AFebmarj'Pf9aoom'}     Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  75 
chloric  acid,"  etc. ;  for  the  natural  interpretation  of  the  present  test 
is  filtration  through  paper. 
Does  not  such  an  experience  as  the  one  above  cited  suggest  the 
advisability  of  giving,  whenever  possible,  in  the  next  Pharmacopoeia 
two  tests  for  the  same  impurity  ?  A  practicing  chemist  is  rarely 
content  to  make  an  assertion  based  on  one  experiment,  and  usually 
confirms  his  first  result  by  a  second  method.  Such  confirmatory 
tests  he  searches  out  in  his  library  ;  but  the  average  druggist  does 
not  usually  possess  a  large  collection  of  works  of  reference.  Of 
course  he  should,  but  he  does  not,  and,  since  the  Pharmacopoeia  is 
intended  as  his  work  of  reference  par  excellencef  it  should  supply 
his  lack  of  books  as  far  as  possible.- 
Further  examination  of  the  wax  showed  that  its  acid  and  ester 
numbers  (see  Proc.  A.  Ph.  A.,  XLVI,  883)  were  within  the  limits 
assigned  pure  beeswax,  the  acid  number  being  19  2  in  one  estima- 
tion and  20  in  a  second,  while  the  ester  number  was  75-2  in  the  first 
trial  and  75-4  in  the  second.  An  estimation  of  the  iodine  number 
(see  Proc.  A.  Ph.  A.,  XLV,  680)  was  prevented  by  the  illness  of  the 
writer. 
During  the  examinations  here  mentioned,  efforts  were  made  to 
isolate  the  principle  giving  the  wax  its  rosin-like  taste.  Boiling 
with  water  a  half  hour  and  extraction  of  the  filtrate  with  ether 
yielded  a  trace  of  sticky  residue,  which  was  intensely  bitter.  This 
suspicious  product  was  evidently  an  accidental  impurity  transmitted 
to  the  wax  by  the  bee. 
Not  only  has  illness  put  a  stop  to  the  work,  but,  by  a  curious 
fatality,  the  death  of  the  client  has  put  the  tracing  of  the  source 
of  the  suspected  wax  beyond  the'  power  of  the  writer — thanks  to 
unfortunate  procrastination. 
The  bitter  principle  is  worthy  of  further  investigation,  and  any 
information  that  leads  to  securing  a  new  supply  of  the  product  will 
be  gratefully  received. 
Covington,  L\.,  December,  1899. 
RECENT  LITERATURE  RELATING  TO  PHARMACY. 
DETECTION  OF  SHIKIMI  FRUIT  IN  STAR  ANISE. 
Several  proposed  methods  of  distinguishing  between  these  closely 
similar  fruit  have  been  critically  tried  by  Dr.  W.  Lenz  (Schw. 
Wochenschr.  fur  Chem.  und  Pharm.,  1899,  45),  who  used  in  his  in- 
