Am.  Jour.  Pharm.") 
December,  1907.  / 
Progress  in  Pharmacy, 
S77 
Xrayser,  in  commenting  further,  says:  "It  is  a  term  that  deserves 
to  survive.  It  follows  precedents,  is  unambiguous  and  only  com- 
petes with  admittedly  unsatisfactory  rivals." 
Mistletoe,  Viscum  Album,  formerly  had  a  reputation  as  a  remedy 
in  the  treatment  of  post  partem  hemorrhage,  and  the  berries  are 
also  said  to  have  purgative  and  emetic  properties.  It  is  being  re- 
investigated in  France  and  is  said  to  have  been  shown  to  diminish 
arterial  pressure. 
Several  pharmaceutical  preparations  have  been  prepared  from 
mistletoe  growing  on  poplar  and  plum  trees.  These  have  been 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  French  Society  of  Therapeutics  by 
M.  Gaultier.    (Chem.  and  Drug.,  August  31,  1907,  page  377.) 
Sarsaparilla. — In  a  recent  number  of  the  Berichte  der  Deutschen 
Pharmaceutischen  Gesellscliaft  (1907 ',No.  6),  C.  Hartwich  discusses  the 
great  uncertainty  of  our  knowledge  of  sarsaparilla  and  points  out 
that  a  number  of  distincticns  formerly  given  much  weight,  have 
been  altered  materially  in  the  course  of  time. 
Hartwich  points  out  that  the  structural  characteristics  of  sarsa- 
parilla, rather  than  the  form  of  packing  and  the  supposed  origin,  are 
to  be  depended  on  to  distinguish  the  several  varieties  of  the  drug. 
He  also  shows  that  the  varieties  of  sarsaparilla  are  more  numerous 
than  is  generally  supposed. 
Regeneration  of  Formaldehyde. — Huber  and  Bickel  [Munch.  Med. 
Woch.  schr.,  1907,  page  1800)  recommend  freshly  calcined  lime, 
formaldehyde  solution  and  boiling  water  for  disinfection. 
Three  liters  of  the  solution  of  formaldehyde,  3  kilo,  of  freshly 
calcined  lime  and  9  liters  of  boiling  water  are  mixed  in  a  suitable 
tub  or  iron  vessel. 
The  authors  claim  that  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  formaldehyde 
is  lost  by  combining  with  the  lime,  and  that  the  technique  affords  a 
simple,  cheap  and  harmless  substitute  for  the  more  efficient  spray 
technique  when  the  latter  is  not  available  or  is  otherwise  objection- 
able. 
Autan. — This  is  a  mixture,  in  powder  form,  of  a  metallic  peroxid 
and  paraform.  When  mixed  with  a  given  quantity  of  hot  water  a 
rather  violent  reaction  takes  place,  liberating  formaldehyde  and 
water  vapor.    (Chem.  Zeitg.  Rept.,  1907,  page  376.) 
Acetylenetetrachlorid. — This  is  an  aromatic  oily  substance  having 
a  boiling  point  of  1450  C.    On  account  of  its  high  boiling-point  it 
