352 
Note  on  Boroglyceride. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\      July,  1882. 
Very  few  myrtles  are  indigenous,  but  none  peculiar  to  the  United 
States.  The  five  species,  enumerated  in  Chapman's  Flora,  are  small 
trees,  confined  to  Southern  Florida.  They  are  Eugenia  dic;hotonia, 
De  Cand. ;  Eug.  procera,  Poh\,  Eug.  monticola,  De  Cand. ;  Eug- 
buxifolia,  Willd.,  and  Calyptranthes  (Myrtus,  Lin.)  Chytraculia, 
Sicartz.  Not  a  single  myrtle  has  been  found  indigenous  to  California, 
though  the  climate  is  well  suited  for  the  growth  of  different  species  of 
Eucalyptus,  and  doubtless  of  other  genera  of  this  interesting  and  use- 
ful natural  order.  The  States  bordering  the  Mexican  Gulf  may  like- 
wise be  adapted  for  the  acclimatization  of  some  of  the  numerous 
myrtles. 
NOTE  ON  BOROGLYCERIDE. 
By  Thomas  D.  McElhenie. 
Head  before  the  Kings  County  PharmaGeutical  Society,  June  ISth. 
In  a  paper  read  some  time  ago  before  the  Society  of  Arts,  London, 
Prof.  F.  S.  Barff  announced  the  new  antiseptic,  under  the  above  title, 
as  prepared  and  tested  by  him.  The  paper  and  tlie  subsequent  dis- 
cussion were  confined  to  domestic  and  culinary  uses  of  the  substance 
in  the  preservation  of  all  kinds  of  food-products,  raw  and  cooked,  and 
brought  out  a  great  many  interesting  facts.  For  instance,  cream  pre- 
pared by  adding  an  ounce  of  boroglyceride  to  one  quart,  has  been  sent 
from  London  to  Zanzibar,  passing  through  the  tropics  and  arriving  in 
good  condition ;  also  to  Jamaica.  It  occurred  to  me,  on  reading  the 
account  in  the  "  Scientific  American"  Supplement,  that  an  article  of 
such  valuable  antiseptic  properties,  and  withal  so  harmless  in  itself, 
would  prove  of  great  value  in  pharmacy,  and  probably  in  medical 
and  surgical  practice.  Two  or  three  prominent  surgeons  of  this  city 
have  it  now  under  investigation  as  a  dressing  for  wounds.  The 
preparation  is  not  a  secret  or  proj^rietary  article  in  any  sense,  the  author 
having  given  it  for  public  benefit,  and  the  process  is  as  follows : 
Ninety-two  parts  of  pure  glycerin  are  heated  to  about  150°C. 
(302°F.)  and  sixty-two  parts  of  pure  boracic  acid  in  powder  are 
gradually  added.  Steam  is  given  off  by  the  formation  of  water,  and 
the  mass  loses  weight.  The  operation,  in  quantities  of  five  pounds  or 
more,  requires  about  a  day  to  complete,  as  the  viscidity  of  the  melted 
mass  allows  the  steam  to  bubble  out  very  slowly.  It  is  known  to  be* 
finished  when  it  ceases  to  lose  weight  and  dissolves  freely  in  water  at 
