GLEANINGS  FROM  FOREIGN  JOURNALS. 
205 
particles  completely  in  the  oil,  and  then  to  add  the  aqueous 
vehicle  little  by  little,  with  a  rapid  agitation.  M.  Nougaret 
finds  this  plan  equally  applicable  to  fixed  oils  and  oleoresins. 
[This  plan  of  M.  Nougaret  is  novel  only  in  avoiding  the  use 
of  a  mortar.  We,  and  doubtless  many  others  here  in  the  United 
States,  often  proceed  as  follows :  Add  one  part  of  gum  to  two 
or  three  parts  oil  in  a  mortar ;  triturate  till  the  mixture  is  complete, 
and  theii  add  at  once  twice  as  much  water  as  of  gum  used  and 
triturate  rapidly  until  the  oil  is  completely  emulsionized  ;  then 
gradually  add  the  remainder  of  the  vehicle  with  constant  tritura- 
tion. This  method  may  be  followed  either  with  or  without  the 
addition  of  sugar,  and  is  especially  applicable  to  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, copaiba,  oleoresin  of  cubebs  and  to  all  the  emulsionizable 
oils  and  oleoresins. — W.  P.,  Jr.] 
Sim'ple  process  for  detecting  Strychnia. — M.  Schachtrupp, 
(Zeits.  Analyt.  Chem.,  p.  284,  1868,  and  Jour,  de  Pharm.) 
This  process  consists  in  saturating  the  suspected  substance  with 
ammonia,  and  allow  it  to  dry  spontaneously ;  then  heat  it  with  a 
little  amylic  alcohol,  after  which  add  a  few  drops  of  this  liquid 
to  sulphuric  acid  and  bichromate  of  potassa,  when,  if  strychnia 
was  present  in  the  substance,  the  well-known  coloration  charac- 
teristic of  that  alkaloid  will  be  obtained. 
Synthesis  of  Coumarin. — Mr.  Perkins  (of  England)  has  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  coumarin  by  a  synthetical  operation  analo- 
gous to  that  which  M.  Cahours  employed  to  obtain  aceto-salicyle 
CigHgOg,  an  isomere  of  coumaric  acid.  Acetic  anhydride  is 
treated  by  salicylide  of  sodium  ;  the  mixture  becomes  hot,  is  then 
heated  to  boiling  and  poured  into  water ;  when  an  oily  body 
separates,  which  on  distillation  gives  off  acetic  acid  and  hyduret 
of  salicyl,  and  finally,  at  554°  F.,  coumarin  in  crystalline  mass, 
which,  after  pressure  in  paper  and  recrystallization  from  alcohol, 
is  obtained  identical  with  the  coumarin  of  Tonka  beans. 
On  substituting  butyric  and  valeric  anhydrides  for  the  acetic 
anhydride  in  this  process,  Mr.  Perkins  obtained  other  coumarins 
distinct  from  the  normal,  and  which  he  considers  as  members  of 
a  series  consisting  of  acetic,  proponic,  butyric  and  valeric  cou- 
marins.— Jour,  de  Phar.^  Jan.,  1869. 
