374 Miscellaneous. 



deprfissa, D'Orb. ; and PeneropUs plana i us, F. & M., occurred very 

 rarely in a few shallow places. The last-mentioned forms are fre- 

 quent at several localities along the coast of Dalmatia, and, beingj 

 confined to a shallow horizon, may serve to characterize a subdivision 

 of the Littoral Zone in the diffusion of the Foraminiferal fauna. — 

 Proceed. Imp, Gool. Instit. Vienna jYehxxxfuxy 19, 18G7. 



Observations on the Situation of the Alkaloids in the Bark of the 

 CinchonjB. By Carl Mijller. 



Some years ago M. Wigand thought he had demonstrated that 

 the alkaloids of the Cinchonas reside in the liber. He had, in fact, 

 observed that when thin transverse sections of the bark of these 

 plants are soaked in a solution of cochineal, the liber-region of 

 these sections is most strongly coloured. Thinking that the alka- 

 loids in question might perhaps act as mordants and possess the 

 property of fixing colouring-matters, M. Wigand had the idea of 

 treating simultaneously, with the same tincture of cochineal, flax-bark 

 previously soaked in an infusion of bark, and cinchona-bark deprived 

 of all traces of alkaloid. He then observed that the flax-bark 

 became vividly coloured, whilst that of the Cinchona had lost the 

 property of fixing the pigment ; and from this he concluded that as 

 in the first experiment the liber absorbed the cochineal most freely, 

 this must be due to the fact that this part of the bark was richest in 

 alkaloid. 



M. Carl Miiller, having repeated these experiments without arriving 

 at the same results, attempted to solve the question by the method 

 of direct determination. For this purpose it was necessary to effect 

 the complete separation of the liber from the parenchyma ; and this 

 was by no means easy, as the liber of the Cinchonas does not form 

 thick layers, but is composed of small and scarcely visible groups of 

 cells. M. Miiller nevertheless thinks he has succeeded in sur- 

 mounting all the difficulties by the following process : — 



He commences by reducing the bark, by means of a plane, into 

 thin shavings, which he then breaks up by shaking them in a bottle, at 

 first with fragments of iron wire, and then with fine sand. By ex- 

 amining under the microscope the fragments of bark thus obtained, 

 he finds that the parenchyma is entirel}'^ detached from the liber ; and 

 he effects the separation of these two elements by an ingenious pro- 

 cess. He pours the contents of the bottle into the body of a 

 retort communicating on the one hand with a pair of billows, and 

 on the other with another retort, which is in comnmnication with a 

 receiver full of water. It is clear that by setting the bellows in 

 action the powder contained in the first retort will be strongly agi- 

 tated. The particles of parenchyma, being lighter than the rest, are 

 then driven through the whole apparatus into the receiver, whilst 

 the liber remains in the first retort or does not pass beyond the 

 second one. The nature of the deposits found in the various parts 

 of the apparatus may then be easily ascertained by microscopic 

 examination. When this operation is completed, M. Miiller treats 



