MISCELLANY. 
157 
vantageous: — an alcoholic extract is to be prepared from the juice of 
the plant by maceration; the spirit is to be distilled off; the aqueous 
residue to be filtered and fermented with yeast, to remove the sugar; 
and to each pound of the herb, two ounces of an aqueous solution of 
oxide of lead are to be added. This will assume a yellow color, and 
the fluid will appear but slightly yellow, with a greenish tint. Filter; 
remove the excess of lead ; refilter and evaporate, by gentle heat (under 
60°,) to the consistence of an extract. This extract is to be covered 
with alcohol, of ninety-five per cent., and to stand for two or three days ; 
the brownish yellow solution is to be separated, and mixed with animal 
charcoal, filtered, and the spirit removed by evaporation over sulphuric 
acid, as distillation causes a discoloration. The yellow, pale, syrup- 
like mass thus obtained, is easily dissolved in water; and on the addi- 
tion of more water, a separation of a few oily resinous drops ensues, 
which are to be removed, and the solution evaporated in vacuo,- thus a 
white mass is obtained — partly crystalline, partly amorphous. Men- 
yanthin has a bitter taste, readily becomes brown by heating with an 
absorption of oxygen, and is decomposed by heat, like all vegetable 
bitters. It is soluble in alcohol, alcoholic aether, and water, but not in 
pure gether. An aqueous solution is rendered turbid by alkalies, owing 
to the presence of salts of lime; it undergoes no change with ammonia, 
chloride of barium, and acetate of lead. With chloride of tin and tinc- 
ture of galls it is rendered slightly turbid. With chloride of platina it 
forms a yellowish precipitate; with the salts of mercury and sulphate 
of copper a white, and with sulphate of iron a yellowish precipitate; 
the latter is sulphate of lime. Menyanthin, therefore, forms no combi- 
nation with metallic oxides. Ibid, from Arch, der Pharm. 
Benzoic Acid in Elecampane.— Rcettscher has found in a vessel that 
had contained an alcoholic extract of the Rad. Inulae, also on the cover 
of the vessel in which it had stood, pointed crystals of benzoic acid. 
Ibid. 
Preparation of Churrus, or Resinous Extract of Indian Hemp. — In 
Central India, and the Saugor territory, and in Nipal, churrus is col- 
lected during the hot season in the following singular manner: — Men, 
clad in leathern dresses, run through the hemp-fields, brushing through 
the plant with all possible violence ; the soft resin adheres to the leather, 
and is subsequently scraped off, and kneaded into balls, which sell at 
