418 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November 19,187&- 
Ferrous sulphide must be noticed as an impurity in 
several samples. In every case the ferrous sulphide 
formed a superficial coating upon one side only of the 
fragments; it is obvious that the salt when in fusion 
has been poured out upon an iron plate instead of upon 
a stone slab, and hence has contracted this objectionable 
contamination. When sulphurated potash is of yellow 
colour, or breaks with a yellow or orange fracture in¬ 
stead of a deep brown, it is almost certain that it con¬ 
tains a considerable amount of undecomposd carbonate. 
Specimen “B” shows this orange colour exceedingly 
well, and I have noticed it in several samples which I 
purposely prepared at a very low temperature. In care¬ 
fully-prepared samples the colour varies very slightly 
indeed, being always of a rich mahogany -brown tint, 
commonly described as liver-coloured. The colour may 
be seen in specimens A 1, B 1, which have been pre¬ 
served from oxidation by enclosing them a3 soon as cold 
in bottles previously filled with coal-gas. 
There is no difficulty in preparing sulphurated potash 
upon the small scale; indeed, since more care can be 
taken in its preparation, it is likely to prove a superior 
article. A quarter to half a pound of a mixture of 20 
parts of dry potassic carbonate and 12^ parts of sulphur 
are placed in a Florence flask, and carefully heated by a 
Bunsen burner. The mouth of the flask is to be stopped 
with a plug of cotton-wool; as soon as the contents 
commence to liquefy the flask must be gently agitated 
once or twice, and when effervescence has ceased, and 
the mixture perfectly fluid, the gas is withdrawn, and 
the whole allowed to cool for two hours. The flask is 
then broken, and the contents immediately transferred 
to a well-stoppered bottle. If the salt has not been per¬ 
mitted to become quite cold, it is not sufficiently brittle 
to be broken into pieces; and further, it then adheres so 
firmly to the glass that it is very difficult subsequently 
to remove it. 
I have said that the reaction which occurs in pre¬ 
paring sulphurated potash is such that potassic sulphide 
and hyposulphite are produced, but that if the heat be 
increased the hyposulphite splits into pentasulphide and 
sulphate. It might be supposed at first sight that the 
percentage of sulphide would be increased by employ¬ 
ing an elevated temperature, and possibly, if closed 
vessels were always used in its preparation, this might 
to some extent be the case; but it is impossible so to 
prepare it on the large scale; and when atmospheric 
oxygen obtains access to the mixture the decomposition 
of the hyposulphite proceeds differently, oxygen being 
absorbed, while sulphurous anhydride is given off. 
2K 2 S 2 0 3 + 20 3 = 2 K 2 S 0 4 + 2 S 0 2 . 
Potassic sulphide also undergoes combustion when 
unduly heated, producing the same compounds as re¬ 
sult from hyposulphite, consequently sulphurated potash 
containing a large amount of sulphate can only be re¬ 
garded as a faulty preparation. It appears, however, 
that the error more generally lies in the opposite direc¬ 
tion. 
With respect to the test given in the Pharmacopoeia, 
that three-fourths of its weight should be soluble in 
alcohol of 84 per cent., it appears that few samples will 
come up to this standard; nevertheless, if the salt con¬ 
tain only half its weight of potassic sulphide, it may 
fairly be considered as a good preparation. 
The Fluid of Pitcher-Plants. —Mr. G-. B. Buck- 
ton records in Nature, No. 54, for November 10th, some 
experiments on this subject. Difference of opinion has 
been expressed as to the nature and use of the liquid 
found in the so-called pitchers of various plants, such as 
Nepenthes, Sarracenia, and certain orchidacese. It is ge¬ 
nerally supposed to be pure rain-water stored up for the 
use of the plant. In the artificial circumstances under 
which tropical plants are grown in this country, it is dif¬ 
ficult to distinguish this fluid from the water used in 
watering. Mr. Buckton has, however, collected the 
iquid from two flowers of Coryanthes, a species of Orchi- 
daceae, which had just opened, to the extent of about 
■ ;wo centimetres. He found it clear and somewhat glu- 
inous in consistence, possessing a high refractive power, 
and a specific gravity of 1’062. Its odour was pleasant 
mt faint, becoming more marked by a gentle heat; al¬ 
though the taste was not acrid, the mawkish flavour 
would render it quite unpotable. It was neutral to- 
;est-papers, became milky by concentration in the water- 
:>ath, and finally yielded a transparent gum insoluble in* 
alcohol. Oxalates produced no precipitate of lime, but 
3 asic lead acetate gave a curdy reaction. Hot concen¬ 
trated sulphuric acid blackened it. 100 parts of the 
'.iquid contained— 
98'51 water and volatile oils. 
1-49 non-volatile residue. 
No further analysis is given. 
farliitmtntarg anir |tato fnrmtttgs. 
Southwark. Police Court, November ith. 
BEFORE MR. PARTRIDGE. 
Elizabeth Morvin, described as a needlewoman, was 
charged on remand with attempting to commit suicide 
by swallowing a quantity of aquafortis, which had been 
supplied to her child by a chemist in the Waterloo Road. 
A police constable said that he was called in to a house 
in Duke Street, where he found the prisoner suffering 
great agony. Being told she had swallowed aquafortis, 
he took her to a surgeon, and thence to the hospital,, 
where the stomach pump was used, and she eventually 
recovered. On inquiry he found that she had sent her 
daughter to purchase two-pennyworth of aquafortis. The 
child told him that she went to several chemists, and at 
last one of them supplied her with the poison, which she 
gave to her mother, who drank it off. The prisoner said 
that having had a dispute with the father of her child,, 
she had been drinking to excess, and did not know what 
she was about. Mr. Partridge told her that she had had 
a narrow escape, which he hoped would act as a caution 
to her for the future, and after suitably admonishing her, 
ordered her to be given up to her landlady. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
A Manual of Botany: including the Structure, Func¬ 
tions, Classification, Properties and Uses of Plants. By 
Robert Bentley, F.L.S., M.R.C.S.E. Second Edition. 
London : John Churchill and Sons, New Burlington Street- 
1870. From the Publishers. 
Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science. 
November, 1870. Dublin: Fannin and Co., Grafton Street. 
From the Publishers. 
On the Fulgurator: a New Apparatus for producing 
Electric Sparks of very great length. 1870. From tho 
Author. 
Elementary Chemistry. By the Rev. H. Martyn Hart, 
M.A. London: Cassell, Petter and Galpin. 1870. From 
the Publishers. 
The Natural History of Commerce, with a Copious 
List of Commercial Terms and their Synonyms in Various 
Languages. By John Yeats, LL.D. London: Cassell, 
Petter and Galpin. 1870. From the Publishers. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘British 
Medical Journal,’ Nov. 12; the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette, 
Nov. 12; the ‘Lancet,’ Nov. 12; ‘ Nature,’ Nov. 10; the ‘ Che¬ 
mical News,’ Nov. 11; ‘Journal of the Society of Arts,’ Nov. 
10; ‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ Nov. 12; the ‘ Grocer,’ Nov. 12; 
the ‘English Mechanic,’ Nov. 11; the ‘Produce Markets 
Review,’Nov. 12; the ‘Philadelphia Medical and Surgical- 
Reporter,’ nos. 706-710; ‘New York Druggists’ Circular 
for October. 
