>S6 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[Xovember 12, 1870. 
tity of.sulphide of barium, a smaller quantity of sulphite 
of barium, and a trace of hyposulphite being formed. 
A o trace of sulphocyanide could be detected. 
Cystine was heated for several hours in a sealed tube 
at 130 C. with an alcoholic solution of potash. At the 
conclusion of the experiment a small quantity of dark 
stickv matter was. found adhering to the tube, which 
contained a yellowish liquid. The latter smelt strongh” 
of ammonia, which was separated by distillation. The 
lesidue was acidified with dilute sulphuric acid, and 
shaken up with ether. Ether left a yellow non-crystal- 
line substance, possessed of an indefinite but disagreeable 
odour. This substance had a strong acid reaction, and 
was found to contain no sulphur. 
* s a( Ued to a mixture of tin or zinc and 
dilute hydrochloric acid, large quantities of sulphurated 
hydrogen are given off; even after the action has gone 
on for several days, traces of sulphuretted hydrogen con¬ 
tinue to be given off. When treated in the same man¬ 
ner taurine does not evolve H 0 S. 
It is to be noted that this evolution of H 2 S might be 
used as a test for cystine, care being previously taken to 
separate any sulphide. 
Cystine was placed in water and a stream of nitrous 
acid gas passed through it. No action took place until 
the water was heated; it then commenced and proceeded 
briskly, with abundant effervescence, until the whole of 
the substance was dissolved. 
The clear solution contained a large quantity of sul¬ 
phuric acid, but not a trace of oxalic acid. When boiled 
with an ammoniacal solution of nitrate of silver con¬ 
siderable reduction took place, a beautiful mirror of 
sin er being deposited on the glass. The fluid was again 
subjected to the action of nitrous acid; still no oxalic 
acid could be found, and the reduction of an ammoniacal 
solution of oxide of silver continued. 
Cramer believed that cystine was intimately related to 
the body called Serin, C 3 H 7 N0 3 , which is obtained as 
one of the products of the action of alkalies on silk. 
- erm, when treated with nitrous acid, yields glyceric 
acid, as alanine under the same circumstances yields 
lactic acid, and therefore serin may be looked upon as 
amido-glyceric acid. 
Supposed Poisoning by the Berries of the 
Guelder-Rose. —At the adjourned inquiry into the 
death of a child at Sudbury, referred to on p. 347 of 
this Journal, the medical men who made a post-mortem 
exammation of the body said that they had found the 
stomach perfectly empty, and that, although they made 
a careful examination, they failed to detect any poison¬ 
ous substance in the bowels, or any signs of poisoning 
As they could not discover any natural cause for death 
they had come to the conclusion that it had been caused 
by the absorption of the active principles of some narcotic 
poison. With respect to the berries of the wild Guelder- 
rose, which, it was suggested, had been eaten by the 
deceased, they were not aware of any medical work re¬ 
ferring to them as jioisonous. The jury returned a ver¬ 
dict in accordance with the medical evidence. 
Cramer further, believed that cystine was a sulpho- 
; am _°' gl 7 Cer ? C , ac i^*'• e - ser in in which hydroxyl has 
been replaced by H S. 
This supposed relation is exhibited below 
CHoOH 
CHOH 
CO s H 
Glyceric Acid, 
ch 0 nh 2 
CHOH 
C0 2 H 
Amido-glyceric Acid 
or Serin. 
CH 2 NHo 
CHSH ‘ 
COoH 
Cystine. 
