Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1 918. 
Current  Literature. 
465 
"  Novocaine."  The  name  is  a  contraction  of  pro-cocaine,  the  drug 
being  a  substitute  for  cocaine,  as  explained  'by  Dr.  Julius  Stieglitz 
in  an  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
of  February  23,  who  announces  that  the  Rector  Chemical  Company 
has  had  the  assistance  of  Professor  Bailey  of  the  University  of 
Texas  in  perfecting  their  manufacturing  processes. 
Magnesium  Production  in  the  U.  S.  A. — Prior  to  the  war 
practically  all  of  the  magnesium  used  in  the  United  States  was  im- 
ported from  Germany,  but  since  the  stocks  in  this  country  were  ex- 
ceedingly small,  it  practically  disappeared  from  the  market  in  less 
than  twelve  months.  The  price  reflected  its  extreme  scarcity.  In 
January,  191 7,  the  American  Magnesium  Corporation  was  organ- 
ized at  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  plant  for 
the  manufacture  of  magnesium  and  magnesium  alloys.  These 
works  are  now  in  operation  and  are  producing  the  metal  in  such 
large  quantities  that  the  price  has  been  greatly  reduced  and  is  rapidly 
approaching  the  quotations  prevailing  before  the  war.  (U.  S.  Iron 
Trade  Rev.,  January  24,  191 8.) 
New  Source  of  Alcohol. — As  a  commercial  possibility,  the 
nipa  palm,  abounding  in  the  swamps  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  seems 
to  be  unusually  attractive,  both  as  a  producer  of  sugar  and  of 
alcohol.  Already  a  quantity  of  the  sap  is  used  by  Manila  distillers 
in  making  what  is  regarded  by  many  persons  as  the  best  alcohol 
manufactured.  It  is  claimed  that  nipa  furnishes  the  cheapest  raw 
material  in  the  world  for  the  manufacture  of  alcohol  and  that  de- 
natured alcohol  made  in  this  way  as  a  fuel  for  gasoline  motors  is 
cheaper  than  gasoline  and  fully  as  efficient.  It  is  further  stated 
that  with  a  motor  built  for  the  use  of  alcohol  this  fuel  would  be 
twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  better  than  gasoline.  There  are  over  one 
hundred  thousand  acres  of  nipa  swamp  now  available  in  the  Archi- 
pelago, of  which  about  90  per  cent,  have  never  been  touched,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  the  untapped  swamp  area  of  this  island  would 
yield  fifty  million  gallons  -of  alcohol  fuel  every  season.  (From  the 
Journal  of  Industrial  and  Engineering  Chemistry,  April  1,  191 8.) 
Maize  Oil. — The  recovery  of  maize  oil  has  'been  made  compul- 
sory in  Hungary,  and  it  is  hoped  to  obtain  1,200  wagon  loads -com- 
pared with  300  last  year.  Maize  oil  is  also  recovered  in  Rumania, 
where  one  large  mill  in  Bucharest  alone  produces  daily  30  tons  of 
