AVP0Xi878arm'}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  181 
By  means  of  the  microscopic  examination  described,  the  cinchona 
alkaloids  may  not  only  be  distinguished  from  each  other,  but  the  differ- 
ence in  the  crystalline  form  will  likewise  detect  all  impurities  and 
adulterations  ;  and  this  method  is  the  more  important  as,  for  the  latter 
purpose,  the  so-called  wet  way  is  much  more  tedious,  though  by  no 
means  superfluous.  When  purchasing  a  quinia  salt  the  authors  recom- 
mended to  dissolve  about  *i  gram  of  it  in  10  or  15  cc.  of  chlorine 
water,  and  add  two  or  three  drops  of  ammonia.  If  an  emerald-green 
color  is  produced  quinia  or  quinidia,  or  both,  are  present,  but  possibly 
also  cinchonia  or  cinchonidia.  The  microscopic  examination  described 
gives  the  best  results.  The  authors  made  about  twenty  mixtures  of 
quinia  sulphate  with  variable  quantities  of  the  other  three  alkaloids,  the 
presence  of  which  was  in  every  instance  revealed  by  the  microscope. 
GLEANINGS  .FROM  THE  FOREIGN  JOURNALS. 
By  the  Editor. 
Preparation  of  Pure  Scammony]  Resin. — E.  Perret  recommends 
to  exhaust  the  scammony  with  boiling  alcohol,  and  to  neutralize  the 
alumina  and  lime  of  the  blackish  liquid,  which  has  an  alkaline  reaction, 
with  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid,  whereby  a  colored  precipitate  is 
obtained,  leaving  the  supernatant  liquid  colorless.  The  clear  filtrate  is 
distilled,  the  residue  completely  dried  at  about  io4°C.  (2i9°F.),  and, 
while  still  warm,  poured  upon  a  marble  slab  ;  when  cool  it  is  powdered 
and  yields  a  white  and  very  dry  product. — Bull.  Soc.  Chim.  Phar.,  N. 
Ser.  xxviii,  p.  522 — Jour,  de  Phar.  et  de  Chim.,  Feb.,  1878,  p.  120. 
Suppositories  Containing  Extracts. — Paul  Petit  obtains  perfect 
suppositories  by  the  following  method  :  the  extract  is  liquified  in  a 
porcelain  capsule,  with  a  small  quantity  of  water,  and  animal  soap, 
equal  in  quantity  to  the  extract,  is  added  ;  the  solution  is  evaporated  at 
a  moderate  heat  to  a  syrupy  consistence,  and  fused  together  with  the 
requisite  quantity  of  cacao  butter  ;  the  mixture  is  well  agitated  until  it 
commences  to  solidify,  when  it  is  poured  into  well-cooled  moulds.  With 
a  little  care,  the  suppositories  thus  prepared,  ate  perfectly  homogen- 
eous and  uniform  in  color. — Jour.  Phar.  d*  Anvers.,  1877,  p.  300. 
Soluble  saccharate  of  iron,  Ph.  Ger.,  is  rather  tedious  to  prepare  on 
a  somewhat  larger  scale,  the  precipitation  by  boiling  water,  the  settling 
of  the  precipitate  and  the  washing,  consuming  much  time  ;  but  when 
