404 Progrexs of Foreign Scie?ice. 



yellow scales, of a perfect transparency. Put in the mouth, it 

 imparts to the palate a bitter taste; distilled water boiled on it 

 acquires this taste, without any colour. With the weak acids 

 it experiences no alteration. It is dissolved by the alkalis; and 

 the acids precipitate it from this solution. The above results 

 were obtained apparently from English hops. 



According to Doctor Yves {Annals of Phil., March, 1821,) 

 120 grains of the yellow grains, treated with different menstrua, 

 afford — 



Tannin 5 grains 



Extractive matter 10 



Bitter principle 10 



Wax 12 



Resin 36 



Fibrous or ligneous residuum . 46 



119 



M. Planche, one of the Editors of iheJourn. de Pharmacie, in 

 commenting on the above iSlemoiis on the Hop, thinks himself 

 warranted, from his own experiments, to consider the analysis 

 of M. Payen more exact than that of Doctor Yves. We are 

 promised in a future Number some remarks on the medicinal 

 properties of the above yellow matter of the hop. 



On the volatile Oil of Bitter Almonds as a Poison. Bi/ M. 

 Vogel, of Mxinich. — To deprive the oil obtained from bitter 

 almonds by distillation, of its hydro-cyanic acid, he agitated it 

 with a concentrated solution of potash, and distilled it to dry- 

 ness. The oil volatilized with the water, and the residuum in 

 the retort contained cyanide of potassium. To be certain that 

 the oil was entirely deprived of all its hydro-cyanic acid, he 

 distilled it anew with potash ; but this time the residuum con- 

 tained no cyanide of potassium. 



The volatile oil of bitter almonds, thus purified, is without 

 colour, and heavier than water. Its taste is extremely acrid 

 and burning; it crystallizes rapidly by contact of air; it dis- 

 solves easily in alcohol and ether, but only in very small quan- 

 tity in water. The flame of its combustion is very brilliant, and 

 accompanied with much smoke. 



In order to find whether this oil, freed from its hydro-cyanic 

 acid, was still poisonous, M. Vogel put a drop of it on the 

 tono-ue of a sparrow ; it died, after violent convulsions, in a 

 few seconds. He poisoned a dog, two months old, with four 

 drops of it He hence infers, that this volatile oil, well puri- 

 fied, produces on animals deleterious eft'ects, analogous to those 

 of the hydro-cyanic acid, although in a feebler degree. 



