AnA^rTx8?7.rm'}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  177 
A  new  mode  for  the  treatment  of  antiscorbutic  plants  has 
been  communicated  to  the  Paris  Pharmaceutical  Society  by  Messrs. 
Dusart  and  Chapoteaut.  The  authors  noticed  that  when  fresh  horse- 
radish root  and  the  fresh  leaves  of  scurvy  grass  and  water  cress  are 
subjected  to  strong  pressure,  the  resulting  juice  is  but  slightly  charged 
with  the  odorous  principle,  nearly  the  whole  of  which  remains  in  the 
press-cake,  which,  when  macerated  or  displaced  with  alcohol,  will  yield 
a  tincture  strongly  charged  with  the  volatile  oil  contained  in  these  vege- 
tables. Based  upon  this  observation,  the  authors  recommend  a  modi- 
fication of  the  process  for  the  antiscorbutic  syrup  of  French  pharmacy, 
substituting  the  wine  ordered  by  one-fourth  its  weight  of  stronger 
alcohol  and  three-fourths  of  water.  The  juice,  expressed  as  above, 
although  it  contains  but  little  volatile  oil,  resists  putrefaction  for  a  long 
time. — Rep.  de  Phar.,  1876,  p.  737. 
Gynandropsis  pentaphylla,  a  plant  often  met  with  in  our  gar- 
dens, is,  according  to  Prof.  W.  Dymock,  known  in  India  as  kanphootee, 
and  its  juice,  like  that  of  Polanisia  icosandria,  is  used  in  purulent  dis- 
charge from  the  ears. 
Tous-les-mois  is  stated,  in  the  "  Bombay  Flora,"  to  be  obtained 
from  Canna  lutea.  Prof.  Dymock  finds  its  starch  to  correspond  with 
the  commercial  article.  The  rhizomes  of  C.  indica  and  C.  discolor 
yield  a  similar  starch  ;  but  they  also  contain  a  good  deal  of  coloring 
matter,  from  which  the  rhizome  of  C.  lutea  is  almost  free. — Phar. 
Jour,  and  Trans.,  Dec.  2. 
Picric  Cotton  has  recently  been  employed  in  some  of  the  French 
hospitals,  for  the  dressing  of  wounds,  upon  the  recommendation  of 
Dr.  Eug.  Curie.  Mr.  P.  Vigier  has  prepared  it  by  dissolving  0*25 
grams  of  picric  acid  in  25  grams  of  ether,  or  of  94  per  cent,  alcohol, 
and  immersing  in  this  solution  10  grams  of  clean  cotton,  taking  care 
that,  by  moderately  pressing  in  every  direction,  it  is  uniformly  mois- 
tened, after  which  it  requires  merely  to  be  dried  at  a  moderate  heat. — 
Rep,  de  Phar.,  1876,  p.  705. 
Alkaloid  in  Heliotropium  europaeum. — Battandier  boiled  about 
ten  kilos  of  the  plant  with  acidulated  water,  evaporated  the  decoction 
to  a  syrupy  consistence,  precipitated  by  strong  alcohol,  and  evaporated 
the  alcohol  from  the  clear  filtrate  ;  the  residue  was  treated  with  potassa 
and  ether,  the  green  etherial  solution  with  water  acidulated  with  sul- 
phuric acid  and  this  aqueous  liquid  again  with  potassa  and  ether.  The 
