2  8 
Cinchona  Febrifuge. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       Jan.,  1877 
To  ascertain  the  antiseptic  value  of  the  solutions  formed  by  aid  of 
these  salts,  I  added  them  to  a  number  of  infusions  (malt,  quassia, 
calumba,  etc.),  to  grape-juice  and  flour-paste,  and  so  far  as  I  can  tell 
after  the  lapse  of  two  months,  with  the  exception  of  flour-paste  and 
grape-juice,  the  solutions  are  equally  as  fresh  as  those  prepared  with 
free  salicylic  acid. 
To  test  their  antifermentative  powers,  I  prepared  over  thirty  mix- 
tures of  flour  (1  oz.)  and  water  (J  oz.)  with  20  grains  of  German  yeast 
in  each,  and  added  thereto  various  proportions  of  free  salicylic  acid,  of 
potassium  salicylate  acidified  with  acetic  acid  and  of  salicylic  acid  dis- 
solved by  aid  of  borax,  phosphate  of  soda  and  citrate  of  potash,  and  in 
the  cases  where  no  fermentation  ensued,  I  confirmed  the  result  by 
repetitions  of  the  experiments. 
The  smallest  quantity  of  free  salicylic  acid,  which  uniformly  pre- 
vented the  rising  of  the  dough,  was  1  grain.  The  acidified  salicylate 
of  potash  had  not  the  slightest  effect  unless  added  in  large  proportions. 
1  grain  of  acid  in  borax  solution  was  equally  as  powerful  as  the  free 
acid.  A  similar  quantity  dissolved  by  aid  of  ammonia  citrate  or  sodium 
phosphate  only  retarded  for  a  variable  time  the  fermentation,  but  in 
both  cases  1  \  gr.  was  found  effectually  to  arrest  it. 
It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  some  reaction  as  yet  undetermined  does 
take  place  between  the  salicylic  acid  and  the  salts  employed  as  its  sol- 
vents, yet  that,  in  whatever  state  the  salicylic  acid  exists  in  the  above 
named  solutions,  it  is  capable  of  exhibiting  in  a  high  degree  all  those 
properties  which  have  conferred  upon  it  such  notoriety. — Phar.  Jour, 
and  Trans.,  November  25th,  1876. 
PROCESS  FOR  MANUFACTURING  "  CINCHONA  FEB- 
RIFUGE" AT  SIKKIM. 
By  C.  H.  Wood,  Government  Quinologist. 
The  present  method  of  treating  cinchona  bark  was  adopted  as  a 
temporary  measure  to  afford  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  medicinal 
value  of  the  proposed  febrifuge.  It  was  considered  undesirable  to  incur 
any  large  expenditure  for  factory  buildings,  machinery  or  skilled  labor, 
until  the  efficacy  of  the  product  as  a  remedial  agent  had  been  thor- 
oughly determined  by  extensive  trials.  Consequently,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  so  arrange  the  process  that  it  could  be  conducted  for  some  time 
on  a  considerable  scale,  and  involve  no  other  appliances  than  such  as 
