io6 THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



For the purposes of a very exact determination, by this method, 50 Cc. 

 of urine may be precipitated with magnesia mixture, and set aside for 12 

 hours. The precipitate is then collected on a filter carefully avoiding 

 any loss, and washed with ammonia water (2)2 percent.). It is then dis- 

 solved in acetic acid, diluted to 50 Cc. with water, adding 5 Cc. of sodium 

 acetate solution and proceeding with the estimation as before. 



Separation of Earthy prom Alkali Phosphates. 



For the purpose of separately estimating the alkali and the alkali earth 

 phosphates, the following method may be employed : 



200 Cc. of urine are treated with ammonia water (10 per cent.) in ex- 

 cess. The mixture is allowed to stand 12 hours, after which time the 

 precipitate which has formed, is transferred to a filter and washed with 

 ammonia water (1:3)- The filter is then perforated at its apex, and the 

 precipitate washed into a beaker, and dissolved in a minimum quantitj^ of 

 warm acetic acid. The solution thus obtained is diluted to 50 Cc. with 

 water, 5 Cc. of sodium acetate solution added, and titrated with uranium 

 solution as before. The result will equal the quantity of P20,5 which is 

 combined with calcium and magnesium. The difference between this 

 quantity, and the total quantity of P2O5 in the sample will express the 

 quantity of P2O5 combined with the alkalies. Or this quantity may be 

 estimated separately, by treating the filtrate from the above operation with 

 magnesia mixture, setting aside for 12 hours then collecting the precipi- 

 tate on a filter, washing, and further treating in a like manner as for 



earthy phosphates. 



( To be continued. ) 



Abstracts. 



Fleas and the Plague. — The daily as well as the medical press, taking 

 its cue from Simonds' article on the transmission of the plague in the An- 

 nales de V Instihit Pasteur, 1898, have regarded the flea as a probable agent 

 in the spread of the plague. The fleas which live on infected rats and mice 

 are supposed to bite human beings and thus infect them. Bruno Galli-Val- 

 erio {Centralblatt f. Bakteriologie, Jan. 6, 1900) disputes Simonds' conclu- 

 sions on the following grounds. The flea that bites man (pulex irritans) 

 has an ovoid body, is reddish-brown in color and has no characteristic 

 comb-like structure on the head and prothorax. The flea of rats (typhlo- 

 psylla musculi ) has a thin body, is yellow and has spines along the head and 

 comb-like structures on the thorax. Other species of flea are found on the 

 mouse. The important feature is that none of these fleas bite man and Galli- 

 Valierio, notwithstanding the fact that he placed fleas on his body under 

 watch-crystals, was unable to make thera bite him. He therefore con- 

 cludes that this means of transmission is not probable. He does not, 

 however, give us any data as to what a hungry rat flea may do under 

 unknown circumstances. — Med. News. 



