124 
Bein.* He failed to detect the usual metallic 
or alkaloidal poisons, but found a ptomaine, 
which arose probably either through the spoli- 
ation of the coffee by means of sea water or 
by overroasting the product. Massee,} de- 
scribes a blight (Pestallozzia guepini Dermaz) 
which occurs on the tea plantations of Assam 
and is doing considerable damage. 
The well-known property, which formalde- 
hyde possesses, of forming insoluble compounds 
with proteid substances, and applied by Beck- 
mann to the estimation of gelatin and albumin 
in peptones, has been recently applied by 
Trillat{ to the detection and estimation of 
gelatin in general and especially when mixed 
with gums. 
In the examination of various cereals A. van 
Bastelaer 2 finds that upon heating 1 part of 
the cereal with 5 parts of water at a tempera- 
ture of 11 to 12° C. for 1 hour that certain 
characteristics are brought out; rye giving a 
rather viscous solution ; linseed and buckwheat 
yielding a thick mucilage; whereas wheat, rice, 
spelt, barley and oatmeal give solutions of 
rather even viscosity. He further finds that 
the leguminous cereals, upon shaking the solu- 
tions, develop a large amount of froth, whereas 
the solution of corn does not froth. All of the 
cereals, with the exception of rice, yield a pree 
cipitate with picric acid, the largest amount 
of precipitate having been produced with the 
leguminous cereals. Alcohol, likewise, produces 
a precipitate with solutious of rice, barley, 
buckwheat and the leguminous cereals the pre- 
cipitate of the leguminous cereals and flaxseed 
being soluble in ammonia. 
HENRY KRAEMER. 
PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE 
OF PHARMACY. 
POSITION OF WOMEN IN BABYLONIA. 
A RECENT treatise by Victor Marx defines the 
position of women in Babylonia during the 
period 604-485 B. C., as illustrated by the con- 
* Zeitschr. f. angew. Chem., 1898, 658 ; Analyst, 
1899, p. 36. 
f+ Pharm. Zeit., 1899, p. 749. 
f{ Ann. Chim. Anal. App., 1898, p. 401 ; Analyst, 
1899, p. 35. 
ZJour. Pharm. Chim., 1898, VIII., 43; Pharm. 
Centralb., 1899, p. 303. 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Vou. X. No. 239. 
tract literature of the times ; his treatise forms 
half of Heft 1, Band IV., of the Beitrage zur As- 
syriologie und semitischen Sprachwissenschaft, 
Leipzig, 1899; and is reviewed at some length 
by J. Dyneley Prince in the American Journal 
of Philology, Vol. XX., pp. 104-106. The con- 
tracts indicate that Babylonian maidens held 
property in their own right, and that there 
were definite marriage stipulations relating to 
dowry, incidentally indicating the dependence 
of the son on his father’s wishes in the choice 
of a wife. The dowry contracts were definite, 
stating the amount and nature of the property 
to be given, providing for payment by instal- 
ments and arranging for payment by a brother 
in case of the father’s decease, the dowry being 
regarded as a legally collectable debt, payable 
in kind if money were lacking. The legal re- 
cipient of the dowry was the son-in-law, yet the 
daughter (wife) retained such proprietary inter- 
est therein that if invested in realty by the 
husband it was in the wife’s name. Married 
women were competent to conduct transactions 
relating to money, to realty, and to slaves, 
their contracts being sometimes witnessed by 
the husband; while various business transactions 
were performed in common by husband and 
wife, the former being alone responsible as 
guarantor, the mere presence of the wife giving 
legality to the husband’s transactions, at least 
in certain cases. There are indications that 
husband and wife enjoyed approximately equal 
rights with respect to property, the control of 
children, etc. ; there is little reference to the 
husband’s duty to support the wife, though it 
appears that in case of divorce the husband 
paid alimony according to his means. Frequent 
reference to slaves appears in the contracts, 
but the author postpones discussion of the sub- 
jects of slavery and of the condition of female 
slaves. The information brought to light 
through the study of these ancient contracts 
bears on the development of institutions. Ap- 
parently the regulations governing the contracts 
studied pertained chiefly to urban life; cer- 
tainly the regulations seem hardly in accord 
with the customs prevailing among contem- 
porary nomadic tribes and still maintained 
among their descendants of similar habit. 
W JM. 
