ADe'cimberi9oom"}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  591 
IDENTIFICATION  OF  TYPHOID  BACILLI. 
Use  as  culture  medium ;  normal  urine  (made  feebly  alkaline  by  stand- 
ing a  day  or  so),  100;  pepton,  0  5  ;  gelatin,  3-3 ;  heat  on  water-bath 
three-quarters  of  an  hour,  filter  into  test-tubes,  which  are  to  be 
closed  with  cotton.  Sterilize  with  steam  fifteen  minutes  one  day 
and  IOO  minutes  the  next  day.  Culture  temperature  must  be 
exactly  21-5°  to  220,  hence  a  thermostat  is  essential.  In  this 
medium  the  typhoid  germs  (from  faeces,  etc.)  grow  in  small  oblong 
and  clear  colonies,  with  characteristic  flagella,  easily  distinguishable 
from  colonies  of  Bacterium  coli  communis,  which  form  round  and 
granulated  groups. — (M.  Piorkowski,  Ber.  Dtsch.  Ph.  Ges.,  1900,  6.) 
H.  V.  A. 
blaud's  pills. 
An  interesting  example  of  the  influence  of  business  enterprise  on 
professional  thought  is  shown  in  the  recommendation  of  the  German 
Pharmacopceial  commission,  that  the  pills  of  ferrous  carbonate  be 
made  by  Blaud's  formula  rather  than  from  the  now  official  Vallet's 
mass. 
The  Germa'n  press,  commenting  thereon,  attribute  the  change  to 
the  extensive  use  of  the  Burroughs- Wellcome  Blaud's  Tabloids, 
which  have  practically  driven  the  official  pill  from  the  market. 
Dr.  E.  Hansen  (Ap.  Zt.,  1899,  711)  criticises  the  formula  sug- 
gested by  the  commission,  because  it  calls  for  magnesia  as  a  con- 
stituent. He  shows  that  this  hinders  solution,  and  does  little  to 
prevent  premature  reaction  between  the  ferrous  sulphate  and  the 
potassium  carbonate.  He  recommends  a  recipe  containing  the  two 
substances  althaea  and  honey,  laying  stress  on  the  fact  that  honey 
is  a  better  preservative  in  this  case  than  glycerin  and  sugar. 
H.  V.  A. 
SALICIN  AND  ITS  PRODUCTS. 
Despite  the  Pharmacopoeial  definition  of  salicin,  "  a  neutral  princi- 
ple," etc.,  all  late  literature  on  the  subject  points  to  its  glucosidal 
character.  A.  Voswinkel  {Ber.  Dtsch.  Ph.  Ges.,  1900,  31)  confirms 
the  fact  that  salicin  breaks  into  saligenin  and  glucose.  He  further 
finds  that  Piria's  saliretin  is  a  second  combination  of  saligenin  and 
glucose — exactly  how,  he  cannot  decide.  However,  he  shows  that 
this  substance,  which  he  calls  saligenin-glucose,  reduces  Fehling's 
