4-20 
Varieties. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm„ 
\       Aug.,  1877. 
and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  work  them  by  artificial  light,  which  is 
almost  preferable  with  the  indigo  process,  and  is  often  a  great  conve- 
nience. 
In  speaking  of  the  results  I  have  obtained  as  a  test  of  the  accuracy 
of  methods,  I  do  not  mean  to  convey  that  they  are  the  best  attainable, 
but  simply  such  as  would  be  likely  to  be  obtained  by  a  chemist  of  aver- 
age skill  and  experience. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.  June  16,  1877. 
VARIETIES. 
Milk-Beer. — A.  Chevallier  has  discussed  the  subject  of  beer  in  general,  and  its 
importance  as  a  question  of  public  hygiene.  He  considers  beer  a  very  useful  drink, 
containing  many  of  the  salts  of  nutrition,  besides  nitrogenous  substances,  easily 
assimilable,  and  especially  an  abundance  of  the  elements  that  support  respiration. 
After  referring  to  the  frequent  adulteration  of  beer  he  speaks  of  this  new  product, 
bilre  de  lait,  as  one  destined  to  occupy  an  important  place  in  alimentary  hygiene  j 
its  manufacture  rests  on  the  same  principle  as  that  of  other  beer,  except  that  milk 
is  used  instead  of  water  in  its  preparation.  It  has  a  yellowish  color  and  a  density  of 
•980,  a  little  greater  than  ordinary  beer,  which  is  "950.  Its  taste  is  pleasant  and  less 
bitter  than  the  generality  of  malt  liquors.  It  contains  about  5^5  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
and  9  per  cent,  of  extractive,  yielding  7-7  per  cent,  of  its  weight  ashes. —  The  Sani- 
tarian, April,  p.  153,  from  Jour.  cVHygilne,  Jan.  10. 
Supposed  Colchicia  in  Beer. — Danneberg  has  continued  his  researches  on  this 
substance  ("Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1876,  p.  467),  and  found  that  if  the  residue  obtained 
by  Stas'  method  be  dissolved  in  water,  the  solution  precipitated  by  tannin,  and  the 
precipitate  decomposed  by  oxide  of  lead,  dilute  alcohol  will  take  up  a  body  which 
produces  precipitates  with  the  general  reagents  for  alkaloids,  but  does  not  show  the 
reaction  of  colchicia  with  nitric  acid,  which  could  be  easily  obtained  if  1  colchicia 
was  added  to  50,000  parts  of  beer.  Gelatin,  according  to  Danneberg,  is  not  present 
in  beer;  the  reaction  is  due  to  constituents  of  hops  and  malt. — Arch.  d.  Phar. > 
March,  238-246. 
Gillenin.— Dr.  H.  M.  Wetherill,  in  repeating  the  experiments  of  W.  B.  Stan- 
hope ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1856,  p.  200),  obtained  the  same  uncrystallizable  body 
which  the  latter  named  gillenin,  and  corroborates  the  statement  that  it  is  emetic  in 
the  dose  of  half  a  grain,  repeated  if  necessary.  No  additional  light  is  thrown  upon 
the  nature  of  gillenin  by  Dr.  Wetherill's  thesis  as  published  in  "  Phila.Med.  Times," 
April  14. 