Considering that this relation of cystine to serin really 
exists, some have argued that on treatment with nitrous 
acid, cystine should yield glyceric acid. The authors do 
not admit that this would really be the case, and they 
refer to the case of sulpho-lactic acid, a body analogous 
to the supposed sulphur derivative of serin, and giving 
on oxidation sulpho-propionic acid; if therefore cystine 
were built up as Cramer supposes, it might be expected 
1 .ft sulpho-acid would be formed on treatment with 
nitrous acid. But, however carefully the action of nitrous 
acid was regulated, the sulphur separated as sulphuric 
■acid, thus pointing to a decided difference in its re¬ 
actions from what might have been expected from the 
supposed constitution of cystine. Although, not con- 
sidermg the experiments as definitive, the authors assert 
that glyceric acid is not a product of the action of nitrous 
uV m r d th f y P r ? d * ct that > in a11 probability, cystine 
will be found, related to pyruvic acid—to be an amido- 
sulpho-pyruvic acid This supposition is based on the 
near approach of the analyses of the silver salt of the 
acid obtained by the action of nitrous acid on cystine to 
the composition of a pyruvate, and on the general cha¬ 
racter of the oily acid produced. 
What is a Poison? —In reference to the recently 
reported cases of poisoning by acorns, the Observer re¬ 
marks :—“ Boys at school have not unfrequently to 
mourn the loss of that pretty but unsavoury little pet, a 
white mouse. The white mouse has an inordinate love 
for apple, and if allowed slices of apple without discre¬ 
tion will eat until he dies in a fit of something, which 
may be either colic, or indigestion, or apoplexy; and in 
its symptoms resembles all three combined. The same 
fate has often befallen chickens which have been allowed 
raw rice. The warmth, of the crop makes the rice ex¬ 
pand, and the chicken is choked in much the same way 
as a human being would be choked if he were to mix 
and drink the contents of a dozen white seidlitz papers 
first, and of a dozen blue papers afterwards, or as the 
boa-constrictor was choked who swallowed his blanket. 
And so, too, it seems that hungry cattle will gorge them¬ 
selves to death with raw acorns, exactly as a starving 
man might eat himself to death with raw chestnuts or 
raw potatoes. Out of this fact has arisen an immense 
turmoil of words, some writers stoutly asserting that 
acorns are “poisonous,” others as stoutly denying the 
assertion. . The answer is easy enough. Anything is a 
poison which, if swallowed (or inhaled, or even injected), 
produces death; and in the strict acceptation of the term 
a man is poisoned who is killed by swallowing a pen¬ 
knife or a dose of ground glass. But the term “poison” 
is, as a rule, restricted to those things which are poisons 
in . very small quantities. Children have often been 
poisoned, by an over-dose of common salt given as an 
anthelmintic, and men have been poisoned by drinking 
for a wager a bottle of raw brandy, by eating* for a wager 
ten pounds of beefsteak, and even by drinking cold well- 
water in hot weather. But yet we do not as a rule apply 
the term “poison ” to salt or to brandy, or to beefsteaks 
or to well-water. The whole difficulty is one of ambi- 
guity, and shows how a quarrel may arise from a mere mis¬ 
conception as to the exact meaning of a technical term.” 
Madeira.— The war, in the exercise of its remote in¬ 
fluences, is giving at the present time a twofold promi¬ 
nence to the Island of Madeira. Coincidently with the 
neglect of the vineyards in France and Germany, an 
overflowing vintage has been gathered in. A large in¬ 
crease of produce was naturally expected from the pro¬ 
gress of an extending vine culture; but a circumstance 
apparently trivial, a general paucity of seeds in the grape, 
was unforeseen, and has caused the yield to overflow the 
provisions of the most liberal calculations. There is a 
scarcity of casks to store the new wines, the few coopers 
on the island not being able to meet the demand on their 
labour. The absence of seeds, however, is stated by Dr. 
Graham, a Madeira authority, to be a constant result of 
a moist winter and spring. As a health resort, also, 
Madeira now obtains unwonted prominence by the de¬ 
fection of the popular winter retreats of the South of 
France. Notwithstanding the suggestions of circuitous 
routes to avoid disturbed districts, many persons prefer 
facing a sea voyage to the doubtful society of an excited 
and revolutionary population.— Times . 
