C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



5J51 



other oils also possess a high specific 

 gravity and viscosity, these can usually 

 be identified by some special character- 

 istics. Thus, castor oil by its solubility 

 in alcohol and its high acetyl value; 

 soluble castor oil (blown castor oil), by 

 showing presence of a considerable quan- 

 tity of hydroxy acids, which are insol- 

 uble in petroleum benzin. Certain var- 

 nishes and like products obtained from 

 linseed oil, may readily be recognized by 

 odor or by the phytosteryl acetate test. 

 Hydrogenated marine animal oils may 

 be identified by examination of the un- 

 saponifyable matter for presence of 

 octodecyl alcohol, m. p. 60° C. The con- 

 stituent of marine animal oils to which 

 the octobromide reaction is due, namely, 

 clupanodonic acid, is also found, in 

 small quantity, however, in some oils 

 or terrestrial animal origin. In case of 

 doubt, however, recourse may be had to 

 a determination of the quantity of this 

 acid present, and also to the iodine value 

 of the oil itself, or that of the separated 

 fatty acids. 



Thebaine and Phenyldihydrothebaine. 

 M. Freund and E. Speyer, Berlin, 

 1916, report on investigation results of 

 phenyldihydrothebaine. The authors 

 state that this compound may be re- 

 garded as having the same structure as 

 the alkaloid itself. They furthermore 

 claim that no aliphatic double bonds are 

 present as is claimed by Knorr, arriving 

 at this conclusion because of the fact that 

 the compound resisted reduction by 

 means of any of the ordinary methods, 

 in both acid and alkaline solutions. In 

 presence of colloidal palladium the ab- 

 sorption of one hydrogen molecule was 

 noted, the resulting compound proved, 

 however, to be a secondary base ( C24 H^s 



O3) NH. CH3, and was formed by the 

 breaking of the nitrogen ring, and not 

 by "an addition 'because of a double link- 

 age. It was furthermore shown that the 

 formation of dihalogen-phenyldihydro- 

 thebaine is surrounded by difficulties, and 

 that there are obvious structural changes. 



J' 



Arsenobenzene Derivatives. 

 Denysz, J., in Comptes rend., 1916. 

 246-248, 163, discusses the causes of the 

 injurious effects often observed after the 

 injection of these bodies. He claims that 

 the injurious effects often noted by the 

 injection of bodies containing the arseno- 

 benzene group, such as neo and novo- 

 salvarsan, are caused by the formation 

 and deposition of a precipitate which oc- 

 cludes the capillaries. This was found 

 to be especially true in case of the mono- 

 and di-sodium salts of the arsenobenzene 

 derivatives in presence of mineral salts, 

 such as sodium chloride. This precipi- 

 tation may be retarded or prevented in 

 the presence of blood serum, sugars and 

 glycerin. In case of prolonged treat- 

 ment he recommends that only very dilute 

 solutions be employed. He also recom- 

 mends that the di-sodium salts be em- 

 ployed in place of the neutral products, 

 claiming that these are more active and 

 also safer. It is also pointed out that the 

 appearance of distressing and unpleasant 

 symptoms within 6 hours after an in- 

 jection, caused by the formation of the 

 afore-mentioned precipitate, is really an 

 essential factor in the efficiency of these 

 products in a therapeutical sense. 



Removing Formaldehyde VapOrs. 



A. Scholtz, of Hamburg, has patented 

 a process having for its object the rapid 

 removal of noxious vapors after disin- 



