Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Aug.,  1878.  J 
The  Volatility  of  Glycerin. 
377 
above,  sinuately  dentate  with  numerous  spinose  teeth  ;  racemes  to- 
2  inches  long,  clustered  chiefly  in  the  subterminal  axils  ;  fruit  nearly 
globose. 
Frequent  in  Oregon  and  northward,  where  it  is  known  as  the  "  Oregon  grape, 
and  reported  southward  in  the  coast  ranges  even  to  Monterey.    Pursh's  description 
and  figure  belong  mainly  to  B.  repens. 
B.  pinnata,  Lag. — Very  much  like  the  last  species,  but  the  leaves 
more  crowded  and  more  nearly  sessile,  the  lower  pair  of  leaflets  being 
approximate  to  the  base  of  the  petiole  ;  leaflets  usually  5  to  7  ;  racemes 
more  frequently  lateral  upon  the  branches  ;  fruit  oblong,  ovoid,  4  lines 
long.    Mahonia  fascicularis,  D.  C. 
Hills  about  San  Francisco  Bay  and  eastward  to  San  Diego,  thence  east  to  New 
Mexico.  Fruit  pleasant  to  the  taste  and  known  to  the  Mexicans  as  Lena  amarilla. 
There  has  always  been  much  confusion,  and  is  still  some  uncertainty  respecting  this 
species  and  its  allies.  Lagasca's  original  description  (published  in  1803)  professedly 
included  specimens  both  from  Monterey  and  from  Vancouver  Island,  while  the 
plant  cultivated  in  the  gardens  from  his  seeds,  and  figured  under  this  name,  appears 
to  have  been  wholly  the  Oregon  form,  which  Pursh  afterwards  included  with  the 
low  B.  repens,  in  his  description  and  figure  of  B.  aquifolium.  Humboldt  and 
Bonpland  afterwards  applied  the  name  B.  pinnata  to  a  Mexican  plant,  figured  by 
them,  and  DeCandolle  at  length  included  all,  the  Mexican,  Californian  and  Oregon* 
together,  under  the  name  Mahonia  fascicularis.  The  question  of  synonymy  is 
most  conveniently  solved  by  retaining  what  has  become  the  ordinary  application  of 
the  names,  B.  fascicularis  being  limited  to  the  Mexican  species,  which  seems  distin- 
guishable from  the  Californian  B.  pinnata  by  its  more  numerous,  more  acuminative 
and  less  shining  leaflets. 
Leaflets  Palmately  Nerved. 
B.  nervosa,  Pursh. — Stems  simple,  but  a  few  inches  high  ;  petioles 
and  peduncles  springing  from  the  apex,  accompanied  by  dry  glumaceous 
rigidly  acuminate  bracts  ;  leaves  1  to  2  feet  long,  of  11  to  17  ovate 
acuminate  leaflets ;  racemes  elongated ;  pedicels  short  ;  fruit  larger 
than  in  the  preceding  species,  3  to  4  lines  in  diameter.  Mahonia 
glumacea,  D.  C. 
Near  the  coast  from  Monterey  to  Vancouver  Island. 
ON  THE  VOLATILITY  OF  GLYCERIN. 
Cincinnati,  June  27th,  1878. 
To  the  Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  : 
In  Dr.  Squibb's  article  on  "  fluid  extracts  by  repercolation,"  pub- 
lished in  the  May  number  of  the  "  Journal,"  he  states  that  on  evap- 
orating to  constant  weight  a  mixture  of  glycerin,  alcohol  and  water,, 
