80 



POPTJLAR SCIEE"OE N'EWS. 



[May, 1888. 



Dr. Paul gives the following as the characteis of 

 pure cocaine hydrochloride. It is colorless, odor- 

 less, forms a perfectly transparent and colorless 

 solution in water, and is neutral in reaction. He 

 says that the best plan for ascertaining the relative 

 quality of different samples of cocaine hydrochlo- 

 ride is to determine the amount of alkaloid obtain- 

 able by the precipitation of an aqueous solution 

 with ammonia. The chemically pure anhydrous 

 salt contains 89.25 per cent of cocaine; and when 

 the solution precipitated is not too dilute, a pre- 

 cipitate closely approximating that amount should 

 be obtained. The disappearance of a portion of 

 the precipitate, after standing some time in con- 

 tact with an excess of ammonia, is not, he says, due 

 to the solution of the cocaine, but to its decompo- 

 sition into benzoylecgonine. The method of puri- 

 fying the salt by dissolving in absolute alcohol 

 and precipitating with ether, recommended by 

 Williams, is found unsatisfactory, because the salt 

 of the amorphous base and of benzoylecgonine are 

 both precipitated under these conditions. The 

 alkaloid itself is much easier of purification; and 

 Dr. Paul recommends that the purification be car- 

 ried out first, and the salt formed afterward. 



The origin of the Chinese dye-bark, hwang-peh, 

 has heretofore been ascribed, on the authority 

 of Dr. Porter Smith, to Plerocarpus flavus; but 

 recent histological investigations by E. W. Holmes 

 and P. W. Squire lead to the conclusion that 

 the bark is more probably derived from Evodia 



glauca. t). 



— ♦ — 



SELECT FORMULA FOR DENTIFRICES. 



Pearl Dentifrice. 



Precipitated chalk .... 4 parts. 



Orris root 3 " 



Diatomaceous earth ... 1 part. 



This is a fair sample of a powder which cleanses 

 simply by the mechanical action on the teeth. It 

 is too hard a powder for frequent use, but if em- 

 ployed occasionally, would serve a useful purpose 

 If wanted for constant use, omit the diatomaceous 

 earth, and increase the precipitated chalk from four 

 to five parts. Used with a liquid dentifrice, it 

 would not be especially harmful. 



Camphorated Toolh-Powder. 



Precipitated chalk 2J5 parts. 



Orris root li " 



Camphor J part. 



A simple camphorated chalk, having stimulant 

 effects on the gums as well as mechanical effect on 

 the teeth. 



Saponaceous Tooth-Powder. 



Powdered castile soap . . 2 parts. 



Precipitated chalk .... 1 part. 



Magnesia carbonate . . . \ " 



Sugar \ " 



Oil of wintergreen . . . . q. s. 



This powder cleanses by mechanical and chemi- 

 cal properties. 



Camphorated Saponaceous Dentifrice 



Precipitated chalk .... 3 parts. 



Powdered castile soap . . 2 " 



Magnesia carbonate ... 1 part. 



Camphor J " ' 



Oil of peppermint .... 40 minims per lb. 



Castilian Tooth Cream. 



Precipitated clialk .... 2 ounces. 



Castile soap 1 ounce. 



Orris root 1 " 



Oil of sassafras 10 minims. 



Oil of bay 20 



Honey q. s., or about . . . 3J ounces. 



Persian Tooth-Paste. 



Saponaceous Tooth- Wash. 



Castile soap 2 troy ounces. 



Otto of orange-peel ... 15 minims. 



Otto of cinnamon .... 10 " 



Water 8 fluid ounces. 



Alcohol 8 " 



Tr. of cochineal q. s. 



The perfuming of this preparation could, of 

 course, be varied to any degree. Another article 

 may be made by perfuming with oil of wintergreen 

 and coloring with fl. ext. of red saunders. An 

 effective and pleasing tooth-wash can be made by 

 the following formula: — 



Fl 

 Fl, 

 Fl 

 Tr 



Persian or Oriental Tooth- Wash. 

 ext. cloves 2 fluid ounces. 



ext. cassia 2 " 



ext. rhatany 1 fluid ounce. 



of benzoin 2 fluid ounces. 



Oil of cloves i fluid drachm. 



Oil of orange 1 " 



Soap . 2 ounces. 



Alcohol, q.s Ipint. 



Eau de Botot {Breath Perfume). 



Oil of peppermint .... 30 minims. 

 Oil of spearmint .... 15 " 



Oil of cloves 5 " 



Oil of red cedar wood . . 60 " 



Tr. of myrrh 1 fluid ounce. 



