136 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharra. 
X      March,  1904. 
Pharmacotherapy  of  the  Essential  Oils. — This  is  the  subject- 
matter  of  a  lengthy  essay  in  the  latest  Semi-annual  Report  of  Schimmel 
&  Co.  Much  of  the  original  work  contained  in  this  essay  was  done 
under  the  personal  supervision  of  the  well-known  pharmacologist, 
Professor  R.  Kobert,  of  Rostock.  The  essay  is  particularly  interest- 
ing from  the  fact  that  the  various  oils  have  been  arranged  in  groups 
or  classes  according  to  their  physiological  action  or  possible  uses  in 
medicine.  Thus,  the  different  essential  oils  are  enumerated  as 
odor  corrigents,  odorous  taste  corrigents,  stomachics,  uterine  reme- 
dies, diuretics,  diaphoretics,  antihydrotics,  antiseptics,  leukotactics, 
antiparasitics,  antidotes,  dermerethistics,  excitants,  sedatives  and 
expectorants. 
It  will  readily  be  seen,  from  this  list,  that  essential  oils  may,  and 
do,  have  a  very  wide  field  of  usefulness  in  medical  as  well  as  in 
pharmaceutical  practices,  and  that  it  is  quite  probable  that  further 
investigations  along  these  lines  may  even  enlarge  on  the  uses  of 
these  very  interesting  and  valuable  remedial  agents. 
Ponticin  is  the  name  given  by  Gilson  to  a  new  glucoside  which 
he  has  extracted  from  two  species  of  rhubarb — Rheum  rhaponlicum 
and  Rheum  undulatum. 
Ponticin  occurs  as  white  crystals  that  gradually  become  yellow  or 
even  rose  colored ;  are  insoluble  in  water,  alcohol  and  most  other 
solvents,  but  soluble  in  a  mixture  of  warm  acetone  and  water.  On 
hydrolysis  it  yields  dextrose  and  a  new  body  which  the  author 
terms  pontegenin.  Ponticin  melts  at  23 1°  C.  and  pontegenin  at 
1870  C.    [Chem.  and  Drug.,  1904,  page  1 5,  from  Rept.  de  Phar.) 
Rhein  from  Aloe  Emodin. — O.  A.  Oesterle  (Schwezz.  Woch.  f 
Chem.  u.  Phar.,  1903,  page  599)  reports  that  he  has  been  able  to 
oxydize  a  portion  of  an  acetic  acid  solution  of  aloe  emodin  into 
rhein  by  means  of  chromic  acid.  From  the  analytical  data  furnished 
the  product  appears  to  be  identical  with  the  rhein  obtained  from 
rhubarb. 
Rhomnol. — This  is  the  name  given  by  a  French  firm  to  a  nucle- 
inic  acid  obtained  from  the  thymus  gland  of  calves.  [Phar.  Centralh., 
1904,  page  6.) 
Salibromin  is  a  white  unctuous  powder,  insoluble  in  water  and 
acids,  but  soluble  in  alkalies.  It  contains  44-5  per  cent,  of  salicylic 
acid  and  5  1*6  per  cent,  of  combined  bromine.  It  is  given  in  doses  of 
0-50  to  1-50  as  an  antirheumatic.   {Phar.  Centralh.,  1903,  page  480.) 
