570 
VARIETIES. 
speedy,  and  the  proportions  of  the  active  principle  may  be  varied, — Journal 
de  Chimie  Mcd.^  June,  p.  357. — Medical  Times  and  Gazette. 
Clilorate  of  potash  for  Fcatid  Breath.— In  the  majority  of  cases,  foetid 
breath  arises  from  derangement  of  the  stomach  ;  and  for  such  cases,  an 
Italian  medical  journal  recommends  the  follov^ing  remedy.  Three  hours 
after  each  meal  take  a  teaspoonful  of  a  solution  of  6  grammes  of  chlorate 
of  potash  in  120  grammes  of  sugared  water  (about  a  drachm  and  a  half  in 
four  ounces)  ;  and  at  the  same  time  rinse  the  mouth  with  the  mixture. — 
Dublin  Medical  Press. 
Solubility  of  Arsenious  Acid  in  Glycerin. — M.  Cap  has  directed  the  at- 
tention of  Pharmaceutists  to  the  solvent  power  of  glycerin  for  arsenious 
acid.  Equal  equivalents  of  the  two  substances  combine,  yielding  a  viscous 
oil  which  solidifies  at  the  freezing  point  (32°  F.),  when  it  presents  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  ordinary  fat. — London  Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  Oct.  1, 
1861. 
On  the  Precipitation  of  Lime  from  Saccharine  Juices  by  Bone- Black,  hy 
E.  F.  Anthon. — The  application  of  bone-black  in  the  refining  of  sugar, 
•when  first  introduced,  purposed  the  precipitation  of  certain  organic  matter, 
such  as  coloring  and  putrefying  substances  from  their  solution,  a  purpose 
for  which  it  is  eminently  fitted.  Nor  were  the  expectations  of  its  success 
disappointed,  for  up  to  the  present  day,  animal  charcoal  remains  one  of  the 
most  important  agents  in  the  refining  of  the  various  kinds  of  sugar ; 
though,  as  regards  the  end  for  which  it  is  employed,  this  is  at  present  a 
very  diff'erent  one,  being  not  the  separation  of  organic  matter,  but  the  pre- 
cipitation of  the  lime  held  in  combination  by  the  sugar.  More  than  twen- 
ty years  ago,  I  called  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  property  of  charcoal 
to  precipitate  organic  matter  from  its  solutions  was  more  or  less  material- 
ly impaired  by  the  presence  of  alkalies,  that  for  instance  a  quantity  of 
coal  which  had  absorbed  some  coloring  matter  from  a  slightly  acid  or  a 
neutral  liquid,  gave  the  same  up  to  an  alkaline  liquid,  (after  been  having 
previously  washed  with  water).  The  saccharine  solution  of  lime  is  necessari- 
ly of  a  strongly  alkaline  reaction,  the  more  so  since  its  combination  with 
the  juice  unavoidably  causes  the  presence  of  other  fixed  alkalies. 
For  these  reasons  it  has  always  appeared  to  me  irrational  to  attribute  to 
bone-black,  besides  its  well  acknowledged  decolorizing  properties,  also 
that  of  removing  the  lime — properties  evidently  antagonistic,  as  the  pur- 
pose to  which  they  are  employed  is  to  be  attained  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  and  it  is  quite  natural  to  find  either  the  one  or  the  other  end  more 
completely  reached  at  the  expense  of  the  other. 
The  questions  which  I  determined  to  solve  by  practical  experiment,  the 
results  of  which  follow  in  a  condensed  form,  are  the  following  : 
