AmjJu°iy?if8h9arm' }  Andromedotoxin.  361 
not  thereby  increased.  After  extraction  and  purification  by  evapora- 
tion, taking  up  in  alcohol,  etc.,  the  substance  may  be  agitated  with 
light  petroleum,  then  with  chloroform,  and  to  the  residue  left  by  the 
chloroform  the  characteristic  tests  given  above  may  be  applied. 
Note  by  the  Editor. — Professor  Plugge  has  continued  his 
researches  on  the  presence  of  andromedotoxin  in  the  order  of  ericacese, 
and  has  published  his  results  in  Archiv  der  Phavmacie,  February, 
1889,  pp.  164-172.  The  process  for  isolation  was  the  one  given 
above  •  to  determine  the  presence  of  the  principle,  the  physiological 
behavior  and  the  most  characteristic  chemical  reactions  were  used. 
Andromedotoxin  was  found  to  be  present  in  Kalmia  latifolia,  Lin.,1 
Rhododendron  maximum,  Lin.  and  Rh.  Chrysanthum,  Lin.  To 
these  must  be  added  the  following  ericacese,  which  had  been  previously 
found  to  contain  the  same  poisonous  principle:  Andromeda  japonica, 
Thunb.,  A.  polifolia,  Lin.,  A.  Catesbsei,  Walt.,  A.  calyculata,  Lin., 
A.  polifolia  angustifolia,  Rhododendron  ponticum,  Lin.,  Rh.  hybri- 
dum  and  Azalea  indica. 
The  following  plants  were  ascertained  to  be  free  from  andromedo- 
toxin :  Arctostaphylos  officinalis,  Wimm.,  Chimaphila  umbellata,  Nutt., 
Oxydendron  arboreum,  De  Cand.,  Erica  vulgaris,  Lin.,  Ledum  palu- 
stre,  Lin.  To  these  must  also  be  added  the  following,  which  were 
previously  ascertained  to  be  free  from  this  principle :  Gaultheria 
procumbens*,  Lin.  (by  Prof.  Power  and  N.  C.  Werbke),  Rhododen- 
dron hirsutum,  Lin.,  Clethra  arborea  and  alnifolia,  Lin. 
From  experiments  made  by  Dr.  de  Zaayer  in  determining  the 
lethal  dose,  for  frogs  and  rabbits,  of  the  fluid  extract  of  Kahnia 
latifolia,  and  comparing  with  the  effects  of  pure  andromedotoxin,  it  is 
estimated  that  the  former  contains  about  0  05  per  cent,  of  this  poison- 
ous principle. 
Fromentin,  a  new  alimentary  substance,  is  the  embryo  of  the  wheat 
reduced  to  flour,  and  is  stated  to  contain  three  times  more  nitrogenous  sub- 
stance than  meat,  and  a  strong  proportion  of  sugar.  Hence  it  would  appear 
that  it  might  ad\  antageously  replace  powdered  meat  as  a  concentrated 
food.  It  may  be  employed  for  making  soups,  and  even  for  making  biscuits, 
the  taste  of  which  would  not  be  disagreeable. — Lancet,  March  9,  1889. 
1  In  quoting  the  literature,  Prof.  Plugge  states  that "  G.  W.  Kennedy  has  found 
(Am.  Jour,  Phar.,  XLV,p.  115)  the  alkaloid  (sic)  arbutin."  Prof.  Plugge  has 
evidently  not  seen  the  original  paper  which  was  published  in  American  Jour- 
nal op  Pharmacy,  XLVII  (1875)  page  5,  and  in  which  the  word  alkaloid  does 
not  occur. — Editor  Am.  Jour.  Phar. 
