1 8  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  {Amji°u,ri877.arm' 
Resina  Guaiaci  Peruviana  Aromatica. — Gehe  &  Co.  have  sold 
under  this  name  for  about  15  years,  a  yellowish-brown  resin,  which 
they  obtained  from  Paris,  but  could  ascertain  nothing  regarding  its 
origin.  In  thin  splinters  it  is  transparent,  glossy  and  of  a  wine-yellow 
color  ;  the  recent  powder  is  yellow.  It  fuses  at  900  C,  has  a  strong 
odor  reminding  of  rue,  anis  and  lemon,  which  does  not  solely  depend 
upon  the  volatile  oil,  and  an  acrid  not  agreeable  taste.  It  does  not 
turn  blue  or  green  on  exposure,  or  by  oxidizing  agents.  It  dissolves 
readily  and  almost  completely  in  alcohol,  ether,  chloroform  and  carbon 
bisulphide,  the  solutions  leaving  on  evaporation  an  amorphous  residue. 
Sulphuric  acid  colors  the  resin  red,  nitric  acid  decomposes  it. 
Adolf  Kopp  obtained  from  it  by  distillation  with  water  4  per  cent, 
of  a  yellow  neutral  volatile  oil,  having  an  odor  reminding  of  peppermint 
and  lemon.  On  rectification,  the  boiling  point  rose  from  1680  to  2800  C. 
It  contains  oxygen,  the  hydrocarbon  having  the  composition  C10H16. 
On  treating  the  resin  with  fusing  potassa,  protocatechuic  acid 
appears  to  be  formed.  With  nitric  acid  a  white  nitro  compound  is 
obtained  and  finally  oxalic  acid.  Among  the  products  of  the  dry  dis- 
tillation of  the  resin  was  a  volatile  oil,  which  acquired  a  deep  blue 
color  in  that  portion  the  boiling  point  of  which  rose  above  2600  C. — 
Archiv  d.  Phar.,  Sept.,  1876,  193-206. 
Sulphomolybdate  of  Ammonium  as  a  Reagent. — J.  B.  Nagel- 
voort  has  experimented  with  the  various  reagents  recommended  for  the 
detection  of  morphia,  more  particularly  with  iodic  acid,  with  Huse- 
mann's  test  (orange  color,  on  adding  nitric  acid  to  the  solution  in  sulphu- 
ric acid),  and  Schneider's  test  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar."  1873,  P*  545)>  but 
he  found  Buckingham's  test  (Ibid.,  p.  150)  far  more  delicate.  He  has 
also  examined  the  behavior  of  the  latter  test  to  several  other  principles 
and  confirmed,  in  the  main,  Buckingham's  results.  To  avoid  the 
decomposing  influence  of  the  light,  the  tests  were  applied  in  the  dark, 
whereby  the  final  changes  of  the  color  appear  to  be  greatly  retarded, 
the  light  or  dark  blue  color  being  in  some  cases  produced  only  after  one 
or  two  days.  *ooooi  grm.  of  morphia  was  detected  by  the  beautiful 
purple  color  instantly  produced  by  the  reagent,  which  is  ten  times  more 
delicate  than  Froehde's  similar  reagent.  Mixed  with  milk-sugar  '00003 
morphia  could  be  detected,  milk-sugar  alone  turning  blue  only  after 
some  minutes'  contact  with  the  test  liquid.  Starch  granules  become 
blue  very  rapidly  with  Buckingham's  test,  the  liquid  remaining  color- 
less.— Archiv  d.  Phar.,  Sept.,  1876,  249-254,  from  O.  I.  Tijdschr. 
