April 13, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
823 
Leach. It is the fourth species included by Moquin- 
Tandon in his ‘ Medical Zoology.’ 
Autumnal Oil-beetle, Meloe autumnalis, Oliv.; 
purplish or violet-black, sometimes 
brassy; head, thorax and elytra gla¬ 
brous, with faint punctures, crowded 
on the elytra ; abdomen smooth 
above, very much punctured beneath; 
antenme dusky, tip pitchy.—Oliv. 
Ins. vi. 45. t. 1. f. 2. Meloe glabratus, 
Leach, Linn. Trans, xi. t. vii. f. 1,2. 
Proscarabceus autumnalis, Stepli. 
Man. 2629. 
Pig. 20 .—Meloe 
autumnalis. 
Length of female from 5 to 74 lines. 
Heaths. Europe ; Great Britain. 
This is one of the species which have been recom¬ 
mended for medicinal uses (Moq.-Tand. p. 137), 
although it is one of the smallest. 
Itossi’s Oil-beetle, Meloe Tuccius, Rossi; black; 
head and thorax deeply impresso-punctate ; elytra 
variously punctate.—Rossi, Fauna Etruse. i. p. 238. 
t. 4. f. 5 ; Brandt and Ratzb. ii. t. 16. f. 3. Meloe 
punctatus, Leach, Linn. Trans, xi. t. 18. f. 1. 
Inhabits France, Portugal, Italy, etc. 
This and M. coriarius, Hotfm., have been much 
confounded together under the name of M. punctatus. 
They are now generally regarded as distinct. This 
is included by Brandt and Ratzeburg amongst medi¬ 
cinal species. 
Rough-bellied Oil-beetle, Meloe coriarius, 
Hoffm.; deep black; segments of the abdomen of a 
rusty reddish-brown beneath ; thorax transverse, the 
foremost angles obtuse.—Brandt and Erichs. Mon. p. 
131; Mulsant, Yesic. p. 62. M. reticulatus, Brandt 
and Ratzb. t. 16. f. 1, 2. 
Inhabits Germany, Hungary, etc. 
Body black, shining. Head black, rather shining, 
strongly and roughly punctate, the frontal channel 
more or less distinct; labrum finely punctate. An¬ 
tenme black, the basal joint with a violaceous, and 
the rest with a purplish tint. Thorax transverse, 
subtruncate in front, with the angles obtuse; base 
distinctly emarginate ; margin elevated, plane above, 
deeply punctato-rugose, strongly channelled. Elytra 
rugoso-punctate, somewhat ronnded, black. Abdo¬ 
men rather shining above, very rugulose, beneath 
sparingly piloso-punctate, the second to the fifth 
segment with a large transverse rusty red patch in 
the middle. Feet black, sometimes with a violet 
tint. 
This has been confounded with M. Tuccius, under 
the name of M. punctatus. 
Panzer’s Oil-beetle, Meloe brevicollit, Panz., 
antenme rather short; blue-black, somewhat shin¬ 
ing ; head and thorax sparsely but deeply punctate. 
Length of male, 7 lines, of female, 84 lines.—Panz. 
Ent. i. p. 351, n. 6 ; Fauna Germ. x. f. 15 ; Leach, 
Linn. Trans, xi. t. 6. f. 9; Brandt and Ratzb. ii. 1.16. 
f. 8. 
Inhabits Britain, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, etc. 
Brandt and Ratzeburg are our authorities also for 
the admission of this species into our list. 
Portuguese Oil-beetle, Meloe corallifer, Germ.; 
antenme filiform, black, rugulose; thorax trans¬ 
versely quadrate, papillose angles blood-red.—Germ. 
Mag. iii. p. 259; Brandt and Ratzb. ii. t. 16. f. 9. 
Inhabits Germany, Portugal, etc. 
Head black, subopaque, deeply and closely but 
unequally punctate. Antenme filiform, slender, twice 
the length of the head, the first two joints hairy, the 
others nearly smooth. Elytra black, subopaque,, 
coriaceous, longitudinally rugulose. Abdomen smooth; 
and opaque above, somewhat shining, and slightly 
hairy beneath. It has been sometimes employed irt 
Portugal. 
Hungarian Oil-beetie, Meloe limbatus, Fabr. ; 
black; thorax plane ; elytra with the margin ferru- 
ginous.—Fabr. Eleuth. ii. p. 588; Germ. Ins. x. t. 8 ; 
Brandt and Ratzb. t. 16). f. 10. Meloe liunganiSy 
Sclir. Ins. Austr. 226, 425. 
Inhabits Hungary. 
Ziegler’s Oil-beetle, Meloe cicatricosus, Leach; 
black; elytra bluish; head and thorax punctate'; 
elytra scabrous ; length of male, 1 in., female, 1 in. 7 
lines.—Linn. Trans, xi. t. vi. f. 5, 6 ; Newport, Linn. 
Trans, xx. xxi. t. 20. Meloe reticulatus, Ziegler. 
Inhabits Germany, France, England and Spain.. 
This species has been recommended on the Con¬ 
tinent. 
(To be continued.) 
<£jrii])tes for jstocnts. 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PHARMACOPOEIA, 
BY william a. tilden, d.sc. lond. 
DEMONSTRATOR OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THB 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETAL 
Sapo Mollis. — [§ Soap made with olive oil and 
potash.] 
When potash is employed to saponify oil or fat, 
the resulting soap cannot be separated from solution 
by the addition of common salt, for decomposition 
ensues, and a hard soda- soap is precipitated. Ordi¬ 
nary soft soap therefore contains all the glycerine- 
and excess of alkali which is necessarily employed.. 
Soda Caustica. —Solid caustic soda is obtained, 
according to official directions, by evaporating down 
the liquor. Its solution in water should give the 
same reactions as good liquor sodoe. Most of the 
common caustic soda of commerce is obtained as a 
secondary product in the manufacture of soda crys¬ 
tals. [See SoDiE Carbonas.] It contains consider¬ 
able quantities of carbonate of sodium, and is con¬ 
taminated with much iron and alumina, as well as* 
sulphates, chlorides and other impurities. Very 
pure sodic hydrate, prepared by decomposing water 
by the metal, is now to be obtained at a very mode¬ 
rate price. The sodium, in acting upon water, o Z 
course displaces half its hydrogen, which escapes. 
Na 2 + 2 Ik O = H 2 + 2NaHO. 
If care is taken to keep the water cold, the hydrogen 
does not inflame, and explosions may be avoided. 
Caustic soda obtained by evaporating down the 
resulting solution is free from alumina, ammonia 
and nitrates, but traces of lead are to be found in some 
samples. 
Soda Tartar at a, NaKC 4 H 4 O 0 4H 2 O.—Rochelle 
salt is easily prepared by adding cream of tartar to 
a hot solution of carbonate of sodium till the liquid, 
is neutral, and crystallizing. 
It forms right rhombic prisms, which are almost 
always halved. [See fig. in Phillip’s Transl. of the 
Pliarm. Lond.] Tests for identifying the salt are 
given in the Pharmacopoeia. It should be entirely 
soluble in cold water, showing freedom from calcium 
salts. 
[§ 14-1 grams heated to redness till gases cease 
