SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
319 
Chemical Properties of Colchicia. — Mr. John M. Maisch publishes a paper 
on this subject in a recent number of the American Journal of Pharmacy. 
From an exam ination of a specimen of colchicia (the active principle 
of colchicum) in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, which was 
made with a view of clearing up the question of the reaction of this 
substance, Mr. Maisch gives the following as its chemical properties. The 
substance is a light yellow amorphous powder, possessing a very faint odour 
and intensely bitter taste, sparingly soluble in ether, but easily soluble in 
water and alcohol, the aqueous solution being slightly turbid, most likely in 
consequence of the decomposition of a small portion into resin and colchicein. 
Heated upon platinum foil, it fuses ; at a higher heat, it takes fire and burns 
without leaving any residue. Placed upon moistened red litmus paper, the 
blue colour is restored ; very faintly reddened litmus becomes blue also by 
a concentrated aqueous solution. One drop of dilute sulphuric acid dropped 
from a bottle giving fifty-two drops to the fluid drachm, consequently about 
one-eighth of a grain H0,S0 1? when mixed with one grain of colchicia, re- 
tained its acid reaction. One drop of the acid was mixed with one fluid 
ounce of distilled water ; in five minims of this mixture, equal to about one- 
seven hundred and seventieth grain H0,S0 1 , one-sixteenth grain colchicia 
was dissolved, and the solution now had a distinct alkaline reaction on 
slightly reddened litmus paper ; but on heating this solution to the boiling 
point, it had acquired an acid reaction. 
Electrolysis of Alkaline Sulphides. — In a paper which appears in the 
Annalen der Chemie , Herr H. Buff states that in the case of an electrolyte 
under the influence of the electric current, the groups of elements travel in 
opposite directions, carrying an equal amount of electricity of opposite 
nature; they are electric-equivalent. From his experiments with alkalic 
sulphides, the author concludes that the decomposition of the various mono- 
or poly-sulphides of potassium or sodium always takes place in this manner, 
that the metals travel towards the one electrode and all the sulphur towards 
the other, or that a group of, for instance, five atoms of potassic pentasul- 
phide is electric-equivalent to one atom of potassic monosulphide. 
Soluble Phosphates in Cotton-fibre and Seeds. — At a recent meeting of the 
Chemical Society, a paper by Dr. F. Grace Calvert was read in which it 
was pointed out that seeds contain relatively more mineral phosphates than 
other parts of the plants upon which they are borne, and which alludes to the 
common practice of burning off the organic matters before proceeding to 
search for the phosphates therein contained. From his experiments Dr. 
Calvert has, however, been led to conclude that the whole of the phosphoric 
acid or phosphates is merely held mechanically distributed throughout the 
organic tissue, and in such a condition that they may be wholly extracted 
by the action of water. Cotton yarn steeped for several hours in distilled 
water furnished a solution containing appreciable quantities of phosphoric 
acid, lime, and magnesia, and quantitative experiments were made upon 
seven characteristic varieties of cotton, which had been carefully prepared 
and carded in Manchester, for the purpose of determining the extent to 
which the phosphates could be removed by washing. The results showed 
by the uranium process amounts varying between *035 and *055 per cent, of 
phosphoric acid thus dissolved, whilst traces only of this constituent could 
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