AmA&rx8P7h7?rm}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals  171 
Ice  Machines. — Carre  uses  water  ammonia,  or  ether,  all  of  which 
have  some  inconveniences  which  prevent  them  from  being  used  as 
much  as  they  deserve.  Windhausen  uses  compressed  air,  but  the 
machine  is  somewhat  difficult  to  manage.  Pictet  (Geneve)  uses  anhy- 
dric  sulphurous  acid,  which  is  very  easy  of  application  ;  it  exerts  at 
— 10°  C.  a  little  over  one  atmosphere  and  at  +350  C.  not  more  than 
four  atmospheres'  pressure.  Sulphurous  acid  does  not  corrode  the 
metal,  nor  does  it  dissolve  the  lubricating  grease,  which,  by  the  way, 
is  not  necessary  in  every  place,  since  the  sulphurous  acid  acts  itself  as 
a  lubricator.  These  latter  machines  make  ice  at  an  expense  of  10 — - 
12  frcs.  per  1,000  kilos. — Ibid,,  1877,  p.  19. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FOREIGN  JOURNALS. 
By  the  Editor. 
Pilocarpina  and  its  Salts.— A.  W.  Gerrard  has  succeeded  in 
purifying  pilocarpina  by  dissolving  the  nitrate  in  boiling  alcohol,  from 
which  it  separates  on  cooling  in  tufts  of  white  shining  crystals  ;  by 
three  crystallizations  it  can  be  obtained  in  an  almost  perfect  state  of 
purity.  The  alcohol  holds  in  so'ution  a  small  portion  of  the  salt.  By 
dissolving  the  crystals  in  water,  treating  the  solution  with  potassaT 
shaking  with  chloroform,  and  evaporating  this  solvent,  the  purified 
alkaloid  is  obtained.  By  dissolving  the  alkaloid  in  water,  neutralizing 
with  acid,  and  evaporating  spontaneously,  the  following  salts  were 
obtained  in  a  crystalline  state,  the  nitrate  and  phosphate  being  more 
stable,  and  showed  the  following  behavior  to  solvents.: 
Water.  Alcohol.  Ether.  Chloroform.    Benzol.    Carbon  bisulpfud  i 
Nitrate  soluble,  sparingly  in  cold  insoluble.       insoluble,    insoluble.  insoluble. 
Phosphate  soluble,  sparingly  in  cold,  insoluble.       insoluble,    insoluble.  insoluble. 
Acetate  soluble,  soluble.  soluble.         soluble.       soluble.  insoluble 
Hydrochlorate...  soluble,  soluble.  insoluble.       soluble.       insoluble.  insoluble, 
Hydrobromate....  soluble,  soluble.  insoluble.       soluble.       ?  insoluble. 
— Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Sept.  23. 
Aconite  Alkaloids. — C.  R.  A.  Wright  read  a  paper  on  this  sub 
ject  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  in  which  he 
detailed  his  successful  experiments  for  obtaining  crystallized  aconitia 
essentially  by  Duquesnel's  process,  and  gives  his  analytical  results.  An 
amorphous  base,  perhaps  napellina,  was  likewise  obtained  ;  but  it  is 
uncertain  yet  whether  it  pre-exists  in  the  fresh  root  or  is  formed  iq 
drying  or  during  the  extraction  process. 
