Amjine^i877trm'}  Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  325 
the  operation  into  the  Woulf  s  bottle,  from  which  it  will  be  projected  again  upon 
and  forced  through  the  powder  as  soon  as  the  heat  for  the  receiving  flask,  is  with- 
drawn and  thus  a  vacuum  created  in  the  apparatus  In  such  a  case  the  mercury 
may  be  partly  projected  into  the  apparatus  and  will  then  remain  in  the  last  bottle. 
Syrup  of  Chloral. — P.  Carles  called  attention  to  the  great  difference  in  the  strength 
-of  this  syrup,  as  made  by  the  formulas  of  different  authors,  which  vary  in  the 
amount  of  chloral  directed  between  i  and  12  per  cent.  Follet's  syrup  appears  to 
be  used  in  France  more  generally  than  any  other,  and  since  the  dose  is  convenient 
and  the  odor  and  taste  of  chloral  well  disguised  by  the  peppermint  employed,  the 
author  recommends  a  somewhat  modified  formula,  whereby  a  syrup  even  more 
pleasant  in  odor  is  obtained,  as  follows:  Powder  4  grams  of  pure  chloral  hydrate 
in  a  porcelain  mortar,  dissolve  it  in  2  grams  of  boiling  water,  and  add,  drop  by 
drop,  of  a  concentrated  solution  of  sodium  carbonate  until  the  solution  has  a  neutral 
reaction.  Then  agitate  it  well  with  one  drop  of  English  oil  of  peppermint,  mix  it 
rapidly  with  96  grams  of  simple  syrup,  filter  if  necessary,  and  dissolve  in  it  one 
drop  of  chloroform.  Each  tablespoonful  of  the  syrup  contains  one  gram  (15^ 
grains),  and  each  teaspoonful  0*25  gram  (4  grains)  of  chloral  hydrate. 
Mr.  Husson  made  a  communication  concerning  the  inocuousness  of  fuchsin  and 
a  test  for  the  detection  of  foreign  coloring  matter  in  <uvine,  for  which  purpose  he 
proposes  the  successive  addition  of  alum  and  sugar  of  lead,  the  resulting  lead 
sulphate  precipitating  only  the  natural  coloring  principle  of  wine,  a  statement  which 
was  pronounced  incorrect  by  Mr.  Videau. 
A  communication  by  Plauchud,  concerning  the  origin  of  natural  sulphur  ^waters 
gave  rise  to  considerable  discussion,  some  maintaining  that  the  conversion  of 
sulphates  into  sulphides  is  effected  by  organic  matters  indiscriminately,  while  others 
believed  it  due  to  living  organized  beings. 
Mr.  Petit  reported  the  results  of  the  researches  on  coniai  having  found  its  density 
to  be  o  846  and  its  boiling  point  at  1700  C;  the  hydrobromate  and  hydrochlorate  of 
■conia  were  found  to  be  anhydrous  salts. 
Apothecaries'  Society  of  Berlin.  —  At  the  meeting  held  February  20,  Dr.  Schacht 
presiding,  Mr.  Kobligk  communicated  the  interesting  observation  that  syrupus 
.althtete,  mixed  with  distilled  water  in  proportions  not  exceeding  four  times  the 
weight  of  the  former,  would  gelatinize  after  some  time.  From  his  experiments, 
made  with  evaporating  dishes  and  beakers  of  hard  glass,  by  heating  them  under 
-varied  circumstances  and  cooling  them  suddenly,  he  recommends  the  use  of  such 
vessels. 
Dr.  Schacht  made  some  remarks  on  the  state  of  hydration  of  quinia  sulphate. 
When  recently  prepared,  Jobst  and  Hesse  had  found  this  salt  to  contain  15  32  per 
-cent,  or  7^  molecules  of  water  of  crystallization  5  this  statement  had  recently  been 
verified  by  Cownley  ("  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,"  Sept.  2,  1876),  the  latter  also 
finding  that  on  exposure  to  ioo°  C.  the  entire  amount  of  water  would  be  expelled 
("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1877,  p.  71).  The  experiments  of  Dr.  Schacht  do  not  appear 
to  coincide  with  this  statement  ;  but  when  heated  to  1200  C.  the  amount  of  water 
•expelled  from  the  commercial  salt  varied  in  different  samples  between  11  and  14*73 
