336 
GLEANINGS  FROM  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
on  the  ventral  surface ;  generally  recurved  or  contorted,  and  of 
a  blackish,  or  chestnut  ash  color.  This  last  color  due  to  the 
dessication  of  a  part  of  the  seed  ;  light  reddish  when  spoiled ; 
its  fracture  is  dry  and  angular,  of  a  dirty  yellow  color  presenting 
sometimes  in  the  centre,  arborizations  very  often  badly  denned, 
its  odor  nearly  null,  its  taste  peculiar,  animalized,  is  insensible 
to  tincture  of  iodine,  burns  with  flame,  assumes  a  red  color, 
which  browns  and  blackens  afterwards,  and  evolves  during  com- 
bustion a  strongly  penetrating  animalized  odor. 
The  ergot  of  diss  keeps  very  well.  The  following  substances 
were  obtained  from  it  by  analysis  :  fatty  oil  and  crystalline  fat, 
30*6;  ergotine  of  wiggers  2-3  ;  vegetable  albumen  3*6;  sugar, 
gum,  and  nitrogenous  matter  7 ;  fungin  50*20 ;  salts  of  lime 
and  silica  6-20. 
M.  Lallemant  has  experimented  at  the  clinics  of  the  civil  hos- 
pital during  a  year  with  the  preparations  of  diss  ergot,  and  his 
trials  have  always  been  crowned  with  complete  success,  with  a 
dose  one-half  less  than  that  of  ergot  of  rye ;  and  it  is  probable 
that,  if  generally  known,  this  ergot  would  soon  be  employed  in 
practice. 
It  is  during  the  flowering  season  that  ergotization  occurs. 
This  phenomenon  has  been  studied  with  much  care  by  M. 
Tulasne. — Jour,  de  Ph.,  Juin,  1865,  from  Gfaz.  Med.  de  Algerie. 
Clarification  of  the  Mississippi  water. — A  writer  quoted  in 
Bouchardaf  s  Repertoire,  speaking  of  the  earthy  sediment  in  this 
water,  says  that  the  most  successful  method  of  clarifying  i 
for  drinking  is  by  means  of  an  emulsion  of  almonds,  (15  almonds 
to  64  gallons  of  water,)  which  is  stirred  up  with  the  water  ;  and 
after  24  hours  the  clear  liquid  is  decanted. 
On  the  action  of  diastase  on  starch. — M.  Payen,  in  reference 
to  this  subject,  gives  the  following  conclusions : 
1st.  That  diastase  exercises  a  saccharifying  action  on  dextrine  ; 
2d.  That  this  action  is  impeded  by  the  presence  of  the  glucose 
formed,  but  is  renewed  when  the  glucose  is  eliminated ; 
3d.  That  the  transformation  of  glucose  into  alcohol  during  the 
alcoholic  fermentation  presents  no  obstacle  to  the  saccharization 
of  the  dextrine  by  diastase ; 
