AmM«ch.iSS!m'}    Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  137 
nia.  He  then  agitated  it  with  ether,  adding  sulphuric  acid,  drop  by 
drop,  until  he  obtained  a  slightly  acid  reaction.  The  liquor,  on  stand- 
ing 24  hours,  deposited  crystals  which  were  washed  several  times  with 
95  per  cent,  alcohol.  The  sulphate  of  kavaine  is  soluble  in  an  equal 
part  of  water  at  15°  [59°  F.],  sparingly  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  insol- 
uble in  ether.  It  appears  in  prismatic  crystals  which  deliquesce 
slightly  on  exposure  to  the  air. 
Cocaine  and  Lanolin  for  Burns. — Dr.  Wende  recommends  a 
preparation  made  of  these  substances.  It  excludes  the  air  and  quiets 
the  pain.  The  cocaine  should  be  pure  and  the  mixture  freshly  pre- 
pared.— J.  de  Med.  de  Paris. 
Iodide  of  Potassium  and  Syrup  of  Tolu. — M.  Leprince  finds 
that  the  yellow  tint  sometimes  obtained  in  mixtures  of  these  substances 
is  caused  by  the  more  or  less  constant  presence  of  carbonate  of  potas- 
sium in  the  commercial  iodide ;  the  carbonate  acts  upon  the  resins  con- 
tained in  the  tolu,  and  also,  though  less  strongly  upon  cinnamein,  one 
of  the  ethers  present. — Repert.  de  Phar.,  Jan.  10,  1889. 
The  Diuretic  Principle  of  Strophanthus. — After  having 
separated  strophanthin  from  the  seeds,  M.  Catillon  isolated  a  non-toxic, 
nitrogenous  principle  which,  tried  first  upon  rabbits  and  then  upon 
himself,  he  found  to  be  the  diuretic  principle  of  the  plant.  To  obtain 
it,  the  author,  first  exhausting  the  seeds  with  alcohol,  treats  them  with 
distilled  water,  afterward  adding  milk  of  lime,  and  filtering.  A  cur- 
rent of  carbonic  acid  is  then  passed  through  the  filtered  liquid,  which 
combines  with  the  excess  of  lime.  The  liquid  is  then  evaporated  to  a 
syrup,  again  filtered,  and  then  evaporated  in  vacuo.  The  product  is 
soluble  in  water  and  in  alcohol  at  70° ;  less  soluble  in  stronger  alco- 
hol. The  product  is  a  sort  of  strophantate  of  lime,  which  gives  a  pre- 
cipitate with  hydrochloric  acid. — Soc.  de  ThSrap.,  Dec.  26  ;  Rupert, 
de  Phar.,  Jan.  10,  1889. 
Morrhuic  Acid. — M.  M.  Gautier  and  Mourgues  find  in  cod-liver 
oil  an  acid,  relatively  abundant,  having  "  the  double  function  of  an 
acid  and  an  alkali/'  It  is  found,  like  the  ordinary  lecithins,  in  un- 
stable and  complex  combinations,  i.  e.}  it  changes  with  acids  or  alka- 
lies, setting  free  glycerin  and  phosphoric  acid.  It  separates  slowly 
and  continuously  from  alcoholic  or  aqueous  acidulated  extracts  of  cod- 
liver  oil,  even  when  brought  together  cold.  Morrhuic  acid,  recently 
precipitated,  is  oleaginous  and  viscous,  but  may  be  crystallized  in 
square,  flat  prisms,  or  in  lanceolate  forms.    It  dissolves  in  hot  water, 
