142 
F lores  Datnrce  Albce. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharncu 
1     March,  1897. 
sition  to  verify  or  add  to  the  figures  here  given  may  be  interested 
enough  to  contribute  additional  data. 
The  general  arrangement  has  been  made  alphabetical,  the  offi- 
cial drugs  being  distinguished  by  printing  them  in  italics,  using  the 
pharmacopceial  titles. 
The  present  contribution  contains  all  of  the  estimations  made  by 
the  author  to  date,  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  many  respects  being 
due  to  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  what  was  required  when  the 
work  was  begun. 
Those  which  are  incomplete  are  merely  included  for  comparative 
effect,  and  duplications  will  be  made  in  every  case,  and,  in  the 
future,  only  those  results  will  be  published  which  are  complete  as 
regards  the  per  cent,  of  ash,  per  cent,  of  moisture  in  the  air-dried 
drug  and  qualitative  examination  of  ash. 
The  ash  estimations  were  made  in  a  platinum  crucible  in  the  usual 
manner;  the  moisture  was  estimated  by  drying  about  5  grammes  to 
a  constant  weight  at  1  io°  C.  In  certain  cases  the  alkaloidal  or  ex- 
tractive value  is  included,  but  this  is  merely  for  the  purpose  of  gen- 
eral comparison  ;  the  processes  used  for  the  estimation  of  such  con- 
stituents are  at  all  times  obtainable  upon  application  to  the  author, 
as  a  detailed  record  is  kept  of  all  estimations  made. 
FLORES  DATURA  ALB^. 
By  J.  B.  Nagelvoort. 
The  task  of  investigating  the  alkaloidal  strength  of  the  flowers  of 
Datura  Alba,  L.,  was  undertaken  after  reading  the  article  by  Mr.  Van 
der  Wal,  in  Nederlandsch  Tijdschrifi  voor  Pharmacie,  1895,  and  re- 
produced in  the  Bulletin  of  Pharmacy,  1896,  p.  153. 
It  was  my  intention  to  go  a  step  further  and  extend  Van  der 
Wal's  experiments  over  the  Solanaceae,  then  Atropa  and  Hyoscya- 
mus,  on  which  he  reported,  and  to  begin  with  Datura. 
There  was  not,  however,  as  much  material  on  hand  for  the  work 
as  an  English  analyst,  Mr.  Frank  Browne1  had  at  his  disposal. 
The  flowers  of  Datura  are  not  used  in  the  United  States  save  for 
ornamental  purposes,  while  Browne  reports  that  they  are  considera- 
bly used  in  China  as  a  medicine,  as  well  as  for  criminal  purposes. 
1  "  Datura  Alba,"  by  Frank  Browne,  Pharm.  four.,  1896,  p  197. 
