THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



295 



THE MOST RECENT WORK 



A New Cinchona Alkaloid. — Dr. de Vrij, 

 announces the discovery of a new alkaloid in 

 the bark of cinchona ledgeriana. He says that 

 ''this alkaloid is found in small quantities in the 

 bitter liquors of tire tartrates of the alkaloids 

 obtained in the analysis of this bark. The 

 nitrate (of alkaline reaction) of this alkaloid is 

 distinguished from that of the other alkaloids of 

 cinchona by its sparing solubility in water. One 

 part of the nitrate requires 1,000 parts of water 

 at 15 C. It is different from the cinchonamine 

 of Arnoud, in that it is easily soluble in excess 

 of dilute nitric acid."— Annates de Pharmacie- 



T/ie Synthesis of Castor Oil. — Dr. Juillard, in 

 a paper published in the Annates de la Soc. 

 Chitn. de Paris, claims to have affected the syn- 

 thesis of castor oil from its components. His 

 method is as follows : Into a glass flask 200 

 grammes of ricinoleic acid and 42 grammes of 

 perfectly dry glycerine are introduced and heat- 

 ed to 120 C. The flask is then transferred to 

 an oil-bath, and brought to a temperature of 

 230 , with constant shaking, so as to affect a 

 very intimate mixture of the oil and glycerine. 

 Afcer six hours the flask is removed from the 

 oil -bath and allowed to cool. The product of 

 the reaction is then washed with water to re- 

 move unaltered glycerine, and with petroleum 

 ether to remove unaltered acid. The residue 

 dried at ioo°, is a yellowish-brown oil, soluble 

 in acetic acid and alcohol, but insoluble in 

 petroleum ether. An analysis gave results which 

 agreed with the body being a mixture of two 

 molecules of triricinolein and one ofdiricino- 

 lein. The fatty acids on saponification of the 

 oil have the characteristics of ricinoleic acid. 

 It is impossible to judge of the value of this 

 paper without some further details as to what 

 the author realty means. It is not clear whether 

 he intends to affirm that he used pure ricino- 

 leic acid or whether he means the total fatty 

 acids of castor oil. Whichever he used, the re- 

 sult only agrees with the formation of glyce- 

 rides, for a mixture of the two ricinoleins cannot 

 be called "castor oil" in its proper sense, as it 

 is not even definitely known to what the pur- 

 gative action of the oil is due. — The British and 

 Colonial Druggist. 



NEW REMEDIES. 



Brotnopyri?i is, as as its name implies, a 

 bromine derivative of antipyrin. It is in fact, 

 monobromoantipyrin. It forms white needle 



like crystals, very insoluble in cold water, slightly 

 soluble in hot water and easily so in alcohol 

 or chloroform. It melts at 114 C. This body, 

 a true chemical compound, must not be con- 

 fused with the specialty which was put forward 

 under the same name, but which was merely a 

 mixture of antipyrin, caffeine and sodium bro- 

 mide. Bulyromel is a mixture of two parts of 

 fresh butter, and one part honey. The mixture 

 is advocated as an excellent oil emulsifier, for 

 use with cod-liver oil. Caneroin is a solution of 

 neurine citrate and phenol. Rubrol is a solu- 

 tion of boric acid, thymol, and a coal-tar 

 compound, which is not disclosed. It is recom- 

 mended in cases of gonorrhoea. Chemically 

 pure theobromine or dimethyl-xanthine, the 

 diureide of cacao beans, is now an article of 

 commerce. It is sold as fine white odorless crys- 

 tals, fairly soluble in hot water and chloroform, 

 and easily so in alkaline solutions. It is pre- 

 scribed in powders of 5 to jh grains four times a 

 day. Thioform, or basic dithiosalicy late of bis- 

 muth is being recommended for eczema and 

 similar diseases in the form of a dusting pow- 

 der. It contains 72 per cent, of oxide of bis- 

 muth, and possesses the constitution 



S.C 6 H 3 (OH)CO„\ /O— BiO 



>BiO.Bi( 

 S.C 6 H 3 (OH)C0 2 / \0— BiO 



Triformol is a polymer of formic aldehyde, now 

 in common use under the name of formalin. 

 Chemically, it is trioxymethylene (CH 2 0) 3 It 

 is a white powder which can revert to formic 

 aldehyde in solution. It is a very powerful 

 an tiseptic. — Ibid. 



The possibility of successfully boring for 

 water in extensive areas of crystalline rocks has 

 been demonstrated, we learn from the Septem- 

 ber number of Natural Science, at several places 

 in Sweden. The experiments were suggested 

 by certain conclusions of Nordenskiold, based 

 on the downward limit of surface variations of 

 temperature and other physical considerations. 

 He considered that vertical jointing of the rocks 

 would. not extend below 30 or 40 metres, and 

 that at that depth extensive horizontal fissures 

 must be formed. This has now been found to 

 be the case, and from these horizontal fissures 

 abundant water of great purity has been ob- 

 tained. While these results are of practical im- 

 portance) particularly with regard to the water 

 supply of small rock islands), it also opens up a 

 number of interesting general questions as to 

 the flow of water in crystalline rocks. — Nature. 



