1 84  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  { ^XXt™' 
chemically  not  identical,  and  the  differences  in  the  physiological  action 
of  commercial  atropia  is  doubtless  due  to  the  absence  or  presence,  in 
larger  or  smaller  proportion,  of  daturia. —  Cbem.  Centralbl.,  1878,  No. 
7 — Peter sb.  Med.  Wochenschr,,  1877,  No.  20. 
Morphiometric  Examination  of  Opium. — Prollius  recommends 
to  prepare  a  tincture  of  opium  of  officinal  strength,  using,  however, 
34  per  cent,  alcohol.  100  parts  of  the  tincture  are  agitated  with  50  parts 
ether  and  2  ammonia  and  then  set  aside.  The  liquids  separate  slowly,  and 
retain,  partly  in  the  ether,  partly  in  the  alcoholic  liquid,  the  coloring 
matter,  narcotin  and  other  crystallizable  constituents  of  opium,  while 
the  morphia  separates  in  crystals  between  the  two  layers  and  finally 
sinks  to  the  bottom.  The  fluid  portion  is  decanted,  the  crystals  are 
washed  with  a  diluted  alcohol,  dried  and  weighed.  This  method  has 
the  advantage  over  Guillermond's,  in  the  use  of  a  weaker  alcohol  and 
the  addition  of  ether. — Phar.  Cen.  Halle,  No.  2 — Schweiz.  Wochenschr. 
Pao-Pereira. — This  Brazilian  tree  belongs  to  the  Apocynaceae 
and  has  been  variously  designated  as  Picramnia  ciliata,  Vallesia  punctata, 
Taberntemontana  Icevis  and  Geissospermum  Vellosii ;  after  examining  the 
leaves  and  stems,  Baillon  referred  it  to  Geissops.  lave.  The  very  bitter 
bark  contains  an  alkaloid  which  was  obtained  by  Santos  in  1838,  and 
named  pereirin,  but  is  now  proposed  to  be  called  geissospermia. 
Bochefontaine  and  DeFreitas  have  found  the  leaves  to  be  likewise 
bitter  and  to  contain  the  same  alkaloid,  though  in  less  quantity.  The 
alkaloid,  as  used  in  Brazil,  is  not  pure  but  occurs  as  a  brownish-yellow 
amorphous  powder.  The  authors  found  geissospermia  to  be  a  toxic 
substance,  exercising  no  local  irritant  action  when  administered  subcu- 
taneouslv  ;  it  is  a  poison  which  acts  by  destroying  the  physiological 
properties  of  the  central  nervous  grey  matter. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Tran., 
Sept.  8,  1877 — Comp.  Rend.,  lxxxv. 
Geissospermia  has  likewise  been  obtained  by  O.  Hesse,  indepen- 
dently of  the  above  named  authors.  It  occurs  in  small  white  prisms, 
easily  soluble  in  alcohol,  nearly  insoluble  in  ether  and  water,  but 
readily  soluble  in  dilute  acids.  Concentrated  nitric  acid  dissolves  it 
with  a  purple  color,  passing,  when  heated,  to  orange  yellow.  Concen-- 
trated  sulphuric  acid  dissolves  it,  the  solution  becoming  gradually  hjue 
and  finally  again  colorless  ;  in  the  presence  of  iron  the  solution  is  at 
once  blue,  but  likewise  becomes  colorless.    The  dark-blue  color,  with 
