26o 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



cided mixture of substances that would 

 much depress the melting point of any 

 aconitine were it present ; that sample V 

 probably contains fairly pure apoaconi- 

 tine ; that sample VI is purer probably 

 than the others, but is nevertheless im- 

 pure to a slight degree, as it is cream- 

 colored and should be white, and al- 

 though it melts close to the melting 

 point of pure aconitine, still yields the 

 same results on titration as the others 

 do. 



VI. That until we know more about 

 the remaining alkaloids and constitu- 

 ents of aconite root, no reliable method 

 of assay of the root or the active princi- 

 ple aconitine can be devised, and that 

 neither of the methods above tried is to 

 be considered as reliable. 



VII. That if aconitine is to be con- 

 sidered an official chemical by the U. S. 

 P., some effort should be made to so es- 

 tablish its identity that a physician may 

 get the effects of aconitine when he pre- 

 scribes the same, and always get the 

 same effects whenever he prescribes it. 



Pimento. — Pimento, allspice, or Jamaica pep- 

 per is the dried berry of the pimento tree of Ja- 

 maica, which grows to the height of twenty or 

 thirty feet, and the markets of the world are 

 wholly supplied from this source. The tree will 

 not grow on the coast lands, but nourishes best 

 on the mountains of the interior island. The 

 tree from the leaves of which the aromatic 

 principle of bay rum is extracted, (Pimento 

 acris) is also a native of Jamaica, but its culti- 

 vation has been neglected. The pimento tree 

 is a plant of paradoxes. It is not friendly to 

 cultivation, so that it has not been found possi- 

 ble to rear healthy plants from the seeds by 

 artificial planting, and the stock cannot be suc- 

 cessfully increased by slips. The seedlings 

 thrive, however; when the seed has been digest- 

 ed by a bird, and this source of supply is largely 

 relied upon. When it is desired to stock land 

 with pimento, the trees growing upon it are cut 

 down and their trunks are left lying where they 

 fell. The bushes and the brush are burned, and 

 the ground is planted with provision crops, 

 after a lapse of some months, young pimento 



plants may be seen springing from the soil in 

 various places. Care must be taken to keep 

 cattle from them, for they are very fond of the 

 spicy leaves and would destroy the young plants. 

 After two or three seasons, cultivation is stopped 

 and the grass is allowed to grow. Cattle are 

 permitted to pasture on the land after the trees 

 have grown out of their reach. The planter 

 has now only to keep the land clear of brush and 

 to gather his crops. The harvest begins in 

 August, just before the berries turn black One 

 of each party of pickers climb the trees, breaks 

 off the berry-bearing branches, and throws 

 them to his comrades, who strip off the berries. 

 The tree is left in a ragged condition, and the 

 process seems to be a barbarous one, but it is 

 said to be best for the trees. If they are pruned, 

 the branches cut die to the main stem; while if 

 the limbs are broken off they shortly send forth 

 new shoots; and it is claimed that the year's 

 yield depends largely on the extent to which 

 the limbs have been broken the previous sea- 

 son. The crop is next cured by drying, winnow- 

 ed, and prepared for the market. Pimento holds 

 the fifth place of importance in the exports from 

 Jamaica, being exceeded in value only by sugar, 

 rum, coffee, and fruit; but the demand for it is 

 declining, and its importance is therefore grow- 

 ing less. — The Popular Science Monthly. 



A New Oil. — Schimmels have obtained from 

 the dry roots of Peucedanum officinale .2 per 

 cent, of an oil of a golden yellow color, of very 

 intense taste, somewhat resembling that of 

 senega root. By cooling, there separates a solid 

 body, which, when purified by recrystallization 

 from alcohol, melts at ioo°C. The oil contains 

 free acids and esters, and requires 6.2 per cent, 

 of KOH for neutralization and saponification. 

 The specific gravity of the oil at 15 is .902. — 

 Seifen Zeitung. 



Solid Carbonic Acid. — Villard and Jarry have 

 studied the temperatures produced by solid car- 

 bonic acid, and have recently published their 

 results. Solid C0 2 melts at — 56 7 C. under a 

 pressure of 5.1 atmosphere. This result agrees 

 closely with that of Faraday. The temperature 

 when solid C0 2 evaporates under ordinary pres- 

 sure is— 79 . A mixture of ether with C0 2 pro- 

 duces no further reduction of temperature on 

 evaporation— it is still — 79 . A mixture of methyl 

 chloride and CO», however, behaves different- 

 ly. The latter dissolves in methyl chloride at — 

 65 without evolving any gas. When saturated, the 

 mixture falls to — 85 , and if a stream of dry air 

 be passed through the mixture the temperature 

 falls to— 90 . In vacuo (pressure^ mm. ) the 

 temperature of solid C0 2 falls to— 125 . It is in- 

 active towards polarized Wght.-Comptesrendus. 



