586 
Quarterly  Review  on 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
December,  191 7. 
mild  and  dry.  Among  the  plants  cultivated  were  the  following  most 
important  ones,  drugs  that  at  the  present  time  are  very  scarce  and 
upon  which  medicine  largely  depends  for  results  in  the  treatment 
of  disease:  Althea  officinalis,  Atropa  Belladonna,  Datura  Stramo- 
nium, Digitalis  purpurea,  Hyoscyamus  niger,  Papaver  somniferum, 
and  Valeriana  officinalis.  Five  hundred  poppy  capsules  yielded 
nine  grams  of  dried  latex  which  contained  4.6  per  cent,  of  morphine. 
Valerian  root  was  readily  grown  and  in  sufficient  quantity  to  be 
profitable.  In  the  cultivation  of  this  plant  it  was  found  that  if  the 
flowering  stems  are  removed  the  root  system  becomes  strongly 
developed.  A  number  of  other  plants  were  also  cultivated  experi- 
mentally and  show  promise  of  adding  to  or  increasing  the  drug 
supply  of  the  world  (Lybing  in  Svensk.  Farm.  Tidskrift,  through 
Schweis.  Apotheker  Zeitung,  1917,  p.  119).  ■ 
A  Simple  and  Rapid  Method  for  Destroying  Organic  Mat- 
ter in  the  Detection  of  Arsenic. — The  method  outlined  is  recom- 
mended as  preferable  to  those  usually  followed  for  the  destruction 
of  organic  matter  in  examinations  for  minute  traces  of  arsenic. 
The  organic  matter  is  heated  to  a  temperature  of  300 0  C.  until  it  is 
charred ;  it  is  then  mixed  in  a  mortar  with  2  or  3  per  cent,  of  its 
weight  of  pure  calcium  oxide;  water  is  then  added  to  slake  the  lime. 
The  mixture  is  then  transferred  to  a  flat  porcelain  dish  and  heated 
at  a  dull  redness  until  the  ash  is  white  or  grayish.  It  requires  no 
special  attention :  all  the  organic  matter  will  be  burnt  off  in  an 
hour  or  two.  When  cool  the  ash  is  then  mixed  with  water  acidified 
with  sulphuric  acid,  boiled,  filtered,  evaporated  till  fumes  appear, 
then  diluted  with  8  to  10  volumes  of  water  and  introduced  directly 
into  the  Marsh's  apparatus  (Comptes  rend.,  191 7,  165,  11,  through 
The  Pharm.  Jour,  and  Pharmacist,  Aug.  25). 
Identification  of  Emodin-Containing  Drugs.: — The  impor- 
tance of  some  reliable  method  of  identifying  emodin-containing 
drugs  cannot  be  overestimated.  Nothing  is  more  baffling  to  either 
the  chemist  or  pharmacist  than  to  be  called  upon  to  identify  pharma- 
ceutical preparations  of  these  sort  of  drugs.  For  this  reason  this 
paper  is  peculiarly  valuable. 
Of  liquid  preparations,  10  mils  are  evaporated  to  a  pilular  con- 
sistence, made  acid  with  either  HCL  or  H2S04,  and  the  residue 
extracted  several  times  with  ether.  Solid  material  is  powdered, 
acidified,  and  extracted  with  ether.    The  addition  of  ammonia  or 
