276 
Varieties. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
t    June  X,  1872. 
Meat  Extracts. —  Dr.  P.  M tiller,  in  an  essay  on  meat  extracts,  considers  that 
they  are  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  food,  for  they  do  not  contain  albuminoid 
matter,  neither  do  the  nitrogenous  principles  which  they  contain  arrest  disas- 
similation,  that  is,  they  do  not  prevent  the  waste  of  the  organic  matter  which 
composes  the  body.  In  small  doses,  these  extracts  are  useful  by  the  stimulant 
action  of  the  potassa  salts,  which  promote  digestion  and  circulation;  in  strong 
doses — too  large  quantity  at  once — these  substances  may  have  a  very  injurious 
effect.  Medical  men  should  bear  in  mind  that,  if  given  alone,  these  extracts 
(and  the  same  applies  to  beef  tea)  are  no  nutriment,  and  only  tend  to  keep  the 
convalescents  weak  and  not  only  ill  fed,  but  not  at  all  fed. —  Good  Health,  April, 
1872. 
Extemporaneous  Ink. — The  following  recipe  will  give  black  ink  of  good  color 
and  permanency  : — Take  of  tannic  and  gallic  acids  each  20  grains,  dissolve  in 
2  fluid  ounces  of  water  ,  take  also  of  crystallized  sulphate  of  iron  and  of  the 
dried  sulphate  (sulphas  ferri  exsiccatum) ,  of  each  15  grains,  and  dissolve  these 
separately  in  a  similar  quantity  of  water  (best  distilled)  ;  mix  the  two  solutions 
and  add  of  mucilage  (mucilago  gummi  arabici)  2^  fluid  drachms,  of  oil  of, 
cloves  2  drops.  Although  this  ink  is  by  no  means  cheap,  it  is  preferable  to 
every  other,  and  is  a  very  fine  black  and  quite  permanent. —  Chem.  News,  Jan. 
26,  1872. 
Effect  of  Severe  Gold  upon  Cast-iron. — H.  Cock. —  The  author  relates  that 
the  cast-iron  framework  of  a  12-horse  horizontal  high  pressure  steam  engine, 
employed  at  the  printing-works  of  MM.  Renou  and  Maulde  (Paris),  after  hav- 
ing been  exposed  for  some  hours  to  a  temperature  of — °15  during  the  night  of 
December  8  to  9  last,  suddenly  snapped  to  pieces  in  three  different  places 
when  the  engiue  driver  attempted  to  start  the  engine  very  cautiously  and  at  a 
slow  speed  on  the  morning  of  December  9  last. —  Chemical  News,  Jan.  26, 
1872,  from  Les  Mondes,  Jan.  11,  1872. 
Decomposition  of  the  Soluble  Sulphurets  by  Water.—  Dr.  H.  Koibe. — The 
eminent  savant  first  refers  at  length  to  the  extensive  thermo  chemical  re- 
searches of  Thomsen,  and  then  describes  a  series  of  researches  made  with  the 
view  of  elucidating,  under  varying  conditions,  the  behavior  of  the  soluble  sul- 
phurets  with  water.  The  chief  result  of  the  author's  researches  is  that  when 
the  soluble  sulphurets  become  dissolved  in  water  they  undergo  a  partial  de- 
composition, due  to  the  fact  that  the  metals  of  these  sulphurets  have  an  equally 
strong  affinity  for  the  oxygen  of  the  water  as  for  the  sulphur,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence thereof,  these  sulphurets  (as  mono-sulphurets)  undergo  a  partial  decom- 
position into  sulphydrate  of  the  metal  and  hydrated  oxide  of  the  metal  when 
only  a  small  quantity  of  water  is  present,  but  with  a  large  quantity  of  water 
this  decomposition  will  proceed  further. —  Chem.  News,  Jan.  26,  1872,  from 
Joum.f.  Prakt.  Chem.,  1871,  No.  19. 
Poisonous  Effects  of  Zinc  Utensils. — The  Union  Medical  calls  attention  to 
a  new  source  of  danger,  caused  by  the  substitution  of  zinc  for  tin  in  the  manu- 
