Am.  Jour.  Pharro.  ") 
April,  1877.  / 
Editorial. 
2oj 
Mr.  Yvon  exhibited  a  portable  uroscope,  consisting  of  a  metallic  tube  containing 
the  necessary  test-tube-;,  litmus  paper,  globules  of  caustic  potassa  and  a  little  micro- 
scope, to  determine  the  reaction  of  the  urine,  the  presence  of  albumen  (by  heat)  and 
sugar  (by  potassa),  and  to  examine  with  the  lens  any  urinary  sediment,  etc. 
At  the  meeting  held  Dec.  8th,  the  bequest  of  the  late  Mr.  Gobley,  amounting  to 
3,000  francs,  was  paid  in.  Mr.  Mehu  was  elected  Vice-President,  and  Mr.  Petit., 
Secretary,  for  the  ensuing  year.  Mr.  Poggiale  communicated  a  paper  recently  pub- 
lished by  Prof.  Kolbe,  of  Leipzig,  in  which  he  takes  strong  ground  against  the  ten- 
dency of  chemistry  as  at  present  taught  in  Germany,  which  he  characterizes  as  neg- 
lecting the  profound  study  of  phenomena  by  exact  experimental  researches,  and  sub- 
stituting-in  place  thereof  vague  philosophical  speculations  and  unproductive  theo  - 
rems, and  predicts  that,  unless  the  course  be  changed,  some  years  hence  it  would 
aga/n  become  necessary  for  German  students  in  chemistry  to  repair  to  Paris,  because 
natural  philosophy  rather  than  chemistry  would  then  be  taught  in  Germany.  On  the 
contrary,  in  France,  many  young  chemists  have  in  recent  years  been  educated,  who,, 
with  the  older  ones — with  few  exceptions — remain  true  to  the  exact  sciences,  and 
produce  numerous  memoirs  based  upon  inter  sting  researches. 
At  the  meeting  of  Jan.  8th,  Mr.  Planchon  exhibited  a  Chinese  bark  called  hoang 
naUy  which  is  said  to  be  used  in  hydrophobia  and  leprosy  ;  its  physical  resemblance 
to  false  angustura  bark  (Strychnos  nux  vomica),  and  its  bitter  taste  suggests  that  it 
may  probably  be  derived  from  a  strychnaceous  plant. 
Mr.  Benoit,  in  a  note  on  the  testing  of  chlorate  of  potassium,  proposes  the  use  of  & 
ferrous  salt  for  this  purpose,  which  in  the  presence  of  strong  hydrochloric  acid  wilt 
be  converted  into  a  ferric  compound. 
Mr.  Limousin  read  a  note  on  Croton  oil  pencils,  which  he  prepares  by  melting  one 
part  each  of  white  wax  and  cacao  butter,  by  means  of  a  water-bath,  in  a  glass  flask, 
adding  two  parts  of  croton  oil,  and  corking  the  flask  until  the  mixture  begins  to 
congeal,  when  it  is  poured  into  suitable  cylindrical  moulds,  8  to  9  millimeters  in 
diameter.  The  pencils  are  covered  with  tinfoil  and  kept  in  closed  vessels.  It  is 
claimed  for  the  pencils  that  the  action  of  the  oil  can  be  better  localized,  and  that  it*, 
revulsive  action  is  even  more  energetic  than  when  applied  in  its  natural  state. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
The  Journal. — Through  the  kindness  of  our  friends  for  some  months  past,  an. 
amount  of  original  matter  had  been  contributed  for  publication  in  the  Journal, 
that  much  of  the  selected  matter  had  to  be  laid  aside.  For  the  present  issue  it 
was  determined  to  use  at  least  a  portion  of  the  material  which  has  been  accumula- 
ting on  our  table,  and  to  accomplish  this,  it  became  necessary  to  increase  this  num- 
ber to  64  pages.  Amongst  the  original  matter  contributed  to  this  issue  will  be 
found  accounts  of  plants  and  their  constituents  which  are  successfully  used  in  medi  - 
cine, or  promise  to  become  valuable  medicinal  agents,  or  have  been  employed  more 
extensively  heretofore.  Several  papers  on  pharmacopceial  preparations  and  on  general 
