140 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
|     March,  1914. 
to  some  extent  its  scarcity.  For  more  than  iooo  and  probably  2000 
years  saffron  has  held  its  own  as  a  medicine  and  as  an  ingredient  in 
food,  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  this  would  be  the  case  if  it 
possessed  no  useful  properties. — Pharm.  J.,  1913,  v.  91,  pp.  941-943. 
Salvarsan. — Editorial.  In  salvarsan  and  neosalvarsan  reliance 
is  placed  in  combinations  of  arsenic  of  complex  molecular  structure. 
In  this  form  the  arsenic  is  relatively  non-toxic,  but  as  in  the  case 
of  many  other  compounds,  the  biochemical  agencies  of  the  body  may 
split  the  complex  chemical  structures  into  simpler  ones,  reducing 
the  non-toxic  combinations  into  products  which  may  be  highly  toxic 
to  the  tissues  of  the  human  organism.  So  long  as  we  are  not  able 
to  predict  with  certainty  what  chemical  reactions  may  take  place 
within  the  body  under  various  conditions,  there  will  remain  more  or 
less  risk  connected  with  the  administration  of  drugs  so  potentially 
toxic  as  are  these  higher  compounds  of  arsenic.  For  future  guid- 
ance, all  instances  of  unfavorable  outcome  after  their  use  should  be 
recorded  in  detail  with  great  care. — /.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  1913,  v.  61, 
p.  2074. 
Permanent  Scopolamine  Solution. — The  presence  of  the 
higher  alcohols,  such  as  mannitol  or  dulcitol,  in  solutions  of  scopola- 
mine, renders  them  more  permanent,  and  the  use  of  these  for  this 
purpose  is  the  subject  of  a  German  patent. — Pharm.  J.,  1913,  v.  91, 
P-  943- 
Siam  Benzoin. — Holmes,  E.  M.,  gives  an  interesting  summary 
of  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  in  the  last  50  or  60  years  to  find 
the  botanical  source  of  Siam  Benzoin.  The  evidence  adduced  seems 
to  indicate  that  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  source  of  the  Siam  Benzoin 
of  commerce,  is  Styrax  Tonkinense,  Craib,  which  is  found  in  the 
district  between  Luang  Prabang  and  Hanoi ;  second,  that  the  Styrax 
benzoides  of  Northwest  Siam  yield  a  fragrant  resin,  used  locally, 
but  the  evidence  that  it  yields  any  of  the  Siam  benzoin  of  commerce 
is  not  equally  satisfactory. — Pharm.  J.,  1913,  v.  91,  pp.  804-806. 
Spirit  of  Nitrous  Ether. — Hodgson  and  Bailey  report  tests 
to  determine  how  far  the  defense  usually  set  up  in  prosecutions  is 
justified.  Results  show  that  spirit  of  nitrous  ether  retains  its 
strength  remarkably  well  if  kept  in  small,  tightly  stoppered  bottles 
and  not  opened  too  frequently. — Pharm.  J.,  1914,  v.  92,  p.  28. 
Syrups,  Fermentation  of. — Cochran  and  Perkins  report  an  in- 
vestigation on  the  influence  of  small  amounts  of  ethyl  alcohol  on  fer- 
mentation in  cane  sugar  syrup,  and  conclude : 
