Am*ja°nuyi£4arm-}    Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  41 
difficultly  soluble  in  cold  alcohol ;  it  is  composed  principally  of 
fatty  acids,  cholesterin  and  isocholesterin,  which  are  saponified  with 
potassium  and  sodium  in  alcoholic  solution,  but  not  in  aqueous 
solution. — Ibid.,  p.  417,  from  Rep.  de  Pharm, 
Cristaliine  is  a  kind  of  collodion,  in  which  the  ether  and  alcohol, 
employed  as  solvents  for  pyroxylin,  are  replaced  by  methyl  alcohol. 
It  differs  from  collodion,  in  that  the  solvent  evaporates  more  slowly, 
and  in  forming  a  transparent  film,  which  allows  the  part  it  protects 
to  be  seen  and  the  progress  of  the  treatment  followed.  An  elastic 
cristaliine  can  be  obtained  by  adding  20  gm.  cristaliine  to  5  gm. 
castor  oil  and  10  gm.  Canada  turpentine.  Cristaliine  dissolves  pyro- 
gallic  and  salicylic  acids,  chrysarobin  and  many  other  medicaments. 
The  only  disadvantage  of  its  use  is  its  odor. — Semaine  medicale, 
October  18,  1893. 
Copaiba  has  been  found  to  act  as  a  powerful  diuretic,  especially  in 
cirrhosis  of  the  liver,  by  Dr.  Bronowsky,  who  administered  in 
twenty-four  hours,  6  gm.  in  emulsion  with  extract  of  peppermint. 
Copaibic  acid  was  passed  in  the  urine  after  the  first  day  of  the  treat- 
ment, while  the  maximum  diuretic  action  was  reached  on  the  third  or 
fourth  day. — Gaz.lek.;  through  Nouv.  Remedes,  November,  1893,  p. 
504. 
That  quinine  salts  are  incompatible  with  asaprol  has  been  shown 
by  Edhem  Ismail,  who  says  (Rep.  de  Pharm.,  November,  1893,  p. 
487)  that  when  a  solution  of  a  basic  or  neutral  quinine  salt  (the 
sulphate  or  the  hydrochlorate)  is  poured  at  once  into  a  solution  of 
asaprol,  a  resinous  body  appears  on  the  surface  of  the  liquid,  which 
is  insoluble  in  water  and  soluble  in  90  per  cent,  alcohol.  If  an 
asaprol  solution  is  gradually  added  to  a  solution  of  a  quinine  salt,  a 
white  precipitate  is  deposited  in  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  and 
becomes  soft  and  grayish. 
'  Iodocaffeine  is  obtained  by  dissolving  in  the  cold  a  mixture  of  35 
parts  of  sodium  iodide  and  65  parts  of  caffeine  iodide,  in  sufficient 
water,  treating  this  solution  with  hydrogen  sulphide  and  evaporating 
to  dryness. 
Iodotheine  is  obtained  by  a  similar  process,  while  the  preparation 
of  iodotheobromine  is  more  difficult,  on  account  of  the  insolubility  in 
water  of  theobromine;  to  obtain  this  compound  a  concentrated 
solution  of  salicylic  acid  is  added  to  the  mixture  of  sodium  iodide 
