JLm.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Dec,  1882.  J 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
625 
-growth  occurred  with  consumption  of  nitrogenous  constituents.  In  con- 
clusion, it  is  mentioned  that  the  assumption  that  potato-mash  is  defi- 
cient in  nitrogenous  nutrients  is  disproved  by  these  experiments. — 
Jour.  Ohem.SoG.;  from  Dlngl.  Polyt.  244,-448-456. 
GLEANINGS  IN  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
By  the  Editor. 
The  leaves  of  Globularia  Alypum  contain,  according  to  E.  Heckel, 
fat,  wax,  tannin,  globularin,  cinnamic  acid,  mannit,  glucose,  resins, 
gummy  and  coloring  matters,  2*1  per  cent,  of  ash,  26 '2  water  and  13*1 
cellulose.  The  globularitannic  acid  of  Walz  was  a  mixture  of  tannin 
and  coloring  matter.  Globularin  is  a  glucoside,  but  does  not  yield 
paraglobularetin ;  globularetin  is  at  first  oily  or  resinous,  gradually 
becomes  transparent  and  amorphous,  and  when  dissolved  in  hot  alka- 
line solutions  combines  with  the  elements  of  water,  forming  cinnamic 
-acid.  A  small  quantity  of  a  volatile  aromatic  compound,  probably 
benzyl  cinnamate,  was  likewise  found  in  the  leaves.- — Comp.  Rend., 
cv,  p.  90-93. 
The  leaves  of  Tarchonanthus  camphoratus,  nat.  ord.  Compositse,  yield 
to  hot  alcohol  a  crystalline  substance  which,  after  washing  with  cold 
alcohol  and  recrystallizing,  was  found  by  F.  Canzoneri  and  G.  Spica 
to  have  a  silvery  lustre,  to  melt  at  82°,  solidify  at  a  slightly  lower 
temperature,  and  afterwards  melt  at  72°C.  It  is  tasteless,  insoluble  in 
water,  freely  soluble  in  hot  but  sparingly  soluble  in  cold  alcohol,  resists 
the  action  of  acids  and  alkalies,  and  burns,  giving  off  the  odor  of  wax. 
It  is  probably  a  liomologue  of  myricyl  alcohol,  and  contains  50  or 
more  atoms  of  carbon.  The  authors  call  it  tarconyl  alcohol.  Alcohol 
takes  also  up  a  heavy  dark-colored  oil,  having  a  pungent  taste,  and 
consisting  mostly  of  an  ether  of  an  aromatic  acid.  The  plant  is  indi- 
genous to  Southern  Africa. —  Gazzetta,  1882,  p.  227. 
Fat  of  the  California  Laurel,  Umbellularia  (Oreodaphne,  Nees  ; 
Tetranthera  Hooh.  et  Am.)  californica,  Nuttall. — The  volatile  oil 
obtained  from  the  leaves  was  examined  by  J.  P.  Hcamy  ("Am.  Jour. 
Phar.,^^  1875,  p.  105).  J.  M.  Stillman  and  E.  C.  O'Neill  have  extracted 
from  the  seed,  by  means  of  ether,  a  tallow-like  fat,  melting  at  31°  to 
32°C.,  having  in  the  melted  state  the  specific  gravity  0*925,  and  pos- 
sessing a  disagreeable  irritating  taste,  which  is  probably  due  to  a  little 
40 
