Am'/a0nU;'i8P77arm-}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  21 
found  in  the  officinal  solution  of  ammonium  acetate,  which  will  dis- 
solve 20  per  cent,  of  salicylic  acid.  The  simplest  way  to  effect  the 
solution  is  to  dissolve,  by  agitation,  10  parts  of  salicylic  acid  in  24 
parts  of  officinal  ammonia  water,  and  then  add  enough  acetic  acid 
until  a  slight  acid  reaction  is  obtained.  The  solution  has  a  saline 
taste,  which  is  not  at  all  unpleasant. — Jour,  f,  Prakt.  Cbem.,  1876, 
f>.  286. 
[If  this  solution  is  made  to  correspond  in  strength  with  the  liquor 
ammonii  acetatis,  "  U.  S.  P.,"  it  should  be  diluted  with  water  until  it 
measures  eight  times  the  bulk  of  the  officinal  acetic  acid  employed  for 
neutralization.  Whether  such  a  combination  possesses  antiseptic 
properties  equal  to  those  of  the  salicylic  acid  contained  therein  is  not 
stated.  It  should,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that,  according  to  recent 
observations,  salicylic  acid  combined  with  alkalies,  appears  to  be  by  no 
means  without  medicinal  effect,  the  carbonic  acid  contained  in  the 
blood  being  regarded  as  an  efficient  agent  to  liberate  the  salicylic  acid. 
See  also  "  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,"  1876,  p.  277. — Editor  Amer. 
Jour.  Pharm.] 
Estimation  of  the  Alkaloids  of  Sabadilla  and  Physostigma. 
— E.  Masing  has  found  that  pure  veratria,  dissolved  with  the  requisite 
quantity  of  acid  in  14,670  parts  of  water,  yields,  with  Mayer's  solu- 
tion, a  faint  turbidity  just  recognizable,  while  on  the  addition  of  1 
per  cent.  H2S04  the  limit  is  reached  with  a  dilution  of  1  in  11,400. 
The  sabadlllia  double  iodide  dissolves  in  17,630  parts  of  pure  water, 
and  in  19,300  parts  of  water  containing  1  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid. 
The  solubility  of  the  hydrargyro-iodide  of  sabatrina  is  greater  than 
that  of  the  preceding  alkaloids  ;  in  pure  and  in  acidulated  water,  con- 
taining 1  per  cent.  H2S04  it  appears  to  be  1  :  2450. 
Commercial  ver atria  gives,  with  Mayer's  solution,  a  larger  indication 
of  alkaloid  than  that  employed  (in  one  case  0*8645,  instead  of  0*7772 
grams  used)  ;  the  cause  for  this  variation,  which  in  the  presence  of 
sabadillia  and  sabatrina  should  be  smaller  instead^of  larger,  has  not  been 
ascertained.  Air-dry  sabadilla  seeds  indicated  an  amount  of  alkaloids, 
which,  if  calculated  as  veratria,  was  equal  to  3*61  per  cent. 
Physostigmia,  prepared  by  Vee  and  Leven's  process  (u  Amer.  Jour. 
Pbar.,"  1865,  p.  204),  ceases  to  react  with  Mayer's  solution  when  dis- 
solved in  9500  parts  of  pure  water,  or  in  8800  parts  of  acidulated 
water,  containing  1  per  cent.  H2S04.    One  kilogram  of  Calabar  beans 
