•538  Gleanings  from  the  European  Journals.  {AMbc°cUi',  1I7?*' 
ammonia  water  of  22°  B.,  until  a  homogeneous  mixture  is  obtained. 
130  grm.  94  per  cent,  alcohol  are  now  added  in  small  quantities  ;  the 
mixture  soon  separates  into  a  soft  mass  and  a  supernatant  aminonia- 
cal  liquid  which  is  rejected  ;  the  residue  is  again  washed  with  130  grm. 
alcohol,  then  rapidly  dried  and  powdered,  when  it  weighs  125  grm. — 
Bull,  de  la  Soc.  Roy.  de  Ph.  de  Brux.,  1872,  No.  10. 
Pills  of  ferrous  oxide. — W.  Kirchmann  has,  for  the  last  ten  years, 
prepared  the  following  pills,  which  have  been  used  with  favorable  re- 
sults by  several  physicians  : 
9. 
Ferri  sulphatis,         ....       120  grains. 
Magnesiae  ustse,    .       .       .       .       .      20  " 
Glycerini,         -  15  drops. 
M.  ft.  pilul.  No.  60. 
The  pills  are  well  adapted  for  sugar  coating;  placed  in  water,  they 
dissolve  at  once,  leaving  ferrous  oxide  behind.  Ferrous  and  magne- 
sium sulphate  containing  the  same  amount  of  water  of  crystallization, 
the  above  formula  yields  a  good  mass  without  any  further  addition. 
The  glycerin  prevents  the  magnesia  salt  from  drying,  the  fine  crystal- 
line mass  of  which  envelops  the  ferrous  oxide  so  completely  as  to  pre- 
vent all  oxidation,  even  when  kept  for  years. — Archiv  d.  Ph.,  1872, 
Sept.,  231. 
Colocynth  seeds,  as  an  article  of  food,  are  mentioned  in  Pereira's 
Elements  of  Materia  Medica,*  upon  the  authority  of  Captain  Lyon. 
Dr.  Nachtigal  has  lately  given  an  accountf  of  his  sojourn  among  the 
Tibbus,  living  in  the  mountainous  country  of  Tu  (17°  to  18°  longi- 
tude east  of  Greenwich,  18°  to  20°  N.  latitude),  and  described  their 
mode  of  preparing  colocynth  seeds  for  food.  They  free  the  seeds 
from  the  bitter  pulp  by  treading  upon  them  enclosed  in  strong  bags  ; 
the  seeds  are  then  rubbed  upon  a  smooth  surface  of  rock,  together 
with  the  ashes  of  camel's  dung,  with  a  rounded  stone,  and  the  testa  is 
then  separated  from  the  kernel  by  winnowing  ;  the  kernels  are  heated 
to  boiling,  then  washed  with  cold  water,  dried  and  powdered  and 
eaten  with  dried  dates.  Professor  Fliickiger,  in  examining  the  seeds 
found  in  the  testa  mucilage,  which  is  precipitated  by  acetate  of  lead, 
incompletely  by  alcohol  and  not  affected  by  alcohol ;  also  a  bitter 
*  American  edition,  1854,  p.  739. 
fZeitschr.  d.  Gesellsch.  f.  Erdkunde  zu  Berlin,  v  (1870),  216. 
