248  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.      {Am m^iSd?"11, 
fatty  acids  were  obtained ;  the  alcohol  can  be  recovered  by  distillation 
making  the  process  a  cheap  one.  Of  a  large  number  of  oils  examined, 
castor  oil  alone  could  not  be  purified  in  this  manner,  owing  to  its 
affinity  for  alcohol ;  with  alcohol  of  more  than  50  per  cent,  this  oil 
increases  in  volume  and  the  alcohol  dissolved  is  removed  with  con- 
siderable difficulty.  There  are  some  oils  in  which  the  free,  fatty 
acids  are  desirable,  as  cod  liver  oil,  croton  oil  and  the  fixed  oil  of 
laurel,  to  which  the  process  is  not  applicable. — Pharm.  Ztg.,  1889, 
192. 
Extractum  Glycyrrhizcz. — Kremel  {Pharm.  Post,  1889,  194)  states 
that  the  solubility  of  this  preparation  is  not  a  sufficient  test  of  purity 
and  advises  determinations  of  the  glycyrrhizin  and  the  ash.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  ash  of  the  unadulterated  extract  is  always  strongly 
alkaline.  The  glycyrrhizin  is  estimated  by  taking  5  gins,  coarsely 
powdered  extract  and  50  cc.  water,  allowing  to  stand  for  several  hours 
with  frequent  stirring,  adding,  after  solution,  50  cc.  of  90  per  cent, 
alcohol  which  materially  assists  filtration,  allowing  to  subside  and 
filtering  through  a  plaited  filter.  The  filter  is  well  washed  with  40 
per  cent,  alcohol  and  the  alcohol  removed  from  the  filtrate  by  heating 
on  a  water-bath  ;  after  cooling,  the  glycyrrhizin  is  precipitated  with 
sulphuric  acid,  collected  on  a  small  filter,  washed  with  water  and  dis- 
solved off  the  filter  by  carefully  dropping  on  ammonia  water ;  the 
filtrate  is  collected  in  a  small  tared  beaker  or  capsule,  evaporated  on  a 
water-bath  and  finally  dried  at  100°  and  weighed. 
1  2  3  4  5 
Glycyrrhizin  5*88  8-06  8*30  975  11-90 
Ash  2-90  6-44  5-64  8"64  564 
The  ash  of  1  was  neutral  in  reaction  and  the  percentage  of  glycyr- 
rhizin so  low  as  to  be  suspicious. 
Sodium  bicarbonate  of  English  manufacture  is  chiefly  made  by  the 
ammonia-soda  process  and  contains  ammonium  salts  in  varying 
amounts;  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  ammonium  salts  inter- 
fere seriously  with  the  mercuric  chloride  test  for  the  normal  carbon- 
ate, a  white  precipitate  of  mercurammonium  chloride  appearing  first 
and  only  after  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes  the  red  precipitate  characteris- 
tic of  the  carbonate. — C.  Arnold,  Pharm  Ztg.,  1889,  198. 
Medicinal  cod  liver  oil  is  examined  for  iodine  by  mixing  three 
grams  oil  with  two  grams  dry  sodium  carbonate,  heating  to  complete 
carbonization,  lixiviating  with  repeated  small  portions  of  boiling 
water,  filtering,  concentrating,  adding  five  to  six  drops  fuming  nitric 
