550  Blunder  in  Medical  Chemistry.  {^ovimLrS" 
and  much  flatter,  rather  oval  than  truly  lanceolate.  Another  dis- 
tinction is  established  upon  the  fracture,  the  taste  and  the  anatomi- 
cal structure. 
The  perisperm  is  very  thin,  the  albumen  strongly  cartilaginous 
and  transparent,  the  embryo  with  thick  cotyledons,  white,  opaque, 
with  a  long  radicle.  The  shaft  is  pale  yellow.  In  a  specimen  from 
Holmes,  labelled  S.  from  the  Gold  Coast,  S.  minor  Blondel  (?)  its 
tendency  is  to  split  longitudinally  from  the  summit  to  the  base. 
Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  placed  in  contact  with  the  seed  of  the 
specimen  from  M.  Blondel  comports  itself  nearly  as  with  the  S. 
hispidus  ;  the  albumen  is  colored  green,  gradually  very  deep,  nearly 
black  ;  the  embryo  only  a  little  more  slowly,  some  parts  more  deeply 
colored  indicate  the  regions  of  the  fascicles.  The  color  changes 
gradually  to  a  violet.  In  the  specimen  from  Holmes  the  coloration 
is  not  shown  ;  it  gives  only  a  yellowish  tint,  then  a  rose.  This  seed 
is  rich  in  oxalate. 
[To  be  Continued. 1 
AN  OLD  BUT  FLOURISHING  BLUNDER  IN  MEDICAL 
CHEMISTRY.* 
By  Chas.  W.  Foi,kard. 
"Lithic  urate  is  more  soluble  than  any  other  of  these  salts  (the 
urates).  Hence,  lithia  water  is  occasionally  prescribed  to  gouty 
patients  and  to  others  who  suffer  from  a  superabundance  of  uric 
acid."  .... 
The  above  is  an  extract  from  p.  773,  Part  III,  of  Miller's  «  Ele- 
ments of  Chemistry,"  fourth  edition,  published  in  1869,  and  there 
is  sufficient  semblance  of  truth  in  it  to  mislead  those  who  are  able 
to  devote  but  a  few  months  to  the  study  of  chemistry,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  majority  of  medical  students. 
Although  the  paragraph  quoted  was  omitted  in  the  new  edition 
published  in  i88o.it  would  seem  that  no  attention  was  called  to  the 
subject,  for  sufferers  from  a  too  abundant  secretion  of  uric  acid  have 
been  treated  up  to  the  present  time  on  an  erroneous  assumption, 
proceeding  from  the  "  little  knowledge "  which  is  admittedly  so 
*  From  Chemical  News,  70,  99. 
