52 
Current  Literature. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
»-     January,  19 18. 
trically  arranged  groups  of  laticiferous  vessels  and  sieve  tubes, 
which  alternate  with  whitish  inulin-bearing  parenchyma.  Lactuca 
root  is  characterized  by  its  trachse  which  are  arranged  in  radial 
rows,  usually  one  cell  wide,  alternating  with  medullary  rays  two  or 
three  cells  wide.  The  department  will  recommend  the  exclusion 
from  the  United  States  of  any  shipment  labeled  "  dandelion  root," 
consisting  wholly  or  in  part  of  roots  of  Lactuca  species.  (U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture.) 
Fennel  Adulterant. — Examination  of  samples  of  "  fennel 
seed,"  Fceniculum  vulgare  Miller,  has  disclosed  that  bitter  fennel, 
Fceniculum  piperitum  Sweet,  has  been  substituted  in  some  instances 
for  the  true  material.  This  species  is  not  cultivated  and  may  be 
distinguished  from  Foeniculum  vulgare  by  its  very  much  smaller 
size  and  the  decidedly  bitter  taste  and  flavor  of  its  volatile  oil.  The 
department  will  recommend  the  exclusion  from  the  United  States 
of  any  shipment  labeled  "  fennel  seed,"  consisting  wholly  or  in  part 
of  bitter  fennel.    (U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.) 
Biebrich  Scarlet  as  a  Stain. — Dr.  A.  Knyvett  Gordon,  of 
Virol  Research  Laboratories,  writes  to  the  British  Medical  Journal 
to  point  out  the  advantages  of  Biebrich  scarlet  as  a  plasma-stain.  He 
states  that  in  routine  histological  work  it  is  customary  and  advan- 
tageous to  use  a  "  contrast "  stain  after  the  nuclei  of  the  cells  have 
been  defined  by  hsematoxylin  or  (in  the  case  of  chronic  or  sublimate- 
hardened  material)  by  methylene  blue.  For  this  purpose  eosin  is 
commonly  employed,  but  it  has  two  disadvantages :  ( I )  It  not  infre- 
quently extracts  the  color  from  the  previously  stained  nuclei;  and 
(2)  it  colors  everything  else  with  the  same  intensity.  Benzopurpurin 
is  free  from  these  drawbacks,  but  it  is  useless  in  weak  solution,  and  in 
adequate  concentration  is  apt  to  stain  very  unevenly  and  to  deposit 
gelatinous  flakes  in  portions  of  the  section.  Picrorubin  (Van  Gie- 
son's  stain),  picroerythrosin,  and  similar  preparations  have  the 
grave  disadvantage  of  discharging  the  color  almost  completely  from 
the  nuclei  after  the  preparation  has  been  mounted  for  a  short  period. 
Biebrich  scarlet  is  soluble  in  water  freely,  and  is  best  used  in  I  per 
cent,  solution.  It  never  overstains,  and  does  not  discharge  the  color 
from  the  nuclei.  Most  sections  are  stained  sufficiently  in  two  to 
five  minutes.    It  does  not  wash  out  in  alcohol,  clove  oil,  cedarwood 
