302 
G/e(fnii)f/s  in  3I«t('r}<i  ^Icdica. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1      June,  1882. 
externally  in  various  ciitaiieoiis  diseases.  More  recently  it  has  been 
recommended  in  diarrlKea  and  in  dysentery,  according  to  the  "Indian 
Medical  Gazette/'  preferably  in  the  form  of  tincture  made  from  four 
ounces  of  the  bruised  fresh  root  and  one  pint  of  alcohol.  A  compound 
tincture  is  obtained  by  adding  three  drachms  of  powdered  long  pepper. 
The  dose  is  from  30  to  60  grains,  three  or  four  times  a  day.  It  has 
an  agreeable  aromatic  taste. 
Diastatic  FeDiient  i)i  Egg  Albiunen. — F.  Selmi  observed  that  a  filt- 
ered aqueous  solution  of  albumen,  on  being  digested  with  a  solution 
of  starch,  converts  the  latter  into  sugar.  The  ferment  is  not  precipi- 
tated from  the  aqueous  solution  by  alcohol,  and  may  be  obtained  in 
the  solid  condition  by  evaporation  at  a  low  temperature. — Monit. 
.scient.,  xii,  70;  Cheni.  Ztg.,  1882,  47. 
Oil  of  Safureja  montana,  Lin. — This  plant,  grown  on  the  moun- 
tains in  the  neighborhood  of  Grasse,  was  subjected  to  distillation,  150 
kilos  yielding  about  125  grams  of  volatile  oil.  This  was  examined  by 
A.  Haller,  who  found  it  to  be  of  a  yellowish-orange  color  and  of  an 
odor  resembling  that  of  origanum.  It  is  a  thin  liquid,  has  the  den- 
sity 0*7394  at  17°C.,  deviates  polarized  light  to  the  left,  and  consists 
of  two  hydrocarbons,  with  35  to  40  per  cent,  of  carvacrol  and  a  small 
-quantity  of  an  oxygenated  body,  boiling  below  235°C.  One  of  the 
hydrocarbons  distils  between  172  and  175°,  the  other  between  180  and 
185°C.— Joi^r.  Fharm.  et  Chhn.  March,  1882,  357  to  360. 
Constituents  of  Codliver  Oil. — From  an  investigation  made  by  P. 
Carles  mainly  on  the  presence  of  phosphorus  and  iodine  in  codliver 
oil  the  author  has  come  to  the  following  conclusions: 
That  through  improvements  in  the  method  of  extracting  oil  from 
eods'  livers  the  old  crude  oils  have  been  replaced  by  improved 
slightly  colored  clear  oils,  having  an  odor  and  taste  which  are  not  dis- 
agreeable, and  AV'hich  can  be  borne  by  stomachs  that  tolerate  sardines, 
anchovies,  etc. 
That  of  these  different  oils  the  modern  natural  pale  oils  are  in  every 
respect  to  be  preferred  to  the  brown  empyreumatic  oils. 
That,  independently  of  their  physical  and  organoleptic  properties, 
the  golden  green  virgin  oils  ought  to  be  esteemed  the  best,  as  they  are 
the  lightest  for  the  stomach,  having  scarcely  any  acidity  and  no  acri- 
dity. (The  acid  calcnlated  as  acetic  acid  varied  from  0*01  per  cent,  in 
a  white  oil  to  1*80  per  cent,  in  an  ordinary  brown  oil.) 
That  all  kinds  of  codliver  oil  contain  infinitesimal  quantities  of 
