576 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharra. 
I  December,  1907. 
The  dusting  powder  appears  to  be  made  up  of  lycopodium,  licorice 
and  charcoal. 
Under  date  of  October  5,  Messrs.  Schering  and  Glatz  publish  a 
revised  formula  for  probilin  which  practically  agrees  with  the 
analysis  as  given  above. 
Heroin  and  the  Heroin  Habit. — It  has  been  claimed  for  heroin,  the 
diacetylester  of  morphine,  that  it  is  less  poisonous  than  morphine 
and  also  that  it  is  generally  more  efficient  and  more  reliable.  Ac- 
cording to  M.  P.  Duhem,  heroin  does  not  possess  any  of  these 
advantages.  He  found  it  to  be  fifteen  times  more  poisonous  than 
morphine  for  rabbits,  and  believes  it  to  be  equally  poisonous  for  man. 
He  also  states  that  heroin  induces  to  a  habit  that  is  even  more 
dangerous  and  more  difficult  of  treatment  than  the  morphine  habit. 
(Apotheker  Zeitg.y  1907,  page  920,  from  "  Progres  Medica.") 
Maretin  Poisoning. — The  continued  use  of  maretin,  an  antipyretic 
formerly  exploited  by  the  Farbenfabriken  of  Elberfeld,  even  in  small 
doses,  has  been  found  to  produce  a  high-grade  anaemia  accompanied 
by  marked  morphologic  changes  in  the  blood  corpuscles.  The 
danger  from  this  drug  is  said  to  lie  in  its  cumulative  properties. 
(Apotheker  Zeitg.,  1907,  page  753.) 
Copaiba. — J.  Parry  (Chem.  and  Drug.}  September  28,  1 907, 
page  518)  asserts  that  an  enormous  amount  of  adulteration  ot 
copaiba  is  being  practiced  at  the  present  time.  The  United  States 
have  recently  rejected  a  number  of  parcels  of  copaiba  which  had 
until  recently  proved  good  enough  for  their  market  as  well  as  the 
British. 
Parry  enumerates  as  a  possible  adulterant,  hardwickia  balsam, 
which  has  been  said  to  be  a  commercial  article  on  a  large  scale. 
This  substance  was  described  in  a  recent  number  (April,  1907)  of 
Schimmel's  Report,  in  which  it  is  asserted  to  be  obtained  from 
Hardwickia  Pinata,  a  stately  tree  closely  -  allied  to  the  Copaifera 
species,  that  is  found  in  British  India.  Weigel  and  Hooper  have 
examined  the  balsam  which  is  said  to  vary  somewhat  in  physical 
properties.  Schimmel  &  Co.  give  the  following  figures :  Specific 
gravity,  1-0021  ;  acid  number,  96  2;  ester  number,  12-3;  content  of 
volatile  oil,  44  per  cent. 
Emulsient  is  a  word  that  has  been  suggested  as  a  substitute  for 
the  roundabout  expression  "  emulsifying  agent  "  or  for  the  uncouth 
"  emulsifier."    (Chem.  and  Drug.,  October   12,  1 907,  page  577.) 
