290  Estimation  of  Total  Alkaloids  in  Bark.     { ^'^jiZ,  u82'"'' 
tory  power  and  tlie  same  meltiug  point,  161"C.,  wliile  the  melting 
point  of  arabinose  is  143°C. 
The  gum  of  the  seed  of  lucerne  is  thus  a  distinct  substance,  and  in 
consequence  of  yielding  the  same  products  of  decomposition  as  sugar 
of  milk  by  the  action  of  dilute  acids,  the  name  galactin  is  applied. 
It  is  abundant  in  vegetable  products,  in  the  seeds  of  the  leguminosse, 
and  particularly  in  those  which  contain  no  starch.  It  appears  to  be 
localized  in  the  testa,  of  which  that  of  the  seed  of  lucerne  contains  42 
parts  by  weight  in  100.  It  is  digested  by  animals,  but  cannot  be  sac- 
charified, however,  by  the  saliva  or  by  the  pancreatic  juice.  From  the 
remarkable  property  of  this  body  in  yielding  galactose,  the  author 
thinks  it  possible  that  it  may  form  a  portion  of  the  material  from' 
which  the  herbivorous  females  derive  the  elements  of  sugar  of  milk, 
secreted  by  their  organs  of  lactation,  and  the  origin  of  which  is  still 
enveloped  in  mystery.  The  sugar  of  milk  is  of  rare  occurrence  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom,  and  has  been  found  with  certitude  only  in  the 
juice  of  the  sapodilla. 
The  very  extended  distribution  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  of  the 
above  described  substance,  which  is  employed  in  alimentation,  shows 
that  the  elements  of  sugar  of  milk  are  at  the  abundant  disposition  of 
herbivorous  animals. — Rep.  de  Pharni.,  1882,  No.  3,  pp.  107-109. 
METHOD  FOR  THE  ESTIMATION  of  TOTAL  ALKALOIDS 
IN  BAKK. 
By  Dr.  J.  De  Vrij. 
Abstract  of  a  paper  in  the  Nieuw  Tijdschrift  voor  de  PharmaGie  in  Neder- 
land,  January,  1882. 
In  the  ^^Archiv  der  Pharmacie''  for  August,  1881,  two  methods  for 
the  estimation  of  the  total  alkaloids  in  bark  were  proposed  by  Prollius, 
one  of  which  the  author  has  tested  and  now  recommends  as  yielding, 
with  a  slight  modification,  excellent  results. 
The  principle  of  the  method  referred  to  consists  in  using  for  the 
extraction  of  the  alkaloids  a  mixture  of  88  parts  (by  weight)  of  ether, 
8  of  alcohol  (92  to  95  per  cent.),  and  4  of  liquid  ammonia.  Prollius 
directs  10  grams  of  this  liquid  to  be  taken  for  every  gram  of  bark, 
but  the  author  recommends  the  proportion  of  menstruum  to  be 
doubled. 
