Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Feb.,  1882.  J 
Varieties. 
83 
fall  on  the  declivity  of'  a  mountain  may  see  appear  there  immediately  a 
multitude  of  torrents." 
The  disastrous  consequences  of  removing  the  woods  from  the  Alps  began 
to  attract  attention  in  the  last  century,  and  have  since  been  discussed  in 
many  publications  and  official  reports.  In  1853  the  prefect  of  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Lower  Alps  said  in  a  report  to  the  Minister  :  "  If  prompt  and 
■energetic  measures  are  not  taken,  it  will  be  almost  possible  to  designate  the 
precise  moment  when  the  French  Alps  will  become  a  desert.  The  period 
from  1851  to  1853  will  produce  a  new  diminution  in  the  number  of  the 
population.  In  1862  the  Minister  will  remark  a  continuous  and  progres- 
sive reduction  in  the  number  of  hectares  devoted  to  agriculture;  each  year 
will  aggravate  the  evil,  and  in  a  half-century  France  will  count  more 
ruins  and  one  department  less."  The  departments  of  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Alps  actually  lost  thirty  thousand  inhabitants,  or  one-ninth  of  their 
population,  between  1851  and  1876.  A  law  for  recovering  the  mountains 
with  wood,  which  has  been  prepared  by  M.  Forcade  de  Rouguet,  director- 
general  of  the  administration  of  the  forests,  was  adopted  by  the  legislative 
bodies  in  1860,  and  was  put  in  operation  shortly  afterward. — M.  J.  Cleve, 
in  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  October,  1881. 
"To  Detect  Oil  Pennyroyal  jn  Oil  Peppermint.— Messrs.  J.  J. 
"Quetting  &  Co.,  having  found  much  oil  of  peppermint  in  the  market 
adulterated  with  oil  of  pennjawal,  they  have  sent  j^ostal  cards  to  their 
customers  warning  them  of  the  fact  and  giving  the  following  test,  which 
they  indorse  as  reliable  : 
Take  one  dram  chloral  hydrate,  and  a  half  dram  C.  P.  sulph.  acid  ;  mix 
together  in  a  glass  mortar,  add  a  few  drops  of  alcohol,  and  stir  until  it 
becomes  clear.  Then  use  this  mixture  in  equal  proportions  with  the  sus- 
pected oil  in  a  small  porcelain  dish,  and  mix  thoroughly  together.  The 
result  is  a  fine  cherry  color  if  the  oil  is  pure;  otherwise  if  adulterated  with 
pennyroyal,  it  turns  a  dark  olive  green,  more  or  less  as  to  quantity  of 
adulteration. — Oil  and  Drug  News. 
Uses  of  Chaulmoogra  Oil  in  Skin  Diseases.— A  foreign  exchange 
says,  Chaulmoogra  oil,  which  has  obtained  a  certain  reputation  in  India 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  symptoms— I  will  not  say  the  cure— of  leprosy, 
has  been  introduced  into  this  country  with  the  somewhat  vague  reputa- 
tion of  being  useful  in  skin  diseases.  It  has  answered  well  in  some  cases 
of  eczema  of  the  face  which  had  passed  the  moist  stage  and  tended  to 
become  dry.  It  seems  to  act  as  a  mildly  stimulating  astringent,  but  its 
applicability  is  certainly  limited,  and  experiments  with  it  in  Germany, 
recently  reported,  have  not  increased  its  reputation.  It  is  in  the  strumous 
forms  of  eczema  of  the  face  in  children  and  young  persons  that  the  best 
results  from  its  use  have  been  attained.— iH/ed!.  and  Surg.  Beporter,  Nov.  26, 
1881. 
PHEcrpi'TATED  SuLPHUR  FOR  PiMPLES  ON  THE  FACE.— Dr.  Gage  Par- 
sons  ("London  Practitioner")  says  that  the  usual  lotion  of  the  flowers  of 
sulphur  with  glycerin  and  water  is  undoubtedly  a  valuable  remedy,  but 
