202         Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  {A\l°rn%^m' 
change  the  color  to  a  deep  red  with  a  bright  green  fluorescence,  and  when  added  in 
excess,  to  yellow  5  chlorine  changes  the  color  to  yellow  ;  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  to 
brown;  stannic  chloride,  to  a  beautiful  dark  magenta ;  boiling  with  metallic  mer- 
cury, to  dark  violet  or  purple.  The  hydrates  of  barium  and  of  calcium  yield  yel- 
lowish-green precipitates,  changing  to  brown  on  drying.  The  lead  precipitate  has 
a  composition  corresponding  to  the  formula  Pb2C21H29O30. 
Mr.  W.  A.  Shenstone  read  a  paper  on  the  action  of  dilute  nitric  acid  on  brucia, 
referring  to  the  observations  of  Sonnenschein  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1875,  P«  345) 
and  Cownley  [ibid.,  1876,  p.  354),  and  confirming  the  results  of  the  latter,  that 
thereby  brucia  is  not  converted  into  strychnia ;  on  the  contrary,  the  latter  is 
destroyed  by  the  action  of  the  nitric  acid,  the  more  rapidly  the  stronger  the  acid 
has  been.  The  finding  of  strychnia  is  attributed  to  the  presence  in  commercial 
brucia  of  some  strychnia,  the  author  separating  from  one  sample  rather  more  than  1 
per  cent.  For  the  complete  separation  the  author  recommends  a  process  which 
depends  upon  the  fact  that  strychnia  precipitates  brucia  from  its  salts  ;  the  solution 
of  the  brucia  salt  is  partially  precipitated  by  an  alkali ;  after  standing  aside  for  a  few 
hours  the  precipitate  is  collected,  washed,  redissolved  in  dilute  acid,  and  the  partial 
precipitation  repeated  two  or  three  times  5  the  alkaloid  in  the  mother-liquor  may  be 
recovered. 
Mr.  B.  H.  Paul  read  a  paper  on  the  "Pharmacopoeia  "  test  of  quinia  sulphate^  which 
requires  the  absence  of  any  separation  of  alkaloid  crystals  on  the  addition  of  ammo- 
nia to  10  grains  of  quinia  sulphate  and  half  a  fluidounce  of  ether.  The  author 
found  the  presence  of  30  per  cent  of  cinchonidia  sulphate  could  not  be  detected  in 
this  way,  and  recommends  Kernels  test  for  this  purpose  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar,,,T 
1862,  p.  426;  1875,  p.  537).  The  German  "  Pharmacopoeia,"  in  which  the  test 
has  been  adopted,  recommends  to  macerate  two  grams  of  the  salt  in  20  cc.  of  dis- 
tilled water,  at  150  C  ,  filtering  after  half  an  hour,  introducing  5  cc.  of  the  filtrate 
into  a  test-tube,  pouring  cautiously  upon  the  liquid  7  cc.  of  officinal  ammonia  water 
(sp.  gr  "960),  and  then  mixing  gently,  when  immediately,  or  after  a  short  time,  a 
clear  liquid  should  be  formed.  The  author  recommends  a  modification  of  these 
directions  by  boiling  30  grains  of  the  salt  with  i^V  fluidounces  of  water,  allowing  to 
cool,  filtering,  etc. 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Paris. —At  the  meeting  held  Nov.  8th,  a  note  by  Mr, 
Bretet  was  read,  concerning  the  adulteration  of  -ivines  with  sulphate  of  iron.  From 
his  observations  the  author  concludes,  1st,  that  the  addition  of  sulphate  of  iron  to 
wine  deprives  that  liquid  of  a  portion  of  its  tannin,  tannate  of  iron  being  precipi- 
tated while  the  sulphuric  acid  remains  in  the  wine,  either  free  or  as  an  acid  salt;  2d, 
the  nature  of  the  wine  is  thereby  completely  altered  ;  3d,  to  prove  the  fraud,  it  is 
not  sufficient  to  test  the  suspected  wine  with  ferrocyanide  of  potassium,  but  it  should 
be  compared  with  a  wine  of  undoubted  origin,  and,  if  possible,  some  of  the  deposit 
in  the  cask  should  be  procured,  in  which  a  large  proportion  of  iron  will  be  found. 
The  presentation  by  Mr.  Latour  of  a  deposit  from  the  staves  of  a  cask  in  which 
wine  colored  with  fuchsin  had  been  kept,  led  to  some  discussion,  and  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee  to  report  on  the  artificial  coloration  of  wine  with  fuchsin. 
