THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



87 



morphine precipitate titrated directly with the 

 standard acid. But the method by drying the 

 precipitate, before washing with benzene, is to 

 be preferred.— ^rzV. and Col. Drus;., 1894, 372. 



The Preservation of Infusions. — E. White 

 sterilizes the flask which is to hold the infusion 

 by boiling distilled water in it for ten minutes 

 and then the infusion is poured into it and the 

 necjc immediately closed with sterilized wool. 

 If in any case it might be thought admissable, 

 the raising of the contents of the flask to the 

 boiling point after plugging renders their pre- 

 servation more certain. In case of cold-water 

 infusions such as calumba and quassia, filtration 

 through the kieselguhr block of a Berkefeld 

 filter into a sterilized flask is recommended. 

 Flasks being inconvenient for keeping these 

 preparations, the author has devised bottles with 

 taps at the bottom, and the mouth closed by a 

 rubber cork through which a thistle-funnel, 

 plugged with sterilized cotton wool, passes. 

 Rinsing several times with sterilized water be- 

 fore adding the infusion is sufl&cient sterilization 

 if it be not required to keep the infusion for 

 more than a month. — Phann. Jour. Trans., 

 1894, 686. 



Sodiiun Peroxide. — This powerful oxidizing 

 agent is made by the combustion of metallic 

 sodium in pure oxygen. In oxidizing powers it 

 far excells hydrogen and barium peroxide. In 

 contact with water, oxygen is evolved with 

 violence, with glacial acetic acid and Benzalde- 

 hyde (oil of bitter almond) it inflames with ex- 

 plosive violence. With charcoal, when warmed 

 explodes, in contact with sawdust inflames, like- 

 wise with ether. In contact with alcohol it is 

 indifferent, hence answers as solvent for oxyda- 

 tion of many organic substances, thus iodine to 

 periodic acid, lead oxide to orthoplumbate of 

 sodium. Reduces silver and mercury salts, 

 also permanganate potassium. Sulfur and sul- 

 fides are oxidized to sulfuric acid and sulfates. 

 In the industry is employed in very dilute soliv 

 tion for bleaching purposes.— V. C. 



Cinchonifine .—U. Jungfleisch and E. Leger. 

 {Compt. rend., 1894, 536). Cinchonifine ranks 

 among the alkaloids insoluble in ether, and 

 also insoluble in alcohol of 50 per cent. It 

 crystallizes out of boiling alcohol in small, 

 anhydrous needles, brilliant and colorless. It 

 is insoluble in water, ether and dilute alcohol, 

 very slightly soluble in the cold in alcohol and 

 chloroform, but soluble in alcoholized chloro- 

 form. Melting point, 273.6°. If strongly heated 

 it is volatilized with decomposition. It is dextro- 

 rotatory. Cinchonifine renders tincture of 



litmus blue, but does not redden phenolphtha- 

 lein. The alkylic derivatives of cinchonifine 

 crystallize distinctly. Details of a large num- 

 ber of salts are given. Hesse, after having con- 

 tested the existence of cinchonifine, has recently 

 described, under the name of homocinchonine, 

 a base which presents great analogies with 

 cinchonifine, and is obtained in a similar man- 

 ner. 



Chlorides in Urine. — Freund and Toepper 

 {Ceniralh. f Klin. Mes.) Mohr's process is 

 made available for the determination of chlor- 

 ides in urine, by adding to the urine j^ijth vol- 

 ume of a mixture of a 3 per cent, acetic acid 

 and 10 per cent, of sodium acetate. — Cheni. 

 News. 1894, 145. 



lotal Nitrogen in Urine. — Petit and Monfet 

 decompose 10 Cc. of urine by Kjeldahl's 

 method with 5 Cc. fuming sulphuric acid and 

 a little mercury; then add water when the 

 mixture is cold and colorless, neutralize with 

 soda, acidify with a few dropsof sulphuric acid, 

 make up to 50 Cc, and determine the nitrogen 

 with hypobromite in 10 Cc. of the liquid. — 

 Ibid. 



Carborundum. — G. Deprez mentions certain 

 artificial substances rivalling the hardness of 

 the diamond, i. Crystalline boron, obtained 

 by a costly process. 2. Moissan's artificial 

 diamond, which has not yet been produced in 

 a practical manner. 3. The product obtained 

 by Schiitzenberger in his researches on the com- 

 pounds of carbon and silicon carborundum. It 

 contains 70 per cent, of silicon and 30 per cent, of 

 carbon. It is obtained by passing an electric 

 current through a mixture of coke, sand and 

 common salt. The process is conducted in a 

 furnace. — Rev. Univ. des Mines et de la Metal., 

 Jan., 1894. 



A Symmetrical Aplanetic Objective. — C. V. 

 Zenger's lenses have the advantage of correct- 

 ing: I. The exact achromatism for the entire 

 length of the spectrum. 2. The astigmatism to 

 a great degree. 3. They reduce the spherical 

 aberration for a suitable aperture to the mini- 

 mum value of one second of an arc. 4. They 

 absolutely correct the curvature of the field. — 

 Compt. rend., Feb., 1S94, 



Filtration with an [diverted Funnel. — A. 

 Unguer in Zeitschr. f. anal. Chem., xxxii.. 

 Part 5, The mouth of the funnel is turned 

 downwards and covered with filter paper, over 

 which is tied a protective tissue. For this pur- 

 pose the funnel is provided with a projecting 

 edge. 



