AmDe°cU^8^rm'}    Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  611 
and  boil  to  destroy  the  activity  of  the  poison. — Hermann  Still  mark, 
Ans  den  Arbeiten  des  pharmakologischen  Instituts  zu  Dorpat.  Pharm. 
Centralhalle,  1889,  650. 
The  Examination  of  Castor  Oil. — The  specific  gravity  0*950-0'970, 
the  deposition  of  crystalline  floccules  at  0°C,  the  solubility  in  alcohol 
and  glacial  acetic  acid,  and  the  absence  of  a  dark  brown  color  if  3 
parts  castor  oil  be  mixed  with  3  parts  carbon  disulphide  and  2  parts 
sulphuric  acid,  while  sufficient  to  detect  foreign  vegetable  oils,  will  not 
detect  rosin  oil  owing  to  similar  behavior  towards  the  above  reagents. 
Rosin  oil  may  be  detected  by  saponification  and  agitation  of  the 
aqueous  soap  solution  with  ether,  separating  aud  evaporating  the 
ethereal  solution  when  the  rosin  oil  will  be  obtained.  The  behavior 
with  nitric  acid  of  sp.  gr.  1*31  is  also  of  value.  Castor  oil  is  colored 
only  slightly  brown,  while  the  acid  solution  remains  colorless;  in  the 
presence  of  rosin  oil  the  oily  layer  will  be  decidedly  dark  colored 
(almost  black)  and  the  acid  layer  will  be  of  a  brownish  color.  A 
sample  of  castor  oil  examined  contained  about  19  per  cent,  rosin  oil, 
and  gave  satisfactory  results  with  the  tests  first  mentioned. — Dr.  H. 
Gilbert,  Chemiker  Ztg.,  1889,1428. 
ABSTRACTS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
Translated  for  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Mercurial  Flannels. — Prof.  Merget  in  a  recent  thesis  support- 
ing the  belief  that  mercury  cannot  be  absorbed  by  the  healthy  skin, 
and  that  mercury  inunctions  act  only  through  the  respiratory  organs, 
which  absorbed  their  vapor,  proposed  the  use  of  mercurialized 
flannels  to  replace  the  inconvenient  ointments  now  employed. 
M.  Carles  explains  {Gaz.  des  Sci.  med.  de  Bordeaux)  how 
these  should  be  prepared.  Thick,  soft  flannels  should  be  first 
relieved  of  fatty  matters  by  soaking  for  three  hours  in  a  25  per  cent, 
solution  of  bicarbonate  of  soda,  after  which  they  are  lightly  wrung 
out  and  plunged  into  clear  water.  After  a  second  wringing,  made 
gently — with  the  object  of  retaining  a  portion  of  the  alkaline  salt — 
they  are  placed  for  four  or  five  hours  in  a  saturated  solution  of  nitrate 
of  mercury.  As  strong  vapors  are  thus  disengaged,  the  process 
should  be  carried  on  under  a  chimney  of  some  sort.  The  flannels 
should  then  be  lightly  soaked  in  a  1  to  2  solution  of  liquor  ammonia? 
and,  when  a  grayish  cast  shall  have  been  obtained  upon  them,  should 
be  dried  in  a  shaded  place  in  the  open  air.    They  are  then  beaten,  to 
