Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Oct.  1,1872.  j 
Gleanings  from  European  Journals. 
453 
Alkaloids  in  Isopyrum  thalictroides. — F.  A.  Harsten  has  discov- 
ered two  alkaloids  in  the  root  of  this  plant,  which  he  named  isopyrina 
and  pseudo-isopyrina.  The  former  is  obtained  from  the  aqueous  de- 
coction by  evaporating  it  to  a  thin  syrup,  precipitating  with  ammonia, 
and  exhausting  the  dried  precipitate  with  ether ;  on  evaporating  the 
ether  it  is  left  as  a  bitter,  yellowish  white  powder  ;  its  muriate  is  amor- 
phous and  not  precipitated  from  its  aqueous  solution  by  chloride  of 
ammonium. 
The  root,  previously  exhausted  by  boiling  water,  is  treated  with 
alcohol,  the  tincture  evaporated,  the  residue  precipitated  by  ammonia, 
and  the  precipitate  exhausted  with  ether.  Pseudo-isopyrina  is  ob- 
tained in  stellate  needles ;  the  solution  of  its  muriate  is  precipitated 
by  chloride  of  ammonium.  Both  alkaloids  are  decomposed  by  con- 
centrated acids. —Chem.  Oentralbl.,  1872,  No.  33. 
i 
A  new  method  of  cauterizing  is  recommended  by  Dr.  B.  Strauss, 
of  Munich.  He  applies  with  a  camel  hair  pencil  some  chloride  of 
antimony,  and  immediately  afterwards,  with  rotary  movements,  lunar 
caustic.  The  liquid  rapidly  becomes  thick  from  the  separation  of 
chloride  of  silver,  and  the  formation  of  aqua  regia  is  easily  rec- 
ognized by  its  odor.  The  latter  compound  is  the  escharotic  in  this 
case,  and  being  formed  in  a  soft  but  thick  mass,  the  operator  has  it  in 
his  power  to  confine  its  action  to  any  desired  spot  or  extend  it  at  will. 
For  deeper  cauterizations,  the  process  must  be  repeated  several  times. 
—N  Repert.f  Pharm.  1872,  330-335. 
Estimation  of  nitrogen  in  black  tea. — A.  Vogel  obtained  from  black 
tea,  by  maceration  for  15  minutes,  23.5  per  cent,  aqueous  extract, 
containing  2.8  per  cent,  nitrogen,  while  the  residuary  leaves  yielded 
3.58  per  cent.—  Ibid.,  327-328. 
Ammonia  in  snow. — A.  Vogel  suggests  that  the  great  differences 
observed  in  the  amount]  of  ammonia  contained  in  snow  water,  may 
be  due  to  the  temperature  and  to  the  manner  of  collecting  the  snow. 
In  fresh  snow  fallen  at  from  — 15°  to  — 19°C.,  he  could  not  discover 
even  traces  of  ammonia,  while  snow  fallen  at  0°C,  contained  a  little 
more  NH3  than  snow  fallen  at  — 3°C.  If  the  snow  has  remained 
on  the  ground  or  upon  the  roof  of  a  house  for  some  time,  the  amount 
of  NH3  was  increased,  but  varied  for  the  different  localities.  Snow 
free  from  NH3,  slowly  fusing  in  an  open  dish,  contains,  after  24 
hours,  appreciable  quantities  of  ^ammonia. — Ibid.  327-330. 
