84 PHARMACOGNOSY [BoT. Absts., Vol. VIII, 



1920. — The author confirms the presence of an alkaloid in garden parsley; it occurs in all parts 

 of the plant and in those but 1 year old. The root contains a fatty and a volatile oil, together 

 with starch; the amount of fatty oil appears to decrease with increase of starch. Fall seed- 

 lings store starch, while in spring seedlings starch is absent. Microscopically the root fibers 

 are similar to, and indistinguishable from, those of Angelica root. An adulteration of gar- 

 den parsley with Angelica root is highly improbable. Conium can easily be distinguished 

 microscopically from garden parsley. It has been claimed that the juice of garden parsley 

 produces dermatitis, but this seems to be due only to an idiosyncrasy of hypersensitive per- 

 sons. — H. Engelhardt. 



596. Waal, M. de. Onderzoek naar de insecticide kracht der composieten, in het bij- 

 zonder van Helenium autumnale. [Experiments in regard to the insecticidal power of the 

 Compositae, especially of Helenium autumnale.] Pharm. Weekblad 57: 1100-1107. 1920. — 

 After giving a rather complete review of the insecticidal plants now in general use, the author 

 reports on experiments with different substances claimed to act as insecticides. As test ani- 

 mals, flies, bedbugs, plant-lice, fleas, and cockroaches were used and the following substances 

 were allowed to act on them: Sabadilla seed, pyrethrum, cevadine, opium, extract of bella- 

 donna, cannabis, a mixture of cevadine and opium, tobacco, naphthalin, a mixture of borax 

 and sugar, copper acetate, pomegranate, linseed flour, lupulin, blue flag root, anise oil, for- 

 maldehyde vapors, chloroform, euphorbium, white mustard seed, kamala, lycopodium, 

 quassia, saponaria root, soap bark, and tumeric. All these substances, with the exception of 

 sabadilla seed and cevadine, gave negative results. These 2 acted on the insects as does 

 insect powder, i.e., they paralyzed the motor nervous center. An examination of more than 

 100 species of Compositae, grown in Holland, showed that only Pyrethrum roseum and Chrysan- 

 themum cinerariaefolium possess insecticidal properties. Half-opened blossoms of Helenium 

 autumnale exerted only a very slight power and this action is not due to the glucoside present 

 in the flower, but to a volatile oil, pyrethron. — H. Engelhardt. 



597. Wallis, T. E. Analytical microscopy— X. Pharm. Jour. 105: 528-531. 5 fig. 1920. 

 Micrometry and drawing are considered. — E. N. Gathercoal. 



598. Wester, D. H. Het nangaangehalte van eenige Digitalis-soorten van verschillenden 

 bodem, en de invloed van een mangaanbemestig. [The content of manganese in some species 

 of Digitalis grown on different soils and the influence of fertilizers containing manganese.] 

 Pharm. Weekblad 57: 660-662. 1920. — Some years ago Burman claimed that only Digitalis 

 purpurea contains manganese and that it was not present in other species of the genus, 

 such as D. ambigua, D. lutea, etc., and that the presence of manganese in the ash of digitalis 

 could serve to distinguish the official drug from products of other species of Digitalis. The 

 author, however, found that all plants of the foxglove family contain manganese. The ash 

 of the green flowering tops of D. purpurea contains 0.7-0.85 per cent; the seeds 3.2-3.7 per 

 cent; and the leaves 1.3-3.2 per cent. In the dry plant parts, the percentages of manganese 

 in the ash are respectively 5.8-9.7, 3.5-4.1, and 6-13. In general the percentage of manganese 

 in Digitalis is to be considered as low in comparison with that of other plants. Furthermore, 

 the percentage of manganese varies considerably with the soil in which the plant grows. — 

 H. Engelhardt. 



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