NOTES AND ABSTRACTS IN CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY. 
431 
Ammoniated mercury (commonly known as white precipitate of mercury), 
Every compound containing any poison within the meaning of the “Phar¬ 
macy Act, 1868,” when prepared or sold for the destruction of vermin, 
The tincture and all vesicating liquid preparations of cantharides, 
_ought to be deemed a poison within the meaning of the “ Pharmacy Act, 
1868 and also that of the same each of the following articles ; viz.:— 
Preparations of prussic acid, 
Preparations of cyanide of potassium and of all metallic cyanides, 
Preparations of strychnine, 
Preparations of atropine,. 
_ought to be deemed a poison in the first part of- the Schedule A to the said 
“ Pharmacy Act, 1868.” 
And notice is hereby also given, that the said Society have submitted the 
said resolution for the approval of the Lords of her Majesty’s Council, and that 
such approval has been given. 
By order, 
Elias BremridGe, 
Secretary and Registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society 
of Great Britain. 
NOTES AND ABSTRACTS IN CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY. 
BY C. H. WOOD, F.C.S. 
The Oxidation' of Pyrogallic Acid. 
M. A. Girard has published the results of some researches on certain products 
of the oxidation of pyrogallic acid. Am oxidizing agent, acting upon an alka¬ 
line solution of pyrogallic acid, produces oxide of carbon, carbonate and acetate of 
the alkali and some deeply-coloured uncrystallizable substances. Oxidized in an 
acidified liquid, pyrogallic acid splits up into oxidized products, of which car¬ 
bonic oxide and carbonic acid are the chief, and a peculiar reduced product 
which is the subject of M. Girard’s investigation. A mixture of solutions of 
nitrate of silver and pyrogallic acid, for example, furnishes a deposit which is 
found to consist of reduced silver, and a neutral, volatile red substance, soluble 
in spirit, and presenting a remarkable resemblance to the alizarine and purpu- 
rine extracted from garancine. The composition of this body is C. 2 oH 16 0 9 . It 
is best prepared in quantity by the action of permanganate of potash and sul¬ 
phuric acid. 60 grammes of permanganate are dissolved in a litre of water, and 
55 grammes of monohydrated sulphuric acid added ; this solution is cautiously 
dropped into the pyrogallic acid dissolved in a small quantity of water, elevation 
of temperature being avoided as far as possible. 250 cubic centimetres suffice 
for 10 grammes of pyrogallic acid. The mixture is immediately coloured deep 
vellow and soon becomes turbid, disengaging with effervescence a mixture of 
carbonic oxide and carbonic anhydride, and depositing crystalline flocks of a 
tine orange-red colour. This orange substance is washed with a little water, 
and then recrystaliized from alcohol, or sublimed. The product is anhydrous, 
and in either case possesses the same composition and properties. The author 
names it purpurogalline. The proportion obtained is about 12 per cent, of the 
weight of the pyrogallic acid. It is necessary to avoid too great an excess of 
the oxidizing agent in its preparation, because the puipuiogalliue is itself oxi- 
dizable into a brown uncrystallizable substance. The reaction occurring may 
be represented by the two following equations 
4 (C«H 6 O a ) + o, = C.„H 1S 0, + JCO + 4H.O 
4 (C 6 H 6 0 3 ) + Os = C*> H 16 Oj + 4 C 0 2 + 4 Hj O. 
