1879.J 
Notes. 
767 
that the camphoraceous products above referred to are also pow- 
erful antiseptic agents, then the healthful influences of the euca- 
lyptus can neither be wondered at nor be longer open to any 
doubt. What is true of the eucalyptus is also true of the pine, 
and on an immensely larger scale ; and the oil of turpemine, 
which is a natural product of these trees, undergoes the same 
chemical changes in the atmosphere as oil of eucalyptus. By 
imitating this natural process of oxidation, Mr. Kingzett has, as 
is well known, succeeded in obtaining and rendering available in 
commerce the antiseptic and oxidising principles to which pine 
and eucalyptus forests owe their hygienic influences. 
The adulteration of olive oil has become so prevalent that the 
Minister of Agriculture and Commerce has requested the 
Academy of Sciences to ascertain the most trustworthy method 
for the detection of such frauds. Among the procedures at pre- 
sent under examination by a special committeee is the use of the 
diagometer, an instrument devised by Prof. Luigi Palmieri, 
founded on the difference of the electric conductivity of oils. 
Seed oils are as a class better conductors than olive oil. At the 
same time every oil conducts the better the greater are its im- 
purities. Linseed and cotton seed oil are among the best con- 
ductors, whilst the oils of pine seeds and of hazel nuts are 
almost as feebly conductive as the purest olive oil, known in 
commerce as virgin oil. Fortunately these two oils are too rare 
and costly to be used in the adulteration of olive oil. The use 
of the diagometer requires considerable manipulative skill. 
At a recent meeting of the Berlin Dyer’s Association the new 
colour, “ Puteaux blue,” manufactured by MM. Patry, of 
Puteaux, came under discussion. It was considered to be in all 
probability an indulin, but was pronounced not well adapted for 
wool-dyeing. For mixed colours upon silks, and as a ground 
for blues, it was said to be applicable. Dr. Reimann, in speaking 
of “ pittacall blue,” considered that at no very distant period the 
products of beech tar would be utilised for the production of 
artificial tannin. 
The system of “ weighting ” of silks is, remarks M. Marius 
Moyret, ruinous to the silk-growing departments of France. 
Their high-class products are no longer in demand, as inferior 
and cheaper foreign silks serve equally well for loaded tissues. 
Hence these districts, already suffering from the Phylloxera and 
from the loss of the madder trade, are in the utmost distress. 
The author proposes that in the sale of silks, as in that of gold 
and silver, the proportions of the real article and of weighting 
matters should be exactly specified, and that a central office for 
the cheap and rapid assay of silks should be opened in Lyon* 
He states that the most excessive weighting has been carried 
out by a New York firm. 
In connection with the general Congress of German Apothe* 
