ON  THE  WEIGHT  OF  DROPS. 
441 
it  is  not  probable  that  anemonin  by  the  atmospheric  oxygen  is 
oxydized  to  anemonic  acid. 
Neither  anemonic  acid,  nor  anemonin,  are  volatilized  with  the 
vapors  of  water.  The  distillate  of  Ranunculus  sceleratus,  on 
being  shaken  with  ether,  imparted  to  it  a  yellowish  color ;  after 
evaporation  of  the  ether,  a  golden  yellow  oil  was  left  behind, 
heavier  than  water,  vesicating  when  applied  to  the  skin,  and  on 
smelling  violently  aifecting  the  eyes.  It  has  no  reaction  on  litmus, 
and  contains  no  sulphur.  It  gradually  hardens  to  a  white  horn- 
like mass,  thereby  losing  its  odor ;  the  supernatant  aqueous 
liquid  precipitated  much  flocculent  anemonic  acid.  The  moisture 
cannot  be  removed  by  chloride  of  calcium,  the  oil  hardening 
the  same  as  under  water.  Alcohol  and  chloroform  extract 
anemonin  from  the  hornlike  mass,  leaving  anemonic  acid  behind. 
The  acrid  principle  of  Ranunculus  sceleratus  is  a  volatile  oil, 
which  is  easily  changed  into  anemonin  and  anemonic  acid  ; 
whether  the  contact  of  water  or  of  air  is  necessary,  could  not  be 
determined.  Anemonic  acid  has  no  medicinal  properties,  ane- 
monin possesses  very  little  acrimony,  but  acts  as  a  narcotic 
poison. — Journ.  f.  praJct.  Ohem.  lxxv. — Buchners  N.  Repert. 
viii.  55-58.  j.  m.  m. 
ON  THE  WEIGHT  OF  DROPS. 
By  Dr.  J.  J.  Bernoulli. 
The  author  was  unable  to  find  in  pharmaceutical  works  any 
reliable  facts  concerning  the  weight  of  drops,  and  besides 
Mohr's,  in  his  Pharmacopoeia  Universalis,  II.  915,  very  few  ex- 
periments. All  statements  are  mostly  based  upon  arbitrary 
suppositions,  like  that  of  the  Bavarian  Pharmacopoeia  of  1856, 
which  states  that  "  a  drop  is  equal  to  1  grain  only  of  such  liquids 
which  are  like  chloroform  considerably  heavier  than  water." 
Evan  L.  Gmelin  says  in  his  "  Handbook,"  « the  cohesion  of 
liquids  is  pretty  nearly  in  proportion  to  their  specific  gravity." 
But  the  size  of  the  drops  must  be  dependent  also  on  adhesion, 
and  vary  if  dropped  from  vessels  made  of  different  material. 
There  has  been  too  little  attention  paid  to  this  matter,  which 
in  many  cases  may  probably  give  us  a  clearer  insight  into  the 
