.Am.  Jour.  Pharm- ) 
Sept.,  1882.  ; 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
463 
Cascara  sagrada  is  thicker  and  more  fragile  than  frangula  bark,  and 
differs  from  the  latter  also  in  containing  groups  of  stone  cells  in  the 
primary  bark,  and  a  few  such  groups  also  in  the  bast  layer. — Phar. 
emtralhalle,  1882,  Xo.  28. 
Rhammis  purshiana ;  transverse  section  through  bast  layer. 
Testing  of  Jalap  Tubers. — Hager  states  that  the  specific  gravity  of 
jalap  resin  is  1*15  to  1*16,  and  that  of  the  sugar  1*5  to  1'6.  Good 
jalap  tubers,  rich  in  these  constituents,  have  a  density  of  1*15  to  1'18, 
and  none  should  be  accepted  for  medicinal  use  that  have  not  at  least 
the  specific  gravity  1*140,  which  is  conveniently  ascertained  by  means 
of  a  solution  prepared  from  200  grams  dry  table  salt  and  1,055  grams 
of  water.  At  least  f)0  per  cent,  of  tlie  jalaj)  tubers  should  sink  in 
this  liquid  at  a  temperature  of  15°  to  17°C.,  care  being  taken  to 
remove  gas  bubbles  from  the  surface  of  those  tubers  which  may  float. 
The  jalap  is  afterwards  collected  upon  a  sieve,  rapidly  washed  with 
watei-  and  dried.— P//ar.  Centralhalle,  1882,  No.  27. 
Moravian  Wmiharh.  —  The  culture  of  Rheum  compactum  in  Mora- 
via was  commenced,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  by  Prik- 
ryl,  apothecary  in  Austerlitz.  Until  about  25  or  30  years  ago  the 
root  was  largely  exported  to  Lyous  and  Milano,  where  it  was  used  for 
■dyeing  silk.  With  the  use  of  chemicals  for  dyeing,  the  price  of  this 
rhubarb  recHided  to  about  10  florins  per  hundredweight,  but  more 
recently  has  advanced  again,  and  is  about  1  florin  per  pound  for  tri- 
ennial roots.  Tins  rhuljarb  is  again  largely  exported,  chiefly  to  Rus- 
.sia,  whence  it  is  ex])orted  again  as  Asiatic  rhubarb.  Prof.  Dr.  A. 
Vogl  has  pointed  out  histological  diflerences  by  which  this  article  may 
be  distiuguished  from  (Jhinese  rhubMrb  ;   but  a  correspondent  iusists 
