12 



THE NEW YORK TOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



of the false leaf is corrugated and hairs 

 are absent. The color ranges from 

 pale green to yellow-brown. The taste 

 is slightly bitter, but not aromatic. 



Microscopically, crystals of hes- 

 peridin and such of calcium oxalate 

 are not discernible. The palisade 

 tissue is divided into two distinct 

 layers on the upper side of the leaf, 

 the under side showing but a single 

 layer, as in the genuine leaf. The in- 

 dividual hairs in the false leaf are 

 smooth and not rough as in the gen- 

 uine. 



False Nux Vomica Seeds. 



The same author in Phar. Journ. 90, 

 1913, 510, calls attention to a variety 

 of nux vomica seeds, found in com- 

 merce, and growing in Burmah, which 

 do not contain strychnine. He was 

 unable to establish any material anat- 

 omical differences between the genuine 

 and false seed, and claims -that it is im- 

 possible to detect any admixture of the 

 false with the genuine seed when in 

 form of powder. 



Australian Sassafras Oil. 



This oil which is obtained from 

 Atherosperma moschatum, has been 

 examined by E. Scott. Both the leaf 

 and the bark of the plant are employed 

 medicinally in Australia. The leaves 

 were found to yield from 1.7 to 2.65 

 per cent, of an ethereal oil, possessing 

 a S/G of 1.027, and an optical rotation 

 of -{- 7.5°. The oil contains from 50 

 to 60 per cent, of methyleugenol, 15 

 to 20 per cent, of pinene, 15 to 20 per 

 cent, of a camphor, and 5 to 10 per 

 cent, of safrol. 



Cinnamomum glanduliferum. 



S. S. Pickles, in Pharm. Journ., 411, 

 states that this plant grows in Assam, 



and that its wood yields about 2.95 

 per cent, of an ethereal oil. The oil 

 is yellow in color and has an odor re- 

 sembling that of safrol. Its S/G is 

 1. 103, and its optical rotation = — 4°. 

 The oil contains safrol, myristicin and 

 elemicin, with small quantities of 

 acids, alcohols, ketones and aldehydes. 

 Terpenes are absent. 



The Detection and Estimation of Sal- 

 icylic Acid in Fruit Juices. 



Heintz and Limprich, in Ztschr. f. 

 Unters. d. Nahrungs-u. Genussm. 1913, 

 25, 12, 706, report as follows : 



The authors first endeavored to con- 

 firm the results claimed to have been 

 obtained by Vierhout, whose method 

 consists in shaking out the salic3'lic 

 acid by means of petroleum ether, and 

 determining it quantitatively by titra- 

 tion. They found the results thus ob- 

 tained practically valueless. 



They further found that upon shak- 

 ing an aqueous solution of salicylic 

 acid with a mixture of 2 volumes of 

 petroleum ether and i volume of al- 

 cohol, as had already been determined 

 by Vierhout, the salicylic acid may be 

 removed without emulsification, and 

 without removal of substances which 

 might interfere with the iron-salicylic 

 acid reaction. They state furthermore, 

 that when this petroleum ether solu- 

 tion of salicylic acid is shaken with an 

 aqueous solution of chloride of iron, 

 the salicylic acid, in the form of ferric 

 salicylate (violet-colored) will be found 

 entirely in the aqueous layer, the ethe- 

 real laver being colorless. Based upon 

 these findings the authors suggest the 

 following method : 



Solutions required: — (a) an aqueous 

 solution of salicylic acid, o.i : 100, (b) 



