Am'juiyni9ooarm'}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  347 
PARAGUAY  TEA. 
The  leaves  of  Ilex  paraguayensis  are  the  subject  of  an  interest- 
ing paper  by  P.  Seidler  {Suddtsch.  Ap.  Zeit.,  1898,  724). 
He  states  that  the  tea  industry  is  conducted  by  companies,  the 
largest  being  an  English  concern,  which  has  a  capital  of  5,000,000 
sterling. 
The  product  is  obtained  from  wild  plants,  which  are  evergreen, 
and  sometimes  25  feet  high,  growing  on  tracts  obtained  by  govern- 
mental concession.  The  collection  is  from  May  to  September,  and 
is  performed  by  Indians  directed  by  white  overseers. 
The  various  grades  are :  (1)  The  leaves  of  young  shoots  ;  (2)  leaves 
from  branches  of  preceding  year ;  (3)  leaves  of  old  branches 
dried  over  a  fire.  In  packing  all  three  varieties,  some  branches 
are  added  to  give  the  drink  a  slight  astringency. 
The  physiological  effect  of  the  infusion,  which  is  called  mate, 
not  mate  (from  utensil  in  which  prepared),  is  similar  to  tea  or 
coffee,  without  affecting  the  digestion  as  they  do.  H.  V.  A. 
THE  CELLULAR  TISSUE  OF  GENTIAN. 
The  researches  of  Bourquelot  and  Herissey,  on  Gentian,  have 
reached  the  cellular  membrane.  The  authors  report  [Jour,  de 
Pharm.  et  Chim.,  1899,  330)  that  the  drug,  after  exhaustion  with  hot 
water,  boiling  alcohol  and  sulphuric  acid  heated  to  boiling,  leaves 
a  residue,  which  represents  almost  pure  cellulose.  This  is  suscepti- 
ble to  hydrolysis,  when  25  grammes  are  macerated  with  125 
grammes  sulphuric  acid  and  40  grammes  distilled  water  for 
twenty-four  hours.  The  liquid  is  then  diluted  to  1,000  c.c.  and 
filtered,  the  filtrate  washed  with  2^  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid  until 
filtrate  measures  5,000  c.c,  is  then  neutralized  with  calcium  carbo- 
nate, condensed  to  400  c.c.  and  then  filtered  to  removed  calcium 
sulphate.  This  filtrate  is  evaporated  to  a  syrup  and  crystallized 
with  aid  of  alcohol.  The  product  on  purification  with  alcohol  shows 
all  the  characteristics  of  dextrose.  H.  V.  A. 
THE  VARIATION  IN  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  "  PARIS  GREEN,"  WITH 
SCHEME  FOR  ANALYSIS. 
Thomas  B.  Stillman,  in  concluding  a  paper  (Chem.  News,  1899, 
p.  261)  on  the  chemical  examination  of  Paris  green,  gives  a  number 
of  important  references  to  the  literature  of  the  subject,  and  gives  the 
accompanying  scheme  of  analysis,  which  includes  all  varieties  of 
Schweinfurth  green. 
