294 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



bility bears heaviest, and the position of 

 the pharmacist as between physician on 

 the one hand, and on the other, the pos- 

 sibility of a catastrophe in which he too 

 would be liable for criminal action, is one 

 that excites our heartiest sympathy. 



The next lecture in the series will be 

 delivered at the College on the evening 

 of November 13th, at eight o'clock, by 

 Prof. H. H. Rusby. His subject, 

 "Poisonous Plants in the Vicinity of 

 New York City," will be profusely il- 

 lustrated by lantern slides which will be 

 accurately and beautifully colored. 



This lecture promises to be one of the 

 most important and interesting of the 

 season, and all the members of the 

 Alumni Association, members of the Col- 

 lege, and the Class, with their friends, 

 are cordially invited to be present. 



We regret to record the resignation of 

 Mr. A. Henning, who has occupied the 

 position of Business Manager of the 

 Journal since its inception, and to whose 

 aid and energy the success of the Jour- 

 nal has been largely made possible. We 

 had hoped that he would reconsider his 

 determination to resign, but the great 

 amount of labor which the position en- 

 tails, has been more than he could at- 

 tend to, in connection with his other 

 duties, and his resignation was at last 

 reluctantly accepted by the Alumni As- 

 sociation at its last meeting. His suc- 

 cessor has as yet, not been named. 



A new test for Gurjun Balsam.— Hirschon, 

 in a previous paper, gave two tests for the pres- 

 ence of gurjun balsam in copaiba. These were 

 (1) 2 to 4 drops of the suspected sample are 

 added to 1 to 2 c. c. of a solution of 1 c. c. of 

 strong sulphuric acid in 25 c. c. of absolute 

 acetic ether. A deep red or violet color results 

 if gurjun be present ; (2) 1 vol. of the balsam is 

 well shaken with 3 to 4 vols, of boiling water, 

 and filtered through a wet filter paper and an 



equal volume of hydrochloric acid added (1. 120) 

 a rose color is developed if gurjun balsam be 

 present. He now gives a further test, which is 

 claimed to detect 1 per ce^ . of the adulterant. 

 One volume of the balsam is mixed with 3 

 volumes of alcohol (95 per cent.), and 1 part of 

 crystalline zinc chloride. The mixture is heat- 

 ed until solution is affected. If gurjun be 

 present, an intense red and then violet color 

 appears. — Apotheker-Zeitung. 



Detection of Sulphates, Sulphites, and Ihio- 

 sulphates in the presence of each other. — R. 

 Greig Smith recommends {Ch. News) the fol- 

 lowing method for the satisfactory separation 

 of these compounds. The presence of tbio- 

 sulphate having been indicated in the prelimin- 

 ary test, add to a dilute solution of the substance, 

 solutions of barium and ammonium chlorides 

 in excess, the latter for the purpose of 

 facilitating the filtration of the barium sul- 

 phate. Hydrochloric acid is then added drop 

 by drop, until it is evident that all the barium 

 sulphite and thiosulphate are in solution, and 

 only the sulphate remains. The solution is then 

 filtered through a second moistened double fil. 

 ter paper. The filtrate must be perfectly clear. 

 If it becomes opaque, the solution should be 

 thrown out and a more diluted one used. To 

 half the filtrate, iodine solution is added until 

 a permanent yellow tinge is formed; a white 

 precipitate then indicate a sulphite which ha s 

 been oxidized by the iodine to sulphate, traces 

 being more apparent by comparing the treated 

 and untreated halves of the filtrate. They are 

 then mixed, and more iodine having been add- 

 ed if necessary, bromine water is added to half, 

 when thiosulphate is indicated by the formation 

 of a white precipitate of sulphate of barium, 

 caused by the conversion of thiosulphate to 

 tetrathionate by the iodine, and oxidation to 

 sulphate by the bromine. The absence of 

 hydrosulphuric acid must be insured before 

 carrying out this test by bubbling carbon, 

 dioxide through the solution. — The Pharmaceu- 

 tical Era. 



The Wiesbaden Laboratory. — The chemical 

 laboratory of Dr. Fresenius was attended dur- 

 ing the summer session of 1895 by 54 students. 

 The contributions from various countries were 

 as follows: Germany, 34; England, 4; Norway. 

 4; Austria, 2; Holland, Belgium, Australia, 

 Switzerland, Italy and United States, 1 each.— 

 The Brit, and Col. Drug. 



