AmjSe^7arm'}    Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  295 
ABSTRACTS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
Translated  for  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Terpin  is  now  so  largely  called  for  in  Paris  that  unusual  efforts  are 
made  to  supply  it.  In  one  of  the  laboratories,  so  says  the  Union 
Pharm.  for  April,  undue  haste  led  to  a  vigorous  explosion.  The  mix- 
ture used  in  the  manufacture  consists  of  72  litres  of  the  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, 50  litres  of  alcohol,  and  17  kilogm.  of  nitric  acid.  The  liquid  is 
usually  cooled  rapidly  in  stone  jars  set  in  water,  but  as  the  demand 
was  great,  and  the  jars  were  all  full,  a  supplementary  mixture  was 
poured  in  a  cask,  set  in  cold  water,  to  cool  off!  The  wood  did  not 
conduct  the  heat  away  rapidly  enough,  and  the  explosion  was  very 
violent ;  the  cask  was  driven  through  the  roof,  where  it  burst,  scatter- 
ing its  contents  throughout  the  laboratory.  No  one  was  injured, 
strangely  enough,  but  the  circumstance  contains  a  lesson  for  manufac- 
turing chemists  to  remember.    Eyes  are  valuable  to  druggists. 
Nitrous  Acid  Vapors. — A  communication  has  been  sent  to 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  claiming  great  success  in  treating  the  mucous 
membranes  of  the  respiratory  passages,  by  a  means  which  most  chem- 
ists will  regard  as  queer.  The  remedy  consists  in  pouring  fuming 
nitric  acid  on  a  copper  plate  and  inhaling  the  fumes. 
Iodine  Reagents. — Chibret  and  Izarn  (Rev.  des  Sci.  Med., 
April  15),  explain  a  new  mode  of  using  LugoPs  mixture  in  seeking  for 
fortuitous  alkaloids  and  leucomaines  in  human  urine — matters  in  which 
the  wise  physician  often  seeks  the  aid  of  the  analyst.  They  found 
that  the  unvarying  reaction  in  the  presence  of  alkaloids,  gave  rise  to  a 
green  fluorescence,  and  that  this  acquires  an  exceptional  visibility 
under  the  solar  ray  or  in  the  lantern.  The  temperature  of  the  liquid 
is  important.  Urine  which  shows  nothing  when  emitted,  gives  a 
clearly  perceptible  reaction  when  cold.  A  concentration  of  the  usual 
reagent  into  the  following  formula  gave  the  best  results :  Iodine  8 ; 
potass,  iod.  8  ;  water  10.  Urine  emitted  eight  hours  after  waking,  showed 
five  times  the  quantity  of  alkaloids  found  at  other  seasons,  thus  con- 
firming Bouchard's  observations  on  the  maximum  toxicity  of  alka- 
loidal  urines. 
Vulcanized  rubber  instruments  undergo  chemical  changes 
which  in  a  few  months  render  them  useless.  They  become  rough- 
ened, and  white  spots  and  patches  appear,  which  gradually  extend  into 
the  substance  of  the  articles.  In  the  Jour,  de  Pharm,  et  de  Chimie, 
M.  Balland  attributes  the  changes  to  a  very  gradual  production  ot 
