Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1887. 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
265 
hydrophobia,  and  has  been  used  successfully  by  Dr.  Afonsky  (JRussk. 
Meditz.,  1886),  as  a  preventive,  the  drug  being  given  in  the  form  of 
powder  after  cauterizing  the  wound  with  hydrochloric  acid,  and  using 
also  pilocarpine  hypoderraically. 
This  species  is  likewise  an  annual,  has  thickish,  obliquely  oval 
entire  leaves,  axillary  flowers  and  smooth  fruits  with  smooth  seeds, 
and  grows  in  southern  Europe.  It  is  used  as  a  cathartic  like  Euph. 
Peplus,  Lin.,  which  is  also  an  annual,  but  has  roundish,  entire  and 
somewhat  petiolate  leaves,  a  corymbose  inflorescence,  the  capsule-lobes 
two-keeled  on  the  back,  and  grayish  pitted  seeds ;  the  latter  species 
has  established  itself  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States. 
Factitious  pepper  has  made  its  appearance  in  the  Austrian  market, 
and  is  manufactured  in  Budapest.  N.  Wender  describes  it  (Zeitsch. 
Oest.  Apoth.  Ver.j  1887,  p.  147)  as  resembling  a  ribbed  pill,  and  states 
that  it  is  sold  at  about  two-fifths  of  the  wholesale  price  of  Singapore 
pepper,  and  that  it  has  been  used  for  adulterating  unground  pepper  to 
the  extent  of  75  per  cent.  Examined  by  Dr.  Hanausek,  this  artificial 
product  was  found  to  be  manufactured  of  wheat  flower,  most  likely 
mixed  with  alcoholic  extract  of  pepper  (the  oleo-resinous  by-products 
left  in  preparing  piperine  ?  Editor),  and  colored  with  a  black  pigment, 
lampblack ;  it  was  free  from  capsicum. 
Oleafragrans,  Thunberg,  and  For sythia  suspensa,  Vahl,  two  Japanese 
oleacese,  according  to  J.  F.  Eykman,  contain  a  new  glucoside,  C26H32On, 
which  crystallizes  in  colorless  silky  needles,  is  insoluble  in  ether  and 
petroleum,  and  sparingly  soluble  in  cold  water,  from  which  solution  it 
is  not  precipitated  by  lead  and  other  mineral  salts.  By  oxidation  with 
chromic  acid  it  yields  a  compound  having  the  odor  of  vanillin,  and 
by  boiling  with  acids  it  is  decomposed  into  glucose  and  a  substance  of 
phenolic  properties,  the  latter  being  readily  soluble  in  alcohol  and 
ether,  sparingly  soluble  in  water  and  insoluble  in  petroleum  benzin. — 
Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  1886,  p.  1040. 
In  its  physical  properties  the  new  glucoside  resembles  phillyrin, 
C^Hg^Ou,  the  composition  and  properties  of  which  were  investigated 
by  Bertagnini  in  1860,  but  which  had  been  used  by  Carboncini  since 
1825  as  a  febrifuge.  The  latter  had  at  first  regarded  it  as  an  alka- 
loid ;  in  1836  he  published  the  process  by  which  he  obtained  it  from 
the  bark  of  the  South-European  species  of  Phillyrea.  This  process 
consists  essentially  in  preparing  a  decoction,  adding  lime,  exhausting 
the  sediment  with  alcohol,  decolorizing  and  crystallizing. 
