850 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 20, 1872, 
TESTS FOR NARCEINE. 
BY M. STEIN'. 
It is known that iodine gives a "blue colour with solid 
narceine. This reaction, similar to that of iodino with 
starch, was long since noticed by Pelletier and Winkler, 
the latter, however, points out that it does not always 
take place. If too much iodine he added, the narceine is 
coloured brown, and the blue colour does not reappear 
until the excess of iodine has been saturated by ammonia. 
But ammonia itself when in excess dissolves the narceine, 
and causes the colour to disappear. All the solvents of 
narceine act in the same manner. 
It has also been stated by M. DragendorfF, that solu- 
Ans of narceine give a crystalline precipitate with the 
ifouble iodide of zinc and potassium. It is therefore pro¬ 
posed to make use of these two reactions simultaneously 
for the detection of narceine in solution. If the iodide 
of zinc and potassium, with a small quantity of solution 
of iodine be added to such a solution, and agitated with 
ether to carry off excess of iodine, the presence of a small 
quantity of narceine will be indicated by a clear blue 
colour. The other alkaloids of opium do not possess this 
property.— Journal cle Pharmacie et cle Chimie [4], vol. xv. 
p. 59. 
600 grams. 
Lahens proposes to prepare from pulverulent tar a syrup 
which, although too concentrated for administration pure, 
will keep well, and, if diluted in the proportion of a 
tablespoonful of syrup to a tumblerful of water, gives a 
tai*-w r ater resembling that of the French Codex, with tho 
addition of sugar. The formula given is—■ 
Pulverulent Tar. . . . 50 grams. 
Water.180 „ 
Granulated Sugar . . .320 ,, 
Mix the tar and sugar together in a mortar, and then 
add the water and heat the mixture in a water-bath to- 
60° C.; remove it from the bath and shake until the 
sugar is all dissolved ; strain while hot and again when 
cold. The pulverulent tar may also bo used for pills 
with a suitable excipient, and for fumigation by throwing- 
a few grams on a hot fire-shovel. 
COD-LIVER OIL AND LIME SOAP. 
M. E. Beck ( Journ. Pharm. et de Chimie , 4th ser. vol. 
xiv. p. 43) describes the preparation and properties of 
a soap made from lime and cod-liver oil, in the fol 
lowing proportions:— 
Slacked Lime, in fine powder 
Cod-Liver Oil.500 
Rain Water.1700 
The lime is to be mixed with 1500 grams of the water, 
boiling, into a homogeneous milk of lime. The other 
200 grams of water are to be added hot to tho cod-liver 
oil and stirred to form a perfect emulsion. To this emul¬ 
sion the milk of lime is to be gradually added wdth con¬ 
tinual stirring; the mixture gradually heated to the 
boiling-point and a gentle ebullition kept up, with con¬ 
tinual stirring, until the lime has disappeared and the 
soap become uniformly yellow and firm. This is washed 
with water until, when kneaded and pressed, the liquor 
that runs away is colourless and tasteless. It should 
then be freed from moisture by a gentle heat, and pre¬ 
served in closed vessels. When recently prepared, the 
soap has a waxy consistence, convenient for the prepa¬ 
ration of pills, dragees or pastilles ; and if -white oil be 
used it is perfectly inodorous. Tin vessels must not be 
used, in its preparation, which may be best accomplished 
on a small scale in porcelain capsules. M. Beck claims 
for this soap that, when used as a medicinal agent, it 
facilitates the assimilation of the calcareous element and 
neutralizes the objectionable features of the oil. A suit¬ 
able pill-mass may be formed by mixing together in a 
mortar 20 grams of the calcareous cod-liver oil soap with 
4 drops of oil of bitter almonds. 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STINKS AND 
FEVER POISONS. 
In a communication to the lancet , Mr. Buee, of 
Slough, calls attention to the great difference there is 
between stinks and poisons. He says, “ Stinks may or 
may not be organic, and may damage health ; but fever 
poisons are organic, have a life, a growth, will produce- 
their like, and, if planted in favourable soil, grow, run 
their course, live their natural life, die out, and leaving 
seed behind them, reproduce themselves; and, above all, 
have no smell. A boy who has never had scarlatina gets- 
into a railway carriage in which an infected person has 
travelled; he smells nothing, yet takes the disease. A 
well-attended person suffering from that disease or any 
other, has a scentless room; yet an in-comer predisposed, 
though not smelling anything, takes the illness. The 
scabs from small-pox and cow-pox have no smell, yet 
they will inoculate. The fact is, though as yet we can¬ 
not see the germ, our microscopes and means not being 
at present sufficiently powerful, yet common sense and 
reasoning from the habits of these poisons tell us, I 
think plainly, that they are organic and inodorous. And, 
if so, what should we do besides draining and ventilat¬ 
ing ? Why, decompose, disinfect and destroy the vitality 
of the germ, never allowing it, if once cast into the 
closet, to get again into the atmosphere alive. Chloride- 
of lime, carbolic acid, and last, not least, though cheapest, 
solution of sulphate of iron, which last, I believe, gives 
out much ozone, and is as good a destroyer of germs as» 
anything I know. Let one of these be used constantly 
in all closets, sinks, and drains. These poisons do not- 
necessarily require a human body for their growth; they 
will grow on a dunghill or in a cesspool, wherever there- 
is a favourable nidus, like fungi.” 
PULVERULENT TAR. 
As a convenient method of facilitating the division 
and increasing tho solubility of tar, M. Magnes-Lahens 
recommends {Journ. Pharm. et de Chimie , 4th ser. vol. 
xiii. p. 42) a preparation made by mixing together in 
an earthenware vessel two parts of finely divided 
charcoal and one part of liquid tar. The product, which 
he calls pulverulent tar, resembles small grains of gun¬ 
powder ; it does not soil either the finger or the vessels 
with which it comes in contact and yields freely to water 
the tar which it contains, the temperature most favour¬ 
able to solution being 20° C. (68° F.). M. Magnes- 
FIRE AT MANCHESTER. 
Shortly before three o’clock on Friday, the 12th inst., ( 
flames were observed to be issuing from the premises of' 
Mr. William Mather, plaister manufacturer, in Trentham 
Street, Hulme, Manchester. An alarm was raised and 
the fire brigade were quickly on the spot, but by this- 
time nearly the whole range of buildings, triangular in. 
shape and of comparatively recent erection, w r as enveloped 
in flames. A good supply of water w r as obtained, and 
after working about two hours, the fire brigade were 
successful in obtaining a mastery over the flames. Two- 
sides of the building have been destroyed by fire, and of 
the other side, the top floor (the premises are two storeys 
high) alone has been damaged by fire, and the room 
below by w T ater. Mr. Mather employed nearly 100- 
persons, and some of these will be temporarily thrown- 
out of w r ork. The amount of damage done is estimated 
at from £7000 to £10,000, and itisbelieved that this loss 
wall be partially met by insurances effected in the offices- 
of the Sim and Commercial Union. 
