardt. 



4C0. Bridel, Marc. Sur la conservation des preparations galeniques de gentiane obtenues 

 avec une racine de gentiane sechee a Pair sans fermentation. [The stability of galenical prepa- 

 rations of gentian, obtained with an air-dried gentian without fermentation.] Jour. Pharm. 

 et Chimie 22: 411-418. 1920. — Both in the powdered drug and in the alcoholic extract, 

 which had been kept for 9 years, no loss in carbohydrates had occurred. The loss 

 in these substances was, however, a very great one in liquid alcoholic preparations. The 

 percentage of gentiopicrin was only slightly reduced in a tincture prepared with 95 per cent 

 alcohol, but more so in other alcoholic preparations and especially in one prepared by extract- 

 ing the drug with boiling alcohol. It had entirely disappeared from the powdered drug 

 when the latter still contained an appreciable quantity of a glucoside hydrolyzable by emul- 

 sin, probably a cleavage product of gentiopicrin. A tincture of gentian prepared by macera- 

 tion with 60 per cent alcohol contained no gentiopicrin from the time of its preparation, but 

 contained a glucoside with a reducing factor almost equal to that of /3 ethjdglucoside. — 

 H. Engelhardt. 



461. Delaunay, M. p. Presence de la loroglossine dans plusieurs especes d'Orchidees 

 indigenes. [Presence of loroglossin in several species of native Orchideae.] Jour. Pharm. 

 et Chimie 23: 2(35-272. 1921. — The glucoside loroglossin which was isolated from Loroglossum 

 hircinum Rich, by Bourquelot and Bridel could also be isolated from Orchis sitnia Lam., 

 0. hifolia L., Cephalanthera grandifolia Babingt., Ophrys aranifera Huds., and 0. apifera 

 Huds. The Orchideae which are closely related botanically by their morphological character 

 are also closely related chemically. — //. Engelhardt. 



462. Diedrichs, A., und B. Schmittmann. tjber indisches Curry-Pulver. [Indian 

 currj' powder.] Zeitschr. Untersuch. Nahrungs- u. Genussmittel 40: 3nl-364. 1920. — Chemi- 

 cal analyses. — H. G. Barbour. 



