AmbJe°cu,r'i8>77?rm '}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  599 
Syrup  of  Orange  Peel. — A.  Martin  obtains  an  excellent  product 
by  drying  the  orange  peel,  preferably  the  kind  known  as  Curagao, 
occurring  in  bands,  by  enclosing  it  in  a  tinned  iron  vessel  containing  a 
bottle  half  filled  with  burnt  lime,  and  the  cover  of  which  is  luted  with 
flour  paste  and  paper.  After  remaining  for  eight  days  in  this  desiccator 
the  orange  peel  is  dry  enough,  without  having  lost  any  of  its  aromatic 
principles,  to  be  easily  reduced  to  powder  ;  this  is  then  exhausted  by 
precolation  with  water  at  the  ordinary  temperature,  and  the  infusion 
heated  to  about  70°C.  (i58°F.)  to  coagulate  the  albumen,  filtered  and 
converted  into  syrup  in  the  usual  manner. — Ibid.,  364,  365. 
Oil  of  Angustura-bark  was  obtained  by  Oberlin  and  Schlagdenhauffen 
to  the  amount  of  1*9  per  cent.  It  possessed  the  spec.  grav.  '934, 
boiled  at  26j°C.  (5 12*6°F.),  and  turned  polarized  light  +5-4°.  Iodine 
turns  the  warm  oil  to  a  green  mass,  gradually  becoming  thicker.  Bro- 
mine changes  to  blue,  purple  and  brown,  leaving  in  the  cold  a  hard, 
friable  mass.  Chlorine  thickens  the  oil ;  potassium  has  little  action  ; 
nitric  acid  colors  gradually  yellow  and  rose-red  ;  chromic  acid,  with 
some  ether  and  alcohol,  produces  a  beautiful  red  color  ;  iodic  acid  and 
alcohol  rose-red,  then  orange  ;  ferric  chloride  and  ether  carmine  red, 
the  coloration  disappearing  by  more  ether. — Jour,  de  Phar.  et  de  Chim., 
August. 
Nitrate  of  pilocarpina  is  obtained  in  white  lamellate  crystals  by 
displacing  powdered  jaborandi  leaves  with  80  per  cent,  alcohol,  con- 
taining per  litre  8  grams  of  muriatic  acid  ;  the  tincture  is  distilled,  the 
extract  dissolved  in  water,  filtered,  rendered  alkaline  by  ammonia,  and 
repeatedly  agitated  with  chloroform.  The  solvent  is  distilled  off,  the 
alkaloid  exactly  neutralized  with  nitric  acid,  the  liquid  filtered,  evapor- 
ated and  crystallized.  The  crystals  are  washed  in  a  cylindrical  perco- 
lator with  cold  absolute  alcohol  to  remove  coloring  matter,  and  recrys- 
tallized  from  boiling  alcohol  in  presence  of  some  granular  animal  char- 
coal. The  filtrate  yields  beautiful  white  crystals  (about  5  grams  for 
1000  grams  of  the  leaves),  which  are  soluble  in  8  parts  of  water  at  150 
C,  in  7  parts  of  boiling  absolute  alcohol,  and  but  sparingly  soluble  in 
the  latter  liquid  when  cold. — Rep.  de  Phar.,  Aug.  25. 
Pepsin. — Andouard  scrapes  the  inner  coat  of  the  stomach,  and  adds 
to  the  mass  table  salt  to  precipitate  the  pepsin,  as  proposed  by  Scheffer 
("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  Feb.,  1872).    The  precipitate  is  put  upon  a 
