PROPERTIES  OF  PERMANGANIC  ACID. 
557 
NORWEGIAN  CASTOU. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Medical  Society  of  Christiana,  M.  Ditten, 
Pharmacien,  exhibited  two  sacs  of  fresh  Castor,  each  of  which 
weighed  125  grammes.  He  had  bought  them  of  a  Norwegian 
peasant,  who  had  six  others  in  his  possession,  and  who  told  him 
that  he  frequently  took  Castors  in  the  environs  of  the  village  in 
which  he  lived. 
Professor  Hoist  observed  on  this  occasion,  that  the  interior 
cavity,  which  had  long  been  considered  as  the  distinctive  cha- 
racter of  the  Siberian  Castor,  to  which  Norwegian  Castor  must 
be  connected,  was  wanting  in  the  two  sacs  presented  by  M. 
Ditten  ;  but  it  had  been  recently  shown  that  the  formation  of 
this  cavity  depended  upon  the  mode  in  which  Castor  was  dried. 
The  smell  and  taste  peculiar  to  Siberian  Castor  alone  constitute 
its  certain  characteristics.  When  the  Siberian  Castor  has  at- 
tained its  full  development,  and  when  taken  in  one  of  the  first 
months  of  the  year,  a  pair  of  sacs  will  weigh  375  grammes.  The 
Castor  thrives  best  in  desert  and  wild  countries;  the  increase  of 
population  and  the  extension  given  in  Norway  to  agriculture 
will  render  the  Castor  more  and  more  rare  in  that  country. — 
London  Pharm.  Journ.^  from  Archiv  fur  Pharm.  og  Teohniseh. 
Chem,,  and  Journal  de  Chimie  Medicale. 
ON  THE  COMPOSITION  AND  PROPERTIES  OF  PERMANGANIC 
ACID. 
By  M.  H.  AscHOFF. 
Mr.  Phipson's  assertions  relative  to  the  non-existence  of 
permanganic  acid,  already  refuted  by  M.  Machuca,  are  further 
contradicted  by  those  of  M.  Aschoff.  Having  occasion  to  oc- 
cupy himself  with  these  inquiries,  M.  Aschoff  has  entirely  con- 
firmed M.  Mitscherlich's  long-known  views  relative  to  the 
composition  of  permanganate  of  potash.  He  also  proved  that 
violet  permanganate  becomes  changed  to  green  manganate  with 
disengagement  of  one  atom  of  oxygen,  and  that  the  green 
solution  again  becomes  violet  by  the  action  of  carbonic  acid 
with  a  deposit  of  peroxide  of  manganese,  according  to  the 
equation  3(KO,Mn03)H-2CO=KO,Mn,07-fMn02-|-2(KO,C02). 
