55o 
Notes  and  News. 
Am,  Jour.  Plwm. 
Uctober,  1*7. 
ordinary  interest  by  pharmacists  and  physicians.  The  author  points  out  that 
the  study  of  medical  botany  of  to-day  has  fallen  to  the  pharmacist  to  a  larger 
extent  than  to  the  medical  student ;  he,  however,  states  that  the  growing 
knowledge  of  bacteria  is  a  necessary  branch  of  medical  botany,  and  that  the 
physician  cannot  ignore  this  subject.  The  paper  was  originally  read  before  the 
Section  on  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, at  the  1897  meeting,  in  Philadelphia. 
NOTES  AND  NEWS. 
Professor  Oscar  Loezv,  who  has  been  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Agricul- 
tural Department  of  the  Imperial  University  at  Tokio,  Japan,  for  the  last  four 
years,  has  returned  to  Germany  and  is  again  engaged  in  teaching  in  the  Univer- 
sity at  Munich.  His  successor  in  Tokio  is  Dr.  Bieler,  formerly  assistant  in  the 
Agricultural  Laboratory  at  Halle. 
The  Fliickiger  Medal  was  awarded  by  the  German  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion, during  its  recent  meeting,  to  E.  M.  Holmes,  Curator  of  the  Museums  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 
This  medal  is  awarded  once  in  five  years,  for  distinguished  services  in  the 
promotion  of  pharmaceutical  research.  In  selecting  Mr.  Holmes  as  the  subject 
of  this  honor,  the  society  did  credit  to  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  acknowl- 
edged the  eminent  worth  of  a  man  whose  researches  have  been  so  numerous 
and  productive  of  results  that  if  the  titles  alone  were  given  they  would  fill  some 
pages  of  this  Journal. 
Citric  acid  by  fermentation  of  carbohydrates  is  claimed  by  German  patent 
No.  72,957,  April  5,  1893,  and  species  of  citromyces  are  especially  mentioned  as 
bringing  about  this  fermentation.  The  patent  is  now  supplemented  by  a  new- 
claim  (German  patent  91,891),  based  upon  the  discovery  that  the  same  result 
may  be  obtained  by  means  of  Mucor  piriformis.  The  latter  fungus  is  found  on 
putrefying  fruit,  especially  on  pears  and  apples  ;  its  spore  carriers  only  grow  in 
a  moist  atmosphere,  and  form  long,  white  filaments,  terminated  by  brownish- 
black  heads.  It  can  readily  be  obtained  in  pure  culture  by  sowing  the  spores 
in  a  suitable  medium,  such  as  sugar  solution,  beer  wort,  steamed  rice,  starch 
paste,  etc.,  the  ordinary  room  temperature  being  favorable  for  its  growth.  The 
solution  becomes  acid  from  the  formation  of  citric  acid.— -Jour.  Soc.  Chem. 
Industry,  June  30,  1897. 
The  Bile  of  Serpents  is  found  by  Professor  Fraser  to  have  the  power  of 
neutralizing  serpent  venom,  whilst  ox  bile  has  the  same  property  in  a  lesser 
degree.  This  neutralizing  action  is  manifested  to  a  wonderful  degree  when  the 
bile  is  injected  along  with  the  venom,  and  to  a  less  extent  when  it  is  injected 
after  the  venom.  In  a  paper  treating  of  this  subject,  read  by  the  Professor 
before  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  on  Monday,  July  5th,  he  stated  that  he 
had  separated  the  water-soluble  part  of  the  bile  from  the  alcohol-soluble  part, 
and  found  it  quite  equal  to  the  best  antivenene  in  its  immunizing  effects  with 
regard  to  serpent  venom.  These  are  very  interesting  results  of  the  investiga- 
tion upon  which  Professor  Fraser  has  been  engaged  so  long,  and  it  is  to  be 
