Am4rnr;^'m  }  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  175 
which  is  to  be  washed  with  200  grams  of  fresh  alcohol.  The  solu- 
tion is  concentrated  to  400  grams  and  set  aside  to  crystallize  ;  from 
150  to  160  grams  of  small  prismatic  needles  will  be  obtained,  and 
about  20  to  25  grams  more  from  the  mother  liquor. 
The  white  salt  contains  51  per  cent,  of  santonic  acid,  dissolves  in 
3  parts  of  water  and  4  of  alcohol,  the  solutions  having  an  alkaline 
reaction  and  a  bitter  taste. 
Syrup  of  santonate  of  sodium  is  made  by  dissolving  5  grams  of 
the  powdered  salt  in  900  grams  of  warm  simple  syrup  and  add  100 
grams  of  syrup  of  orange  flowers  •>  a  tablespoonful  or  20  grams  of  the 
syrup  contain  0*05  sodium  santonate. — Pbar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Oct. 
14,  from  Jour,  de  Pbar. 
Pill  Coating. — The  secret  of  successfully  coating  pills,  according 
to  Mr.  Thos.  HafFenden,  is  to  varnish  (with  tolu  and  ether),  first  ren- 
dering them  partially  water-proof ;  then  it  is  simply  a  question  of 
manipulation  to  get  a  pearl-like  covering  with  mucilage  and  French 
chalk  ;  or  albumen,  freshly  prepared  in  the  way  recommended  for 
albumenized  paper  for  photography,  may  be  substituted  for  mucilage. 
- — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Sept.  23. 
Preparation  of  Phenylsulphate  of  Potassium. — E.  Baumann 
has  obtained  this  salt  from  human  urine,  of  which  it  is  a  normal  con- 
stituent. It  is  readily  prepared,  synthetically,  by  boiling,  for  some 
time,  powdered  pyro-sulphate  of  potassium  with  a  concentrated  aqueous 
solution  of  phenol  potassium,  adding  some  alcohol  and  filtering  while 
hot  ;  on  cooling,  shining  scales  of  the  salt  are  obtained,  which,  after 
washing  with  alcohol,  are  nearly  pure.  The  formation  of  the  salt  is 
explained  by  the  equation  :  C6H6KO+K2Sa07=C6H6KS04+KaS04. 
Cresylsulphate  of  potassium,  which  is  a  normal  constituent  of  the 
urine  of  the  horse,  may  be  obtained  by  a  similar  reaction  of  cresol 
potassium  ;  and  resorcin  behaves  to  pyro-sulphate  of  potassium  like 
cresol  and  phenol.  The  resorcin  compound  is  very  readily  soluble, 
and  has  not  been  obtained  in  crystals. — Ber.  Deutsch.  Cbem.  Ges.y 
1876,  p.  1715. 
Precipitated  Sulphur. — L.  Siebold  states  that  if  hydrochloric  acid 
be  added  to  the  solution  of  sulphur,  in  lime  and  water,  until  a  slight 
alkaline  reaction  remains,  the  precipitated  sulphur  will  be  much  superior 
to  that  obtained  by  using  sufficient  hydrochloric  acid  to  decompose 