Alcohol 1 pint. 



Comp. tr. of cochineal to color. 



— Pharmaceutical Journal. 



MEDICAL MEMORANDA. 



Crematories. — There are twenty-two crema- 

 tories in Europe, of which ten have been built 

 within the past year. There have been six hun- 

 dred incinerations in Germany and eight hundred 

 in Italy. There are seven crematories in the United 

 States, and six in process of construction. 



Some Queer Statues. — Near the I'onte 

 Fabricio, in Rome, the river-bed has yielded a 

 great quantity of terra-cotta busts, many of which 

 have openings, and show within rude represen- 

 tations of the lungs, heart, etc. They are con- 

 sidered dedicatory gifts in thanks for a return to 

 health, perhaps once placed in a temple of Apollo. 



A Large Hospital. — The hospital in Seventh 

 Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, 

 Brooklyn, the gift of George I. Seney to the 

 Methodist-Episcopal Church, was dedicated Dec. 

 15. With the exception of the Johns Hopkins 

 Hospital in Baltimore, the Seney Hospital, it is 

 said, will be the largest and best-equipped in the 

 world. Mr. Seney originally gave two hundred 

 thousand dollars to found the institution in 1881, 

 but he expended in all the sum of four hundred 

 and ten thousand dollars. 



Chinese Superstition. — The Lancet states 

 that a medical missionary nearly lost his life through 

 an outburst of fanaticism at Foochow, China. It 

 seems that the doctor, who was attending a patient 

 with hemorrhage, immediately proceeded to check 

 the latter, in disregard of a native superstition 

 according to which delay should have been made 

 until the patient's friends had finished consulting 

 the gods in the joss-house. The patient died, and 

 the Chinese would have boiled the doctor in oil 

 but for the courage of some of the converts. 



Clje popular Science l^ctD^. 



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To ascertain in how many years money will double 

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Send ten cents to Henky Edgarton, Shirley Vil- 

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Back Numbers Wanteo. — Pull price will be paid at 

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Dr. Benj. H. Bbiggs, Selma, Ala., writes: " Coi..- 

 den's Liquid Beef Tonic is an excellent prepara- 

 tion, whose composition is known, and one that physi- 

 cians can intelligently prescribe. I have found it of 

 great service in my practice." 



Messes. B. & F. N. Spon, publi-shers of .scientific 

 books, have lately removed to 12 Cortlandt Street, 

 where they will be pleased to see all in want of the 

 best scientific works. See list of new publications in 

 their advertising apace. 



Newton Colleoe Hospital, 

 Newton Lower Falls, Mass., Feb. i), 1887. 

 Gentlemen, — We are now using our third dozen 

 bottles of Bovinine. The Bovinine lias been ordered 

 for patients when ordinary beef tea would be given, 

 and has been founil to combine tonic and stimulant 

 properties with that of nourishment, besides further 

 recommending itself for convenience and economy. 



H E. Pkay, Matron N.C. Hasp. 



Ringer's Handbook of Therapeutics says: " I find 

 Nesti.e's Food the best of all foods for children 

 with great delicacy of stomach and intestines." Also 

 Zierassen's Vyclopcedia aaya : "Regulation of the diet 

 constitutes, in fact, the principle method of tieatnieiit 

 of sporadic choleia, and particularly cholera infan- 

 tum, where niothera' milk is insufficient. 



There are no substances that play a more important 

 part in animal economy than the phosphates. Every 

 mental exertion induces an augmented waste of the 

 phosphates. Wherever there are functions that seem 

 to be suspended, we may be almost sxire to find it oc- 

 casioned by want of phosphates. Housi'ohd's Acid 

 Phosphate supplies that waste, imparts new energy 

 to the brain, gives the feeling and sense of increased 

 intellectual power, and tones and braces up the whole 

 system. 



• — 



Natchez, Miss., Oct. 27, 1887. 

 David Boyle, Esq. 



Vear air, — Replying to your favor of the 17th inst., 

 we are pleased to state we have had one of your 15- 

 ton Ice Machines for the past six years in constant use. 

 The cost for repairs has been trifling, and the macliine 

 seems as good to-day as ever. The new improvements 

 put on our raachine'last spring have given entire satis- 

 faction, and are all that they are recommended to be, 

 and we believe it is now superior to any other in the 

 market. You are at liberty to refer to us as to .the 

 production and workmanship of your machine. 

 Yours truly, 



Wm. Lowry, 

 Manager Natchez Ice Co, 



