'^'"Feb''^i882'^"'  }  Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica.  77 
Lycopodine,  C32H52N2O3,  is  a  new  alkaloid  obtained  by  K.  Boedeker 
from  the  aqueous  solution  of  the  alcoholic  extract  of  Lycopodium  com- 
planatum,  Lin.,  by  precipitating  with  basic  lead  acetate,  treating  the 
filtrate  with  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  adding  an  alkali  and  agitating 
with  ether.  The  alkaloid  is  crystalline,  melts  at  114°C.,  is  freely 
soluble  in  alcohol,  ether,  benzene,  water  and  amyl  alcohol,  and  has  a 
very  bitter  taste ;  its  hydrochlorate  crystallizes  with  IH2O. — Ann.  d. 
Chem.,  ccviii,  363-367. 
Soja  hispida,  Moench. — The  seeds  of  this  leguminous  plant  which 
are  used  in  India  in  the  preparation  of  a  sauce  called  soy,  were  found 
by  A.  Levallois  to  contain  a  peculiar  slightly  sweet  sugar,  which  on 
precipitation  by  ether  from  its  alcoholic  solution  forms  a  very  deli- 
quescent mass.  It  does  not  reduce  Fehling's  solution,  yields  glucose 
on  treatment  with  dilute  mineral  acids,  has  a  rotary  power  of  about 
+  115,  and  after  inversion  of  +35,  ferments  readily  with  yeast  and 
with  nitric  acid  yields  mucic  and  oxalic  acids.  In  the  formation  of 
mucic  acid  the  sugar  resembles  melitose,  and  it  has  also  some  analogy 
with  cane  sugar. — Rep.  de  Phar.,  Nov.,  1881,  p.  518. 
Myronic  Acid  in  the  Seeds  of  Brassica  Hapa. — H.  Ritthausen  has 
found  a  considerable  proportion  of  potassium  myronate  in  yellow  and 
brown  turnip  seeds  from  India,  as  well  as  in  such  grown  in  East  Prus- 
sia, and  the  seeds  and  press  cakes  yielded  oil  of  mustard.  However,  rape 
seeds,  from  Brassica  Napus,  grown  in  Russia  and  in  Prussia,  were  free 
from  myronic  acid,  and  yielded  not  a  trace  of  oil  of  mustard. — Phar. 
Ztg.,  Oct.  26,  1881,  p.  645. 
Reaction  of  Oil  of  Peppermint.— F\vick.\ge,Y  observed  (1871)  that  oil 
of  peppermint  acquires  a  blue-green  color  with  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1*2. 
In  1878,  A.  Schack  observed  that  an  alcoholic  solution  of  the  oil  will 
gradually  acquire  a  copper-green  color  in  the  presence  of  salicylic  acid. 
On  adding  the  oil  to  melted  salicylic  acid  a  blue-green  mass  is  at  once 
produced,  soluble  in  alcohol.  All  acids  experimented  with,  including 
carbolic  acid,  but  not  carbonic  acid  under  ordinary  pressure,  give  a 
similar  reaction,  particularly  in  the  presence  of  alcohol,  application  of 
a  moderate  heat  being  necessary  in  some  cases.  A  mixture  of  1  cc. 
glacial  acetic  acid  and  one  drop  of  oil  of  peppermint,  slightly  warmed, 
shows  the  color  very  beautifully,  it  being  blue  in  transmitted  and 
blood-red  in  reflected  light,  and  after  diluting  with  alcoliol  until  the 
blue  tint  has  nearly  disappeared,  the  red  reflection  is  still  observed  in 
the  sunlight  on  pouring  the  liquid  out  in  a  thin  stream,  and  looking 
vertically  into  it.  Menthol  and  oil  of  crisped  mint  do  not  show  the 
reaction. — Archiv  d.  Phar.,  Dec,  1881,  pp.  428-430. 
