AmF?Crt77™'}  N on- Actinic  Glassware.  59 
There  are,  perhaps,  reasonable  objections  to  all  but  the  latter 
method,  and  I  venture  to  offer  another,  which,  so  far,  seems  quite 
effectual,  and  which  is  at  any  rate  new  to  me,  though  it  may  not  be  so 
to  other  readers  of  the  "Journal."  If  the  bottle  containing  the 
darkened  syrup  be  placed  in  a  water-bath  and  brought  to  the  boiling 
point,1  the  discoloration  disappears,  the  syrup  assumes  its  normal 
appearance  and,  if  as  cautiously  preserved  as  at  first,  will  retain  it  as 
well,  so  far  as  observed.  A  sample  now  before  me,  thus  treated  two 
months  ago,  being  at  that  time  of  a  dark  cherry  color,  seems  now 
"  as  good  as  new."  The  remnants  of  syrup  left  in  bottles  that  have 
been  opened  may  be  collected  into  one  full  bottle,  thus  conveniently 
restored,  and  satisfactorily  dispensed. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  evolution  of  iodine  during  the 
heating,  and  the  restoration  is  probably  due  to  a  recombination  of 
separated  elements. 
%  Plainfield,  N.  J.,  January  3,  1877. 
NON-ACTINIC  GLASSWARE. 
By  Hans  M.  Wilder. 
In  drug  stores  are  to  be  found  a  good  many  substances  (not  only 
chemicals  but  also  galenical  preparations)  which  are  very  sensitive  to 
light,  and  much  ingenuity  has  been  bestowed  upon  devices  for  exclud- 
ing light.  The  first  thing  that  suggested  itself  was  to  keep  such 
articles  in  dark  closets  ;  these  not  always  being^practicable  the  next 
thing  was  to  wrap  or  paste  black  or  dark-colored  paper  round  the 
respective  bottles.  This  served  its  purpose  perfectly,  but  did  not  look 
nice  ;  then  bottles  made  from  black  glass  (hyalith)  were  introduced 
and  were  in  use  for  many  years,  having  only  one  drawback,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  inspect  their  contents  except  by  pouring  out.  This  led 
to  the  desire  to  substitute  some  other  color  which  permitted  inspection 
and,  at  the  same  time,  guarded  the  contents  against  the  chemical  action 
of  the  solar  light.  Blue,  itself  a  dark  color,  was  next  hit  upon,  under 
the  mistaken  notion  that  it  would  be  as  effectual  as  black,  with  the 
advantage  of  permitting  examination  of  its  contents.  Unhappily, 
blue  was  the  worst  color  which  could  be  selected,  and  it  is  a  wonder 
1  This  process  has  been  recommended  by  M.  E.  Fougera,  of  New  York,  in 
i860;  see  "Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  i860,  p.  22. — Editor. 
