264 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



principle of Ergot, and that his method ex- 

 tracts all of this substance from the drug, then 

 the above results may become of value ; as it is, 

 they can merely be regarded as indications and 

 possess interest rather than value. 



Synthetic Indigo— -It is claimed that the Ac- 

 tien-Gesellschaft fur Anilin-Fabrication zu Ber- 

 lin [Zeit. All. Oest. Apoth.) has solved the 

 problem of producing indigo synthetically, 

 which, if true, would disastrously affect the 

 English indigo trade, and revolutionize this 

 branch of the dyer's industry, much as madder 

 was displaced not long ago by alizarin. The 

 patent specifies that methylated anthranilic 

 acid (a product of coal-tar distillation) is fused 

 together, under exclusion of air, with caustic 

 alkali, the resultant compound is dissolved in 

 water and the solution exposed to the air, when 

 the blue dye, identical chemically and physi- 

 cally -with natural indigo is produced. 



Copper Tannate Against Mildew in Plants. — 

 Jone and Crouzel recommend {Pharm. Cen- 

 tralh., XXXVI, p. 407), copper tannate against 

 mildew in plants. It may be prepared as fol- 

 lows: 20 kilos (44 lbs.) of oak or pine bark, or, 

 still better, 10 kilos (22 lbs.) of fir bark, are 

 coarsely comminuted and boiled for an hour in 

 50 liters (13 gals.) of water, additional water 

 being added from time to time to make up 

 the loss by evaporation. The liquid is de- 

 canted, and 1 kilo (2| lbs.) of copper sul- 

 phate, previously dissolved in 2 or 3 liters (say, 3 

 quarts) of water, is added, and finally enough 

 water to make the whole measure 100 liters 

 (25^ gals.) Copper tannate does not attack the 

 implements, nor does it harm the parenchyma 

 of young or tender leaves, it is reported, and 

 may therefore be used to advantage on tomato, 

 potato, and grape vines— Merck's Report. 



The morphological place of moulds and yeasts, 

 respectively, has long been the subject of specu- 

 lation and research, some authorities regarding 

 yeasts as having an independent existence, 

 others considering them as only transitpry forms 

 in the life-history of moulds. Most important 

 and interesting contributions to this subject have 

 recently been furnished by the experiments car- 

 ried on in Dr. Jorgensen's laboratory in Copen- 

 hagen. In the course of some researches on 

 the diastatic power of the well-known Japanese 

 mould Aspergillus oiyzte, Juhler found that in 

 the flasks in which this mycelium had converted 

 rice-starch into sugar, it had produced a growth 

 of typical alcohol producing saccharomyces 

 cells. This most interesting observation was 



subsequently confirmed by Jorgensen, who has 

 since endeavored to ascertain if the various 

 types of alcohol producing yeasts can be traced 

 to particular moulds, and already he has suc- 

 ceeded in demonstrating the evolution of wine 

 yeast cells from a particular mould extensively 

 present on grapes. Dr. Jorgensen intends to 

 continue these most suggestive investigations, 

 and publish his results from time to time in the 

 form of a separate Berichte exclusively devoted 

 to the work carried out in his laboratory. In 

 pursuing these researches, Dr. Jorgensen will 

 not only render great practical service to the 

 science of fermentation, but he will also lay 

 botanists under deep obligation to him for hav- 

 ing rendered possible a more extended and ac- 

 curate insight into the life-history of moulds. — 

 Nature. 



Borated Carmine as a Stain for Cellulose. — 

 The aqueous solution of borated carmine is 

 much used as a stain for cellulose ; but, before 

 it can be applied, it is usually necessary to first 

 destroy the contents of the cell thus revealing 

 but the skeleton of the latter when examined 

 under the microscope. Without this precaution, 

 the alcohol used for fixing the carmine would 

 cause a dense precipitate of the latter to form 

 in the interior of the cell, thus considerably 

 hindering certain researches in histology. M. 

 M. Radais {Jour.de Pharm. et de Chim., xv, p. 

 149) has suceeded in producing a borated car- 

 mine solution which, it is claimed, does not pos- 

 sess the above disadvantages. It is made as 

 follows : 



Powdered Carmine. 2 gm. 



Sodium Borate _ 8 gm. 



Alcohol, sp. gr. 0.89 200 gm. 



This mixture is introduced into a retort pro- 

 vided with an inverted condenser. The retort 

 is then heated on a water-bath, and kept at the 

 boiling point for twenty minutes ; the mixture 

 is allowed to cool, and, finally, it is filtered. 

 The finished product should have a specific 

 gravity of 0.89. It is well, in order to allow for 

 any loss of alcohol by imperfect condensation, 

 to employ slightly stronger alcohol than that in- 

 dicated above — one of about 0.885 specific grav- 

 ity. This carmine solution is said to keep well 

 in securely stoppered bottles. The sections to 

 be stained should first be soaked, for a few 

 minutes, in alcohol of 0.89 specific gravity, and 

 then immersed in the carmine solution for ten 

 minutes or longer ; the immersion may be 

 made prolonged without danger of over-stain- 

 ing the specimen. The nuclei, and especially 

 the cellular membranes, are thereby strongly 



