136  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {Ami£chamm- 
We  thus  obtain  an  orange  precipitate,  which  should  first  be  washed 
with  alcohol  of  60  per  cent.,  and  then  with  absolute  alcohol  until  the 
filtrate  gives  no  precipitate  with  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  The  dried 
product  is  an  amorphous  powder  of  a  brick  red  color  with  a  faint  odor 
of  phenol.  It  is  insoluble  in  water,  chloroform,  sulphide  of  carbon, 
ether  and  alcohol.  With  heat  it  dissolves  easily  in  hydrochloric  acid  ; 
with  potash,  the  solution  gives  a  precipitate  of  yellow  oxide  of  mercury. 
It  is  also  dissolved  by  nitric  acid.  The  preparation  contains  51*68 
per  cent,  of  mercury  ;  theoretically  it  should  have  51*81  per  cent. — 
J.  de  Ph.  et  de  Ch.;  Bull,  com.,  January,  1889. 
Camphorated  Phenols. — M.  Desesquelle  pointed  out  some  time 
since  (American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1888,  p.  510)  the  lique- 
fying influence  of  camphor  upon  naphthol.  M.  Audoucet  has  been 
testing  the  power  of  camphor  over  other  phenols,  and  gives  the  results 
as  follows  :  (The  quantities  of  camphor  cited  represent  the  amounts 
strictly  necessary  to  reduce  the  preparations  to  the  condition  of  a  soft 
paste) ;  Resorcin,  2*50  gm.;  camphor,  5  cgm.;  Pyrogallol,  2 "50  gm.; 
camphor,  10  cgm.;  Thymol,  5  gm.;  camphor,  1  gm.;  Salol,  5  gm.; 
camphor,  50  cgm.  An  increased  amount  of  camphor  gives  syrupy 
liquids  miscible  in  all  proportions  with  oils,  lard  and  petrolatum,  and 
which  are  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether,  and  insoluble  in  water.  Simi- 
lar results  were  obtained  with  menthol. — Repert.  de  Phar.,  January  10, 
1889. 
Pyrodine. — The  proper  doses  of  this  antipyretic,  said  to  be  useful  in 
pneumonia,  si  arlatina,  typhoid  fever,  migraine  and  the  neuralgias,  are 
given  by  the  Bull.  mtd.  as  follows  :  For  children,  the  quantity  to  be 
given  daily  should  be  from  10  to  20  cgm.;  for  adults,  40  to  60  cgm. 
It  should  not  be  given  oftener  than  every  18  or  24  hours.  Adminis- 
tered repeatedly  at  short  intervals  it  gives  rise  to  toxic  symptoms.  It 
is  said  to  be  a  powerful  antiseptic  as  well  as  an  antipyretic.  Dr. 
Lepine  proposes  to  call  it  phenacethydrazine,  as,  under  its  present 
name,  it  is  likely  to  be  confounded  with  pyridine. — Rupert,  de  Phar., 
January  10,  1889. 
Kavaine,  Alkaloid  of  Kava-Kava. — M.  Lavialle  (a  pharma- 
cist of  Crest,  France)  writes  to  the  Union  Phar.,  Jan.,  1889,  that  he 
has  separated  from  kava  an  alkaloid  which  he  has  named  kavaine. 
He  exhausted  pulverized  kava  root  with  alcohol  of  60  per  cent.,  and 
distilled  to  the  density  of  a  fluid  extract.  He  added  distilled  water  to 
precipitate  the  resin,  filtered  the  liquor,  and  neutralized  it  with  ammo- 
