450  Gleanings  from  the  European  Journals.  {AMbctURi,i87A2EM^ 
kept  in  well-stoppered  bottles.  In  preparing  this  salt,  care  must  be 
taken  as  to  the  quality  of  lime  used,  as  some  limestones  contain  a 
large  per  centage  of  carbonate  of  magnesia,  and  the  salt  obtained  by 
using  a  lime  burnt  from  limestone  of  that  quality,  would  necessarily 
contain  a  correspondingly  large  per  centage  of  bromide  of  magne- 
sium. 
Cairo,  III,  Sept.  1872. 
Note. — In  decomposing1  bromide  of  ammonium  by  caustic  lime,  care  must  be 
taken  to  avoid  an  excess  of  the  latter,  since  a  basic  bromide  (oxybromide)  of 
calcium  is  very  readily  formed,  having  a  strong  alkaline  reaction; 
The  term  bromide  of  quinia  has  of  late  been  frequently  used  in  medical 
journals,  but  is  incorrect.  The  salt  being  a  combination  of  hydrobromic  acid 
with  the  alkaloid  quinia,  should  be  called  hydrobromate  of  quinia.  Its  com- 
position is  analogous  to  that  of  hydrochlorate  (muriate)  of  morphia,  and  its 
proper  name  is  formed  correctly  only  in  perfect  analogy  with  that  of  the  latter. 
— Ed.  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  EUROPEAN  JOURNALS. 
By  the  Editor. 
Arsenic  in  coal  soot  has  been  observed  by  H.  Reinsch,  who  found 
it  to  contain  also  iron,  manganium  and  copper.  272  grm.  soot 
strongly  compressed,  evolved  on  incineration,  first,  the  odor  of  bitter 
almonds,  then  of  arsenic,  afterwards  of  sulphurous  acid,  and  left  166 
grm.  of  red  brown  ashes,  in  which  traces  of  arsenic  were  still  ob- 
served.— N.  Jahrb.f.  Pharm.  1872,  July,  18-20. 
The  active  principle  of  the  aqueous  distillate  of  cantharides.  E. 
Rennard  proved,  from  the  blistering  effects,  the  presence  of  canthari- 
din  in  a  cat  poisoned  with  the  distillate  obtained  from  cantharides, 
and  proved  its  presence  also  in  the  distillate  in  the  same  manner. 
The  author  altered  Bluhm  and  DragendorfF's  method  for  preparing 
cantharidin  somewhat ;  the  mixture  of  powdered  cantharides,  mag- 
nesia and  water  is  exsiccated,  the  residue  saturated  with  chloroform, 
supersaturated  with  sulphuric  acid  and  exhausted  with  ether.  He 
obtained  from  four  samples  0.38,  0.431,  0.439,  and  0.57  per  cent,  of 
cantharides. 
Boiling  water  dissolves  between  0.290  and  0.297,  cold  water,  0.2, 
boiling  alcohol,  2.03  to  2.168,  cold  alcohol,  0.127,  boiling  benzol, 
3.38,  cold  benzol,  0.51,  boiling  muriatic  acid  of  1.17  sp.  gr.,  0.3,. 
and  the  cold  acid,  0.137  per  cent,  cantharidin. 
