AmFeT'Sarm'}    Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  105 
stituents ;  then  follow  the  leaves,  the  membranes  of  the  seeds  and 
lastly  the  stems.  In  the  latter  a  substance  predominates  (digital- 
resin  or  toxiresin),  whose  action  commences  by  exciting  the  nerve- 
centres,  and  ends  by  paralyzing  the  muscles. —  Vratch ;  through 
Nouv.  remedes,  November,  1893,  p.  509. 
The  action  of  sodium  phosphate  in  presence  of  alkaloids  has  been 
studied  by  M.  Christiaens,  who  concludes  that  in  order  to  avoid  the 
precipitation  of  alkaloids  in  this  combination,  it  is  necessary  to  neu- 
tralize by  the  addition  of  phosphoric  acid  to  the  preparation,  by 
which  the  precipitates  are  completely  redissolved.  The  author 
states  the  general  rule,  that  all  salts,  whose  reaction  with  litmus  is 
alkaline,  precipitate  alkaloids  from  their  salts. — L  Union  pharm., 
November,  1893,  p.  521. 
In  preparing  camphorated  salol  in  the  crystalline  state,  M.  Bar- 
nouvin  found  that  a  mixture  of  3  p.  salol  to  2  of  camphor  showed 
the  first  formation  of  crystals  only  after  several  days,  and  that  as 
the  proportion  of  camphor  is  diminished  the  crystallization  is  more 
rapid,  a  mixture  of  9  gm.  salol  and  I  gm.  camphor  crystallizing 
after  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  process  of  preparation  consists  of 
fusing  the  two  pulverized  substances  in  a  porcelain  mortar  at  a 
gentle  heat,  and  allowing  them  to  crystallize;  it  is  advisable 
to  place  the  crystals  on  filter-paper  from  time  to  time  ;  the  crystals 
thus  obtained  are  dry,  white  and  brilliant,  possessing  the  combined 
odor  of  salol  and  camphor.  In  pulverizing  them  a  powder  is  pro- 
duced which  is  soft  to  the  touch,  less  unctuous  and  less  white  than 
salol  in  powder. — Jour,  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,  1893,  P-  3^3- 
To  distinguish  catechu  from  gambler  or  pale  catechu,  M.  Gibson 
has  recourse  to  a  microscopical  examination  for  the  anatomical 
structures  of  the  two  drugs,  gambier  being  prepared  from  the  young 
twigs  of  Uncaria  gambir  bearing  the  leaves  and  flowers,  while 
catechu  is  obtained  from  the  central  portion  of  the  trunk  of  Acacia 
catechu.  He  dissolves  the  drug  either  in  an  alkali  or  in  30  per  cent, 
acetic  acid,  and  then  examines  the  insoluble  residue. — Jour,  de  con- 
nais.  med.;  Repertoire  de  Pharm. ,  Dec  ,  1893,  P-  533- 
To  employ  sodium  phosphate  as  a  purgative,  Constantin  Paul  has 
devised  the  following  formula,  which  was  reported  to  the  November 
■meeting  of  the  Societc  de  Therapeutique  :  Distilled  water,  200  gm.; 
sodium  phosphate,  25  gm.;  simple  syrup,  60  gm.;  and  tincture  of 
lemon,  20  drops.    In  order  to  gasify  the  preparation,  2  gm.  each  of 
