170 
VARIETIES. 
crystalline and friable ; reduced to powder it preserves its brilliancy. This 
powder adheres to the fingers and colors them if moist. The solution in 
water has a Prussian blue color. — Jour, de Chimie Med., Dec. 1851. 
Syrup of Iodide of Starch. — Put two drachms and a half of soluble 
iodide of starch in a pint flask, and pour on it four ounces and a half of 
boiling water and boil for two minutes, then add eight ounces of finely 
powdered sugar and dissolve. Thus prepared the syrup contains no globules 
when examined with a lens ; is very limpid, and is exempt from the styptic 
taste of the ordinary preparations of iodine. This syrup should not be kept 
long, and should fc<3 preserved in well stopped bottles. — Jour, de Chimie 
Med., Feb. 1852. 
Gentianin recommended as a substitute for Cinchona. — Dr. Kuchenmeister 
affirms that impure and uncrystallized gentianin can be substituted for 
sulphate of quinia, and he has noticed: 1st, that this substance acts on the 
spleen at least as efficaciously as sulphate of quinia. 2d. Its action is not 
less rapid. 3d. That it is sufficient to administer 15 to 30 grains twice a 
day; and 4th, that gentianin constitutes probably the most valuable sub- 
stitute for Peruvian bark. — Jour. Chimie Med. Dec. 1851. 
Preparation of Dahlia or Georgina Paper. — Dahlia paper is prepared by 
bruising the petals of the red dahlia with a little water, expressing the 
juice and filtering. This is then applied to white filtering paper by means 
of a pencil brush. This paper, which may replace the litmus paper, is 
colored red by acids and green by alkalies. If the color of the juice is not 
sufficiently deep, it may be concentrated by evaporation, filtered, and then 
used. — Ibid. 
Mannite in the Leaves of the Lilac. By M. Zachariah Roussin. — M. Roue- 
sin has obtained mannite from the leaves of the lilac (syringa vulgaris] in 
considerable quantity by precipitating a decoction with neutral acetate of 
lead, filtering, removing the excess of lead by hydrosulphuric acid, again 
filtering and evaporating to an extract. This extract treated with boiling 
alcohol of 60° and the solution filtered hot, deposits, on cooling, a v©lu- 
minous crystallization of mannite. — Ibid. 
Chi the Employment of Sulphate of Zinc for the Preservation of Animal 
Matter. By M. Falconet. — According to the author, the substances the 
most difficult to preserve, as the brain, the intestines, and other pathological 
preparations, may be most effectually preserved in a solution of the sul- 
phate of zinc, retaining all their characters without the least alteration, 
and, what is very important, not experiencing the contraction observed 
when alcohol is used. The steel instruments employed for operating on 
