Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
April,  1878.  / 
Various  Notes. 
177 
Olives  of  the  unusually  large  size  2  to  i\  inches  in  diameter  are 
occasionally  met  with.  The  trees,  which  bear  only  few  fruits,  are 
said  to  have  come  from  the  island  of  Rhodus. 
Two  new  industries  have,  of  late  years,  sprung  up  in  Greece. 
Until  recently  the  lees  of  wine  (katapatid)  were  thrown  away,  and  thus 
thousands  of  kilos  of  tartrates  lost.  In  the  last  three  or  four  years  the 
lees,  dried  in  the  sun,  have  been  exported  to  Italy,  where  they  are  con- 
verted into  cream  of  tartar.  This  industry  might  be  much  enlarged 
were  it  not  for  the  pernicious  habit  of  the  Greeks  to  "  pitch  "  most  of 
their  wines,  particularly  those  of  the  Peloponnesus,  which  makes  the 
lees  unsalable. 
Of  late  the  Greeks  have  introduced  the  use  of  bisulphide  of  carbon 
for  extracting  all  the  oil  from  the  olives  after  they  have  been  expressed. 
Oil  extracted  by  this  means  is  called  pyrenelaion,  from  pyren,  a  kernel. 
Change  of  Color  of  Hair. — One  case  has  been  observed  where  the 
red  hair  changed,  two  or  three  hours  after  death,  to  blond,  and  within 
thirty  hours  to  gray. 
Extractum  Ferri  Pomatum. — Owing  to  the  scarcity,  if  not  the 
absence,  of  sour  apples  in  Greece,  it  is  proposed  to  substitute  grape 
juice  instead,  and  thus  make  an  extractum  ferri  uvicum. 
Emery. — In  Smyrna  they  use  the  following  test  for  determining  the 
quality  of  emery.  One  grain  is  rubbed  on  a  previously  accurately 
weighed  glass  plate  with  a  glass  pestle  until  no  more  glass  is  ground  off. 
The  plate  is  washed  off,  dried  and  weighed  ;  the  greater  the  difference 
the  higher  the  quality  of  the  emery. 
Mineral  Springs. — -Visitors  to  mineral  springs  often  seek  dissipa- 
tion rather  than  relief  from  sickness.  Those  who  need  the  latter  are 
recommended  to  use  plenty  of  exercise,  and,  instead  of  most  mineral 
waters,  drink  sea  water  in  small  doses,  either  pure  or  diluted  with  more 
or  less  fresh  water,  as  a  cheap  substitute  for  the  former,  the  expenses 
for  traveling,  etc.,  being  thus  also  avoided. 
