VARIETIES.  275 
bo  put  into  cold  water  and  boiled  for  half  an  hour,  after  which  they  may  be 
taken  out,  washed,  dried,  and  used  as  food. — Ibid,  from  IS  Union  Mediccdc, 
1851,  No.  148. 
|M.  Apoiger  has  recently  shown  (Bepertorium  far  die  Pharmacie,)  that 
the  poisonous  principle  of  the  toadstool  may  be  separated  by  acetate  of 
lead.  By  washing  the  precipitate  and  decomposing  with  sulphuretted 
hydrogen,  filtering  and  distilling  one  half.  The  distillate  smelled  of  the 
toadstool  but  was  not  poisonous.  The  residue  in  the  retort  evaporated 
to  an  extract,  and,  treated  by  ether,  gave  a  crystalline  crust  by  its 
evaporation,  three  grains  of  which  killed  a  kitten  in  a  few  minutes. 
Buchner  thinks  it  probable  that  the  poison  is  an  organic  base  in  combina- 
tion with  boletic  and  fungic  acids.  (Ann.  of  Pharm.,  April  1852.) — Ed. 
Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.] 
A  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  Italy. — In  Turin  a  Pharmaceutical  Society  has, 
at  last,  been  established,  with  a  staff  of  officials,  consisting  of  a  president, 
vice-president,  general  secretary,  treasurer,  censors,  and  two  under  secreta- 
ries. This  is  a  wonderful  progress  for  these  oppressed  but  gifted  people, 
whose  rulers  have  heretofore  even  suppressed  discussion  on  scientific  sub- 
jects. In  fact,  it  is  related  that  so  heartily  do  those  creatures  of  kingcraft,  the 
police,  hate  everything  in  the  shape  of  freedom,  and  at  the  same  time  are 
so  ignorant,  that  they  once  stopped  a  chemical  work  from  passing  the  fron- 
tier because  one  of  these  worthies,  in  his  zeal,  took  the  trouble  of  looking 
through  the  book  and  found  in  a  passage  describing  some  chemical  decom- 
position, the  words,  "  that  iodine  became  free/'  Of  course,  nothing  in  Italy 
could  be  allowed  to  become  free,  not  even  iodine  ! — London  Annals  of  Pharm. 
Adulteration  of  Guaiacum  Wood. — Huraut  has  found  that  guaiacum  wood 
is  mixed  with  the  shavings  of  other  woods.  In  order  to  detect  the  adultera- 
tion it  is  only  necessary  to  take  advantage  of  the  behavior  of  guaiacum  wood 
towards  oxidizing  agents.  If  the  wood  is  treated  with  a  solution  of  chloride 
of  lime  it  assumes  a  green  color  within  a  few  seconds,  while  other  woods 
either  retain  their  natural  color  or  are  rendered  paler,  but  never  become 
green. — Ibid,  from  Journ.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim. 
On  the  presence  of  Amygdalin  in  various  plants. — Wicke  has  continued  his 
previous  investigations  on  this  subject.  He  submitted  the  various  buds  and 
bark  of  Sorbis  aucuparia,  S.  hybrida,  Amelanchier  vulgaris,  Cotoneaster  vul- 
garis, and  Prunus  pad  us  to  distillation,  and  tested  the  distillate  for  hydro- 
cyanic acid.  This  was  done  in  the  autumn  in  order  to  determine  whether 
amygdalin  was  not  formed  until  the  process  of  vegetation  commenced,  or 
was  stored  up  in  the  plant  during  the  autumn.  The  results  which  he  ob- 
tained were  in  favor  of  the  latter  view,  and  in  this  respect  amygdalin  be- 
haves in  a  manner  analogous  to  starch,  with  which  it  has  the  further  pecu- 
liarity in  common  that  it  decreases  in  quantity  during  the  period  of  growth. 
It  would  also  appear  as  if  the  amygdalin  of  the  amygdalacese  and  pomacese 
