.Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June  1, 1872. 
}  Gleanings  from  the  European  Journals.  259 
The  root  (when  collected?)  was  found  to  contain,  when  2  to  3  years 
old,  0-4718  and  0-4886,  when  7  to  8  years  old,  0-2541  and  0-3126 
alkaloid.  Belladonna  root  collected  in  Germany  (Hesse-Darmstadt) 
yielded  0-492,  against  0*478  alkaloid  obtained  from  the  French  root. 
For  medicinal  use,  the  author  regards  the  leaves  as  preferable  to 
the  root,  they  varying  less  in  their  strength. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  et 
de  Chim.,  1872,  April,  May. 
Anhydrous  Protoxide  of  Iron  is  obtained  by  G.  Tissandier  by  pass- 
ing carbonic  acid  gas  over  very  fine  iron  wire,  rolled  up  spirally  into 
bundles  and  heated  to  a  bright  redness  in  a  porcelain  tube.  It  is 
black,  shining,  of  a  crystalline  aspect,  magnetic,  unaltered  in  the  air, 
soluble  in  muriatic  and  nitric  acids,  but  insoluble  in  warm  sulphuric 
acid.—  Ibid.,  379—381. 
Detection  of  Arsenic  and  Sulphurous  Acid  in  Hydrochloric  Acid. 
— Hager  puts  a  little  hydrochloric  acid,  diluted,  if  necessary,  with  an 
equal  volume  of  water,  in  a  long  test-tube,  adds  a  little  pure  zinc, 
and  closes  the  tube  with  a  loosely  fitting  cock,  to  which  two  strips  of 
parchment  paper  are  attached,  previously  moistened  on  one  side  (the 
outside)  with  solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  and  of  acetate  of  lead.  If 
arsenious  acid  is  present,  the  former  only  will  be  blackened ;  if  sul- 
phurous acid  is  likewise  present,  both  papers  will  turn  black  in  the 
current  of  the  escaping  gas.  A  second  experiment  becomes  then 
necessary  in  a  tube  similarly  arranged.  The  sulphurous  acid  is  first 
oxidized  by  permanganate  of  potassa  until  the  liquid  acquires  a  yel- 
low or  brownish  tint,  or  until  a  faint  smell  of  chlorine  is  perceptible. 
After  the  addition  of  zinc,  the  arseniuretted  hydrogen  contained  in 
the  gas  evolved  will  blacken  the  silver  paper  only,  without  affecting 
the  lead  paper. — Pharmac.  Centralhalle,  1872,  No.  11. 
Oil  of  Turpentine  an  Antidote  to  Phosphorus. — This  was  first  recom- 
mended by  Personne.  H.  Kohler  and  Schimpf  confirm  his  results  by 
experiments  with  25  animals.  Pure  oil  of  turpentine  dissolves  phos- 
phorus and  separates  it  unaltered  on  cooling.  But  when  the  oil  con- 
tains oxygen,  a  crystalline  mass  resembling  spermaceti  is  produced, 
while  any  excess  of  phosphorus  is  rapidly  converted  into  the  red  modi- 
fication. The  white  mass  may  be  purified,  by  recrystallization  from 
alcohol,  has  an  acid  reaction,  rapidly  softens  in  contact  with  air,  ac- 
quires a  terebinthinate  odor,  and  then  contains  phosphoric  acid.  This 
terebintho-phosphorous  acid  dissolves  in  alcohol,  ether,  petroleum-ben- 
